MIT Develops Sixth Sense: Every Thing a Hyperlink

We’ve talked in class about using RFID chips to enhance consumer items, computer parts, even mining machinery with easily accessible data. At TED2009, Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interface Group presented a prototype device that could provide interactive information about every object you can touch. It will also turn your wrist into a watch and your hand into a keyboard. See the video.

Staying Alive: Tech Businesses Thrive Through Diversity

How do you keep your Tech business from bankruptcy? You do more. Google, the most used search engine, now makes operating systems, web browsers, email, and office suites. Apple rules with itunes, giving customers quick one-touch buying options and Genius Sidebar, a program that recommends music by syncing with your music library.

So, how can companies survive in an economic crisis? First thoughts would be scaling back your business, cutting costs and jobs. Tech businesses are different. They need that diversity to survive. Apple, known for its high-end computers, would have suffered huge losses if they had kept the majority of their business in computer hardware. Instead, Apple invested in phones, media players, and music keeping them from huge loses when hardware dropped 48 percent in value.

Opening up geographic has allowed companies to expand their customer base. Asustek, a Taiwanese computer manufacturer, has computers aimed towards western countries looking for energy-efficient, less toxic computers in a line called Eee. Acer, another Taiwanese manufacturer, now owns Packard Bell and Gateway. This all comes down to selling products to people who want to buy them.

“As geographic and sector boundaries blur, large companies that are flush with cash have the opportunity to redefine themselves through acquisitions, relocating plants, and other strategic moves,” stated by Robert Fox, head of Oliver Wyman’s Communications, Media, and Technology consulting practice. “An economic crisis like this is also an opportunity for companies with strong balance sheets to make smart investments.”

- Jillian

Jones, K.C. “Tech Companies That Expand Mission Have Best Chance to Thrive,” Information Week, February 2, 2009