Introduction Discussion Topic: Kressel discusses innovation in the introduction. Comment on his discussion of innovation and how it relates to your opinion of what innovation is. Comment on one of your classmates entries.

My Discussion Input:I see innovation as building and improving upon what we already have with creating new technologies that will influence the world we live in, possibly and hopefully making it better than before. Kressel defines this as revolutionary, “developing or creating something new”, and evolutionary, “make improvements and building upon those processes to keep their existence and necessity”. We have communication technology innovations that we use daily (our computers, cell phones, pda’s). Innovation, according to Kressel, is technical development and/or inventions that create new industries, products and processes, and approaches to solving complex industrial problems. He uses examples like the transistor, laser diode, and steam engine. These are innovations that were created but were not recognized of their importance until later and further development in their existence.

What caught my attention was how he discussed the affects of globalization in the digital world. More and more countries are utilizing and relying on each other for financial and economic reasons. It may be cheaper for a business in the U.S. to out source its customer service to another country or to obtain equipment at a higher quality but cheaper investment. I know this has been taking place for some time, but just think of the advancements that have taken place, not just in our country, but all over the world. My Responses to Classmates (2):I too have that same question on what the new innovation will be for ICT.  We as people seem to have some control and input as to the needs and wants of innovation.  Miniaturization is one example that drives the changes in technological advances.  Kressel even made a point of this.  I feel there is importance in creating and building upon advances in the case of miniaturization, especially for our mobility devices that today have become necessities in our daily lives.  But how far can we go and grow?  For myself, I can't think of what might be developed or come about that can be greater or more powerful compared to what we are already using.  I know there will be something, some day.

I totally agree!

I feel we as consumers and users are the driving force to have these innovations materialize to our needs and wants.

Chapter 1 Discussion Topic: Chapter 1 covers many important digital developments. You need to list 3 and describe them. You need to respond to one of your classmates entries.

My Discussion:

MOSFETS: Considered the building blocks for data storage devices. Today we know these devices as memory or RAM. Mosfets are the foundation for today’s integrated circuits, memories, commercial transistors, and imaging devices. The mosfet itself performs switching and amplifying functions. Under Moore’s Law the advantage of making mosfets smaller is that more processing capabilities can be put on single chip. When the size of the transistor decreased the processing power on microprocessors, in our computers, increased.

Memory: Memory is what gives our computers the ability to store and retrieve digital information rapidly. Of course the more memory we have in a device the faster the retrieval is of information. This is where our software and data are stored to give our processor easy access to retrieve it. There are three memory types or MOSFET memory structures; 1) the most important is DRAM or dynamic random access memory. DRAM offers the largest storage capacity for a given chip size because they only require a single transistor per cell. 2) SRAM or static random access memory uses six transistors to create a single cell for storage. They don’t need to have their stored charges refreshed, they offer faster access time, and there is justification for their higher cost. Both DRAM and SRAM only store information as long as they are connected to a power source. 3) Non-volatile or flash memory will store cell charges indefinitely (time period of years) even without being connected to a power source. Cell phones are an example of a device that uses flash memory.

Magnetic Disk Storage: We know these as hard drives. The disks are coated with a metal oxide, and an electro-magnetic head performs the reading/writing/and erasing of information. The head does not actually touch the disk; it floats very close to the disk surface. Information is written on the disk in bits (1s and 0s). This is done by a change in magnetization process. The disk can rotate at a speed of 4000 revolutions per minute. Higher performance disks rotate at double that speed. The storage capacity of disk drives has doubled about every 18 months since the 1950s.

Chapter 2 Discussions:

How is VoIP changing communication?

My Answer: An example that I use with my class to explain VoIP is; imagine you have a business and you have a branch office in California, instead of using long distance for phone calls and paying that long distance bill, you would be making your phone calls through the network using an IP address, similar to the way we communicate by using our computers with email, only now we are actually sending voice over the network.

