DealHorizon - the faster, easier way to create and share business plans

I met Jonathan Schwartz of Bulldog Strategy for a coffee at "World Headquarters" (aka Angry Moon Cigars) in Palm Beach today, and sitting across from us were two rich, retired guys from Jersey.

After listening to us update each other for a few minutes, one of them had a coughing attack, leading me to suggest he should lay off the cigars. That got a laugh, broke the ice and got us talking.

What intruiged me about the conversation was again being reminded that there are still millions, perhaps tens of millions of people out there in developed countries that haven't yet adopted some of the basic client software that the rest of us have adopted for daily use - like Skype.

These guys had never heard of Skype. They shook their heads when we told them that international calls were free.

I told them about the retirement home where my Dad lives in Australia (he has Parkinsons and needs 24 hour care) - and how they have a laptop now which they will bring to his room, so he can connect to us in Florida via Skype (the home has its own account) and see the grandkids, have a chat, etc.

Grandfathers themselves, they thought that was brilliant. Which is exactly what my Dad thinks of it.

We moved on from Skype to the topic of robotics (as featured in a recent Popular Mechanics article - PopMech being the Wired magazine of its day). I took a few minutes out to show them the video of Boston Dynamics' "Big Dog" equipment-carrying robot, and their new PetMan biped.

If you haven't seen these videos, check them out here on YouTube. They are mindblowing - watch the PetMan biped robot get kicked from the side, then correct itself in mid-stride. This video is guaranteed to make you feel like the future is now, and it was an even bigger hit with the guys from Jersey than Skype.