A Nook for Books 124.0

I may have found a version of e-book reader I am ready to buy, Barnes & Noble’s Nook. Click the links at the bottom for a post and a video of its nice features. I have only two concerns that are typical with leading edge products.

Technology-Driven Evolution of the Concept of Product 117.0

Over the years, the concept of Product has evolved and widened from the traditional, push USP as innovators try to find unserved markets or create new ones. In classic iteration and interaction, these concept changes have driven invention. In turn, they have also been driven by invention or enabled by it.

SYNTHESiST Publishes at Technorati BlogCritics 116.6

Technorati’s BlogCritics invited SYNTHESiST to contribute to their online magazine, BC. I accepted their invitation and sent my contribution which was published today: “Innovative Applications as Paul Romer’s Endogenous Technological Change Approaches Its 20th Anniversary”.

Romer Space Innovation Finds Product Models for Viral Marketing 115.0

As an innovation practitioner in a latecomer country, I am very interested in applications and diffusion of Paul Romer’s basic research findings. I think his 1990 paper works well as a model for knowledge-embedded as well as for viral products, both of which create high value addition from Total Factor Productivity(TFP).

We Need Change to Compete 112.0

The World Economic Form (WEF) 2009 Global Competitiveness Report shows how badly the Philippines is performing absolutely and relative to its neighbors. The Philippines dropped 16 places to #87 out of 133 countries from #71 in 2008. I have always read the Report with reservations based on Paul Krugman’s comment that competitiveness does not apply [...]

Oprah and the Black Eyed Peas with A Viral Marketing Lesson 110.0

Hearing Black Eyed Peas’ “I gotta feeling” blaring in the background at the 2009 US Open tennis tournament turned on a light bulb in my head. It taught me two things: firstly, a technique (I will call PAIRS) for designing the architecture of a viral product and, secondly, that viral product architecture can be constructed [...]

Innovation Lessons from a Master – Steve Jobs of Apple 108.0

Steve Jobs introduced a new feature into the iPod nano on Wednesday, a video cam with 8 gig of memory and all for US$149. He said the feature was added to take advantage of YouTube’s strong growth in video-based social media. Jobs is a master innovator in Romer space – designing product architectures that are [...]

Innovation in Microfinance as an Ayala Blue Ocean – 1 of 2

I think the Ayala Group sees great opportunity in the microfinance market. They can put together a strong strategy – I will attempt here to cobble up one from a grab bag of MBA buzzwords, hahah!- and have a source of strong growth in financial services in the coming years. That is if Ayala can [...]

Philippine Innovation Mobile Phone Banking in Microfinance 100.0

For this 100th post, I am pleased to report another innovation area that I discovered the Philippines to be a global leader: mobile phone banking in microfinance. The four other areas of leadership I have reported elsewhere in SYNTHESiST are: renewable geothermal energy, PNG carrageenan from seaweeds, and SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology). Innovation is [...]

Musings as SYNTHESiST Turns Six Months Today 98.0

I feel like a daddy looking after my newborn, first child. First published this year on the same day as EDSA 1, February 25, SYNTHESiST has 98 posts as of today (that is roughly one post every two days). Also, I have commented on 39 books and journals or one every five days. In the [...]

Protection of Property Rights Guarantees Innovator Returns 97.0

On intellectual and other property rights, I have copied a relevant post from another Forum that I joined, VoiceOver 2015. A similar scheme for HIV/AIDS drugs for the developing world has been applied elsewhere (See Post #75) after a real threat from US$1 per dose substitute from India, a countervailing force needed for robust democratic [...]

Sources of New Growth During Crisis 96.0

Last week, I taught in a short course on “Growth Strategies for Entrepreneurial Firms” at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). I designed my part to teach new combo techniques in finding innovation opportunities in today’s crisis.

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