Podcast Mysteries Unraveled: 12 Steps to Your First Podcast

 There are a lot of reasons to start a podcast, you may want to connect to your existing audience in a more personal way. You may not have an audience but would like to build one. Podcasting is a great way to build a new audience. You may want to become a recognized expert in your chosen niche. Podcasting is a great way to get your message out to the masses. Spencer Haws of Niche Pursuits has a great article about what podcasts are not good for, but he does add that they are great for branding and relationship building.
Whatever your motivation, podcasts are a great way to get your voice and message heard, but getting started can be a bit overwhelming. In this article, we break podcasting down into 12 simple steps to get your show on iTunes and have your voice heard. From a big picture perspective, you can break podcasting down into four parts plan, produce, publish and promote.

Planning Your Podcast

This is probably one of the most fun parts. You get to decide what your show is about. This is where you get to be creative and decide on the name of the show, the tone and message you want to portray, the format such as having co-hosts or guest interviews, and how long the shows will be and how often you will podcast. You also get to decide fun things like the branding, podcast music, logos and cover art that you will be using. The planning stage is a great time to be creative and weigh your creative options while still taking the time to iron out the nitty gritty details.

Planning Stage

• Discover your topic, podcast title, and description
• Decide on your format, podcast length, frequency and editorial calendar

• Develop your branding such as your cover art, logo, music, and script

Producing Your Podcast

This is the part where you get to record your podcast. This is another fun part of your podcast journey. This is where you get to gather up all of your podcast equipment and decide on the type of software you are going to use for recording and editing your show.

This is where you get to record and maybe re-record your first show. This is where you develop your microphone technique and your speaking and interview skills. This is where you get to hear what your voice really sounds like. This is the part you will revisit over and over and really develop to grow your brand and voice.

Producing Stage

• Record your show using your microphone and headphones
• Get your recording into a mp3 format using audio software and your computer
• Edit your mp3 file - take out ums, pauses and mistakes. Then add your music, intros, outros and advertising if any.

Publishing Your Podcast

Publishing your podcast is a three step approach. You need to make your recorded podcast files readily available for your listeners. This involves finding a media host. A media host is similar to a web host, but it is an affordable way to have your audio files always available with no downtime or bandwidth restrictions. Libsyn and Blubrry are two of the most popular media hosts.
You can also get a podcast feed from your media host. A podcast feed is similar to a blogging RSS feed, but it has all of the information for your podcast. Once you have your feed, you can use it to publish your podcast to podcast directories such as iTunes without doing any additional work other than uploading your new shows to the media host. The feed will automatically update the directories with your new information each time a new episode is added.
You will also want a way to interact with your podcast listeners. Publishing your podcast on your existing blog or website or creating one just for the podcast is a good idea. You can create a post for each new episode. On that post, you can have a podcast player with the episode, a link for your listener to subscribe to iTunes, show notes with a summary of that day’s topic and any links mentioned, and a call to action or a way to continue interacting with each listener that visits your site. The content can also help with SEO.
You will also want to publish your feed in iTunes. The biggest podcast directory in the world and where many of your new listeners will come from. There are quite a few requirements for publishing in iTunes, but the main things you will need is the validated feed from your media host, the cover image, the podcast title, description, categories, and tags.

Publishing Stage

• Sign up for a media host to submit files and create a feed
• Create a category on your blog or website to publish each episode and show notes
• Submit your podcast to iTunes using your podcast feed, title, description, and image

Promote Your Podcast

After all of the work you want to get as many listeners as possible. Like any online endeavor, promotion is one of the best ways to do that. As you hone your craft and build your content library, you want to promote along the way. The most common ways to promote your podcast is through an established website or mailing list that you already have. You can also grow your audience by interacting with the audience of other podcasters by being a guest or interviewing other podcasters and bloggers. You can also leverage social media using your accounts or your guest's accounts. These are the most common methods, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box. There are a number of steps to get started podcasting, but broken down they are not that overwhelming.

