danielgazineu's shared items
“You’re going to build a what?”
That’s what Tony Fadell’s wife, Dani, said to him in 2009 when he told her his idea for a new company. Fadell is one of the most sought-after talents in the world of gadgetry—he designed the hardware for the iPod, and headed Apple’s iPod and iPhone division before leaving his VP post to spend time with his wife and two young children, living an idyllic year in Paris.
But even before he moved back to the U.S. he was mulling over his next step. Many assumed that the 42-year old technologist would continue his brilliant career in consumer electronics. He might even become a contender to run an existing multi-billion dollar business—in electronics, in mobile, maybe even Apple.
Instead, he told Dani, he was going to build a thermostat.
A what?
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Square Inc., the mobile payments company created by Twitter Inc. co-founder Jack Dorsey, said its credit-card reader for smartphones will be available in Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s locations nationwide, boosting the number of retail outlets where it is sold to more than 9,000.
The reader, which lets businesses handle payments via mobile devices, was previously available in about 200 Apple stores, as well as Target Corp., RadioShack Corp. and Best Buy Co. outlets.
It happens all too often: Put a bunch of really smart people in a room, tell them to solve a problem, and watch as they dissolve into blathering idiocy.
Okay, maybe it’s not all that bad. But we’ve all seen groups of supposedly smart people who just can’t work well together. That’s because, according to recent research from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, and Union College, raw smarts doesn’t have much to do with team performance.
Earlier this week, we published a chart-essay that illustrates the extreme inequality that has developed in the US economy over the past 30 years.
The charts explain what the Wall Street protesters are angry about. They also explain why the protesters' message is resonating with the country at large.
Here are the four key points:
In retrospect, it shouldn't be a surprise that Apple released a half-step iPhone this week, instead of a revolutionary and redesigned iPhone 5. Think about it--the real reason for the iPhone 4S is the same as for the iPhone 3GS: carrier contracts are two years long.
The 4S isn't meant to be an upgrade for iPhone 4 users--it's a lure to get new iPhone users in the door, and you iPhone 4 folks will get your iPhone 5 upgrade just in time for a new contract. And if you decide you can't wait and spend big bucks to break your contract or buy the iPhone 4S at full price...well, that was your choice, wasn't it?
There has been speculation for a while now that Oracle might someday make its foray into the Hadoop and NoSQL spaces, and next week looks like that time.
With regard to Hadoop, CEO Larry Ellison made it clear during last week’s earnings call that the company is working on a connector that will let customers load unstructured data from Hadoop into their Oracle Exadata appliances. Now we have proof — and Oracle’s big data plans don’t stop with Hadoop.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) passed Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) to become the world’s second-most valuable technology company, a reflection of industry changes including the shift away from the personal computer.
IBM’s market value rose to $214 billion yesterday, while Microsoft’s fell to $213.2 billion. It’s the first time IBM has exceeded its software rival based on closing prices since 1996, according to Bloomberg data. IBM became the fourth-largest company by market value, based on yesterday’s closing price, and, in technology, trails only Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s most valuable company.
