Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

One Platform to Innovate From

People, Ideas & Objects is about bringing a software development capability to the oil and gas industry. This is assumed as necessary to have innovation in the earth sciences and engineering disciplines drive the industry forward. A rapidly changing and innovating industry requires that the ERP software that it uses; supports and identify the industry standard Joint Operating Committee. People, Ideas & Objects brings this capability about through the development of the software as defined in the Draft Specification.

I mentioned a few day's ago the 20 developer teams we foresee in developing this application. One of these teams will be for the mobile platforms that are becoming common in the market. Whether these are phones or larger devices these products will bring about many changes to the prepared organization. I have also documented on this blog before that these types of devices threaten the unprepared organization in ways that I don't think are fully appreciated.

One of the ways in which the unprepared organization is challenged by these devices is the access to the new and innovative type of applications. Having to use the previous generations of technologies has a negative impact on the quality of work being conducted in the industry. If an engineer sees that the industry is unable to use these new technologies, they may decide to move to more progressive industries. People want to get the job done, not haggle with old technologies.

Another way is for the technology to enter the back door of the organization. This I feel is the worst possible situation. People using new technologies that the organization has no understanding of. There are over 140 thousand applications on the iPhone and soon to launch iPad. How many of these are involved in the operation of the oil and gas industry. Thankfully the oil and gas industry does not establish a large enough market for a developer to focus on them specifically, however, there are applications that are being used without the organizations knowledge. How many are accessing data and information that is of value to the firm or its competitors? It is reasonable to assume that there is data and information being prepared on these devices that the firms know nothing of.

These new devices are of substantial value in the hands of the oil and gas workers. Working remotely, or at the office, the ability to connect and interact with other people, data, applications (ERP & Mobile Apps) provides substantial value. The People, Ideas & Objects Mobile Teams Product Owner is able to provide these types of applications to the People, Ideas & Objects users and Community of Independent Service Providers. However, they are also able to ensure that the Security & Access Control, Data Model and Military Command & Control Metaphor are incorporated into the Mobile Applications. The ability to incorporate these application attributes are only possible to the People, Ideas & Objects Mobile Application team. The have the access to the other application modules of the Draft Specification, are innovation focused and most important of all are a critical member of the software development capability that People, Ideas & Objects provides the oil and gas industry.

It is disappointing to the community at large that these types of opportunities may fall another year into the distance. The discussion yesterday about the high probability of a funding failure hurts the industry in terms of dealing proactively with these technologies. The ability to ignore these technologies doesn't exist anymore. You either incorporate them into your business constructively, or let them enter the organization like a virus. It's the choice of the firm and unfortunately, if the funding failure occurs, this will be the way that the oil and gas industry deals with the new technologies. Not what the community wants to do.

With a purpose driven software development capability, what possibilities are there? This new iPad will have video chat enabled. Would it be constructive to have all the members of the Joint Operating Committee to meet virtually, face-to-face, with the other members? And could this be on an ad-hoc just-in-time basis, anywhere the participants are and anytime of the day? Would this provide value to the member firms? Of course it would. What would make the discussion more valuable would be the ability to have these discussion in a secure manner, that were respectful of the Compliance & Governance of the member firms, recognized the Military Command & Control Metaphor that dictates the JOC's pecking order, recorded any decisions made, authorized and implemented any plan of action, and lastly have access to the proprietary information and data of the property associated with the JOC.

One quick additional point about the use of a device like the iPad. Each producer firm that is a participant in the JOC will have their own unique strategy for the property. They also have their own costs and revenues. These are almost universally mutually exclusive to the strategies, costs and revenues of the other member firms. Would it be of value to have these other data elements show up to the participant for their own purposes?

All of the points mentioned are possible with the development of the Draft Specification and having the software development capability inherent in the People, Ideas & Objects offering. Approaching this type of opportunity in a constructive manner is the appropriate way to move. I would hate to lose another years time because the industry did not have the foresight to fund these types of developments. Its one thing for a separate organization like People, Ideas & Objects provides this type of functionality. Imagine if it was Exxon that owned and operated a software development capability and functionality like the Draft Specification. Would anyone else ever use it knowing it was owned and operated by one producer? What the industry needs is one platform to innovate from.

