Time of the Tech

First off, let me give credit to whom it is due. I have gloriously modeled (or blatantly copied) the design of this blog entry, "three thoughts on ...", from Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl. Now back to my three thoughts. Google unveiled their first official tablet earlier this week, which is the Nexus 7 tablet. The device will debut for $200 and the hardware is manufactured by Asus. Thought 1: At 7 inches and $200 this is meant to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire which is also 7 inches and $200. Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft are all staking claims into different segments of the tablet market. Amazon and Google are competing for the smaller screen, E-reader, more affordable sector. Apple is dominating the higher end tablet sector. And the upcoming Microsoft Surface is vying for the tablet/netbook sector. Thought 2: The Nexus 7 will be a perfect device for anyone looking for an E-reader that can also function as a web browser. The Nexus 7 is clearly

Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been busy watching my beloved Los Angeles Lakers get swept by the Dallas Mavericks. And thus ends the Kobe Bryant Era. Sigh... But much like the fall of dynasties in sports, dynasties in the tech world also fall. Except in the tech world, once you hit rock bottom, you do not come back (i.e., Atari). There is no magical player that can resurrect your franchise, like Kevin Garnett did for the Boston Celtics in 2008. We are witnessing the potential collapse of the Microsoft dynasty. Once Microsoft was the undisputed tech giant, now they are being assaulted on all fronts. They needed to act. And so they have! Microsoft has agreed to buy Skype for $8.5 billion dollars. Skype is a company with 170 million users. Skype is also a company synonymous with video chat. Video chat will continue to become an integral part of the future of how we communicate. This acquisition is a Charlie Sheen approved "winning" move. Google had just released an up

Every year Forbes magazine releases a list of the richest people in the world. For many years Microsoft founder, Bill Gates was #1 on the list, hence, I have always associated the list with technology. For this month, we will breakdown the top five riches people and whether they or their companies contribute to technology . Here are the top five: Carlos Slim Helu , $73 billion.  Mr. Slim is a Mexican of Lebanese descent. He is the chairman of Telmex ( THE phone company in Mexico). He also has holdings in other Mexican industries and the telephone industry in other Latin American countries. How can this man, in a country like Mexico, be the richest in the world? It speaks volumes about the gap between the rich and the poor Mexico, Latin American and the rest of the world. TelMex has been an impediment to the implementation of technology, even though TelMex is part of one of the industries (phones) which is going through the most innovation in the world. If you ever find yourself in

For the March/April 2011 issue, Technology Review  did a piece on the top 50 most innovative companies of 2011. Innovation can be tricky to define. But let us not battle like nerds over the minutia. To prevent trolls* from blasting a Time of the Tech produced list, we give you the top fifty innovative companies of 2011 list from Technology Review , MIT's world famous magazine: A123 Systems Akamai Amazon.com Amyris Apple Applied Materials ARM Holdings Complete Genomics First Solar Geron Goldwind Science and Technology Google HTC IBM iRobot Life Technologies Netflix Nissan Novartis Pacific Biosciences Roche Siemens Suntech Toyota Private Companies American Superconductor BIND Biosciences BrightSource Energy Calxeda Cellular Dynamics International Claros Diagnostics Cotendo Crowdcast eSolar Facebook Groupon Joule Unlimited Lattice Power Layar Lyric Semiconductor Novomer PrimeSense Serious Materials Silver Spring Networks SpaceX Square S

Microsoft Inc., CEO: Name:  Steven "Steve" Anthony Ballmer DOB: March 24, 1956 (54 years old), Aries Education: Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from Harvard. Stanford Business School drop out.* Memorable Quote, referring to Apple in 2009: "The [bad] economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a[n Apple] logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be." Other Endeavors: Worked for two years at Proctor and Gamble. You know, the company that makes all of your household products. Check out a list of all that they own,  "clicky" here . Scary. Interesting Fact:  Mr. Ballmer's mother is Jewish. ** Why we love him:  ~ Thinking hard ~ Because Jesus told us to love everyone.  That is honestly, the best I could come up with. Why we might not love him: Mr. Ballmer is at worst a "tool&quo