Triple Play, Triple Aggregation

SK Telecom confirmed April 5 as the date of its 5G launch - as soon as Samsung Galaxy S10 5G handsets are delivered (monthly plans expected around KRW55,000 / $49 per month). 

As expected, promoting a 'Social VR' experience well ahead of 5G ("Ready Player oksusu Social VR?") turned out to be a smart move to detect the levels of bandwidth required for an optimal user experience (e.g. 4G LTE too slow for rapid eye / head movements): Korea's leading MNO intends to leverage 5G compression technologies to speed up VR sessions by 30%, and to combine 5G with 4G and wifi where available to allow the download of a 2 Gb movie in only 4 seconds, dubbing the concept 'Triple Aggregation'.

While operators work hard to make the most of their costly pipes, other players parade with seemingly effortless solutions, but will Google Stadia fulfill its category killer potential? Announced at the Game Developers Conference by Sundar Pichai himself, the cloud-based platform and its Stadia Controler would love to piggyback the kind of boosters SKT has in store, but regardless, YouTube and Google Home integration will definitely help.

Apple had to react, but could only display an Apple Arcade that smells like 1980s spirit. Yeah! exclusive games! only on iOS, Mac, Apple TV! to download from your Apple Store! 

Even if that's in a different field, Apple TV+ is also about defending the Apple creative ecosystem. Maybe they will eventually netflixize their game the Alphabet way.

Anyway, Cupertino pulled a much more interesting card with their Apple Card, which should quickly allow them to show us some money.


mot-bile 2019

* see "SKT says 5G network is tested, ready to go"

Pitching Google Pixel in 3 strikes

Google unveiled its Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL handsets.

What strikes first is the convergence of communication codes between Google, Apple, and Samsung, confirming the difficulties of differenciating in commoditization times. That said, Samsung has beefed up its human side, Google its pedagogy dimensions, and Apple... well Apple remained Apple.

What strikes next is the focus on image, from the name (Pixel), to the pitch ("highest rated smartphone camera", "Unlimited storage for all your photos and videos"). This is not only a Google Phone, but also a Google Camera, and a boost for Google Photos. The Pixel is marketed almost like a featurephone, with a message more... focused than its competitors, even if Apple did stress iPhone 7's "advanced new camera systems", and even if Samsung's ill-fated but polyvalent Galaxy Note 7 offered new arguments ranging from sensors and lenses to Samsung Cloud.

The third strike comes from Google Assistant. We knew it existed, we knew it had in its DNA the capacity to help you defeat LEE Sedol*, but its namelessness makes it an even scarier A.I. monster, plugged to both your personal environment (controled by Big G), and to Big G's phenomenal reach in queries about anything, anytime, on any platform. Yes, Siri has a name, but its brains have just been purchased by Samsung, who snatched Viv Labs, the startup created by Siri founders.

But if one player has been struck out here, it seems to be - for the moment at least - Andromeda: the OS of Google Pixel is Android 7.1 Nougat, not Google's hybrid Android-Chrome OS. And Pixel was the perfect alibi, since the brand was introduced on Chromebook...

For Google, launching a competitive smartphone was probably more urgent than rolling out its new convergent OS.



mot-bile 2016


* see "Man v. Machine, Garry v. Gary"

Free launches Android TV on Freebox mini 4k

A pioneer in box combos, Free launched a new Freebox that runs on Android TV:

It includes 4k / UHD readiness, the Android TV Remote Control with voice search, and Google Cast interaction with your devices, which can monitor your TV.

Definitely a major boost for Google and Android in the smart TV arena. Free also revives its own maverick aura in a rather gloomy market. 

Not so good for the Free clients who happen to be Apple users, but iPhone fans can more often be found within Orange or SFR ranks.

mot-bile 2015

Google's Gtown wins over ZeeTown and the Large Apple Collider

As soon as Facebook revealed the plans of Zuckerbergville ("Zee Talk of Zee Town"), Google presented its future headquarters on its official blog*.

Big G will still reside in Mountain View, but in North Bayshore District. And double its capacity to 20,000 employees.

Waterway? Check. Highway? Check. But the rendering is much sexier and futuristic, and there's a nice video to support it (YouTube of course):

With its organic touch and absence of cars, Gtown looks more like a city of the future than Zeetown, probably because Google is much more into hardware innovation than Facebook. Furthermore, the architect is not a 85 year old legend (Zuck's Gehry) but two fun looking younger guns: Bjarke Ingels (Bjarke Ingels Group) and Thomas Heatherwick (Heatherwick Studio). Where Z looked for a brand, G went for sense and the essence. 

