Archive | February, 2007
SPACE.com — HyperBike Has NASA Looking Twice
Ning – Create your own Social Networks!
Debate Grows Over Software-As-A-Service Archit…
The Entrepreneur‚Äôs Guide to Web 2.0: Top 25 Ap…
Emotion robots learn from people
Links
28 FebEat your RFID
24 FebKodak has invented an edible RFID tag. This is the type of RFID that could be used for all types of medical purposes.
RFID tags are tiny radio chips that resonate with a single echo when hit with a radio trigger. Kodak’s digestible tags are harmless and intentionally fragile. The tags would be covered with soft gelatin that takes a while to dissolve in the stomach. After swallowing a tag a patient need only sit next to a radio source and receiver.
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Kodak says that similar radio tags could also be embedded in an artificial knee or hip joint in such a way that they disintegrate as the joint does, warning of the need for more surgery. Attaching tags to ordinary pills could also help nurses confirm that a patient has really taken their medicine as ordered.
Invention: Edible RFID – tech – 12 February 2007 – New Scientist Tech.[via FutureWire]
Google launches Google Apps
24 FebAs predicted a year ago in Tomorrow’s Trends, Google has launched an application suite. The suite of applications is for small groups all the way up to larger enterprises. They can host a domain, complete with email, and shared documents and spreadsheets, etc. All web-based.
The idea here may be that Google is putting together a complete, online “Google Office”. Google is already working on a calendar, and already has a great email application.
Tomorrow’s Trends: Google buys Writely.
“Google Operating System” has an interesting write-up comparing Google vs. Microsoft office.
Google Operating System: Google Docs & Spreadsheets vs Microsoft Office.
Wired has a write up comparing the pluses and minuses of an online suite:
Reasons to switch to Google’s web-based office suite:
* Cost. Compared to the $500 list price for the full version of Microsoft Office Professional 2007, Google’s $50-per-year price tag is cheap. Telephone, e-mail and web support are included in that price, so organizations could see a drop in IT support costs as well. Companies may be faced with a bump in training costs when the switch first happens, but Google offers some interactive training presentations that could help tilt the learning curve.
* Centralized data storage. Documents are available from any web browser, upping the convenience ante for remote workers. Plus, 10 GB is plenty of room. For most users, that’s more than they’ll ever need.
Wired News: Google Apps: Should You Switch?.
You may want to read the entire Wired article. There are definite pluses and minuses to think about. Access and latency issues (response time) are going to be an occasional issue with an all-online application. All seem like problems that will mostly go away as technology improves.
Separate energy creation from usage?
23 Feb
I have seen a lot of speculation on cars that run on corn oil or hydrogen or electricity or many other sources. All very interesting, as we all have grown weary of our oil addiction. Thanks, oil, you served us well, but it is time for us all to move on. Which is the right way to go? What fuel do we move to?
I don’t know all the answers but I do know one thing.
We need to separate our concept of energy creation from energy usage.
I have not seen this concept offered anywhere, so I will offer it here.
What happens if everyone comes up new, unique, and creative cars that run on all types of interesting fuels? That would be great, right?
No, that would be terrible. This path means that fueling stations would need to have a lot of different fuels, and you would fracture the car market into all different types for vehicles that run on all types of fuels. Then, what? We all buy new cars or modify our old cars whenever someone comes out with a new and better fuel? This is a situation that would not work. You do not get the economies of scale you need to build a market for the next generation of vehicles.
Pick One Energy Source For All Autos…
In order to create an infrastructure to support our future cars, we need to pick one energy source that the cars will run on – and use that standard. We would also need to have engineers create standards, etc for creating connections to these cars that use this energy. Also, this energy source would be one that all other fuels could be transferred into… for example it may be easier to turn hydrogen into electricity… than to turn electricity in to hydrogen. So, conversion would need to be taken into account.
So, I am thinking we should create cars than run on electricity and create standard interfaces, including form factors, etc – to input this electricity into the electrical car.
This would allow us to all buy an electric car once – as opposed to trying to get everyone to buy the latest car that runs on the latest fuel. Also, fueling stations could offer the standard energy source for autos – like batteries or ways to charge the car batteries quickly.