Probably the biggest affect VoIP has had is the savings in cost for businesses over using the public switched telephone network.Other important advantages: Unlimited nationwide calling for a flat per-month fee, competitive with and sometimes less than

local connections. Free caller services like voicemail and caller-ID. Portable phone numbers. Inexpensive international calls Location-independent telephony: as long as subscribers can plug into a broadband connection

they can make and receive local VoIP calls anywhere in the world. Web-enabled features, receiving messages by email or on the web.

IP-based voice systems are taking over the traditional phone systems in the corporate communications systems. VoIP is forcing changes in companies’ business models. Carriers are beginning to offer their own VoIP services at the risk of reducing their revenues per minute per call.The consumer market for VoIP is rising as well. With the quality of calls and the improvement of services that are making VoIP more available customers are making VoIP link favorable over the standard telephone system.This shift has profound implications on the telecommunications industry. VoIP threatens a major revenue source, the billing for phone calls per minute. Because data connections are considered to be an always on connection and are billed by a flat fee for the service, so the per-minute billing is becoming obsolete which has an adverse affect on the telephone companies. Also, since only a fraction of the data capacity is used, subscribers can still continue to use email, browse the web, and perform other activities without interfering with calls.Government regulations and price controls have controlled the phone service for years but because of voice calls becoming just another data service those barriers are dissipating.

Chapter 3 Discussion:

Discussion Topic:The Big Central Research Laboratories Emerge up to the 1970’s: Corporate Labs in a changing Environment (p. 107-114).

My Response:

I was very surprised also with the number of people that were involved in and part of the corporations that took a lead in some of the greatest innovations of the past that we see as necessities and accommodations in our lives today.

The prominent innovation that was talked and explained about the most in this section was RCA’s color television. What caught my attention was the fact that David Sarnoff, the leader of RCA, had a vision for innovation. He wasn’t concerned with what their competitors or other people thought, he was concerned with the success of the product and the corporation. But this success of a product was not done or can be contributed to one person, it was the fact that they put their energy and focus on having successful and reliable research and development labs along with intelligent scientists to contribute their knowledge towards a product.

Chapter 4 Discussion:

Chapter 4 Discussion Topic:Read the article under content titled "Critical Thinking" paying particular attention to the PMI technique. Read Chapter 4 "R&D" Goes Global" in Competing for the Future". When you come across

main points, classify them as Plus, Minus or Interesting. Submit your top Plus, Minus and Interesting to the discussion board and read your colleagues discussions. Find one topic that you would have classified the opposite i.e. a "Plus" you would have classified a "Minus" or "Minus" you would have classified a "Plus" and explain why.

Chapter 4 Discussion Response:Because of my background as a Career and Technical School Instructor, I focused my attention on the educational aspects and information that was produced in Chapter 4.

A plus would be how the technology field and industry influences people/students to pursue an education and career in a technology field. I am not just solely focusing on technology though, but the idea of having people influenced enough to further their education and giving themselves an opportunity to succeed. Countries are building solid educational systems to keep their brightest students at home to help build high-tech industries (p. 133).

On the other hand I found the minus to be that of the technology driven societies and influenced educational programs and centers that are created are providing either inadequate education or training along with insufficient English language skills. This education in some way is looked at as ‘supply and demand’. Since there is a need for highly technical engineering graduates more and more schools are trying to accommodate that need without putting in the efforts of using reliable and resourceful information and giving their students the information, education, and training needed to achieve a successful outcome.

Since I am focusing this discussion on an educational topic, the interesting part that I found was under ‘Brain drain, brain gain’ (p.133-136). The focus is that countries need to provide and support their educational systems to become a quality provider for the needs and success of the country. As the title states, countries that provide outstanding educational universities benefit with enrollment of students from other countries. The brain gain is that most of these students continue in the workforce within the country they received their education from. A study performed by David A. Patterson found that the US has a need for foreign talent in information technology. His study showed that the American college student’s interest in Computer Science is on the downswing. One of his explanations is that students are avoiding the IT profession because news about jobs being outsourced to India has had an influence on their decisions. Of course this information is misunderstood or misused; due to the fact the IT employment grew 17 percent since 1999.

