AUTOPIA
In Automotive First, Tesla Pushes Over-the-Air Software Patch
BY DAMON LAVRINC 09.24.12
In the future, your automobile will be locked in the same cycle of never-ending software upgrades that holds sway over computers and smartphones. For Tesla Model S owners, the future is now.
Over 100 Model S drivers will receive the auto industry’s first ever over-the-air operating system update for their new sedans within the next two weeks, Tesla says. In addition to a handful of minor code changes, the mandatory upgrade to 1.9.11 will tweak the range calculator to lower the car’s estimated driving range by 35 miles.
“Some changes may contribute to the safety parameters of the car or make material improvements to the technology,” adds Tesla spokeswoman Shanna Hendriks. ”Some changes will provide the driver the option to control/turn off any added new features — such as idle creep.”
Image: Tesla
Model S owners will notice an alarm clock icon at the top of the sedan’s 17-inch touchscreen alerting them of the update, and according to Tesla, the owner can schedule the software modification for a time of their choosing. The Model S has to be parked to perform the upgrade and Tesla says the software push should take around two hours to complete. If the Model S is plugged in, charging will pause until the update is done, and then resume immediately. There is no way for drivers to opt out of the upgrade.
While both Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler have announced plans to perform over-the-air updates to select models next year, Tesla will be the first automaker to issue an update using either the embedded 3G data connection in the car or a WiFi signal provided by the driver’s home internet connection.
The software push brings to cars the sometimes frustrating technological rite of the software patch. Once carried out over physical media, if at all, the internet turned upgrades into a standard part of the computing experience. Microsoft Windows users, for example, are accustomed to the second Tuesday of the month delivering a new bundle of security patches. Mac OS X normally checks for software updates from Apple every week.
With embedded data connections and on-board WiFi, the over-the-air upgrade path has been edging closer to the automotive industry with each new vehicle launch, as automakers strive to deliver more functionality to a generation of auto-buyers who’ve grown up with connected gadgets.
The major feature of Tesla’s reworked software will be replacing the Rated Range in Max Range mode, which is currently set at 300 miles. The new Rated Range will reflect the EPA’s 5-cycle test, which rated the Model S at 265 miles.
As we detailed in our review, there are two displayed ranges on the Model S: the Rated Range, which is based on ideal driving conditions, and the Projected Range, which utilizes data from the last 30 miles driven to determine approximately how far the driver can go on the current charge. This new Rated Range algorithm is more aggressive, and according to the automaker, “means your Rated Range will be easier to ‘beat’ with efficient driving and will be more accurate given spirited driving.”
Tesla also points out that this update will not affect the storage or driving abilities of the Model S.
The two minor, consumer-facing features of the update include the ability to display only projected or rated range in the customizable instrument panel behind the steering wheel. The other feature is a new entry/exit protocol that will turn on the instrument panel and touchscreen when any door is opened (previously this was limited to the driver’s door), and the previously played audio track resuming automatically, but beginning at a lower volume. When leaving the vehicle, the volume will descend and all the displays will stay on until the last door is closed.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Facebook in free fall? Not yet, but how far?
The Buzz - Investment and Stock Market News
Facebook plunges 9% on $15 price call
September 24, 2012 @ 1:03 PM › Maureen Farrell
↓ Leave a comment
Facebook’s shares are falling again after climbing 30% over several weeks.
Since its botched initial public offering in May, investors have heatedly discussed the following question about Facebook (FB): How low can it go?
After surging last week to a recent high of above $23 a share from its all-time low of $17.55, it looked like the Facebook fans finally had reason to celebrate. But Facebook’s stock plummeted more than 9% Monday after an article appeared in Barron’s over the weekend which declared that $15 is the right price for Facebook. The debate between Facebook bulls and bears continued on StockTwits.
RahulTongia: Facebook Is Worth $15 http://t.co/NKBLhQ49 via @barronsonline - $FB interesting take and also agree that FB doesn’t have a clear strategy
MiamiHeat:$FB is there anything new in article? No, all old news, pricedin, nothing changed, buy on dips.
It’s true that there’s not much new in the article. The author notes Facebook’s well-chronicled troubles, particularly its challenge making money from the shift to mobile web browsing.
Yet it still may be shocking to the broader investing public to see just how much more expensive Facebook is than Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL). At $23, Facebook is trading at 47 times its projected 2012 profit. Both Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) only trade for 16 times 2012 earnings.
Related: What the Zuck? Facebook up 30% from lows
Still not all traders agree, and some members of the StockTwits world clearly think that a price below $21 is s a good time to buy.
DeidreZune: My view is the selloff in $FB is an opportunity at this point. Many things beginning to go right.
AheadoftheNews: $FB just remember that it is one on the most shorted stocks out there, and why 30/40% rallies in 10 days will happen again.
lionking: $FB This drop is healthy. Weak hands taken out. Next leg up will be fast and way higher. Doesn’t look like today tho.
So will Facebook fall to $15? I’m not sure. But it seems like the days of predicting outlandishly high price targets for Facebook are ancient history. Now, the eye-popping predictions....
