Iterate Weekly - Issue 117

This week we're looking at Domino's pizza delivery tech, the never-ending "Great Recession", Lab-grown chicken is here, Hemsworth sweats on a billboard, and getting "Back on My Bike"!

Welcome to issue 117 of Iterate Weekly!

Hope you’re all doing well. This is just a friendly reminder that you can always reply directly to these messages or leave a comment on the Substack post. Feedback is highly encouraged and I’m happy to answer any and all questions that come up.

Let’s jump into this week’s stories.

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🤖 Tech

Domino’s now has the tech to deliver you pizza…anywhere

Image courtesy of Domino’s Pizza

This may sound like a silly story but I actually think it’s a pretty big deal.

Domino’s Pizza will now deliver you food wherever you are.

Gone are the days of needing to be inside your house to get pizza delivered! There have always been those mythical stories of people getting pizza delivered to non-homes. Maybe you had a pizza delivered to a bar. Perhaps you even convinced a delivery driver to bring your food to a park or sporting event. But these always felt like special one-off miracles, not something you could rely on. You knew that the driver wasn’t happy about it

But now Domino’s is encouraging its customers to order delivery anywhere that you can drop a pin on a digital map. The one caveat here is that it needs to be a location where the delivery driver can safely pull over their vehicle to make the exchange. They’re even using technology where you can flash a signal on your phone so they can pick you out of the crowd to receive the delivery.

Domino’s has always been at the forefront of ordering technology. First there was a website, than an app, then wearable apps. They’re just going to make ordering pizza just so convenient that it will be more difficult not to do it. I must admit that it’s been a while since I’ve had Domino’s but the next time I’m in an outdoor setting and they are a viable option, I’m definitely giving the GPS pin ordering a try.

Where’s the strangest place you’ve had food delivered?

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🎓 Education/Productivity/Work

A recession may be looming and people continue to quit

Image courtesy of Unsplash

It doesn’t look like the “Great Resignation” is going away anytime soon.

Many thought this trend was directly tied to the pandemic and remote work, but there could be more to it than that. Despite a less-than-rosy economic outlook for many regions, employees are still choosing to quit their jobs in hopes of higher wages rather than just riding things out with their current salary.

It seems counterintuitive on the surface. Common wisdom typically suggests to stay put at the secure job you have rather than facing the unknown of the job market. But it seems like many employees are convinced that the rising cost of everything just isn’t sustainable with their current pay. Why not make the leap to see if you can obtain higher pay before things really get rough?

A US study from Bankrate surfaces some fascinating figures:

• 42% of those questioned are considering leaving their jobs, while 39% are concerned about getting laid off.

• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.8 million people resigned from their jobs each month in the first four months of this year — far above pre-pandemic levels.

It’s still a very confusing work world out there…

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♻️ Health & Environment

Lab-grown chicken gets the thumbs up in the US

Image courtesy of Upside Foods

I’ve written about lab-grown meat in the past and it’s time to get an update on where things stand.

Specifically, let’s talk chicken. Lab-grown chicken is soon going to become a reality in the United States. Yes, this is chicken meat that never had a beak or feathers or laid an egg. The process of making and selling the meat for human consumption has been fully-approved in the US.

Your first taste of never-been-a-real-chicken chicken won’t come cheap. It seems it will be a delicacy for the wealthy as it initially gains traction. Even more specifically, two high-end restaurants are onboard to be the first places to offer it.

Bar Crenn in San Francisco will feature meat from a company called Upside Foods while a Washington D.C. based operation helmed by chef and owner Jose Andrés will sell a similar dish from competing company Good Meat.

It’s interesting to note that both Upside and Good Meat are based in the Bay Area (Emeryville and Alameda respectively). Which leads me to believe that Bar Crenn won’t be the only Northern California restaurant to offer the meat for long.

As someone who hasn’t eaten chicken in over twenty years, I’m pretty curious to see how this plays out. I suppose I would give it a try if I find myself at Bar Crenn (or hopefully a more affordable restaurant) soon. But will it gain popularity?

My gut tells me that many vegetarians will be happy with their plant-based chicken offerings that keep improving in taste and texture. And those who already eat “normal”
chicken may be unlikely to pay top dollar for a lab-based alternative even if it’s a more sustainable option.

Anyone else out there interested to give it a try?

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🛍 Grab Bag

Finally, a billboard that sweats the details!

Image courtesy of Variety

I love a well-executed billboard. Every few years we see some innovation in the billboard industry and I want to highlight a good one.

In order to promote Chris Hemsworth new movie Extraction 3, Netflix has created a billboard that actually sweats.

Yeah, who wouldn’t want to see a movie with a sweaty Chris Hemsworth? But you can’t really prove your point by just drawing some perspiration dots on his picture. You need a billboard that actually excretes (secretes?) real H20!

This billboard has laser-etched holes on Chris’ face that replicate his pores. And there is a water system that’s pumping out the wet stuff so passersby can actually see and feel some real-life Avenger sweat!

Obviously, this wouldn’t be as impactful if the billboard was perched high above a freeway. So you’ll see these beautiful advertisements on ground level in New York and Los Angeles. Be on the lookout!

Will sweat make us watch this movie? I’m not counting on it, but I applaud the creative execution.

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💬 Quote of the Week

"My bike is my gym, my wheelchair and my church all in one. I'd like to ride my bike all day long but I've got this thing called a job that keeps getting in the way."

-Bill Walton

📕Content Recommendation

Back on my Bike

Image courtesy of Kindle

Here’s a fun book recommendation for you this week. It’s one that I stumbled across in the depths of Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited book recommendations.

It’s called “Back on My Bike - How cycling transformed my life after sixty” by Tom Eastham.

I was pleasantly surprised by how delightful this book was. It is the author’s true story of rediscovering a love of cycling after decades off his bike. Once a serious competitive cyclist, Eastham grew up and got a serious job and had a family. And he no longer had time for cycling.

Fast forward to the time of his retirement and a generous gift from a friend and Eastham learns to appreciate two-wheeled transportation in a whole new way. You’ll definitely love the book if you are a cycling fan. But if you’re just looking for a fun summer read with lots of self-deprecating humor, this book is for you too.

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Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

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