Innovation through information sharing...
24 05 06 - 09:04. Category: default
Rod Boothby, a
capitalist, has written an
interesting paper on the future of office productivity software. Boothby's thesis is that the future workspace will be dominated by smart knowledge workers who prefer to work collaboratively in a
Web Office environment that means corporate employers will contribute as much information as they consume and
information will be efficiently reusable. This environment will likely change the pace of innovation. But, it might also affect the way we view certain forms of intellectual property, and this implication may make Boothby's predictions far more interesting than they initially seem. The implications of Boothby's argument support a type of information-sharing commonly assoicated with open source ideals. It is nice to see a property-rights promoter get innovation right.
The average MBA graduates in 2006 are not just knowledge workers. They are capable of being highly networked internal entrepreneurs and innovation creators. Their ability to connect is not just about email, BlackBerries, text messages and voice-mails. They are intimately familiar with all those tools, but ultimately, expertise with those one-to-one connectivity tools is just the price of admission. [These knowledge workers will promote innovation by using] office tools...to...write once, search often and cut & paste even more. - Rod Boothby
Download 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2
24 05 06 - 08:15. Category: default
Evaluate the
next release of Microsoft Office products for testing and planning purposes with
2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2. The beta release contains all the functionality of the regular release, but is not the final product. BUT, beta testers may experience problems with 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 products that could potentially result in loss, corruption, or destruction of existing data.
Robots that feel pain and say so...
12 05 06 - 20:31. Category: default
It's exciting to follow the developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics even if the pace of progress is slower than most desire. For the most part, Japanese researchers seem to be doing particularly cutting edge research and development in anticipation of meeting the demands of
Japan's aging population. Still the photo below of a humanoid robot that "feels" pain is a little creepy. I like robots that are interactive, but not humanoid.
This robot has
24 sensors under its silicone skin and can respond to prods and pokes with vocal responses. Eventually, these robots will be deployed to perform surgery
in our hospitals,
fight crime in our streets, and, of course, hunt down and destroy the
remaining jedi.
Gmail with photos
12 05 06 - 10:10. Category: default
Google has come up with the origin of an interesting idea: adding a photo image of the author an email message.
A
new feature Google is about to launch for its gmail email users is the ability to put a face to a name, by showing user-selected pictures of yourself for those who you email.
Gmail is Google's free webmail service. It comes with built-in Google search technology and 2,600 megabytes of storage.
According to Google, gmail does use no pop-ups or untargeted banner ads. The text ads that ARE used are somehow supposed to relate to or be relevant to a user's messages (One aside: this may be useful to some, but, at the moment, I am unsure how this text AD service is implemented or what implications for privacy are involved here).
The first Ultra mobile PC headed toward failure
04 05 06 - 08:28. Category: default
Today, Walter Mossberg’s
Wall Street Journal column (Page B1), Personal Technology, includes a review of the first Ultra mobile PC to enter the American market. The Ultra Mobile PC is a new computing platform supported by Microsoft and Intel. Mossberg concludes that the Samsung Q1 Ultra mobile PC misses the mark because of four major flaws: 1) price, 2) battery life, 3) lack of a keyboard, and 4) the screen provides fuzzy graphics and distorted text. A couple of Mossberg's points are likely right on the mark, but his review illuminates a flaw of the UMPC platform that Mossberg never mentions.
Ostensibly, the Ultra mobile PC is an attempt to create a market for computer sales that fits snugly between markets for laptops and PDAs or Smartphones. In other words, Microsoft and Intel have identified (created) a technology solution seeking a problem to solve. The UMPC fills a need that consumers dont have - - at least not yet. This type of agressive marketing of technology for technology sake is doomed to failure.
I have not seen the Samsung Q1 up close yet so this comment is not meant to be a review of that product. I do disagree, however, that the Samsung Q1 is the first genuine Ultra mobile PC.
Motion Computing's LS800 is an Ultra mobile PC - - despite what Microsoft says about its UMPC specs - - and its been available for months. The Motion Computing’s LS800 is a terrific Tablet PC that is small enough to be easily carried around your home or from airport to airport, but that device is smartly marketed toward a narrow niche market of business users, certain professionals, and students.
Unlike the LS800, Microsoft and Intel seem fixed on marketing their UMPC platform broadly as a consumer electronics device. The problem with that approach is that many consumers will responde like Mossberg who did not seem to understand the device. If your potential customer does not understand the product or even perceive a need for it, the product is not going to do too well.
Mossberg's review illustrates that he not only likely identified notable flaws in the Q1, but, more troubling, Mossberg misidentified some flaws because he missed the point of the UMPC. For example, Tablet PCs that are “slates” which simply means that they are computers that do not come with keyboards. The Ultra mobile PC contracts the Slate’s form factor by offering the user s smaller slate or tablet. Mossberg criticizes the Samsung Q1 for not including a keyboard; of course, the "missing" keyboard is supposed to be a strength of the Ultra mobile PC platform, not a weakness. Use your pen or stylus (and, perhaps, your thumbs) correctly and the lack of a keyboard should go unnoticed. I think the mistakes of Mossberg and a few others who have provided early reviews of a UMPC are not entirely surprising since many consumers will also confuse presumed “strengths” of the Ultra mobile PC platform with flaws and weaknesses of the device. Hence, the Ultra mobile PC will fail as a mass market device unless someone finds a real need for it.
Cyberspaces.org