Another person who influenced me in the middle 90’s was someone I actually met in person, Francis McInerney.
1994 was a seminal year for me. Having worked as a sales representative for Scott, Foresman, an elementary and secondary textbook publisher now part of Pearson, I was assigned to attend a national convention in Boston. I decided to leave a few days early and spend a couple of days in New York City before going on to my assignment in Boston. I love Broadway Musicals and Museums-and of course NYC is the capital of both, not to mention finance and what is novae and chic. My flight arrangements were with American Airlines. As most people in Texas know, unless you fly Southwest Airlines, everyone goes through Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. In fact, people in San Antonio always say, “if you want to go anywhere, even to heaven, you have to go through D/FW”. This trip however had me flying to Nashville, changing planes and then going on to La Guardia. When I boarded the plane in Nashville for NYC, I noticed I was sitting next to a very well dressed man speaking on the airline phone provided for passengers. When he hung up, I commented to him I had heard how expensive it was to call from those phones. He said, “not while you are still on the ground” In those days there were only car phones not mobile phones as we know them today, which meant you could only use them while you were in your car. I mentioned I was working on a paper on the telecommunications industry in Mexico for a graduate class in economics.
That exchange precipitated a discussion which lasted all the way to NYC which changed my perspective and refocused what I had learned up to that time. More importantly, it reinforced my recognition of a deficiency in my social studies training which I already knew existed but had done very little about that shortcoming-little to no economics background. I really do not believe in epiphanies, however, this lead to a change in how I viewed the world around me.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
The One-Hundred Dollar Laptop
Finally, regarding Nicolas Negroponte, he has committed time and effort to create a laptop for under US$100.00 that could be distributed to underprivileged students around the world by either their own governments,world organizations or individuals like you and me. It is called the One Laptop Per Child OLPC Foundation.
I heard him speak recently on the subject. Negroponte insist that we all remember this is about education not a laptop project. He said the idea for the laptop was an attempt to try and close the digital divide which exist in the world. He wanted every child to have the opportunity to access the Internet and use it as an educational tool, like so many other more fortunate children.
The technical challenges were great. They had to find a way to power the unit with or without electricity. They had to develop a way to give the user access to the Internet without high speed plug-ins or hot spots. The unit is a no-frills, basic tools kind of machine. All the challenges were meet, except for the cost. The unit is US$399.00 right now. Negroponte explained once they begin full production, the unit cost will drop and they hope to get it down to their original target of one hundred. Incidentally, you can buy one right now for US$399.00 and the organization will donate one to a needy child somewhere around the world.
I am more impressed with this man than I ever was before. Many have said over the years that Internet access is the next civil right. Here is someone clearly doing something about it. In a time when so many people on earth live on about a dollar a day, imagine the impact of this educational tool on future generations competing in a global world, an information age and the knowledge economy. Talk about the world being flat!
I heard him speak recently on the subject. Negroponte insist that we all remember this is about education not a laptop project. He said the idea for the laptop was an attempt to try and close the digital divide which exist in the world. He wanted every child to have the opportunity to access the Internet and use it as an educational tool, like so many other more fortunate children.
The technical challenges were great. They had to find a way to power the unit with or without electricity. They had to develop a way to give the user access to the Internet without high speed plug-ins or hot spots. The unit is a no-frills, basic tools kind of machine. All the challenges were meet, except for the cost. The unit is US$399.00 right now. Negroponte explained once they begin full production, the unit cost will drop and they hope to get it down to their original target of one hundred. Incidentally, you can buy one right now for US$399.00 and the organization will donate one to a needy child somewhere around the world.
I am more impressed with this man than I ever was before. Many have said over the years that Internet access is the next civil right. Here is someone clearly doing something about it. In a time when so many people on earth live on about a dollar a day, imagine the impact of this educational tool on future generations competing in a global world, an information age and the knowledge economy. Talk about the world being flat!
Friday, November 9, 2007
More on Nicholas Negroponte
There were several things Nicolas Negroponte said on Charlie Rose the night of February 6, 1995. One of those was to stop thinking in atoms and start thinking in bits and bytes-the theme of his book “Being Digital” For those today, this probably seems “old school” if you realize it has been almost thirteen years since he said it and everyone is familiar with the binary system of zeros and ones and the high-speed transfers today of DSL cable or WIFI/WMAX, T-1, 2, or 3. But remember back then just about everyone had dial-up. Take a little plastic connector (about $0.79) at the end of telephone-line and disconnect from your handheld and plug it into your desktop-very few laptops then. When put in perspective, atoms to bits and bytes-digital-took quite a leap in everyone’s mind.
One of the other things Negroponte said, not that night, but in another interview was how information would be more valuable then the money you could make from that information. But most importantly, he said he no longer read the Wall Street Journal or “techie” magazines to keep up with changes and innovations which had the greatest impact on technology. He said he kept up with what was happening with the entertainment side of technology. It was games and widgets that drove the innovations, especially in the area of graphics, not business or government.
When I think today about the latest widgets, iPods, iPhones, all kinds of hand held devices, X-box, satellite radio, Wii’s great innovations for entertainment and communications, what Negroponte said still seems to hold true.
I am not writing about Negroponte for purposes of nostalgia, even though I am nostalgic. I am simply trying to make a point about listening for and paying attention to those voices that help us understand today’s world and voices which give us a glimpse into tomorrow.
One of the other things Negroponte said, not that night, but in another interview was how information would be more valuable then the money you could make from that information. But most importantly, he said he no longer read the Wall Street Journal or “techie” magazines to keep up with changes and innovations which had the greatest impact on technology. He said he kept up with what was happening with the entertainment side of technology. It was games and widgets that drove the innovations, especially in the area of graphics, not business or government.