Facebook plunges 9% on $15 price call
September 24, 2012 @ 1:03 PM › Maureen Farrell
↓ Leave a comment
Facebook’s shares are falling again after climbing 30% over several weeks.
Since its botched initial public offering in May, investors have heatedly discussed the following question about Facebook (FB): How low can it go?
After surging last week to a recent high of above $23 a share from its all-time low of $17.55, it looked like the Facebook fans finally had reason to celebrate. But Facebook’s stock plummeted more than 9% Monday after an article appeared in Barron’s over the weekend which declared that $15 is the right price for Facebook. The debate between Facebook bulls and bears continued on StockTwits.
RahulTongia: Facebook Is Worth $15 http://t.co/NKBLhQ49 via @barronsonline - $FB interesting take and also agree that FB doesn’t have a clear strategy
MiamiHeat:$FB is there anything new in article? No, all old news, pricedin, nothing changed, buy on dips.
It’s true that there’s not much new in the article. The author notes Facebook’s well-chronicled troubles, particularly its challenge making money from the shift to mobile web browsing.
Yet it still may be shocking to the broader investing public to see just how much more expensive Facebook is than Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL). At $23, Facebook is trading at 47 times its projected 2012 profit. Both Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) only trade for 16 times 2012 earnings.
Related: What the Zuck? Facebook up 30% from lows
Still not all traders agree, and some members of the StockTwits world clearly think that a price below $21 is s a good time to buy.
DeidreZune: My view is the selloff in $FB is an opportunity at this point. Many things beginning to go right.
AheadoftheNews: $FB just remember that it is one on the most shorted stocks out there, and why 30/40% rallies in 10 days will happen again.
lionking: $FB This drop is healthy. Weak hands taken out. Next leg up will be fast and way higher. Doesn’t look like today tho.
So will Facebook fall to $15? I’m not sure. But it seems like the days of predicting outlandishly high price targets for Facebook are ancient history. Now, the eye-popping predictions....
Like your work? Hate your job? Here's how to get what you want.
Build a website that Gets Visitors and Makes Money - Without Being a Technical Genius
How To Turn Your Current Job Into an Online Business
If you’re stuck doing a job you don’t like but are having trouble coming up with a business idea for a website, the answer is probably more obvious than you think. In fact, it’s probably been right under your nose for years.
Let me ask you a question. Which is it you don’t like? Your job or your work?
When most people say they want to start working for themselves, it’s the job they want to ditch and not the work.
That’s because the job means:
* Having a boss
* Having to be at work at set times
* Having to deal with office politics and all that crap
But the work – the thing you actually do – is usually something you like. So why not create a business around that?
You may not have realized it before, but if you’ve been doing your job for any length of time you’ve picked up all kinds of skills and inside knowledge that could be turned into a website, blog or information product like an ebook or course.
It’ll be all of the work you love, with none of the job-related stuff – like a boss – you don’t.
There are two basic ways you can cash in on your knowledge.
1. Help people who want to acquire the skill you have.
Most jobs have an exam that needs passing or a skill that needs learning somewhere along the line. You help people get to that point.
2. Create a product or service to make life easier for people doing the job.
Think about the kind of boring, repetitive tasks that need to be done but nobody actually likes doing (“pain points”, in marketing speak). Or the kind of skills needed for the job that are the most difficult to master.
Why not create a website, ebook or online course that shows people how to learn that skill or makes the boring task easier?
It’s not as difficult as it seems – you’re really just explaining what you know.
Think about the money
Once you’ve thought about the type of information or service you’re going to supply, the next step is to consider how you’ll make money from your project.
Tip: Don’t gloss over this part or think that you’ll launch a blog and then worry about finding a way to generate an income later. Financial success will come quicker if you make monetization a key part of your plan right from the start.
The 4 main ways to make money online
1. Advertising
Probably the most common revenue method. Typically, you build a website or write a blog on your chosen subject and use an ad agency like Google AdSense to sell ad placements on your site. In the case of AdSense, you’ll get paid every time a visitor clicks an ad on your site.
Pros: Easy to set up.
Cons: Profitable for many site niches but not all.
2. Affiliate links
With affiliate marketing, you recommend products related to your niche and pick up a sales commission when someone follows your link and buys the product.
Pros: With the right products, you can usually make more money as an affiliate marketer than with advertising.
Cons: There’s a skill to writing about products without sounding like a sales bore and it takes a while for affiliate sales to take off.
3. Courses, ebooks and membership sites
With these methods you’re doing similar things – collecting everything you know about a subject and putting it in a convenient package for users to buy.
Pros: You get to keep the most amount of money.
Cons: This method is the most amount of work because you have to create the product before you can sell it.
4. Provide a service or work as a consultant
Many people moving straight from a regular job will find this the easiest because it’s the most similar to a normal job – except it’s freelance and has all the freedom that comes with that.
The trick is to create incredibly useful content on your chosen subject that positions you as an expert in your field. Do that, and you’ll find clients will seek you out.
Pros: Easy and quick to get started.
Cons: You’re hiring out your time, so you can’t earn while you sleep – but you can certainly generate leads while you sleep.
How do I choose which will work best?
