Ubiquitous Computing

In the very near future, everything will have a computer built in. Under the desktop paradigm, computers are large, sometimes bulky devices that provide processing power and store information for a single user at a time. The new paradigm eliminates the importance of the individual desktop and pushes information and processing capacity onto the Internet cloud. The paradigm that will follow afterwards will see the final demise of the desktop as computers become embedded into everything you can imagine.

Ubiquitous computing will allow users to interact with multiple computers during the course of the day, oftentimes without even being aware of the interaction. This future paradigm will be based on small, cheap computers that connect to the Internet to share information. The example you may have heard before is the intelligent refrigerator that is aware of its contents, can plan menus based on available foods, can warn about spoiled food and can order new items automatically for you. Another example posits a connection between computers embedded in clothing that monitor body temperature and communcate with lighting and climate control computers to adjust to your needs automatically.

Obviously this is still several years away. However, it helps to bring into focus what tomorrow will bring to your business. It never hurts to start planning for the next paradigm, especially when you have plenty of time to figure out how you can benefit from ubiquitous computing.


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Souce: Wikipedia: Ubiquitous Computing

First Isn't Always Best

I just had to get this off my chest...

Being first to market doesn't guarantee anything. Apple had the first desktop computers but Microsoft dominated the market with Windows. Eiger Labs' MPMan was the first mass produced MP3 player but iPod's dominate the market.

Being first doesn't mean anything, especially when someone can learn from your mistakes, develop a better product and capture market share. Pay attention to the competition, learn from their failures, identify their weakness and develop accordingly.

Stop racing to be first. Instead focus on developing remarkable products, exceptional customer service and fanatic customers. The rest will take care of itself.

Managing Your Skunkworks

The key to a successful skunk works is the right kind of manager. It takes a special person to manage a department completely dedicated to innovative thinking. He or she must be able to nurture and foster a creative atmosphere but also be able to rein in excesses. In short, you need a real corporate maverick that isn't afraid to bend the rules to get results.

The perfect skunk works manager:

• is not an obsessive bean counter but understands the relevance of budgets.
• follows a laissez-faire management style.
• encourages freedom to persue odd ideas.
• encourages constant discussion and friendly argument.
• uses equal parts of positive and negative reinforcement to motivate.
• understands the needs of creative people and works to provide the needed resources to foster innovation.
• provides guidance instead of strict adherence to company policy.
• focuses on the overall business strategy not departmental tactics.
• knows when to break the rules.
• is willing to put his neck on the line to protect his workers.

Obviously, this isn't a position for everyone. Very few managers will actually have the right combination of skills needed to manage a department of highly intelligent and creative workers. However, the wrong manager will wreak havoc and will ruin any benefits you may derive from your skunk works.

Take your time and choose wisely. The person you are looking for may not fit the standard management mold that your company employs. True mavericks are hard to find, but are worth their weight in gold.

Ray Kurzweil on the Evolution of Tech

Using This Recession Wisely

You don't have to be an economist to figure out that any decline in GDP always translates into a decline in technology spending. During the last recession (2001-2003), tech spending collapsed as companies around the country pulled the plug on new projects and slashed IT budgets.

However, things have changed dramatically since 2003. There are now 3 times more cell phone users. Internet users have more than doubled, with even grandmothers getting online now. Technology has penetrated into almost every corner of our lives. Where once an office might have one computer for 50 employees, now there are more computers than employees. Information technology has become Business Technology.

So, while tech spending might drop over the next three years, we will see the birth of some amazing new techs at the same time. We will see:

• A new host of gadgets for the national wireless broadband networks.
• Magnetic plastics that will revolutionize data storage.
• Laptops will start to vanish when ultra-thin, flexible display screens come standard on cell phones.
• New generations of cloud computing platforms will emerge.
• Enterprise social networks will become commonplace.
• Nanotechnology will become more pervasive with applications expanding into more industries.
• Biotechnology will continue to make phenomenal leaps forward.

These are just a few of the changes for the next 3 years. The recession will not stop them.

You need to ask yourself:

• How do these changes impact my business?
• Do these changes create new opportunities?
• How do I take advantage of these techs?

Technology is poised to take some staggering steps over the next three years. You must think on these emerging techs so you can stay ahead of the curve. The changes that are coming will be significant and they will impact every aspect of your business.

Are you ready for the future?

Keeping Up In The Digital Age

The Digital Age means everything moves faster. Are you keeping up?

There are changing paradigms in the business world that are happening now. What the media has clumsily named "Web 2.0" is nothing more than the liberation of ideas and individuals.

The original Internet was all about "pages." We applied traditional business ideas to the new Internet frontier. We tried to abolish brick-and-mortar and learned the hard truth that consumers prefer Clicks-and-Mortar. But, the Internet also liberated everyone to publish their ideas online.

Everyone suddenly had a voice. Whether it's a website, a blog, a LinkedIn profile or a Facebook page, every person with access to a computer and the Internet has a voice.

You put your message in a bottle and you throw it into an ocean of bottles. With proper planning, you can make sure they find your online message when they search for it. And if they like what they see and read, they will stay.

