Innovation speaks louder than words !

Not long ago were reports of Android and Mango eating into Apple in the years to come. However, Apple's innovation never seems to take the nap and let others take the lead. Defining the future of Digital computing by introducing iPads, Apple proved to the market, It can sell anything and everything to the market. Well, also to be accepted is the fact that Apple knows when and how to sell things. The Jobs power is now gone, yet the impact that he has created will definitely take ages to die down. It looks like iPad-2 has resurrected iOS's future in a sense. Complementing this steady march is the fact that the competition has been lacking direction. Google seems to have lost track with being way too "open". Microsoft seems to think, It's deal with Nokia (which by itself is bleeding) will get it's Mango (wonder what was the motive behind this name) to ripen its position in the market. HP seems to be confused on who should be it's leader to redefine itself in the digital space.. (Meg Whitman from eBay ? Really ? you got to be kidding me)...The setting seems to be perfect for Tim cook to get into the groove and ensure he get's the Job's mantra right in the mean time.

Anyone out there to stop the Apple juggernaut ? Anyone out there to get Apple to sell it's products at reasonable prices ? Antitrust cannot be an answer to everything...Come on someone..let your innovation do the talking...

Source for the above pic : http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/09/22/the-ipad-has-this-christmas-nearly-to-itself-says-gartner/

Industry disruptor... disrupted? By themselves!?

So you may have heard that Netflix has now divided their business into two: Netflix and Qwikster. Netflix will deliver streaming videos, and Qwikster will deliver little red envelopes with DVD's. This latter company strategy is the one that once disrupted all of the industry and put Blockbuster into bankruptcy. However, after increasing prices and increasing customer dissatisfaction, Netflix thought it would be a good idea to split up the company further increasing the customer dissatisfaction. It is interesting how even the most loyal of customers are not OK with the changes. It seems that they may have disrupted themselves out of business.

Anyway, I am posting an article that contrasts the different alternatives now that Netflix is no longer what it used to be. Maybe being a copycat and learning from others' mistakes is a pretty safe strategy for the future of content distribution!

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/09/netflix-alternatives/

Foldit Gamers Solve Riddle of HIV Enzyme within 3 weeks

I came across this article from Scientific American that represents the intersection of technology, gaming and healthcare. Foldit harnesses the power of crowds to solve 3-D puzzles of protein folding with the goal of treating diseases.  This latest solution that gamers achieved in 3 weeks had stumped researchers for a decade! It will help prevent the reproduction of HIV

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=foldit-gamers-solve-riddle

Google Wallet

I mentioned the launch of Google Wallet in class yesterday.

We will pick it up when we discuss Google as a case in point later in the course and discuss how it could influence the creation and capture of value in the B2C transactions segment.  In the meanwhile, you may find it interesting to see the video below.

This launch raises interesting strategic questions such as: What could Google do to gain traction with Google Wallet? What sets of alliances and partnerships are needed to make this work? How should Visa and American Express respond?  What about Apple? What about PayPal?  Etc.

More important: What does this mean for your sector in general and your company in particular?

The government reconsiders the cloud...

I found this Politico article interesting.  As we consider the cloud - and security.  How is the government reacting?

I think this motivates the discussion - what is the balance of public vs. private?  Perhaps the government should instead create an agency that is expert at managing and hosting cloud services.  This way expertise does not have to be fractured amongst many different agencies.