Total Recall - C. Gordon Bell [87]
START-UP #5—WEARABLE HEALTH MONITORING DEVICES
This will actually be a whole class of start-ups. The typical pitch should go like this: We have device X. It is easy to wear, as either part of your clothing, or as a little wristband, or the like. It sends all its data to your cell phone, where an application stores the data and then forwards it either to your PC or to some service in the Internet that logs it forever. It must be easy to recharge. Wear it and forget about it. You’ll get notified when something of interest comes up. Important events might automatically be forwarded to your doctor. The BodyBugg is a forerunner in this area that will include fitness monitors, pacemakers, and hopefully new in-body devices.
START-UP #4—CELL PHONE LOGGER
As I’ve said, a smart cell phone is a killer device for Total Recall. My cell phone should record my GPS location and call log, record all text messages, support note taking and dear-diary entries—both text and audio, and even video—and store it in the cloud. I’m already invested in reQall, which is a great step in cell-phone-based memory creation. Evernote also looks hot. We created some prototype software in this space and it wasn’t too hard to get to a proof of concept. I expect to see some strong, more comprehensive efforts soon.
START-UP #3—DEAR APPY FORMAT CONVERTING SERVICE
Perhaps it could be called Format Master or Yours Forever. The idea is to convert all your files that are in formats that are stale or are fringe formats in danger of becoming stale. Files would be converted to the latest format. In addition, some “ just-in-case versions” could be created, such as PDF print versions of spreadsheets and Web pages. This could be a service that you upload your data to, or you might run a program on your PC. The service should be provided to storage providers. That is, suppose storage.com stores files for you. They would contract Format Master to keep your files up to date if you pay them an extra three dollars a year.
START-UP #2—DIGITAL AFTERLIFE
What happens to my bits when I die? I need a contract to store my data for two hundred years (including the Format Master service). I should be able to put some information in a time capsule, for example, not releasing the material to my family for twenty years, and only releasing to the public after one hundred years. Furthermore, for those who haven’t been practicing Total Recall, we will want to send a box of their stuff (photos, documents, et cetera) to a service that will scan it all and put it in this digital cemetery. There are already some companies doing memorials and promising storage, but I still see room for a really innovative company to take this to new heights.
START-UP #1—SWISS DATA BANK
Storage must be safe from hackers, safely backed up, and plausibly deniable. It would be preferable if the data bank only ever saw my encrypted bits, so it couldn’t divulge what it has, even if it wanted to. There will be specialty Swiss data banks, such as a health data bank or financial records data bank (like HealthVault and Wells Fargo, respectively, but with deniability). Whoever can build the most trusted brand name will reap big rewards. Perception will be as important as the technology; the slightest doubts about your brand could kill the business. A variant on the concept would set up peer-to-peer encrypted storage to virtually eliminate storage costs for