The truth is, many site owners use more than one method on their site, often experimenting until it’s clear one method makes more sense than the others.
Whichever you choose, you’re going to need a website.
Launching a website
If you’ve never set one up before it might sound like a big deal, but there are only three steps, with an optional fourth.
1. Buy a domain name and web hosting and set up WordPress to publish your site. The absolute easiest way to do all three in one go is to use a service like HostGator where you can buy a domain name and hosting and have WordPress automatically installed by them. It’s basically a ten minute process and costs a few dollars a month.
2. Get a classy WordPress theme. No one will take you seriously if you don’t have a professional web design. Inexpensive places you can pick up a professional WordPress theme include Studio Press and Elegant Themes.
3. Create amazing free content. This will be your honeypot, drawing the eager bees to your site for more as they find your site via search engines and social networks.
If you don’t fancy yourself as a blogger, you can make videos, slides, podcasts or any other type of content that fits your personal style and the content you’re creating.
4. Put a mailing list in place (optional but highly recommended). A mailing list is one of the best ways to build a database of potential customers.
Don’t make the mistake of waiting until your site is getting hundreds of visits a day to start building a mailing list.
Even if you’ve just launched and your traffic is low, start building a list straight away. The extra visits you’ll generate will help you get to hundreds of visits a day much quicker.
How To Turn Your Current Job Into an Online Business
If you’re stuck doing a job you don’t like but are having trouble coming up with a business idea for a website, the answer is probably more obvious than you think. In fact, it’s probably been right under your nose for years.
Let me ask you a question. Which is it you don’t like? Your job or your work?
When most people say they want to start working for themselves, it’s the job they want to ditch and not the work.
That’s because the job means:
* Having a boss
* Having to be at work at set times
* Having to deal with office politics and all that crap
But the work – the thing you actually do – is usually something you like. So why not create a business around that?
You may not have realized it before, but if you’ve been doing your job for any length of time you’ve picked up all kinds of skills and inside knowledge that could be turned into a website, blog or information product like an ebook or course.
It’ll be all of the work you love, with none of the job-related stuff – like a boss – you don’t.
There are two basic ways you can cash in on your knowledge.
1. Help people who want to acquire the skill you have.
Most jobs have an exam that needs passing or a skill that needs learning somewhere along the line. You help people get to that point.
2. Create a product or service to make life easier for people doing the job.
Think about the kind of boring, repetitive tasks that need to be done but nobody actually likes doing (“pain points”, in marketing speak). Or the kind of skills needed for the job that are the most difficult to master.
Why not create a website, ebook or online course that shows people how to learn that skill or makes the boring task easier?
It’s not as difficult as it seems – you’re really just explaining what you know.
Think about the money
Once you’ve thought about the type of information or service you’re going to supply, the next step is to consider how you’ll make money from your project.
Tip: Don’t gloss over this part or think that you’ll launch a blog and then worry about finding a way to generate an income later. Financial success will come quicker if you make monetization a key part of your plan right from the start.
The 4 main ways to make money online
1. Advertising
Probably the most common revenue method. Typically, you build a website or write a blog on your chosen subject and use an ad agency like Google AdSense to sell ad placements on your site. In the case of AdSense, you’ll get paid every time a visitor clicks an ad on your site.
Pros: Easy to set up.
Cons: Profitable for many site niches but not all.
2. Affiliate links
With affiliate marketing, you recommend products related to your niche and pick up a sales commission when someone follows your link and buys the product.
Pros: With the right products, you can usually make more money as an affiliate marketer than with advertising.
Cons: There’s a skill to writing about products without sounding like a sales bore and it takes a while for affiliate sales to take off.
3. Courses, ebooks and membership sites
With these methods you’re doing similar things – collecting everything you know about a subject and putting it in a convenient package for users to buy.
Pros: You get to keep the most amount of money.
Cons: This method is the most amount of work because you have to create the product before you can sell it.
4. Provide a service or work as a consultant
Many people moving straight from a regular job will find this the easiest because it’s the most similar to a normal job – except it’s freelance and has all the freedom that comes with that.
The trick is to create incredibly useful content on your chosen subject that positions you as an expert in your field. Do that, and you’ll find clients will seek you out.
Pros: Easy and quick to get started.
Cons: You’re hiring out your time, so you can’t earn while you sleep – but you can certainly generate leads while you sleep.
How do I choose which will work best?
The truth is, many site owners use more than one method on their site, often experimenting until it’s clear one method makes more sense than the others.
Whichever you choose, you’re going to need a website.
Launching a website
If you’ve never set one up before it might sound like a big deal, but there are only three steps, with an optional fourth.
1. Buy a domain name and web hosting and set up WordPress to publish your site. The absolute easiest way to do all three in one go is to use a service like HostGator where you can buy a domain name and hosting and have WordPress automatically installed by them. It’s basically a ten minute process and costs a few dollars a month.
2. Get a classy WordPress theme. No one will take you seriously if you don’t have a professional web design. Inexpensive places you can pick up a professional WordPress theme include Studio Press and Elegant Themes.
