Thursday, November 14, 2002

McKinsey Quarterly: Technology after the bubble When demand for technology recovers, in the next 18 to 24 months, technology providers will face a more challenging environment than the one they enjoyed during the boom years of the late 1990s. Vendors will have to help lagging companies not only to fix failed software installations but also to learn the lessons of companies that have successfully used technology to achieve competitive advantage. The take-away The use of technology at leading companies like Dell, Schwab, and Wal-Mart provides valuable lessons for IT vendors, which will soon need to help less prescient companies get the most out of their investments. [Mobilog] Basically, the best businesses to pursue are one that help companies use the technologies that already exist. 5:01:26 PM

Cantenna.com I love the fact that someone can figure out a simple solution, then turn around and package it for sale online! 4:59:28 PM

My mother's brother, Simon, and his family live in England, which is where her family is from. Simon and Zoe have two children, Rachel and Patrick. Patrick, then 13, came to visit us in America about three years ago. I got to spend a weekend with him up in Lake Tahoe, where he got seriously bit by the snowboard bug. Zoe passed away this week. My mum tells me that Simon and Zoe had been together since they were sixteen, and Simon is now 50ish. May god bless me with such a long time with Paulette. Zoe, I hardly knew you, but I know you are very much loved and missed. 3:19:57 PM

Weblogs will kill products like this! Intelli Innovations has released IntelliMerge SQL 1.0 for Mac OS X. The database software has been specifically created for customized e-mail campaigns for businesses. [MacCentral] 12:15:45 PM

WSJ .  Computer use is driving productivity... WSJ.  Computer use is driving productivity growth.  However, it only works if a companies use of computers is tied to sound strategy (obviously). Here is an interesting stat from the article: U.S. productivity zoomed by 2.75% a year in the quarter-century after World War II, creating the modern American middle class. Around 1973, productivity growth slowed mysteriously to 1.5%, and showed no signs of revival despite the spread of computers until 1995. Since then, productivity has grown by more than 2.5% a year. This is big. Adding just two-tenths of a percentage point to productivity growth over a decade works out to an extra $1,000 in income for each man, woman and child. Obviously, we didn't see anything close to this growth in incomes since 1995.  Where did it go?  Into the pockets of CEOs like Ken Lay, Bernie Ebbers, and others is one answer.  It has also been siphoned off by corporations and Wall Street.  Imagine the improvement in personal incomes if American families got the full benefit of productivity improvements. This chart shows the growth the "Productivity Gap" (note, this is median income which factors out the incomes of super-rich families):   [John Robb's Radio Weblog] [Mobilog] 11:05:06 AM