Thanks TK
Life and Awesomeness of Steve Jobs Check out 1984 Super Bowl Ad
Playboy Interview Tidbits Check out Video of iMac Intro
Is Steve Jobs worthy of such tribute? Why?
From Fast Company
An interesting read User-Lead Innovation Can’t Create Breakthroughs
It could be “harmful” to listen to users. Apple and Ikea agree. From our class, we could also say Toyota agrees.
From the article ” The user is king. It’s a phrase that’s repeated over and over again as a mantra: Companies must become user-centric. But there’s a problem: It doesn’t work. Here’s the truth: Great brands lead users, not the other way around.”
What do you think?
Thank you for the recommendation Lane
Connected TV — From the article Apple “will enter the TV market with a full focus, as an
all-in-one Apple television could move the needle when connected TVs proliferate.” Controlled by iPads and iPhones of course. I have Apple TV — nice, but expensive IMHO.
What do you think?
Thanks for the Update TK
This article has some nice pie charts that clearly shows that Apple is losing share to Android. However, the App Store is still very strong. ”Simple” market share may not be enough to describe success in this market. Apple OS– 25%, Android OS 29%
Which do YOU prefer, and why? Why will prevail? How will RIM compete?
Thank you Jiju for this recommendation.
Seamless Integration with Amnesia Connect Article and Videos
Microsoft Surface is not dead? Check out Blackberry promo on Surface.
How cool is this? Very. Practical, maybe. Application/Uses, what do you think?
Did you see the X-ray vision? Cool, eh?
Article from Fast Company
Have you seen people getting frustrated trying to use “Apple touchscreen gestures” on devices other than an iphone or a ipad? Apple would like to “own” the 3D Multi-Touch. The article talks about using it in sports equipment for user feedback as well as TV remotes.
Have you actually tried “flipping” from a touch screen that did not have the feature? I have. What do you think? Cool? Where could the patent be used?
From Fast Company Magazine and Tech Crunch
I am excited about the coming of the New iPad. Of course, any APPLE release has loads of rumors and pre-release information, so I would like to share some of it iPad Rumors
The REALLY exciting aspect of the continued innovation of the iPad is the evolution of the Tablet Interface. Forrester Research predicts that One Third of online consumers will own a tablet computer of some type by 2015 or 82 Million people.
Forrester Research through Tech Crunch
From the article “Last year, Apple created a new category of computing with the iPad. Now, every other PC manufacturer is rushing to revamp or bring out their own tablet computers. New tablets are expected to dominate at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. ”
“Forrester Research put out a new forecast this morning for the growth of tablet computers. It expects the number of tablets sold in the U.S. to go from 10.3 million last year to 24.1 million in 2011, and growing to 44 million in annual units sold by 2015.”
Do you expect to won one? I do, in 2011 and that is not counting my iTouch or my new Samsung Captivate Phone.
From Fast Company Magazine
This Fast Company Slide Show presents the “most innovative” iPad Apps of 2010.
Feel Free to COMMENT and Include YOUR Nomination for the Most Innovative App OR, perhaps your Favorite and Why….
Thanks for the referral Mary.
This blog posting has some great ideas about the coming wave of digital books and e publishing. The blog publishes a 2011 “to do” list.
What’s on your list?
From Fast Company
Apple’s Obsession with Details
The article linked above talks about Apple’s obsession with design as evidenced by its patent applications. Often, people cannot express WHY they like something, or WHAT it is that they like, however they KNOW it just works or feels “right”. I submit that “it” is the result of “design”.
Do you include DESIGN (industrial, ergonomic, visual, innovative) in your new product development process?
What other types of DESIGN should we be including?
What do you think?
Thank you Ozren for helping me with my first posting on this subject.
OK, I am about ready to breakdown and get an iPad. I have waited long enough I think to get started. Many of my students have the devices and I am hearing about all kinds of cool, useful applications. So I asked one of the “power users” I know for a list of apps that he likes so I can share them with you.
Please comment and ADD to this list so it can be shared amongst the readers of this blog.
Here is the list that was shared with me.
File Share $ .99 cents works excellent, it allows you to map shared drivers, homework.
- dropbox (Free) you can create directories and have all files sync at one location.
- Good reader $2.99 seems to be good and cheap and it lets you to open all types of files, doc, xls, pdf, ppt and so on. You can also highlight and free hand in pdf.
- 1 BA II Plus(tm) Financial Calculator, v1.0, Seller: Texas Instruments (4+) This calculator is $14.99.
- Firefox Home (free) it requires to install Firefox plug-in on your pc so essentially it will allow you to sync your bookmarks from pc to IPad.
- RDP Lite (free) remote desktop to your pc at local area network
- Ibooks (free)
- VNC (free)remote desktop for linux/unix/windows.
- Webex (free) to attend online hosted meetings
- Skype (free)
Once again, please COMMENT and ADD to this list.
