africa has m-banking. what will it take to stop the silly waste in the us, with ever-increasing branch networks, and the financial infrastructure based around 19th century notions? hopefully the recession will put an end to it.
Month: November 2007
SUV Delusion
At first you think that, considering dad’s expanding waistline, she’s looking to get some exercise. But it turns out she’s embarrassed to be seen in an SUV, since “people in that [presumably urban] part of town are riding bikes and have hybrids and stuff.” Ah, but the family truckster is a hybrid, dad points out nonchalantly.
you are still driving an SUV, asshole.
US prisons costly failure
The number of people in US prisons has risen 8x since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society.
this tough on crime nonsense likely stems from misguided religious beliefs, as per usual.
Gmail by Microsoft
Somehow, this still misses part of the Microsoft feeling – the current design is just too bright & light, and it doesn’t have enough glamor. I’ll darken the colors a bit and add some smooth shades. Also, admittedly, Hotmail is a bit slower than Google’s competing service, so we’ll add some “loading” messages. Usually there’s less focus on unclutteredness with the Redmond guys, so we’ll add some MSN news bits and “special offers” where space is left. Plus, to increase user lock-in, let’s get rid of the “sign out” link. I’m also putting less emphasis on search, moving the box to the bottom right and replacing it with a dog:
i really don’t see what the unwashed masses see in hotmail
Swiss Air Traffic
similar to FBOWeb, using google maps
Caveman Crib
advertising begets culture, or something. the geico caveman is getting his own show on ABC
Mymaps UGC
the quest to fix crappy yellowpage data begins
Beware of demob
A reserve army of unemployed ex-servicemen worries China’s leaders
Consumer champion
china is dominated by small firms that produce standardized widgets. that makes them very modular, a very different approach than japan, where the whole value chain is tightly integrated.
Old parts, but a new whole
China’s forte seems to be recombining old technologies for new uses
Huawei has not invented many original products. But it has made some original tweaks. It split its mobile-phone base-stations into 2, lighter parts, which could be installed separately and more cheaply. But an in-house magazine dismisses the modification as “merely an improvement in engineering processes”.
Both schools of thought look in the wrong place for signs of technological creativity. The state may aspire to match America’s supercomputers. But such breakthroughs, which push the limits of scientific and engineering knowledge, are beyond Chinese firms. Their future lies instead in “trolling” through existing technologies and components, and combining them in new ways.
Gregor J. Rothfuss 