... my name is John Patrick and Attitude LLC is the name of 
my company. My activities include writing, speaking, and board service. I am fortunate to have quite a few affiliations and I get to work with people from whom I am constantly learning. Prior to "e-tirement", I was vice president of Internet Technology at IBM Corporation. Nearly everything I have ever said or written is here at patrickWeb or in my book, Net Attitude.
As of today, the patrickWeb blog contains 965 postings. I hope you enjoy reading them -- and listening to some musical selections!
Geocaches found: 103. Benchmarks found: 90. Trike miles: 13,521
|
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 |
|
|
Electrical Energy
The Lockheed Martin (with partner Boeing) F-22 Raptor is a single seat, twin-engine fifth-generation fighter aircraft that uses stealth technology. The simulator was dumbed down and many of the questions that EAB members asked of the fighter pilot who assisted us were appropriately sprinkled with "unclassified" answers. Even the unclassified specifications were mind-numbing. As a pilot I know a little bit about aviation but not much about military jets. The flying experience in the simulators was incredible. Pull back the stick and the F-22 goes up -- straight up if you tell it to. At a cost of $143 million each it should be spectacular! The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is also a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine stealth fighter but additionally is "multi-role" -- it can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air defense missions. I flew in the simulator for the short take off and vertical-landing variant of the plane. In addition to the amazing flying capabilities it can land on an aircraft carrier vertically. As I was bringing it down, it adjusted itself to land right next to another F-35 that was on the carrier deck. The F-35 is intended to become a Joint Strike Fighter and deployed by numerous countries around the world. At a mere $83 million each it is much more affordable than the F-22! The meeting turned serious first thing in the morning -- a deep dive by the Engineering Advisory Board along with leading experts from government, industry, and Lehigh faculty researchers in energy, advanced materials, and systems research. The goals were to assess future needs in integrated energy systems, evaluate technical and intellectual niches at Lehigh relevant to these needs, and envision a bold developmental roadmap toward a world-class energy systems research center. Lehigh has a lot of depth in key areas that are fundamental to energy systems and the brainstorming at this meeting was designed to trigger ideas to leverage the available skills. When I was an electrical engineering student 40+ years ago there were two curricula options -- power systems or electronics. The latter had a bit more glamour for many. Energy (power) systems may take the baton. It almost goes without saying how important and massive the global energy challenge is. Clearly it warrants a full range of energy systems research activities for years to come, incorporating technologies ranging from a smart electrical grid to advanced energy generation and storage; from sensing, networking and power electronics, to integrated communication and decision support architectures and technologies that support a smarter, more efficient, more resilient, and better integrated energy system. The "smart" part of the grid has to go from top to bottom -- including at the consumer level where smart meters and smart appliances will enable consumers to know what energy they are using and to make informed decisions on when it is best to utilize energy. Implementing the "smart grid" is easier said than done. There are many different standards and protocols in use by utilities across the country -- some would say a hodgepodge. It reminds me of the early days of the Internet. My grandchildren were born after the Internet was well established but those of us old enough to remember know how many competing networks there were in the early 1990's -- SNA from IBM, AppleLink from Apple, DecLink from Digital and dozens of others. The Internet Architecture Board of the Internet Engineering Task Force pulled together a set of standards that superseded all other networks and became *the* network. A similar effort is now underway under coordination of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. It was nostalgic to read and even if you only read the table of contents you will get an appreciation of the potential. See the NIST Framework and Roadmap for smart Grid Interoperability Standards. It is standards that make the Internet global and efficient. Likewise the smart grid standards will make it possible to predict and prevent power outages and ensure efficient transmission, distribution, storage, and utilization of energy no matter how it was produced. The need for the smart grid is great and the clock is ticking. Lehigh is gearing up to provide critical research and graduates to help move things forward. People - Aviation - Energy - Internet Technology - Public Policy - Travels March 17, 2010 02:15 PM |
|
|
Tuesday, March 2, 2010 |
|
|
Olympic Advertising
The Atlanta Olympic Games was the beginning of e-business for IBM. A member of our team built an experimental "ticket server" to see if we could actually sell tickets to the Games online. At the time it was the largest e-commerce site on the Internet. The first commercial customer for the technology followed later that year -- it was L.L. Bean. The athletes who compete to win or lose by a small fraction of a second are truly incredible. The other thing about the Olympic Games that gets more incredible each year is the advertising. Some tell me I am in the minority on this but I think the advertising is over the top. When is enough enough? An analysis of "the tapes" would likely show the following as the most repeated phrases of the Games.
