Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Universal user IDs ease bond trading By John Fontana, Network World, 11/11/02 NEW YORK - A consortium of the world's top financial institutions is sharing user directories so customers can enjoy single sign-on access across their Web sites in an effort that is shaping up to be a blueprint for emerging universal user identification standards. Under a program called the Bond.Hub consortium, Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Salomon Smith Barney and UBS Warburg have created single sign-on capabilities for 15,000 mutual customers seeking fixed-income investments by joining customer identities stored in their respective directories - a concept known as federating.... 6:21:25 AM

Technology after the bubble From the McKinsey Quarterly Special to CNET News.com November 12, 2002, 4:00 AM PT ...The most successful companies did five things. First, they developed their technological innovations and the complementary managerial innovations in tandem. Second, they focused their technology investments on cutting the interaction costs that most affect productivity. These interaction costs are quite specific to a given vertical industry, and the investments of most IT leaders had a strong vertical focus. Third, the leaders clearly understood the specific productivity levers of the sectors (and subsectors) in which they do business. They disproportionately focused their IT investments on programs that had the highest possible impact on those levers--and thus an impact on the top and bottom lines. Fourth, these companies made their investments in the right order, to build IT capabilities in sequence over time. Finally, they retooled their business processes and transformed their organizations to leverage their managerial innovations and IT capabilities. The history of business shows that technological innovations are typically of little use until complementary managerial innovations bring them to life.... 5:42:54 AM

A curious thing is happening - curious, but not new. Another metaphor is being groped for - something to describe how the world is changing - how our "new" technology is changing the world we live in. One word you hear is "convergence." Another is "cloud." And each describes part of it. For me the key term is "digital" - not a new term, but one taking on new meaning as nearly everything is becoming representable, manipulatable in digital form. I became most aware of convergence when Sony came out with the Playstation designed as a gamebox but clearly designed to network - not just with other Playstations via the Internet but with household devices like the PC. Now Sony extends that further. Meanwhile Sony and others have changed music and video (homevideo) to digital form. While all of that is largely consumer focused, it has a profound social affect. While the Internet has had a profound affect on business, only half of US homes have Internet connectivity. And many (most?) of the ones connected are using pre-Internet PCs. The spread of Internet use and - more importantly - the understanding of how it changes what is possible has been hampered by the invisibility of its use. Connecting to the Internet by PC is a solitary thing, what one does while on the Internet is solitary - not seen. Not learned from by others - there is only learning by doing, and we aren't as good at that as at imitation. These consumer devices - from cell phone and wireless email to mp3 players and digital cameras - transform our public experience. And with it our subconscious understanding of what is possible. This public use pulls us into the "cloud," the world where we assume everything is always on, always connected... and digital. And that will charge the imagination, the pace toward digital, cloud, convergence will accelerate. Why PC Makers Are Saying "Next Year" While 2003 isn't likely to see a boom, here's why it should offer a marked improvement in sales for this beleaguered tech sector BusinessWeek Online, November 12, 2002 On the consumer side, Sony has designed special multimedia applications to wrap around the Windows operating system on its Vaio PCs to make it easier for Sony machines to record on DVDs and store photo images. "PCs have been sold on the basis of speed," says Mark Hanson, vice-president for the popular Vaio line, which has gained market share during the past year's PC malaise. He adds: "We're trying to get away from that measure because consumers are struggling to understand what the benefits of it are." Sony to ease PC-entertainment networks By Michael Kanellos, Staff Writer, CNET News.com November 12, 2002, 9:52 PM PT Sony will try to prod consumers into the convergence era this spring with RoomLink, which allows users to network PCs, TVs and stereo receivers with relative ease. RoomLink, which is already available in Japan and will hit U.S. shelves next spring, is essentially a networking hub for swapping data between disparate devices, said Mark Hanson, vice president of PC marketing at Sony. With it, music or digital photos stored on a PC hard drive can be played on a stereo or TV. Likewise, the hard drive can function as a personal video recorder. Connections can be made with cables or wirelessly through WiFi. It will sell for around $199, Sony said. Apple Reclaims the Innovation Lead With iMacs, iPods, OS X, and more, Jobs & Co. has grabbed the attention of consumers and - just as important - software developers BusinessWeek Online, November 12, 2002 5:34:22 AM