Financial Times (May 4)
EU policy makers’ now have their “sights have fixed upon ‘Gafa’ — the acronym used to denote Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon.” The regulators do not hate technology. “They understand that digital services invigorate the economy. But…. Europe has recently felt itself to be more on the losing side; however measured, not one of the world’s largest internet companies is European.”
Tags: Amazon, Apple, Digital services, Economy, EU, Facebook, Gafa, Google, Technology
The Economist (February 28)
As the “defining technology” of the beginning of the 21st century, smartphones “matter partly because of their ubiquity. They have become the fastest-selling gadgets in history, outstripping the growth of the simple mobile phones that preceded them. They outsell personal computers four to one. Today about half the adult population owns a smartphone; by 2020, 80% will.” Smartphones also matter because of the tremendous empowerment they bring users. Today, even the most basic smartphone “has access to more number-crunching capacity than NASA had when it put men on the Moon in 1969.” In their day, the clock and the car brought revolutionary change. “Today the smartphone is poised to enrich lives, reshape entire industries and transform societies.”
Tags: 21st century, Car, Change, Clock, Gadgets, Moon, NASA, PCs, Smartphones, Technology, Ubiquity
Institutional Investor (August 28)
“Chinese companies are the new force in global M&A.” With $51 billion of outbound M&A, China has surpassed both Japan ($37 billion) and Germany ($49 billion) during the first eight months of 2014. Though it still trails the U.S. ($174 billion), “mainland firms are stepping up the pace of foreign acquisitions, increasingly targeting technology and consumer plays in developed countries.”
Tags: Acquisitions, China, Consumer, Developed countries, Germany, Japan, M&A, Technology, U.S.
New York Times (August 12)
“For the last half-decade, three-dimensional printing has been billed as the next revolution in manufacturing. The Economist and Wired have declared it world-changing technology…. But for all the hype, it’s still unclear exactly how and when 3-D printing will have an impact on our daily lives.”
Tags: 3-D printing, Daily lives, Hype, Impact, Manufacturing, Revolution, Technology, The Economist, Wired, World changing
USA Today (March 10)
The fruitless search to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, let alone determine what caused its fate, highlights just how outdated the black-box is in a world of 24/7 connections. This “disappearance is a powerful argument for upgrading black-box technology to allow planes to live-stream vital information when they get into trouble—a suggestion that airlines have resisted because of the cost.”
Tags: Airlines, Black-box, Cost, Disappearance, Flight, Malaysia Airlines, Missing, Outdated, Search, Stream, Technology, Upgrade
Chicago Tribune (February 18, 2014)
“Automakers have outfitted their vehicles with cutting-edge technology that goes way beyond the now-common mapping and music options. New cars these days act like smartphones on wheels.” While some new features improve safety, others create dangerous distraction. “Like so much of the digital world, car-borne technology is changing fast. Government watchdogs and corporate innovators should work together to accelerate progress, while keeping motorists safe.”
Tags: Automakers, Cars, Digital, Distraction, Government, Mapping, Motorists, Music, Progress, Safety, Smartphones, Technology, Vehicles, Watchdogs
Wall Street Journal (November 4)
By year end, the U.S. is likely to unseat Russia and become the second largest global producer of liquid fuels. The U.S. is now well positioned to escape the capricious yoke of OPEC and “even could surpass Saudi Arabia to become the leading global producer within the next decade.” Former Secretary of State George Schultz and FedEx CEO Fred Smith write, the nation’s leaders should “embrace both the supply revolution now well under way and the emerging demand revolution in oil-displacement technology that, together, promise a more secure and prosperous future.”
Tags: Demand, Energy security, FedEx, Fred Smith, Fuel, Future, George Schultz, Oil-displacement, OPEC, Producer, Revolution, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Supply, Technology, U.S.
The Economist (August 17)
“The web is beginning to fit into the media world’s oldest script: a new technology rides into town, the moguls try to destroy it, but it survives and becomes part of the town’s future. Hollywood loathed the VCR (comparing it to the Boston Strangler); the networks hated cable TV; sheet-music publishers feared the phonograph…. Yet nearly always two things happen: the old media survive (people are still buying vinyl records and even the odd printed magazine), and the new media expand the market.”
Tags: Cable, Hollywood, Magazine, Market, Music, Networks, New media, Old media, Phonograph, Print, Publishers, Records, Technology, TV, VCR, Vinyl, Web
New York Times (June 4)
The U.S. has eased sanctions on Iran to allow the export of mobile phones, laptops, encryption software and related technology to individual Iranians. “This should improve the ability of Iranians to circumvent their government’s unrelenting crackdown on dissenting opinion and communicate with each other and the outside world without reprisal.” The move is overdue. “Tensions between Iran and the United States—over Syria and terrorism, as well as the nuclear program—will almost certainly get worse, barring some unexpected new policies in Tehran. But America will be in a stronger position if it is seen as standing with the Iranian people.”
Tags: Crackdown, Export, Iran, Nuclear program, Sanctions, Syria, Technology, Terrorism, U.S.
The Economist (March 2)
Africa has achieved a dramatic transformation. “Never in the half-century since it won independence from the colonial powers has Africa been in such good shape.” The credit belongs to the Africans themselves. “The continent’s main saviours are its own people. They are embracing modern technology, voting in ever more elections and pressing their leaders to do better. A sense of hope abounds.” The transformation is laudable, but “still incomplete. The danger is that Africa settles for today’s pace of change. Only if Africans raise their ambitions still further will they reach their full potential. If aspiring Africa wants a new dream, it should be creating a common market from the Med to the Cape. That would be a boon to trade, enterprise and manufacturing: it would also get rid of much of the petty corruption and save lives.”
Tags: Africa, Common market, Corruption, Elections, Leaders, Manufacturing, Technology, Trade, Transformation