Promotion Stage

• Use your website and mailing list
• Leverage the audience of guests or bloggers you interact with
• Find a way to leverage social media for your podcast and potential audience

Why Comments Will Kill Your Website

Every few weeks I get a call from a client who wants to add a comments feature to their website. They envision their website’s visitors having great conversations in those comments areas, adding valuable content to the site that builds off the articles that the company has published.
The reality of what happens when that comments feature is added is often much different than this idyllic scenario, however.

It is rare that a comments area actually adds anything of value to a website, and in truth, that feature is more likely to hurt the website as whole.

Reality Check

The promise of “user generated content” is incredibly tempting for many companies. The idea is that actual site visitors would add comments onto a blog article, offer reviews of a product or service, or contribute to a community forum like a message board.

These contributors would keep the site’s content fresh and flowing and the interactions would increase overall engagement with that website and the company’s brand. That is the dream-case scenario, but the reality that is that a very small percentage of people ever actually leave a comment or review on a website.

Take Amazon as an example. While concreate numbers are not available to the public, estimates say that somewhere between .5% and 5% of people who buy a product on that site actually leave a review. Because Amazon has such a vast user base, this means that even less popular products often receive a review, but this percentage is something you need to consider when planning your own user generated content initiatives.

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If your website receives the low-end of the percentage that Amazon sees, (and even that is likely wishful thinking), that means that you would need about 200 people to view an article just to receive 1 comment – and there is no guarantee it will even be a quality content! Many online comments are little more than “Great article!”, which ultimately adds no value at all to the website.
In the end, for you to have a website with articles that actually receive a fair number of quality comments, you would need thousands upon thousands of readers for those articles. If your site does not already have this kind of traffic, you are likely to have a comment section that goes unused – or worse, the people you don’t want to use it will find it instead.

Comment Spam

Comments areas are a fertile playground for online spammers. Sometimes these links are obviously spam, and other times they are much hard to spot. You may see someone post a comment like this:
“Great article. I agree with the points you have made and think that this link supports your ideas as well.”
They would then link part of that comment to another website that has nothing to do with your own or the article you have written, creating a spam link that is much harder to spot and moderate.

Moderating Comments

If you are going to have comments on your website, you must be prepared to moderate those comments. There are basically two ways that you can do this.
You can set up your site so that no comments are actually published until they have been approved by a moderator. This prevents spammy content from hitting the site, but it also prevents people from getting that instant gratification of seeing their comments posted live. If you truly want to foster conversations on your site, instant publishing is critical.
The alternative to moderating comments before they hit your site is do so after they are published. This is an even worse scenario, since it means that spam links are sure to hit your site before you can remove them, and if spammers find a site they can exploit, you can be sure they will target it in droves! Moderating comments can quickly become a full-time job, and all those spammy comments are sure to drown out any legitimate conversations you were hoping to see on your site.
Another very real possibility with spam comments is that if search engines detect all those spammy links, they may penalize or even blacklist your site as being a link farm. This can destroy any SEO initiatives you had working for your site, or even have you removed from the search engine index altogether.
In addition to spam comments, you should also expect comments that may not be spam, but which rum the gamut from inappropriate, to offensive, to downright hateful. The anonymity of online comments often brings out the worst corners of the Internet, and you do not want this bile to hit your comments area any more than you want spam links in there.

In Closing

If you already have a great user base and a team that can moderate comments regularly, then comments may be a fit for your site. Otherwise, adding a comments feature is almost certain to be more of a headache then a help for your online marketing plans, and in worst case scenario, it could actually kill your website success altogether.

How to Cut Down On Your Mobile Data Usage

Unless you're still taking advantage of an unlimited data plan, it's important to track and manage your data usage. Cutting down on data has other advantages including saving on battery life, avoiding overage charges, and reducing the time spent staring at a smartphone screen. Here are some simply ways in which you can reduce your data usage.
Start by Tracking Your Usage
With any goal, whether it be losing weight, quitting smoking, or lowering data usage, you have to know where you stand.

