Will you buy an Apple watch?
I’m saying no, just like I said five years ago that I didn’t really see a need in my life for an iPad.
I now have two of those in regular use.
Crowdfunding has seen its touchy topics before, but campaigns to raise money for police officer Michael Slager, charged with murder after shooting Walter Scott in the back multiple times during a traffic stop, divided the sites. As Meg Graham reported, Indiegogo accepted such efforts, while GoFundMe turned them away. (Update: Indiegogo has since changed its mind on that one.)
Whether you voted for Mayor Rahm Emanuel or challenger Chuy Garcia in Tuesday’s runoff election, it wasn’t by smartphone. Amina Elahi examined why we can file taxes online — you’ve done that already in advance of Wednesday’s deadline, right? — but not vote.
Do these words ring a bell? “That old car is worth money! … Victory will tow it away free, and you’ll get cash on the spot.” In The Distance, Wailin Wong tells the story of Victory Auto Wreckers, subject of one of Chicago’s best known local TV commercials. The business, founded in 1945, has invested millions of dollars in upgrading its facilities and image from dirty junkyard to modern recycling center, complete with mobile app.
Consumers accustomed to jumping out of Uber cabs without paying and ordering just about anything with one click on Amazon are leaving merchants wondering how far that easy-payment trend can go. PayPal’s Carey Kolaja pointed to Apple Pay’s simple confirmation notification.
“Apple Pay really created that moment with the clerk digitally in my mind,” Kolaja said at the Card Forum payments event in Chicago. “There’s a moment, for me, of confirmation, of security, of protection, of feeling like I don’t have to worry.”
Big-deal news: Chicago’s Trustwave was acquired by Singapore’s Singtel for $810 million in one of the city’s biggest tech exits ever, and early investor Dick Kiphart is one who might be expected to spread some of his winnings around. And Glen Tullman ? racked up $20 million in funding for his Livongo Health, which is focused on a glucose monitor for diabetes care and has plans to take on other chronic conditions.
Where does Pyrex come from? Office Tours went to World Kitchen to find out and found more muffin tins stacked on cubicles than we’ve seen in this series before.
Elsewhere, Kate MacArthur talked to Nick Brown about his aspirations for Glappitnova; John Carpenter visited an innovation lab at Lane Tech
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and Desiree Vargas Wrigley ? took a new role at GiveForward.Watch Sunday for Hillary Clinton to announce by social media her candidacy for president, days before George W. Bush will be in Chicago to give a Wednesday keynote at a health IT conference.
We have events! Brian Burkhart of SquarePlanet will lead a Blue Sky workshop on how to communicate your company’s story April 28. And May 4, I’ll lead a discussion with Amanda Lannert ? and Fred Cook on hiring and managing for innovation.
In the meantime, enjoy your weekend.
Andrea Hanis, editor of Blue Sky Innovation, wraps up the week’s news in The Friday Exit.