Years ago I had the privilege of sitting next to Bob Costas at a dinner. What a nice and very sharp man -- who looks much younger than his 58 years. When I heard him say "stay with us" it seemed he was inwardly saying "I know you have already seen all of these ads dozens of times and could recite them word for word and I also know that you are likely going to the kitchen or lavatory while they are playing even though consultants who "measure" viewers are telling the advertisers how many millions of people are "watching". On the first Friday night, NBC ran 20 minutes worth of ads during the 9pm hour. In spite of this it is projected that the network will lose $250 million on the coverage it provided. If they could have sold one out of each two minutes instead of "just" one out of three, would they have? Is there snow in Canada? The model is clearly broken. What is the solution? I do not claim to have the precise answer but I am confident it is not more minutes of advertising or more cost of goods sold to be born by consumers in order to prop up the existing outdated model. The new model will be based on the Internet and "power to the people". Boxee may hold the clue. The idea is to have a small box (or a chip in your DVD player or TV) that runs software from Boxee. Boxee acts like TV Guide" -- it is a single interface to all forms of video including movies you make yourself, YouTube, Vudu, Netflix streaming, and all the channels of network and cable TV as we know them. The viewer decides not only what to watch but, if the content is not free, then the viewer decides how to pay for it. This is necessary because there will definitely continue to be content that is not free. NBC hauled a lot of robotic cameras and crew up to Vancouver at a cost of millions. They have to recover that somehow. So how might you pay? One way is to watch the barrage of droning advertisements like today. Another model is to pay a fee per view. Instead of watching three hours of Olympic Games + ads from 7 - 10 on channel X, you pay $2.99 and watch the two hours of Olympic Games from 8 - 1- on channel Y. For 99 cents you watch the 6 PM news at 6:40 and get 100% news. Another model might be that if you are willing to provide some personal preferences you get the full hour including the ads but the ads are tailored to things relevant to you based on your profile. There are many variations on the "power to the people" theme. Stay tuned. |
|
|
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 |
|
|
News and Reporters
As magazines and newspapers shutter, how will we get the news? "Getting" the news is the easy part -- iPhones, iPads, PC's Macs, and TV's. The bigger issue is with the declines in advertising where will the money come from to pay reporters? There are several possible answers. Yahoo Inc. and the Associated Press have reached a new licensing agreement that will allow the Web portal to continue to host AP articles. Details were not disclosed but it is obvious that the deal means that Yahoo! will start to pay more for the news they provide to their site members and visitors. Similar deals with Google, Microsoft and other portals are likely. AP is getting more clever at tracking where it's news shows up and will do it's best to eliminate free publication of their news. A second part of the puzzle is the reduction of the number of reporters. Just as automation has reduced the need for certain skills in the economy, so too will the ubiquity of the Internet impact the scale of reporters that are needed. A breaking news story does not need to be covered by a reporter at each and every newspaper or magazine. Some news can be covered by the readers themselves. Crowdsourcing can be applied to most any endeavor. A sporting event, town hall meeting, an accident or a parade could be "covered" by crowds of people who take pictures, interview each other, write their commentary and publish it through various aggregators. News organizations themselves may utilize crowdsourcing. The most profound question about reporting though is investigative reporting. It is not about just what is happening but why is it happening, what were the factors leading up to the news "event", what are the motivations of the various people associated with the issue, and what might the short term and long term impact be? These are questions that require skills of journalism to uncover. Not any reporter can get access to interview key figures nor does every reporter have the skills to ask the right questions and engage in discovery through dialog Last but not least is the editor. Who decides what headline to attach to a story? Who decides whether the story will be one paragraph or six two pages? Who insures the integrity of a story and that it is not biased? The editor. And is the editor biased himself or herself? A story may be considered liberal by one reader and conservative by another. This is a complex issue but I think news.google.com has the roots of the solution. The top story at the time of this writing is "Senate jobs bill passed key hurdle on Monday night". The