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Difficulties for English to Global

what is interesting for me to see in iPhone?

Nobody knows if iPhone will make a legend in its sales in the future as iPod did, or maybe it will ruin iPod or iTV. but one thing interesting for me to wait and see is not about the iPhone itself or the technology, it is about the business strategy for the industry, or for the spirit of this particular industry.

Here is my understanding, we can discuss more if you understand differently, i will be interested to listen to your thoughts :p:

IT product is just a tool. People need not only the tool, but also the content, the service and the experience (both technically or non-technically, including personal style, community, identity, ownership, show-off....), and those make people want to buy the product.

E.g.: It is not iPod sales, it is iTune and all the other songs, tv shows, movies and audio books earning money for Apple. I agree that technology of iPod is not that cool, even the interaction design for the wheel is not that innovative. But the point is that iPod and iTune finally find a beautiful /fashionable way to make digital music/movie/shows downloading earning money, which many other companies tried, but could not really make a big hit. Now, most of iPod users have no problem to pay for songs they like and they even feel good to pay them. It is not about the product itself, it is also about the content and the service that users can easily and proudly get through the product. it is the bigger picture beyond the product itself. Since steve jobs is also a stakeholder in entertainment industry (Disney, ABC...), he has the ability to combine them well.

Well, i am not saying that he will win, or make a big big money comparing to other IT companies. To be honest, I think Apple will still have troubles competing with MS if they really want to. MS has another kind of business strategy that Apple is not able to use at all. I am just saying that Apple has a different view of designing their products, and it does make some users crazy about it, and it is not so evil.

About iPhone, I haven't put too much thought into it yet since my experience with mobile phone is only limited to calling and messaging for the last 4 years. I guess there could be a bigger picture bridging Telecoms industry and phone manufacturing. My understanding is iPhone is not a smart phone and Apple does not want it become to a smart phone either. I hope iPhone is just a phone, a communication tool that people can use freely and comfortably.


Of course, i do not totally understand why this keynote is made 6 months before they ship it.... It seems a gamble to me. Well, many decisions look like gambles to people if we do not know the reasons behind it. Just like you said about the luck. But as always, I like the way of Steve making the presentation, simple and clear, well designed, and everyone can understand him. :) though it is not that technical - which is exactly the point to Mac users.

Well, my understanding may still limited within the frame of product development, i do not know so much about the Wall Street opinions. It was inspiring to see some though. :)

Bright Ideas - viable Light Emitting Capacitor (LEC)

It's a Wrap

CeeLite's paper-thin, flexible lightbulbs can go virtually anywhere: around a pillar, on the floor, even around Chad Smith's drum set during the Red Hot Chili Peppers' recent appearance on Saturday Night Live. The light-emitting capacitors (LECs) are essentially 1-mm-thick sheets of plastic. Inside is a layer of phosphor that when hit with an alternating current, shines bright white (not bluish like other electroluminescent light). The LECs illuminate surfaces evenly but can also be programmed to dim, fade or flash on contact.

Inventor: ceelite.com
Availability: yes
To learn more visit: ceelite.com
Times 2006 Best Inventions

Home Inventions - Loc8tor

Loc8tor: Finder of Lost Gloves

For years, people prayed to St. Anthony for help finding misplaced items. Now you can attach radio-frequency-emitting tags to your most losable possessions. When something is missing, fire up the Loc8tor, and it points you in the right direction--not just left or right, but up or down too. It homes in to within an inch of your item, while the tag itself emits helpful beeps. The only thing the system can't do is locate the Loc8tor itself. For that you still need St. Anthony.

Inventor: loc8tor.com
Availability: yes
To learn more visit: loc8tor
Times 2006 Best Inventions

Clothing Inventions - Hug Shirt

Hug Shirt: Amazing Embrace

The Hug Shirt is a shirt that makes people send hugs over distance!
Remember when PDA stood for something other than personal digital assistant? It can again with the Hug Shirt, a high-tech garment that simulates the experience of being embraced by a loved one. When a friend sends you a virtual hug, your cell phone notifies the shirt wirelessly, via Bluetooth. The shirt then re-creates that person's distinctive cuddle, replicating his or her warmth, pressure, duration and even heartbeat. And, yes, the Hug Shirt is fully washable.

Inventor: cutecircuit.com
Availability: Not yet for sale
To learn more visit: Hug Shirt
Times 2006 Best Inventions

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Why can’t Chinese build global brands?

By Bruce Einhorn

The Japanese did it. The Koreans did it. Even the Indians are managing to do it now. So why can’t companies from Greater China have more success building global brands? For years now, companies from China and Taiwan have been trying to develop global brand names ? and do it fast. Rather than slowly, slowly, slowly building their brands overseas, the way that the likes of Sony and Samsung did, many have tried to go global overnight by buying famous but troubled brands in the West and trying to lower costs by shifting production to China. One of the first to try was TCL, China’s top TV maker, which took over the RCA brand from France’s Thomson in 2004. TCL Multimedia, the TV division of TCL, has been sliding ever since. Lenovo, China’s top PC maker, last year acquired the struggling PC business of IBM. The verdict isn’t in yet on the Lenovo experiment, but the company has struggled beyond its Chinese home and has brought in a bunch of new executives from Dell. Investors in Hong Kong-listed Lenovo are underwhelmed. A few months ago Lenovo got booted off of the Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong’s equivalent to the Dow.