Information is power. Knowledge is the Internet commodity. But there are half a million bozos online with some of the craziest ideas you could image, so credibility matters! You must provide valuable, useful and actionable information.

Just don't away so much they don't need your help at all. You must establish trust but don't give away all the business secrets. It's a tightrope but you have to walk it or you will lose.

Either the Internet has evolved or we have just discovered something new about this new business frontier. Whatever the case may be, the smart business will adapt to the change and will reap the benefits.

How Progress Wrecks Everything

"The major advances in civilization
are processes that all but wreck
the societies in which they occur."

- Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)
Mathematician, Author & Philosopher

Every great leap forward, everything we've invented has caused major changes in how we live. As new technologies are born there are also changes in how we do business.

The fax machine nearly put couriers out of business. The explosion in home computer sales almost killed IBM back in 1993. When Al Gore invented the Internet he re-wrote the rules of business. Every change in how we work causes a huge impact. How we adapt to these changes determines whether or not we survive.

Amazon.Com started as the Internet bookstore. They were a media darling with investors lining up to give away their money. The stock stayed high even when they were hemorraghing money! Then the Internet bubble burst. But Amazon learned the wisdom of the long tail so, they added every product in the solar system. Now, what started as a humble bookstore has turned into the world's largest and most phenomenally well-stocked General Store.

Amazon recognized a major change caused by the Internet. They adapted, with some bumps, but now they thrive. But plenty of others never survived. Hopefully you weren't invested in any of them when they collapsed.

And, no, I don't miss the damn sock puppet commercials.

The Digital Age has made everything move faster. The Internet continues to evolve and change. You cannot stop the march of progress.

Best to pay attention.

Build Your Skunkworks

In Al Capp's 1934-1977 cartoon series “Li’l Abner” the colorful residents of Dogpatch work diligently to produce illegal moonshine at the Skunk Works. In the 1940's the Lockheed aircraft company’s top secret design, development and production facility was given the same name which they trademarked in 1980. In the 1980's IBM turned to an inhouse skunkworks to figure out the best way to break away from their pure mainframe business model and break into the PC market. And more recently, Motorola's Razr telephone design was completed not at their main R&D facilities but 50 miles away in downtown Chicago.

What makes all these skunkworks similar is that they have all been established outside of typical corporate management constraints. Designers and engineers are given the freedom to innovate and develop ideas that might otherwise not fall within the corporate mold. Usually a skunkworks is a small team with a laissez-faire manager who allows their creativity to reign.


However the original purpose behind the corporate skunkworks was the development of new ideas that would launch radical new technologies like the U2 spy plane. Now a well run skunkworks works closely with marketing, sales and other company departments in order to design new products and services that will help you steal customers from your competition. The old concept of the Young Turks bent on overthrowing all corporate standards fell prey to the cost reduction era of the 1990's. Now, a well run skunkworks will help your business innovate and develop the next generation of products and services.

Innovation & the Social Web

There are a number of ways a business can leverage the benefits of social networking and other open collaboration websites to assist in product innovation. When you think of the incredible community of people willing to express their opinions for free that the web makes available, you now have the largest virtual test market for new ideas ever seen. Also, you can leverage the knowledge of engineers and scientists depending on which open community you tap.

Corporations should be making a large investment of time in developing relationships within these different communities as best suits their needs. By building up their "street credit" within these organizations they will grow a strong base of support for new products. Think of the hype Apple managed to build for the iPhone largely through the clever use of the internet. Consider the huge fundraising advantage won by presidential primary candidate Barack Obama, again all through judicious and intelligent use of available internet resources.

Those companies best able to make the transition away from traditionally secretive and closed development cycles towards more open and community-based development will reap the largest rewards. They will benefit from the accumulated wisdom of the masses and get a better understanding for what features and designs will best meet the needs and desires of their target consumer base.

More Thoughts On Innovation

As part of a response to a question on LinkedIn, I wrote:

Innovation is more about a company mindset than anything formalized. Either you encourage your employees to come up with new solutions and improvements or you tell them to shut-up and do their jobs. I have always run my company with the attitude that anyone can propose a new idea, process, invention, whatever to me and, if they have thought it out and developed a realistic deployment plan, and it doesn't cost a fortune, I am willing to try just about anything.

For example, my Chief Engineer came to me recently with an idea to develop a consumer electronics device. Since we had just about everything he needed and the cost for the prototype was about $200, I gave him the go ahead to develop the product. Two weeks and fourteen versions later, we are in the process of negotiating with manufacturers for mass production of the product. If we play our cards right, this product will become a new revenue center.

Most companies don't perform any R&D because they don't always have the staff, experience or the open-minded attitude required for successful innovation. But it is those very companies most capable of flexible, purposeful change that succeed. Start developing that mindset in your business, but don't sell your soul! Cautious, rational, intelligent, reasonable change that never loses sight of your long term business goals is the key to success. Change just for the sake of change is never good. What you are looking for is that happy medium; that elusive middle ground that will balance out to a net positive.

Easy to do? No. But if you can manage it, if you can pull it off, then it will be incredibly valuable to you and your business operation. Good luck!