I’ve blogged before about the power of Wolfram Alpha, Mathematica creator Wolfram Research’s powerful online “knowledge engine” which is capable of, among other things, balancing chemical equations, looking up star charts, doing math, and even looking up medical information. But it’s good to know that, despite the sophisticated computational engine which underlies it, Wolfram Alpha [...]
A few weeks back, I wrote a quick overview of Clayton Christensen’s explanation for how new technologies/products can “disrupt” existing products and technologies. In a nutshell, Christensen explains that new “disruptive innovations” succeed not because they win in a head-to-head comparison with existing products (i.e. laptops versus desktops), but because they have three things: Good [...]
Back when I was still posting on Xhibiting, I was especially fond of interesting USB gadgets. Well, my good friend Anthony pointed me to this interesting gadget that he found out about through Engadget which takes my USB fascination to a whole new level: The product is from Thumbs Up! and apparently, after plugging it [...]
Knowing my interest in tech strategy, a coworker recommended I pick up HBS professor Clayton Christensen’s “classic” book on disruptive innovation: The Innovator’s Dilemma. And, I have to say I was very impressed. The book tries to answer a very interesting question: why do otherwise successful companies sometimes fail to keep up on innovation? Christensen’s [...]
In educational circles, there’s always a philosophical debate between those educators who favor allowing their students to use tools like TI-89’s or computer algebra-capable software like Mathematica and those who don’t, with those favoring their use citing the ability of the tools to expand the scope of the curriculum, and with those opposed worried about [...]
This post is almost a week overdue thanks to a hectic work week. In any event, I spent last Monday and Tuesday immersed in the high performance chip world at the 2009 HotChips conference. Now, full disclosure: I am not electrical engineer, nor was I even formally trained in computer science. At best, I can [...]
Although I’ve spoken at lengths about my love for Google, I am sensitive to privacy concerns that more and more people are having that Google just knows too much about me. Thankfully, the brilliant thinkers over at Google have created a new option to help those who are nervous about Big Brother Google: (Yes, it’s [...]
I’m very excited that I’ll be attending the 2009 Hot Chips conference which is being held from August 24-25. It’s a conference which is sponsored by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and has been held at Stanford ever since it began in 1989. What’s especially cool for people interested in technology or [...]
I’ve criticized Singapore-based Creative before for overhyping their Zii chip with their vague promises like “stem-cell computing” and a name that eerily conjures up a very popular game console from Nintendo (here and here) . Well, the hype keeps coming, they have now released specs for their first “stem cell computer” (whatever that means), a [...]
In my Introduction to Tech Strategy post, I mentioned that one of the most important aspects of the technology industry is the importance of ecosystem linkages. There are several ways to think about ecosystem linkages. The main linkages I mentioned in my previous post was influence over technology standards. But, there is another very important [...]