story was by Ed Hornick and Tami Luhby at CNN. The headline was followed by a couple of sentences describing what the story is about. Then follows two other versions of the story -- "GOP's Brown branded turncoat for jobs bill vote" by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and "US Senate could pass a jobs bill this week" by Reuters. These are followed by coverage of the story by Atlantic Online, USA Today, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. Finally, for this one story, there is a link to all 1,718 news articles (and blog postings). The point is that if you feel that The XYZ Press is biased in some way, you can pick a publication that you are more comfortable with -- that you trust -- or you may decide to read versions of the story at multiple publications and compare them with your own point of view. The news business is being reshaped by the Internet and the ultimate control is with the people. Internet Technology - Media - e-Business February 23, 2010 04:00 PM |
|
|
Friday, February 12, 2010 |
|
|
Knovel Blogs
Neil Schulman, Editor in Chief at Knovel Blogs recently interviewed me about the 16th Annual Genesys Partners Venture Dinner -- Gen XVI-- which was held at the Union League Club in New York. The event attracted more than 100 venture capitalists, investors, journalists, entrepreneurs, and industry executives. A summary of the after-dinner comments I made can be found here. Neil's interview follows and adds some additional perspective to what I had to say at Genesys. K Exchange is the name of the Knovel Blogs. Neil Schulman: John is a former Vice President of Internet Technology with IBM, and currently serves as president of Attitude LLC. John is also the author of Net Attitude, an essential primer on e-business strategies. John has served on Knovel's Board of Directors since 1992. K Exchange: First off thank you for agreeing to interview with us. To start with, I have to get your impressions on the topic-of-the moment, the Apple iPad. To me, it seems way more evolutionary compared to the then-revolutionary iPhone. By extension, is the iPad just a larger version of the iPod Touch but with more bells and whistles? Will this device ultimately mean anything? John Patrick: I am quite enthusiastic about the iPad and can't wait to get my hands on one. Some people are saying the iPad is just a big iPhone. Yes! I can't wait and it is much more than an iPhone. It has applications galore. On day one it will run 140,000 iPhone applications plus significant upgrades to calendar, contacts, mapping, and email. I see the iPad lightening the load in briefcases when travelling. It will also take up a lot less space on the kitchen counter and while resting there in the new iPad case it will double as a picture viewer. (See complete review by John on his blog at http://www.patrickweb.com/weblog/archives/2010_01_31.php#Amazon and the iPad) KX: In conjunction with that, do you see mobile devices becoming more important? Or do the limitations of 3G/4G speeds and device memory mean people will be relying more heavily on computers for the time being? JP: Mobile is taking over. There are hundreds of millions of PC's. There are billions of mobile phones. Today most of them are "dumb" but soon most of them will be "smart". Most people in the world will access the Internet from their mobile device. The PC will become less and less relevant, accelerated by the iPad and the flood of tablet competitors who will follow. KX: You mentioned in your blog the massive disparity between public WiFi in the US and overseas. Does the possibility of widely available WiFi (or WiGig, as you posited for the near future) make the question moot, and suggest that netbooks will be preferable to mobile devices? JP: WiFi is growing all over the world. The netbook is just an inexpensive Windows PC. The only thing it has going for it is price. Do we really need another Windows PC? There is no innovation in netbooks. KX: Switching gears, you also believe that social networking is going to be crucial to collaboration in the future. Are you talking about public social networks? Or about private intra-company or intra-industry networks? JP: Both. All of the above. The days of just "plain" content are over. People expect to be able to compare notes on things. Inside or outside the firewall. The number one source that people use to pick a doctor or a hospital is not a website per se, it is asking their friends and family. Social networking is a tool to do that. In a corporate sense, the most valuable source of information on a topic may be somebody down the hall but again, social networks is a tool to reach them. Collaboration is not new but the social networks provide enhanced tools to make collaboration work. It goes deeper than writing on someone's wall. Specialized tools are emerging such as Kindling to make social networking concepts into serious business tools. The largest source of content is user generated content. That is part of social networking too. KX: Along those lines, we have statistics from Outsell that suggest that