January 2007 Archives
Here you’ll find a collection of articles published during the month of January 2007.
Top 10 Trends for 2007 High-Tech Markets
By Nilofer Merchant on January 24, 2007
Rubicon has always served its clients by scouting trends and drawing out the implications to those high-tech companies seeking to craft winning strategies. To help you plan for the new year, here’s a look at what we think is going to matter in 2007, why it’s important, and what we think it means in terms of opportunities.
Not all Business Books are Created Equal
By Nilofer Merchant on January 23, 2007
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
By Nilofer Merchant on January 23, 2007
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
By Michael Mace on January 8, 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
By Michael Mace on January 7, 2007
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?
By Michael Mace on January 6, 2007
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
By Bruce LaFetra on January 5, 2007
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?
By Marsha Keeffer on January 4, 2007
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
By Bruce LaFetra on January 3, 2007
“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
By Marsha Keeffer on January 2, 2007
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?
By Michael Mace on January 1, 2007
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.