No one has to remember phone numbers anymore.

But retaining memories is a good way to build associations and ideas in the mind.

Apart from purely practical uses.

Passwords, for instance. Or where the important papers in the house are.

It's also a good indication of mental acuity. A tendency to forget common things is a sign of both age and slowing faculties.

We're also discovering that the ancients had much better memory techniques than what we have today.

One of the popular methods is the 'memory palace' where people are told to store items in certain 'rooms' in the mind.

Medical students have to remember a lot of obscure terms - and that leads to high stress, not just before examinations.

So, one group was taught the 'memory palace' method.

And the other was schooled in the aboriginal technique.

Which worked much better.

Makes sense. Much before writing originated, oral cultures had to rely on memory to retain knowledge for generations.

Naturally they found the best ways to pass it to their children.

For all of us who rely on the memory in our devices, it's an important lesson.

The critical backups should be in our own heads!

Ready? Let's begin

Happy Birthday to you...

How many times have you heard the song?

Over the decades, it's probably been a few hundred times.

It has mass appeal and the whole routine around cakes, candles and slicing up the cake has become standard fare.

It's probably the best known 'English' song

The lyrics are so simple and repeatable, they've been locked and loaded.

Apart from being associated with several pleasant memories, it's one of the clichés and markers of age.

Loved by children and not so much by adults, especially the ones who can no longer hide it with dye and dashing flair.

But a composer has done the unthinkable.

He has solid reasons for saying that 'Happy Birthday' is badly composed.

You wouldn't give it a second thought, but he makes persuasive arguments.

And once he points them out, you're forced to concede that the tune could do with a few modifications.

It's not going to change anytime soon.

We know how people hold on to everything dear to them.

Especially memories. And when associated with birthdays, its a sacrilege to change the soundtrack.

Listen to it without a bias - and then, may be your next birthday could sound a little different.

A TV sized Kindle

That's a stretch.

Kindle is available only in the regular book size

But a Chinese company Dasung is releasing a 25 inch monitor based on the tech that Kindle has been using all these years.

So, why release a B&W monitor so large? Does it have any potential at all?

For one thing, all LED monitors are unnaturally bright.

It's like looking into a light all day and that affects the vision of people who are glued to their screens long term.

If most of your work is on Word and Excel, or you're typing out code, imagine doing it on a monitor so easy on the eye, it's like looking at a sheet of paper.

The power consumed is also way below what traditional monitors require.

It won't work for the entertainment industry or for graphic design, of course. The e-ink technology does not have colour capabilities anywhere close to OLED.

However, that isn't the goal.

It is to provide a monitor that people can work on for any length of time with minimal eye strain

It's expensive right now and the main targets are companies where data processing or finance are part of the daily workflow.

The potential is massive.

Every week, I'll plant a few ideas in your mind on branding, behavior and markets. Triggers for your thoughts. Spread the word to your friends. All you have to do is click the link and enter an email address.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ideascape.substack.com