3. Create amazing free content. This will be your honeypot, drawing the eager bees to your site for more as they find your site via search engines and social networks.
If you don’t fancy yourself as a blogger, you can make videos, slides, podcasts or any other type of content that fits your personal style and the content you’re creating.
4. Put a mailing list in place (optional but highly recommended). A mailing list is one of the best ways to build a database of potential customers.
Don’t make the mistake of waiting until your site is getting hundreds of visits a day to start building a mailing list.
Even if you’ve just launched and your traffic is low, start building a list straight away. The extra visits you’ll generate will help you get to hundreds of visits a day much quicker.
Can a former RIM CEO make a difference? Mike Lazaridis thinks so....
How RIM's Mike Lazaridis plans to turn Waterloo into the ‘Quantum Valley’
By Andrew Webster 15 Minutes Ago
"What we have here is the Bell Labs of the 21st century," proclaimed Mike Lazaridis, co-founder and vice-chairman of Research In Motion, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) last week. Nestled in the middle of the University of Waterloo's campus, the new facility is designed to bring researchers from quantum computing and nanotechnology together under one roof. "We're going to have an insight that we believe will be unique," Lazaridis says of bringing the two disciplines together. And just as Bell Labs fostered a boom of innovation leading to the creation of Silicon Valley in California, Lazaridis believes that the QNC will have a similar impact on the troubled Waterloo region.
"It doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
While separate fields of study, both disciplines are concerned with matter on an incredibly small scale. Nanotechnology deals with the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular level, while quantum computing hopes to exploit the laws of physics to — among many other things — shrink transistors to the size of individual atoms. As we look to create smaller and smaller devices, both fields have become important avenues of scientific research. "There are many institutes of nanotechnology around the world, and similarly institutes for quantum computing," says university president Feridun Hamdullahpur. "They exist in other parts of the world. But to put the two of them together — this is the first of its kind. It doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
The 285,000 square foot building will be shared by the Institute of Quantum Computing and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, each of which will occupy separate halves of the facility. The exterior features a distinctive honeycomb-like steel structure surrounding some of the upper-most windows, while the inside includes a hypnotic set of suspended stairs. White boards cover many of the walls in case of emergency bouts of inspiration and areas like meeting rooms and offices are laid out in such a way as to encourage people from both sides to bump into one another. Meanwhile, state-of-the-art vibration dampening prevents sensitive areas like the cleanroom and fabrication facility from moving more than a fraction of the width of a human hair.
One of the more striking areas of the QNC is a six-story-tall atrium that serves as the connective tissue between the two disciplines. This open area — with windows lining seemingly every surface, bathing it in a constant stream of natural light — is what the university describes as an "informal gathering place." Anyone is free to wander in and it doubles as a handy shortcut for cutting across campus. It was here that Lazaridis addressed the crowd on opening day, explaining that the goal of the QNC is "to quote one of our most famous Canadians: 'to boldly go where no man has gone before.'"
And the people behind the $160 million building — which Hamdullahpur calls "the most expensive building in this university and in this country" among scientific facilities — are nothing if not ambitious. While Bell Labs gave birth to prominent innovations like the transistor and the laser, Hamdullahpur believes that the fruits of the QNC could lead to everything from "lighter and safer cars" and "batteries that will store a lot more energy" to "computers that will do things that we can't even imagine." Lazaridis, meanwhile, describes the potential applications as "mind-boggling," citing future developments like "drugs that are targeted at individual cells" and both self-healing and invisible metals.
Self-healing and invisible metals could be in the QNC's future
This level of innovation could help reinvigorate a region whose destiny has largely been tied to that of the much-troubled RIM — a company ironically co-founded and run until very recently by the man bankrolling this new facility. As the BlackBerry maker has struggled to keep up with Apple and Google in the smartphone race, reports of layoffs have been all too common. It's good news for those who live in the Waterloo area, then, that the most tangible benefit of the QNC's future success will be the creation of jobs, according to Lazaridis. "It's developments leading to products," he explained. "It's products leading to companies. And it's companies leading to jobs." And those companies, he believes, will help turn the region into a place he calls the "Quantum Valley."
Of course, reaching such lofty goals requires special people, and Hamdullahpur says that the school has already seen an increase in both the quantity and quality of student applications. Unsurprisingly, expectations are high. "We believe that this place has that capacity, that potential to generate the next Nobel Prize winner," he says. And while we should take these statements with a grain of salt, since both Hamdullahpur and Lazaridis have much at stake — one is the president of the university while the other has donated more than $100 million to the QNC project — they're not the only ones that see the building's potential.
"It's clear to me that this place is special," Stephen Hawking said during the opening ceremony. "This institution will advance our understanding of matter and movement, illuminating deep mysteries with the light of scientific discovery."
Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Waterloo after all.
By Andrew Webster 15 Minutes Ago
"What we have here is the Bell Labs of the 21st century," proclaimed Mike Lazaridis, co-founder and vice-chairman of Research In Motion, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) last week. Nestled in the middle of the University of Waterloo's campus, the new facility is designed to bring researchers from quantum computing and nanotechnology together under one roof. "We're going to have an insight that we believe will be unique," Lazaridis says of bringing the two disciplines together. And just as Bell Labs fostered a boom of innovation leading to the creation of Silicon Valley in California, Lazaridis believes that the QNC will have a similar impact on the troubled Waterloo region.