Granted, I'm unfairly comparing headquarters with employee quarters, and the constraints are not the same. But these projects speak volumes about differences in approaches and projected images.

Nothing as scary as the dystopian panopticon / large apple colliderish Apple Campus 2 announced two years ago. Now that's One Infinite Loop if I ever saw one:

Consistent with a hardware manufacturer used to proprietary systems...

mot-bile 2015

* see "Rethinking office space"

Digital payment: Apple Pay catching up with Google... and shaking up the market?

According to ITG*, 1% of all digital payments in USD last November were made through Apple Pay, compared to 4% for Google Wallet. The latter was launched on May 26th, 2011, the former last October 20th, and judging by the apparent success among early adopters**, Cupertino might have already seized an even more significant chunk of this fat holiday season pie. Over November, Apple barely scratched the surface, with a very early-adopter kind of retailer leading the pack: Whole Foods Market claimed 20% of Apple Pay transactions (28% in value)***.

But here, once again, Apple is leading in innovation rather than in invention, and this market pedagogy could also benefit Google itself, who didn't promote very much its own solution so far, but can leverage much wider platforms. The biggest loser could be PayPal, and ITG's Steve Weinstein thinks that they are likely to suffer against Apple Pay's much more user friendly solution. 

Needless to say, bigger players in finance are also paying attention. Many consumers still feel reluctant to make payments through other players than genuine financial institutions, particularly the ones that issue the reassuring plastic fetishes that, not so long ago, used to be referred to as 'smart cards'.

mot-bile 2014


* see "ITG Investment Research Report Finds Strong Apple Pay Momentum"
** key findings by ITG:

• 60% of new Apple Pay customers used Apple Pay on multiple days through November, suggesting strong customer engagement. In comparison, New PayPal customers used the service on multiple days during the same time period just 20% of the time.
• Apple Pay customers used the service roughly 1.4 times per week and used Apple Pay at the same merchant for future transactions roughly 66% of the time.
• Upon adoption of Apple Pay, the average consumer uses the service for approximately 5.3% of all future card transactions and 2.3% of all future card dollars spent.

*** Walgreens comes second (19%/12%), McDonalds third (11%/3%).

Freebies in? Mojo out!

If you're a frequent flyer on these miserable errlines (believe me, I feel your pain), you've been prepared years ahead for Apple's and Samsung's troubles.

The Apple case is very simple: Cupertino lost the leadership in smartphones the day they decided not to open their platforms to other manufacturers. You can't beat manufacturers and users demographics, and the Android community was bound to catch up very quickly.

For Samsung, the "Nokia Syndrom" hits a leader that can't cover all bases when commoditization strikes. It's not how far you stretch in today's range of products, but how deep you stretch into tomorrow's value chains. Nokia kept churning out great stuff from its research centers, yet didn't convert them into innovations because the leadership forgot to focus on innovation itself. Samsung is very much aware of the need to extend its leadership into fields more sustainable than hardware design, but that's easier said than done (Bada? Tizen?). And as smartphones become commodities, it's getting harder to differentiate from Chinese or Indian players that can themselves sell massively and invest massively in research (Xiaomi, Micromax... Motorolax?).

If plummeting market shares are only sanctions from the market, giving away freebies remains the ultimate sign that a leader is losing its mojo. Significantly, the freebies that signaled the end of the race for innovation leadership came in the form of cash for shareholders (see "Apple - the end of the affair"). Samsung chose to bribe endusers instead, by giving away gifts across Southeast Asia markets (see "Samsung Localizes Southeast Asia Strategy" - WSJ 20140811). 

A quick fix before the next big hit. Maybe the Galaxy Note 4 next month, supposedly a LG G3 killer that could come in flat and curve versions, and preferably unbuzz the upcoming Apple iPhone 6.

But again*, we're talking Fall/Winter collections here, not game changers.

mot-bile 2014

* remember "Apple's Ready to Ware v. Fast-Fashion"?

Samsung Galaxy S5, The (Almost) Next Big Thing Is Here

"The Next Big Thing Is Almost Here", that's how Samsung Galaxy S5 is announced on Samsung.com US:

Of course, what you read is "The Almost Next Big Thing Is Here". Here? Barcelona, at the 2014 Mobile World Congress.

