Here is something interesting ( at least to me…)

This was my name written in Russian…. I assume that reads Wilson Ng….

Blu Ray will succeed, but it will take time.

Simply because while the advances are substantial, it is not immediately perceptible.  DVD is already quite good technology.  I remember it took some years before the DVD became mature enough and low price enough to make an impact on VHS.

On Asia, we actually had a couple of years using VCD ( video CD).  It was understood to be a temporary stop gap technology, but it disappeared when DVD became as cheap and as prevalent as VCDs.

Similarly when Blu-ray is prevalent enough, and companies can produce compatible with backward compatibility, it will succeed.

But the same as WindowsVista, pretty soon, it will be the only technology available, and by default it will succeed, becaus eyou can’t buy anything else.

Believing Blu-ray will succeed doesn’t make sense |- CNET News

According to Niel
sen, Blu-ray’s market share dropped to just 8 percent of the overall market, giving DVDs a whopping 92 percent ownership.

Granted, those figures show only one week’s performance, and Blu-ray may have a huge week soon and capture more of the market, but let’s be honest with ourselves: do we really think that will happen?

According to a study released in August by ABI Research, more than half the people it surveyed had no plans to buy a standalone Blu-ray player in the near future, and 23 percent are considering it, but not until 2009.

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Ellison of Oracle is known for vocal ourburst, but while sometimes he is off the mark, sometimes he does make sense.

After all, cloud computing idea is simply a bigger idea he defined almost 10 years ago which he called network computing - only at that time, while undoubtedly the database, and the applications are stored in servers, now it is still stored in servers, and however, available through the public internet.

As an executive who has two offices, and therefore may either work in office 1, office 2, in the house, or in the road, I find it very appealing that the infrastructure exists that while I maintain desktops in each of the location ( I can still have access to the file I may have on the other location).

However, while this is applicable to us nomads - who wants to be productive anywhere we are, we do see that a majority of people in the office has an office, and only want to be productive or access the file there.

So cloud computing may be trying to address the market for certain segment who will find it compelling, but whether it becomes mainstream is still a big question.

Speaking at OracleWorld, CEO Larry Ellison says the computer industry is more fashion-driven than women’s fashion and cloud computing is simply the latest fashion. Go to Source

If the economy is slowing down, the best way sometimes is also to slow down. How to use your money? The best way to increase shareholder value may be to use your cash to buy back your stocks or give it out as dividends.

Microsoft, HP announce multi-billion dollar stock buybacks - Sep. 22, 2008

Microsoft board approves plan for another $40 billion in share repurchase and raised its quarterly dividend by 18%; HP approves $8 billion stock repurchase.

I read this quote, and find it quite relevant:

“A man who was criticized for not having a bible in his house, excused himself by saying that there was not a word in the bible that wasn’t in his dictionary.”

Indeed, I believe that in many things we do, as well as working with our colleagues on it, this is the prevalent attitude.

How many times do you tell for instance your colleagues, ” we need to do it like so, “, and then they don’t exactly listen, because in their assessment, they are mostly doing roughly what is already needed, or in rough sense, what they are doing can be interpreted as something that can qualify.

for instance, 7 Habits of Effective People is a bestseller, and millions buy it. Millions read it, but how many do it exactly as the author envisions? How many go to church but practice what the church commands, but still only roughly.

Our thing is that we are starting to be highly selective, and sometimes, we have to understand that roughly doing it is not like exactly doing it to succeed or get the same results as envisioned.

That’s regretable. That ads were ok, though I would not want to see it 5 to 10 times though. It was just something that is good for a first or second take.

Microsoft announcement tomorrow: No more Seinfeld ads!

Just like the US Dream Basketball Team, the lead should not be taken for granted….

Other countries are getting better all the time.

U.S.: Top of the Heap—For Now - BusinessWeek

The U.S. creates the most supportive environment in the world for information technology firms, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted for the Business Software Alliance. The world’s largest economy still does the best job in incubating innovative startups and developing top engineering talent, the study finds. Yet the U.S. is slipping.