That starts with tracking your activity and setting a goal. So, first, you have to know how much data you use every month, every week or even every day. Your goal may depend on the allotment granted by your wireless carrier or you can set your own depending on your situation.

Luckily tracking your data usage is easy with Android.

You can easily see your usage at glance in settings under data usage, and even set warnings and limits. You can also download third-party apps that offer even more insight into your usage. Let's say you typically use 3.5 GB of data per month and you'd like to reduce that to 2 GB. You can start by setting a warning when you reach 2 GB, and setting a limit of 2.5 GB, for example, and then gradually lower the limit to 2 GB. Setting a limit means your smartphone will turn off data when you reach that threshold so there's no mistaking when you've reached it.

Identify Data-Hungry Apps
Once you've got a goal in mind, start by identifying the most data-hungry apps you use. You can see a list of data-using apps in settings as well.

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On my smartphone, Facebook is near the top, using more than double what Chrome uses. I can also see that Facebook uses minimal background data (when I'm not using the app), but disabling background data globally, can make a pretty big difference.

You can also set data limits at the app level, which is cool, or, uninstall the offending app altogether.

Android Pit recommends using Facebook on a mobile browser or a lightweight web app called Tinfoil.

Use Wi-Fi When You Can
When you're at home or at the office, take advantage of Wi-Fi. At public places, such as coffee shops, be aware that open networks can pose security risks. I prefer to use a mobile hotspot, when I'm out and about. Set your apps to update only when Wi-Fi is turned on, otherwise they'll update automatically. Just be aware that when you do turn on Wi-Fi, a slew of apps will start updating at once (if, like me, you have tons of apps installed.) You can find this setting in the Play Store app. You can also disable auto-updating in the Amazon Appstore.
Cut Down on Streaming
This may seem obvious, but streaming music and video uses data. If you regularly listen to music on the go, this can add up. Some streaming services let you save playlists to listen to offline or you can simply transfer some music to your smartphone from your computer. Just make sure you have enough space on your smartphone or take some steps to gain back some space.

Which 2015 Samsung flagship smartphone should you buy?

Samsung is a company who manufacturers a bunch of smartphones, so many smartphones that it’s hard to keep a track of them, but its true flagship series has always been the Galaxy S. However, that was only until the company introduced the Galaxy Note series to the world in 2011, now consumers had two flagship series to choose from, but decision making was relatively easy.
If you wanted a smartphone with a big display, a large battery, and a stylus, you would go for a Note; if you wanted compact design, fast software updates, and high-end specifications, you would go for an S.

Super easy, right? Yeah, that’s not how it works anymore.

This year, in 2015, the Korean giant launched five different flagship devices: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 Active and Galaxy Note5, and it could be a bit difficult to decide between them. Nonetheless, today, I’ll help you pick the perfect Samsung device for yourself.
Let’s start with the specification similarities, first.
SoC

• Samsung Exynos 7420 (8 Core, 64-Bit, 14nm) processor
• ARM Mali-T760 (8 Core) GPU

Display

• Quad HD (2560x1440) Super AMOLED display

Camera

• 16 Megapixel (2160p@30FPS, 1080p@60FPS, 720p@120FPS) — main camera sensor
• 5 Megapixel (1440p@30FPS, 1080p@30FPS, 720@FPS) — front camera sensor
• LED Flash
• Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS)
• Auto Real-time HDR (Front & Rear)
• Live Broadcast
• Virtual Shot
• Slow Motion
• Fast Motion
• Pro Mode
• Selective Focus
• Low Light Video (Front & Rear)
• High Clear Zoom
• IR Detect White Balance
• Quick Launch
• Tracking AF