while 40% of engineers are on Facebook, only 4% are on Twitter. An interesting fact that may make more sense when you consider the recent stats suggesting that Twitter's growth is stagnating. Why do you think Facebook's adoption has been so much stronger among the engineering community? JP: They are totally different types of social networking tools. Facebook is a people oriented way to establish a presence and connect with friends or colleagues. It is frictionless to achieve. Twitter is more of a protocol -- a way to send a message or "tweet". Twitter as a company may or may not survive but the concept of sending short messages and following companies or people is a fundamental and new "channel" on the Internet. KX: Finally, I want to end on the question you asked to finish your post: "will we trust the internet?" You were talking in terms of security, but the question brings up an interesting point, do people inherently mistrust information that comes from the Internet? Obviously Wikipedia is a flawed source, but does a company like Knovel have to fight the impression of being an Internet company rather than an information provider? JP: The Internet is the communications network. It will be a constant battle against those who want to disrupt it, but I am optimistic that the good guys will stay on top. I don't think people inherently distrust the Internet -- perhaps to the contrary. It is no different than a book. How do you know a book is accurate? The key is to test veracity through cross-checking just like doing any basic research. Knovel has a huge opportunity to leverage the Internet as the delivery mechanism to make engineers more productive. In the long run it will be important to use technology to provide digital signatures and authentication of data. John's post on Genesys XYI can be found at http://www.patrickweb.com/weblog/archives/2010_01_26.php#Genesys XVI.
Conferences - Gadgets - Internet Technology - Media February 12, 2010 10:10 AM |
|
|
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 |
|
|
In The Clouds (Part 3) In the early days of the Internet we thought of it as made up of three parts. First there was a discrete collection of specialized computers called routers which moved packets of ones and zeroes between origin and destination. Secondly was another set of computers called servers which contained emails and web pages, and finally the networking infrastructure including telephone wires, modems, and various networking devices such as hubs and switches that tied everything together. Users of the Internet today that are not aware of this technical history -- which is the vast majority of the world's billion + users -- know the Internet for it's most popular application, the World Wide Web. In a sense, the web is a "place" that contains all of the information and applications that we want to use.
Consumer and enterprise interest in cloud computing is on the rise. As security and reliability guarantees of public cloud service providers improve, more businesses are turning to the cloud not only to optimize their own IT infrastructure and workloads but to improve efficiencies in their business models by better integrating employees with clients and suppliers. In January IBM announced the largest enterprise cloud computing deployment in history at Panasonic Corporation. The consumer electronics giant has begun a migration to IBM's LotusLive public cloud services. More than 100,000 employees in various departments will participate initially and the expand to more than 300,000 employees and external partners and suppliers. The Panasonic users will work together across the Web as efficiently as if they were all down the hall. The company believes that the freedom and cost-efficiencies of the cloud are compelling and that the IBM cloud will provide the security, reliability and privacy they require. The users will get web conferencing, file sharing, instant messaging, project management and social networking for business communications between employees, partners and suppliers. Panasonic has made a strategic decision to unify its brands worldwide under the Panasonic name and the IBM cloud solution will allow the global effort to provide a competitive advantage by helping its multiple business units work together more efficiently. Is cloud computing for businesses or for consumers? It is for people. Businesses do not buy from businesses. People in businesses buy from people in businesses. Clouds are all about making people more productive. Panasonic appears to be adopting this philosophy in a major way and setting a very good example which will surely be emulated. IBM - Internet Technology - On Demand February 2, 2010 04:45 PM |
|
|
Sunday, January 31, 2010 |
|
|