"It doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
While separate fields of study, both disciplines are concerned with matter on an incredibly small scale. Nanotechnology deals with the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular level, while quantum computing hopes to exploit the laws of physics to — among many other things — shrink transistors to the size of individual atoms. As we look to create smaller and smaller devices, both fields have become important avenues of scientific research. "There are many institutes of nanotechnology around the world, and similarly institutes for quantum computing," says university president Feridun Hamdullahpur. "They exist in other parts of the world. But to put the two of them together — this is the first of its kind. It doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
The 285,000 square foot building will be shared by the Institute of Quantum Computing and the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, each of which will occupy separate halves of the facility. The exterior features a distinctive honeycomb-like steel structure surrounding some of the upper-most windows, while the inside includes a hypnotic set of suspended stairs. White boards cover many of the walls in case of emergency bouts of inspiration and areas like meeting rooms and offices are laid out in such a way as to encourage people from both sides to bump into one another. Meanwhile, state-of-the-art vibration dampening prevents sensitive areas like the cleanroom and fabrication facility from moving more than a fraction of the width of a human hair.
One of the more striking areas of the QNC is a six-story-tall atrium that serves as the connective tissue between the two disciplines. This open area — with windows lining seemingly every surface, bathing it in a constant stream of natural light — is what the university describes as an "informal gathering place." Anyone is free to wander in and it doubles as a handy shortcut for cutting across campus. It was here that Lazaridis addressed the crowd on opening day, explaining that the goal of the QNC is "to quote one of our most famous Canadians: 'to boldly go where no man has gone before.'"
And the people behind the $160 million building — which Hamdullahpur calls "the most expensive building in this university and in this country" among scientific facilities — are nothing if not ambitious. While Bell Labs gave birth to prominent innovations like the transistor and the laser, Hamdullahpur believes that the fruits of the QNC could lead to everything from "lighter and safer cars" and "batteries that will store a lot more energy" to "computers that will do things that we can't even imagine." Lazaridis, meanwhile, describes the potential applications as "mind-boggling," citing future developments like "drugs that are targeted at individual cells" and both self-healing and invisible metals.
Self-healing and invisible metals could be in the QNC's future
This level of innovation could help reinvigorate a region whose destiny has largely been tied to that of the much-troubled RIM — a company ironically co-founded and run until very recently by the man bankrolling this new facility. As the BlackBerry maker has struggled to keep up with Apple and Google in the smartphone race, reports of layoffs have been all too common. It's good news for those who live in the Waterloo area, then, that the most tangible benefit of the QNC's future success will be the creation of jobs, according to Lazaridis. "It's developments leading to products," he explained. "It's products leading to companies. And it's companies leading to jobs." And those companies, he believes, will help turn the region into a place he calls the "Quantum Valley."
Of course, reaching such lofty goals requires special people, and Hamdullahpur says that the school has already seen an increase in both the quantity and quality of student applications. Unsurprisingly, expectations are high. "We believe that this place has that capacity, that potential to generate the next Nobel Prize winner," he says. And while we should take these statements with a grain of salt, since both Hamdullahpur and Lazaridis have much at stake — one is the president of the university while the other has donated more than $100 million to the QNC project — they're not the only ones that see the building's potential.
"It's clear to me that this place is special," Stephen Hawking said during the opening ceremony. "This institution will advance our understanding of matter and movement, illuminating deep mysteries with the light of scientific discovery."
Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Waterloo after all.
Some other rules to use as guideposts.
Things we once considered opposing forces--doing right by people and delivering results, collaborating and keeping focus, having a social purpose and making money--are really not in opposition. They never have been. But we need a more sophisticated approach to understand business models where making a profit doesn't mean losing purpose, community, and connection. Finding the right balance among them is key. We will find that balance as we shape new constructs for business models, strategies, and leadership. What we can create will be rich in many senses of the word.
Here are the social-era rules that allow both people and institutions to thrive:
1. Connections create value.
The social era will reward those organizations that realize they don't create value all by themselves. If the industrial era was about building things, the social era is about connecting things, people, and ideas. Networks of connected people with shared interests and goals create ways that can produce returns for any company that serves their needs.
2. Power in community.
Power used to come largely through and from big institutions. Today power can and does come from connected individuals in community. Power can come from the way you work with others, such as one party offering a platform to the multitude of creators. When community invests in an idea, it also co-owns its success. Instead of trying to achieve scale by all by yourself, we have a new way to have scale: scale can be in, with, and through community.
3. Collaboration > control.
Organizations that "let go at the top"--forsaking proprietary claims and avoiding hierarchy--are agile, flexible, and poised to leap from opportunity to opportunity, sacrificing short-term payoffs for long-term prosperity. No longer can management espouse the notion that good ideas can come from everywhere, while actually pursuing a practice in which direction is owned by a few. Instead of centralized decisions, there is distributed input, decision making, and distributed ownership.