The second part of the Microsoft new Commercial Campaign had Jerry and Bill Gates go to live with a family, in which they try to understand how an ordinary family lives, playing pingpong, and later on being accused of stealing a giraffe.

It ends up with bill gates doing a robot Dance….

That continues Microsoft’s campaign to be warmer, and to ‘perpetually connect’ with its users.

I always believed in empowerment.

But first I believed in earning the right to make the call.

This is not something that a company should easily bestow. Now, more and more people want the power to decide. well, anybody can decide for their own,( as long as they understand the consequences) but we should not easily give them the power to decide over other people.

According to studies, people who are given decision making powers with no experience, or who have not earned the experience to make such decisions end up being a jerk.

So it has nothing to do with entitlements. Making a call creates results or problems. Before it becomes serious, make sure that the people making the call first knows what he is doing, and the corresponding responsibilities associated with it.

Over the weekend, I read an article that as managers, it might be a good idea to write a manual to your members to tell them what is important to you, and how to work with you effectively:

I know I am not the easiest person to work with, but neither is any boss or company whose intent is to compete to win. You don’t win in markets or overachieve results by being wishy washy.

Here is probably mine and I’m sure you will find working with me much more pleasurable, and pleasant ( and many times rewarding too - I understand that when you dedicate yourself to the job, then it creates a responsibility for the company to make it worth your while) if you remember these:

1. Please understand first and foremost that I am unforgiving to people who don’t admit mistakes or cover up their mistakes. When you don’t own to mistakes, the possibility of you changing or improving your performance becomes nil, and that is not what we want.

2. I value good judgment calls on being ’situation aware’. For instance, Don’t come to me asking for a major decision or to decide on something important when i am on the way to a meeting, or in the washroom.

3. Don’t waste my time by asking me to do something or decide something for you when you and I both don’t have the facts. Get the facts and understand the situation first before talking to me. Just because I understand what you are doing does not mean that you are absolve of the responsibility of understanding your job yourself.

4. Believe me, I can be very patient ( that means I will not rush you when I see progress) . However, I AM easily frustrated. When you have to be reminded three times or an instruction repeated 3 times before you start taking action, you already lost a lot of goodwill.

I can be very understanding, or I may not. If you do things exactly as I told you to do, and do it the best way you can - and you don’t succeed, then I won’t take it against you. If you don’t listen, then even if you succeed, you still owe me an explanation.

This has nothing to do about whether my decisions are better than yours - this has something to do with how we can work long together as a team to create replicable success and results.

5. I understand you may not be able to do all I want you to do, but i expect you to know how to prioritize and do the important things first. If in doubt, which is the more important, ask.

6. I have no problem if you make decisions or orders if:

a.) you know the facts and have studied the facts.
b.) you take responsibility. There is no such thing as you making the call, and then blaming somebody or something if things don’t work.
c.) A decision needs to be made (that means there is still no decision and means that it is not the freedom to disobey or change a decision that is already been made).

7. We do a lot of tasks and initiatives, and the problems usually comes in when people forgets the task they were asked. When it comes down that I personally assign something, that means the task is important and I want it done asap. If it cannot be done asap, i need constant updates on what is happening through short emails. The last thing I want to do is assign something and then have to do constant follow up afterwards just to get the status. Even worse, I found out that you have not done anything on it.

8. Don’t try to impress me with how hard you work. Just impress me with the results. You have to understand that the harder you work, and the less the results, the more you will disappoint, not impress.

9. I believe in preparation, and doing last minute work will only convince me that you were not smart enough to foresee, or plan your agenda.

10. Try to be the best in your area of work. Study. Research. Think Through the process. Improve. You are not going to get a lot of respect from me if after you have beein doing a job for some years, I had to come in and find out a small change can make you do it much better or more efficiently.