Blog Yes & Know

Hardware to Watch in 2007

We're optimistic that 2007 will turn out to be a year of significant progress in the creation of new types of computing devices. Here are some of the things to watch for, and why we think they're significant:

Software Platforms of the Future

A very important trend to watch in 2007 will be the ongoing efforts to separate the operating system from the platform (the APIs and user interface that an application interacts with). Key players in this movement include Adobe's Apollo and Microsoft WPF/E.

Is Vista the End of Windows?

At the end of 2006, Gartner Group predicted that Vista would be the last major release of Windows, with future updates being delivered on the fly, in modular format. "The era of monolithic deployments of software releases is nearing an end," Gartner said. "Microsoft will be a visible player in this movement and the result will be more flexible updates to Windows and a new focus on quality overall."

Value Models: Many Ways to Skin a Cat

As in any innovation-driven market, software vendors continue to develop and exploit a variety of business models, most recently a variety of "free" services. Unlike the period of the Internet bubble, during which companies failed because they didn't monetize their services, many of today's "free" services are well thought out and are likely to become successful businesses. While this article looks at the monetization side, it is equally important to note that these companies leverage Web 2.0 tools and consequently have dramatically lower development and operating costs than their Internet bubble predecessors.

Has Yahoo Lost Its Mojo?

The jury is still out. There are those who believe Yahoo has lost the clarity of vision needed to complete with a juggernaut like Google, and an increasingly hungry Microsoft. They're convinced Yahoo has lost the pulse of its community. Other observers believe Yahoo can recover from its recent stumbles, if it recaptures the cachet it once had. Let's quickly review some of the facts. Yahoo is battling slowing sales growth, a slumping stock price and a steady stream of executive departures. In spite of these troubles, it is still the dominant player on most of the web. Yahoo is the most visited website on the Internet today with more than 412 million unique users. Since November, 2006, it's been battling MySpace for the title "Top US Visited Website."

Good Profits vs. Bad Profits: What You Need to Know As You Grow

"Good" profits are like compound interest or a snowball rolling down a hill. "Bad" profits are like eating your seed corn or spending endowment capital: the results are not immediately apparent, but over time it is an unsustainable situation. For growing businesses, the ability to differentiate between good and bad profits, and generate good profits, is especially important. So why don't businesses focus on good profits? One reason is that businesses today are under tremendous pressure to grow, and maintaining growth is hard. For public companies, quarterly reporting can provide a temptation to go for short term gains. As a result "savvy" managers look for any way they can generate a profit today.

Who Controls Brands Now? The Rise of 360° Marketing

At the most recent meeting of the American Marketing Association, Ad Age reports, "The speakers at the podium kept changing, but their words remained the same. One after the other, the marketing world leaders took to the stage and declared that it's time to give up control and accept that consumers now control their brands." Of course, in some ways, they always have. A brand has always only been as good as a consumers' experience of it. The difference today is that consumers have lots of ways of communicating those experiences and trust each other's views instead of marketers' overt sales pitches. A more interactive environment gave them the tools to be better informed and less susceptible to the traditional one-way communication model. Consequently, they are influencing marketing strategies as never before.

Will WiMax Change the Wireless Landscape?

Most companies that deal with the mobile industry are frustrated with the protected business models of the carriers. Unlike the wired Internet, it's not generally possible for a software company to deploy a program to any cellphone without extensive reprogramming and often getting permission from the carrier. Deploying new hardware can be equally daunting -- it's often difficult to get a carrier to even offer a new phone.