Archive for the ‘Innovation’ Category

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The power of tribes (The Economist)

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

In this artcile, The Economist argues that

Businesspeople need to reckon with the Anglosphere, the Sinosphere and the Indosphere.

The article goes a little further and says that

Reading a contract is useful, but you also need to be able to read people

The arguments here echo a bit some of the thoughts expressed in an earlier post of mine, in turn inspired by a discussion on comfort zones (read that post for more on that topic). I guess that’s how it goes. I found it insightful, read the full article on The Economist here: The power of tribes.

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Posted in Innovation, Leadership | 1 Comment »

Java is the new Cobol, of course. How else can it be? Enter Eclipse Xtend.

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

I just saw an announcement of a new programming language from none other than the Eclipse group, you know of the Java IDE fame. A very quick scan of this new language, called Xtend, it looks like they’ve borrowed a bit from Groovy, something from Scala and maybe something from CoffeeScript. The fact that this language is directly supported by Eclipse IDE is a huge advantage, and that may be to the detriment of Scala which still hasn’t got a great IDE support yet. I think this move by Eclipse may also be a preemptive strike against JetBrain’s Kotlin. If the community picks up on this then I expect initiatives like Redhat’s upcoming Ceylon programming to struggle in gaining any foothold.

I’ve been wanting to write a post on how I thought Java just wasn’t good for programmer productivity, seeing this announcement encouraged me to finally post it. I did something with JBoss Seam a few months back, took a step back to look at the code and thought to myself what a waste!. I can’t believe anyone in 2011 would want to create new code using JSF for example, it simply feels wrong.

From the moment that I renewed my focus on functional languages, I find pure Java code to be an eyesore, the web tooling around Java are simply atrocious compared to what you can do with functional languages like Ruby, Clojure or Scala. Clojure way well be the most elegant of the lot, I like it so much that I’m increasingly considering doing more hacking than I’ve done in years.

Competition is a good thing. But I’m wondering if Xtend is a more of a Groovy clone and if that could be such a good thing for the wider programmer community. I haven’t written a single line of code with Xtend yet, this is just a spontaneous reaction, in fact a post I had drafted about Java as the new Cobol, but refreshed in the light of this announcement by Eclipse.

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Posted in Innovation | 1 Comment »

Google is now seriously focusing on design. What took them so long?

Friday, October 21st, 2011

I’ve used this expression a few post ago: what took them so long?

It’s quite obvious that Google is now focused on delivering good design too. I think their design isn’t so bad, I like the simple and clean look it has. Apparently Reader will gain that fresh look next week or so, I use that app everyday so I’m curious to see how that comes along.

A few years back now, as I first heard that Google’s Eric Schmidt sat on Apple board, I imagined this: a perfect match between nice design and a strong platform. At the time I actually had sky high expectations about what could come out of such partnership. But then that myth, which was my own fantasy anyway, came down shattering when Android happened to the scene. Not long after that and expectedly so, Schmidt left Apple board. The recent widely commented post by a Google engineer shattered my second myth, that Google had a strong API platform from which they could stream functionality anywhere they liked.

So, Google didn’t have a stellar design, not a secret. They might not have a stellar platform API too, that one took me by surprise. On the design front, their web and mobile products are increasingly look cool. Though I’ve never owned an Android phone, they don’t look too bad either.

Can Google can nail design the way they made GMail and Search functionally great services? Would that be enough to claw back on Facebook’s grip on social media?

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Dropbox called a feature, not a product. I tend to agree

Tuesday, October 18th, 2011

I’ve always perceived Dropbox as a transit place, a location where one drops a file waiting for somebody else to pick it up. I’m also using the free account, my motivation being that I have too many other online storage places already. I did see another article on Techcrunch, saying that Dropbox have raised $ 250M in funding, very impressive.

But I do think that this article makes an interesting read: http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidcoursey/2011/10/18/how-dropbox-will-die.

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A/B Split testing a major platform: Windows re-imagined

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

This is the most significant sign yet that the IT industry is admitting we are heading to a post-PC era, Microsoft’s last drop makes this quite clear. In this blog of Sinofsky (yes, it’s a Steve’s World), Microsoft is saying that Windows 8 may run without even loading Windows OS. The new OS is definitely positioned as a post-Windows OS, Windows+ perhaps? Once marketing settles on a name, I think it may not even include the word “Windows”.

