Major Music Labels and Their Downward Spiral - We're all Thieves to the RIAA
"As I've said before, a good sign of a dying industry that investors might want to avoid is when it would rather litigate than innovate, signaling a potential destroyer of value. If it starts to pursue paying customers -- which doesn't seem that outlandish at this point -- then I guess we'll all know the extent of the desperation. Investor, beware." Read More...
Power to the Knowledge Worker - All Hail Enterprise 2.0
"Corporate employees are beginning to use Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, wikis, RSS, and social networking in their daily lives. The adoption, however, is uneven, with some employees willing to go to great lengths to use these tools, while others steadfastly refuse to adopt. On the surface it looks like technology marketers have their work cut out for them and will need to convince prospective customers that mass adoption is both possible and valuable. In reality, this situation presents more opportunity than threat, as smart tech marketers will appeal to employees, IT, and line-of-business sponsors each in turn. A well-crafted marketing plan will target each constituency and use its interests to drive value and revenues — regardless of the firm's initial Web 2.0 adoption level."
While I haven't shelled out the US$279.00 for the report, I must say, this concept absolutely has truth in my professional career. For the last five plus years, I have chosen many "non-sanctioned" hosted applications to assist me as well as my teams in driving our daily tasks, education and communication.
Read More...
You Press the Button - We Do the Rest. September 4, 1888 the Birth of Snapshot Photography
While I don't have an original KODAK camera,
I do
have several Kodak cameras that date as early as
1899. Pictured above is the line drawing
from the original patent issued. To see the
complete patent, continue reading this posting
below.
According to kodak.com,
the word "Kodak" was also first registered as a
trademark in 1888. There has been some fanciful
speculation, from time to time, on how the name
was originated. But the plain truth is that
Eastman invented it out of thin air.
He explained: "I devised the name myself. The
letter "K" had been a favorite with me -- it seems
a strong, incisive sort of letter. It became a
question of trying out a great number of
combinations of letters that made words starting
and ending with 'K.' The word 'Kodak' is the
result." Kodak's distinctive yellow trade dress,
which Eastman selected, is widely known throughout
the world and is one of the company's more valued
assets.
What Do You Use a Toyota Car For? Apparently Anything Other Than Transportation
This one just caught my eye.
It appears that the fine folks at Toyota have
figured out how to connect about every gadget
you own (cameras, MP3 player, cell phone, PDA,
kitchen sink) to your car. Toyota plans to show
off their new "Toyota Hub" at the Mondial de
l'Automobile this weekend. If you can read
French, here is the original story: http://akiba.sorobangeeks.com/news_8686.html
Slim Devices: Squeezebox Upgradable Display... Now That's Cool
Buyer's remorse. That dreaded curse that plagues us
all right after we buy that new widget. Nowhere
does buyer's remorse run more rampant than through
the darkened home offices of super geeks
everywhere--right after they buy that new blinking
box (as my wife likes to call them). You know the
feeling... about two miles from the car dealer's
lot when you realize your shiny new car just
depreciated by about 50%. Poof, it's gone.
OK, I got off topic...
I have been a big fan of a small Silicon Valley
startup called Slim Devices for a few years. They
have a fantastic product that "connects" two of my
greatest (geek) loves -- my computer and my music.
They call it the Squeezebox and it allows all the
MP3s on your computer to be played through your
home stereo system. As opposed to the
less-than-tin-can-quality of the single speaker in
your PC.