Thank you Wendy and Mike.
From The Today Show
Esquire Magazine Augmented Reality Video
What do you think?
From Wired Magazine
Chris Anderson “The Future of Free”
This article and and 37 minute video gets you thinking about disruption and the future of free. Is everything that is digital eventually free?
Is “free” a marketing tool or something else?
Thanks to Hugh for these links.
We discussed briefly Next Generation 911 in class.
An article discusses what the problem is and what it is going to cost to fix it.
Wikipedia Explanation of NG911 From the article: “In addition to calling 9-1-1 from a phone, the public will be able to transmit text, images, video and data to the 9-1-1 center (referred to as a Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP)”
Did you know about this? (I did not know about PSAP) What do you think?
Thank you Kathy and Catherine for this referral. (Two students recommended this same video)
Great TED Talk on a device that can serve as our “SixthSense”
Amazing and not too far away!
What do you think?
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?
Check out this concept phone “Nokia Concept Smartphone” . First thing, can these phones be designed to be more user friendly? How? What do they need? What do you think of the concept?
What else should you be able to do with your constant companion that it does not already do?
Thanks to VV for this referral.
Well, if you like to think about how vast the universe is, this video is for you. If you like think about how much we really do not know, this video is for you.
What do you think?
Zipcar — Best New Idea in Business says FORTUNE Magazine
People saving money ($600 per month says the article), GREEN, convenient, and easy to use. Could it get any better?
We discussed in class how this company has built a business model that could not really exist without the web and m-commerce (well it could, but it would not be as cool). From the article “the company’s mission statement still pledges to “change the world through urban and environmental transformation” sounds all good.
What do you think? Could this exist without the web? Will this catch on? Will rental car agencies take over?
Another interesting article in FAST Company about “AR” (Augmented Reality) — or is it Artificial Reality? The article entitled ” Is Google Street View joining the Augmented Reality Fray?” asks “The augmented reality explosion is literally just beginning, and it seems Google’s painstakingly-gathered geotagged imagery is best used as artificial reality. It’ll be interesting to see which tech remains useful and relevant for longer–and will Google find itself relegated to merely being the data pipe that feeds popular AR apps, or will it flip a switch and turn this into an AR app of its own?”.
The article links a video of the “Street View” app. What do you think? Cool?
This “Augmented Reality” seems to be picking up some buzz. What do you think? Will this catch on (diffuse)? Where will it go?
I am a huge fan of workflow and “digitizing” (using information technology to transform “paper-based” processes). An article in Industrial Distribution Magazine (Justifying Going Electronic” ) states ”automating just one business transaction can make a big difference in your bottom line”. The article goes on to talk about the cultural changes that occur and then go through the economics of digitizing the invoicing process. The article also points out that the process of automating processes is not just for “big” business. ”When asked why they still use manual processes, a popular answer for many companies is “we are not large enough to justify the costs or reap the benefits of electronic processes.”
“Going electronic”, digitizing, or automating processes does not require installing SAP or some other monster ERP package, it can also mean using popular “office” software suites and some simple information technology tools. I see some HUGE possibilities in collaborative technologies and in particular open source workflow tools as well as GOOGLE’s new WAVE especially for knowledge-based processes.
What do you think? What are some examples of process digitization you have participated in? What are some proejcts you can forsee?
Augmented Reality — AR– is adding technology to the real world, or another way of looking at it is adding digital information to physical reality. iPhone Apps are coming. Another article from FAST Company
The first AR App has arrived for the iPhone. See the video (in french)
More AR apps from Fast Company article
What do you think? Are you ready for AR? How would you like to use it?
Thanks Dave from MG-745 for this suggestion.
Check out this You Tube Video – MILO An HMI that recognizes and responds to movement, etc.
Now, how can we use THIS technology in inductrial controls? What do you think? Games first? Education?
Thanks Drox for this referral.
From the following linked article ” It is hard, they say, to pinpoint the exact impact of social networking on the web. However, it is clear that individuals are increasingly using these sites to keep in touch with friends, find jobs and enhance their careers. Social networking sites drew 139.8 million visitors in April, a 12% increase from 124.4 million in March, according to comScore, a service that measures web traffic.”
Friendprints and Privacy from Wharton
Privacy seems to be less and less possible. The more we interact online the more that we leave behind “friendprints”. According to the linked article “Few of these users realize that the information they post, when combined with new technologies for gathering and compiling data, can create a fingerprint-like pattern of behavior. The information provides opportunities not only for legitimate business purposes, but also for the nefarious aims of identity thieves and other predators, according to faculty at Wharton and elsewhere. ”
So what are we to do?
Marc Andreessen (New Lisbon, Wisconsin) speaks on a Forbes Video about what he thinks will be the next big technologies. If you do not know who Marc Andreessen (Netscape) is, read the bio. You will need to sit through some Dell advertising (Embedded Deployment, Enhanced Vitualization?), but it is a good 3:47 second view.
What do you think? Do you agree? Cloud Computing? Databases?
This interactive timeline is amazing! (A bit slow, but wow!) Talk about innovation, this list of milestones is just one technological hit after another.
Just to list a few of the inventions on the timeline: Laser Printing: 1971, Object Oriented Programming: 1972, Ethernet:1973, WORM Program: 1978, Ubiquitious Computing: 1988, Electronic Reuseable Paper:2000. Plus many more.
What do you think about the “vision” of the “Office of the Future” (Founded in 1970) and the string of developments that came from the team they assembled? Which is your favorite?
According to an article in Strategy and Business there are over 6,000 IBMers in virtual worlds. According to the article, ” An estimated 300 million people worldwide have registered for participation in some form of this activity, according to Kzero, a virtual world marketing and development company. In 2008, according to trade group Virtual Worlds Management, venture capitalists and other investors bet nearly US$600 million on more than 60 software producers involved in the fledgling technology.” Wow. Just a fad?
Further, the article states, ” IBM estimates that, with an investment of roughly $80,000, it saved more than $250,000 in travel and venue costs for a recent corporate Academy of Technology event and enjoyed more than $150,000 in additional productivity gains, because these virtual participants were at their computers and able to dive back into work immediately at the conclusion of the meeting.” Wow, a payback too?
What do you think? Ready to go virtual for business?
An article in the online version of CLO (Chief Learning Officer) magazine suggests that Second Life be given a second look as a platform for training and development . The article “A Second Look at Second Life“ (This opens to an online magazine reader) tells us that there are now over 13 Million residents and that a recent survey says that 87 percent of the respondents see virtual worlds as “beneficial to education and training efforts”.
The article tells us that IBM has committed $10 Million to development in Second Life but also lists a number of other firms including Milwaukee’s Manpower (not mentioned in the article), BMW, NIKE, and DISNEY.
The article suggests that the virtual world is not limited by physics.
How can you see Second Life being used in training and development?
Thank you Frank (a former student) who thought this pretty cool. I wonder if he will be trading in his H-D?
Check it out. One minute video.