Analysts seem disappointed by the last generation of the leader's star product, but it simply confirms the long expected commoditization of smartphones. Like computers before, performances will keep improving, and more enablers shall bring interesting changes in the future, but the device itself has reached a plateau for a while.

Even smartwatches and smartwrists have become commodities*: meet Samsung Gear 2, Samsung Gear 2 Neo, and Samsung Gear Fit.

Boring? Not so much: Gear has switched to Tizen, the - of course Linux based - OS propelled by majors who don't want Google and Android to rule, but don't want to resurrect Microsoft or Jobs either. Samsung already launched a Tizen camera last fall, and continues its low-key approach from minor connected accessories... 

This Tizen ain't the world heavyweight champion yet

I'm waiting for Tizen on a heavyweight boxing ring, not just around a wrist.
Ah, if only Samsung had a iTunes to leverage, that could boost the launch of a Tizen smartphone. And unlike Apple 2007, Samsung 2014 can't afford to launch a technologically imperfect first model...


mot-bile 2014

* MWC confirms CES: see "CES 2014: Beep Beep Goes Bling Bling"

Tomorrow won't be about Samsung v. Apple any more than the present is about Microsoft v. Nokia

Over the past weeks, Samsung buried the hatchet with Ericsson, before signing cross-license agreements with Google, and then Cisco, days after a similar deal between the last two (note that Google sold Motorola to Lenovo in almost the same breath, but this is not about hardware - Big G keeps the bulk of the patent portfolio).

Samsung and Google concluded in their press release ("Samsung and Google Sign Global Patent License Agreement" - 20140127) that "there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes". A clear memo to Apple, and food for thought - and juries - ahead of the next bouts in court between Suwon and Cupertino.

"Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes". Follow my eyes...

Again*, I'm not taking sides here. It's just that I'm interested in innovation dynamics, and that I don't like to see lawyers or finance people set the agenda in that field. Such partnerships don't put them out of the equation, but allow innovators to keep their eyes on the ball.

And key players to prepare for what comes next. 5G standardization, for instance, or the still open internet of things, domains where Google and Samsung don't want to become the Microsoft and Nokia of yesterday, leaders who were supposedly the best positioned for convergence and pervasive internet...

Samsung outqualcommed the Americans for 4G but now, the Korean needs to build a common platform with them and what's left of Europe before China Inc or other players try to claim their own time slot.

Tomorrow won't be about Samsung v. Apple any more than the present is about Microsoft v. Nokia

mot-bile 2014

* see "Apple - the end of the affair" or "Omnipatent v. Impatent"

Windows Mobile Go Home

The mercato is over, and while Vodafone-Verizon clinched a long expected Tottenham-Real Madrid-Garreth-Bale kind of deal, Nokia and Microsoft ended their 1990s rivalry at Intertoto Cup levels.

EUR 3.79 bn for the business units, and EUR 1.65 bn for the patents: that's all Nokia mobiles and their 32,000 employees are worth today. To add insult to injury, the buyer is generous. Microsoft would have dreamed to do just that a decade ago but today, the move sounds like a bitter defeat for two former foes years of decline had already brought close to each other (to the point Nokia's CEO - an aptly named Mr Elop - came from Redmond).

Blackberry should follow soon, but even that won't save Windows Mobile OS. Microsoft will have to leave its incredible shrinking comfort zone, slash royalties, or why not go Home, like Facebook did (a much cheaper mode of diffusion for blue screens).

Of course, the move doesn't disrupt in any way the ecosystem. It only puts more pressure on Steve Ballmer's successor. Google can rest for a little while: these days, neither Apple nor Microsoft seem to have a clue, and software-wise, Samsung remains a gnome. So no major challenges in the short term except themselves, regulators, or a new alternative popping up out of the blue (China could do that, but trust would be an issue).


mot-bile 2013

Apple's Ready to Ware v. Fast-Fashion

So Tim Cook hired Yves Saint Laurent CEO as Apple's VP of special projects.
So nothing changes: Paul Deneve already knows the company, he used to work there. And it's not about future lines of products (we didn't need Snowden to learn about iWatch, the smartwatch market is already crowded*, and smartwear has been in the air for a decade and a half), but about the future of a brand in mature markets where smartphones, tablets, smartTVs, smartwatches, smartaccessories and smartwear have technologically become commodities.

