Jon Peddie Blogs

Ink — I love ink

Posted by Jon Peddie on January 23rd 2008 | Permalink
Categories Engineering and Development
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Electronic ink or electronic paper (e-paper)  was developed in the 1970s by Nick Sheridon at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center and it was called Gyricon. Its technical name is electrophoretic display meaning a display that forms visible images by rearranging charged pigment particles (i.e., powder like substances) using an applied electric field. In the early 2000s the technology began to gain some traction and looked like it could be mass produced, albeit in small sizes. One of its first commercial applications was for the second display on mobile phones, and in 2001 E Ink and Philips Components announced plans to jointly…

My CES

Posted by Ted Pollak on January 21st 2008 | Permalink
Categories The Market
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Behold the Consumer Electronics Show, an almost legendary annual occurrence which draws well over a hundred thousand people to Las Vegas. Being a gaming analyst the acronym CES would be more aptly defined as the Computer Entertainment Show, at least that’s what I was looking for. My CES experience started before I even left the ground of San Francisco International Airport. I was flying Richard Branson’s new airline Virgin America, and Virgin has recognized that consumer electronics have become an important element in attracting airline customers. Their new entertainment, information, and communication system, which they call Red, allows passengers to watch,…

MacWorld — love it or love it

Posted by Kathleen Maher on January 18th 2008 | Permalink
Categories The Market
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Every danged time I got to MacWorld I kill myself trying to get to the keynote. Okay, so I maybe I don’t give myself enough time. But it seems to be that getting on the 7:50 a.m. ferry for a 9:30 keynote, should be enough time. It’s only a 20 minute walk to the convention center. Unfortunately, the MacWorld organizers have a whimsical sense of humor. They move the press registration every year and then they plant doofusses at key points to send you to the wrong place. Go to the West Hall, all press go to the West Hall said…

Oh god, please don’t let us screw it up

Posted by Kathleen Maher on October 26th 2007 | Permalink
Categories The Market
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That’s the prayer of the Internet dependent as we all enjoy another growth period. And then comes the news that Microsoft has outbid all comers for the “privilege” of investing $240 million bucks in Facebook, the latest thing in social networking ... probably. Microsoft’s investment legitimizes a valuation of $15 billion for Facebook. I know I’m not the first to make this observation but that’s more than the valuation of many companies that actually design and build products, popular products! There are news stories all over the place about this—the AP story gets right to the heart of it. Much is…

Web 2.0 or deja vu all over again?

Posted by Kathleen Maher on October 15th 2007 | Permalink
Categories Content Creation
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I was at dinner with some very interesting and urbane executive types in Boston recently. The subject of what’s next/what’s the latest trend/where’s the money came up as it inevitably does. We were talking about Web 2.0 and how interesting it all was that MySpace had become so last 20 minutes ago in the space of uh, 30 minutes. Now it’s all about Facebook said one of my dinner partners. Really? Why in the world should Facebook prevail where Friendster and MySpace have failed? Doesn’t all this Web 2.0 stuff have the stench of doom wafting all around it? It’s nice…

The future of CAD

Posted by Kathleen Maher on October 10th 2007 | Permalink
Categories Content Creation
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The computer industry may seem to change at the speed of light but that’s not true of the CAD industry. After back to back meetings with Autodesk and Dassault I am struck once again by the slow pace of change. I’ve decided to see this in a positive light. After all, it’s really just hard on those of us who are making predictions and getting it wrong. In many cases, say designing bridges or artificial hearts, it’s better to take predictable paths and get it right. Here’s another positive view. The democratization of CAD might be slow in coming and the…