The CEO of Nixplay is as intrigued by dark matter as he is by digital images — as long as they're being pushed to his displays. Mark Palfreeman released the first Nixplay frame in 2014, a device that not only rotates through digital photos, but lets people send new pictures to a frame from anywhere they are, in an instant. Giving customers that ability to both surprise and discover is a theme that guides Palfreeman's own life, whether it's surfing through YouTube to find the next thing that piques his interest, or musing on what life might be like if he could use a trebuchet to get to work. (And Mark, this won't get you to the office, but may help decide if catapulting through the air is good for you.)

Helming a company that handles some of the most personal details of someone's life, it's not surprising that privacy also ranks high on his list of must have's when it comes to technology. While he doesn't mind the idea of a smart device that can warn people about things coming their way, Palfreeman clearly believes that the choice to share should be a person's decision — and not a product's.

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Nixplay's Mark Palfreeman and his 13 Questions:

1. Snap your fingers, and any device — past or present — could appear. It would be…… a deep dive submersible.

2. Flip phone or smart phone? Smart phone, cause it's just a few steps away from being a tricorder.

3. My favorite app is…. Youtube – endless education and entertainment.

4. All smart devices should be able to… guarantee privacy.

5. Best invention of the past 20 years… not an invention, but discoveries. Tie between the detection of Gravitational Waves, discovery of the existence of dark matter and sequencing the genome of a cancer patient.

6. AR or VR? Absolutely VR.

7. If I was running a pirate ship I'd be…. very happy and thoroughly committed.

8. Smartwatch or analog? Analog baby.

9. Would you go into space even if you could never return? Before I had a family, at the drop of a hat, but now no way. Plus piracy in space is impractical on the assumption that c is the speed limit.

10. My favorite way to get to work is on foot but if I could use a trebuchet I would.

11. Voice, iris scan or gait? Voice.

12. The last time I hand wrote a letter or note is was about something very personal, and I was writing to tell them I missed them… and that they owed me money.

13. I wish they had named the Internet of Things almost anything else.