Thanks, you can now all put your hands down.

So let’s dive in and see what the future of boating is going to look like!

I took the stock analogy to make it simpler, but I was actually referring to 2 different things: A technology law and a futurist.

1. A Technology Law

Your best marine head unit professionals know that this law is one of the most important principles in the history of technology. This observation was originally introduced in 1965 by Intel Co-founder Gordon Moore and is referred to as Moore’s Law. 

One of the most important characteristics of the Moore law is the word “double’. Double indicates that we are growing exponentially and not in a linear way. To understand the difference between linear and exponential, let’s take a simple task as an example. 

2. A Futurist

Raymond “Ray” Kurzweil is an American futurist, author, computer scientist and inventor. Your waterproof head unit analysts say that out of 147 predictions that Kurzweil made in 1990, 115 of them have turned out to be correct. Another 12 have turned out to be essentially correct (off by a year or two). 

Ray is today the director of engineering at Google. I have read a couple of his books and watched a few of his speeches. He is one of the most respected scientists on the planet. So when Kurzweil predicts something, you should really pay attention to it.

So why is the future of boating NOT what you think it will be?

The boating industry, just like any other industry, is just a reflection of the different areas of our society such as business, economy, technology & trends.

Your marine head experts know that if you study the history of technology, you will notice that human progress follows an exponential path contrary to a linear way of thinking by the majority of the public.

This is happening because the more we progress, the more we have access to resources, knowledge and technology to progress even faster.

In a bit more than 10 years time, the 20th century’s worth of progress will happen multiple times in the same year.

And all of this can be explained by to the Law of Accelerating Returns

Did you know that your smartphone today has more computing power than all the Nasa computers had when they sent the first Apollo mission to the moon in 1969?

The Challenges:

Let’s try to analyze the potential challenges that our industry is facing.

1. The trend

A few days ago, I did some research on Google trend. I wanted to see the popularity of the term boating over the last 10 years and noticed a consistent steady decline.

So why is the general population less interested about boating?

Two months ago, I was talking to an executive at one of the top boat builders in the world. I asked him who their biggest competitor was. Surprisingly, he didn’t mention another boat builder. He said that their biggest competitor was all the possibilities offered to the general public nowadays like travel, entertainment, technology, etc.

When I was young, I remember sometimes being bored, so I planned some activities with my friends like fishing or boating on our little boat.

Your Marine Head Units Professionals Discuss How the Boating Industry Needs Our Help

You can find more information as well as get assistance on TruDesign and on need to know information about the future of boating at Raritan Engineering.

Your TruDesign experts know that our new generation are not bored anymore, they are constantly connected to social media, smartphones, apps, Internet, etc.

2. The economic climate

Boat sales are ultimately correlated to the job market.

Have you ever heard of the term technological unemployment?

Several studies, like the one conducted by the Martin School of Business, predicts that 48% of current jobs will be lost in the next 15 years due to technological unemployment.

More and more corporations keep replacing jobs with machines. Here is anarticle I just read yesterday about Mc Donald’s hiring 7000 new cashiers, but they are not the typical employees, they are automated ones.

Technological unemployment is not the only reason for massive changes in our economy.

This trend is confirmed if you look at the growth of temp agencies. (See:Temp Jobs Up 57% Vs. 4% For All Others Since Aug. 09)

The American Dream is evolving.

Forget the typical life plan: school, college, job for 40 years & retirement. People change careers more often and no longer follow a structured life plan.

All those changes in the job market and economy will make it more difficult for the general public to access boating.

3. The sharing economy

If 10 years ago I asked you to stay at somebody’s house during a business trip, would you have said yes?

When you know that the average boat owner uses their boat not even 2 weeks per year, this concept makes quite a lot of sense.

The sharing economy is becoming huge in the car and travel industry. I assume that it will grow in the boating industry too.

4. More challenges

On top of this, the boating market will keep facing other challenges such as:

-Environmental activism

-Peer pressure due to increase in income inequality.

-Difficulty accessing moorage in marinas,

-Lack of interest from the newest generations (Gen Y, Millennial, etc)

Those companies share the same pattern. Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize foundation and Singularity University called it the 6Ds of the exponential growth:

Digitized (digitize product or service)

Deceptive (you don’t see it coming until it reaches the tipping point)

Disruptive (game changer)

Dematerialize (remove,material aspect, infrastructure)

Demonetize (remove operating cost)

Democratize (globalise via web)

The success of those companies can give us an important lesson: The rules of the game of business have changed.

You must adapt and change the way you do business. In 10 years time, 50% of the Fortune 500 companies will disappear.

If you operate the old way, you are certain to face major difficulties.

So don’t forget this important information about how to help save the future of boating. 1) Maintain the interest in boating and helping others to develop an interest;  2) go boating more often;  and 3) don’t become too technilogically advanced too quickly.

Raritan Engineering has more information on marine head units, TruDesign, seacocks, and on need to know information about the future of boating.

via 5 Things You Need to Know About the Future of Boating

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