This is Microsoft on the offensive, big time. Such a bold move must be aimed at taking the wind out of the sails of Google and Apple. HP’s stutterings indicates that they are no longer in this game, certainly not focused enough to be a contender in a post-PC market.

As I read it, Metro platform (and not just the UI) will be the default boot experience for Windows 8, this will surely not allow any traditional Windows applications to run. That should relegate the traditional Windows OS experience to a secondary role (if you really insist in having it, you can have it but we’re not pushing). It doesn’t take a pundit to imagine what that means: this is how Internet Explorer trounced Netscape, it was the default browser on the PC. Microsoft could not possibly be doing this lightly.

Where is the A/B split testing then? Well, it’s a two phase testing as I see it. By announcing the decision so early in a blog posting, Microsoft is asking the community to comment. If there is any significant outcry, then Microsoft would be vindicated that the masses badly wants to stick to the Windows experience. If not then the new OS may launch with Metro as its default experience, at that point a second split testing kicks in. If Metro UI is a runaway success, it’s game on in the new era. Microsoft stands to win whatever the outcome.

The only group that may have some hesitation here would be the partner ecosystem, folks who have invested their soul into the traditional Windows OS experience might be nervous. But I suppose there is not much choice here, the industry is no longer ruled by the laws that prevailed when vendors decided what users would be getting.

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Posted in Architecture, Computing, Innovation | 4 Comments »

Github is becoming a cloud IDE, very cool

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Github is gearing towards becoming a cloud IDE, that is promising. Given their meteoric rise, and how well they perform, this will be pretty cool eventually. In a recent rant, I didn’t exactly flatter the existing raft of IDEs. And I think this evolution of GitHub supports (just a bit) my rant, that the incumbent IDEs aren’t working hard enough for developers.

People with fixed workstations, people who are using desktops that are seldom turned off or infrequently turned to other purposes, may not appreciate the value of having a svelte development environment. But the semi-mobile development folks, web developers, would probably rush to try out this new feature.

On a similar but entirely different vein, WordPress made blogging super easy and we all know the results, a massive success well beyond its initial target group. Drupal made web content management a breeze, and they are scoring big names quite regularly. PHP made web development affordable for the masses, this drove its widespread adoption. Ruby endeavoured to “bring the fun into development”, the results are there for all to see, an entirely fresh movement: frameworks like Rails, Sinatra (and Scalatra for Scala), Grails, Play, all were somehow inspired by the movement that Ruby created.

I see the current trend in Cloud IDEs taking a similar path to the technologies cited in the previous paragraph, some of the cloud IDE providers will eventually make it big and people will flock.

I now have my eyes on Node.js, that may be another silent(?) revolution in the making:

Imagine building apps with JavaScript, or let’s say Node.js, and HTML5 for example, using a Cloud IDE, deploying on cloud  environments. That may be enough to hit a respectable 80/20 balance, where a lot of the regular functionality surfacing is quickly built using these technologies, the heavy lifting and differentiator stuff is built using the more traditional technologies. If adoption follows, or shall I say as people start reaping benefits (or just following the new hypes/trends), then we could be looking at a totally new development technology landscape.

Is this too far fetched? Who knows, I’m curious.

Posted in Innovation, Programming | 1 Comment »

Ars Technica virtually treats the same topic as me, one day apart

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Today I read the article below by Ars, and I couldn’t help but notice how similar it’s theme is to my post of a couple of days earlier. Funny coincidence: Ask Ars: Windows everywhere, or Windows nowhere? What is Microsoft’s “single ecosystem”?

Obviously I was just expressing some thoughts, no research done to back it up. But they are professionals, if you are interested in this subject then you may find more information on Ars Technica’s web site.

