It’s the last Friday in 2011 and the new year is imminent. So what were the top technological, cultural and economic trends in 2011? What shaped a year that some are saying is one of the most significant in the last couple of centuries?
The queen of trendology is Marian Salzman, a global marketing executive, who publishes an iconic annual trends report about the world. So what were the leading trends in 2011, I asked Marian, when she came into our New York studio. Her answers are both stimulating and controversial. From men being the new women to technology defining the new hope agenda to the emergence of a public mycasting system, Marian’s observations about 2011 are bound to provoke discussion. So is she right? Will 2011 really be remembered as the year that the tablet revolution became the “ultimate transportation device” that finally enabled us to live in the cloud?
This is the first in a two part interview with Salzman. Early next week, she reveals her top trends for 2012.