Aug

17

On my reading list

Filed Under Audio, Design, Education, Globalization, Media Players, Network, OpenSource, Reading, Streaming, TED, Technology, Web2.0 | Leave a Comment

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Looking forward to Larry Lessig’s new bookRemix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. Larry has documented how the music and movie industries are turning students into criminals because they use cheap software, the internet and their creativity.  His presentation at TED hilights the core principals of his upcoming book.

The power and impact of the digital economy has placed copyright and the old guard clearly on the defensive.  Those aging companies still want the market to be “published” (in analog format) are unwilling to change to the new information economy.
–Well okay what I’m really trying to say is they don’t want to give up their revenue streams.

Okay maybe they do understand how the game has changed, yet I’m not sure the impact of how young people are wired has fundamentally changed their business model.

Actually I’m hoping Remix may also hilight how the RIAA should be chasing down the millions of pirates in China rather than students in America.  Larry is proving what everyone under 30 already has accepted as a fact of life…They have never been forced to purchase a majority of their entertainment in analog format.  Should be a great read!

Aug

17

My latest read - Once You’re Lucky Twice You’re Good

Filed Under Design, Education, Globalization, OpenSource, Reading, Web2.0 | 1 Comment

There was something from Sarah Lacy’s book Once You’re Lucky, Twice your Good which really hit home.  Today kids look to FaceBook as their exclusive communication tool.  They don’t do email like our generation overdoes email.

That’s a key indicator of how different today’s Web2.0 kids are changing the rules.  Can the establishment keep up with them?  Well see in the very short term future.

This was a great read and I must thank Kate Olson who was able to get a copy for me to read and post my review.

Lacy’s book, IMHO starts with the best story first.  Max Levchin.  His inspiring story of fleeing Ukraine the night of the Chernobyl disaster was amazing.  He flees from a hospital in the middle of the night to later leave college to start PayPal.
Yes, that’s right a kid who flew the USSR makes his way to Silicon Valley and San Francisco to put his amazing mathematical skills to use and builds an amazing tool that would later be purchased by eBay.

Sarah also documents the story of Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com and proves again that Marc Andreessen really is a jerk. But from the outside many of us would not know the ins and outs of the Web2.0 world and all their financial venture “vulture capital” stories.  Pretty rough from the outside…but Sarah makes this work.  Interested to know more about the inner circle of the Web2.0 world?  Read Once You’re Lucky, Twice your Good!

Tags: Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good, Web2.0, business, entrepreneur, globalization, trends

Aug

1

Steal this audiobook

Filed Under Audio, Education, Globalization, Network, Reading | 1 Comment

The World is Flat Audiobook

Tom Friedman’s bestseller is available FOR FREE to download until August 4th. Signup and download version 3.0 of his runaway best seller AND receive a preview of his upcoming book Hot Flat and Crowded

Tags: The World is Flat, Mark Penn, audiobook, globalization, free download

Jul

22

My latest read - microtrends

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A pollster meets The Tipping Point.

That is how I would describe Mark Penn’s Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes.  I believe his 75 microtrend stories are interesting enough, but could not help but think back to Gladwell’s book when reading each microtrend that lasts only two or three pages.

I do believe he is accurate in identifying societal atoms, small trends that are reflecting the changing habit and choices in our consumer marketplace and access to the internet. This work also reminds me of Freakonomics.  This book will make you think about the microtrends but you may feel overwhelmed by the number and come up short on analysis.

Book Website: with downloadable chapter

Tags: microtrends, Mark Penn, change, trends, reading

Jun

27

My latest read - China, Inc.

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In today’s world it seems everything is about China. There are so many emerging topics of interest Americans need to understand about this giant economy and manufacturing base.

Ted Fishman’s China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World is a much needed read in the new era of globalization. So powerful in fact that it’s now on my recommended list for business and education. Actually I’ll move it next to Tom Friedman’s bestseller The World Is Flat and John Kao’s Innovation Nation as noteworthy companions.

So what? The next time your holding an empty coffee cup or your child’s toys, flip them over and discover the country of origin. Yes, China is changing the rules of business and society.

If you do not believe this impacts America’s school children — well … your in trouble. Consider China graduates more honors students than the total number of students in American schools. Think about that statistic and what it means for your children or your grand-children’s future job market in the coming decades. I’m even concerned about my own son’s future career choices, yet confident it will require him to speak a non-roman language.

