Is The United States Still On Top? June 29, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Changing the World.add a comment
I’ve posted on here before about the US losing its edge in certain areas such as engineering and education. While I believe this is still true, I came across a very interesting article in this week’s edition of The Economist. The title sums it up well: “Still #1.”
The article basically states that although the United States may seem weakened right now due to the War on Iraq among other things, America still has its hold on the lone superpower position. China has been growing and will soon take over the US in terms of economic size and purchasing power but still has a very unstable political structure that could crack at any time. Investing in countries such as China is a great idea right now, but a large amount of risk is involved due to this unstable political structure. The Bush Administration, according to the article, has set the US back in the short term, but has not actually affected the balance of power that the United States still holds.
The United States still carries the most “hard” power because it has the largest and most powerful military force. The emergence of China and India is only good for the United States because these emerging economies will be trading a much larger volume of goods with the US.
I believe this article is correct in all of its claims. I would only like to add a cautionary aside. The United States may still be on top for now, but if we continue to have poor political leadership or don’t improve our education system and overall motivation, the balance of power could shift dramatically.
What has gotten the US to the point it’s at, will not necessarily allow it to remain at the top. The playing field has changed, and there is a new set of rules. The balance of power will shift to whomever can adapt, embrace, and create these new rules better than anyone else.
Entrepreneurship Implications June 27, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Entrepreneurship.1 comment so far
Pageflakes’ New Setup June 27, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Collaboration.add a comment
For those of us who read quite a few different blogs, a news aggregator/personal home page is a fairly useful tool. iGoogle, Newsgator, and Netvibes are a few of the most popular applications for this, but I personally like Pageflakes a lot better than anything else I’ve tried. The interface on Pageflakes is much better looking than most and allows you to view just a short snippet of all the recent posts on that particular blog. Of course you can add many different kinds of widgets as well, such as a calendar, to-do list, and videos. If there is a link or a picture in the post, Pageflakes displays it on the main page. You can always read the first several lines of the post without even having to click to it so its easy to determine if you’d like to read the whole article or not.
Tomorrow, according to this article from The Next Net, Pageflakes is set to introduce a major new feature to their site. Along with all the wonderful current capabilities, users will now be able to enter Pageflakes’ social network and share his or her page and collaborate with others. This should be an interesting new feature because it opens up the possibility to see what blogs your friends, or like-minded people are reading, and also just browse to find any kind of new information that you’re not aware of.
I also think that this will propel Pageflakes towards the top of the news aggregator/personalized page segment of the market. Pageflakes already has the most visually pleasing site, and now adding the blazing hot trend of social networking capabilities, it should be even more enticing to new users. Give it a try. You mind find it to be a substantial upgrade to what you are currently using.
Mind Maps — Creativity June 26, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Creativity.3 comments
I think Mind Maps are fairly helpful in coming up with new ideas and sparking creativity when a problem arises. I’m going to start posting some of my mind maps on this blog, hopefully to spur some thinking within your minds, and maybe they will actually be helpful to you at some point. The first one I have here is a mind map on the concept of creativity. I’m hoping to do a lot more in the future, and I’d like your input on something that would be helpful for me to create. Enjoy!
Little 500 Glory June 26, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Changing the World.1 comment so far
Although this probably isn’t consistent with great new ideas or conversation, I couldn’t help but post this exciting article from ESPN.com. Indiana University’s Little 500 has been ranked #26 on the list of 101 Things Sports Fans Must Experience Before They Die. Now I’m a huge sports fans, and many things on this list sound incredibly appealing to me (especially #19 UNC vs. Duke Basketball Game), but I was astounded to see the Little 500 ranked above such well known sporting events like the very event it’s named for, the Indy 500, and also The Kentucky Derby, U.S Open Tennis, and the Daytona 500. Little 500 is definitely an amazing weekend, and I think it would be great to see an even larger contingent of pure sports fans attending rather than just IU students and alumni.
