Network World published a very interesting article on the behind-the-scenes IT magic that drives JetBlue’s infrastructure. Besides some of the nuts-and-bolts decisions that the company made, this article is a lesson on how you can really use IT to change the cost dynamics of a marketplace.
Author: charles
RFID for All?
I was reading an article earlier today about how retailing giant Wal-Mart plans to mandate that its partner network adopt and deploy RFID tags by 2005. Is the technology ready for prime time?
Why TiVo Still has Legs
Several months ago I built a brand new computer from scratch and decided to go with the ATI Radeon 8500 All-in-Wonder AGP graphics card, a nice product that includes a TiVo-like PVR for TV capture. In addition to the TV capture capabilities, the card also supports media encoding for burning DVDs and has a dumbed-down TV Guide+ interface for scheduling recordings. Does my 180GB hard drive + TV Tuner Card (total cost of $330 after rebate) spell the end of stand-alone PVRs like TiVo?
Is Chairman Powell on to Something?
Now that some of the furor over the recent FCC decision to relax media broadcast rules has subsided, I think that there are something interesting comments and opinions underlying the FCC’s decision. While I am no policy expert, I do think that this is a really interesting development worthy of some commentary.
Palmspring – The end of the “gee-whiz” era of handheld computing?
I have been chomping at the bit to write something on the impending Palm/Handspring union but have been busy with other matters for the past two weeks. For those of you who haven’t heard, Palm is going to acquire Handspring for about $169 million in a transaction expected to close later this year. Palm’s website has a press release describing the business benefits associated with this transaction. I have a few thoughts and comments that I would like to share regarding this merger.
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Is Personal Finance Software all Tapped Out?
I am in favor of using software to make my life easier whenever it’s possible. I have already blogged my thoughts on bill presentment software, I have recently started thinking about whether all of the opportunities in consumer financial software have been exhausted. My recent (albeit somewhat dated) experiences with recent versions of Microsoft Money and Quicken lead me to believe that there might be a few other opportunities out there.
Software Managing Software — The Next Big Opportunity for Software Investors?
I have been having some very lively conversations with friends and co-investors regarding new opportunities for software investors. Overall, it looks pretty bleak. There is a real dearth of exciting packaged application vertical opportunities (there are some out there, but it isn’t my place to disclose those) at the moment and most investors that I know aren’t as interested in software that plays in niches they don’t understand. I do think, however, that this theme of “software managing software” is important for a number of reasons and we are seeing early evidence of movement in the space.
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The 1 Megapixel Camera Phone
I have heard that this has been in the works for some time, but today the formal announcement was made that there will be 1 megapixel camera phones available in the near future. This is just the beginning for camera phone technology and I think that there are three basic questions that jump to mind after reading this article.
The Quiet Digital Camera Revolution
All of the despair around the state of enterprise-focused information technology has obscured the fact that there are some pockets of strong growth in the broader world of information technology. I recently purchased a Minolta Dimage Xi digital camera and am astounded by the ecosystem that has emerged to support new digital camera customers.
Is Wi-Fi Bundling the Answer?
I have read quite a few articles, including one by Bill Gurley, about this theme of revisiting the quiet success of several Internet businesses and business models. Perhaps the secret to helping spur the adoption of consumer Wi-Fi is to go back to the old strategy of “bundling” that AOL and MSN made so popular during the growth of Internet-enabled desktop computers.