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Friday, November 30, 2007
Professor Andrew McAfee of Harvard Business School recently wrote on the value wikis, blogs, social networking, and prediction markets can bring to organizations and what differentiates them. In particular, he analyzed their use based on how the can bring people with different levels of “ties” together.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Third Annual Top Ten Breakaway Brands List was recently released. The list is part of a study implemented by Fortune magazine, Landor Associates, and Stern Stewart’s BrandEconomics. It seeks to accurately measure the return on investment for the ten brands that had the highest percentile increase in brand strength over the last three years. TJ Maxx was at the top of the list with a 56 percent increase in brand strength, and iPod was second with a 41 percent increase.The actual brand value gained was pegged at $697 million for the TJ Maxx brand and a whopping $7.8 billion for iPod.
What makes a good software application? Perhaps it’s a full feature set, or maybe it’s an easy-to-use interface. Or maybe it’s full-text search, just like Google. Over time, what constitutes “good software” has been redefined by the vast array of Web-based applications.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
If you’re a writer who regularly consults a dictionary or thesaurus (either your trusty old hard copy or through Microsoft Word), consider a few handy online tools to spark creativity and ideas. VisuWords and the Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online are worth a look.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The last several days, I’ve been following an interesting thread at Chris Anderson’s blog, The Long Tail. Anderson is writing a new book titled Free. In the world’s hypercompetitive economic environment, the most outrageous price of all is zero, and the economics of zero is fascinating. The story that captured my attention was his post early this month—Next: Free Cars. Anderson tells a story about Shai Agassi who is starting a new venture to become the largest electric car company in the world. The catch: the car is free, but you’ll pay for the electricity. And what really hooked me was one of Agassi’s comments:
The cost of the average used car in Europe is now cheaper than the cost of gasoline to drive it for a year.