If you think about it though, the Little 500 was first started as a small bike race put on by a campus group. It didn’t take a whole lot of effort, but once people started to enjoy it like the members of that group did, its popularity skyrocketed. Why don’t you start an event you’re passionate about? All it takes is a little effort and support, and with some luck, someday your event could be listed as something you must do before you die.
Free vs. Paid Web 2.0 Sites June 25, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Web 2.0.5 comments
The internet is booming these days with the creation of thousands of new sites in the so-called “Web 2.0″ category. Ranging from social networking to productive gadjets, or “widgets,” to interactive forums, this Web 2.o movement is actually quite useful. The one thing I find interesting though are the business models these sites are carrying out. Most of the new Web 2.0 sites are free to anyone, but there are several quite popular sites that require paid memberships as a full option. One prime example that I am familiar with is LinkedIn . I know there are dozens of others that require a paid membership, but these two sites in particular are what I would like to focus on.
First of all, there are two prime revenue generating concepts for a Web 2.0 site: paid subscription and advertising. Google cleary revolutionized the internet advertising business and many companies have followed suit. Advertising has become such a huge source of revenue that it is very easy for a popular site to earn a massive profit off of advertising alone. Networks like MySpace and Facebook are worth millions, even billions of dollars, and their members pay no subscription fee. However, LinkedIn, the self-proclaimed “King of business networking,” charges a substantial fee for any of their premium services. LinkedIn is a wonderful tool with many outstanding features and many people have been able to truly leverage it for business success, but with all the pressure from other start-ups offering similar or superior features for free, it could easily become obsolete. There has been a lot of discussion recently about whether Facebook could completely dominate LinkedIn’s market segment by allowing different parts of your profile to be viewed by different contacts. This would ultimately allow users to have a professional profile and a personal one so that they can moderate who sees what.
If this is the case, or if another start-up offers a service with superior features to LinkedIn for free, why would I still use LinkedIn? I might maintain my account there, but encourage my contacts to join this better service so that more could be done. It isn’t common for people to have profiles on different sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and it also isn’t common for a brand new company to essentially take over even if it starts far behind (watch Facebook begin to dominate MySpace in a few years to see what I mean).
Essentially, I believe many users will get frustrated with LinkedIn, especially if they move to a greater reliance on paid subscriptions. When I am only given a limited amount of introductions and network questions, it discourages my use of these tools altogether. I don’t understand why they can’t see the reward of moving to a free system with all the features and then luring every potential customer now that the LinkedIn name is well-established. The ad revenue would be enormous, and would probably easily outpace the revenue from the subscriptions.
Another service that fits this description is the Motley Fool Community. I love the Motley Fool website, and I also think their innovative ranking system within Motley Fool Caps is outstanding. However, why do I have to pay $30 a year to use their discussion boards to ask the questions I want to discuss? If this service was free, it could easily become the prime place on the web for financial discussion, and the ad revenue would be huge.
I hope the Web 2.0 sites currently using a business model of paid subscriptions will quickly see that this is an inferior strategy. It is too easy for another network to come along and wipe you out because the new network is free. Dropping these paid subscriptions will lead to more revenue, bigger social networks, and happier users. Gotta love a win-win.
Book Marketing June 22, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Marketing.4 comments
One of the projects I’m working on right now is to help promote a book written by a colleague. It’s a great book from what I’ve read so far, but it hasn’t gained any kind of momentum in terms of sales. A few of the ideas that I’ve brainstormed so far is to contact influential TV personalities or ask prominent bloggers to write a review, but other than that I don’t have many more ideas as of yet. It’s something I’m working on, but I’d like some other input. Any interesting ideas?
Is The U.S. Education System Flawed? June 21, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Education.5 comments
I’m still in the middle of reading Thomas Friedman’s excellent book The World is Flat, and one of the chapters poses an interesting question: How does America’s education system compare with the rest of the world? First of all, the US has a drastically different system than most other countries. Most developed nations have a national education system in which all schools follow the same curriculum, and it is tweaked to meet national ambitions. The US has a system in which each district can essentially choose its own unique course, and it may or may not be consistent with the majority of the country.
