Speaking of divorce, Vijay Vaitheeswaran's new book "Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future" says that cars and oil are "headed for a divorce." Cars need to abandon dirty fuels like gasoline - a disruptive innovation that, like the computing revolution, will likely cause a convergence of the energy and car industries. Look for "a smart, sophisticated, software-rich car of the future" to arrive soon and longer term, watch the line between car plants and power plants blur as these new cars plug into the wall to get electricity from the grid and also…feed it back.
A recent undercover investigation shows that when you hire a rent-a-geek, you might not get the expert you hope for. It's rather stunning to see how little basic knowledge some geeks have about the problems you're paying them to fix. They may misdiagnose your problem and while doing so, they may overcharge you or snag your personal data. Investigating national and local repair services including Best Buy's Geek Squad and Staples they found that only 3 out of the 10 geeks accurately assess a problem, and when they do, one of them is likely to gouge you on price for parts. Consumer beware.
Guy Kawasaki points us to Website Grader. Go there and type in your site's URL and it runs a test to gauge how effective it is in terms of search engine optimization (SEO). I ran a report for a few company websites and found it to be very informative. Find out things like your Google page rank and how your web page structure helps or hinders your search results. They also provide advice on things you might want to do and compare how you rate against competitors. Nice!
An MBA used to lead to "prestige and riches," but that seems to be changing. Penelope Trunk says that the quality of the degree is being compromised by lack of female applicants. Harvard Business School is so concerned that they've "changed the admission process to accommodate the biological clock" meaning that "students will have less work experience coming into the program." Additionally "hotshots don’t go to business school anymore" and many people get MBAs for the wrong reasons. "If you’re not a star performer before b-school, you probably won’t be one after you graduate."
About a year ago Dove launched it's Real Beauty campaign with a provocative viral video. It has received "more than 12 million views on YouTube alone." Now Dove is furthering it's campaign with a new and equally stunning video. The call to action? "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does." Now there's a message that's dying to get heard. The company has established the Dove Self-Esteem Fund aimed at reaching 5 million girls globally with programs by 2010 and they have totally reinvented their brand on the message of self esteem. Brilliant.
Fred Wilson says that the failure of Skype comes down to one thing..."wrong guy married wrong gal." Saying that "Skype is a great business that is owned by the wrong company," Wilson says he never saw the synergy between eBay and Skype. "Imagine if Nokia had bought them or even Verizon or even Google." At $2bn to $3bn Wilson sees Skype as a bargain and says the right company should grab what could become the "ultimate phone company of the 21st century."
Did you know that the American divorce rate has been dropping for 25 years? "It's now one-third lower than it was in 1981." But to balance that out, the divorce rate in corporate America is on the rise. Loyalty has "become a quaint old notion," and our average time in a job has dropped by 6 percent in the past twenty years. Brand loyalty has also plummeted for items seen as commodities and even investors now hold public stock for only 1 year - down from 6 years not long ago. Chip Conley writes that "the workplace seems to have become a "rent-a-relationship" kind of world." True enough. And the currency of the individual has never been higher.
Speaking of divorce, Vijay Vaitheeswaran's new book "Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future" says that cars and oil are "headed for a divorce." Cars need to abandon dirty fuels like gasoline - a disruptive innovation that, like the computing revolution, will likely cause a convergence of the energy and car industries. Look for "a smart, sophisticated, software-rich car of the future" to arrive soon and longer term, watch the line between car plants and power plants blur as these new cars plug into the wall to get electricity from the grid and also…feed it back.
Fred Wilson says that the failure of Skype comes down to one thing..."wrong guy married wrong gal." Saying that "Skype is a great business that is owned by the wrong company," Wilson says he never saw the synergy between eBay and Skype. "Imagine if Nokia had bought them or even Verizon or even Google." At $2bn to $3bn Wilson sees Skype as a bargain and says the right company should grab what could become the "ultimate phone company of the 21st century."