Chapter 5 Discussion:

Chapter 5 Discussion Topic:In Chapter 5, Kressel discusses the role that venture capital industry played in bringing digital technologies to market. Please define what venture capital investing is, and identify one other significant idea relating to VCs from the chapter. You must also comment on at least one of your classmate’s entries.

My Discussion:

Definition of ‘Venture Capital’: A fund raising technique for companies who are willing to exchange equity in the company in return for money to grow or expand the business. Venture capital firms often want a high rate of return (20 %+) and will finance the business with $500,000 to millions. A venture capitalist differs from an angel investor in terms of wanting greater control of company and quicker return on investment. http://sbinformation.about.com/od/creditloans/l/bldef_venture.htm

Venture Capital (VC) investing can be a firm or group of firms investing in a business that is just starting up (seeding a new business) or a developed company. But they also prefer to handle and work with companies that are in the early stages of maturity or have demonstrated some financial and operational stability.

Today, Venture Capital firms are specializing in businesses in relation to communications, software, and biotechnology (p. 183).To be successful, an investment from a Venture Capital firm is not solely for a monetary value. The firms want to protect their investments. They do this by being active in management, keeping up to date on the markets and the ever-changing technology, tracking whether the company is progressing, and deciding if there needs to be changes made within the company’s structure or personnel.

It is not uncommon to have more than one VC firm co-investing with others with the same business, this way the developing business can meet its cash needs as needed to help it succeed.

Chapter 6 Discussion Topic:

Chapter 6 Discussion Topic:Do you agree with Kressel's summary on the globalization of manufacturing?  Why or why not?  Comment on others.

My Chapter 6 Discussion Response:When I started reading this chapter I was solely thinking about the wages, and how it is cheaper for companies to out source to other countries due to the low wages they would have to pay to produce their product. I was having a negative feeling, and not necessarily agreeing with Kressel. While I

was thinking about this I was also getting a little angry. I am one of those people who feel we should be taking care of and producing more jobs here for the people here in the United States. But of course after reading further and the rest of the chapter, of course I learned and found out that producing a viable product at the lowest cost possible is not only affected by wages, it also has to do with the geographical location, marketing, process improvements, access to engineering talent, subsidies, interest rates, and the product itself.

One of the portions of the chapter that had an affect on my current thinking was the section on page 243-247, ‘High IP Content”. In this section it explains how the semiconductor production labor costs have less impact on the final price of a product. The labor costs are of less importance to the production of a wafer containing chips than the market price of the chips and to rapidly implement new process technologies to maintain a competitive advantage. The prices of theses chips vary, depending on their function and how much IP they represent. Even these prices are not a contributor to the profitability of a companies’ marketing the end products. It’s the ability to come out and be the first with new products and the high value-added content in the products that outweighs the disadvantages in raw manufacturing costs. In these conditions it is economical for companies to continue manufacturing products in developed countries, where the most productive technical talent is found.

I still don’t fully agree with globalization of manufacturing. We have talent here that can be utilized to produce competitive products within the manufacturing process.

Chapter 7 Discussion:

Chapter 7 Discussion Topic:Chapter 7 deals with government intervention to preserve Intellectual Property (IP). Choose one of the questions below and respond with your opinion. Also, respond to at least one other classmate's response.1) Does government protection of IP generally work?...Why/Why not?2) Are these effective? (Choose 1) ... Why/Why not? - Embargos, Patents, Copyrights, or Trade Secrets3) What else should governments do in protecting IP?4) Who else should be involved in protecting IP?5) Who shouldn't be involved in protecting IP?