Long time no see! Reminds me  of the Pinault-Arnault web / telecom / luxury wars of the nineties!

Apple is used to conceiving articles that sell with a premium, but design itself won't make much difference for the basics. Anyway, Apple is now lagging in design (iPhone 5 < Galaxy 3), and brand loyalty has been decreasing ever since the company stopped delivering genuine innovation, focusing instead on legal battles, shareholder dividends, and shameless customer retention techniques leveraging purely on proprietary hardwares or softwares**.

Apple needs to revamp itself, to reinvent itself as a leader, and to stretch the brand umbrella beyond its now usual markets in terms of products and services, consumers, distribution channels... without destroying the most valuable parts of its DNA.

Apple won't shrink down to Nokia's Vertu, or even to the equivalent of 'masstige' fashion brands. But it will have to sustainably justify higher price tags.

Of course, differenciation in mature markets remains a much tougher challenge for Samsung.

BTW the company disbanded its strategic foresight unit yesterday: they didn't come up with successful suggestions for new businesses.

At least the family is already familiar with many markets, ranging from top luxury to fast-fashion...

mot-bile 2013

* e.g. "I see through you: City of Sin, Screens, and Smartpagers"
** e.g. "Anovations for Applelatres: Apple has lost its compass", "Omnipatent v. Impatent", "Apple - the end of the affair"...

Facebook Home, a Mobile - Virtual OS Operator?

Mark Zuckerberg, who's doing a pretty good job at following Bill Gates' footsteps, reinvented the blue screen with Facebook Home.

The meta-app (embedded in HTC First for proof of concept) basically puts your Android experience in the background - nevermind the mobile network operator, that fabled 2G hero. And Google already faced a win-back surge from manufacturers, Samsung leading the way with a suite of me-too apps on time for Galaxy S3*...

Even if only 5% of hardcore mobile Facebook users switch to this "Virtual OS Operator" Facebook Home, that's going to have a significant effect, including for key partners. For instance, Bing's performances will significantly improve in all fields: search engine, mapping, translation, value aggregation... remember how Google Maps caught up with Daum Map and Naver Map within months in Korea?

Feeling blue? Seeing red? No green robot around?

But of course, too much Facebook kills Facebook, and all attempts to control the user interface and customer experience have failed so far when the brand is too overwhelming (and Google was pretty good at hiding its brand on Android).

If hardware and OS become commodities, personal environments remain personal... or at least the main ruler remains smart enough to let endusers believe they do remain personal.

mot-bile 2013

* see "Anovations for Applelatres: Apple has lost its compass"

iPad me-too: an iPad Mini to stop the iBleeding?

With the iPad Mini, Apple catches up with rivals Samsung (Galaxy Tab 7.7), Google (Google Nexus 7), Amazon (Kindle Fire, also 7 inch screen), or Barnes & Noble (Nook, also 7 inch). As usual, connectivity comes second: WiFi enabled devices arrive before the 3-4G gizmos (TTM not specified for LTE).

At least, iPad mini is released before the Microsoft Surface 7 inch, for a good reason: it has not even been announced yet.

So Tim Cook is mocking at Microsoft, a company from the past. Steve Jobs was mocking at 7 inch tablets not so long ago, but that was a time when Apple was well ahead of the pack.

According to Strategy Analytics, Android claimed 41% of the tablet market on Q3 2012, up from 29.2% one year earlier, while Apple iOS dropped from 64.5 to 56.7%. Actually both are much lower, since some players don't disclose their sales figures, most notably Amazon, who will probably open up sooner or later anyway: Amazon is about distribution, not into OS.

Launching iPad Mini looks more defensive than proactive. The market leader was condemned to cover all bases. Now what's expected from a cultural leader reaches far beyond that.
 
mot-bile 2012

Anovations for Applelatres: Apple has lost its compass

A couple of weeks ago, I changed my Samsung Galaxy II for a Samsung Galaxy III. Hardware-wise, software-wise, performance-wise, connection-wise, they clearly don't belong to the same galaxy. Samsung even managed to made NFC look sexy! The only - minor - default I see was the way the thin back cover vibrates with the speaker, but it's perfectly OK with the flip cover.

If I were (still) an Apple customer, I'd be really disappointed by the iPhone 5: the only real innovation is Lightning, the new dock connector, yet another proprietary marketing trap.

