In a candid interview, we caught up with Ed Johnson, the CEO and Co-Founder of PushFar, who talked about satellite technology and the need for more personal service in the industry. He also revealed the one thing he would invent if he could.

What’s been one of your favourite tech innovations in the last year?
Satellite technology on iPhones. This is going to be huge. When we no longer rely on mobile
signal in the same way, to make calls and send messages, this could truly connect
everyone, everywhere, in a way we’ve not yet seen. There are still some signal dead spots
in London! Perhaps not such an innovation, although Apple would spin it that way, I love that
my new iPhone has the same USB port now as every other device is starting to. It means my
headphones, iPhone, wireless mouse and various other devices can all use the same
charging cable. I think the transition we’re seeing towards uniform device ports is going to
continue and make everything easier for everyone.

What is one trend you foresee will change up the tech world in the next year?

Undoubtedly AI will continue to rise although I hope and expect we will see more valuable
and insightful uses for it, rather than AI for the sake of AI. What we see at the moment is a
lot of startups that focus on being AI startups, rather than startups solving problems and
using AI to make them better. That will shift, in time. Much like with the dot-com boom, we
saw online businesses starting, initially because there was an excitement around dot-com
but then over time we saw online businesses that were actually useful and adding value. The
same will, undoubtedly, happen with AI.

What is a dream brand you would like to work with, and why?

I would love to work with the US military, because the amount of money, time and investment
they are putting into research and development around automation, technology, robotics and
security is so incredible that I feel you would constantly be at the forefront of technologies,
way before the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung.

If you could change one thing in the industry, what would it be?

I love automation and technology but I really would like more organisations and businesses
to focus on a personal service. Whenever I contact customer support, I want to speak to
someone straight away. This idea that chatbots and FAQs can do everything simply isn’t
true. In very few cases they work and by the time I am looking to speak to customer support,
I have already checked the FAQs and support documentation. Please just put me through to
a real person.

And finally, if you could invent any piece of technology, what would it be?

An anti sun-glare laptop screen. The dream is to work on a beach or by a swimming pool, on a laptop, and actually see the laptop, without squinting, having the brightness on full and having to find some shade for it. Somebody, one day, will crack this. I’m surprised it hasn’t been done yet.