While reading a Top 10 Startups Worth Watching in 2008 piece published by
Wired, I learn about a company called 37signals that writes webapps for project management and
collaboration, information organizers, etc. It looks pretty interesting.
As more and more people get broadband access, multimedia services and, above all, moving everyday
applications to the web should become the most normal thing.
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"These kids' brains are actually wired differently", Tapscott said. "Their
IQs are up by all the measures we have. This is the smartest generation ever.
They are highly motivated and bring with them a new kind of culture. They
bring a new model of work and collaboration into the workforce that is better,
results in higher performance and better innovation".
But armed with these new models of work and collaboration, they often bump
up against a traditional corporate culture that may prompt them to leave a
job, Tapscott noted. For companies to adequately take advantage of what
he describes as "Talent 2.0", employers must gain insight into the drivers
behind their behavior, Tapscott said.
Those drivers, he noted, are directly linked to the various technologies
that they cut their teeth on and require that companies add speed, freedom,
openness, authenticity and playfulness into their cultures.
According to the results of Tapscott's research, which he provided to
Computerworld, companies must accommodate the new generation's need
for speed —real-time instant messaging conversation is core to their
communication with a worldwide database of contacts. This preference for
quick, peer-to-peer interaction often can be stifled by the traditional
hierarchy of managers and long work processes in place at many companies
today.
[...]
Their desire for freedom and balance can be exploited for competitive gain
in many ways, Tapscott said, citing flexible work hours and the incorporation
of variety into individual workflows. Companies also may try virtual teaming,
allowing Net generation workes to satisfy their need to socialize with peers
worldwide by using collaboration technologies.
There is little doubt in my mind that the technology changes we have
witnessed in the past decade will introduce even bigger changes in areas
such as business, education or politics. The world of business doesn't
worry me so much because it tends to adapt to new trends pretty quickly, but
education and politics move at a much slower pace. Let's not even talk about
institutions, large and small, including the family. There may be some
resistance to these changes, but I believe that when it comes to these issues
resistance is quite futile. The changes will come, and the longer it takes
for us to adapt to them the more painful they will be.
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[Wed Dec 26 16:25:08 CET 2007]
Ever heard of the TED Talks? It's an annual conference held in California where people exchange ideas
about a broad array of topics: science, technology, arts, politics, etc. Well,
every now and then I like to visit the TED
website to check on the latest videos uploaded there. Yesterday I came
across Anand
Agarawala's short conference on BumpTop, a quite innovative concept
of a computer desktop. Truth be said, Agarawala's concept doesn't
convince me. I don't think we want to interact with a computer in the very
same manner we work at a regular desk. Yet, I admire his efforts to think
beyond the traditional desktop model, so tired by now. We do need something
new, although it's not clear what yet. In the meantime, Agarawala's idea
could use of some add-ons: an in-out tray, a book shelf for easy access to
manuals and even electronic books, a screen somewhere, perhaps even an
entertainment center...
Yet another short interview with Linus Torvalds where the founder of
Linux manages to make some interesting comments, as usual. Here is how he
replies to the question on where Linux shines versus Windows:
I think the real strength of Linux is not in any particular area, but in
the flexibility. For example, you mention virtualization, and in some ways that's a really
excellent example, because it's not only an example of something where Linux
is a fairly strong player, but more tellingly, it's an example where there are
actually many different approaches, and there is no one-size-fits-all "One
True Virtualization" model.
There are many different levels of virtualization, and many different
trade-offs in efficiency, management, separation, running legacy applications
and system software, etc. And different people simply care about different
parts of it, which is why the buzz-word "virtualization" shows up in so many
places.
And not only do we tend to support many different models of virtualization,
but one telling detail may be that I am personally so totally uninterested in
it, that I am really happy that I have almost nothing to do with any
of them.
And I mention that as a strong point of open source! Why? Because it
actually is a great example of what open source results in: one person's
(or company's) particular interests don't end up being dominant. The fact
that I personally think that virtualization isn't all that exciting means
next to nothing.
This is actually the biggest strength of Linux. When you buy an OS from
Microsoft, not only you can't fix it, but it has had years of being skewed
by one single entity's sense of the market. It doesn't matter how
competent Microsoft —or any individual company— is, it's going
to reflect that.
In contrast, look at where Linux is used. Everything from cellphones and
other small embedded computers that people wouldn't even think of as
computers, to the bulk of the biggest machines on the supercomputer Top-500 list. That is flexibility. And it
stems directly from the fact that anybody who is interested can participate
in the development, and no single entity ends up being in control of where it
all goes.
And what does that then lead to? Linux ends up being very good at a lot of
different things, and rather well-rounded in general. It's also very adept
at taking up any new niche, because regardless of where you want to put it,
not only has somebody else probably looked at something related before but
you don't have to go through license hassles to get permission to do a pilot
project.
It is precisely this flexibility, this lack of definition that some people
feel too uncomfortable with, that is Linux's biggest strength. Why so?
Because it lets it adapt much better (and quicker) to the changing times we
live in. We need organizational practices and software tools that can
adapt to a global world, to millions of different needs, to dynamic markets.
Linux provides that. Windows does not.
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Telepresence —a room-sized multiple-screen system for face-to-face
meetings between users in multiple locations— is the flagship
technology for what Cisco
terms the next wave of collaboration and business-model transformation.
In his presentation at the C-Scape forum, Chambers declared, "I spend over
50% of my time touching customers around the world. In the next year I
expect to double the number of customers I touch, while cutting my travel in
half".
Cutting travel time and expense, however, is only the first and most obvious
benefit of telepresence and the other technologies that Cisco is touting. In
speeches and presentations around the world over the last few months Chmabers
has predicted that "the fundamental nature of work will change", adding that
Cisco itself is the "first guinea pig" to try out each of the new technologies
and methods.
As someone who works remotely from home, I'd love to put my finger on an
affordable, interoperable telepresence system like the one described here.
Imagine what it could do to increase productivity!
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