Earlier this week, I blogged about Google Boutiques : a new way to shop on the web.

After a discussion I had at Devoxx with a smart person, it seems there is a name for what I feel will become very important for Internet Sales in the future :

the "leading voices"

What we can see in Boutiques is that product are not presented by themselves. They are presented by popular people who kind of tell us : "Hey this is cool".

Translated to eReading, it's very possible that you will rely on leading voices for choosing what to read : which ebooks should I buy ? which journalists are present on the web ?

Europe1 already made the shift. If you look at their website you will see only but leading voices...

Sun's take over by Oracle : the sun set... Mark Reinhold.
Focus for Java 7, 8, 9 :

• Productivity,
• Performance,
• Universality,
• Modularity (the classpath problem),
• Integration
• Serviceability

The State of the Web

• Microsoft Statements about HTML5
• Microsoft's Monopoly = a dynamic ecosystem that they have
• A move from Silverlight to HTML 5 ?
• Back in time 95, Google looked the same as today... while others...
• Windows Presentation Foundation Vs OSX Cocoa Vs Adobe FX Vs Ruby Vs Java Vs Ajax
• A new ecosystem : Apps
• Kindle Singles (note for me: Edit Business eBooks as a Kindle Single)
  
• $3.000.000.000 Mobile Apps economy
• Getting rich with apps ?? Do the maths :-)))
• Apps are content, it is a "hits" business
  
• Flury Blog, measured 20% of the Apple Apps are equal or higher than TV audiences
• Developers are connecting with mainstream
  
• Pricing -- omnifocus for iPad $39 Vs ToDO Lists for iPad $0,99 optional donation
• Apple Care DVD with one readme file to make the service tangible
  
• Impact of the App ecosystem on the web. Web companies are delivering apps... providing something better than what they have on the web
  
• Developper Mindshare (ex: Mozilla dev. who moved to iPhone)
  
• Delta Airlines - Native App Vs WebApp. Native Apps receive the higher investments.
  
• Twitter on iPad, as great app. (I Agree). Influence of the ipad design on the web design. HTML5 technology in there.
  
• FlipBoard - Only on mobile devices. Don't bother going mobile.
• Microsoft now embraces HTML5 because if Apps run on the Desktop, Microsoft is out of the game...
• Conflict in the next years between Apps and HTML5 ecosystems
  
  
• App Ecosystem success rely on Platform Distribution, Merchandising Experience, Platform Capabilities
  
  
• J2ME : missed Disribution
  
  
• Web : Distribution : a lot of Internet Browsers (IE6=90%), HTML5 browsers (10%), solution : Google Chrome Frame plug-in ? (can be run as a User and not as an Admin)
  
• HTML 5 still fragmented : ex : HTML5 Video and Codex compatibility
• What is HTML5 ? HTML5 an Friends...
  
  
• Web: Merchandising ? Put ads, which pollute the UI, Subscriptions, Freemium models (parley)
  
• With Apps, Merchandising is trivial. The web needs marketspaces - Mozilla Open Web App Store, Google "WebStore"
  
  
• Web : Platform Capabilities, Luckilly, today 3 of the world's fastest browsers released get out at the same time :)
• FireFox Tab Candy (todo:Check it)
  
• WebGL 3D
  
• --> The web needs deeper APIs and richer app frameworks
• Javascript ? 
• The web also missed a Permission model
  
  
• Mainly missing for the web : Mechandising
  
  
• The Web and mobile can work with each other and complement each other's gaps

• Transforming apps to HTML5 --> CSS can say that the HTML would like to be "Native", CSS Transforms, Turning on CSS classes for animations, setting background as gradients, lovely rounded corners stuffs...
• AppCelerator Titanium, architect an app with MVC

The State of the Web makes my day #devoxx http://bit.ly/cfVHuY

Yesterday I was at the Vlerick Alumni Event: "Keynote speech: Strategic Agility and Innovation by Mikko Kosonen"

"Mikko Kosonen is a rare combination of a line executive and management academic.
He will talk - based on his practical Nokia experience and research - about those management & leadership principles that allow companies (and any organization) to be creative and innovative.Former advisor to the management of Nokia for many years, he is now President of Sitra, an independent public foundation with a mission to build a successful Finland for tomorrow.
Mikko Kosonen completed a Doctor's thesis in Economic Sciences (International Business) and has published several books and articles on strategic management."

You can find some of the presentatio slides here : Strategic Agility

I found his speech on Strategic Agility very interesting. He gave examples of IBM which were specially interesting : I have worked 2 years at IBM.

For the complete story I guess you should have a look at the Book : Fast Strategy.


After this speech, here are some of my learning points to achieve strategic Agility :

Strategic Sensitivity

• Stay open and Look outside
  
• Work with different people (cognitive difference)
  

Leadership Unity

• As a CEO, break the silos by focusing on Integration meetings rather than (boring) business unit reporting meetings. We have all seen meetings where you politely need to wait finish to report on how great they are and the how difficult it is for them to perform.
  
  
• Focus on dialogue rather than Debate
  
  
• "Don't give clear objectives, rather fuzzy objectives". Well I don't agree with that statement. I would rather say : "Give other objectives". At corporate level you should switch from specific "Business" Objectives to "Agility" Objectives, each busines unit being there to find out and achieve its own objectives.
  

• Sometimes it makes sense to have a manager that doesn't understand the business. Mr Kosonen encourages job rotation. Ok but than let's explain the idea and the concept to people reporting to those guys. The idea is again to create dialogue. Because in the field we are all told that we need to understand our customer's business in addition to our own business.
  

Resource Flexibility

• In order to achieve Agility, resources should be pooled and not assigned to a Barony...