4. Celebrate onlyness.
The foundational element starts with celebrating each human and, more specifically, something I've termed onlyness. Onlyness is that thing that only one particular person can bring to a situation. It includes the skills, passions, and purpose of each human. Each of us is standing in a spot that no one else occupies. That unique point of view is born of our accumulated experience, perspective, and vision. Without this tenet of celebrating onlyness, we allow ourselves to be simply cogs in a machine--dispensable and undervalued.
5. Allow all talent.
"Doing work" no longer requires a badge and a title within a centralized organization. Anyone--without preapproval or vetting or criteria--will create and contribute. And this fundamental shift changes how any organization creates value, and how many individuals gather together. This talent inclusion--across ages, genders, cultures, sexual orientation--is essential for solving new problems as well as for finding new solutions to old problems. Be the one to enable that connected individual in your enterprise, through systems and leadership, and you win.
6. Consumers become co-creators.
More and more companies embrace consumers as "co-creation" partners in their innovation efforts, instead of as buyers at the end of a value chain. Consumers, traditionally considered as value exchangers or extractors, are now seen as a source of value creation and competitive advantage. This collaboration shares power between the participants as we start to recognize value creation as an act of exchange, not simply a one-way transaction. As an exchange, all parties need to do it sustainably as each must have equilibrium to stay viable.
7. Mistakes can build trust.
Reach and connection in the social era start to be understood as a relationship similar to falling in love, following an arc of romance, struggle, commitment, and co-creation. These are not easily controlled by one party over the other but are a process of coming together. And the relationship gains strength from trying new things and the resulting failures, for it is in the process of making mistakes--and the ensuing forgiveness--that resilience develops.
8. Learn. Unlearn. (Repeat.)
Adaptability is central to how organizations and people thrive in the social era. In psychological language, the key to adaptability and personal growth is resilience. In biology, the equivalent term for adaptive skills is plasticity. In the social era, the term to use is flexibility. Instead of viewing strategy as a set end point, it becomes a horizon to aim for. Instead of asking employees to each simply man their own oar, we must encourage their capacity to navigate as conditions shift. Instead of perfection and getting it right the first time, innovation can be continuous.
9. Bank on openness.
Protecting intellectual property allows a company to keep its edge, to erect barriers to entry from competitors, to establish entirely new markets. At least, it used to. Then along came the social era, with its networks through which open, connected ideas became powerful, even catalytic. It's the difference between holding our ideas in a tight, closed fist or holding out our hand, open to what happens next.
10. Social purpose unleashes ownership.
The social object that unites people isn't a company or a product; the social object that most unites people is a shared value or purpose. Money motivates neither the best people nor the best in people. Purpose does. When people know the purpose of an organization, they don't need to check in or get permission to take the next step; they can just do it. Nonprofits have leveraged the power of people and purpose for years. But business hasn't been able to see the upside of purpose. With social purpose, alignment happens without coordination costs.
11. (There are no answers.)
Don't assume any set of rules is fully baked. Accept that your job is to stay alert to what happens next to figure out what assumptions need to be tuned. Listen, learn, adapt.
Let's dive in.
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era by Nilofer Merchant. Copyright 2012 Nilofer Merchant. All rights reserved.
Nilofer Merchant is a corporate director at a NASDAQ-traded firm and a lecturer at Stanford, and formerly the founder and CEO of Rubicon. Among other Fortune 500 firms, she’s worked at Apple and Autodesk. She is the author of The New How and 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era. Follow her on Twitter @nilofer.
To further aid you in social era navigation, Fast Company has compiled for you--and from you--the Rules of Social Media.
[Image: Flickr user Ajari]
Here are the social-era rules that allow both people and institutions to thrive:
1. Connections create value.
The social era will reward those organizations that realize they don't create value all by themselves. If the industrial era was about building things, the social era is about connecting things, people, and ideas. Networks of connected people with shared interests and goals create ways that can produce returns for any company that serves their needs.
2. Power in community.
Power used to come largely through and from big institutions. Today power can and does come from connected individuals in community. Power can come from the way you work with others, such as one party offering a platform to the multitude of creators. When community invests in an idea, it also co-owns its success. Instead of trying to achieve scale by all by yourself, we have a new way to have scale: scale can be in, with, and through community.
3. Collaboration > control.
Organizations that "let go at the top"--forsaking proprietary claims and avoiding hierarchy--are agile, flexible, and poised to leap from opportunity to opportunity, sacrificing short-term payoffs for long-term prosperity. No longer can management espouse the notion that good ideas can come from everywhere, while actually pursuing a practice in which direction is owned by a few. Instead of centralized decisions, there is distributed input, decision making, and distributed ownership.
4. Celebrate onlyness.
The foundational element starts with celebrating each human and, more specifically, something I've termed onlyness. Onlyness is that thing that only one particular person can bring to a situation. It includes the skills, passions, and purpose of each human. Each of us is standing in a spot that no one else occupies. That unique point of view is born of our accumulated experience, perspective, and vision. Without this tenet of celebrating onlyness, we allow ourselves to be simply cogs in a machine--dispensable and undervalued.
