10 September
2008
Valuing New Ideas with an Open Mind
C.H. Townes on "game changing" events
Nobel laureate C.H. Townes prizes retaining an open mind.
With it, he claims, America got to the moon on time and budget. Without it, he intimates, General Motors eminence went from American greatness to American cluelessness.
Believe him - he brought you the laser, modern fiber communications, an understanding of the cosmos, and countless other "game changing" events.
Because they are "game changers" - listen and you could win, don't listen and you will lose.
And what you didn't know - he took on Vannevar Bush, an early opponent of the Apollo program, where in his losing we all won. Read more...
Continue reading "Valuing New Ideas with an Open Mind"
21 July
2008
39th Anniversary of Lunar Landing, 40th Year of Losing Lunar Capability
We actually wrote off the moon BEFORE we landed on it....
One of the common refrains I've always been annoyed with has been "if we (America) can land a man on the moon, why can't we do ....".
The falsehood has been that we've retained the ability to travel to the moon, when we have not - it was simply too expensive to maintain.
Most don't know that we lost the ability BEFORE we actually made it to the moon. Read More...
Continue reading "39th Anniversary of Lunar Landing, 40th Year of Losing Lunar Capability"
22 February
2008
How OS Creation is like Assembling a Car
Or how strategic business models for open source enable massive growth in the software sector
Over breakfast Lynne Jolitz gave me this quote:
Creating an operating system is like having to assemble your own car every time before driving it.
She captured what it was like doing 386BSD for 6+ years. And you know, it caused me to think of the evolution of software business models, as the industry turns en masse to service oriented software, the thin client model, and cloud computing.
Read more ...
Continue reading "How OS Creation is like Assembling a Car"
06 February
2008
The Rules of the Road have changed ...
Bill Gross nominates Paul Krugman as the next Keynes
Bill Gross of PIMCO does the quick catch of noticing Paul Krugman's shift in economics from supply domination to demand. This is a big deal for both investors and entrepreneurs - we've all got to change our risk profile - or get burned. Read more...
Continue reading "The Rules of the Road have changed ..."