Connectivity

• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• MIMO(2x2)
• Bluetooth v4.2 LE
• ANT+
• USB 2.0
• NFC
• Location

Sensors

• Accelerometer
• Proximity
• RGB Light
• Geo-magnetic

• Gyro
• Fingerprint (except S6 active)
• Barometer
• Hall
• Heart Rate Monitor (HRM)

Operating System

• Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
• TouchWiz UX

Power

• Fast Charging (Wired)
• Wireless Charging (WPC and PMA)

Payment

• Samsung Pay
• Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST)

Now, let’s see what the differences are between the five flagship devices.
Samsung Galaxy S6
Display Size: 5.1-inch (577ppi)
Internal Memory: 32GB/64GB/128GB (UFS 2.0)
RAM: 3GB
Battery Size: 2,550mAh
Sensors: IR Blaster
Colours: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Blue Topaz
Samsung Galaxy S6 Active
Display Size: 5.1-inch (577ppi)
Internal Memory: 32GB (UFS 2.0)
RAM: 3GB
Battery Size: 3,500mAh
Colours: Camo White, Camo Blue, Gray
Additional Functionality: IP68 (Dust resistant and waterproof), Activity Zone, Active Key
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
Display Size: 5.1-inch (577ppi), Dual edge display
Internal Memory: 32GB/64GB/128GB (UFS 2.0)
RAM: 3GB
Battery Size: 2,600mAh
Sensors: IR Blaster
Colours: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Green Emerald
Additional Functionality: People Edge, App Edge, Edge Lighting, Information Stream, Night Clock
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
Display Size: 5.7-inch (518ppi), Dual edge display
Internal Memory: 32GB/64GB (UFS 2.0)
RAM: 4GB
Power: 3,000mAh, Fast Wireless Charging
Camera: RAW Support
Colours: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Titanium Silver
Additional Functionality: People Edge, App Edge, Edge Lighting, Information Stream, Night Clock
Samsung Galaxy Note5
Display Size: 5.7-inch (518ppi), Dual edge display
Internal Memory: 32GB/64GB (UFS 2.0)
RAM: 4GB
Power: 3,000mAh, Fast Wireless Charging
Camera: RAW support
Colours: White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Titanium Silver
Additional Functionality: S Pen, Air Command, Scroll Capture

CONCLUSION

Internally, the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge are very similar devices with the only difference being the display type. The GS6 sports a flat display, while the GS6 edge boasts a curved, dual edge panel and edge-specific software features.
The Galaxy S6 Active is designed for people who require a long-lasting battery and an overall tough smartphone.
Treat the Galaxy S6 edge+ and Note5 as Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy S6. Give the Galaxy S6 edge a large display, and you have the S6 edge+; give the Galaxy S6 a large display, an S Pen and it’s software features, and you have the Note5 right there.
So, let’s simplify a few things. Here are a few questions for you:

• Want a curved display or a flat display?
  Curved: Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 edge
  Flat: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Active, Galaxy Note5
• Want a 5.1-inch display or a 5.7-inch display?
  5.1-inch: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 Active
  5.7-inch: Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note5
• Want a large battery?
  3500mAh: Galaxy S6 Active
  3000mAh: Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Note5
  2550/2600mAh: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge
• Want the S Pen or not?
  S Pen: Galaxy Note5
  N/A: Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy Active

After reading this entire article, you probably have decided what 2015 Samsung flagship device you’re going to buy. Have fun with your brand new smartphone!

OnePlus X Hands-on

Yesterday, at the Altitude Tower in London, OnePlus announced its third smartphone — the OnePlus X. The OnePlus X is a device very different from anything the company has manufactured in the past. This time around, the company has heavily emphasised on the device’s design, and it’s one of the most gorgeous and well-built smartphones I have ever laid my eyes on.
There are two variations of the OnePlus X: Onyx and Ceramic.