5. Allow all talent.
"Doing work" no longer requires a badge and a title within a centralized organization. Anyone--without preapproval or vetting or criteria--will create and contribute. And this fundamental shift changes how any organization creates value, and how many individuals gather together. This talent inclusion--across ages, genders, cultures, sexual orientation--is essential for solving new problems as well as for finding new solutions to old problems. Be the one to enable that connected individual in your enterprise, through systems and leadership, and you win.
6. Consumers become co-creators.
More and more companies embrace consumers as "co-creation" partners in their innovation efforts, instead of as buyers at the end of a value chain. Consumers, traditionally considered as value exchangers or extractors, are now seen as a source of value creation and competitive advantage. This collaboration shares power between the participants as we start to recognize value creation as an act of exchange, not simply a one-way transaction. As an exchange, all parties need to do it sustainably as each must have equilibrium to stay viable.
7. Mistakes can build trust.
Reach and connection in the social era start to be understood as a relationship similar to falling in love, following an arc of romance, struggle, commitment, and co-creation. These are not easily controlled by one party over the other but are a process of coming together. And the relationship gains strength from trying new things and the resulting failures, for it is in the process of making mistakes--and the ensuing forgiveness--that resilience develops.
8. Learn. Unlearn. (Repeat.)
Adaptability is central to how organizations and people thrive in the social era. In psychological language, the key to adaptability and personal growth is resilience. In biology, the equivalent term for adaptive skills is plasticity. In the social era, the term to use is flexibility. Instead of viewing strategy as a set end point, it becomes a horizon to aim for. Instead of asking employees to each simply man their own oar, we must encourage their capacity to navigate as conditions shift. Instead of perfection and getting it right the first time, innovation can be continuous.
9. Bank on openness.
Protecting intellectual property allows a company to keep its edge, to erect barriers to entry from competitors, to establish entirely new markets. At least, it used to. Then along came the social era, with its networks through which open, connected ideas became powerful, even catalytic. It's the difference between holding our ideas in a tight, closed fist or holding out our hand, open to what happens next.
10. Social purpose unleashes ownership.
The social object that unites people isn't a company or a product; the social object that most unites people is a shared value or purpose. Money motivates neither the best people nor the best in people. Purpose does. When people know the purpose of an organization, they don't need to check in or get permission to take the next step; they can just do it. Nonprofits have leveraged the power of people and purpose for years. But business hasn't been able to see the upside of purpose. With social purpose, alignment happens without coordination costs.
11. (There are no answers.)
Don't assume any set of rules is fully baked. Accept that your job is to stay alert to what happens next to figure out what assumptions need to be tuned. Listen, learn, adapt.
Let's dive in.
Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era by Nilofer Merchant. Copyright 2012 Nilofer Merchant. All rights reserved.
Nilofer Merchant is a corporate director at a NASDAQ-traded firm and a lecturer at Stanford, and formerly the founder and CEO of Rubicon. Among other Fortune 500 firms, she’s worked at Apple and Autodesk. She is the author of The New How and 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era. Follow her on Twitter @nilofer.
To further aid you in social era navigation, Fast Company has compiled for you--and from you--the Rules of Social Media.
[Image: Flickr user Ajari]
A good rule to have? Effective negotiation.
RICHARD'S BLOG
Rules for being a good negotiator
By Richard Branson - Sep 24, 2012
Roger Fisher, a great conflict negotiator and peacemaker, died last month aged 90. His rules for being a good negotiator were pointed out in the Economist: "'In any negotiation, he wrote - even with the terrorists - it was vital to separate the people from the problem; to focus on the underlying interests of both sides, rather than stake out unwavering positions; and to explore all possible options before making a decision.
"The parties should try to build a rapport, check each other out, even just by shaking hands or eating together. Each should "listening actively", as he always did, to what the other was saying. They should recognise the emotions on either side, from a longing for security to a craving for status. And they should try to get inside each other's heads."
Image by Aidan Jones on Flickr
Rules for being a good negotiator
By Richard Branson - Sep 24, 2012
Roger Fisher, a great conflict negotiator and peacemaker, died last month aged 90. His rules for being a good negotiator were pointed out in the Economist: "'In any negotiation, he wrote - even with the terrorists - it was vital to separate the people from the problem; to focus on the underlying interests of both sides, rather than stake out unwavering positions; and to explore all possible options before making a decision.
"The parties should try to build a rapport, check each other out, even just by shaking hands or eating together. Each should "listening actively", as he always did, to what the other was saying. They should recognise the emotions on either side, from a longing for security to a craving for status. And they should try to get inside each other's heads."
Image by Aidan Jones on Flickr
Toyota goes ga ga for hybrids
FEATURED | REVIEWS | COLUMNS | VIDEOS
Greener Toyota: 21 hybrids by 2015
Posted by Chris Davies on September 24, 2012.
Toyota will launch 21 new hybrids before the end of 2015 and an all-electric compact car, the Toyota eQ, in Japan and the US later this year, as part of a significant investment in eco-friendly transportation. The roll-out will start with a new 2.5-liter gas engine which, Toyota claims, achieves a world-record setting thermal efficiency of 38.5-percent, and be followed by a smaller capacity, turbocharged version, a Prius that can power your fridge in an emergency, and then a fuel-cell system in 2015.
