Tag: Electric vehicle

Continuous Improvement

Before Telecommuting and Online Retailing,  we got Management by Walking Around .

Then the gurus told us to “re-engineer” the corporation (Japanese influence).

Then, Toyota was on the roll with Continuous Improvement (Al Gore was buying into this when trying to re-invent the US Government). True to its form, Toyota continuously improves its R&D, from EV racing to 3-wheel concept EV. The Prius has established itself as the category leader.

If you don’t re-invent, someone else will (the Innovator’s Dilemma).

In fact, Steve Jobs did a great job at breaking the vicious cycle with 99 cents per song proposition, knowing that disruption would be followed by destruction (of the music industry).

Once again, we learn that corporations are sitting on their war chests full of cash.

They are looking to buy small and promising competitors, often times, to eliminate “disruption” in one fell swoop.

The big guys’ version of Continuous Improvement is Continuous Consumption, pac-man style.

From a Marketing standpoint, Hyundai and Kia have done a great job gaining traction and acceptance.

This is when GM, VW and other car makers all try to make a comeback in the face of pent-up demand (Recession hesitation).

Not only technology leapfrogs, consumers also buy in to the latest and greatest e.g. Galaxy IV.

More gadgets, more interconnection and integration.

From home to car to the office (even at those third places like Starbucks).

There will be a generation of consumers who take broadband for granted (reminds me of those pin ball machines, a 70’s must-have for off-campus hangouts).

Putting it all together. Companies need to continuously improve their products, services and ways to reach their target markets.

Buyers look for a positive experience, both on and off-line. Here is where the classic text, Influence, counts: social proof, consistency and scarcity.

When the Tesla is in back order, it’s a good sign (scarcity). So is the Prius (consistency). Before we know it, those with the guts to go for the Gold win e.g. full plug-in after trying hybrid cars(EV still needs critical mass -or Social Proof to be validated). With those war chests, I am sure companies can now afford to leap-frog their R&D knowing in their guts that there is a price for everything, including in-action. Even if you do nothing, just sitting on the track, you will likely be run over by a train. Kaizen.

An American Invention

Dr Lloyd Tran never stops and hardly sleeps. For a right reason. He is an inventor at heart.

He started out as a chemist. Then worked for huge corporations such as Monsanto. Then he invented and manufactured his own drug release device in Irvine, CA (right at the time companies started to look elsewhere to outsource and offshore). After a stint in nanotech, he found his niche in CleanTech e.g. solar panel, EV battery etc… His most recent invention: electric car conversion.

His students built on top of what they had learned from AC/DC (I thought that was a band).

So far, they have de-gutted a few Porches , VW, and even Jaguar as gliders to install EV components (power train, A/C and even cruise control). I test drove the green Porche and found it quiet, fast and futuristic.

I don’t see how others can’t do it. Just find a problem, ask why not and solve it.

Tesla is getting first-prize for this year Electric Vehicles (the S series).

Toyota, embattled with lawsuit and litigation, is a bit cautious and conservative. But even then, Toyota won first-prise in EV race cars. It has released its first three-wheel EV concept car also.

What’s the waiting? EMR (Electronic Medical Record) and EV. Or we just wait to admit everyone into ER?

We don’t lack the know-how. We lack the will to change. To rock the boat. All the while, we are told to think “out of the box”. Maybe the “box” or the boat, needs to get out of itself.

One way is to travel. To see how other species go about their days (water jars on their heads in the desert, automobile glider on buffalo cart in Vietnam etc…). I wish I could show you a picture of the latter which I saw on One Vietnam Network.

The point is, we take the path of least resistance by default.

Changes are mentioned only in passing. But men like Dr Lloyd saw an old Jaguar, hauled it back and made something amazing out of it (Jaguar ironically is now own by Tata, former colonized now owns empire’s jewel, after a change of hand at Ford).

If I were to be Tata owner, I would contact Dr Lloyd Tran, and ask to see the all-electrified Jag.

What used to be a symbol of luxury is now also hip and cool (environmentally friendly). I took that  smog-filled Jag to state inspection. Now, I heard that it is smog-free (zero emission).

Can’t wait to get back and give it a test-drive. It might blow me away (fast and furiously quiet).

For now, I put this out as a challenge: be world citizen. Solve problems where ever you may see them. Think first as a technologist, then a marketer (and last as a politician).

Before you know , you might even get elected. I know how hard and challenging the task was to transform an ICE Jaguar into an EV one. But the team did just that. All I have is “three cheers” to an American Invention. It is right here in our back yard (behind the city’s dump). One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, that which once was smog-filled now turns smog-free.

Music was saved

When Steve Jobs came up with his 99-cent song idea, he saved musicians from the curse of piracy.

It’s all in the ether. But musicians get paid, however long the tail. Better than nothing at all.