Let me explain the difference between the two. The Onyx edition is the baseline model of the X, it features a complete black glass construction on both the front and the back with an anodised metal frame in the middle, which is etched with 17 elegant micro-cuts; adding to the premium feel and enhancing the grip of the smartphone.

Whereas, the Ceramic version is a limited edition, there will only be 10,000 units produced, it replaces the Onyx’s black glass back with a highly-treated ceramic one. OnePlus says it takes 25 days to manufacture a single Ceramic OnePlus X. It all starts with a 0.5mm thick zirconia mold, the ceramic is then heated up to 2,700ºF for more than 28 hours and then it takes two days for it to cool down. The backplate undergoes three different methods of polishing before it’s ready to be assembled on the device. And, due to it being ceramic, it has a hardness of 8.6H on the Mohs scale, making it scratch-resistant. So, one thing’s for sure, you’re gonna have a tough time scratching that backplate.
Both models look fairly identical, with only a few very minor differences.

The backplate on the Ceramic edition has a more mirror-like finish, it’s more prone to fingerprints, has tapered edges, and adds a bit of heft, when compared with the Onyx variant. The tapered edges help provide a very seamless feel between the ceramic back, the metal frame in the middle, and the glass on the top.

The device features a 5-inch Full HD (1920x1080) AMOLED display with a pixel density of 441ppi, it’s the company’s first smartphone to boast an AMOLED panel — outsourced from Samsung. Just like any other AMOLED panel, it has outstanding black levels, however, I found the colours to be way oversaturated. And, I have been using Samsung’s Galaxy S series as my primary smartphones of choice, since the last 5 years now, when I say it’s way oversaturated, it really is. I hope OnePlus tones it down a bit with the colours on the retail units. The company has brought its Alert Slider from the OnePlus 2 to its OnePlus X, the slider allows you to switch between sound profiles.
In terms of raw performance, it’s packing a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC — yes, that’s not a typo — clocked at 2.3GHz, an Adreno 330 GPU, and 3GB of RAM. Yes, the Chinese manufacturer is shipping its latest device with a year old processor, but it’s not really a bad thing. If you try remembering, the Galaxy S5 shipped with an 801, and that was Samsung’s 2014 flagship device. If the company didn't went with the S801, which is still classified as a high-end chip, it would have to go with the Snapdragon 617, which is a chip design for mid-range devices. The company tested both silicons and found the 801 to be better. Also, in my hands on time with the device, I have found the overall performance to be actually quite good.
The smartphone comes with 16GB of built-in storage, which is expandable via a microSD card slot; I wouldn’t say it’s a microSD card slot, it’s a 2nd nano SIM card slot, as the device has dual-sim functionality, but OnePlus allows you to use it for a microSD card, if you only use a single SIM card.
The Chinese manufacturer has also changed camera sensor vendors as well. This time around, the company knocked Samsung’s doors for its 13 megapixel ISOCELL camera sensor. Even before you ask, no, it can’t shoot 4K videos, but it can shoot Full HD (1080p) videos at 60FPS, and HD (720p) videos at 120FPS. Also, I noticed that there was no shutter lag on the OnePlus X; the shutter lag was simply unbearable on the OnePlus 2. For the front-facing camera, company went with an 8 megapixel sensor, vendor is currently unknown.
Out of the box, the device ships with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with Oxygen OS 2.1.2 running on top of it. Yes, there’s no Marshmallow yet, but it’s coming soon. It has all the usual Oxygen OS features you would expect: Dark mode, Shelf, Gestures, App Permissions, Accent colours, and custom buttons. Furthermore, two new features have been added to Oxygen, especially for the X, and they are called Ambient display and FM Radio. You’re probably already familiar with them from other devices.
Powering everything is a pretty large 2,525mAh LiPo battery. There’s no wireless charging, quick charging, or NFC — just like the OnePlus 2.
The Onyx model will launch in Europe and India on November 5, in the U.S. on November 19, and will retail for £199/€269/$249. On the other hand, the Ceramic model will launch in Europe and India on November 24, it won’t be coming to the U.S., and will cost £269/€369. Furthermore, just like previous OnePlus devices, you won’t actually be able to buy them straight away, you’ll need an invite. However, the company states that the invite-system will only be valid for a month, afterwards it would allow anyone to buy it.