My Chapter 7 Discussion Response:I don’t believe that any of the options to protect a product (#3) are or can be effective world-wide. I know sanctions and laws can be enforced within a country, but when we are talking global business and industry I can’t see how any of these can be enforced. If one country invokes an embargo on another, that country can turn around and find its needs and resources from a different country. Copyright laws are being broken daily within the music and software industries as examples. To keep track of the individual users who break these laws would be and are too financially and time consuming.

World-wide control and security of the Intellectual Property of a corporation is hard to fathom. I am more apt to understand that we can enforce and have a better control of these laws within an individual country and that the corporations themselves need to be responsible for taking care of and protecting their products. Once you go outside of the boundary that control is lost, because of the so many players that are involved in the industries, markets, and even black-markets.

I can see having and using government as a guide within the established country, but not to have full control or to be solely relied on by the company.

Discussion 8 Topic:

Discussion 8 Topic:In Chapter 8 Kressel's focus was on the 'Impact of the Internet', 'Big changes in Communication', and the 'Global expansion of the Electronics Industry'. How have these three innovations/changes had an affect on your life and career, and what are your feelings about the shift and balance of economic power in the world? Respond to one other student's discussion.

My Discussion 8 Response:The Internet has proven to be a valuable resource in every aspect of my life. Whether it is at home, my job, or the use of the on-line learning for my Masters at UWS, I am in some way using the Internet daily. We have become accustomed to scheduling our daily lives and routines through the

use of Internet. We shop, research, communicate, check our children’s grades, teach with on-line curriculum, read and add discussion topics, these are just a few of the things I do. My class had a presentation last week from a college instructor. He said we are only using about 5% of the Internet’s capabilities at this time. Can you imagine as this percentage grows what the other capabilities that we will come along and what we will be able to do by logging into a pc, if they exist anymore, or our hand-held devices, or virtual systems.The Internet is no doubt a convenience that we are growing into and with. But it is not all positive. The more it grows and strengthens the bigger the chance of negative actions by individuals will also take place. This is where we as users or IT professionals need to be careful.

Like the Internet, the increases in mobile devices that are used for communication are of increased popularity, and just about everyone has access to a mobile device. The reasons that people use these devices vary. The availability of companies and access are again changing on how we do things.One of the main reasons that the digital communication is on the rise is due to the increase of wireless access, even though I still have issues with my cell connection when I go to my parents’ in central Minnesota.We have not got into the sending of text, video, or pictures yet. We mainly use our cells for the traditional phone or direct connect calls. One of the problems I have is using it while I am in the car. There are times where I need to make a call, but if it is necessary I will wait for the fact of trying to be safe and not distracted. This goes the same for taking a call. There are times when we are so busy, I hate to say it but, the cell phone conversation maybe the only communication we have in a day.Besides the cell phone we can access movies through the Internet, watch a streaming video of the church service we didn’t make it to, or of course use our email or chat sessions to communicate with our friends and family. Times have changed and will continue, whether it is for the better is for us to decide as individuals and how we adapt to and use the capabilities and accessories that come with digital communication.

Balance brings competition, and in order for a country to survive economically, they need to keep up the trends and markets. I feel this is good for any country, especially the US. Hopefully this brings forth drive and improvements within the technical industry in the US. I know the market for jobs is on the rise IT jobs, and for myself I am always looking to better myself or observe my options within the industry. It is not that I don’t like being a teacher or my job, but nothing is secure.

Chapter 9 Discussion:

Chapter 9 Discussion Topic:Describe the "global village" and pick out one other point, big idea, that you feel is important in this chapter. Respond to one other classmates post.

My Chapter 9 Discussion Response:To me the ‘Village’ is where people meet to interact in person for special events, shopping, and where businesses perform their function of service and needs to the people. When I add the word ‘Global’ into the phrase, many of the functions that take place in the stand-alone village remain the same except for the face-to-face interaction between people. Because of the Internet, digital communications, and the other technological innovations that have taken us to where we are at today, these same functions are performed daily but in and with a global interface. Businesses are run in one country, but controlled in another. Shopping and purchases are performed from the homes through the Internet within or form another country. We

communicate with friends, family, or with co-workers through the use of cell phones, email, video conferences.The ‘Global Village’ encompasses the world, its people, and the technological innovations that brought these three together into one economical and sociological ‘Village’.