March 31, 2010 is the deadline for raising our 2010 operating budget. After which a variety of consequences, such as financial penalties and a loss of one years time will occur. Our appeal should be based on the 21 compelling reasons of how better the oil and gas industry and its operations could be handled. They may not be the right way to go, but we are committed to working with the various communities to discover and ensure the right ones are.

If your an enlightened producer, an oil and gas director, investor or shareholder, who would be interested in funding these software developments and communities, please follow our Funding Policies & Procedures, and our Hardware Policies & Procedures. If your a government that collects royalties from oil and gas producers, and are concerned about the accuracy of your royalty income, please review our Royalty Policies & Procedures and email me. And if your a potential user of this software, and possibly as a member of the Community of Independent Service Providers, please join us here.

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Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Apple's App Store and others.

What this post is about is the type of environment or community I see People, Ideas & Objects becoming. There are many types of communities that exist today that I can point to, and detail the attributes that appeal to me, and what I think should be emulated in "our" application modules. (Click on the title of this entry to be taken to a New York Times article on Apple's App Store.)

Google 

I am a prolific user of Google applications. Including Google Apps for People, Ideas & Objects where the Wiki, blog and many other productivity and collaboration applications are available. A regular Google Account also provides the ability to monitor and control the various data types that an individual is interested in. Consisting of more then 33 distinct applications, each is capable of managing a certain element of your world, and connect you with members of your community, whatever that may consist of. 

The attribute that I find Google Applications provide is a very good example of what the alleged "cloud" provides. Up to date applications that are available everywhere. This is the next element of the always-on Internet, and represents a huge leap in software value. When applications can be upgraded once, the speed benefits more then just the developers. The iterative development of software is possible, and users are put in the driver seat and in control of the applications features and functionality. 


Apple iTunes

iTunes, the application that just keeps getting better. Music, podcasts, radio, movies and TV. All of your entertainment in one easy to use, search-able database. And if you want to purchase a song or movie, the iTunes Store is just a click away. All the sophistication that is the iTunes application is available in the easiest interface. You have the opportunity to organize and manage your entertainment in unique and innovative ways like SmartPlaylists, and the new Genius functionality. 

The attribute that I find iTunes brings is the complete management of one element of your life. Your entertainment. What I would like to see is the user, who is in control of the developments for the oil and gas producer, use the People, Ideas & Objects application as their commercial environment. The place where they earn a living. 


Apple's App Store

We've all heard about the iPhone and its applications. Independent developers and firms that are selling "cloud" based services can develop an application very easily for the iPhone. With a huge Software Development Kit provided by Apple. A developer can make an application that could be a complete home run on the iPhone for as little as $50,000.00. With a readily available market, and distribution to consumers, developers are finding access to revenue streams of up to $500,000.00 / year. 

It should be made clear that this is the first time that a developer has been able to independently invest, market and earn based on their entrepreneurial skills. There have been markets such as SourceForge and Collabnet. But those are not necessarily ways to make money. They only provide for the ability, in the open source ideal, to being involved in making much better software. 

I am doing what is possible to make People, Ideas & Objects the second market for these developers. But theirs more, much more. This is also the marketplace where users will be able to actively participate in making the software they want and need, and also earn money for the time spent on working with developers and also their producer clients. 

The services associated with People, Ideas & Objects software are licensed to the users under contract. Developers and Users are able to look to the work being done here as part of their career and for monetary gain. As I have mentioned here many times before; the total cost of a global application with the full scope of a producer firm, is estimated to be in excess of one billion dollars. The majority of those revenues are distributed to the individuals who make the software what it is. The users and developers, please join me here

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Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Steve Jobs and his Apple iPod.

Today was a great day for the Apple faithful with a high profile presentation of the new iPods by Steve Jobs. I want to reiterate the risks of these WiFi enabled hard and ram disk devices in the corporate environment. Pod Slurping is the ability to access and copy corporate information for unauthorized purposes. Now with WiFi the risk rises. A relatively remote risk if you have a secure network, but with all things network, the number of ports and the number of methods is limited by human imagination. These devices, along with the SunSpots and Motes that I recently wrote about, will be perceived by some people as being either curses or highly effective tools. Since I am a glass half full type of thinker, I'll just mention how I use iPods today and what potential they have in the hands of the oil and gas industry that is supported by a capable software development vendor.