Fujifilm X100T Review

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The Bottom Line

While the my Fujifilm X100T review shows a camera that has a couple of significant drawbacks and certainly isn't going to appeal to every photographer, it's a very impressive model in many areas. The image quality is very impressive, even in low light conditions, and this model's f/2 lens is of an amazing quality.
Fujifilm gave the X100T a hybrid viewfinder, which allows you to switch back and forth between an optical viewfinder and electronic viewfinder, depending on whether you need to see data about the settings in the viewfinder window.

The X100T can give advanced photographers plenty of control over the camera's settings.

Now for the drawbacks. First, if you're looking for a big zoom setting -- or any kind of zoom setting for that matter -- the X100T isn't your camera. It has a prime lens, meaning there's no optical zoom. And then there's the four-figure price tag of this model, which will leave it outside of the budget range of many photographers.

As long as you know exactly what the Fujifilm X100T can and cannot do, and it fits what you're seeking from a camera, it's worth considering. You'll definitely be hard-pressed to find anything like it in the market.

Specifications

• Resolution: 16.3 megapixels
• Optical zoom: None, fixed focal length
• LCD: 3.0-inch, 1,040,000 pixels (also hybrid viewfinder)
• Maximum image size: 4896 x 3264 pixels
• Battery: Rechargeable Li-Ion
• Dimensions: 5.0 x 2.9 x 2.1 inches
• Weight: 15.5 ounces (with battery and memory card)
• Image sensor: APS-C CMOS, 23.6 x 15.6 mm
• Movie mode: HD 1080p

Pros

• Great hybrid (optical and electronic) viewfinder option
• Very good image quality in all shooting situations, including low light
• Fast performance in burst shooting

• Plenty of manual control options
• Camera's design looks like a vintage model with plenty of dials and toggles
• Accurate autofocus mode alongside good manual focus system

Cons

• Lens has no optical zoom capability
• Starting price is very high
• Flash is embedded in front of camera body, rather than popup unit
• Requires practice to use all of the features properly

• Autofocus could work more quickly to minimize shutter lag

Image Quality

Fujifilm gave this high-end fixed-lens camera an impressive APS-C image sensor, which yields great image quality, no matter what kind of lighting you encounter. Low light performance is especially good with the X100T versus other fixed-lens cameras. It has 16.3 megapixels of resolution. You can record in RAW, JPEG, or both image formats at the same time.
Another interesting factor with this model is its inclusion of film simulation modes, some of which are not really available with other cameras.
The lack of an optical zoom lens with the X100T really limits its effectiveness to portraits or landscape photos. Action photos or wildlife photos are going to be a challenge with this model's lack of an optical zoom.

Performance

The prime lens included with the X100T is a very impressive unit. It's a fast lens, offering a maximum f/2 aperture. And the X100T's autofocus mechanism works quickly and accurately.
With a maximum burst performance of 6 frames per second, this Fujifilm model is one of the fastest performers among non-DSLR cameras on the market.
I was surprised with how effective the X100T's built-in flash unit was, especially considering its small size. You also can add an external flash to this unit's hot shoe.
Battery life is very good for a camera of this type, and you can gain even more battery life by making use of the viewfinder more than the LCD to frame photos.