Big Idea and Concern: US manufacturing activities and investments are on the decline (p. 336). Since 2000, more factories in the US have closed than have opened. An example is the chemical industry with annual revenues of $500 billion had only one new plant under construction in 2005 compared to 50 plants in China. The US needs successful products to compete in the high-tech markets. They need to supply Research and Development into high-value products in order to keep up and survive with other successful countries.

Chapter 1 Discussion of Wikinomics

Discussion Topic:

Ch 1 - Wiki: Please pick a topic from the list below and expand on it. Also respond to a classmates post.Please pick a topic and expand on it:1. What was the company Gold Corps. Problem and how did Wikinomics play a role in solving this problem?2. Where did the CEO of Gold Corp. get these ideas and what was the original idea based on?3. How much time did Gold Corp save with its new approach and what was the financial growth of Gold Corp as a result?4. With the new changes that Wikinonomics proposes, what areas does the text say will be substantially affected?

5. Is peer production the same as collaborative growth? Why or Why not?6. The text refers to “weapons of new creation”, can you list at least 4 web sites and how they affect our new world paradigm.7. The text refers to the “Blogosphere”, and that over 50 million people are registered across the globe, with a half a million hits per day.  What is this “Blogoshere” and how do you see it affecting our future?8. What does the word “Wiki” mean, and where did it come from?9. Do you believe that we are at a global tipping point, as referred to in the book?  If so, what do you think the ramifications are?10. How did Proctor and Gamble gain from outsourcing R&D? 11. What is Innocentive, and how does it work?12. The text refers to Bill Gates opinion of Wikinomics as a potential threat and refers to it as “communistic” in fashion.  Why would he take this opinion?13. How is the “old web” different from “Web 2.0” as described in our text? 14. The four principles of Wikinomics are:  Open Source, Peering, Sharing and Globalization.  Please offer you understanding of these principles and there effect on the new era referred to in the text?

My Response to #2:In 1999, McEwen went to an MIT conference for you presidents. During the conference the subject of Linux and how it was developed was talked about. McEwen learned and listened to how Linus Torvalds and software developers had assembled the world-class operating system by using the Internet. By using the Internet, Torvalds revealed his code to the world, which allowed thousands of anonymous programmers to contribute their contributions to the making of and adding improvements to the software.McEwen took this Idea back to Gold Corp. and used it as a tool to utilize the knowledge from people around the world to try and locate the next finding of gold in Red Lake. They called this expedition the ‘Goldcorp Challenge’ and within weeks they received submissions from all over the world. They went from a $100 million dollar company to a $9 billion company because of this venture.

Wikinomics Discussion on Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Discussion Topic:Chapter two discusses the factors that are enabling "The Perfect Storm" and the social networking tools in the storm. Please research and discuss an incident where social networking tools have had either a positive or a negative impact on a corporation's bottom line. Alternately you may discuss the Net Gen generation and if you agree with Tapscott and Williams findings. Please also respond to at least one of your classmate's postings.

My Discussion Response:I am starting out with a different approach pertaining to the Net Gen society and where our students and children will be taking us in the future.

My wife and I chaperoned a 6th graders birthday party last weekend where there were approximately 26 6th graders, boys and girls. Just about every child had a cell phone and/or a MP3 player. This was actually an interesting day of events that we took part in. We were able to watch them text each other from outside the house to the inside, and from the upstairs to the downstairs. This celebration of technology and the birthday also included my 6th grader partaking in these events. Talk about social networking.

The generation born between 1977 and 1996 is bigger than the baby boom (page 46). This generation dominates the online communities, they are the active creators of media content whereas their parents were and are the passive consumers. Of course with this can come the good or the bad for the parents. Young people today are the authorities on digital revolution that is changing every institution in society (page 47). This statement can be related to the changing of thoughts, processes, and the way businesses are ran and how business is done at the corporate level.

