About my comments in class...

Yes, currently being "green" can be competitive advantage for companies.  Not only is society demanding it, but there are now tax benefits for it, and as Doug pointed out in class, there are cost benefits and efficiencies that can be gained by it.  HOWEVER, we were talking about future companies, and my point was that in the future, it should not and will not be rewarded.  It will be expected.  That's all I'm sayin'. 

I thought it was interesting that so many groups came to the consensus that being specialized would be a characteristic of future companies.  I'm still not exactly clear what that means since so many of my strategy courses have focused on not narrowly defining the company's purpose or mission.  Aks told us to be mindful of the future and how our company's industries could develop.  For example, train companies narrowly defined their purpose as being rail companies instead of transport companies and languished.  Or oil companies being mired in being oil companies and not energy companies.   I suppose "specialized" does not mean "specific."  However, in the ever changing environment that we currently live, it seems to a company's advantage to be able to change quickly and be flexible with the products and services they offer.  I would imagine that in the future, these industry changes would happen even quicker than they do now, and a key characteristic would not be to be specialized but to be flexible and adaptable to the changing environment and their clients' needs.

Technology

Ah, technology. There are so many inventions and innovations every day. I have such a love-hate relationship with technology, but I am always excited by the "new" and "improved." I resisted getting a cell phone longer than most of my peers, but I had an active email account very early. I resisted joining social networking sites, and now I am on both myspace (though mostly dormant) and facebook. My favorite recent innovation is using the iChat and simultaneously battling Matt's brother and sister in Los Angeles and Denver, respectively, on Mario Kart. We can see and hear each other as we play video games on the Wii against each other, hundreds of miles away. I know this is nothing new, but it's new to me, and it's been a great way to stay in touch and have fun with Matt's siblings.

On the other hand, I received a hand written letter yesterday, and it was the coolest thing I've gotten in a long time. My friend, Tara, who has not joined the electronic community (email is painful, and I don't think she's updated her myspace account since she opened it back in 2006), got married last summer, and she sent me a picture of Matt and I dancing at her reception. Usually, when I receive pictures, it's a jpg that never gets developed and will typically sit in my inbox until I finally save it to my computer. I was touched to receive not only a hand written letter but a developed (looks like it came from someone's darkroom) black and white photo. It's not in my inbox or saved to my desktop - it's already on my wall.

In addition to blogging today, I think I'll write someone a letter.

Lost

I started watching Lost after accidentally watching the season finale of Season 1. What's in the hatch? Little did I know that I would be hooked, roped-in, and hopelessly addicted. What's the black smoke? Who are the "Others," and why are they so self-righteous and hostile? Each episode brought a new set of questions and few answers. Matt and I would endlessly debate possible scenarios and explanations for everything, trying to figure out what it all means. However, after watching the Season 5 premiere tonight, I wonder if I had seen this episode first, would I be as into it? Would I have rented all of the previous seasons in order to figure out what is going on in this crazy show? Is this show even good? I find myself incredulous and cursing at the television these days, but I cannot stop watching, and I'm fairly certain that I will continue to watch until the series comes to its (certainly frustrating) conclusion. Matt and I don't even try to figure it out anymore - we have settled into a mere acceptance that we will find out when we find out - if we ever do find out.

On an academic note, the show's marketers have effectively used viral marketing techniques to intensify the hype surrounding the show. I'm not one to run to the laptop as soon as a site address appears on the television, but I have seen some cryptic videos on YouTube that were obviously created by the makers of Lost. I can't say that my Lost experience was enhanced (or diminished) by watching the clip, but it made me excited about the new episodes to come.