…Then Innovate in the separate areas of creation, storage, and usage
Innovation can occur at different paces within the distinct areas of:
- Energy creation
- Energy storage, and
- Energy usage (the actual car)
This is how it would work better. I can buy one car. When someone discovers a new type fuel, a centralized plant (or one at my house?) convert that fuel into potential energy (electricity) – to be stored in the car. When advancements occur in energy, we don’t all buy new cars… we allow the energy producers to turn their fuel into electricity. We may have a mix of fuel energy inputs – but they all get converted into the standard. When innovation occurs in storage/ battery technology, we trade out the battery in our cars, but not the whole thing.
So, I think that the separation of the root source fuel from the end-product energy – for the automobile is something we should do. We all get one type of energy (like electricity) as an input source for our cars, and the latest energy source is the cheapest and best will just be converted to whatever the standard is.
This is my opinion on the best path. Perhaps our technology is not there quite yet, especially in the electricity storage arena, to do something like this. But, this path also allows people to actually be willing to purchase the next generation of cars. There are hurdles to overcome with in all these areas, but this is one way to think about energy, energy distribution, and energy markets – in a way that could help give us a good start.
The Copycat Economy
18 FebThis looks like an interesting new book. I can definitely see what Oren is talking about. Technology is allowing for more rapid copying of products and technology than ever before.
“The Copycat Economy: A Sea of White” by Oren Harari. February 7, 2007
The subtitle of my latest book is “How to Compete in a Copycat Economy.” When people ask me to explain the Copycat Economy, I often start talking about why markets have become so fragmented, why so many companies have seen their products become lower-margin commodities and why so many companies are frustrated that their services are being so blatantly imitated by competitors. Lately, I’ve gotten simpler. I talk about the Copycat Economy as a “sea of white.”
I got this idea from a comment by Whirlpool’s former CEO David Whitwam. In trying to explain the financial and market stagnation of his company in the ‘90’s, his “aha!” moment came in a retail outlet in 1999. Here’s what he said: “I go into an appliance store. Now, I have pretty good eyes. I stand 40 feet away from a line of washers, and I can’t pick ours out. They all look alike. They all have decent quality. They all have the same price point. It’s a sea of white.”
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Only when Whitwam came to terms with the fact that his company was just another big white player in a sea of white did he begin to move Whirlpool in directions that violated industry convention and Whirlpool’s own culture and history—steps which led to new ventures, new partnerships, new hires, and ultimately, a series of high-tech, high-function, high-design, high-cool, high-unique products that finally gave the company some color. And higher prices. And more sales.
The Copycat Economy: A Sea of White – Oren’s blog.
Is it always bad to be a copycat? Sometimes being a copycat can be very profitable. Sometimes big companies need to be a copycat in some specific areas – and spend their resources innovating in areas where they feel innovation will pay off the most.
Internet Employment Down
18 FebPublishing overall is down, including electronic media. The overall Internet sector jobs declined 25% over the past 6 years…
One chart shows the combined categories of publishing and broadcasting, both traditional and Internet-based. Over all, employment is down 11 percent. In those six years, employment in traditional paper-based publishing is down 13 percent. Broadcasting employment is off 3 percent. The traditional industries, between them, have shed 148,000 workers.
Did the Internet make up the difference? Just the opposite. Internet publishing and broadcasting now employs 36,600 people, and that figure is down 29 percent from six years ago.
A larger Internet-related area covers Internet service providers, search portals and data processing. It now has 385,000 workers, down 25 percent over the last six years.
Looking for a Paycheck? Dont Look to the Internet – New York Times.
Innovation survey
13 FebA recent survey lets us see what is going on inside corporate innovation efforts:
- When asked how tightly coupled their innovation processes are tied to their corporate strategy, only 22% said they were “tightly coupled.” Another 22% characterized the relationship between innovation and strategy as “more or less.” Innovation must support the overall corporate strategy. Otherwise, it may never get the ongoing support it needs, or will be treated as a “non-core” business function.
- Most companies seem to be focused on incremental innovation. 53% of respondents are focusing their business portfolios in this area, while another 17% are pursuing new business models. I think this last figure is encouraging, because this is a big area for potential growth. It’s certainly a bit higher than I thought it would be, given the historical focus of most organizations on product innovation.
Innovation Weblog – New innovation survey shows we still have a long way to go. [via Innovation Tools]
Full Survey at PermanentInnovation, here
Tomorrow's Trends 