U.S. states are investing in entrepreneur mentorship programs and pumping up their high-tech workforce to encourage residents to start their own businesses.
When we read books about the future we should be skeptical. If the authors expect to make money out of it we should be outright incredulous. Eric Schmidt, co-author of this particular look ahead, is the executive chairman of Google and Jared Cohen is the director of Google Ideas.
Every business could face 46 separate audits (from the 45 states that collect sales taxes plus the District of Columbia).
Legislation on internet sales tax could subject small online businesses to up to 46 state audits. And since sales taxes vary among thousands of tax jurisdictions across the country, the chances that auditors will find mistakes—and slap the business owners with penalties—are very good. If truth-in-advertising requirements applied to legislation, says Heritage Action’s Dan Holler, the Marketplace Fairness Act would be renamed the Tax Audits from Hell Act of 2013.
Where did all of the MOOC mania come from? It came faster than Facebook and it’s here to stay. In just a year MOOCs emerged from a unique mix of entrepreneurial spirit, a few leading US Universities, supported by not-for-profits and venture capital. It’s an ecosystem that can take an idea and support it through to a sustainable business. That’s impressive.
Vivek Wadhwa: During the mid-1990s, cardiologist and researcher David Albert had the idea to develop a handheld device that displays an electrocardiogram. He believed that this would save lives by providing immediate information to patients wherever they were. In those days, even the most powerful handheld computers didn’t have the needed capabilities. So Albert dropped the idea because it was impossible.
iTunes has a long and successful history of commercial transactions, so people feel comfortable clicking and shopping and buying on iOS.
The mobel advertising market is booming and it has grown from $1.4 billion in 2011 to $4.1 billion in 2012, and it’s projected to hit a massive $7.3 billion in 2013.
And almost all of it is spent on Apple’s ecosystem.
7659.com is a Chinese “app store” that is using Apple’s own bulk enterprise licensing technology to distributed pirated apps to Chinese iPhone and iPad users, completely free.
Raymond Alvarez: A strange thing happened on the way to the real estate apocalypse. It didn’t happen.
Pundit and journalist alike had everyone looking the wrong way. But, who can blame them? How can you ignore the plethora of foreclosure signs on the way into the office? It turns out they weren’t looking hard enough for more signs.
Futurist Thomas Frey: Hearing aids are for old people. At least that’s what I thought when I was young and invincible attending rock concerts far louder than they should have been.
There has been an upheaval in bookselling over the past ten years. With the surge in online ordering, the challenges faced by brick and mortar booksellers, and the arguing over ebook pricing you would think the book industry was in crisis. But sales figures suggest otherwise. Increasingly, this churning appears to be an integral feature of a steady process of transformation in the digital age.
Are we more productive in the office, or out of the office?
According to a new survey of 1,000 Americans by uSamp, 65 percent of companies allow remote work, and an even higher percentage of big companies take advantage of home and virtual offices. But what does that do to productivity? (Infographic)