Rapid changes in the business landscape via globalization means the global market will continue to get more competitive.  Americans will continue to be challenged to find secure, solid employment.  It will be just as challenging to find a company who does not outsource elements to China’s fast growing economic empire in order to stay competitive. Fishman delivers this message loud and clear.

china cement productionTake into consideration the production of cement. Do you see construction sites on your daily commute? Well think about the construction in China based upon this cement chart listed in Gigatons. Look how little America consumes next to China. What does that say about their growth?

Fishman also shares how the Chinese copy products (and processes) of successful companies around the world. In many cases buying a product and taking it back to China where its taken apart, examined, copied and produced at a fraction of the original vendor’s costs…regardless of copyright.

The Wisconsin connection:
Some of the more compelling chapters in Fishman’s books even cover the impact of Chinese manufacturing impacting local SE Wisconsin businesses.  Regardless of your geographic location in America, the story is the same. Read more

May

30

My latest read - Competing on Analytics

Filed Under Design, Education, Globalization, Google, Milwaukee, Network, Reading, Technology | Leave a Comment

How can you compete today in a globalized, highly competitive world regardless of market? One very smart solution: Analytics. From Google and Amazon to the Red Sox and the Patriots, organizations (yes sports teams included) are succeeding by competing on analytics with proven results. Just ask the Yankees…

Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning from The Harvard Business School Press is simply a must read for your organization. New data analysis tools and the internet have changed the rules for competition. This book is not about Google’s Analytics tool but rather focuses on business intelligence, analysis and data reporting that has changed the competitive landscape.

It would be a mistake to think your organization is immune to the lessons shared in this book. I was even surprised how poorly my former employers rate in this book.

Some feel colleges need not apply business intelligence to admissions, continuing education, communication and strategic planning. This book proves that notion dead on arrival.

The shift in data gathering tools and enhanced analysis proves this a key tool for any organization moving forward in a tough economy and market with a shrinking pool of customers. Your probably losing prospects to your competition as a result of analytics and business intelligence conveyed in smart communication.

Michael McIntyre taught me lessons regarding You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know (YDKWYDK) and how it deeply impacts organizations. The single key to winning with analytics is the total support by the CEO — from the top down — and this is where most organizations simply fail.

Read more

May

20

My latest read - Innovation Nation

Filed Under Design, Education, Globalization, HighRes, Interactive, Internet2, Network, OLPC, OpenSource, Reading, TED, Technology, Web2.0 | Leave a Comment

Innovation Nation: How America Is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do to Get It Back from John Kao is a timely read. To say I enjoyed his lessons how America is losing it’s innovation lead was not pleasant experience, yet the book is highly engaging.

There are timely lessons in this book from the $100 laptop and more importantly the exodus of top American talent. No surprise that top talent from India is returning home after attending college in America as globalization brings new opportunities to India.

You may be surprised to learn how Kao documents the loss of top Americans heading overseas. That’s native-born Americans leaving our best institutions (and their home country) to work in new innovation centers with more creative, less political conditions.

The list includes Paul Saffo from Stanford, John Seely Brown from Xerox PARC, Peter Schwartz from Global Business Network and Rita Colwell, former head of the National Science Foundation and current professor of biological sciences at the University of Maryland.

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May

19

Jump in line…NOW

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Tom Friedman’s book will be one of the hot reads this fall.

Order yours today: Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America

May

16

My latest read - The Black Swan

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Want to learn to look for trends, events and all the gems in life that seem hidden, out of place, under the table and around corners? There are interesting lessons in The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

At 400 pages its no quick read but Taleb has presented his research by sharing stories and analysis about randomness in his own life.

The takeaway? Unexpected and rare events and even novel ideas have a huge impact on the world.

Taleb has suggested that technology and history is primarily driven by Black Swans. Book Website

Tags: Taleb, The Black Swan, randomness, improbable, reading, trends

Apr

14

My latest read - The Starfish and the Spider

Filed Under Design, Education, Globalization, Milwaukee, Network, OpenSource, Reading, TED, Technology, Web2.0 | Leave a Comment

Rod Beckstrom provided a very insightful presentation at the 2007 The Next Web Conference about organizations. Two types will define or break you in a Web2.0 world.

An enjoyable, easy read that further suggests leaderless organizations can fuel dramatic change within organization large and small.

