1st Seminar Review

Our 1st Seminar for MB362 started with Professor A. Lee Gilbert giving us a brief overview about the subject and its structure. I had gone through Course Link only half an hour back so I had some idea what the course was going to be about. Before I came to the seminar, looking through the vast amount of links and information along with the instructions and requirements for the subject, made me think it was going to be a tough subject to handle (and score in). Now after attending the 1st seminar, I feel I have found a subject I am genuinely interested in and one I will enjoy studying.

To start, Professor Gilbert informed us about the Wiki we are going to be using as the "text" for the subject. I had seen some other sites having a link to their "Wiki" but never really thought of exploring what it was about. He had mentioned earlier Web 2.0. It seems to me now that Wiki IS Web 2.0 in progress. The basic idea is a more interactivity and a bigger knowledge base than what one person alone could hope to achieve. It would be exciting to work on the course material we are going to use later for our own exams and at the same time update it to match the current trends to make it a better tool of learning.

As we started our discussion on Disruptive Technologies, Professor Gilbert introduced us to Clayton Christensen. At that time, I had no idea who he was or what he had achieved in his field. My curiosity was raised enough that I decided to find out about him a little more. What I found left me in awe. His educational qualification and the numerous awards he has received over the years shone his brilliance. According to his biography, he is a “seasoned entrepreneur”, founder of three successful companies, and has written some of the best business books ever written.

In the discussion, almost everybody agreed that download of online music was one of the most significant disruptive technologies. After some time it was clear that online file sharing/ illegal download of content has made the entertainment industry suffer the most. It was also pointed out that some people had benefited from this new technology, mostly young music bands who had found a cheap way to publicize themselves and even sell their music.
Another technology that was mentioned was VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). There was a discussion how VoIP is going to change the way telecom industry does business and how companies like Singtel and Starhub are changing there strategies to hold onto there market share.

The Professor also discussed Jeff Bezos and his site Amazon.com. He discussed with us his story and how he came to be one of the World's Wealthiest People. It was intriguing to know how he took a huge risk and and finally achieved success after a very disappointing start.
"I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is never trying."
He has nothing to regret now.
Professor Gilbert showed us the annual earnings of Amazon.com. The company after suffering huge losses had started making some phenomenal profits. It seems though that the companies net earnings this year is being predicted to be 20% lesser than last year dropping from $359 million to around $290 million. The point still remains that his innovative idea and his capability to take a risk and belief in his idea has brought him immense success.

We also talked about Apple launching its iphone. I had heard about it but when posed with the question, I wondered what made it so special. After some searching, I found out that it was Apple's first step into the mobile phone market. The iphone offers internet connectivity and network capabilities along with the usual mobile phone functions. It is being claimed by the company that it will run OS X, the operating system which is used in Apple computers and is being marketed as a smart phone but some initial reviews have doubted its usefulness. (Source: Crave, CNet).

Close to the end of the seminar, Professor Gilbert informed us about our assignment for next week, a case analysis on "The Impact of Fixed Mobile Convergence Technology on Market Entry". I am still to read it. It should make for some interesting reading.

More later. Visit the links for some more information.