If technology and systems didn’t come so naturally, I really believe that I would have become an economist. I just find it fascinating. The “business information systems” major was such a perfect fit for my abilities, that I didn’t really think twice about selecting it when I was choosing my major at Lehigh. But, as I continue to read up on the current economic climate, work in an industry where consumer confidence greatly matters to our offerings, and I uncover little gems like this article by John Tierney, I realize that my interests run far deeper than technology and design. I wonder if I should have studied more micro and macro economic principles than the 4 semesters I ended up with…
“Maybe, sometimes, old-fashioned economics is just about right,” Dr. Shayo says. “Maybe when it comes to food, people do have reasonably stable preferences. Some people like shrimp and some don’t, even if it’s worth a lot of money.” [via NY Times]
Check out the article. It’s a rather interesting read about consumer preferences and how price affects those preferences. Oh, how I fondly remember those indifference curves and plotting consumer preferences…
Cloud computing could become mainstream with Google’s annoucement this week to release the Chrome operating system for NetBook PCs.
I believe the cloud is the platform of the future, and Google is uniquely poised with their already popular office suite, Google Docs, and their other Google Apps which do just about everything owners of netbooks would be looking for.
This is certainly an exciting announcement for consumers looking to the future, and should cause real innovation and competition within the other computer and software makers.
On a side note, Ars Technica has an article discussing the reliability issues with cloud computing, and whether or not our infrastructure is ready for Chrome. I agree, with the downtime that Google has faced earlier this year, which took down a large chunk of Internet traffic in North America, it may be too soon for firms to invest their money making ability (read: computer software) in the cloud. What happens when Google’s data center is down, and my netbook can’t open an office document that I have to send to my client because of a server issue? Well, we need to make reliability and uptime as close to 100% before people will take this service seriously.
But, SaaS and Cloud are looking brighter as we move further into the future.
Update: See this Barron’s article describing the problem with Chrome, and what they believe to be Google’s major misstep. (Editorial Note: I think they are missing the value of the cloud. They are using the old value model of standard software architecture, and are discrediting future innovation and consumer preferences changing in the open market. In short, I think they got it wrong.)
The man who popularized the Web browser has started a venture capital fund to back the next generation of new technologies.
Marc Andreessen, who co-founded Netscape, is announcing on Monday that he and Ben Horowitz, a longtime business associate, have raised $300 million that they intend to invest in technology companies. The venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, will risk small sums, as little as $50,000, on new ideas.
Then, if they work, they will put in more money, as much as $50 million, for the companies to grow globally. The fund will have its offices on Sand Hill Road, the stretch in Menlo Park, Calif., that is home to top venture firms.
Andreessen Horowitz will be testing a theory of investing, one that has lost favor in recent years in Silicon Valley, that smaller funds making smaller investments in very young companies will yield higher returns.
I think this concept makes complete sense. Take a visionary leader a ton of money, small projects, and higher stakes in new companies sounds like it’s a no brainer to me. Any thoughts?