Design

You'll definitely notice this model's design immediately. It's a retro looking camera that is similar in physical design to Fujifilm's X100 and X100S models that were released in the past few years.
The hybrid viewfinder is a great design feature of this camera, allowing you to switch between optical viewfinder, electronic viewfinder, or LCD/Live View modes to meet whatever you happen to need to frame a particular type of scene.
I liked the fact that this model has several buttons and dials that allow the photographer to control it easily without having to work through a series of on-screen menus. However, the placement of a couple of dials is poor, meaning you might bump a dial out of position inadvertently through normal camera usage or even while moving in and out of a camera bag.
Even though you may rely on the viewfinder most of the time when using the X100T, Fujifilm provided this model with a sharp LCD screen with more than 1 million pixels of resolution.

Predicting the Future of Tech

Understanding new technology is important. This is obvious if you work in tech, where you can probably feel the ground shifting beneath your feet. But even if you ostensibly don't work in tech, economies and job markets are being affected by new technologies like never before.

Tech Matters to Everyone

It’s harder now to be a luddite than ever. In fact, writers like Kevin Kelly believe that luddites don’t really exist.

He’s followed Amish cultures that have traditionally avoided technology. It turns out they are full of innovations. 

Amish culture is filled with hacks and workarounds that allow them to maintain their cultural ideals while getting things done. For example, they have created complex pneumatic systems as a way to power tools and manufacturing while remaining off the electrical grid.

They've simply created their own forms of tech.

Technology is fundamental to our humanity, and understanding how it evolves is essential to our livelihood. So, how do we predict where tech is going?

Crazy Ideas

Nicholas Negroponte has shown a knack for predictions. He, along with the MIT Media Lab that he founded, accurately predicted things like car GPS navigation and touchscreen interfaces decades before their time.
What is he predicting now? Ingestible learning. A pill you can take that will instantly give you knowledge, like the ability to speak French. The common theme among all these predictions has been that they were all initially dismissed as unattainable.
An idea like this brings to mind what Paul Graham has said about startups.

Disruptive startups begin with an idea that seems not just wrong, but maybe even crazy. Most truly disruptive technologies are initially laughable. 

Non-Linear Progress

How do laughable ideas end up coming true? One reason is because progress isn’t linear. Humans are good at extrapolating things in a linear way, but when exponential curves like Moore’s Law come into play, our cognitive machinery sputters.

To say that computing power doubles every two years is simple enough. To really appreciate what that means for tech progress is near impossible.

While many debate whether Moore’s Law will hold over time, progress in any developmental sense is rarely linear. Look at how quickly human civilization has sprung up within earth’s history: certainly not a linear progress. It’s for this reason that ideas like runaway AI and The Singularity are worth some attention, despite seeming incredibly far off.

How to Predict the Future

So where does this leave us? How do we predict the future?
Mostly it leaves us in the dark; or at best in a dense fog. But here are some clarifying principles for predicting the future of tech:
One of the most important concepts to understand is the Power Law distribution. It is the notion of one or two big hits, with many, many misses. Think of the results of entering a lottery.
New technology follows the Power Law: most technology won’t make an impact, but the few things that break out result in giant, unpredictable paradigm shifts. Even the best tech investors put money into many failed startups.  The one investment in a company like Facebook pays for hundreds of failed investments.
It’s for this reason that one should be skeptical of “experts” in this arena. Experts often believe that with experience, predictions can get better, but when the world itself is changing, you can’t become more confident in predictions over time. Experience in fact often makes thinking less flexible. In the early 90s, writers at Wired predicted that the Internet would become like TV, only better. Quite the understatement.
The trick, then, is to remain steadfastly open minded and flexible. Have ideas as a template to guide one’s actions, but be prepared to hold them loosely.
Technology has a recursive effect on the people that use it. New technology can power more ideas. As such, it pays to try everything. Though many worry about the effect that tech has on our culture, it isn’t by itself good or bad. It’s an extension of our humanity. Innovations will happen in the area of making technology a more personal, sociable and emotional experience.
With the rate of change accelerating, predicting the future will become more difficult over time. But by remaining energetic, open-minded, and surrounding yourself with new ideas, you stand the best chance of staying slightly ahead of the very sharp curve.