>>>There is an extraordinary concentration of today's biotech industry in Massachusetts, with 275 companies in the state - 54 of them within a mile of the MIT campus. The big pharmaceutical companies are establishing a huge research and development presence here. Most notably, a few weeks ago Novartis announced it would create a biomedical research institute in Cambridge that within a few years will employ nearly 1,000 professionals and many more staff workers.  We are at the center of action in the emerging world of systems biology. The future is ours.

But wait - we've seen this movie before. We were once the center of the computer industry. MIT and its Lincoln Laboratory spawned the minicomputer. Digital Equipment Corp. became the epicenter of technological entrepreneurship. Companies and jobs grew around Route 128, and the Massachusetts Miracle occurred.  And then, we largely missed the fundamental transformation brought about by the ''silicon revolution'' of the microprocessor. The Massachusetts computer industry struggled, sputtered, and spiraled downward while Silicon Valley was born and the industry, jobs, and hot economy moved to California.<<< [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
8:34:46 PM    comment   

Also, this analysis is wrong (nice guy, bad analysis):   Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester Research, said Blockbuster should be more concerned with television competitors than online competitors. In particular, Mr. Bernoff sees competition from cable companies, who are increasingly offering video-on-demand services.

Here's why:  Ordering a movie via digital cable is a pain in the ass (PITA).  iTV has always been still-born service.  Netflix works well because you can do all you ordering online on a well designed website via a computer.  After you do that, the service runs itself.   Interactivity belongs on the computer.

Cable companies should be using the bandwidth reserved for these low yield movie on demand channels to cut their prices on high speed Internet access down to $19.95 a month.  This extra bandwidth could even allow them to offer tiered services.  Now, that would be the smart thing to do. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
8:29:35 PM    comment   

CNN is running a page called "Fraud Inc.", where they sensationalize all of the evil corporate cheats.  Funny they mention nothing about the SEC investigation of their parent company (although they have a link to a pre-SEC revelation editorial which is an unabashedly partisan defensive piece claiming that AOL is getting a bad rap from people overreacting).  Fortune Magazine is running an article (published 14 days in the future?) puffing up the heroic efforts of the new management, again ignoring the SEC investigation of their parent. 

Throw me a bone, people!  All I'm asking for is a freekin' pretense of objectivity here!

6:55:52 PM    comment   

Ray Ozzie has great perspective on the untapped power of network computing.  Networks are the neurotransmitter of the universal mind.  Today he is talking about how a shared copy of a document is not technically a violation of the "only handle information once" principle.  In fact, a system where a document is stored only once but used by multiple parties in sequence could be said to have a really effective compression system.  It's kind of like saying that Napster was the ultimate edge cache.  As long as you can guarantee you are getting the same bytes, who cares where you are getting them from?

The whole "documents vs. cars" debate on W3C TAG mailing list has been incredibly depressing.  It is like watching someone intent on self-destruction.  When Paddy O'Leary boasts that he can lift himself off the ground by his own belt loops, it is funny.  But when he pushes everyone aside and begins to climb out the tenth-floor window without a ladder based on the belief that he'll just "catch himself", it's sad.

Just as crazy is the intensity with which Ontology folks fight one another.  This IEEE SUO vote over SUMO is turning into a replay of the last presidential elections.  How suprised the winner will be when he realizes that he has won the fight but is plummeting through the air down to certain destruction because someone forgot to tie the safety rope to anything solid.

6:55:04 PM    comment