Amazon and the iPad  Amazon's profit for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $384 million on revenue of $9.52 billion. That is more than $10 million of products shipped each and every day. Retail sales in total in the U.S. was roughly one trillion dollars in the third quarter of 2009. Just 3.5% of that -- $35 billion -- was e-commerce, but of that $35 billion, Amazon was more than $5 billion. Amazon is truly the emerging juggernaut of retail. Of the millions of retailers one of them represented 15% of retail e-commerce. Many stories here on patrickWeb as to why this is the case. What are the threats that Amazon faces? In particular, will the iPad dethrone the Kindle?I don't claim to have the answer but I may have clues. There are more than 40 e-book readers out there. Apple may be the largest threat to the Kindle among them, but it is not a slam dunk. I am quite enthusiastic about the iPad and can't wait to get my hands on one but I do not see it as a Kindle killer. I read a lot of books and I don't buy any that are not available on the Kindle. I am Kindlzed. The 5 once device never burdens the wrist and it fits nicely on holders I made for the elliptical trainer and treadmill. I tried the nook but was happy to sell it on eBay after a month. The nook is very nice, as I have written previously, one of the issues is that it is heavy compared to the Kindle. Will potential new Kindle buyers turn instead to the iPad? Many will for sure but I think there are a couple of inhibitors for people who read a lot of books. The iPad is just one and a half pounds -- not a lot compared to a laptop or even a netbook -- but compared to the 5 once Kindle it is almost five times as heavy. If you spend a lot of time reading you may develop a need for a wrist brace. The other thing is the lighting. The Kindle uses e-ink -- it is reflective -- like paper. The more light the better. Reading by a good light or in the sunlight is better than trying to read in the dark. The iPad has back-lighting. I am sure the color screen is brilliant and for movies and pictures and magazines and newspapers it will no doubt be great. The demo by the New York Times at Steve Jobs' keynote was quite impressive. But, for an hour or two of reading I have my doubts about how easy it may be on the eyes. We don't need color to read a novel. The journalists that got to see the iPad in person reported that the room was dim. Why would that be? I suspect because good lighting makes the backlit screen harder to read. On a positive note, I think the iPad will find very large adoption -- tens of millions for sure -- and will make a big dent in PC's. The netbooks have been very successful but they are basically PC's with Windows. Their only redeeming feature is their low price. That is a good thing but it is not innovative and who needs another copy of Windows? PC desktops and laptops are already in decline and the iPad is going to accelerate the trend. Some people are saying the iPad is just a big iPhone. Yes! I can't wait and it is much more than an iPhone. It has applications galore. On day one it will run 140,000 iPhone applications plus significant upgrades to calendar, contacts, mapping, and email. There will also be advanced word processor, spreadsheet and presentation apps. The creative juices of software developers around the world will introduce hundreds of thousands of new and exciting apps that the large multi-touch color screen makes possible. I see the iPad lightening the load in briefcases when travelling. It will also take up a lot less space on the kitchen counter and while resting there in the new iPad case it will double as a picture viewer. In the family room it will be the controller for movies and music. With the keyboard dock or wireless keyboard I suspect it will become my tool for writing. With most of our data in the cloud why would anyone need a PC or laptop? Many of us will still have a PC and a big flat panel for certain things -- like Quicken -- but more and more of my time will be with the iPad. We don't need color to read a novel but there is no doubt authors and publishers will develop books with color pictures and video in them. Publishers really really don't like Amazon's $9.99 eBook model. A big war is taking shape. Amazon is offering enhanced royalties but only if the publisher keeps the price low. Apple is telling the publishers to charge whatever they want. The problem for the publishers is that Kindle on the iPhone -- which most readers don't use -- will work on the iPad on day one. I do use the iPhone to read Kindle books when I am in line at the supermarket or a waiting room. I love how the "bookmark" keeps track of where I left off on the Kindle or on my iPhone and soon on the iPad. Will there be two versions of the same book on the iPad? One with the Kindle reader and one with the iBook reader? Maybe. Some books may come in black & white and "enhanced" versions with color and embedded video. The iPhone will continue to be an important part of my life -- for calls and picture taking. And if I am in a location where there is no WiFi for the iPad, the iPhone will be my backup to the Internet. I do not plan to get the 3G model and sign up for another AT&T data plan. WiFi is available at most everywhere I go and the trend of expansion of WiFi will only accelerate. The iPad demo is great -- the Apple team really has their act together. The iPad is not