When I think today about the latest widgets, iPods, iPhones, all kinds of hand held devices, X-box, satellite radio, Wii’s great innovations for entertainment and communications, what Negroponte said still seems to hold true.
I am not writing about Negroponte for purposes of nostalgia, even though I am nostalgic. I am simply trying to make a point about listening for and paying attention to those voices that help us understand today’s world and voices which give us a glimpse into tomorrow.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Hello Digital World!
Someone asked me a question the other day about how I got interested in the Information Age and the Knowledge Economy. I would have to answer Wired Magazine. Wired was inspired by another hero of mine, Marshall McLuhan. I was first introduced to his writings as an undergraduate student at St. Mary’s University in Texas, and re-introduced many times since-for it takes a while to get on his wave-length and stay there. Wired was avant grad in a fast changing world. It was a publication with far-reaching influence, and not just for business oriented followers of the tech revolution but for designers, graphic arts and many more.
I actually found out about the magazine from an illustrator where I worked, Scott Foresman and Company which is based in the Chicago Area. Janet-the illustrator-had attended the world famous School of the Art Institute of Chicago and worked in the creative design department of our textbook publishing company. Unlike other book illustrators, she wanted to learn all she could about the content and subject of a book so it communicated not only textually but visually. During a break at a national sales meeting, I saw her sitting by herself looking thru Wired Magazine and asked her about it. She said she bought it for the artistic value. It contained some of the most interesting and creative graphic designs anywhere and the articles were not bad either. (A sort of reverse motivation for buying another Chicago magazine which many males claimed we “bought it for the articles”)
On the last page of each edition was the reason I began to buy Wired. It always contained an article by Nicholas Negroponte. Negroponte was the Director of the Media Lab at MIT, a position he held for twenty years and for which he had been recommended by Jerry a.k.a. Jerome Wisner-science advisor for President Kennedy. The articles discussed, in language us mortals could understand, some aspect of the computer age and the digital world. Remarkably, he actually listed his email at the end of each article. In those days, it never dawned on me that I could have sent him an email.
However, it was on the night of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of “The Great Bambino” Babe Ruth, February 6, 1995 when I got serious about what was happening and what was changing. That night Charlie Rose of PBS had Negroponte as a guest on his talk show. Hello digital world! It has been almost eighteen years since then and I hope to share and interact about what has transpired subsequently.
I actually found out about the magazine from an illustrator where I worked, Scott Foresman and Company which is based in the Chicago Area. Janet-the illustrator-had attended the world famous School of the Art Institute of Chicago and worked in the creative design department of our textbook publishing company. Unlike other book illustrators, she wanted to learn all she could about the content and subject of a book so it communicated not only textually but visually. During a break at a national sales meeting, I saw her sitting by herself looking thru Wired Magazine and asked her about it. She said she bought it for the artistic value. It contained some of the most interesting and creative graphic designs anywhere and the articles were not bad either. (A sort of reverse motivation for buying another Chicago magazine which many males claimed we “bought it for the articles”)
On the last page of each edition was the reason I began to buy Wired. It always contained an article by Nicholas Negroponte. Negroponte was the Director of the Media Lab at MIT, a position he held for twenty years and for which he had been recommended by Jerry a.k.a. Jerome Wisner-science advisor for President Kennedy. The articles discussed, in language us mortals could understand, some aspect of the computer age and the digital world. Remarkably, he actually listed his email at the end of each article. In those days, it never dawned on me that I could have sent him an email.
However, it was on the night of the 100th Anniversary of the birth of “The Great Bambino” Babe Ruth, February 6, 1995 when I got serious about what was happening and what was changing. That night Charlie Rose of PBS had Negroponte as a guest on his talk show. Hello digital world! It has been almost eighteen years since then and I hope to share and interact about what has transpired subsequently.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Introduction
The Information Age and the Knowledge Economy
If you read my profile you know I have many interests. Not the least of which is the one I have developed in economics over the last twenty years. The changes happening so rapidly are both fascinating yet frightening. Fascinating because we live in a world of many transitions and frightening because we all need to be exposed to and discuss how we are being impacted.
One thing for sure, the new global economy is being constructed and we all need to participate and provide feedback in the building process. To this end, we at coneXions will be starting a speakers service where we will provide presenters on these and other topics for which I will post information soon. I am hoping we can begin and sustain an ongoing discussion about this and other related topics like globalization, the impact of technology, the digital divide, modern business models, eMarketing, eCommerce etc.
In the meantime, check out one of the most interesting sites I have found . This site is hosted by David Warsh who is the author of "Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations"-one of the Top 10 Best Selling Non-fiction Books of 2006 and contains insightful information on economics.
If you read my profile you know I have many interests. Not the least of which is the one I have developed in economics over the last twenty years. The changes happening so rapidly are both fascinating yet frightening. Fascinating because we live in a world of many transitions and frightening because we all need to be exposed to and discuss how we are being impacted.
One thing for sure, the new global economy is being constructed and we all need to participate and provide feedback in the building process. To this end, we at coneXions will be starting a speakers service where we will provide presenters on these and other topics for which I will post information soon. I am hoping we can begin and sustain an ongoing discussion about this and other related topics like globalization, the impact of technology, the digital divide, modern business models, eMarketing, eCommerce etc.
In the meantime, check out one of the most interesting sites I have found . This site is hosted by David Warsh who is the author of "Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations"-one of the Top 10 Best Selling Non-fiction Books of 2006 and contains insightful information on economics.
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