The Net Generation’s concept of work and how it is performed is way off balance compared to how our grandfathers, fathers, and even how some of us were taught, trained, and educated. The Net Gen is bringing forth change in the working environment by introducing speed, openness, mobility, and playfulness. It’s not just staying in the boundaries or having tunnel vision, it’s thinking outside of the box and utilizing the innovation of the web as a tool to improve a business, or create a new one.

At our school we are slowly rising to and utilizing these web related resources. We are creating podcasts to promote and gain attraction for our School District. We have developed a Student Ambassador program which is a social network of students that come from a variety of School Districts who use their input and knowledge to promote and assist in recruiting student enrollment. I know we can not stop here. We need to keep searching for ways and utilizing the innovations that are in place and that are yet to come to continue to strive and stay ahead.

Wikinomics Chapter 3 Discussion:

Chapter 3 Discussion Topic:Navigate to www.wikipedia.org and select a topic. Add factual content to the topic by clicking on the appropriate "edit" hyperlinks or "edit this page" tab. In your discussion thread, indicate the URL of the edited page, the edited section title, and the added content.

Example URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma%2C_WisconsinSection: IntroductionAdded Content: "The motto for the city of Alma is "Step into Living History".

Please express your opinion of this experience. Do you believe the content in Wikipedia is factual and a reliable source of information? Respond to a classmate's post.

My Discussion Response:

URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Routing

Section: Routing

Added Content:

Routers create broadcast domains. A network broadcast is a message that is sent to all hosts on a network. The reason for a broadcast is for a host on a network to retrieve information about an unknown host. Broadcasts can be necessary and useful tools for protocols on networks to enable data communication. The larger the number of hosts on a network, the more of a problem broadcasts become. More hosts equals more broadcasts equals more consumed bandwidth on the network. When these broadcasts are sent, the hosts that receive the broadcasts need to process them, and this processing takes away valuable time from performing other important network functions. Broadcasts are contained within networks by the Router; these networks are known as Broadcast Domains.

My Opinion:

This is the first time for me with adding information into Wiki. I found the experience to be interesting, knowledgeable, and important to myself and the topic. Before doing this experiment, my understanding of wiki information was not all factual or believable. But after doing further investigating and the actual project, I have realized that the information that is inserted and displayed is of factual relevance. When I was searching the Wiki for topics, I noticed that some topics were marked with; ‘needs references’, ‘possibly copied and pasted’. This makes me to believe and understand that the information that people have inserted is checked to identify its reliability.

Wikinomics Chapter 4 Discussion:

Chapter 4 Discussion Topic:Ideagoras are mutually beneficial agreements for many reasons. Explain any one of these benefits. To support your explanation, utilize the book and your own research of one company, firm or individual with experience participating in Ideagoras. Also, respond to at least one classmate.

My Discussion Response:Companies have come to find that utilizing out of the business resources and technology to assist with solutions or unanswered problems are a necessity not just for monetarily reasons but also to market innovations. Companies that have created, have ideas, and inventions, but didn’t have the know how to get the product into the market or it maybe didn’t fit with company’s brands or strategies needed to find a way to get their intellectual property into the markets. This is where yet2.com came into play as an ideagora.

Companies could utilize yet2.com to post these on-the-shelf assets to be licensed externally. This utility allows companies to expand across multiple and most often related industries to allow their patents to be licensed outside to bring in revenue.