More people get to hear those beautifully written pieces. I walked by a coffee shop yesterday.

On its walls displayed the AKAI tape decks. A by-gone era. We used to gather around it to listen to Steely Dan‘s DO IT AGAIN,  again and again (ironically, we followed the imperative i.e. Do it again) .

Musicians like George Harrison was throwing a concert for Bangladesh, wearing white suit, with his  rendition of “My Sweet Lord“‘s I really want to see you Lo.

Something about being together, globally and ecologically.

That was before the internet. Or else, with today’s broadband, more would have joined in with near-zero latency.

We live in an exiting age, with technology at our disposal. But do we see huge crowdfunding that does humanity proud?

I know, I know. It’s all ad-hoc now.

Think global, act local.

OK. I am all for green weekend.

And Electric Vehicle conversion, one car at a time.

But in the grandeur scale, we need a hero. Be they from the entertainment or sports, politics or business.

Something is broken. Perhaps the spirit of togetherness, of committing to a cause larger than ourselves.

Like Jobs, I do hope some technologists can come up with apps or simple business proposition that saves the music and saves the day.

Simple solution. Less than a dollar. And let music sing. Not when we can still spare a dollar for the brother. DO IT AGAIN.

PLAY IT AGAIN. I really want to see you Lo.

End options

There are not many options at the top. There are even fewer at the bottom.

Earth soon will be home to 9 billion by 2050. What do we have to do to accommodate “incoming freshmen?”. Plan, plan, plan. At planet level.

Some want wine. Others beers. But they all come to the party.

Barbecue smoke or smoke stack?

We all breathe in and breathe out.

Same stuffy air.

Green-house effect, white-house policy.

Be kind, rewind.

Be nice, recycle.

When we love something or someone, we want to make it last.

Yet, we pay lip service to the only home we know: trashing it, logging it, polluting it.

Worse yet, we look down on those who attempt to do the right thing.

(Most solar companies, EV batteries companies all got battered and bruised).

Tesla S got Motor Trend‘s Car of the Year Award, however.

But will the public give it attention or even consider buyeing the 6-figure car?

Still chasing those status symbols: the Lamborghini‘s of the world.

We are just passing through.

Earth in the balance.

Just kick the can down the road.

Leaving even fewer options for next generations.

As if when it comes to the environment, we had a lot of choices (to live in another planet). Mars colony anyone?

Yes, the task is huge. The energy crisis is enormous.

And because of those reasons, we need to tackle them together, longer term.

When we keep leaving it to others, that’s when we are at their mercy.

Here in Vietnam, people and businesses experience frequent black-outs.

Middle of the day. Go and sit in coffee houses across the street.

Tell your customers to go away. Hope they will come back. Not your fault.

What a way to do business.

Especially when the membership fees had been collected.

Not a lot of options when it comes to end options. The only thing that is in the balance is Mother Earth herself. Conserve. Less is more. The economy of well-chosen activities. Massive mobilization of the intellect and the collective will. Yes, we can.

Un-Detroiting

While video recording and taking photos (time lapse) of our Electric Vehicle Tech session, I couldn’t help thinking about Detroit.

You see, these students have sat through 10 weeks of theory. Now they have a go at “degutting” the Internal Combustion Engine, to essentially make a “glider” (shell) for Electric components. The intended end-product is an All-Electric Vehicle, with zero emission (Bye Bye Sandy).

It’s not far-fetched or idealistic. Just realistic and achievable, right in front of my eyes.

When there is a will, there is a way.

More than a century of Detroit, of Fordism, and oil addiction.

Now at least someone somewhere is trying to jerk the chain, or even cutting it.  UnDetroiting.

Of course we need to take the economics of this into consideration.

Is it pie in the sky? Does it have a good chance of getting broad-base support?

While the I-pod is reduced to the size of a match box, we still can’t drive a carbon-fiber EV which costs less and leaves less carbon footprint.

Of course, we need recharging infrastructure. Of course, battery companies better not file bankruptcy etc..

I just saw something in the making.

I can’t figure it out.

What it is, ain’t exactly clear.

But with $5.00 per gallon on the West Coast, and Sandy on the East Coast, I think the idea of Electric Vehicle needs a relook.

As long as we get from point A to point B, why does it matter that the “mouse is black or white?”.

Technology changes all the time and is supposed to serve not enslave people.

But we have worshipped at the altar of the neon god we made (Sound of Silence).

No wonder we are subjected to OPEC and MidEast fluctuation  even when only 1/3rd of our supplies are from there. I am glad other energy sources and new-found ways are taking a larger shares of energy wealth. It’s in the head, in the heart and out there in space.

Whatever we need to survive (including being nice to one another) is available. Just a matter of coordinating and negotiating.