I never considered taking an iPhone because I used to be a Mac user, and I knew Cupertino would do the same with handsets as what they did with desktops:
- start with the sexiest product and user interface,
- refuse to open the proprietary system to other manufacturers,
- progressively retreat to a niche of Appleatres ready to pay dearly even if the product is not the best one anymore,
- get a bounce or two much later, when computers/smartphones are commoditized, just by the grace of a new sexy design (the iMac, the iPhone 69)

This time, they did it all by themselves. Cupertino didn't even need as formidable a foe as Redmond. Mountain View is by no means a small fish, and it learned a lot of sharkisms from Redmond, but if Android claimed the leadership so easily, that's because iPhone refused to hold it by building the largest ecosystem. Actually, to me the last straw was when Apple copied Microsoft by playing short term against long term and dividends against investments, by putting innovation last ("Apple - the end of the affair", "Omnipatent v. Impatent").

So I'm not even disappointed by this iPhone 5. To me, Apple has lost its compass long before and far beyond its first attempt in mapping apps.

Speaking of apps, that's something Samsung seems to be eventually more comfortable with. Not to the point of becoming a reason to be loyal to the brand*, but less an embarrassment.


mot-bile 2012

* my last 4 handsets were Samsung, but I don't feel any special loyalty to the brand. I live in Korea, where their gizmos happen to be the best packages, and the customer service very efficient.

Omnipatent v. Impatent

The Samsung-Apple patent war saw Samsung claim a minor half victory in Korea and Apple a major win in the US. The difference in rulings between the USA and Korea rulings may be the difference between carrying a case and carrying a suitcase.

Samsung lawyers are used to rule the show at home: this army of Seoul University Law School alumnis and former judges know all the tricks of the trade. I don't think there was much jury vetting nor adequate preparation ahead of the US trial, but Apple might have won anyway.

This is not about innovation, but about Intellectual Property management, property meaning that you own the rights, not necessarily that you invented something. Particularly in a system where the date of the patent makes all the difference, regardless of market realities.

As everybody well knows, Apple was built on infrigements: from stealing the Beatles logo to stealing Xerox inventions (no need to remind this audience of Steve Job quoting Picasso about great artists). The iPhone's round square icons mentioned in the trial? We saw them more than ten years ago in early mobile internet portal prototypes. When the iPod, the iPad, and the iPhone hit the shelves, Job's genius was as always in selecting the right existing bricks at the right time more than about inventing something new.

I'm sad to see that what matters now is not anymore to have the best Research and Developpment center and the best inventors anymore, but to have the quickest vultures and to snatch the best patent portfolios. The best product? Look at nowaday's rush for Samsung Galaxy. And anyway, the commoditization of smartphones is already well advanced. Apple is only gaining time*.

I'm interested in innovation. The NTP-RIM farce was not about innovation. Interval Licensing suing Microsoft rivals** was not about innovation. Google purchasing Motorola was not about innovation. This Samsung-Apple war is certainly not about innovation.

mot-bile 2012

* see "Apple - the end of the affair"
** see "Paul Allen v. Rest Of The Web : NTP Redux ?"

Daum TV + or -

From its brand new Space.1 (spacedotone) headquarters in Jeju-do, South Korea, Daum Communications announced Daum TV and Daum TV+.

Daum TV is an Android base OS for smart TVs, Daum TV+ a set-top-box running on Daum TV. But since Daum doesn't provide any access, it cannot deliver as many goods as its rivals (and certainly won't fight with them for content rights), but that's an entry point for Daum Cloud services. A not-quite VNO planting a device at the heart of households.

The gizmo, a small black cube, will sell at E-Mart for KRW 199,000 (USD 174.9) and that's quite a bet. Daum already saw Google storm through the Korean market via Android smartphones, they don't want to miss the TV wars. But here, Daum is also up against Google and Apple, who can leverage on a global reach. Even Samsung is pushing Android instead of its own Bada...

To sum it up, this black cube is supposed to be a category killer, with the biggest players around as targets (operators, MSOs, manufacturers, OS...), but not much of an army of services or contents to support it.

Good luck.

mot-bile 2012

Apple - the end of the affair

When shareholders come first, you know innovation is not the priority. Mirroring Microsoft's decision to fork out billions from its war chest to the market years ago, Apple officialized the end of vision-driven business.

