Archives: September 2007

Why is The New York Times So Dumb About Design And Innovation?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 30

There is a sad, apologetic story about process innovation in The New York Times today that makes me want to cry about how one of the great Mainstream Media companies...

Xbox, Wii, PS3--Gamers of the World, Unite!

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 30

The gaming community is one of the most thoughtful and passionate of all of society's "new" social media communities that have grown up in recent years and there is enormous...

Ban Club Penguin And All Social Networking Sites! Are The Schools Right?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 28

It appears that many New York City schools are demanding that kids not access social networking sites such as Webkins and Club Penguin (recently bought by Disney). I guess they're...

Where Are The Teachers In The Debate Over OLPC?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 28

The conversation thread over the "failure" of the OLPC is passionate, insightful and illuminating but it lacks one voice--where are the educators? I hear the voice of the designers, the...

General Motor's CEO Rick Wagoner Pulls Off Business Model Innovation--Perhaps The Hardest Type of Innovation.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 26

Larry Keeley at Doblin has taught me that there are many kinds of innovation and I think that the truly hardest is innovating the entire business model, which is what...

Is Intel Better Than OLPC In Teaching Kids At The Bottom Of The Pyramid?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 26

One of the hottest controversies around is that between Intel and the One Laptop Per Child Foundation over the best approach to educate poor children in rural villages in India,...

Xbox Against Wii And PS3--Who Has The Strongest Community?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 25

Any corporate "suit" reading this blog should take note of the incredible passion felt by the communities of gamers surrounding the Xbox 360 or PS3. They are posting comments like...

Why One Laptop Per Child Is A Failure.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 24

There's been one heck of a conversation over whether or not the One Laptop Per Child is a failure and I'd like to continue it with another conversation focussed on...

It's Time To Call One Laptop Per Child A Failure,

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 24

It breaks my heart to see such wonderful design work from so many talented designers go to waste but the announcement that the One Laptop Per Child Foundation is offering...

Can Halo 3 Save Xbox from Nintendo's Wii? The Difference Between Incremental and Paradigm-Busting Innovation.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 23

For hard-core gamers, this week's introduction of Halo 3 is a gigantic event and this third iteration of the Halo game series is said to be totally awesome. That will...

Chrysler Needs Smart Designers, Not Just Efficiency Experts.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 23

The brilliant Don Norman has posted an article that could save Chrysler if Cerberus and the private equity guys followed his advice. Norman asks a simple design question: How can...

Stanford 2007 David H. Liu Memorial Lecture Series in Design.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 22

Jan Chipcase will lead off this year's David H. Liu Memorial Lecture Series at Stanford and if you haven't heard him or checked out his blog, this is a golden...

Ad Agencies Stink At Their Jobs--Here Is What They Must Do.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 21

Ad agencies are supposed to connect their client's brands to their client's consumers and they are doing a pretty bad job at it today. The 20 and 30-somethings ad folks...

Design Thinking--What The Smartest People Are Saying.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 20

There are two amazing conferences taking place shortly that you should either attend or plug into online. DMI has a conference called Thinking Ahead: The Changing Role of Design and...

In A Recession, Who Wins, Who Loses In The Innovation Space?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 20

We've had an amazing run for innovative startups in social networking, green tech and search over the past few years and that may come to an abrupt end if we...

An Incredibly Great Management Site.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 20

Check out this management site that just went up. Yes, it's on the businessweek.com site so I'm a bit prejudiced but move past that and look at the incredible Case...

Jay Leno's Hydrogen Powered BMW. Wowie.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 19

Jay Leno has got his hands on one of the few BMW hydorgen-powered Series 7 sedans and it's a beauty. Leno already has a bio-diesel powered car in his steam-powered...

Facebook Suicide.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 19

People are killing off their Facebook profiles in droves, according to this great online piece in The Times. And in keeping with the collective social networking culture, they are starting...

Help, My Personal Brand Has Been Hijacked!

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 18

Check out this Twitter, especially my photo on the top left. Yep, my "me" brand is being hijacked by dmisanthrope--someone clearly in the design/innovation community who wants to poke fun...

The Federal Reserve Cuts Rates By A Surprising Half Point. Be Afraid.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 18

The markets rallied on news that the Fed cut its key benchmark rate by a surprising 1/2 point, not the expected 1/4, reflecting the convention wisdom that this will solve...