“Thermal efficiency” is how much of the energy produced by fuel combustion actually gets converted to mechanical work, and is something traditional gasoline engines are particularly bad at. Toyota says its new 2.5-liter engine should appear in hybrids in 2013, followed by a 2.0-liter turbocharged version for even better efficiency in 2014.
Meanwhile, the existing Prius PHV plug-in hybrid which launched at the start of this year, will soon get an accessory that will allow the car to provide power to external devices in an emergency. The system will be positioned as a way to use the Prius PHV as a standby battery during power-cuts, though it’s unclear what limits there might be on what can be plugged in.
Toyota will also begin wireless battery charging trials in Toyota City come 2013, using wireless coils embedded in the road and in the chassis of the car, to see whether they’re efficient enough.
As for the Toyota eQ, the all-electric vehicle is based on Toyota’s gas-powered iQ city car, with seating for four and a range of up to 100km (62 miles) on a single charge of its new 12 kWh Li-Ion battery. The updated power pack delivers the best electric power consumption rate in the world, Toyota claims, keeping bulk low but still delivering usable range.
It also charges swiftly, the company says, with a complete rejuicing in around three hours from a 200V AC outlet. That extends to 8hrs if you’re stuck with a 100V AC connection, however, though a quick DC charge up to 80-percent can be achieved in just 15 minutes.
Toyota doesn’t talk speed or acceleration for the eQ, which doesn’t exactly bode well for urban racers, but the car isn’t really intended for consumer use. When it hits Japan in December it will be priced at 3,600,000 yen (the equivalent of $46,000 in the US, where it will launch as the “iQ EV”) and be targeted at fleet customers rather than individuals.
Finally, Toyota says it is on-track to launch its own fuel-cell vehicle around 2015, powering the FCV (“Fuel Cell Vehicle”) initially, and then showing up in a bus on track for a 2016 debut. The new fuel-cell has the world’s highest power output density, Toyota claims, and can deliver 3 kW/L which is double what the company’s current prototype can deliver.
That’s despite being half the size and half the weight of the existing prototype. It’s in part down to a new boost converter, which increases voltage and thus allows for fewer fuel-cells and a smaller motor: cost and bulk goes down, while performance goes up.
Greener Toyota: 21 hybrids by 2015
Posted by Chris Davies on September 24, 2012.
Toyota will launch 21 new hybrids before the end of 2015 and an all-electric compact car, the Toyota eQ, in Japan and the US later this year, as part of a significant investment in eco-friendly transportation. The roll-out will start with a new 2.5-liter gas engine which, Toyota claims, achieves a world-record setting thermal efficiency of 38.5-percent, and be followed by a smaller capacity, turbocharged version, a Prius that can power your fridge in an emergency, and then a fuel-cell system in 2015.
“Thermal efficiency” is how much of the energy produced by fuel combustion actually gets converted to mechanical work, and is something traditional gasoline engines are particularly bad at. Toyota says its new 2.5-liter engine should appear in hybrids in 2013, followed by a 2.0-liter turbocharged version for even better efficiency in 2014.
Meanwhile, the existing Prius PHV plug-in hybrid which launched at the start of this year, will soon get an accessory that will allow the car to provide power to external devices in an emergency. The system will be positioned as a way to use the Prius PHV as a standby battery during power-cuts, though it’s unclear what limits there might be on what can be plugged in.
Toyota will also begin wireless battery charging trials in Toyota City come 2013, using wireless coils embedded in the road and in the chassis of the car, to see whether they’re efficient enough.
As for the Toyota eQ, the all-electric vehicle is based on Toyota’s gas-powered iQ city car, with seating for four and a range of up to 100km (62 miles) on a single charge of its new 12 kWh Li-Ion battery. The updated power pack delivers the best electric power consumption rate in the world, Toyota claims, keeping bulk low but still delivering usable range.
It also charges swiftly, the company says, with a complete rejuicing in around three hours from a 200V AC outlet. That extends to 8hrs if you’re stuck with a 100V AC connection, however, though a quick DC charge up to 80-percent can be achieved in just 15 minutes.
Toyota doesn’t talk speed or acceleration for the eQ, which doesn’t exactly bode well for urban racers, but the car isn’t really intended for consumer use. When it hits Japan in December it will be priced at 3,600,000 yen (the equivalent of $46,000 in the US, where it will launch as the “iQ EV”) and be targeted at fleet customers rather than individuals.
Finally, Toyota says it is on-track to launch its own fuel-cell vehicle around 2015, powering the FCV (“Fuel Cell Vehicle”) initially, and then showing up in a bus on track for a 2016 debut. The new fuel-cell has the world’s highest power output density, Toyota claims, and can deliver 3 kW/L which is double what the company’s current prototype can deliver.
That’s despite being half the size and half the weight of the existing prototype. It’s in part down to a new boost converter, which increases voltage and thus allows for fewer fuel-cells and a smaller motor: cost and bulk goes down, while performance goes up.
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