Competition in the Digital Age
While seemingly not quite at the Paul Revere level of accuracy, “the iWatch is coming” has been a cry heard throughout the tech world for the last few years. There is a sense that this year might be The Year just like 2007 was finally The Year for the iPhone. This time, however, competitors have …
Continue reading "How to compete with a non-existent iWatch"
Coding is all the rage. Many are arguing it is an essential skill for the modern economy. They believe it should be an essential part of the school curriculum. Fundamentally, what is being asked in coding is a very difficult exercise requiring skill development that has applicability well beyond coding. These skills are familar to those who do …
Yesterday, Google pivoted on self-driving cars. Yes, I know we don't normally describe established firms as 'pivoting' but the notion applies when the same core idea (in this case, autonomous vehicles) is reapplied to a different customer set. For the self-driving car, this moved from retrofitting existing cars to Google building its own new and …
Continue reading "Will regulators really hold back self-driving cars?"
Apple are reportedly going to buy Beats Music for $3.2 billion; a number that would have been big news a year ago but is modest news today. Beats is a very interesting entrepreneurial story in of itself and I encourage people who want to know more to read this Inc piece from a couple of …
Continue reading "Speculating on Apple-Beats: It's the capabilities"
I have been silent in blogging these last couple of weeks because I have been on vacation and unplugged. Ha, ha, no, of course not. I have been on vacation, still plugged and couldn't be bothered writing any posts. That hasn't stopped me thinking. What I thought about a lot was my wrist. Basically, during …
There's nothing like $19 billion dollars to set the cat amongst the pigeons. And what's more for something most people even those tech savvy neither use and, in many cases, haven't heard of. Regular readers will be happy to learn that I have been watching this space for some time due to a long standing …
Continue reading "WhatsApp to Facebook? Strategic compatibility, that's What"
"I just doubled my high score." "What did you get? 2?" "Yes." That is a typical conversation one might have with others regarding Flappy Bird, the hottest mobile game right now. Here is the words that emanate when you play it: "X%$^##*&**&(*%#" Start Again. Tap tap tap "X%$^##*&**&(*%#" Suffice it to say, don't play this …
My co-blogger Erik Brynjolfsson has a new book out with Andrew McAfee entitled The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in the Time of Brilliant Technologies. I read it this week alongside Tyler Cowen's Average Is Over: Powering America Beyond the Great Stagnation. Given each had earlier eBooks that were counter-points that is what …
Continue reading "Stagnation, the Machines and the Policy Recommendations"
My knowledge of drones being used for the delivery of small packages is limited to the Amazon inspired puffery that has flooded the Internet this morning. From my reading, people think it is (a) cool and (b) something that may be the undoing of Amazon competitively. I’ll agree with (a) but that is true of …
Last week Apple realised iOS 7, the latest version of its mobile operating system. It was a very large update reflecting the design choices of Johnny Ive rather than Steve Jobs. I have been using iOS 7 for about six weeks now and I can say that it is a pleasure to use. It feels …
Continue reading "iOS7 is great for developers but Apple's own apps continue to suffer"
Digitopoly 