perfect. It does not support Flash movies, for example. If you read the WSJ and click on a video you will get a message saying that you need the Adobe Flash player. Apple has chosen not to make Flash available on their products. Adobe Flash is proprietary and although nearly all computers support it, the web standards people are developing an open standard for video. Apple seems to be betting that this will happen soon. Apple is also quite proprietary -- more so than Microsoft was in the 1990's and IBM in the 1980's. The $499 entry price is aggressive but by the time you add the extra storage -- which is the smart thing to do -- plus an extra dock or keyboard or case or car charger plus the three new iWorks apps @ $9.99 each plus 3G if you need it plus plus, you end up spending $1,000 or more. The netbook I bought my wife for Christmas was $249. So the iPad is expensive and although for millions of people it will be their only computer, for many of us it will be one of several. I suspect I will keep my Kindle too. There will be many naysayers and critics of the iPad but I am certain it will be a smashing success and a long-term game changer for personal computing. It will become so pervasive in our lives that even though it is a very powerful computer, it will not be thought of as a computer. It is at the crossroads between technology and the arts. |
|
|
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 |
|
|
Brain Analytics  IBM says that the hottest growth area for the company is analytics. Putting their money where their mouth is, IBM has has invested $12 billion in analytics since 2005 and one of the major focus areas of the analytics thrust is healthcare. The strategy may not only make money for IBM but likely will also save lives. IBM has been collaborating with the Mayo Clinic for many years. The latest of many breakthroughs by the two is an important advance in the early detection of brain aneurysms -- a lethal condition that is not so uncommon. The technique they have devised combines the latest brain scan technology with analytics to catch a critical condition far sooner than previously possible. The joint project has examined more than 15 million images from thousands of patients. Traditionally, a patient suspected of having a brain aneurysm due to a stroke or traumatic injury would undergo an invasive test using a catheter that injects dye into the body -- a technique which itself has non-trivial risks. The new IBM - Mayo process uses non-invasive MRI angiography to create "automatic reads" that run detection algorithms immediately following a scan. The instant the MRI images are acquired, they are automatically routed to servers in the Mayo - IBM Medical Imaging Informatics Innovation Center where supercomputer algorithms analyze the images to locate and mark potential aneurysms so that specially trained radiologists can conduct a further and final analysis. The automated aneurysm detection can be done in three to five minutes -- a potentially life saving difference from the traditional approach. |
|
|
Tuesday, January 26, 2010 |
|
|
Genesys XVI
Like a broken record, I offered the normal upbeat view of the future of the Internet but prefaced my remarks by asserting that we are only 5% of the way there. In other words, of all the things that could be done on the Internet that would save us time and make our lives better, only 5% of them are there. It may sound low but consider retail e-commerce. Although there has been continuous and steady growth of retail e-commerce it still represents just 3.5% of total retail (as of the end of October). Why isn't it 25% or more? Much written about that here at patrickWeb but the short version is that there are still a lot of lame web sites. "Click here for the location of our nearest dealer where you can visit or call to buy the product you just found" or "Click here to download this form and fax it to us". And of course there are the ubiquitous clipboards at doctor offices where we take a pen and provide a lot of information information that they already have. I described one man's view of the evolution of the Internet including the seven characteristics below. This parsed way of looking at the Internet has served me well for quite a few years. The things going on under each area continuously change and Jim asks me once a year to do a thumbnail sketch of my latest thinking.
WiFi is part of the fabric of the world. The big shift is streaming of data -- not just tweets, but data from *things*. Bridges, toll booths, traffic lights and sensors, buildings, cars, and health monitoring devices attached to people. Hospital physicians will be able s will soon be adjusting the drip rate on infusion pumps in the hospital from their office based on real-time data from the patient. The WiFi infusion pumps enable hospital administrators to know where the pumps are (they never have enough of them) and which ones need maintenance. WiMax continues to struggle. Some believe it will replace WiFi. My bet is on WiFi and in a two years or less we will have WiGig -- gigabit wireless.