For a moment, the sky was the limit. If we hadn’t sent them home at the end of the day, many students would have stayed to finish “un-Detroting” the car. It is to show, when people are convinced and are together, they can achieve great things.

30 years on

USA Today celebrated its 30th anniversary issue, with bolder graphics and fonts (thanks! we can use larger fonts now).

Those papers we pick up outside our hotel rooms when traveling on business  (to be left behind at airport lounges).

Anyway. This issue features some “futurists” in each sector: urban architecture, space travel, transportation (Ford), internet (Twitter’s founder) etc…

A quote that jumps out of the page: “in the future, the world will be divided into two classes: those who are told by the machine what to do, and those who tell the machine what to do”.

Wow! unmanned cars which Google is currently test-driving. Electric cars = computers on wheels.

Information will be ubiquitous, like those electricity plugs we scarcely notice.

We will be 30 years older (just think back to 1982. Back then, a friend was “experimenting” with his personal computer).

Back then, we were transiting from cassette to CD, from a weak America into a stronger one (Carter was quoted as saying:” we have a crisis of confidence”), from being a debt-free nation into a debtor nation.

Now, Iran came in full circle.

30 years on.

A lot has happened, but then, nothing has been off-script: we still have an election, the economy is still in the top 3 along with the Arab Spring went south. Hatred incites, love unites. We need Buscalia (love Guru) and Moon (matchmaker).

30 years ago, we got the Concorde, Mc Donald Douglass and McDonald. Now only McDonald (even the Burger King near me was closed). A bounty is still out for the head of Rushdie, the writer in exile.

I heard in Detroit, houses were foreclosed section by section, and sold for 5K, but no one dared to come in and be the first penguin.

30 years on. Where would you be after paying off the house and college loan. Will you be driving an EV?  a domestic?

Will we do away with laptop as we now do with desktop (BTW, the father of laptop has just died. He brought friendly design to computers ).

It’s in the American character to “make things happen” instead of “letting history happen to you” (quoted Marc Andreessen).

30 years on. We will all be writing our memoirs (lots of time on hand). WordPress will be bought out by other photo and video sites, perhaps Google. Then when we search for someone or some place, it will show all the tweets and Likes, Linkedin’s profile and blog, video,  Google photos and Facebook social graphs).  

Our “ego-sphere” will be stored in the Cloud (reminds me of Augustinian line “our soul is anchored in the heavenly, no wonders we feel restless unless we find rest in Thee). Deep search will  not be just for private investigators.

Then we will have privacy issues just as in Electronic Medical Records. In an accident, the EV will pop up our medical conditions for first responders to attend to. It’s a bold new world. Can’t wait to grow old. Aging will be a cool thing, and not jeered at (especially when we can afford spare artificial organs) (see my other blog on NEVER LET ME GO) . We will stay active in the cities and don’t have to move to Cocoa Beach, Florida (home of the USA Today founder). 30 years ago, even while escaping to Bali or Bahamas, we couldn’t wait to get online (You’ve Got Mail). 30 years on, we can’t wait to get offline. Maybe the hotel still leave a copy of USA Today outside the door. This time, definitely in bolder prints.

Enduring trends

Technologists are enthusiasts. Their progress are documented in hockey-stick trends. Meanwhile  we as ordinary human are still reacting out of fear as if we were still living in caves. The reptilian brain vs rapid rise of chip speed, guns vs germs, technology vs anthropology!

As early as 1950’s, graduates would hear something like: “boy, you get that desk job, stay there, work your way up and cash out . You will be set, boy.” In short, seniority and being an institutional memory keeper equal “iron rice bowl”.

Not in the 21 century. Take Yahoo. A darling of Silicon Valley (I am still using yahoo mail, reliable), but increasingly, moving into the slot left vacant by AOL. (Facebook, if not careful, might fall into the MySpace hole).

When I took Science, Technology and Society at Penn State in my senior year, I realized then that not all technology were meant to take off, or were a blessing. They are both blessing and curse. (I must give the US Post Office some credits for converting its entire fleet to Electric Vehicles a years back).

These trends will stay with us:

– socks (short or long)

– jeans

– baby pics, mobile apps

– slow rock (romantic)

– sunset, virtual or real

– kind words, kind gesture, roses

– birthday cakes

– tomb stones or equivalent if cremated

– shoes, shorts and sandals

– contact lenses (as flat screens)

– vitamins, although God knows what they put in there.

The Economist has its cover story this week about our human body, as composed of bacteria cells.

But how come those bacteria got vibrated with Streisand’s Evergreen? With Nocturne? Chopin and Bach?

Until technologists learned that we are more complex than the mind can understand, then they get somewhere.

