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Which Way Did They Go?

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As we remember from history Lewis and Clark made the first map of the then recent Louisiana Purchase.  In all they created 140 maps.  Google’s Street View project is underway to create a pictorial map of the entire world and add data and links to it.  They have filmed 6 million miles of road and expect that it will take a trillion photos to cover the world.  That is a lot of storage even for Google.  There are some other people working on this type of project so there is competition.

The proximity and research services that could be offered based on this core data would be world changing.  The combination of the pictures and the location based data offers essential organization of the world.  The growing amount of geographically related data will create depth of what the world knows about any place where you stand or drive.  So Google will be able to drive you home in your car and the new Google Robots can chase after you.  Also the Google Robots can fight the Amazon Drones.  Would that be Skynet global domination?

Google Global Domination

Hey Kids, what time is it?

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It is not Howdy Doody time.  I still wear a watch out of habit but my kids almost never wear one.  The difference between the time that I take to turn my wrist versus taking out my phone to check time, email, texts or calls is what? – a couple seconds.  There are over a dozen players in the market or planning to be.  Samsung seemed determined to have product in the market ahead of Apple on anything to show how “cool” it is.  The device only works with a few new Samsung products and nothing else.  Oh, and it is big, bulky and does not do much.  It appears that anyone can fill the product category but is it a better user experience?  Apple would call that a Beta product.

Making a watch because you have the technology only makes sense if there is a market demand.  So far there are smart watches, health monitors and sleep measurement devices (like Lark).  I doubt that I will ever buy another watch so what will motivate me to cover my wrist with something else?  I have not seen it yet.

The War for Your Wrist!

 

 

Pay Attention, Every Day!

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“Plan your work, work your plan.” is a problem when management does not track performance against plan.  The bigger the gap between performance/plan creates a greater need for change.  So the longer there is denial or inattention to that gap, the bigger the crisis will be.  Strategy needs to be created with broad input from and broad communication to all stakeholders. Consistent strategy requires constant performance assessment that everyone can see.  Management is supposed to drive that information flow that encourages constant adaptation to market reality.  If the board does not demand that information or causes management to fear delivering it, the gap between the board and management will grow.  This applies to this story’s three companies’ succession approaches.  The faster rate of change in an industry requires faster company responses to it.

CEO Secession Comparison Story

How many riders have survived the Citibike program beside me?

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…Apparently, all of us, so far!

I think that the reason for so much surprise is the struggle in the street among the drivers, the cyclists and the pedestrians.  As I am all three, I see the difference in the perspectives.  When I am walking, I fear getting taken out by a cab or bus.  Vehicles have always dominated the streets, and sometimes the sidewalks.  Buses go over curbs when going around the corners.  Cabs can be anywhere.  When driving in the city I am constantly aware of bikes around me.  I need to check for them before I turn at a corner or drive in either the right or left lanes.

Vehicle domination is being threatened by the increase in bike riders, both Citibikes and private bikes.  They are being given or are taking lanes on the roads but not consistently.  Construction and double-parked cars prevent smooth travel down the street.  This forces bikers into lanes further to the middle of the street.  The role of bikes has greatly increased in the city transportation with the Citibike rollout. This change may be permanent for a full role for bikes on city roads.

But the bikers will need to become responsible and follow the laws of the road.  One near death experience for me was in Amsterdam when I was walking across a bike path.  I was nearly run down.  How many pedestrians will survive the Citibike program?

Citibike Related Story

Dr. Google, I presume?

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Is the medical industry about to learn what Microsoft is learning about competing with Google?  Selling a service regulated by state governments limits new competitors and ways of doing things.  However, what can you do when you have a competitor who can and will provide the service much cheaper or free across state lines?  Especially when it can still make a great deal of money with advertising surrounding it.  Letting the market bid down the service to low prices is the Affordable Healthcare Act dream and probably everyone else’s.  Google only impacts Telemedicine now, but where does it end?

Google Healthcare Related Story

Bones, Where did you put the tongue depressers?

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Can anyone be a great technologist if they did not watch Star Trek? When you listen to everyone’s vision for the future, it always goes back to Gene Roddenberry. We already have the tablets replacing books. I read about the development of Bone’s Tricorder in the near future. Getting warp drives will take a while but what are we going to do when we run out of Gene’s vision field?

Tricorder Related Story

Tricorder Related Story

Well, I guess we will not be fighting over the remote control anymore

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If TV sales are dropping globally, what are people doing with their time?  Use of video is not dropping.  My kids have not been allowed to have televisions in their rooms but this has not stunted their video fascination.  My first clue came from seeing my son with the first iPad curled up on the floor watching Netflix while in front of a 50” television.  Now my kids have their own computers so they stream whatever they want to watch and it is not often on a television.  The alternative screens are now from 30 inches down to 3.  This is a problem for more people than TV makers including…?

TV Sales Decline Related Story

 

Hello, 2010 Calling

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Three and a half years, 900,000 apps and 300+ million tablets sold later, it has occurred to Microsoft that their business model of a PC centric world may not be appropriate.  So whatever part of the PC market tablets do not cannibalize, the Chromebooks will go after.  Today HP brought out the HP Chromebook 11 for $279.  So if there is little money in tablet operating systems and no money in Chromebook operating system competition, where does Microsoft go from here?

Microsoft Related Story