I know the talk of the town is rather if AAPL, GOOG, or PCLN can break the $1,000 barrier, but if I were a long term investor in the compay, I wouldn't feel happy.

My only worry: I hope the stock will not fall too soon. If Apple coughs, the Nasdaq plunges. I don't mind if Wall Street takes a dip, but I'm not okay if it leads to a November defeat for Obama.


mot-bile 2012

Nokia Tablet Windows 8

Saying Nokia must not fail for its future tablet is an outrageous understatement. The 10.1 inch, Windows 8 device must at least close some of the brand's gaping gap with Samsung's Galaxy series, and if possible propose an alternative to the Android - Apple duet (a more sustainable alternative than BlackBerry, that is).

A disruptive design could help, preferably one that would not be too reminiscent of the Nokia Communicator, or of the Sony Tablet P (the Terminator version of a clamshell, if not the Transformers version of a scallop).

Considering how RIM and HP fared, surviving next Xmas season could already be a noticeable achievement within 1.0 techie communities.

Nok-nok would be also working on a 'revolutionary phone'... Whatever that means (a Nokia Windows smartphone that sells, maybe?).

mot-bile 2012

Amazon, Facebook Smartphones? Who cares for Nokia Siemens Networks?

The coming holiday season is strategic for tablet market shares, and that's one of the main reasons why Apple blocked the Samsung Galaxy Tabs in key countries. Cupertino lawyers didn't even try to stop Amazon's Kindle Fire in spite of its vague iPhone 1G design: this low cost gizmo is not a direct competitor, it contributes to democratize the tablet format, and by contrast enhances the coolness of iPad in places where Galaxy's not available.

If the commoditization of tablets will take more time than it did for smartphones, it won't take ages either. Apple obviously intends to milk the cow as long as it can, and to make sure it doesn't miss the next wave. Meanwhile, Samsung doesn't seem to make the most of its leadership in bigger screens because what Smart TV needs is a leader in value aggregation. Unless your TV remains a dumb screen and your smartbox grows wings.

Smartphones will keep getting smarter, but frankly I don't care if Facebook, Amazon, and the countless players rumored to work on them launch one or not.

I care for the 17,000 people kindly fired by Nokia Siemens Networks by the end of next year, a measure shamelessly presented as a "new strategy" ("Nokia Siemens Networks puts mobile broadband and services at the heart of its strategy; initiates restructuring to maintain long-term competitiveness and improve profitability").

Fair enough, networks have never been sexy in this sector. Except maybe when there were more base stations than mobile subscribers, and when handsets were bigger than Macintoshes. But NSN can sound as attractive as SNS, and if it really wants to put "services at the heart of its strategy", all it has to do is to rephrase its press release.

I'd suggest: "Introducing "Newstrategization", our latest killer app".

mot-bile 2011

tech+ 2011

If I had received one Korean won each time the name of Steve Jobs was pronounced yesterday at the 2011 tech+ forum, I'd probably be a few million bucks richer today.

The thing is, the late Apple founder used to herald the convergence of humanities and technology, and that's precisely what this forum is all about : tech+ stands for technology, economy, culture, and human, wrapped up in / multiplied n-fold by resolute optimism (the final +).

While I'm at acronyms : the event was organized by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), and the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE). Overall, 7,000 people showed up at Kyung Hee University's Grand Peace Palace, an impressive cathedral overlooking the splendid campus at its autumnal best.

Day 2 featured no less than 9 keynote speakers and a final wrap-up speech, but time flew seamlessly thanks to perfectly rhythmed transitions. A refreshing change from the usual verbose introductions : dynamic animations on a giant screen launching each speaker like a rock star.

