From Fire on a Stick to AI.

Today’s Marketing Cookie is about the incredible technological advancements witnessed over a century and the transformative impact they have on our lives.

When I was in the third grade, I remember seeing the oldest woman in Massachusetts on the news. She was more than 100 years old, and the interviewer asked her what she thought was the greatest invention she had witnessed in her life. Without hesitation, she quickly responded, “The match. Fire on a stick, who could have imagined that!” She continued, “Before we had matches, you had to keep hot coals burning all the time, or you’d be in big trouble.”

Wow! Just imagine all the innovations she witnessed in her life. She saw the invention of electricity, bringing light and electric appliances like the refrigerator, washing machine, and vacuum cleaner into her home. Oh yeah, the microwave! (No one understands how those work.) She saw the first movies, the first man on the moon, the first automobile, airplane, telephone, record player, radio, television, tape player, and VCR. While the Blue Diamond match had a memorable impact on her life, all these incredible innovations she witnessed reshaped the world we live in today.

When electricity became available in every home, the world rushed into a race to create the Electricity of Everything. This electrification revolution transformed daily life, industries, and the global economy. As society embraced the power of electricity, the possibilities seemed endless, leading to a century of innovation that fundamentally altered the way people lived, worked, and interacted with the world around them.

The one invention the oldest woman did not see in her lifetime, however, was the personal computer. If I live to be over 100 years old and someone asks me one day what the most amazing invention I saw in my life, I’ll probably say, “Pop-Tarts. But a close second would be HTML. Documents that can link to each other, who could have imagined that?” When the World Wide Web was first invented, my mind was blown. In that moment, I recognized the tremendous opportunity and immediately jumped in with both feet and started building a career.

I’ve seen many innovations over the last 30 years, as the world has pursued the Internet of Everything, everything mobile, the emergence of AI, and now we’re heading toward the AI of Everything. This is an exciting time when you can have your mind blown and create a career for yourself that has the potential to be transformative and world-changing. The impact of AI on our lives is not unlike the inventions of the match, electricity, or the internet. I believe AI will open new possibilities and opportunities for all of us, as today’s fortune says, “An important business venture may soon develop.”