Thanks for the link Hugh.
And, my favorite link Jobs’ Greatest Hits — A Timeline
So, is he the CEO of the decade? Is he one of the most innovative manager/leaders ever?
What do you think?
OK, I usually support just about anything Apple, so I need to give some equal time to those not so supportive.
CIO Magazine Published a Slide Show 10 Thing to Hate About the iPhone
Care to Add?
Care to Argue?
Ok, here is some more information and a look at the Plastic Logic eReader. Looks pretty cool to me.
We read that the Que may be actually targeted at something other than the Kindle. ” But Archuleta also repositions the Que as something a little different to merely being a Kindle killer e-reader device. He notes “Que enhances business performance and gives you a competitive edge.” The business angle’s also played up with mention of support for PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel…and there’s even the intriguing phrase “powerful tools for interacting with and managing the content.” That implies you may be able to do more than just annotate documents on the Que–will you be able to actually edit them, or run a Powerpoint presentation? We can’t tell yet, but it certainly seems that Plastic Logic’s Que will enter the e-reader game right at the top end, perhaps tending toward limited Tablet PC capabilities.”
What do you think? Pretty cool? Will the market handle a “premium product”? Does this seem to square off with the new tablets that we read are coming? DO you want one?
I learned about this new book from an article and short video on the INSEAD KNOWLEDGE website.
The article is “The Innovation Manual“ and we can see from the perspective of a marketing professor a number of key points, many of which we have discussed in our classes, but it serves as a great reminder about the “basics” .
David Midgley, the author of the book, uses the example of the Apple iPod and the business model it created. Once again, we see this model coming out as a key to success. Further, the role of customers in product/service innovation and development. We also read about the importance of an innovation culture and the challenges of maintaining a culture of innovation. The book promises to tell us all about it.
What do you think of the reminders here? What should be emphasized more? Less?
In a Forbes.com article we learn that this Apple, “App Store” thing is now huge. The article, “Sony Gets Vicious for App Store” we read of another product that has adopted the service/partner parallel. Can we launch a product that does not have a service component or an “Information Dimension”?
Will this mean success for Sony’s PSP? Will it just keep the product in the game?
What do you think? When should it have thought about this NPM strategy?
Fast Company published a posting with a video circa 1987 called “Screw Microsoft’s Courier: Apple Had a Better Idea 22 Years Ago” The posting has another video you might enjoy as well.
What do you think about this posting? Do you like the original or the “latest version”?
A FAST COMPANY blog posting talks about a recent patent by APPLE that could undermine their sustainability movement positioning, however, there is another interesting concept and this is “active packaging”.
From the post ” According to Apple’s patent, such packaging could receive power “provided by a direct power connection to an external power supply or by one or more wireless power techniques. A data signal may be provided by one or more direct data lines to the electronic media device within the packaging, or the electronic media device may enable an integrated wireless network interface to receive a data stream while housed in the packaging.” Traditional plastic polymer backings present in Apple packaging could be printed with wire traces to supply power, ground, and data to the enclosed device.”
While this does add more packaing, especially electronics and other items most people are reducing due to their sustainability efforts, this technology may provide a competitive advantage through better promotion.
What do you think? Competitive advantage or are they damaging their own “green” positioning?
Design, and by that I do not mean “engineering design” is central to successful new products. An article entitled “Creating Cults and Culture with Design“ from FAST COMPANY. The article talks about APPLE (of course) but also gives examples of other companies that are successful. Southwest Airlines and METHOD. However, one of the issues is that everyone wants to be APPLE and tries to create “APPLE-like” products, which are really not innovative. To create your own “iPod” one must have design as one of your business objectives. The article mentions the role of the CEO. From the article “First, is design on the CEO’s list of legacy objectives? If not, the design activity is often about creating better window dressing or optimizing a product for usability–but not about creating a remarkable offering. There just won’t be the organizational will that standout products require to survive the corporate development processes. Companies that deliver these kinds of products and services have a creative and empowered culture that wants to understand the customer and that goes the extra mile when perfecting the design. This kind of culture has to come from the top”.
What do you think about “Design”? Is it part of your organization’s strategy? What do you think of Southwest as an example?
In Stephen H. Wildstrom’s column entitled “Meet Cisco, the Consumer Company“ we red that Cisco, long a technology company is now becoming a consumer company. It is taking its shot at “convergence” which we have discussed in some classes; convergence is is where computers, entertainment, and the internet come together.
We can already see that HP, APPLE, SONY, and Microsoft are working in this (convergence) space. Is the wireless network the place to pull this all together?
CISCO is coming out with the “Conductor” a wireless home audio device. Interesting. I already have a Cisco wireless router in my home; seems a logical extension. The article points out that Cisco is already working with the cable companies, it may have some trouble keeping both their B2B customers as well as their B2C customers happy.
What do you think about Cisco’s moves? What are your thoughts on convergence?
