Recurrent Patterns

Recurrent Patterns is a venture exploring strategies and insights around leading-edge companies, technology and cultural trends. Vaclav engages with leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists, authors and others who can share their perspectives in long-form conversations.

For regular updates sign up here.

Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Follow the bitcoin

Yes, there are people and organizations sitting on large amounts of bitcoin. But their ability to use it or change it to fiat currency is getting more and more difficult. The network for storing and trading bitcoin (and other digital assets) is growing and getting more transparent. Some see it as a good thing; some as a betrayal of the promise of anonymity, privacy and decentralization.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Apple’s Metaverse

The road to the Metaverse runs through entertainment and through the devices we use to get there. Apple is the one company which can pull it off. It is a plausible recurrent pattern.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Free Twitter!

We are at the end of the old social network platforms era. Facebook is trying to move itself to the utopia of Metaverse and the new kids like TikTok are desperately trying to get your attention. They all know that in order to survive they need to get money from you. Otherwise, they are done.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

The case of the forgetful AI

Forgetting is a highly personal experience. It is a curse and blessing at the same time. Your brain's forgetting functionality works in a mysterious way which is not understood. Trying to develop an algorithm to mimic that doesn’t have much prospect of success. In fact, it’s unclear how they could even measure success.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Living in Dark Ages

There have been many Dark Ages when knowledge is lost or forgotten. In this case, technology is helping us to forget the past much faster. Ironically, we are creating a new Dark Age. This will be a period which future generations will know little or nothing about.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Innovation is like Waldo: hard to find

Some of the most well-known companies in the world say they are trying to drive innovation - but are getting hung up when their technology works exactly as designed. It’s almost like the people who build technology should be thinking about strategy before they build it.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Dr. Google is on call

There are about 70,000 Google searches each second. Those searches happen every day, every week, every month and every year. That's how much we want to know, learn and ask about things we don't know. It includes searches for everything from the closest restaurant to the misspelled name of artists to everything else. Sometimes, Google finds it. Sometimes it doesn't. But in all cases, it provides an educated guess about what you are looking for and what is the best answer for your question.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Is AI conscious?(And if so, is it laughing at us?)

People love using the word AI. Isn’t it strange that there’s still so much disagreement about what it is? You are led to believe that AI is something mysterious which will become so powerful and overtake us. Some believe we are headed to a future where the computer will decide – and it will simply says 'no'.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

Could Twitter make it rain with blockchain?

Twitter, the decade plus old company, is still trying to define what it is and how to make money. It is trapped in a business model of providing free service in exchange for our souls and friends.

Read More
Vaclav Vincalek Vaclav Vincalek

The Truth

How many times have you read a news story, an article, or a post on Twitter or Facebook and were left confused? On the one hand, you wanted to believe that information was accurate. It would fit in your carefully-built narrative. At the same time, it was 'hard to believe' that something like this was possible. Also at that moment you realized that the effort to dig deeper and find out more was not the best use of your time and energy, and you left it at that.

Read More