Proctor & Gamble was and is a company that made dramatic changes according to their philosophy. P&G generated many patents, but was only using 10% among their own products. Because of this, they have realized that the external marketplaces and technology are keys for innovation strategy. P&G makes every patent in its portfolio available for license to any outsider, as long as it has existed for five years or has been in use in a P&G product for at least three years (page 103). This strategy provides incentives for P&G’s employees and innovations.

http://www.pg.com/company/who_we_are/ppv.jhtmlhttp://www.yet2.com/app/about/home

Here is an interesting article on ‘Ideagora’ from Business Week.http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070215_251519.htm

Wikinomics Chapter 6 Discussion:

Chapter 6 Discussion Topic:Share your views on the notion that we are entering a New Alexandrian-age, including potential benefits and obstacles that can be expected. Respond to at least one other classmates post.

My Discussion Response:With the Alexandria Library, the collection of history, artifacts, and information was stored in one location, one building. Back in those years this was the only and reliable way to keep track of and store this history. Today, with the digital age, and the information of history that has been created it can be accessed within limited time and

effort. This information is stored, backed-up, and under security to prevent anything that would be detrimental to it.

Benefit: The study of Science was one of the main topics of the chapter that has been incorporated into the digitization age. Having this information digitized gives access to a network of people who can share and/or provide information and solutions to problems. This also took place in earlier years, but it was much slower. Ideas and information was exchanged in small groups, through letters, or they met at a specific location. Later on, books were published that shared the knowledge that was created by different approaches and minds.Digitization brings the knowledge, information, and interaction into a today, real-time effort of agreeing, disagreeing, collaborating, sharing, and finding solutions to world problems.

Obstacle: On the other hand, companies that don’t share their needs or input are finding themselves isolated and falling behind (p. 154). We have learned in previous chapters that companies are thriving and reestablishing themselves when they have used resources outside of their company to obtain knowledge from resources outside of their company.

Possible Obstacle: Many of today’s youth are growing up only knowing how to gather and search for information by using a computer and the Internet. I think kids today experience data as ‘disposable’. It is here for my use at any time and gone when I don’t need it anymore. They know that doing a search on the Internet is all they need to find what they are looking for and they don’t need to broaden their search.

Wikinomics Chapter 7 Discussion:

Chapter 7 Discussion Topic:In your opinion, what are the major benefits and disadvantages of using mashups / 3rd party APIs in business? Given this information would you implement one of these applications for your business, and if so on how vital of a system would you consider using it? Please comment on a classmates post as well.

My Discussion Response:

Benefit:

When opening up your business to outside resources there is a risk, and this is something that will need to be weighed out within the company. The benefits that come with mashups and 3rd party APIs usually out weigh these risks and can benefit the company and the 3rd party. Large communities are created that can produce and bring innovation and value to a product. If a company can cut down in costs of maintaining and research and development on a product, why not? The 3rd party innovators assist and become part of an expanding company, providing their knowledge, talent, and skills. Many of these 3rd party people do get a monetary award for their work and time.

Disadvantage:There is the possibility when the door is left opened you have the chance of inviting hackers and unreliable sources into your company and infrastructure. But when people have a sense of accomplishment and the possibility of earning extra money for their work the idea of performing a damaging act can be strayed.

As long as the overall outcome is for the better of the company I would definitely consider opening up to bring in resources from the outside. The benefit of having one or more outside resources working together on your product brings in diverse knowledge and expertise for the success of the product. One thing that needs to be considered is that this is a global array of resources. The benefits of improving on a product or innovation will not only profit the business but also the customers.

Wikinomics Chapter 8 Discussion:

Chapter 8 Discussion Topic:Pick one of the following questions to answer:1) What are the advantages and disadvantages of global plant floors?2) What is your opinion of the global plant floors being an emerging trend in industries?3) At the end of the chapter Tapscott asked the question, "How will global plant floors and techniques such as localized modularization play out in markets such as health care, diesel earth-moving equipment, or construction?" What do you think will happen?

Also, comment on one other classmate's discussion.

My Discussion Response:

Advantages: 1) Building of trusting relationships from partner to partner to build a successful

process and outcome.2) Efficiency and effort put forth in the design and engineering process to make sure

that the product is consistent and precise.3) Sharing of the costs and risks brings motivation to the companies and people

involved.4) The testing and collaboration of a part can be performed prior to being delivered.5) Sharing of knowledge and expertise is evident when you have more minds

working together to develop a product.

