6 Dec 2020, Sunday

 6 Dec 2020, Sunday

Prioritized Daily Task

Truitt Robinson 21st Birthday - Called and wished him a happy birthday

12 Noon - Church, fast and testimony meeting, followed by administering of the sacrament 

I talked to Michael who at 8:30 PM MST was about an hour from his home in San Clemente with the children.

 I wrote a letter to send to all the older grand children.  It contained some of my reasoning behind the importance of their getting an education in this world we live in today.  I will email it to Gavin, Blake, Grace and maybe Tucker and Ethan.  I do not have any of their emails except Gavin's.  I will try and get the other children's emails this week.  Debbie is sending it to Cache, Cooper, Shelby, Samantha and hope she will show it to Tyler, who she is thinking about marrying.  

"December is a time of the year we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is the ending of a year that is in the history books and we can not relive a single one of its days.  It is a time we start to think about rolling in a new year and setting goals.  

The Lord has said if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.  D&C 38:30 

The Lord is pouring down knowledge from Heaven at an ever-increasing rate. D&C 121:33

Progress is leaving many behind who are not educated or do not keep up with their education.  Men and women who work today are finding their jobs being replaced with computers and robots some through artificial intelligence.  The world around us is changing at never-before-seen speeds… the speed and capabilities of our computers are increasing at unfathomable rates…it’s catching many people off guard.

The gap between the high income and low income is increasing, and the middle class is disappearing.  

The acceleration of technological progress allows companies to operate with just a fraction of the number of employees businesses used to require.

Airbnb now offers more rooms than the top five hotel brands, including Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt all combined.  (Airbnb, Inc. has 6,300 employees, markets in 57 languages on the Webb.  Through their service, users can arrange lodging, primarily homestay or list their properties for rental. Airbnb does not own any of the listed properties. It is privately owned and was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk and Joe Gebbia.) 

Wikipedia the free online encyclopedia has annihilated traditional encyclopedia companies.

In 2010, Encyclopedia Britannica published its final volumes, after 244 years of circulation.  (It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, as three volumes.)

Blockbuster actually had the chance to join forces with Netflix in the early days… but passed on the idea when Netflix founder, Reed Hastings, pitched them on it.

Blockbuster went from a market value of $5 billion to bankruptcy in less than nine years.  Blockbuster’s “pass” on Netflix is widely regarded as one of the worst decisions in modern corporate history.

As of December 2020, Netflix is one of the greatest success stories of the past 20 years.

Netflix has taken over the $2.2 TRILLION entertainment and media industry... 

This is an example of why the wealth gap in America is widening.

This phenomenon has been repeating itself over and over again.

In recent years established businesses that appear sturdy and in control of their markets are being destroyed by new technology start-up companies.  

Amazon has transformed the way we shop and how we get our stuff.

In the process, Amazon has driven dozens of old-school “brick and mortar” retailers into bankruptcy.

A few years ago, Uber debuted its popular “ride-sharing” technology.

In less than seven years, Uber demolished the “old” taxi industry.

Spotify and iTunes have turned the music world upside down.

Google has taken over information.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram have disrupted traditional media outlets. 

Vast amounts of cheap, online content supplied over internet connections killed many newspapers that followed the “old” business model.

Since 2004, at least 1,800 American newspapers have ceased publication. The sector has shed 47% of its jobs during this time.

Behind the scenes, small tech upstarts are beginning to wreak havoc on established businesses and industries across the board

One small startup, for instance, just developed an AI-based software program that can review and analyze legal contracts faster and with better accuracy than a human can.

It was recently pitted against 20 of the best lawyers in America—and won!

Thank about the implications this will have on anyone in – or thinking about going into – the legal profession.

Similar disruptions are occurring right now in real estate… human resources… transportation… customer service… finance… sales… marketing… and more.

The driver of wealth inequality, that has opened a large and growing chasm between the haves and the have nots, is technology.  Forty years ago, it took the work of tens of thousands of people to build a business worth $50 billion.   Now, it takes less than 2,000 people.

In 2019, the workplace software company Slack achieved a market value of $23 billion. It had less than 1,700 employees.

Getting to a $23 billion valuation with just 1,700 employees never used to happen!

Now, it happens all the time.

Back in 1989, Kodak had about 145,000 employees and was valued around $16 BILLION.

But in 2017, Snapchat achieved a $24 BILLION valuation and had just 1,800 employees.

Back in 1964, AT&T had more than 750,000 employees.

But in 2017, Google was a bigger and far richer company than AT&T with 92% fewer employees sharing the wealth.

The best new companies of today simply don’t need many people compared to companies from a decade or two ago.

The number of great jobs is decreasing while the pay for the employees who get these jobs is radically soaring!

This is why the wealth gap gets wider and wider every single year.

The incredible rise in computing power, automation and robotics are making these things possible.

The rules of business are being rewritten in front of our very eyes.

Converging technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, driverless cars, augmented reality and more will completely reshape our world.

Grandma Debbie and I love you and hope you will exercise your agency to choose to get the right education in this fast-moving world that will help you to provide for yourself and those you love.  In doing so, gain wisdom and understanding."