Invent only that which benefits mankind, stuff that people can use. Don’t chase lab stuff only. Solve  problems:

how to get your hair done the quickest way in the morning, how to get to work using the best route, nearest gas station that charges less (or use EV) glove compartment that can store today’s aviation sun glasses, games that kids can play and learn something while at it, profile  algorithms that make friends out of strangers. Science, Technology and Society. When they plugged in the electricity for the first time at the Chicago fair, many thought it had been Heaven. Now, we took it for granted. Let’s hope for some break-through, even when many will fail. Try again. Keep in mind, the reptilian brain. How we still react like cavemen. Still love like cavemen. And yes, jealousy still is a big part. Those are enduring trends you can bet on.

the Invisibles

They are out there, sleeping in street corners, behind dumpsters, in the park and parking lot.

They move about collecting bottles and cans, junk and juice.

We have trained our eyes to tune them out, to ignore their pleas and pitches.

We certainly don’t read their signs. We already knew, since it’s written on cardboard and held up at street corners.

More people are invisible nowadays.

They don’t vote, nor do they write to their Congressional Representatives.

Whatever funding earmarked for Social Assistance, perhaps never got to them.

Another group of invisibles  but someday, they will be here: future generation.

Inheriting and becoming “salt of the Earth“.

They will drive Electric Vehicles, pick up the bottles and cans after themselves and even plant some organic vegetables.

Last type of invisibles are unseen trends but will be here: mobile payment, paperless society, central ID, Medical ID etc…

We know they are coming. We just resist the technology with policy.

Blocking natural science with political science.

But they will be here, in your children’s face.

Whether you like it or not.

The environment will need to sustain this Earth.

The product we use will need to be recycled.

And the weak among us will need to be tended to and be made productive again.

Can’t legislate away people, who elected you. Can’t ignore them. Can’t tune them out. It’s not kind and it’s not wise.

The invisibles will soon be the majority, if neglected long enough. Wise leaders are those who can see a little bit further into the future, and shed some lights on the gravest of matter. That’s why they are elected to represent us. Now, do your job.

The thrill of a trip

Essentials only. Portable stuff. Restricted carry-on.

Off we go. Leaving behind the desk top, roof top and all  the stuff on the counter-top.

While traveling, we put on more weight. Eating “lesser-of-the-two-evils” choice of foods.

Meeting and making small talks with people we had never met.

It’s  a thrill nevertheless. The exchange of goods and services. People come with it, to wheel and deal. To be the middle man. Silk road to railroad, Shanghai to San Fran.

We toss and turn. The vessels are not designed for sleep comfort. Want that, you have to go to the nearest Mattress Discounter. I was told the internal combustion engine was really hot inside. No wonder, in the heat of summer, it is only getting worse, even with coolant and freon to insulate us. One more reason for the switch to electric vehicles.

Those who take the train. It is analogous to one’s life.

Once you took that fork in the road, let’s say career vs stay-at-home, from there, many mini-forks will present themselves. And it’s irreversible.

People advise us first to pick a good team. Then, a product, strategy and exit.

It is to show who you  chose to work and live with are of extreme importance.

They can bring out the best or worst in us.

Dreamers, Doers or Nay Sayers.

Take that road trip, or that rail track.

Just be mindful that with thrill, comes (price) tags.

And pick your travel mates carefully. It’s going to be a long and winding road. But short, if in good company. That’s a thrill in itself, who you are with.

Confidence

2.5 per cent. That’s US growth figure. Enough? Confident? Could be better?

I am glad we are growing even when it feels like we are running in place.

Perception vs Reality. Like how they feel now at Microsoft, at Yahoo. Even at RIM and Facebook.

Something is missing. Mojo? Passion and Pride. Exuberance and Exhilaration.

Grown men are sleeping on Mommy’s couch. Grown women too, to make it equal.

Crushed right out of the gate. Austerity.

Where is that needed confidence I used to see on Seniors’ faces on their first-job interviews.

It’s like dating back then on campus. Except it’s on weekdays, and you get to put on a suit. You could always tell they were experiencing “senior panic” : get a job, get settled down, bought into the American Dream with white-picket fence and automatic sprinklers.

Now, it’s the couch, not sure where it was made from.

Trickled-down economy. Wealth imbalance. Daddy brought wild animal kingdom home for Daughter’s surprised birthday. While others waiting in line at county food bank.

1939 all over. This time, with Bernanke, not studying the phenomenon as an academic subject. He is handling it, and inadvertently, helps shape the textbook of the future.

How are we looked at from year 2020’s vantage point? That we mishandled this “opportunity”?

In crisis, there is always opportunity. Electric Vehicle? Wind and Solar? Software for the mass and medical world?

C’mon. Exercise a little imagination. Muster up some courage. Be confident again.

Build that high-speed railways. Don’t let me want to learn Korean (broadband-envy). Don’t let Friedman keep writing about Beijing and Shanghai modern airports. Build them and be proud again. Make me USA-proud and the world USA-envy.