The latest flop is BenQ, the Taiwanese company that in 2005 bought the mobile handset business of Siemens. Executives spoke boldly about using the acquisition of the money-losing operation as a way to take the BenQ brand global. Last fall the company even became the sponsor for Real Madrid, the star-studded Spanish football team featuring, among many others, English idol David Beckham and French headbutt-er Zinedine Zidane The upbeat feeling didn’t last long. Last week, less than a year after the deal, BenQ announced that it was cutting off the German business. While the news is infuriating people in Germany, where 3,000 workers stand to lose their jobs, investors initially cheered the idea of BenQ finally cutting its losses from a money pit that has cost the company over a billion dollars in losses. After the fiasco in Germany, maybe more executives from Taiwan and China in search of brand-name glory will be more wary about taking on money-losing Western names.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/asiatech/

HOW- 8 STEPS Towards INNOVATION

Every question harbors a latent question: "Can it be done?" The answer is YES IT CAN.

" How: 8 Steps Toward Innovation" Brought to you by

IEEE, the world's largest technical professional association, connecting more than 365,000 members in 150 countries.

The tools provided by IEEE membership allow innovators to lead the world to new techincal developments, formulate internationally recognized standards, and shape the global community. Through its members, the IEEE has become a leading authority in technical areas ranging from computer engineering, biomedical technology and telecommunications, to electric power, aerospace and consumer electronics.

Beware the Would-Be Prophets
"The 'telephone' industry has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." -Western Union's International Memo, 1876.

A Closed Mind Can Not Change
"Everything that can be invented has been invented"
-Charles H. Duel, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

"What is power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in the state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it."
-Alexander Graham Bell

Everyone knows that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. But could he have done it alone? Prior research in acoustics and electricity preceeded Bell's breakthrough discovery, making Michael Faraday, who discovered electromagnetic induction, and Samuel Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, indirect contributors to the invention of the telephone.

An heir to this legacy of inherited knowledge, President of ArrayComm, Inc and IEEE Fellow, Martin Cooper built on Bell's legacy. With the invention of the mobile phone, Cooper has unraveled the lines of wireless communication.

"The key to innovation is the fearless pursuit of experiment, application and proof of the theory. IEEE allows engineers to see what is possible and pursue it with science." - Dr. Evangelia Micheli-Tzanakou IEEE Fellow, Director of Computational Intelligence Laboratories - Department of Biomedical Engineering Rutgers University

The imperative to create is beyond the scope of the individual. Every great idea builds on existing archetypes.Just as the computer did not precede the microchip, the motion detector did not precede the sensor. For every great ideas, there are millions of great individuals who saw beyond what was to see what is. And the vision of the farsighted transforms the existing landscape, making the impossible --- possible.

"Innovation is a complex process encompassing a wide range of activities. An essential ingredient is creative ideas, which originate from various sources. These represent the building blocks of the innovative process."
-Michael Bommer and David S. Jalajas "Innovation Sources of Large and Small Technology-Based Firms"

As engineers, inquiry and speculation are vital to our innovative process.
Research Development Progress
-three words encompassing years of setbacks, success, and finally an indescribable sense of accomplishment that accompanies the fruition of years of investigation.

What follows is a framework of the innovative process, to inspire researchers past the road blocks...8 ELEMENTS OF INNOVATION

1. CREATIVITY
2. KNOW-HOW
3. RELEVANCE
4. PLANNING & FOCUS
5. PRECISION & CONTROL
6. OBJECTIVITY
7. PERSERVERANCE
8. DIALOG

1. CREATIVITY
Eureka moments are spare and far between--unless you're looking for them. Passing thoughts sometime harbor the biggest breakthroughs. (Tap into these transient fantasies to open up a whole new perspective.)

2. KNOW-HOW
The creative imagination leads where the technical skill-set must follow.

In an age of continuous improvement, the "wouldn't it be great" ideas may already have supporting technologies. Keeping pace with the latest breakthroughs may bridge the juncture between theory and application.

3. RELEVANCE

Where will this innovation fit within the existing marketplace? The selling point of every technology lies in its one-upmanship over existing technologies. What sustainable advantages does this innovation introduce?

4. PLANNING AND FOCUS

Define a criterion for success -- measurable objectives that clearly outline your research goals.

Design empirical experiments that qualify and quantify the research results.

5. PRECISION & CONTROL

Troubleshooting is vital to conducting research. Testing several hypotheses provides valuable insight into what works. Adjustments to the process can save valuable research time and materials.

6. OBJECTIVITY

Detachment and clear-sightedness go hand-in-hand with innovation. Mentally polarize the intention of creation and the act of creating. Is there a better technology that might take our research further?

Be open to the possibilities that might drastically alter, but improve, your original plans.

7. PERSEVERANCE

Cling to the indefatigable strength of purpose that drove you to become an engineer.

Seek answers where they are only questions, and accomplish what can't be done.

8. DIALOG

The dialectic between theory and application is vital to innovation. Applications that bridge the gap between observed phenomenon, like ferro-electric current, and high-performance technologies, like Fe-RAM, revolutionize the technological landscape.

But communication is not bound to white paper. Consulting an expert or perhaps a peer who specializes in another field of interest may just *spark* that light-bulb moment.

While the elements of innovation are stepping stones in the innovative process, innovation is incomplete without forethought.

As innovators, the reliability and accuracy of your research is vital to protecting your investment. IEEE, a professional society whose vision is to advance global prosperity by fostering technological innovation, enabling memebers' career, and promoting community worldwide.

Sometime Some Innovation isn't so Innovative

Poor Design.
Poor Features.
Poor Functionalities or the whole intention just doesn't work out.