The problem is perspective. Google is not in a fish bowl. Google owns a fish bowl.  Getting creatures into the fish bowl [...]]]> Stephen Arnold makes some great observations on his blog frequently.  Here he is trying to explain why Apple, Microsoft and Cisco have a hard time fathoming the “Open Approach” that pervades almost all Google undertakings:

The problem is perspective. Google is not in a fish bowl. Google owns a fish bowl.  Getting creatures into the fish bowl is the name of the game. Once in the Google fish bowl, the inhabitants have a tough time figuring out life beyond the glass walls. I can’t see very well underwater, and the folks in the fish bowl can’t see very well either.

As a result, the Android is one way of putting inhabitants in the Google fish bowl. Open source is one method but not the only method. The objective is to become the owner not of a fish bowl but an aquarium, maybe dozens of aquaria. That’s the perspective. The Android is not an Apple play. It is operating at a much higher level of abstraction, which may be difficult for Google to achieve. 

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Open systems have the potential to spawn industries. They harness the intellect of [...]]]> Open systems appear to have a huge advantage over traditional, closed systems. Witness Firefox 3.5 ascending to the most used Web browser, or Wikipedia revolutionizing the world of online encyclopedias.  The folks at Google recently outlined their understanding of the meaning of open.  This paragraph stood out:

Open systems have the potential to spawn industries. They harness the intellect of the general population and spur businesses to compete, innovate, and win based on the merits of their products and not just the brilliance of their business tactics. The race to map the human genome is one example.

Sustainability metrics are growing in importance as organizations attempt to better measure their environmental impact.  For more information, see the Aquinas College Center for Sustainability.  If you doubt the importance of these initiatives, have a look at the Walmart Sustainability Index and consider how the third largest company in the world might drive some new requirements in this area.

I believe that the need to share, compare, and aggregate sustainability data will drive the creation of open standards in sustainability metrics.  We need transparency, collaboration, and standardization in order to build meaningful measures.

Disparate IT systems typically store information in silos and surface that data in closed formats that cannot be aggregated or integrated across organizations. Measuring the percentage of recyclable/reusable materials, use of hazardous materials/chemicals, and carbon/energy footprint of a product will continue to be guess work without standards and protocols to collect and surface this data.

Blue Sphere experienced this dilemma first hand when we helped create a system to measure the sustainability of products consisting of parts supplied by many different manufacturers within a supply chain.  We quickly learned that without standards and open systems by which to communicate data, measuring the recyclable content or carbon footprint of an assembled product is almost impossible. 

Open standards, XML and Web Services could be the answer.  Manufacturers could require an XML schema for each part or piece of material supplied.  That schema could describe the relevant sustainability data, which would be consumed and aggregated by a standardized process.  Each supplier in the value added supply chain could feed sustainability data to the consumer of their product or material.  The end result would be the transparency we need, with consumers and businesses choosing sustainable products based on accurate data and a meaningful feedback loop.

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The latest version of SharePoint arrives in [...]]]> Over the summer the NY times blogged about strong SharePoint sales during the recession.   SharePoint is already the biggest selling server product ever for Microsoft, it is no stretch to consider that it has the potential to one day become Microsoft’s next big operating system.  Cloud operating system, that is.

The latest version of SharePoint arrives in late October, so this is a good time to speculate about the future.  “SharePoint is saving Microsoft’s Office business even as it paves the way for a new era of Microsoft lock-in,” said Matt Asay, an executive at Alfresco, which makes an open-source content management system. “It is simultaneously the most interesting and dangerous Microsoft technology, and has largely caught its competitors napping…   It’s a brilliant strategy that mimics open source in its viral, free distribution, but transcends open source in its ability to lock customers into a complete, not-free-at-all Microsoft stack – one for which they’ll pay more and more the deeper they get into SharePoint.”

I agree with Mr. Asay that customers will pay more and more, the deeper they get into SharePoint.  Similarly, open source solutions are back loaded for consulting fees.  Licensing costs are rarely the majority cost for a software project or solution. 

Many people don’t realize that the free version of SharePoint is available to any company that already owns a Windows Server license.  MS thinks of SharePoint as part of Windows, which justifies the “free” license for internal employees of a company that has already purchased Windows Server

When SharePoint 2007 was released it became clear that MS had also decided to make the full (and expensive) version of SharePoint part of the Office family, thus the name Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS).  But now with the release of SharePoint 2010, things have changed.  When MS announced the new version, they put it like this:

What happened to the Office piece of the name? We love MOSS. . . .

The first thing you’ll notice is that the MOSS acronym goes away with the new name since Office is no longer in the SharePoint official name. No one should worry that SharePoint doesn’t work great with Office 2010 since we removed Office from the name, just like people didn’t worry whether SharePoint was a great portal product when we removed Portal from the 2007 name.