Beckstrom, who just spoke at the 2008 TED conference presents content supporting how organizations can flourish when tightly controlled groups embrace the starfish effect.

He notes how Al-qaeda has embraced this type of leaderless organization and it becomes very obvious to any reader the last five years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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Apr

9

My latest read - The Wisdom of Crowds

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James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds proves useful in understanding the impact (both positive and negative) regarding knowledge of isolated individuals vs. collective intelligence that shapes business, economies, societies and nations.

Surowiecki opens the book with a great example of the surprising “wisdom” possessed by groups of people. The book is a easy, enjoyable read.

As much as I enjoyed the learning I was somewhat more interested in learning the faults of crowds…specifically his analysis of NASA and the Columbia tragedy. To some extent the exact same lessons can be lifted from NASA and applied to Watergate, the highly intelligent crowd in the White House of Nixon’s inner circle.

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Mar

17

My latest read - The Paradox of Choice

Filed Under Design, Education, Globalization, Reading, TED | 1 Comment

Have you noticed as of late that almost everything is available…in too many overwhelming choices?

I watched a TED video of Barry Schwartz and was interested to learn more about his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less and learn the downside (and unhappiness) of abundance.

As Schwartz points out consider the types of choice in your local grocery store: 285 cookie options, 85 types of crackers, 95 types of chips, 75 iced teas, 29 chicken soups, 175 salad dressings and 275 boxes of cereal. Welcome to The Paradox of Choice. Try shopping for a new pair of jeans as he described in his TED presentation and the introduction to this book.

In my childhood things seemed simple. There were just three television channels…plus a PBS station. When the new school started I would receive two or three pairs of stiff denim jeans. Every kid in my school would wear the same dark blue demin and would not feel comfortable until the third week of school. By then our clothes were finally broken in via the wash cycle.

Don’t consider this book the opposite of Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More. It would be more accurate to describe the book as what happens to individuals overwhelmed by choice.

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Mar

4

My latest read - Linked

Filed Under Design, Education, Globalization, Internet2, Milwaukee, Network, Reading, Technology, Web2.0, WiscNet | Leave a Comment

The internet and the global economy are tied together by a series of network hubs, or links as explained by Albert-Lasziò Barabàsi’s book Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means.

The knowledge economy is really the network economy and his book is a good read to understand how networks, both physical and human are connecting everything - everyday - everywhere….in just 15 links (his reference for chapters) and how business, education, government and society can benefit by taking a closer look at how our linked world is really connected.

Ever play the game six degrees of Kevin Bacon? On the internet, links to every document are just nineteen links as noted by Lasziò Barabàsi, a Professor of Physics at the University of Notre Dame.

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Feb

9

My latest read - Making Globalization Work

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If you were first introduced to globalization via Tom Friedman’s The World Is Flat, you may be interested to learn more about this wave of economics. Many point to the recent book by Joseph Stiglitz called Making Globalization Work. This is a follow-up to his 2003 book Globalization and Its Discontents.

Stiglitz is professor of economics at Columbia. He served as Chairman of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1995-97. He followed that appointment by serving as Chief Economist and Senior VP of the World Bank from 1997-2000. Stiglitz was one of three to receive the 2001 Noble Prize in economics.

He accurately addresses areas of economic globalization that continue to fail across the globe in shaping market opportunities of underdeveloped nations. Needless to say the real golden rule applies: He who has the Gold makes the rules.

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Jan

24

My latest read - Gang Leader for a Day

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You’ve read Freakonomics…right? One of the most popular chapters Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms? is about Sudhir Venkatesh, a grad student at the University of Chicago who studied a crack cocaine gang The Black Kings in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes (Building #4040) during the height of the crack epidemic in the 1990s.

I wanted to learn more about Sudhir. His book Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets is now available.

Having worked at the University of Chicago I recall my own orientation was similar to Sudhir’s story about being warned by police where NOT to walk around campus. The tragic killing of a grad student last Friday, January 25th is such an example of the danger facing faculty, students and staff members.

My daily commute from Glenview via Metra to Citigroup Center, then to the Midway Plaisance (map via Google) via the University’s charter bus service passed the Washington Park Lagoon everyday. Sudhir mentions his exploration of the Lagoon and lessons learned from speaking with older black men about Chicago and its history. Sudhir allows readers to see another side of America.

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