Friday, October 30, 2009

Clash of the Clouds

(Posted by Mads Srinivasan)

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14637206


It may be a good exercise to discuss this statement in the class: "the economics of the cloud may be different from those of the PC. Network effects are unlikely to be as strong. Much of the cloud is based on open standards, which should make it easier to switch providers"

If the economics of clouds is based on open standards, how can company extract value from their cloud offerings? Looks like there is no "winner take all" in the cloud. Is the pie big enough for multiple players? Do some companies have inherent competitive advantage over others?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Web Pioneer Recalls 'Birth of the Internet'

(Posted by Dhirendra Sharma)

It is believed that this day i.e Oct/29 in 1969, the first message was sent from one computer to another. Hence, began an age of connectivity with computers talking to one another and sharing information. Refer to below CNN article for interesting conversation with UCLA Prof.Leonard Kleinrock who sent first message over computer network on October 29, 1969

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/29/kleinrock.internet/index.html

Monday, October 26, 2009

The App Store Effect: Are iPhone Apps Headed for Oblivion?

(Posted by Courtney Skay)

I thought this was an interesting article to add.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Spigit Raises Capital for Workplace Social Network

(Posted by Mona Masghati)

Related to the case today:
Spigit Raises Capital for Workplace Social Network
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/spigit-raises-capital-for-a-workplace-social-network/

Articles on Online Media/Publishing

(Posted by Anand Mohanrangan)

I came across a couple of articles on online media/publishing that seem relevant given our discussion of SMR.

The first is a debate between Clay Shirky and Steve Brill about the impact of the internet on media and can one charge for content

The second is an opinion piece by the CEO of Associated Press about the future of the newspaper business

Monday, October 12, 2009

Elinor Ostrom, Wikipedia and the Commons

Congratulations to Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson for winning the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics.

When we discussed Wikipedia in class, one of the mysteries was how and why it worked in the first place. The contributors are not paid and don't have the kinds of property rights that economists and lawyers often argue are essential to provide incentives for the creation of content. And yet, it is one of the top sites on the Internet.

Elinor Ostrom's work can help provide an explanation. Far before Wikipedia or even the World Web Web were developed, she showed how natural resource commons like fisheries, forests and water rights have been successfully managed for decades and even centuries without either central control or private ownership. She identified a set of principles that were important to successful commons, including clearly defined boundaries around the commons, group monitoring of how the commons were used, and a system of increasingly severe penalties for free riders or vandals.

In the coming days and weeks, I suspect many pundits will point out how relevant Ostrom's work is for environmental issues like global climate change. However, her insights also can help unlock the paradox of Wikipedia, open source and some of the other burgeoning successes of the information economy. In many ways, knowledge and information are the ultimate commons.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Searching for Trouble

(Posted by R.J. Lehman)

Almost perfectly timed after our Google discussion is Ken Auletta's article about the past/future of Google in this week's New Yorker. It appears that it requires registration to read the entire piece, but I'd be happy to bring my copy in next week if anyone is interested.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

AcaWiki & SMR

Sloan Management Review seeks to bridge the gap between academic research and management practice.

Should something like AcaWiki be part of Sloan Management Review 2.0?


AcaWiki is like "Wikipedia for academic research" designed to increase the impact of scholars, students, and bloggers by enabling them to share summaries and discuss academic papers online.
...
AcaWiki Officially Beta Launches Wednesday October 7th!



Jacek Utko Designs to Save Newspapers

(Posted by Emily Short)

Our readings on the evolution of the print industry reminded me of this Ted talk - a Polish designer suggests that we might save periodicals with good design, thinking about form + function. His results are dramatic, sometimes doubling circulation.

To me, it seems like a band-aid.

Monday, October 5, 2009

The Evolution of Print

(Posted by Carlos Eduardo Selonke de Souza)

Below is a link for a video about how a magazine might look in the not-so-distant future.

http://livingartmedia.com/outside/

A Spear-Carrier for the Future of Media?

(Posted by Jennifer Fremont-Smith)

This is my day job now. ...The 300 or so subscribers who support this operation (renewal rates are always a little bit uncertain) should feel that they are part of a very interesting evolution in the news business.

... little start-ups – Dyson’s, Tufte’s, Lipsky’s, Stoll’s, Sennott’s, mine – may be more indicative of the possibilities for a new kind of journalism on the Web, perhaps even more durable in the end.


That's David Warsh's latest column. More here.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Reinventing Print Media

Very appropriate article given our upcoming assignment and class discussion on digital publishing.

Microsoft’s Netbook Conundrum

(Posted by Mona Masghati)

Lost revenue for Windows 7 on netbooks market segment:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/microsofts-netbook-conundrum/

Jimmy Wales Quietly Edits Wikipedia's New Edit Policy

(Posted by Katia Acosta Fernández)

This article should provide some more information about the current policies of Wikipedia.