Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• Everyone’s going to the moon—a new space race – The Economist. “The Economist‘s Babbage podcast is a good listen, and this episode about the new moon race was particularly informative. I did not know how many organizations were headed there; nor, for example, that non-spacefaring nations want compensation for its use (since it’s supposed to be for all humans). Nor was I aware that part of the US exploration plan is to have a private contractor dig up a shovel of regolith, take a photo, and sell ownership of the now-claimed lunar surface to NASA. Seems more like a NFT, but apparently that’s how we do things now. Well worth a listen.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Tech and the fine art of complicity – Knight Foundation. “Artists help us understand the zeitgeist of modern times, and contemporary art is often algorithmic and interactive. But when artists use the same technologies that totalitarians deploy against their victims, or make pretty things from tech that marginalizes our most vulnerable, are they complicit? The always thoughtful Jer Thorp wrote this piece for the Knight Foundation a while back, but I only just came across it. Mitch, as someone who spans tech and culture, I immediately thought you’d find it interesting.” (Alistair for Mitch). 
• Revolutionary Montreal mechanism makes upright pianos sound like grand pianos – Montreal Gazette. “Not sure whether this sounds as cool as it sounds, but a Montreal piano maker has come up with a technology that makes a stand-up piano sound like a grand piano.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Is Old Music Killing New Music? The Atlantic. “At my team’s 2021 holiday Zoom party, we played musical bingo, and the first ten or so songs that were played, I’d never heard before. Didn’t even recognize the artists either. It turns out that much of the music wasn’t even new, coming from ten years ago or so. When songs were ~3 years old, I knew them (sort of). I attribute this strange thing to having kids: from kids age 0-6 everything just stopped for me as far as paying attention to music. Then, my kids got older, life settled down, my kids started listening to music themselves, and I got exposed to more recent stuff, and I started seeking out new music myself again. But, there is just SO much out there. Regularly I discover something ‘new,’ and realize the album was released in 2011. Apparently I’m not alone, and while there is just a huge amount of new music coming out, it’s getting a smaller and smaller portion of the attention.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• How Discord became the “Soho House of Web 3.0” – Vogue Business. “While Clubhouse was getting so much attention during the first few waves of the pandemic, I found myself pointing out that Discord has many (and more) interesting features in the social audio space. As the entire Web3 world evolves, it seems like creators are agreeing with me. What was once a place for gaming and collectible nerds to gather, hang, connect and chat is now evolving into a core technology for the creator economy. So, if you’re looking for the next ‘what’s next’ in social platforms, it may already be here… and it’s Discord…” (Mitch for Alistair).
• Writing books is not really a good idea – The Novelleist. “Is it worth it to write a book? Do authors make any money? Do books sell? How many copies? Here’s a really long piece about the reality of book writing and publishing. And, if you’re looking for an idea to catch an audience, you may need to think a little bit about how the book publishing industry has been disrupted… and where that audience may be sourcing the next big idea. With that, I think we would all agree that writing (and publishing) a book still looks and feels very sexy.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends):