This Tuesday is an election day, and regardless of your political leaning, go out and vote.
Just as technology has changed business, it has changed politics. We have seen candidates able to increase their profile using technology. I consider myself to be a bit of a political junkie, I vote in as many elections as I can, not just the big ones. And I can do all the necessary research needed without leaving my house. I can research candidates using their websites, I actually will not vote for a candidate who does not have a website, kind of sad. I see what various groups have to say when it comes to things like amendments and propositions. All the information is at my fingertips.
Not only that, people can connect to other politically like minded people via the web. Websites like moveon.org and DailyKos appeal to liberal leaning voters, while I suspect the Tea Party has been helped with use of the web. Even this medium, the blog, has had an impact on politics, remember CBS News and Dan Rather being caught by a blog in 2004? Look at President Obama, I would argue he rewrote how to campaign in today's technology infused world. If I recall correctly, Hillary Clinton first announced she was running for President using a website, not a press conference. There have been many instances and there will be many more, of political candidates using technology to get in office.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Apple loosing its edge?
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/apples-share-run-up-may-have-run-out-of-gas/19686880/
It seems Apple is in some trouble, it is loosing its competitive edge to Google and the Droid phone in sales and now apps. (Note: the writer of this blog may have some bias since I am a Droid user and thus far like it) Google is smoothing out some of the problems with its apps, is available on a wide variety of phones (that has its good and bad points), and Apple does not have any new products on the horizon. Somehow, someway I did not see the Apple hype lasting and figured there would be new competitors in the market, see Google and Microsoft. It seems Apple really must make a decision about where it wants to go as a company, does it stay with its core offerings that have put it where it is, or does it try and diversify its phone opperating system to multiple phones, the way Google has.
It seems Apple is in some trouble, it is loosing its competitive edge to Google and the Droid phone in sales and now apps. (Note: the writer of this blog may have some bias since I am a Droid user and thus far like it) Google is smoothing out some of the problems with its apps, is available on a wide variety of phones (that has its good and bad points), and Apple does not have any new products on the horizon. Somehow, someway I did not see the Apple hype lasting and figured there would be new competitors in the market, see Google and Microsoft. It seems Apple really must make a decision about where it wants to go as a company, does it stay with its core offerings that have put it where it is, or does it try and diversify its phone opperating system to multiple phones, the way Google has.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Tech Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Ok, so that may be a slightly cheesy title, but considering how much influence and power Microsoft holds in the IT world, it could be an empire of sorts, and in this case the rebels are Apple and Google.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6905PY20101002
Microsoft is entering the smart phone market against Droid and iPhone with a Windows 7 phone. There was once a time when one only bought a Mac computer if you wanted to use it for graphic design and Google was just a search engine. Now Microsoft is trying to launch a counter attack against the success of these two companies with a smart phone software of its own.
What is interesting about this story is how Microsoft fell behind and let its competition gain a strategic advantage in the smart phone market. Not only is this an important IT lesson, but also a business lesson. In today's world, companies that want to be successful have to be innovative and stay ahead of the competition, or else you will be left behind trying to catch up. Now one wonders if Microsoft will be able to compete against these phones without anything innovative of its own. It will not have an exclusive carrier like iPhone and Dorid will be available on the same phones. As someone who uses Droid, I would see no reason to switch, and I doubt anyone else has a real reason to do so as well.
It just amazes me how fast the IT industy can change when a company fails to be innovative.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6905PY20101002
Microsoft is entering the smart phone market against Droid and iPhone with a Windows 7 phone. There was once a time when one only bought a Mac computer if you wanted to use it for graphic design and Google was just a search engine. Now Microsoft is trying to launch a counter attack against the success of these two companies with a smart phone software of its own.
What is interesting about this story is how Microsoft fell behind and let its competition gain a strategic advantage in the smart phone market. Not only is this an important IT lesson, but also a business lesson. In today's world, companies that want to be successful have to be innovative and stay ahead of the competition, or else you will be left behind trying to catch up. Now one wonders if Microsoft will be able to compete against these phones without anything innovative of its own. It will not have an exclusive carrier like iPhone and Dorid will be available on the same phones. As someone who uses Droid, I would see no reason to switch, and I doubt anyone else has a real reason to do so as well.
It just amazes me how fast the IT industy can change when a company fails to be innovative.
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