"The Volkswagen Microbus is a classic - even to those of us born after its time. Arguably unlike the newly remade Beetle, this remake of a VW classic is remarkably true to the original on the outside - but on the inside it is a bio-diesel hybrid stuffed full of high tech gadgetry and eco-friendly innovations."
- Kol Tregaskes
from Bookmarklet
Super cool VW Bus making a comeback...
- Walt Ruppar
First of all, I'll cop to wanting one of these. That being said, Jason is right. This is for rich hippies (who probably aren't hippies at all). The VW microbus became the darling of the Flower Power crowd because it was cheap, easy to repair, and big. You could camp in it. Is there a car today that fits this bill?
- Chris Baskind
wow, you can buy an awful lot of pot with $129,000.
- Thomas Hawk
I don't know a self-respecting hippie that would prefer this over a really nice indoor greenhouse. ;-)
- Chris Baskind
@Chris, Most cars today aren't as simple, but with the wealth of knowledge online, it just takes more time. The minivan/SUV can become a camper van with a few mods. They'll never take the place of the VW, but they're an updated version of the 70s panelvan conversions (hopefully without shag carpeting & a disco-ball).
- Steven Cains
Nope: there will never be anything that simple again. That's not all bad: I can't imagine a 1960s VW Minibus would satisfy *any* federal safety standard these days. You're right. A used minivan might be the closest thing.
- Chris Baskind
Very Cool. You can't drive your house but, you can sleep in your Van !!!
- Eric Logan
Very intriguing. How much steel is in that thing? Chris, that would be my next question after fuel consumption: how safe is this thing? And I agree, when we can go back to making transportation that costs less than a small home, we may have achieved something amazing. ;)
- Melanie Reed
However, I have heard (and I'm not remembering where at the moment) that there has been a movement growing of people seeking alternative housing and substituting things like this as the new "mobile" home.
- Melanie Reed
Everyone is loving this! We should have an FF one and use it to travel to all the FFers around the World (like Pea seems to be doing ;-)). Hehe. :-)
- Kol Tregaskes
cool idea, kol. the ff-stream of this tour would be alltheawe. just imagine the photos.
- esther ♥ ♫
I've owned 5 VWs, two of which were split window vans. I'd love to have another, this is awesome!
- Rick Bucich
from twhirl
I have had more VWs than other cars...starting with a 71 Superbeetle, and a Split Window Microbus. I would LOVE to have something like this.
- Kreg Steppe
Good for grandparents to visit grandchildren and children through the European continent (or another one as well)...nomadism-revival!
- Isabelle Ayel
wow i posted this a while back and now can't seem to find it for some reason. friendfeed's search function really sucks!
- Cee Bee
So after reading this article yesterday, I found myself this evening in front of a local place that specializes in reconditioning old VWs. It was closed, but there's an awesome red and white microbus out front with a For Sale sign on it. Ugly, underpowered -- and probably dangerous, by modern standards. Want. ;-)
- Chris Baskind
Cee, really? I find FF search is pretty good.
- Kol Tregaskes
I love this Mobile...owned a few Vdubs, lived in a VW camper, but this is off the hook..I would become a true nomad with this...
- bcultral
I'd like to have something like this, something small. What do you really need? A bed, perhaps a TV and room for your computer. Then you can live anywhere you like, in theory.
- Kol Tregaskes
Who is this Canadian designer Alexandre Verdier? Seems like he is on Facebook, Linked In but I can't seem to find anything else about him.
- Brian Sullivan
We had a wesvalia built Micro when I was a kid. I loved that thing. It was a little flimsily built; but boy it was perfect for my family of campers and road-tripping warriors. Too bad this one is so pricey
- Bill Rawlinson
Agree on the whole. I always find these categories a little artificial: Really "Forrester-speak". :) I think the recommendations are the most interesting. I'd make a separate post out of that.
- Meryn Stol
You say it yourself: "What’s interesting isn’t this vision for the future, but what it holds in store for brands, " . I'd like these recommendations to be fleshed out with concrete first steps to take. Doesn't have to be more than links to relevant resources.
- Meryn Stol
Meryn The recommendations are fleshed out in the actual reports. Our clients (brands) have access to see them.
- Jeremiah Owyang
Hmm ok... Then I'll need to get the details elsewhere I guess. :)
- Meryn Stol
Interesting categorization of the development into eras. Any consideration to the impact of scale on the 5th era? Just as a recent example with Facebook, their format evolution was not well received by what is not an insignificant number of members, and yet the reality is - that change - negative impact not withstanding is not rolling back.
- Patrick Boegel
There will be a give and take between communities and brands. The thing is, Facebook doesn't have a competitive alternative that users could go to. In my report, we suggest that active communities could define specs for products, and bid MULTIPLE companies to build it.
- Jeremiah Owyang
I completely understand that Jeremiah, just wondering if the nature of scale impacted or perhaps better said impacts the thought process for very complex long term brand relationships, ie Health Insurance, Financial Services, a college/university choice, where consversation and user invovlement can be complicated. Very interested in the full report either way. Thx.
