Fast Company

After killing it on Kickstarter, the Instrument 1 is ready to ship and, its creators hope, democratize music.

You know how they say it takes 10,000 hours to truly master a creative skill? Mike Butera thinks that’s bullshit—at least when it comes to playing music. Butera says one of the biggest barriers to entry for regular people is the physical layout of traditional instruments. But like so many things in life, he thinks technology can free us from the rigid tyranny of black-and-white piano keys or of a six-stringed guitar—and in so doing, it might make music more accessible.

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Smartwatches may finally go mainstream when they’re constantly connected to the web without the help of a smartphone.

When Apple announces the Apple Watch 2—presumably this fall—it’ll have been more than a year and a half since the original Watch went on sale.

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The Clinton campaign is focusing on wooing the Silicon Valley vote and it’s paying off in mobilizing young women.

When veteran tech executive Claire Lee got a call from Hillary Clinton’s campaign staff, she didn’t hesitate to get involved.

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Google Doodle head Ryan Germick and former Pixar animator Emma Coats are two of the artists crafting Google Assistant’s personality.

Machines may be smart, but they make pretty dull companions. Google knows this, and as it builds out its recently announced Google Assistant personal assistant technology—which, like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, will answer questions and follow commands like “turn on the lights”—the company is eager to make artificial intelligence more personable. How? By throwing some artists at the problem, naturally.

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When employees feel they aren’t being treated equally, it can compromise their health. Here’s how to improve perceptions of fairness.

Employees’ perception of fairness at work can impact their health, according to a new study by the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England.

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New research supports the idea that students learn focus and self-control through mindfulness exercises

Five years ago, “grit” was all the rage in elementary education. Students who learn to persevere in the face of failure are more successful in the long term, research suggested. Schools embraced the idea—and then over-embraced it, with some going so far as to institute assessments designed to measure “grittiness.”

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While Trump wants to strengthen the government’s surveillance and cyberattack capabilities, the Democrats have fought for civil liberties.

Until the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks, the presidential candidates in this election cycle largely avoided discussing cybersecurity, surveillance, and civil liberties, focusing largely on immigration, the economy, and a surplus of personal attacks.

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Google can bring a powerful set of data tools to the home assistant category that Amazon will have a hard time matching.

Someday soon we’ll sit Amazon’s Echo and Google Home side by side on the kitchen counter and do the Pepsi Challenge to see which smart speaker is smarter and most helpful.

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The latest Kauffman Index measures bottom line impact to the economy by factoring in revenue and employment growth.

The number of new businesses opened is important to the economy. But that number doesn’t effectively measure impact. That’s why the Kauffman Foundation is building on its annual Index with an in-depth study of Growth Entrepreneurship.

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The tech industry is still divided about which presidential candidate it supports. Here are some VP choices that could sway the decision.

Silicon Valley is in a bit of a presidential bind.

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