Apple Maps has tried to make its guidance feel more natural, in part by using common, human-sounding phrases. For example: “Go past the light and make a left.” This language is intended to replace now-familiar and robotic phrasings such as In 300 yards, turn left . Google Maps is also trying not to be so tortuous or wordy.

The software breaks down each route into multiple maneuvers, David Cronin, a senior director on the Google Maps design team, told me. Then it decides which and how many maneuvers a driver or pedestrian needs, how to describe those maneuvers, and what sort of visual and auditory information would best illustrate them. The goal, Cronin said, is to “p... See more

Agriculture was a tremendous invention – it got people fed and freed them to do many things. But agriculture – taken to the extreme in the pursuit of profit leads to a sick and obese population and industrialized farms with little regard for the environment or animals. And in response to that, we now have amazing artisanal and healthy food choices ... See more

As anything scales too effectively – from restaurants and ad agencies to social networks and search engines – the market opens for more non-scalable alternatives. Once Starbucks opens on every block, we crave the artisanal coffee shop. There's the identity piece of it, where we want some degree of distinctiveness. But there's a practical side too: ... See more

What city you live in. Who you date or marry. Which job you choose. What clothes you wear.

We all think we make these choices ourselves. It certainly feels like we’re in full control. But it turns out that our choices — both in our startups and in our lives — are more constrained than we think.

The unseen hand in them all is the networks that surroun... See more