Disadvantages:1) The risk of sharing data and design can be detrimental to a company if it falls into

the wrong hands.2) Possible delays in delivery and the distance and type of transportation needed to

move parts from one company to the next (location).

Wikinomics Chapter 9 Discussion:

Chapter 9 Discussion Topic: Please describe a key idea in the chapter and explain why you feel it is significant. Also respond to at least one classmates posting.

My Chapter 9 Discussion Response:

One of the big things that I took from the chapter and its examples was is that the hierarchy of personnel is changing. The positions and roles are still evident and the nature of their jobs, but CEOs (the bosses) are realizing that ideas from the lower level people, or the workers (the grunts) have their own ideas, and probably better access to the needs and wants of customers. In the Best Buy example, Stephens learned that he could trust his employees and engage them in processes innovation and improving the company. His employees actually formed

collaboration within and among themselves without Stephens knowing. This wasn’t negative, because this is what he was trying to accomplish in the first place.

Companies need to value and put trust into their employees. The bottom up approach brings motivation, accomplishment, and a sense of importance to the company for employees. With the access to the Internet a wide variety of information can be shared and developments and ideas can take place. Utilizing what you already have can save you the time, trouble, and money in the future, and can make your company grow and have a positive affect the people inside it.

Wikinomics Chapter 10 Discussion Topic:

Answer one of the following questions. Also reply to one other peer's post.1. How do you see Wikinomics having a direct influence on your life in the near future? Explain the implications of this impact.2. "What kind of leaders will be required to bring this new corporate worldview to fruition?" P. 2703. What are your thoughts on the openness of media rights in the United States? Do you believe there will be any change in the current, wide-spread thinking of the use of media? Please explain your thoughts.4. Explain the impacts of a telco acting as a gatekeeper in a tiered version of the Internet. What would the Internet look like in the future?5. What did Tapscott mean when he said "Stability is dead." What effect will this have on future businesses?

6. Explain how you plan to apply the power of Wikinomics to your workplace. How can the ideals of openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally create a more efficient workplace?7. Explain one example of the power of peering that you have heard about. Enlighten the positive aspects of the peering of these two companies.8. Our mothers told us to share, so why shouldn't we continue to listen to her advice? Explain how sharing in the digital age can help the world.9. How could software fall in-between being "completely open" and "completely closed"? How will this affect the future of software development?10. Explain the positive and negative aspects of acting globally? How will this affect businesses around the world?11. How has the power of the Internet affected ethics and politics in the media? How have these unbiased accounts affected public opinion and knowledge of events happening around the world? Give an example if possible.

My Discussion Response to #11:I feel the Internet gives us more freedom of the where, when, why, and what we want to read and search for. I have a difficult time watching news channels or even reading the newspaper because they seem to fall to one side, unless it is for the weather or sports. Even now, I have a difficult time watching the weather. I would rather look at a satellite shot on the Internet for myself. I like to choose what I hear, watch, and read. I don’t need to listen to someone’s perspective on which way they lean or to their opinions if I don’t want to. It seems like that is the way our local and cable news channels, even radio, are going towards. I can tell whether it is a left or right. This affects the way people think and what they want to believe, whether it is true or not. I feel that we receive that channel’s, station’s, or person’s personal opinion, and there are people who believe what they hear, whether it is the truth or someone else’s opinion.

I think the negatives get reported more than the positives. Of course, if you go on the Internet, especially MSN or Yahoo, you hear and see the same negatives. So I have to search for what I want to see and read. We can take a look at the war in Iraq or the presidential election coming up. I don’t want to get too deep into these two discussions, because I get a little angry on how these two events are covered and the negativity that is brought out towards the U.S. Of course, if you go on the Internet, especially MSN or Yahoo, you hear and see the same negatives. So I have to search for what I want to see and read.