RadioEarly radio transmitted Morse code over the air, not sound. Transmitting Morse Code was much less expensive than wired lines. In the mid 1880’s Heinrich Hertz published the results of experiments proving an ability to transmit electromagnetic waves, later known as radio waves. His work was purely scientific. Both Tesla, in the US, and Marconi, … Continue reading "Radio"
Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)Programmable Logic Controller’s (PLC’s) are small single-purpose computers. They control machines and are common in cars. You probably own more PLC’s than any other type of computer. Today, a single-car has a myriad of PLC’s, usually networked together. PLC’s replace hard-coded wiring, automating tasks. PLC’s often read input from analog sensors. Responding to temperature, sensing … Continue reading "Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)"
Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)CRISPR is like a word processor for DNA. It allows easy and inexpensive gene editing. Edited genes are passed to future generations, making mutations permanent. Doudna and Charpentier Doudna and Charpentier worked on and invented the technology as a team. First, they worked on plants and, later, on animals. History becomes murkier with the involvement … Continue reading "Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)"
About MichaelInnowiki founding member Michael Olenick is currently an executive fellow at the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, on the Fontainebleau, France campus. Michael has worked closely with Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne since 2001, before the book Blue Ocean Strategy came out in 2005, when it was articles in Harvard Business Review. Michael learned about … Continue reading "About Michael"
AirplaneWilbur and Orville Wright invented the airplane with their first flight in 1903. Urban myth describes an easy story where the bicycle mechanic brothers built an airplane from spare parts. In reality, the innovation was a long, slow, methodical, and extremely dangerous project. Background People had been building various forms of fixed-wing gliders for years. … Continue reading "Airplane"
Consumer Shared Computer Network (CompuServe)CompuServe is the first computer network targeted towards ordinary people though it did not start out that way. Background Jeff Wilkins sold burglar alarms. His father-in-law ran a small insurance company and needed to buy a computer. However, the DEC model he wanted had far more computing power than his father required. Wilkins realized he … Continue reading "Consumer Shared Computer Network (CompuServe)"
Electricity Factory & Distribution NetworkAfter inventing the long-lasting light bulb, Edison needed an electrical grid to deploy his innovation. Remember that, at this time, all electrically powered devices ran off batteries. Background The Edison Electric Illuminating Company, founded after the light bulb company, funded both an electrical generation station, grid, and all supporting equipment. Edison innovated better dynamos, circuits, … Continue reading "Electricity Factory & Distribution Network"
Commercial JetlinerJets vastly increases productivity. Early iterations of the industry also enhanced fun and image once the technology improved. The first commercial passenger jet, the Comet, tended to disintegrate mid-flight. Large windows and a poor understanding of metal stress created a literally fatal design flaw. After three crashes the public refused to board the jet. Eventually, … Continue reading "Commercial Jetliner"
Credit UnionLet it not be forgotten that a credit union is, above all else, an association of people, not dollars. Alphonse Desjardins Banks at the turn of the 20th century were for rich people. A.P. Giannini founded his Bank of Italy, later renamed Bank of America, in 1904 as a bank for everybody else. But it … Continue reading "Credit Union"
Automated Teller Machine (ATM)Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s) dispense cash, take deposits, and perform other limited banking functions 24×7. In 1964, James Goodfellow patented and created a machine that used a punched card combined with a secret PIN. He built this out into a full-fledged ATM, filing a patent on May 2, 1966. Later ATM makers, including NCR, licensed … Continue reading "Automated Teller Machine (ATM)"
- Blue Ocean Strategy Basics – Breaking the Value/Cost Trade-Off
Oftentimes spending more doesn’t get more and, sometimes, gets less Michael Porter is the father of modern business strategy theory and defined a few basic ideas. Core among them is that business centers around competition. Competitors, new market entrants, suppliers, customers, and substitute products are five forces that influence profitability, he argued in his famous … Continue reading "Blue Ocean Strategy Basics – Breaking the Value/Cost Trade-Off"
- Blue Ocean Strategy Basics – Noncustomers
Blue Ocean noncustomers aren’t just new customers; they’re a new type of customer. It’s your first week of MBA school. You’re excited, psyched, and vaguely hungover. A professor walks to the front of the class and asks “should you focus on existing customers or new customers?” Every hand in the room shoots up. “Anyone knows … Continue reading "Blue Ocean Strategy Basics – Noncustomers"
Vacuum Tube (Diode)Working for the Edison Electrical Light Company of England, Sir John Fleming invented the diode, a vacuum tube at the heart of all early electronics. Radios, television, telephones, computers – virtually every electronic we’re familiar with today – was first built with diodes. Diodes are typically vacuum tubes, though some have specialized gasses in them. … Continue reading "Vacuum Tube (Diode)"
Options & Futures“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today,” cartoon character Wimpy Wellington repeatedly offers. If he worked as an options trader he’d probably say “I’ll gladly pay you 1/10th the price of a hamburger today if I can buy a hamburger, sometime in the next year, at the price they are today.” You’d answer: … Continue reading "Options & Futures"
LithographyLithography allows highly detailed drawings to be inexpensively reproduced at high volumes. Before lithography, printing remained similar from Gutenberg until Senefelder’s lithographic process. Senefelder worked as an actor and playwright. Unable to earn a living, he turned to printing as a trade but could not afford the typographic fonts and materials. Frustrated, he started experimenting … Continue reading "Lithography"