The broader Spark community shares tools they expect will outlive them.

Read More »

Hi there. Nora here. The other day, I was putting away my pasta machine. It's a manual device that's probably about 15 years old by now. It has a C clamp that lets you attach the machine to the kitchen table. You insert the handle into the side of it, feed your pasta dough in, and turn the crank to extrude thinner sheets of pasta. It works really well!

The fact that it works really well got me thinking, though. From the point of view of the digital economy, that pasta machine is nuts! You make a thing that's good quality, sell it, and then that's it. People just...use it, probably for decades. What kind of business model is that? You don't have to get a new operating system for the pasta machine that requires buying new memory for it? There isn't a proprietary type of dough you need to purchase separately because no other type of dough works with the machine? Like I said, nuts.

It just seems that so much of what we use in digital culture is not only quickly dated or obsolete, but also tethered, keeping us in a perpetual bad marriage with tech companies.

So, my question is: what tool or device do you have that, like my pasta machine, might well outlive you? Why did you get it and what makes it so great? Leave us a comment below!

UPDATE: Check out the cool pics of great tools folks in the Spark community have sent us here.

Read More »

This week on Spark - Everyone's breathlessly talking about autonomous cars. We get beyond the hype for a look at what they would mean for the future of cities, and your commute. And, ever since The Jetsons, we've been looking for video phones that can bridge distance. Now that always-on video communication is a reality, why does working remotely still feel so...remote?

Click here to download the mp3.

Hey, have you checked out Spark on Tumblr? You should!

Read More »

Listen

Today Nora spoke with Ryan Chin, the managing director of the City Science Initiative at the MIT Media Lab. Spark is looking at autonomous cars on this week's show, and we wanted to hear Ryan's thoughts on the way autonomous cars may change the way we design and use cities.

Listen

Perch is a Vancouver-based company that recently released an iOS app for "always-on video communication." Nora Young interviewed CEO Danny Robinson about Perch, using Perch.

Read More »

Listen

This week on Spark - Why it's still as important as ever to build and nourish community online. Designing workplace culture to foster innovation. The NSA is watching you, what can you do? And, if this is the age of global connection, why are we still hanging out in our own digital backyards?

Click here to download the mp3.

Read More »

Listen

This week on Spark - Re-learning Learning. Flipping the classroom, bridging the digital divide, laptop distractibility in the classroom, and challenging the traditional measure of what it means to be "gifted".

Just click the Listen button, or click here to download the mp3.

Read More »

Listen

To go along with our upcoming Re-learning Learning episode, Nora interviewed Laura Robinson, who we heard about when we spoke to Anabel Quan-Haase. Laura is an assistant professor of sociology at Santa Clara University. Her recent research suggests "peer learning" can help bridge some gaps in digital facility between those with internet access at home, and those who don't have it.

Listen

The new Spike Jonze movie, Her, comes out later this year. It's all about a man who develops feelings for his operating system (played by Scarlett Johansson).

Read More »

Listen

Spark Senior Producer Michelle here. Just wanted to let you know that the Spark team has brushed the sand off of our feet, and returned to the office to get cracking on our 7th season!

We're excited about the first episode too - we're calling it Re-learning Learning, all about flipping the classroom, how computer literacy can be tied to socioeconomics and smartphone use, and challenging the traditional measure of what it means to be "gifted". Also, can sitting beside someone who is using a laptop make you dumber? And we'll hear about how -ahem- some of us learn pretty much everything these days by watching YouTube videos.

Find it on podcast and the web on Friday, September 6th, and on your Radio One dial on Sunday, September 8th!