Actually, the most convincing orator happened to be an expert in music : Stanford University's Ge Wang rocked the audience with his musical demos, winning more than a few hearts with his 'Ocarina' version of Arirang. The young Chinese professor delivered the ultimate stevejobsian show : same black top, same beard stubble, same voice pitch, and same gadgets (iPhone, iPad, imCool). Even his Center for Computer Research in Music and Accoustic (Stanford's CCRMA) echoes Steve's sense of Karma. But Ge Wang is a truly original and passionate individual, with an universe of his own (inhabited by such Zorgians as Smule, ChucK, MoPho, or SLOrk*). Bonus: unlike "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", absolutely not arrogance whatsoever ! Bonus redux: an almost Mozartian touch (short high pitched laughters very reminiscent of Milos Forman's Amadeus). In a nutshell : the inspirational leader every innovating team loves to follow.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Hyundai Motors R&D VP's presentation was almost bad PR for the company. Since I've got the charisma of an anvil on stage, I can't blame him for not being as fun as Ge, but innovation is certainly not about repeating 'convergence' like a mantra without obviously understanding the word, and stamping it on every page of the company's catalog (I'm pretty sure these guys recycle always the same slides with a different keyword depending on the flavor of the month : 'well being', 'ubiquitous', 'premium'...?). Likewise, SK Planet's presentation reminded me of countless shows I attended fifteen years ago, introducing the next deja vu netco with a complete line-up of me-too applications (this time: Sundew, musicBunk, StyleTag, DishPal, Facecard, StarCall).

OK. I'm a more than demanding audience as far as innovation is concerned, but the least you expect is people really enjoying and believing in what they do. So everybody welcomed Yon Namgoong, another man of music and member of the Stevejobsian Adventist Church, and a true model for Korean students who massively attended the event: yes, you can succeed and have an impact, even if you didn't go all the way to the university. Yes, Korea needs to make more room for creative people with diverse backgrounds and a contagious eagerness to share. Yon was clearly more relevant when he developed interesting concepts bridging music with technology than when he interpreted corporate strategies, but did he have fun playing drum on stage !

Significantly, Ge and Yon delivered the same key messages through similar quotes about the evolution of technology : Ben Shneiderman for the hairy Chinese (old computing is about what computers can do / new computing is about what people can do), and the power shift for the bald Korean (power used to come from owning the tool, now it's about how you use it). Both pitches were clearly in the strike zone for the forum's "Technology@me" agenda.

Jay Elliot's job was basically to make sure we didn't forget to mention the late Jobs, and his qualities as a true leader in innovation. From a man who worked closely with him and other giants at IBM or Intel, a rather pleasant chat by the fireplace (i.e. Ge Wang's virtual lighter app for iPhone).

Neither Richard Florida nor Zhong Qui Wang brought disruptive insights either, but it's always useful to remind Korean corporations that stress can be counterproductive, and that staff shouldn't be considered as mere cost centers (and not only in R&D units). I guess Zhong must have an even tougher time trying to convince 'nouveau riche' Chinese entrepreneurs of the virtues of frugality and other Lao Tseuities...

What else ? I wish the 'creative space' presentations had reached deeper because there's so much to say about urbanism and architecture in a 'tech+' perspective for this country, but that leaves more threads to pull for future editions.

I don't know about Steve's second coming, but I'll be back.

mot-bile 2011 (also on Seoul Village : "tech+ 2011 - technology@me"

* respectively the company for which he serves as CTO, a sound programming language, the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, the Mobile Phone Orchestra.

Steve's Wonders

The first computer I owned was a Mac. That was back in 1989. I switched for my third one, but even now I keep a special affection for Apple.

I'm not a member of the Stevejobs Adventist Church and I never quite liked the guy, but I always respected the innovator.

Not the inventor but the innovator, the person who decisively accelerates the adoption of something new. People like to quote Steve Jobs quoting Picasso ("good artists copy, great artists steal"), or to remember how he "stole" Xerox's inventions (the windows interface later copied by Microsoft, the mouse)... Nokia and others could argue the Apple Store and iPhone borrowed more than a few characteristics but you've got the general idea : the company suing Samsung & co is not exactly the Saint it pretends to be.

Of course, Steve Jobs was not the only brain in Cupertino, and not the man who brought up new ideas. Of course, his fingerprints will be all over Apple's releases for the next few years, and the company has the money to remain a top competitor far beyond that.

But Apple lost the heck of a decision maker.

Innovating is about making decisions, trading-off at all levels (time to market, availability of key features, readiness of distribution channels...)... and this is the fastest-changing of all environments. Steve Jobs knew when to say no and when to say go. He could launch the first iPhone in 2G because he knew he could count on the customer appetence for the brand (a key asset built over years and perfectly entertained by the King of Hype), and because he had to leverage on the iPod / iTunes momentum without waiting for competitors to soak the market with 3G novelties. But some decisions must have been tougher, and future decision makings will be tougher without him.

It's time for Apple to expose its real innovation engine. We don't necessarily need to hear it roar now and then, but constant purring would be a nice surprise.

mot-bile 2011