Thursday, June 19, 2003

An article by Nicholas Carr in the Harvard Business Review entitled "IT Doesn't Matter" has garnered a lot of discussion and follow-on articles. The claim is that rather than the competitive advantage it once was, Information Technology (IT) has become "just another crummy factor of production." It does seem true that a PC or software like Excel or SAP is not a competitive advantage but a fixture on a business desk, like a telephone. This IHT reprint of a NY Times article by Ellen Ullman mentions another aspect of this phenomenon: "But more than jobs have been lost. To listen to Engelbart that day was to realize that the industry, when it started, was not simply about retiring at 35. It was to remember that real innovation comes from mysterious places, wild people, dreamers and tinkerers, and to remember all the skepticism they endured." Which brings me to the VR world (or as some people call it, Immersive Imaging). It was once an arena of innovation. It was once something exciting that elicited wows. A hotel or real estate site with VRs would have an edge over those that didn't. Not anymore. Has VR become just another crummy factor of production? 7:00:00 AM

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