The title of this 7-minute TEDEd video is “Can We Create the Perfect Farm?” As with a lot of future predictions, the techniques being proposed are already in production around the globe.
The video is correct – it will take global cooperative effort to succeed in adopting these practices as the norm, and it will also take consumer understanding and support of the agriculture industry’s efforts to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly while maintaining the production levels necessary to feed the world.
Contrary to pop-culture belief, the Agriculture industry is constantly looking for ways to improve – to use fewer resources, to produce a better product (grain, animals, etc.), and to be more efficient.
Ag Web has a terrific article about how farmers are using different ways to move toward carbon-neutral production; in this article, specifically livestock (pig, chicken, cow). The pork industry is looking toward a carbon-neutral pig by 2035 and the cattle industry is looking at 2050.
Pork production in the US contributes more than $23B to the economy, about 25% of which is exported and accounts for less than 1/2 of 1% of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the pork industry continues to seek ways to improve efficiencies and reduce production resource needs.
It’s interesting to scroll down the list and see the progression of technology and how it invaded our lives and consciousness. Those of us who are (ahem) a bit older might recall living through these achievements.
NOTE the video below – in 1996, AT&T offered 5 hours of FREE internet every month.
Blast from the past – Check out this video to see the rise (and fall) of the most popular websites. What were the “Top 3” in 1993 versus the “Top 3” today? While the top website today won’t surprise you, the change over time is fascinating.
Informative video on the history of YouTube. If you watch YouTube, you should watch this video (from Digital Trends, as posted on (you guessed it) YouTube).
reMarkable Tablet started off leaning more toward artists and creative designers, but they quickly upgraded the system, and are marketing their new reMarkable 2 product toward business.
This is truly a paperless note-taking device. It is a combination of a specifically designed writing surface with a tablet format.
This is my primary note-taking device, particularly out of the office. I take this to meetings where I need to take notes, but a laptop computer would be a distraction. I use it for client meetings, phone calls, and just about any time when I need to be able to take quick or detailed notes.
This is – by far – the best notetaking experience of any digital platform. The pen is extremely easy to use and the interface with the tablet “feels” like writing on paper – no slipping, streaking, skipping, or dragging.
It uses its own pen with tiny replaceable nibs (and I go through about a nib per month). The pen does not use a battery – only the actual device needs charging. The pen has storage for a replacement nib for remote replacement (which I’ve needed occasionally)
There is good handwriting recognition, but it doesn’t work well with a lot of diagrams on the page, and you can only “convert and send” – you can’t keep the converted text locally on the device for reference.
You can upload PDF documents to the tablet and write directly on the text – this started out very clunky, but they have upgraded the software and the interface is fairly smooth.
PROS–
Truly paperless. No reusable paper to clean, no traditional paper to store.
True “paper” feel when writing
Very paper-like feel. No stray marks, no smearing. Infinite number of pages (I typically get about 50 pages per notebook before I upload and process the notes to various files)
Wirelessly transfers to your computer
Seems to have unlimited storage (I just haven’t reached the limit)
Very portable – I take this everywhere
Firm tablet format – I can take notes on any surface (including balance on my knees in meetings)
CONS–
Monochrome (no color)
File size tends to be large (but they are continuously improving this)
Requires charging – but has two-week battery life (I get about a week on my reMarkable 1 device)
Smaller than standard page-size (which means less text per page, unless you write small – which I’m learning)
Costly – Of the three platforms reviewed, this is the most expensive “out of the box” at $399 for the “launch-offer” of the reMarkable 2 device (going on now).
Clunky typewriting text interface. You can create Notebook or file names on the tablet, but the keyboard is slow to touch-response. Fortunately, I create a few notebooks based on topic (meeting notes, client notes, etc.) and run a lot of pages before I sync to the computer and dispurse to various files.
Rating: 9 out of 10 – This is my current “go-to” device, and I’m willing to live with the limitations since 99% of my use is not affected by the limitations.
Overall rating of the three devices reviewed (please go back to read the other posts, if you have not seen them):
I suspect that I will eventually discard the LiveScribe Aegir. Compared to the other two platforms, it is more difficult to use, requires actual paper, and has a much lower confidence rating. It was the first on the market, and has improved on its own design, but falls short overall and does not meet my needs like the other two platforms.
My primary device is the reMarkable 1– I’m tempted to get the reMarkable 2 to take advantage of the improvements. I like the Rocketbook for a number of more creative applications, but it doesn’t go to meetings as well and requires a bit more work to keep up. I look forward to using the Orbit for my day-to-day lists and quick notes, but I won’t know until my order ships in August.
Ag Web has a terrific article about how farmers are using different ways to move toward carbon-neutral production; in this article, specifically livestock (pig, chicken, cow). The pork industry is looking toward a carbon-neutral pig by 2035 and the cattle industry is looking at 2050.
system, and are marketing their new