I’m not convinced that it’s quite that simple.  SharePoint could evolve in to a cloud hosted business operating system.  By decoupling SharePoint from the Office suite, MS may be positioning it as a cloud based OS.  Someday, MS might have to consider an advertisement supported version of SharePoint to compete with Google’s suite of online products. 

Windows 7 may also become an important player in this transition.  As noted here, Windows 7 will allow Microsoft to host your entire network experience, including Active Directory.  More to the point:  “Microsoft will actually be able to run your entire environment in their datacenter, yet let users securely connect to that environment from their own Windows machines.”

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Detroit needs an [...]]]> Eric Schmidt of Google recently gave a speech at the New America Foundation (a post-partisan think tank) in which he outlined the need for an innovation bailout for the US. Instead of simply bailing out failing institutions, we need to take this opportunity to revolutionize our economy, particularly our energy and transportation infrastructures.

Detroit needs an innovation bailout in the worst kind of way. But innovation doesn’t happen when entrenched interests (such as the UAW and GM executives) are fighting to keep the status quo. As a resident of Michigan I have witnessed the gradual decline of our automotive leadership and we are now at a crossroads. Should we continue to prop up a dying business model, or start fresh with a new one?

With $25 billion in automotive bailout money at stake, we need to think about the future. A quick and well planned bankruptcy would be the best way to initiate the complete overhaul our auto industry requires. We need all aspects of government (federal, local and state), along with private and other public entities, to help with this transition.

The scope of this endeavor is mind boggling. But the importance of hope, that a new direction could bring, cannot be under estimated. It is time for us to regain the upper hand by making a coordinated, well planned, drastic change.

What might this drastic change look like? The Chevy Volt is a good start. It’s all about efficiency — getting from point A to point B safely with the least amount of energy and emissions, saving the most money and reducing impacts on our surroundings. We need to cut total cost of ownership in half and in the process reduce carbon emissions. Build plug ins with smart technology so that drivers can easily discern the most efficient route to travel by providing real time feedback on traffic conditions. Enhance our electrical infrastructure to handle the requirements of charging vehicles away from home. Feed our energy grid with clean sources of efficient, low cost power such as safe nuclear, wind farm, geothermal and solar technology. Make energy efficiency and sustainable manufacturing technology the cornerstone of our automotive infrastructure.

Update (12/10/2008): Tom Friedman seems to agree. He mentions “Better Place”, a new car company startup based in Silicon Valley. Apparently they’ve already inked deals with Japan, Australia, Isreal and Denmark. With the bailout now in place, Detroit has chosen a slow, painful death. Time to go to a better place: http://www.betterplace.com

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I like where Google is going with this:

In particular, [...]]]> Can we all agree that the culture of waste, excess, and inefficiency in America needs to die quickly? Becoming more efficient with our use of energy is critical to breaking the cycle of debt. Energy is at the root of our wealth creation system.

I like where Google is going with this:

In particular, I believe we need to centralize our energy infrastructure on the electrical grid as soon as possible, including automotive transportation. Efficiency is gained when systems share a common infrastructure.

An automotive electrical grid will allow us to enable wind, solar, geothermal, natural gas and (responsible) nuclear to be used for transportation energy. Our existing electrical grid will need to be revamped to handle new inputs, and vehicular connectivity. The technology implications are huge and there may be some pleasant surprises in this area. We need them.

Our gasoline infrastructure will enjoy a slow and painless death, as gas stations are gradually replaced by charging stations connected to the same grid that is already accessible to most vehicles where they park while not in use. Simple, clean and less expensive.

Google’s Proposal for reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels: Clean Energy 2030

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According [...]]]> MIT scientists have developed a revolutionary process to store solar energy, inspired by the photosynthesis performed by plants.  This process allows the sun’s energy to be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The oxygen and hydrogen are then recombined inside a fuel cell, creating carbon-free electricity to power your house or your electric car, day or night.

According to this article, the system can duplicate the water splitting reaction that occurs during photosynthesis:  James Barber, a leader in the study of photosynthesis who was not involved in this research, called the discovery by Nocera and Kanan a “giant leap” toward generating clean, carbon-free energy on a massive scale. “This is a major discovery with enormous implications for the future prosperity of humankind,” said Barber, the Ernst Chain Professor of Biochemistry at Imperial College London.

An inexpensive, easy to deploy system that can seperate hydrogen and oxygen for use by fuel cells.  This could be the Holy Grail of alternative energy.

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These hacks are potentially very disruptive (in a good way). Think cheap educational tools for classroom interactivity. Similar forms of touch/interactive screens require a special surface that [...]]]> Johnny Lee demos his amazing Wii Remote hacks, which hack the $40 game piece into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen, and a head-mounted 3-D viewer. A multi-ovation demo from TED2008.

These hacks are potentially very disruptive (in a good way). Think cheap educational tools for classroom interactivity. Similar forms of touch/interactive screens require a special surface that cannot be simply activated on demand, like this technology. Weee.

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