16 Years Providing Weekly Foresight

 

The most accurate predictive letter in computing and telecommunications,
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In This Issue     Feature: Special Letter: Robots As Solutions   The Tipping Point Looking Ahead About the Author   Upcoming SNS Events & Media Links   In Other House News...   How to Subscribe May I Share This Newsletter? About SNS About the Publisher Where's Mark?

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By Colin Angle

 

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You are personally invited to join me in a live conference discussion this Friday, April 27th, for the third in our "Big Problems, Big Solutions" series, on the subject of "The Consumer Revolution vs. Enterprise Security: Who Wins?"

 

It's crystal clear that technology now drives the global economy, in virtually all segments, from agriculture to chips. Therefore, enterprise Intellectual Property  particularly the "crown jewels" held by each firm represent the key assets in this economy.

 

It's also now obvious that nation-sponsored theft of crown jewel IP is rampant, growing, and extremely difficult to resist, as commercial tools go up against military-grade attack teams from China, Russia, and elsewhere. The world's most critical IP is at serious risk, if not already compromised.

 

From the consumer's perspective, the release of the iPhone and its follow-ons has provided a universe of new and personalized services. The world has never been more exciting.

 

But as users try to force Bring Your Own Device rules onto the enterprise, we have the opposite situation. From the perspective of the CEOs and CIOs, what worse could happen than to consider connecting thousands of new insecure devices to the company network?

 

We'll talk about how to analyze and resolve this problem over time in this quarter's call, along with other related issues in this critical confrontation between "what's cool" and "what's safe." I would encourage you to bring your own questions, and I'll do my best to address them during our hour together.

 

For those who cannot make the call after having signed on, or would like to listen later, we will provide a recording upon request. To register for this call now, and to capture special volume and member discounts, please go to:

 

www.stratnews.com/snsconferencecalls

 

I hope you can join us for this important discussion.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mark R. Anderson

CEO, Strategic News Service

Chairman, Future in Review (FiRe) Conference

 

 

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Register now for the SNS Future in Review Conference. Now in its 10th year, FiRe will again be held at the beautiful Montage Laguna Beach Hotel, May 22-25:

 

www.futureinreview.com

 

 

See "Upcoming SNS Events" below for details on all SNS programs and registrations.

 

 

 

Publisher's Note: As we approach FiRe X, we wanted to get this Special Letter by iRobot CEO Colin Angle into members' hands, as Colin will be one of the many exciting entrepreneurs joining us in May. When we first brought Colin to FiRe, many years ago, it was because he and his firm had managed to sidestep all of the blind alleys surrounding the robotics field and come up with something that was supremely useful. No, it didn't speak French, leap over buildings, or cook like Julia Child, but it vacuumed the house any house without bothering the owner. Wow. 

 

In other words, Colin and iRobot brought us the first robot with mass consumer use and appeal. Instead of looking like a human with a dustpan, its looks were the perfect cross between form and function: it looked like nothing we'd seen before, and it was able to get under all those cupboard edges that a vertical vacuum cleaner has problems with. And it had a nearly magical set of algorithms for navigating around things, and most impressive knowing when it was done, all without instruction. It did have to be turned on.

 

Colin fixed even that in later versions, with new scheduling software and homing abilities that allowed the unit to find the charger and charge itself. Considering how most of us feel about housecleaning, this was the perfect design. In some sense, given his relentless drive to improve and simplify, you might call Colin the Steve Jobs of Robotics.

 

iRobot was early into other applications, which were hazardous to humans, with a large fraction of effort and revenues today focused on making the battlefield safer for troops. 

 

Today, iRobot continues to lead the world in avoiding flash and finding and doing what is most needed. For those who think strategically, I believe you'll agree with Colin when he describes this industry as a remarkable technological and economic growth engine for the future. I trust that this week's issue by Colin, describing iRobot's plans and dreams, will just whet your appetite to hear and see more at FiRe X. mra.