Conferences - Internet Technology - Media January 26, 2010 01:10 PM |
|
|
Sunday, January 24, 2010 |
|
|
Books  While e-book technology is racing forward, the publishers are stuck in the past. Several of them have announced that they will make new best sellers available on e-books only after the physical book has been for sale for at least several months. They think that if a hot new book comes out you will go to a store or online and buy the physical book. It may have been true when there were only a relative handful of e-books to choose from. Amazon now has more than 400,000. Barnes & Noble claims more than one million. With more than two dozen e-book formats (not a good thing) there likely are millions of e-books available. The publishers don't understand or are in denial about how passionate e-book readers are. Many Kindle owners are so hooked (or nooked) that they will only purchase a book if it is an e-book. Friends and family know better than to give them a "book" for a gift, although at some point receiving a real book will be very desirable (and expensive) as a collector item to cherish. The publishers say if books "deteriorate" to being sold for $9.99 (or less) as e-books that the result will be that consumers will end up with fewer new books to choose from. Their logic is that at the lower prices, publishers will have fewer resources available to assist authors and therefore there will be fewer authors. One would think that after seeing what (predictably) happened to music that publishers would embrace e-books in a major way rather than wait wait wait. With regard to the music business, more musicians are realizing that even reviled file sharing may not be evil after all. According to techdirt, Shakira, Norah Jones, and Nelly Furtado say "it's ok". The posting says that these well known singers are saying that the industry is overreacting to the issue of file sharing. Sky News talked to three top female singers and found they all recognized that it was pretty much the natural state of the market, and it helped gain more exposure. Techdirt quoted Shakira as saying, "I like what's going on because I feel closer to the fans and the people who appreciate the music. It's the democratization of music in a way, and music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift." And Norah Jones? "If people hear it I'm happy. I'm not going to say go and steal my album, but you know I think its great that young people who don't have a lot of money can listen to music and be exposed to new things." Has digital music resulted in fewer musicians? I doubt it. I don't know how many there are -- many tens to hundreds of thousands. And that's people who get paid (though some don't get much). According to the National Association of Music Merchants there were a total of 62 million amateur musicians in the U. S. in 1996. The advent of services such as Pandora makes it possible for "amateurs" to get their music exposed and some of them go on to be famous. Might the same thing happen when aspiring bloggers can avoid the high cost and complexity of "publishing" a book and introduce their creativity via an e'book? The old saying remains -- "everybody has a book in them". Not sure where I got that but I believe it. e-book readers are here to stay and they will get better and better. The e-textbook is emerging also, but not fast enough for me. I hate to see my grandchildren carry tens of pounds of books in their backpacks and have to bend over to carry the weight. When they tell their children about this it will seem very strange.
 Other gadget related stories on patrickWeb
|
|
|
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 |
|
|
IBM Happenings: November December 2009  The months of November and December were busy ones at IBM with a flurry of announcements in hardware, software, services, acquisitions, and strategic alliances. See the list of the current press releases in the extended part of this posting and an index for prior months here. As part of the major focus on a "smarter planet", IBM is heavily engaged in healthcare both as an information technology and business solutions company and also as an employer.
