As the Trends Editors have previously discussed, people are increasingly relying on affinity groups for their sense of identity. For most of us, that identification leads to a sense of trust. And, whether you’re an environmentalist, an evangelical, a lesbian, or a retired person, you’re probably finding that one or more organizations is using that sense of trust as a marketing bridge to your wallet. Often this is perfectly legitimate, but in plenty of other cases it leads to unhappy outcomes. What are the implications, and what does the future hold? We’ll give you some answers you can trust.

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Because of the way the human nervous system is constructed, nothing has a more powerful influence on our moods than our olfactory impressions. And, it’s these moods that determine how effective we are as employees and how receptive we are as customers. No wonder companies are now spending billions to influence what we smell. Getting wind of this trend could prove to be a real competitive advantage.

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As every manager knows, hiring people with the right skills is hard enough, and keeping those skills up-to-date is nearly impossible. That’s where the corporate university comes in. Once the exclusive province of a few multi-nationals like General Motors, corporate universities are now found in thousands of major enterprises worldwide. What do they do? What benefits do they provide to corporations? We’ll teach you everything you need to know about this trend.

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A few years ago, there was a lot of buzz about human trials for an artificial heart implant in the U.S. But after some well-publicized disappointments, mechanical heart research disappeared off the front page. Since then, the field has actually gained momentum, and exciting work has put us substantially closer to a time when heart transplant donors may be unnecessary.

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As far back as the 1950s, audiences wearing cardboard glasses dreamed of watching three-dimensional television programming. Unfortunately, progress has been a lot slower than almost anyone would have imaged. So, when will 3-D TV arrive? What will it be like? And, will anyone really care? We’ll update you on the status and future of this long-promised technology.

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Once upon a time, loyalty programs provided a competitive advantage for the airlines and retailers who introduced them. Not only did they improve loyalty, but they provided a mechanism to collect data about purchases and a customer’s identity more effectively. But today, with nearly every business offering its own loyalty program, what is the future of such programs? We’ll explain.

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As that legendary technology trends spotter, George Gilder, reminds us, computing has dramatically shifted from the desktop to a set of enormously powerful nodes on the global network. This recentralization dramatically affects the economics of computing, and it impacts the opportunities presented by the current and most important phase of the Information Revolution. Who will win? Who will lose? What will it mean for you? We’ll provide the information you need.

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