Might Tech Companies Become Nonprofits?
Given the early mission of the internet to democratize information, it’s somewhat surprising that we don’t see more nonprofits operating in the tech space. Wikipedia is the strongest example of what that model might look like. In New York, The Driver Cooperative (TDC), is trying to launch a ridesharing app that would get closer to […]
Is Square Entering the Taxi Market?
This week Square introduced preorder and pick-up services. On the surface this service should help expand the business opportunities for small businesses. It might also help level the playing field for small businesses that compete against multi-channel retailers who currently offer similar services. The offering is borne out of the increasingly blurring lines between digital and […]
Unbundling the Mobile Experience
There is a confluence of conflicting forces underpinning mobile today and the outcome will define the mobile experience of tomorrow. Here are two of this morning’s announcements: Snapchat announced they were adding video chat and instant messaging Foursquare’s move to split their app services into two separate apps On the surface, these may seem like […]
A Review of Apple’s Q2 Results
Yesterday I posted a few thoughts and my predictions for Apple’s fiscal Q2 results. Here’s my follow-up with some additional thoughts on the market implications and where we go from here. iPhone I had predicted Apple would sell around 37M iPhones in the quarter. Consensus was calling for 38.2M. Apple blew away not only the […]
Data Havens
A Tax haven is a essentially a jurisdiction (often a country) that has taxes, tax rates, or other legal structuring that provides a lower total tax burden than other jurisdictions. The ability to lower or remove a give tax burden provides an incentive for companies or individuals to establish a presence in these jurisdiction in […]
Only in a Digital World: Messages in the Sky
We are pushing into a fully digital world. This was first driven by digital device adoption over the last decade and that digital device adoption is subsequently being followed by the broad digitization of our physical surroundings. The digitization of everyday objects is driving the digitization of all information. This information isn’t just the historically analog […]
Thoughts on the Whitebox Wearable Market
Deflationary price pressures have definitely been evident in the sensor market where motion sensing for example has dropped from over $7 an axis of motion capture in 2005 to around $0.50 an axis of motion capture today. With wearables – and especially with fitness trackers – sensors are a key element of the hardware solution. […]
Transformative Computing
Increased rates of digitization are leading to tech design changes that enable dynamic customization of the user experience. Take for example SwiftKey, an Android app that replaces the default Android keyboard on your device. Swiftkey learns not only what you say and how you say it (including across multiple communication channels like SMS, email, or Twitter), but also […]
The Impact of the Digital Age on Radio Listening
A couple of days ago the Wall Street Journal reported terrestrial radio is playing fewer hit songs more frequently (see Radio’s Answer to Spotify? Less Variety) driven by research showing that “listeners tend to stay tuned when they hear a familiar song, and tune out when they hear music they don’t recognize.” In the same article, […]
Combining Complex Systems
Sensors are combining with sensor to create sensor arrays. These sensor arrays are combining with computing power to solve complex problems and create complex systems. The next big step is to combine these complex systems across a wider user experience. This is happening in a real and measurable way in many places, but especially inside […]