I currently have two iPods that I use constantly. I have used iPods for over four years and find them to be an indispensable tool in this day and age. Firstly I use an iPod Shuffle, the clip on 1GB model that I fill with PodCasts. The iTunes Music Store has many quality podcasts that I subscribe too. Unfortunately I listen to up to 2 - 3 hours of casts each day. The Shuffle allows me to control when and where I can listen to them. I clip it to my lanyard and have the earphones handy. A simple click of the play button and I'm right where I left off. With over 15 hours per charge, I have many PodCasts that I want to concentrate on when I am commuting, waiting, or just out and about. I like to think of this time as an increase in my productivity as I can generally listen and do something mindless at the same time.

What I have loaded on my Shuffle right now is Bloomburg on the Economy, EconTalk, Google Developer Podcast, The McLaughin Group, Meet the Press, 4 courses of lectures from UC Berkeley (2 economics, 2 information technology), Stanford which includes the Hoover Institute, MIT, Dr. Moira Gunn Tech Nation, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer etc. Jobs stated that there are now 125,000 podcasts, 25,000 video podcasts, so there should be something for everyone. I frequently felt frustrated that I was not keeping up on this valuable content. Now I can synch as frequently as I like and have the most up to date information available to choose from during the day, all thanks to the Shuffle.

I also have had a classic iPod for over 4 years and find them an indispensable and valuable tool for travel and the like. I also back up all of my data to them, frequently, creating a corporate risk if you lose the device. With the ability to watch movies, television, YouTube or Google videos they can provide an asynchronous portal to the entertainment / information you enjoy or need.

What will the iPod provide in the near future? I think we have seen enough of these devices development to know that the iPhone will become standard fare for the productive worker. Email may seem like a small increase in capability, however, email with rich media is a completely different tool. People are frequently working with more complex ideas and concepts. Text is the clearest and easiest to produce, but many important concepts can be articulated more clearly in rich media. Speeches, presentations and corporate summaries will be the types of media that can and will be produced. For anyone in the audience of a company that needs to know, the presentation could become central to the quality of its communications. Just as I think blogs will soon replace resumes, companies will need to revisit the definition of their audience and the communications to the people they need to communicate with.

The Technical Vision that I have presented for this software development project, noted that the volume of data will grow exponentially. I have also noted the need to be tied down into an office is becoming more redundant each day, with possibly energy, or rather the saving of it, may be the killer app for ubiquitous computing, Demanding that people be available anywhere and at anytime they are required. iPhone will be your portal to the control of the demands of daily living and completion of your work.

Or maybe transaction processing will be the killer application that brings these devices into the corporate world. That is where I am putting my time, money and energy. In bringing this software development to the 21st century oil and gas user and producer.

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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Sistine Chapel of software.

Time Magazine's comment regarding Apple's new iPhone.

The user interface is crammed with smart little touches — every moment of user interaction has been quietly stage-managed and orchestrated, with such overwhelming attention to detail that when the history of digital interface design is written, whoever managed this project at Apple will be hailed as a Michelangelo, and the iPhone his or her Sistine Chapel.
I don't think Time magazine is known for overstatement, and we will have to wait and see what the final outcome of the iPhone will be. What can be stated today is this software development for oil and gas must implement this level of quality of interface. Nothing less is acceptable.

The days of when Microsoft pretended to emulate the Mac, and provide user interfaces to the bulk of users is over. The amount of time and effort that both Apple and Google spend on the user interface seems over the top for most of their competitors. The user interface is the reason for Google and Apple's success.

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Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Steve Job's Keynote Address.

Click on the title of this entry to go to Apple's CEO's delivery of his Keynote presentation to the Apple developers conference.

I am a Mac person, I have never purchased a PC, and thankfully will never have to. The manner in which I work can not be replicated on a Windows machine. I can break the Windows machine within a few minutes and have an inability to move at the PC's induced slow pace. As a result in order to do my work I can achieve more then double the productivity on a Mac. If this is vendor based lock-in, then I admit I am a dupe. Such that I would also recommend everyone discover the advances on the Mac. By purchasing a Mac and using it exclusively for the six months necessary to make the transition from Windows. Most people will experience an increase in their personal, and work, productivity.

The beginning of this process should start with the number one salesman of Apple doing his trademarked presentations. Steve Jobs shows many of the ways that the Apple interface is superior and provides this bump in productivity. The one and half hours to view this video is time well spent, and will provide an understanding of why his products are so different. I highly recommend viewing the presentation and starting on the transition to a Mac as soon as you can.

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