Thoughts
Ideas that transform people, businesses, and industries
Deeply rooted in our organizational ethos is the celebration of authentic and unapologetic “thought.” We believe each member of our team brings with them a unique view of themselves, our clients, and of the world we live in. We make a point to not only articulate our individual experiences, senses, emotions, and actions internally, but to share them with you here.
Uncertain E-book economics
Check out this article in the WSJ today about authors/publishers "struggling" to adjust to the new economics e-book. E-books look poised to completely disrupt the publishing industry, like digital music and movies started to do 10 years ago, if it already...
Frozen in uncertainty … and what to do about it
More than ever, people are expressing their frustration to me about being able to do any strategic planning amidst all the unknowns. Granted, I have been talking a lot with friends who work in the Healthcare and Education fields and I do acknowledge there's more...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #10: Cybernetic Musicians
"Human musicians routinely jam with cybernetic musicians."I think we'd have to call this one a miss as well. While there are amazing advances in computer aided music, it is hard to claim that musicians "jam" with computers. Of course, there are some cool games (like...
Kurzweil Prediction #9: Deflation
"Accelerating returns from the advance of computer technology have resulted in continued economic expansion. Price deflation, which had been a reality in the computer field during the twentieth century, is now occurring outside the computer field during the twentieth...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #8: Translation
"Translating telephones (speech-to-speech language translation) are commonly used for many language pairs."Kurzweil continues his blind spot for computer enabled language software. It would be an extreme exaggeration to say that real time language translation during...
Game changer
If you've downloaded any apps lately, you have probably noticed some game-like component to it. Whether, you're using a geo app like Foursquare or Gowalla that lets you check in for discounts and to obtain titles (Mayor, etc) or an app provided by a consumer product...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #7: Disabilities
"Pocket-sized reading machines for the blind and visually impaired, "listening machines" (speech to text conversion) for the deaf, and computer controlled orthotic devices for paraplegic individuals results in a growing perception that primary disabilities do not...
Google is trying to distract me … but I’m still using blekko
One of my colleagues just pointed out Google's home page today. Wow. I couldn't stop playing with my mouse; the dots were totally entrancing. See the WSJ article for some guesses as to why the dots today... seems they are planning a press event about search...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #6: Classrooms
"Although traditional classroom organization is still common, intelligent courseware has emerged as a common means of learning."Mostly right. Traditional classroom organization is probably a little more than common, but it is certainly true that much of our childrens'...
Palm Branding
I was reminded of the power of branding on a flight this weekend. But it wasn't the typical American Airlines, Coca Cola or other popular brands you might see during a flight. And it wasn't the ever popular iPhone or iPods sprinkled throughout the fuselage. No,...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #5: Business Transactions
"Most routine business transactions (purchase, travel, reservations) take place between a human and a virtual personality. Often, the virtual personality includes an animated visual presence that looks like a human face."On this one, he got it wrong. While it is true...
Process Improvement: The final frontier
One of the biggest areas of interest I hear about from clients is their interest in improving processes to boost efficiency and save money. In the past, many of my clients used a combination of technology system upgrades, or personnel cuts/reorganization to realize...
Healthcare in China
There's a very interesting article in yesterday's WSJ about the Chinese government's aggressive push to revolutionize their medical records processes/technology. Many of the biggest technology hitters like IBM, Microsoft, and Dell are already engaged with local...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #4: Speech Recognition
"The majority of text is created using continuous speech recognition. Also ubiquitous are language user interfaces (LUIs)."On prediction #4, I think we have to say Kurzweil missed. While voice recognition software is certainly improving (we have pretty good verbal...
Kurzweil 2009 Prediction #3: Cables disappear
"Cables are disappearing. Communication between components uses short-distance wireless technology. High-speed wireless communication provides access to the Web."Score #3 for Kurzweil. I'm typing now on a Mac wireless keyboard and I've used high speed wireless...
How much would you pay to increase your intelligence?
One of my favorite questions for years has been "would you trade 10% of your appearance for 10% more intelligence or vice versa"? The answers often surprise me. And no, I wouldn't.People have been paying to improve their appearance for years, everything from...
The benefits of Agile Project Management…on my house
Prior to my wife and I purchasing our first house, we talked extensively about our individual appetite for remodeling. If you rated us on a scale of 1-10, I would have been in the 1-2 area with her being closer to an 7-8. Whereas we both wanted to avoid it if all...
8 billion on red
I've had a few days to digest the acquisition of McAfee by Intel...and I still can't figure out the "why" behind this acquisition. I've read several articles that state it's for higher margins (which I get) and potentially faster chip performance (which I don't)....
Comic: Internal Customers
Many of you know we are working on our first book on IT strategy. One of the most fun parts of writing it has been creating all the comics about IT and business people trying to work with each other. Jim's been sharing a few of the comics on his blog and I thought I'd...
An Engaging Time…
I was just in Chicago to attend the Alterian Engaging Times summit. The attendance was great, and there were some impressive brands represented including Dave & Busters, Western Union and many others. The theme of the summit was the rise of social marketing and...
Kurzweil Prediction #2: Variety of PCs
"Personal computers with high-resolution visual displays come in a range of sizes, from those small enough to be embedded in clothing and jewelry up to the size of a thin book."On this prediction, Kurzweil also has scored a success. We have all kinds of small devices...