Europe Fights For Competition And Innovation With Its Decision On Microsoft.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 18

The U.S. gave up regulating monopolies in technology years ago and the decision by the European Court of First Instance to force Microsoft to open up its monopoly should be...

Does Alan Greenspan Belong In The Pantheon of Innovation Greats?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 17

Ex-Fed chairman Alan Greenspan is on 60 Minutes, the cover of Newsweek and in practically every newspaper this week, flogging his new book The Age of Turbulence, and castigating Republicans...

Google's Brand Takes A Hit.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 17

I don't know why two guys need a big wide-bodied 767 jet to fly around, guzzling gas and polluting the planet and I don't know why NASA cut them a...

MySpace Goes From Amateur To Professional.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 13

It's fascinating to see the transformation of social networking sites such as YouTube and now MySpace from "us" content created by all of us to "them" content, made by the...

A Network Isn't A Community.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 12

Over at Forrester, Chloe Stromberg has a great post on the distinction between network and community that many people miss (especially in marketing and advertising). Communities are bound by emotion...

iPhone Knock-Offs From China. What Can Apple Do?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 12

Psst. Wanna buy a cheap iPhone, like for $195? Well, there are knock-offs pouring out of China already. And they're available here in the US. This is a serious problem...

Does Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Realize The US May Be Facing An Innovation Crisis?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 12

With the housing decline beginning to hurt job growth in the rest of the economy, pressure is building on Fed Chairman Bernanke to cut interest rates fast and sharply. One...

We Are Gating Up Our Open Social Communities--Why?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 11

Look around and you see people putting up silos around social media. Invitation-only social networks like doostang.com and customized corporate vitual worlds are blossoming. FaceBook folks are putting digital "doors"...

Does Your Ad Agency Know Anything Real About Social Media?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 11

I have found it disturbing how little ad agency people know about social media. Old folks in ad agencies think they should put all their corporate clients (OK, nearly all)...

100 Fastest Growing Emerging Market Companies--Watch Them.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 11

The World Economic Forum created a new Community of Global Growth Companies. They are fast-growing emerging markets companies poised to go global. Here's a link to the list. Check them...

Election 08: China Has An Innovation Plan--Does America?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 11

The World Economic Forum just completed a session in Dalian, China focussing on innovation and growth and Premier Wen Jiaboa personally came and spoke--about innovation. Now, when was the last...

Are Designers Just Dumb Blonds Or Society's Saviors?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 10

The Yin and Yang of Design is tearing at me. I had lunch with John Kao, author of the new book, Innovation Nation, and talked about how design thinking needs...

Designer Frank Tyneski Becomes New Executive Director of the Industrial Designers Society of America.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 07

An award-winning designer has been picked to run the IDSA, that great professional organization that has done so much to spread design around the world. He's Frank Tyneski, 39, years...

Jobs Are Weak, Recession May Loom--Do Not Cut Spending On Innovation!

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 07

If you haven't look at the stock market today, it's sinking, thanks to a very weak jobs report that implies that the risk for recession is up considerably. I know...

Can Toyota Save Chrysler?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 07

The hiring of Jim Press from Toyota by Chrysler's private equity owner Cerberus Capital Management throws important new managerial talent into the job of turning around the flagging Detroit auto-maker...

10 Cutting Edge Innovators From Inside Innovation.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 07

People in the business community are always asking me "who's new" or "who's hot" in the field of design and innovation. Jessie Scanlon wrote a wonderful piece online that we...

Two New Books On Innovation And How To Think Like An Innovator.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 07

I have advanced copies of two books that I'm going to read this weekend. One is by Roger Martin, the dean of the Rotman School of Management and a leading...

Lost in the Land of the IPhone.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 07

Average corporate managers look at Apple and only seek success in being in touch with consumers and bringing out products they love, but the recent iPhone flap shows that the...

Can Six Sigma Save Chrysler?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 04

Please take a look at this comment by Dan Steele that defends Bob Nardelli's management of Home Depot. It's a good defense of his Six Sigma management. Since being appointed...

How IBM Manages Innovation Networks--Check Out Inside Innovation.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on September 01

The sixth edition of Inside Innovation is out and I think it is our very best. Steve Hamm has an amazing inside look at how IBM creates and manages networks...