James Drogan

From time to time, Prof. Karl Lang at Baruch, invites me to have a discussion with his class on issues related to IT.

Last night the discussion as about the McKinsey report mentioned as the title to this post.  The preparatory note for this discussion can be found here. 

This post is intended to be the start of a threaded discussion with the students (and other interested people) on this subject of IT strategy.

I also want to thank Prof. Lang and the students for an enjoyable and worthwhile evening.  I'm not sure my remarks ever survive good scrutiny by good students.  I come away from this sessions learning more about other views on the matter at hand.  That is good. 

In May of last year I posted regarding the acquisition of an iPod.  It has continued to work out well, expanding the reach and range of the material that I get exposed to and learn from.  And it makes good use of the time available when commuting.

I've been particularly struck by a couple of recent podcasts.

The first is from HBR Ideacast.

Redefining Global Strategy: Harvard Business Online's Steve Singer talks with Pankaj Ghemawat, author of the upcoming book Redefining Global Strategy: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Matter. 

The link is an iTunes url.

Ghemawat provides a view of globalization that is substantial different from what one finds in the mass media.  In short, he estimates that  globalization has perhaps half as much impact as many people think.  He also has a companion article on HBR Online, Globalization Myths Versus Reality.

The second is from IT  Conversations.

Rich in linguistic play and delivered with both wit and panache, Eben Moglen's talk is an intellectual delight. Beginning with a look at the history of memory from the public recording of England's 11th century Domesday Book, Moglen leads us through the private memory palaces of 14th and 15th centuries to the problems of privacy that started with photographic technology. Convincing us that we have willingly given away our data and that those who now possess it have the right to use it, Moglen proposes voluntary data collectives as the answer.

Again, an iTunes url.

Fascinating, provocative examination of the subject of memory, in many forms and with many implications.  Remarkable speaker.  I could hear no background noise from the audience.  Maybe this was just a good recording setup, but I doubt it. 

Periodically I look atthe traffic on this site.  This morning's view brought the following summary.

 

The traffic has increased by almost tenfold in the space of a year.  What's going on?

Here is a list of the most popular pages for the previous month.

Why the apparent interest in Gelernter?