This week I found a wrinkle in the time space continium.
Just like the best science fiction movies, I woke up one day and it was 5 years ahead into the future. Madonna had given us world peace, Lance Armstrong had won the Ironman Triathlon multiple times, cars no longer run on dead dinosaurs, it is commonly known that the burrito is the perfect food, converse shoes can now be had with a road SPD clipless version so that you never have to remove your perfect shoes ever again and of course almost nobody uses a blackberry any longer as the concept of buttons is just so passe (of course you do not really have to go to the future to know that most of that stuff I just listed is actually going to happen).
No, what I discovered this week is that the designers at Trek actually own their own black hole in the space time continuim that allows them to travel back and forth to the future at will. I am actually reading a Stephan King book about there being a time fold below a diner in Maine, but that one only takes you to the past. Sure that could make for some good party tricks like going back and making some money on a sports event, but the future - that is so shinny.
The Trek designers actually travel to the future on a regular basis to figure out what things are going to be available for cyclists in the future. They do that, just so they can wow me with their knowledge of the future.
We brought these manuals back from the future.
Seriously, this week we held an innovation summit at Trek. It was sort of a science fair like in high school, but way way cooler. It was presentation after presentation for a whole day of designers showing the future thing they were working on, or how they had learned from the past to create an alternate future. (There is that space time continuum again). Heady stuff.
I saw things that you could not imagine. Things that will make your and my cycling so much better and more fun in the future. Lighter, faster, stronger, bam!
Here are some of the things that I saw.
- Bontrager Trifecta
- The ones we didn't do
- The Four Letter Word.
- For innovation to happen it takes a village
- Bert and Ernie were part of someones presentation.
- Wouldn't it be cool if...
- If you want to kill an idea real fast, then take it into an exec's office. (I think this was really saying, do not show it to Joe)
- The word Yaw was used several times in presentations.
- Air pumps
- Shop stools
- Really extensive use for a high speed camera. I have got to get myself one of those.
- Adapt our race simulator for customers.
- One day today's high tech will look stupid. Get used to it.
- We have a guy on staff named Neo. I think he invented the Matrix or something.
- Get an accidental photo taken by the press of your new thing. That creates an actual crease in the time space continium.
- Hey new guy, run these 143 different airfoil shapes through the CFD
- Quote Issac Newton in your presentation like it is your brother.
Keith Bontrager was at the innovation summit. Gary Fisher was there also. These guys know a little bit of something about innovation.
I would really like to tell you more about the future, but I would of course have to kill you if I told you more. I have told you that before. You really must stop insisting that I tell you all about the future.
Out. Go home. Maybe go ride your bike. Have some Oatmeal, you will feel right as rain in no time, don't mind the vase you are going to knock over on your way out.
JV
Sometimes seeing the future makes you feel funny.
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