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Showing posts from May, 2011

The Mobile/Tablet future as I see it

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This is a piece I posted on  http://androidgizmo.co.uk/AndroidGizmo/Controller?news=news&id=5 I see a future where everyone has a tablet/communication device - which is in some way biometrically activated, i.e can only be activated by a single individual. This device is used for everything, from communication to setting devices in the home, plotting car journeys and paying the bank. Due to increased electricity and gas prices, not to mention fuel - algorithms run that ensure efficiency, heating, cooling and water usage. Traffic is routed in optimal ways via communication with centralized control centers through the tablet/communication device. Travel is very much a recreational activity with remote working and login standard practice. The tablet/communication device forms tha basis for work, social and home life. Plugging the tablet into one or more controller interfaces opens communication with the car, the home or the work place. The Internet as we know it, is onl

What is the potential market for Android Peripherals ?

This is a recent thought I posted on AndroidGizmo Whilst it is still early days in the Andorid peripheral space - there are only three listed manufacturers of development kits - which are needed to prototype and device. And furthermore, it seems as if these devices are either sold out or not available. It is still interesting to speculate on the types of devices that may emerge. Could we even have Android devices dispensed from a vending machine as in the  Arduino vending machine  ? Firstly, we can expect to see standard PC peripherals now made to support Android devices. this includes: External Disk storage Joystick controllers Webcams and multi-media devices Mice and input devices Wireless controllers for other devices Consider that for the first time we will be carrying a fully fledged computer running a very mature Linux operataing system, in our pockets. This means that we could use this device to control a whole range of things that we previously needed expensive co

Patterns in Business

For many years as an engineer, I have used patterns – which loosely defined are common approaches to solving common problems. For example the MVC (model-view-controller) pattern is commonly used when trying to solve the problem of separating data from functionality and the view of the data (whether this is the best approach is questionable, but it is one common approach). Patterns appear in an organizational context in for example “ Organizational Patterns of Agile Software Development ” by James O. Coplien and Neil B. Harrison. In this book, they set out common problems that occur within software development teams and present common patterns for solving these organizational problems. When starting a business, we are often confronted with a series of problems to solve. What business model should we adopt ? When should we look for premises, how and when should we grow etc ? One way of tackling these issues is to look at how others have done the same in the pa

Dimensions of successful tech start-ups

I spent some time in the past studying growth in business, of course there are a continuum of opinions on this topic, however, seven dimensions stood out for me. Growth (economic or otherwise) happens when these dimensions are in place: cooperation, collaboration, communication, incentives, standardization and co-ordination. Successful Tech start-ups, consciously or otherwise have elements of these six dimensions in their business model (or user interface ). Take Facebook, for example, the interface fosters cooperation and collaboration it facilitates communication and in some ways stimulates competition. The incentives are physiological, but exist and by allowing developers to plug into their platform they have standardized the platform. All this is well co-ordinated and hence it is not surprising that they are on a growth trajectory.  The same dimensions can be found if we analyze Groupon, Twitter, FoureSquare, Google and others.... Whilst I realize this model is not complete, I

Beware of Myths

Some years ago I shared a house with a group of day-traders. They operated on the NASDAQ every week day, playing the day trading game remotely. The deal was they traded and received payment for profits they generated and the number of transactions they made - they company providing the system and the funding took a percentage of profits and cut them off when losses where too high. Most days these guys lost money, occasionally they made some. I became interested and realized that there was an entire industry of websites, books, DVD's and training around how to make money. I kept hearing about this "one" guy who was making a fortune. Each day there were new stories of the heroics of this individual. I began thinking, if I was recruiting day traders and building an industry around the promise of riches, what would I do ? The answer of-course is "I would create a myth" - create some super-hero figure who achieved magical results and all those that follow aspire t