Aloha,
As we move quickly towards 2021 one thing becomes certain - nothing is really certain at all. Our world is filled with uncertainty on every level from ‘Will Facebook, Google, Apple, and Amazon face antitrust suits from the DOJ?” to “Will the Covid-19 vaccines be deployed and work?” to “Will the president make way for the president elect?” to simple things like “Is there going to be toilet paper at the grocery store come January 1st?”
The answer to all of these questions is “Possibly”. That’s the world we live in - a world where we are all Shrodinger’s cat. For those unfamiliar - essentially here is the story. A cat is in a box with some poison. If the cat eats the poison, there is a dead cat in the box. If the cat doesn’t eat the poison, there is a live cat in the box. Until you open the box, both realities exist. Live cat and dead cat. Both are possibilities but there are no certainties until the box is opened.
That’s our world. That’s our lives.
One thing that should be a known known is the past. Our own past. That’s one of the things we see as a really bright possibility for VoiceMarkr. NPR has been doing ‘Story Corps’ for about fifteen years now. Story Corps is an audio recording program that travels around the country recording stories and preserving them. Their mission:
StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.
We do this to remind one another of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters. At the same time, we are creating an invaluable archive for future generations.
We see our own mission as something very similar. At one point, I described VoiceMarkr as ‘Story Corps meets Instagram’ . I was surprised at how many people in the tech world hadn’t heard of Story Corps - of course they all knew what Instagram was. I stopped using that description because our range of possibilities has grown so much beyond just that.
We let users record audio on a map. Think about that. Simple, right?
Then we let them share that audio. Not so simple.
Then we let them follow other users. Not simple at all.
Then we let them follow interests. Becoming more complex.
Then we analyze their interests and suggest other interests and users that may appeal to them. Now we’re in the realm of an artificially intelligent algorithm using data to give users content they will enjoy.
Then we let users share other forms of metadata - photo, videos, text, links, music…
Things have gotten much more complex than Story Corps meets Instagram. We are in a world of possibilities. We are living in amazing times. Not easy, not fun, not safe - but amazing.
Please be safe and do your best to spread love and good cheer during this challenging holiday season.
I hope you all have a wonderful week.
Christopher Damitio
CEO - Iwahai, Inc.
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