- Patrick Boegel
good stuff Jeremiah, enjoyed and some good thought provokers there for the future
- Richard Binhammer
Nice paper but really expensive for young people. $750 means $41 for page.
- Alp
Great information, understanding the future's potential is more important than ever on the social web.
- Maria Reyes-McDavis
Interesting, but very general and hard to apply. I see companies more as å provide of tools/stage for conversation, aka the gold rush mining vs selling tools
- Anders Dahlberg
Alp, Many of Forrester's clients are large brands who have a subscription. We're still sharing a great deal on this blog, and have given the report to bloggers to cover, so there's value to be had there.
- Jeremiah Owyang
Jeremiah (and the team), a great piece of work and, I imagine, a labour of both love and loathing at times! I have been very interested in this area as I have looked at the shift in skills to deliver social media activity changes from one of basic coding knowledge to much more human, interactive skills.
- Paul Fabretti
Fantastic article! I found it SO intriguing that I've even printed it out!
- J. D. Ebberly
"How Brands Should Prepare" is a great bit of information. Jeremiah, it would be nice (i'd be reading) if you expanded in future blog posts about the "How Brands Should Prepare".
- frank barry
That's likely to be a research report I'm thinking about writing Frank
- Jeremiah Owyang
Probably correct in assuming that most online social networks will neither spawn nor solidify to the point of being considered ‘affinity groups’ with the level of cohesion, unified budgetary authority or organized implementation capability of NGOs, churches, or employee aggregations. Even in the era of social commerce. I hope I’m wrong.
- A Mitchell
Great post, understanding the future's potential is more important than ever on the social web.
- Vlad Hrouda
Killer article Mike. I have personally proposed many of your strategies above to some restaurants/business. I hope many of them wake up and see the value before their competitors do.
- Amani
Great post! I think restaurants can use social media to improve their menu and come with new suggestions. Also, I would love to learn more about the kitchen of my favorite restaurants. Very few restaurants have a clean kitchen and if they can proof they have one and use quality ingredients, it will be a great +
- Zack Brandit
Nice article, Mike. One of the great related examples is @kogiBBQ on Twitter - they make me drool with their pics and hope to try them out when next in LA - they tweet their truck locations
- Sally Church
Isn't there a website where you can submit pictures of photo-stealers? This should totally be submitted. || Edit: Found it. http://thisisphotobomb.com/
- Miss Elle
...it was only after Chipper received his prints from the local PhotoMat that he realized two humans had snuck into the background of his lakeview self-portrait.
- .LAG liked that
Je trouve Fred généralement très bien informé. Echos est le dernier truc du moment, faut comprendre. Mais il me semble que Fred n'a jamais considéré sérieusement Friendfeed (1 like). Il y a pourtant FF dans ses screenshots. Il ne va pas tarder je pense, s'il expérimente un peu tout ça.
- Jérôme Flipo
Si je n'ai pas cité FF, c'est parceque je parle avant tout des ervices d'agrégation de commentaires sur mon billet. Pour info j'ai déjà rédigé un article sur les lifestream l'année dernière : http://www.fredcavazza.net/2008...
- Fred CAVAZZA
Bon maintenant je me pose la question de savoir comment intégrer FF de façon plus efficace à mes blogs...
- Fred CAVAZZA
De mon cote, je regarde actuellement comment utiliser Wave pour mettre en place un systeme de commentaires. Je pense que c'est possible.
- Didier Girard
Didier, je suis impatient de pouvoir tester ça. Malheuresement, j'ai fait l'erreur de demander mon compte pour développer un robot qui me prendrait que qques semaines: en spécifiant plusieurs mois, j'aurais déjà reçu mon invitiation.
- Jérôme Flipo
C'est vrai que si Wave cartonne, toute cette excitation "Friendfeed" fera long feu. M'enfin, on va pas se plaindre de voir la blogosphère française s'essayer avec la technologie dernier cri!
- Jérôme Flipo
Geoff, no matter, you didn't. Still love that little one. I also love dogs. Have you seen the dogs I post daily? I LUV my special animal choices. :)
- Myrna
"For the study, Razorfish surveyed 1,000 consumers split evenly between active social network users and a broader sample of the general population. Overall, 80% belonged to at least one social network and 40% were active in two. The findings revealed a paradox, though, in that 62% say they don't seek out brand opinions via social media but 71% share recommendations on products and services on social sites at least once every few months."
- Nilesh
from Bookmarklet
What? There's another view? Please post.
- Ken Morley
I'm pretty sure it's in the collection "Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head", published back in the early/mid 70s. I know I've got it around here somewhere...
- ɐ ɯıʞ sıɹɥɔ
OMG I love strange trees. I have an awesome photo of Madagascar baobabs that look like trees from outer space. It will probably be my computer's wallpaper forever. Turns out they're the number one trees on this list, too. They deserve it. I'd love to see them in person. The actual picture I use is there! The 3rd pic of baobabs.
- Kamilah Gill
For those who are interested in finding more about using Animals as Web Mascots , here are 21 fine examples for your reference.
- yagami
from Bookmarklet