One project at IBM, announced in November, I found quite interesting. IBM scientists at the company's Zurich Research Laboratory have created a one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test, based on an innovative silicon chip, that requires a very small sample of blood, is significantly faster, portable, easy to use, and can test for many diseases, including one of the world's leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease. The quick results can provide a doctor with more time that could be the difference between life and death. IBM has a track record of improving heatlhcare over many years but with the company's leadership in nanotechnology there are even more significant breakthroughs likely. The one-step point-of-care-diagnostic test uses a silicon chip roughly 3/4 of a square inch to analyze a tiny sample -- 2% of a drop -- and determine what "genetic markers" associated with a particular disease the patient may be carrying. The new diagnostic test that uses capillary forces to analyze tiny blood samples The capillary action of the IBM chip is similar to what happens when dipping a paper towel in a cup of water - the microstructures in the paper fiber enable the towel to absorb the water. The tiny chip contains sets of micrometer wide channels where the test sample flows through in approximately 15 seconds, several times faster then traditional tests. A company in Begium -- Coris BioConcept -- believes the microfluidic chip is the next step in the evolution of point of care devices and they are collaborating closely with with the scientists at IBM Research - Zurich to take the innovation to the next level. More details about the project are here. Complete index of IBM Happenings
|
|
|
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 |
|
|
Solar  Alternative energy -- sources that have no undesired consequences unlike fossil fuels or nuclear energy -- are renewable and are often thought of as "free". There are billions of dollars being spent on alternative energy but there clearly are benefits compared to conventional energy sources. The alternative sources include biomass, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric the tides and other things. There is controversy over how much of the world's total energy needs can be met by the collective output of alternative energy sources but I had thought there was general agreement that even if it is 10% or even less that it was a good thing. I had written a story about wind turbines and much to my surprise there was a lot of pushback about whether it was a good thing at all. It is reasonable to assume that all the various alternatives have their pluses and minuses, but of them all, it seems to me that solar is the ultimate solution. It may take a long time but solar has the potential to be the dominant -- maybe the only -- source of energy in the long run for the entire world. IBM says that energy saving solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint and windows. There could be huge savings by having solar heat embedded in our sidewalks, driveways, siding, paint, rooftops, and windows. The cost of solar is going to drop with the creation of "thin-film" solar cells that can be 100 times thinner than today's materials. The new material can be "printed" and arranged on a flexible backing, suitable for not only the tops but also the sides of buildings. I had a catch-up call last week with my friend James Marlow -- founder of a solar startup based in Atlanta called Radiance Energies where he is focusing on solar thermal hot water systems for commercial customers. James sees great potential for solar energy. "Solar is not the only solution for our energy challenges but it is a serious part of the solution", he says. We compared notes on the government role in solar and agreed that there is a hodgepodge at the state level. In Connecticut there is an incentive to install solar but the assistance has an income cutoff level. People who could afford significant systems are not eligible for the assistance. People who are eligible often still can't afford the systems. Go figure.
 Other energy related stories on patrickWeb
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=3c5019f6-248d-4d9c-b80d-784b32fc335b) Energy - Home Automation - On Demand - Public Policy January 19, 2010 10:00 AM |
|
|
Sunday, January 17, 2010 |
|
|
e-philanthropy  There are so many ways to help those in need. I wrote a story called e-philanthroy just over ten years ago -- posted below. The number of developments on the Internet since then would have been unfathomable back then. I remember Mary Meeker from Morgan Stanley giving a presentation about eBay back then and have to admit more than skepticism at the time. Needless to say she was right -- results for 2009 not final yet but the year before eBay had revenue of $8.5 billion and net profit after tax of $1.8 billion. My nook auction has 38 followers and 18 bids with the high bidder at $270. Rather than wait, there is $1,000 on the way to Americares for Haiti.There are many high quality charities but I like to support those that have low administrative costs. FoundationSource posted a list of the ones they recommend. Americares has the highest percentage of funding to programs -- 98.7%. One of the most innovative approaches -- that would be unheard of back in 1999 -- is mobile donations. Just send a text message to 90999 with the message "haiti" and $10 will be sent to the Red Cross -- and the $10 will be placed on your cell phone bill. Not inconceibable that tens of millions of people will do this. The most powerful part of the Internet that has developed since 1999 has been the social networks. In countless cases this has been the way that friends and family have been able to communicate to and from Haiti. Even though the terrestrial phone systems were mostly wiped out, the satellite-based Internet connectivity was preserved. NetHope and Inveneo are setting up a satellite and WiFi link in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas and Cisco is providing the various relief agencies with WebEx which will enable emergency response conference calls and collaboration. e-philanthropy will grow in importance in the years ahead.
e-philanthropy October 5, 1999 |
© Copyright 2010 John R Patrick.
It was a privilege to be able to be at the opening ceremony In Atlanta (1996), Nagano (1998), and Sydney (2000). (Lots of pictures in the travel section in the 
Coming up
Three of America's great business magazines have been around for a long time -- 
The 
There is something about 
