Today I found this interesting article about why it is important to ask "why", and what the answers will reveal to you as a decision maker.
Furthermore, the article touch on how businesses can use experimentation as a way to drive innovation and change in an organisation.
Find the article on the following link.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/235104
Last year, Dropbox raised a whopping $250 million funding round at a valuation in the ballpark of $4 billion. The raise had been rumored for months so it didn’t come as a huge surprise, but it still raised plenty of eyebrows. Because while Dropbox is totally awesome (I use it every day), at this point people see it as a convenient way to sync their files between computers — which it already does pretty well. So what’s all the money for?
Today, we’re getting our first taste of what’s next, and what cofounder and CEO Drew Houston calls Dropbox’s mission to solve all of the “hidden problems” that people have with technology, many of which we’ve simply become accustomed to dealing with.
Their first solution to one of these hidden problems? Helping you keep all of your photos, from all of your devices, in one place. And to get things started, they’re launching a new version of their Desktop and Android clients that’ll automatically upload your photos to your Dropbox account. Snap a few photos on your phone, and, without having to hook up any wires, they’ll be on your computer within a minute or two.
I know what you’re thinking, because it’s the first thing I said to CEO Drew Houston and Product Manager Aseem Sood: “err, don’t iCloud and Google+ already let you do this?”
I’m pretty sure they saw it coming.
The first thing they pointed out is that there are a lot of people out there who aren’t using either of those services. Most Dropbox users aren’t using Macs at all, so iCloud is out of the question, and Google+ is still just getting started (yes, the service has lots of users signed up, but how many of them are using it and have the app installed on their phone?).
Dropbox also does a couple of things that Google+ doesn’t: for one, it’ll automatically sync the full-sized version of your images — Google+ sync will downscale images to 2048px at their longest edge. And Dropbox can also sync any photos it detects on your PC: if you plug in a camera or SD card into your computer and it detects images, you’ll have the option of automatically adding them to your Dropbox folder.
This new feature could potentially eat up a significant amount of space in your Dropbox folder, so Dropbox will also be gradually boosting the limit for free users from 2GB to 5GB (they won’t do this all at once — as you use the photo feature, you’ll be able to gradually accrue more free storage). Houston explains that the goal of this feature is to make life easier for people, not to get them to upgrade to larger Dropbox storage limits, which is why they’re offering the additional free space.
It sounds great, and I’ll be enabling it immediately, but there are still some obvious areas for improvement. Images that are synced to your Dropbox account are placed in a special Photos folder, but they’re just sorted in chronological order — there isn’t any intelligence around event or location detection, for example. Another potential issue is that Dropbox doesn’t offer any tools for managing or editing these photos, so it’ll be up to you to drag them into iPhoto or another photo editing app (the best solution will likely be to make your Dropbox folder your default image folder).
Houston agrees that they’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible here, so I’m sure we’ll see improvements soon. Oh, and don’t worry iOS users — Dropbox will be updating its app to include this functionality soon as well.
It’s worth nothing that, while this is the first time Dropbox has baked this functionality into its official app, it’s been possible to do the same thing on Android using third-party applications that take advantage of the Dropbox API. Of course, the official app has a much bigger install base.
Apple may be getting ready to ditch the current dock connector used in iPods, iPhones, and iPads in favor of a smaller version — meaning you’ll possibly have to keep up with yet another adapter to use all the latest accessories for iOS devices.
Annoyances aside, Apple could have a very practical reason for making the change, according to a iMore report that cites an anonymous source. A smaller “micro” docking port would give the company more room for other important components within the iPhone 5, which could be the first device to receive the new dock treatment. And since the iPhone 4S has a much shorter power lifespan than all the models preceding it, the most likely use for that additional space would be to include a bigger battery.
The new docking port is said to be a new design rather than the outdated microUSB standard used by the rest of the mobile phone industry.
It’s also worth noting that Apple is moving away from its reliance of transferring information to its mobile devices through a power cord. As part of Apple’s iCloud push, the company is now enabling more OS software, app, and digital media updates over the air. That said, the dock connector will be little more than a way to charge the device as well as connect to third-party accessories.
The latest rumors speculate that the iPhone 5 will hit sometime before the end of 2012, and will feature a larger screen as well as a more curvy design.
[iPhone 5 concept image via ciccaresedesign]
Pity the programmer. The path used to be so clear. After coming up with the next billion-dollar software idea, the only decision to be made was whether to build it for just Windows or Mac as well. Now the options are far more diverse. Mobile platforms like iOS, Android, and Windows Phone all vie for coders’ attention alongside desktop operating systems and Web hubs such as Facebook. Each one requires time and often a different skill set.
The problem is particularly acute in video games, where iPhone users expect to be able to interact with their friends even if, God forbid, they’re using a different device. Michael Carter, a 27-year-old software engineer, thinks he has a solution in HTML 5. Carter’s company, Game Closure, builds tools that let game developers write one version of their genius idea, then publish it anywhere. In Game Closure’s take on the card-game Hearts, for instance, friends in different cities can play against each other using Facebook, an iPhone, or an Android tablet. “It’s the future,” says Carter of HTML 5.
At its core, HTML 5 is a set of standards that lets Web browsers understand animations, videos, graphics, and other multimedia content without the need to download a plug-in like Adobe’s (ADBE) Flash, which is how most Web videos and graphics are displayed today. Many technologists—including the late Steve Jobs—have criticized Flash for being buggy and draining battery life. The goal of HTML 5, which is gradually making its way into all modern browsers, including ones on mobile devices, is to make sites look and feel just like apps downloaded directly to a phone or desktop. Until recently, that was more of a promise than a reality.
That’s changing in part because of the steamroller effect ofApple’s (AAPL) iPad and iPhone, which don’t run Flash content. Game Closure’s write-once, publish-anywhere tools for game makers attracted Zynga (ZNGA), which offered $100 million to buy the startup, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss the negotiations. Carter won’t go into specifics other than to acknowledge that “we definitely walked away from a pretty large payout. But we have a larger vision for game development.” He secured $12 million in a venture round led by Highland Capital to build his company instead and plans to make money by licensing his technology or signing revenue-sharing agreements with those who use it.
Zynga is hiring its own HTML 5 engineers to create new titles, as is Electronic Arts (ERTS).Amazon.com (AMZN) debuted an HTML 5 version of its mobile website last year, and in early February IBM (IBM) bought the development company Worklight to create HTML 5 business applications for phones and tablets. “We’re at a technological inflection point,” says Tom Conrad, the executive vice president of product at the music-streaming site Pandora (P), which rebuilt its main website in HTML 5 in 2011.
As HTML 5’s use has expanded, software engineers proficient in it are in short supply. “Just call a recruiter and ask for one—see how long it takes,” says Adam Miller, CEO of Cornerstone Software, which builds applications for HR managers. He says HTML programmers can make up to $250 an hour.
Some worry the rush to HTML 5 could lead to shoddier software. Since the very idea behind HTML 5 is universality, it may discourage developers from tailoring their code to the capabilities of specific devices. Not every phone has an accelerometer that can sense tilting, for instance. “HTML 5 is by far the greatest lowest common denominator ever invented,” says Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, a note-taking application. “But it’s still the lowest common denominator.”
The bottom line: HTML 5 developers are in demand and can earn as much as $250 an hour, though some say tailoring apps to specific devices is preferable.
