A Love Affair With Tech City and the Bête Noire that is Apple...
Oh how I wept with unadulterated glee on wandering
into the uber hip venue complete with works of art by a number of
esteemed artists. The space has been curated as a meeting point, come
networking haven, come work hub for all the bright young start ups dotted
across the capital. It really is the most ingenious investment of resources in
the evolution of our digital identity… The intention to make East London the
‘Silicon Valley’ of the UK.
Coming up (next Tuesday – Thursday) is the Tech
City Investment Organisation’s Young
Entrepreneurs Festival, a business boot camp for Britain’s brightest young
minds intent on ‘starting up’. The very best of these will be offered access to
the three-day event and will be given intense coaching and the chance to raise
investment to ‘kick start their entrepreneurial journey.’
Now that’s what I call ‘inspiring a generation.’
Candidates fall into two age groups, 16-24 and 25+
can apply online, with the best applicants invited to present their business
plans to a ‘rockstar panel’ of industry experts.
After being taught a number of essential skills
such as sales & marketing,
understanding equity and valuation, marketing overseas and investor pitching,
the young tekkies will be mentored by industry luminaries including serial
entrepreneur and former LinkedIn business leader of the Year, David
Murray-Hundley, CEO and author of “Student to CEO” and “Bank To The Future”
Simon Dixon, and CEO of Global Natives and International Media Technology
Mentor, Daniel Teweles.
David Murray-Hundley, former LinkedIn business
leader of the Year said: “The Young Entrepreneurs Festival is a perfect
opportunity to uncover inspirational entrepreneurial talent, and I’m really
excited to take part and do my part to inspire a new generation of aspiring
business leaders.”
Watch out though, only the finest young minds will
make it through to Day two. Winners of The Young Entrepreneurs Festival will
receive valuable business support including free workspace and technology, and
the top 25 young entrepreneurs will also gain ongoing mentoring support into
2013 to help them navigate potential business challenges.
If you have a great business idea, visit the website
and apply now. There’s still time!
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Right now to my bête noire – I’m sorry folks but
with all the 'who ha' surrounding the IPhone 5 I just had to wade into Apple
territory again. Yes the much lauded (and much leaked) handset - it’s here ladies and gentlemen. Cybergirl
was slap bang right in their flagship store the day of the press conference and
funnily enough no one batted an eyelid, consumers kept browsing, genius bar
technicians kept troubleshooting and the security guards looked on with their
usual blank eyed stare.
But just wait till September 21st; this is one retail
space that won't be nearly as calm. So what are the benefits of shelling out
(at the least) £529 for the IPhone 5? Are the differences so radical that they
warrant purchasing a new handset, one that in a few months close to 70% of
Apple users will own? Will it really change your life significantly to have a
slightly bigger screen, a slightly faster data speed and access to the 4G
network? Yes the camera is better - it will give you 8 mega pixels - heightened
colours, but colours you could easily achieve using Camera Plus or IPhoto. Or
are you one of the die hard Applephiles, who see the handset as 'essential'; cue
the voice of reason Ricky Gervais whose tweet on Thursday pretty much summed up my sentiments on the matter, “Can’t wait for the iPhone 5, I’ve had this
mint condition, perfectly good IPhone 4 for a year now – embarrassing,” trust Ricky to be subversive.
So does it really mean that much to consumers? It must
do if people are willing to ignore the provenance of that shiny little handset.
The handset that whispers on the tube – “I'm worth something, I'm in the know,
I'm up to date and most of all I'm cool” - because that’s what the IPhone
sells, it's not really about the technology is it? It's about the way a well
manicured hand looks roaming over the shimmering shatter prone screen. If it were
about the handset – millions of Apple users would have defected to Android.
So you’ve decided you ‘need’ the toy - but what’s
it worth? Is it worth the life of another human being? Did you know that 80% of
the minerals used in the manufacture of our mobile handsets are mined in the Congo -
where civil war has decimated the country and (to date) five million people have died?
If I urge you to do one thing this week, it’s check
out the 2011 documentary ‘Blood on the Mobile’ by director Franck Pialsecki
Poulsen and then ask yourselves, do I need a phone that works or do I need a
phone to be ‘seen with’, a phone that plugs some depleted sense of self worth
that only another trinket can assuage. Since the film was made Nokia have amended their policy on conflict minerals. But the 'supply chain' is still very much an issue across the board. At the end of the day it's up to you the consumer to decide which side of the fence you
want to stand on - personally I'm sticking to my 4S, until it literally packs
up and dies, and if and when I do buy another handset - believe you me it won't
be the IPhone 5.
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