Quick, what’s the difference between a book and a doorstop? The answer: nothing, if the book’s not well-written.
Here’s a list of ten books that have changed the way I think. I consider them must-reads for 2007. These are whack-on-the-side-of-the-head good. Some are practical, some are theoretical. If you haven’t read them, fire up your computer and start ordering. If you have, this is the right time for a refresher.
Crossing the Rubicon
Its meteoric rise is the envy of executives and geeks around the world… for those in technology, it is a marvel of Web strategy, and for Wall Street, it just may be the company all aspire to own.
No view of what matters in 2007 could be complete without mentioning Google. I’m going to propose something really crazy–actually blasphemous–here in Silicon Valley. I’m going to go out on a ledge.
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:
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.”
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.”
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.
4 levels of belief; 5 ways to market
Promise Phelon, CEO of the Phelon Group recently spoke at the fall WITI Conference in Santa Clara during a session called “the Changing Customer Conversation”, and introduced these 4 levels …
Web 2.0, Meet College Politics 2.0
Reading the Wall Street Journal editorial page the other day, it struck me how far the societal impact of Web 2.0 has come. It is a great example of how the technological and cultural changes driving Web 2.0 are no longer limited to technology; in this case, the hotly contested election on the proposed Alumni Constitution at Dartmouth College.
Peter Robinson writes in the Wall Street Journal,
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