cilinc.net » business model

“The Lego of gadgets”

maz — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:05:51 +0000

That’s what Rafe Needleman from Webware called the new product of Bug Labs, that is presented at CES 2008. It’s an open source (concerning soft- AND hardware) plattform that starts with a minicomputer [...] onto which you can snap multiple modules, such as a digital camera, an LCD screen or a GPS-module. The device has won CNETâ€™s Best of CES Award in the category “Emerging technologies”.

[youtube hBlo4XoIwLY nolink]

To my mind the concept ist great! Let’s hope that the connection assembly is at least that great

virtual insanity

maz — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:03:34 +0000

During the last few days I came across some articles about the future of virtual worlds. Here are the highlights:

Virtual worlds and the future of TV
Via the Endless Innovation blog I’ve found an NY Times article about the possible future of TV integrated in virtual worlds.

Credit: Sundance Channel via New York Times

[...] if the wildest dreams of some very excited technology developers come true, virtual reality might finally be the medium that unites the passive experience of watching television with the interactive potential of the Web. If that happens, the television industry â€” which has not been particularly speedy in adapting to the Internet revolution â€” sees an opportunity not only to recover lost ground from online competitors but also to take a lead, and in so doing create an entirely new environment in which to influence and sell to its audience.

A Virtually New Web
Technology Review is toying with the idea that Second Life and Google Earth could merge to “Second Earth“.
[...] the extraordinary success of virtual worlds [...] can only partly be explained by new technologies including cheaper bandwidth, graphics cards, and free storage. Much more important was the decision of Linden Lab and Google to support an anarchic openness within their cyberworlds. Both companies have turned over control to users: any user can add almost anything to either environment. (podcast of Jason Pontin, Technology Review’s editor in chief)

I’m not entirely sharing all the “virtual thought experiments” that circulate in the web but these two ideas sound interessting to me. The reasons? On the one hand I believe in the fusion of TV and PC and on the other hand the dream of anarchy always was a powerful stimulus for many people.
But to come back to reality I invite you to watch this great parody of Second Life:

[youtube flkgNn50k14 nolink]

Dell’s “new” sales strategy

maz — Sun, 20 May 2007 17:42:17 +0000

Dell’s direct sales strategy is one of the most often cited examples concerning process and business model innovation. Now the CEO Michael Dell announced at CRN that his company is going to enforce other sales channels like commercial resellers and retail stores. So the question is whether Dell is back paddling because it has undervalued those channels during the last years or it has found the right point for advancement.
Arly Guenther, CEO of a solution provider, states that this really has to do with [...] solving customer needs. But what has really changed in these sales channels so that they are solving customer needs better than some years ago?
Micheal Dell says: “What we’re finding as we go further and further with partners is that there are large ranges of unique solutions that these partners can provide to customers that would be way outside the range of things we would traditionally do as a company.”
However, I’m anxious to keep an eye on Dell’s future development and if a radical cut will take place or “only” some adaption of it’s sales strategy.

music album = music player

maz — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 15:21:53 +0000

Axxen wants to introduce a new way of records (as they call it) onto the market. The prototype was called “Plei(g)o” and now they promote it as “Playdisc“. The basic idea is to sell a music album in combination with the player.
Mp3- or in this case rather wma-players are getting cheaper and cheaper, but “a CD that can playback itself”?
Do we have to throw this thing away after one use or are we allowed to hear the album a second time? Maybe also Windows Vista’s successor will be accompanied by a computer?
On balance, it sounds curious to me.

Playdisc in CD-look

ads for free

maz — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 18:50:05 +0000

Is it possible to promote a movie in the whole world without spending money? Well, you have to think of an innovative way of marketing and … and then it is possible. Just ask 20th Century Fox.

[youtube ZXGMfNRwc1g]

Searching for “borat comedy” at youtube leads to nearly 1000 results. A really successful promotion … and don’t think they owe this to chance.