 

 

 

 

 

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OSX Lion experience suggests that a single unified iOS is the next version

Sunday, July 24th, 2011

My experience with the upgrade and running OSX Lion is very positive so far. It feels stable, confident and trustworthy. The only surprise was that Java runtime wasn’t available right after the reboot. I had to google for a link to a separate download, I feel that was a little obnoxious of them. Other than that, I have a stable and fast OS. Since I removed Flash plugin, upgraded Skype, and now only rely on Google Chrome for flash functionality, I have a very good setup indeed. The fact that my esoteric collection of software runs so far without a glitch, without me having to tweak anything, suggests that OSX Lion builds on a solid and a stable API, most probably enabled by Snow Leopard.

It’s hard to imagine Apple maintaining OSX Desktop line and iOS in parallel, I reckon only iOS will ship in the future and the device where you run it will determine its runtime persona: mobile, desktop, server. For companies that cannot port their products to the new unified model, OSX Lion would become their Rosetta.

I’ve read a post on Windows 8 which indicated that Microsoft is already moving in that direction, a single unified OS for all platforms.

The implications of this change in the industry, lead by Apple, is that the AppStore model will become prevalent. When we reach that point, organisations with large IT teams dedicated to platform support will start looking derelict. Those would still remain the largest number, but they may find it really hard to remain competitive.

Why is it that Apple is seemingly succeeding with a vision that once was actually Microsoft’s pioneering idea: one platform for all your computing needs? They surely didn’t have more money or available potential talent than Microsoft.

Looking a little further, adding Facebook and Google to this mix, the battle for control of the consumer mindshare and purse (indirectly corporate mindshare and purse) is truly exciting. I think most of the mainstream press would have us believe in a zero sum game, which I think is just the same game really: seeking control of the mindshare. Analysing the full spectrum of all the tech titan battle grounds is beyond this posting. I’m only looking at the front where Apple is causing a storm in at the moment.

With all this going on, I have hard time engaging in debates about the definition of things like architecture, enterprise, business, any combination of those. I’m not sure what problem such debates will solve, especially when denial is ingrained in many contributions. I think the only viable debate to be had is the one about “the future of computing“, and that gets my attention.

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Much ado about a simple checkbox

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

I read some flames about how the scrolling change in OSX Lion was terrible. Then I checked it this morning and had to sigh:

OSX Lion System Preferences scrolling checkboxUncheck to use the get the old way of scrolling

Those who like the new way, I am one, will simply leave this checkbox alone. Those who prefer the old way, absolutely fine, just uncheck this option. I’m not sure I understand the fuss, unless those articles would have been based on some pre-release code. In the latter case, if I were writing such review, I’d be sure to get the latest code and review my review. ;-)

Another point, keeping in place the old way of scrolling would have been inconsistent with the touch experience. That should be a no-brainer to see.

Actually, I am wondering why the scrolling was ever made to work the way it used to, that was the wrong decision, this one change should be welcome.

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Google+ is a nice work, for a first public beta. What took them so long?

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

I’ve been using Google+ for a few days now, my first impressions are positives. I find the experience to be generally smooth, the layout is well balanced and just pleasant. This is the first time ever that Google produces a UI that I find polished, and they might even not be done with it yet. I think the recent UI refresh was the tipping point that makes it really palatable for most. By making Circles an opt-in, they’ve finally nailed it – though I’ve read Scoble a few times – who hasn’t ;-) .

What took them so long? Why couldn’t Google do this 3 or 4 years ago?

There’s still the geeky stuff in there though, “Stream” for example is not really meaningful to everyone but the nerds.

Circles is a feature that I have always found missing on the social media sites that I’ve used so far. Google+ might even be powered by Buzz and/or Wave, two products that they clearly forgot to put a UI on, but that need not matter.

Speaking of beta, there is no mention of that on the site. So this may be a break from the tradition of keeping a perpetual beta label on their products. It may also be a sign that people no longer pay attention to the “beta” label, folks run production stuff on any odd alpha release they can lay their hands on.

Facebook killer, or Twitter killer, or whatever-killer, that is not for me to say. I tend to think that those “… killer” are overblown 9 out of 10. But I think Google+ will find a daily use for lots of people, and that may be what they are looking for, that may be what they need. The question is though, will they really learn the real lesson here: which is to keep innovating for people, not just besides them.

I like what I’ve seen so far. Let’s see where they take it from here. Whatever thinking framework allowed them to build this, would do wonders if correctly nurtured.

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