This system has its benefits because it allows for some flexibility and creativity, but in the end, it is essentially set up as if the US is not competing with the rest of the world. Most other countries define their education system based on what they’d like to accomplish as a nation which gives them a sense of purpose and ambition. This structured system has led, in large part, to the growth many countries are currently experiencing and will undeniably lead to continued growth in the future.
Now in theory, the US system should work just fine and would not leave the US at a disadvantage in terms of competitive analysis, however, the key ingredients that have led to a higher level school system in foreign countries are ambition and expectations.
In his book, Friedman recounts the experience of a 5th grade teacher who had parents of an Indian child come in and ask that their child receive more homework and more challenging assignments. An Eastern European couple demanded that their son be given a science textbook, and that the small science binder he was given was not sufficient for his educational development. On the other hand, many American parents came in to complain that the workload was just too much on their children, and there was no way they could complete it with the other activities they participated in.
This is what separates the educational system in the US with those of other countries. The other kids simply care more and have a passion for learning. American kids would much rather play video games and watch TV. Foreign students face steep expectations where straight A’s are often the norm, whereas in America many kids are rewarded for bringing home C’s.
I don’t think the blame lies in any one of the teachers, parents, or students, but society as a whole is the primary cause for our lacking education. Maybe someday school in the US will become “cool” again, but until then we are just opening the door for any other country to surpass our standard of living.
Creativity Affirmation And The Law Of Attraction June 20, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Creativity.add a comment
There are many self-help books and theories that all center around the Law of Attraction (namely The Secret). These books present some ridiculous claims: A guy who was getting so overwhelmed with bills he couldn’t easily pay started to think positive thoughts and dream about checks coming in the mail instead. Sure enough, the next month the bills had stopped, and he was now getting several checks in the mail simply because of his hopes and dreams.
I don’t believe these claims for a second, and it’s all just a big marketing ploy that really appeals to the masses of lazy people who want to achieve wealth or desires without any kind of work. The book has become a phenomenon mainly because of this, and it’s sad to see so many people believing in it and trying to only rely on their positive thoughts rather than productive actions.
Now, hold on a second. I’m going to contradict myself slightly here.
I do believe the Law of Attraction can be very useful to one particular area, creativity.
Many people claim that they are not creative and are not able to come up with new ideas. This is a problem. With that thought process you will never come up with any new ideas because you won’t want to try. However, if you truly believe you’re creative, then you will continue to try to think up new ideas. The more you try, the more likely you are to come up with a genuinely great idea. If you continue to tell yourself that you’re creative, you’re engaging in creativity affirmation which is the key to producing new ideas.
So, the Law of Attraction probably won’t make your bills disappear, but if you practice this simple thought process, you’re well on your way to becoming a truly creative person.
New Host and Title June 20, 2007
Posted by Bryan Povlinski in Inspiration.add a comment
I recently made the switch from Blogger to WordPress after I became increasingly frustrated with the Blogger interface. There are some great features in Blogger including the ability to post ads on your site and other Java add-ons that are not allowed here at WordPress, but overall I am able to use WordPress with greater ease, and it is much better looking than any of the Blogger templates.
This blog is loosely tied to the book Why Not? by Barry Nalebuff and Ian Ayres. The basic concept of the book is that many people just assume that all the significant changes in the world are being made by very powerful, famous people. It may be slightly easier for people in power to make world-changing decisions, but why can’t you?
I think the title of the Idea Exchange better represents what I am going to convey through this blog. Taking action on something you’re passionate about is sometimes difficult because you lack a unique idea to further your vision. Through entrepreneurship, collaboration, and creativity, I believe everyone in this world can make a huge difference. All it takes is an idea.
Combine a great idea with a dream and anything is possible. Think about it, and with all the new forms of collaboration available today, start brainstorming and creating something that you’re passionate about.
