Bruce Wayne's Profile

I grew up loving the idea of space exploration and NASA’s space shuttle program. This essay is very interesting because I understand the stance of some of NASA’s R&D department, but the results of the open source program is undeniable. I think a solution is to allow the NASA scientists to focus on projects they choose so they are thought leaders in that area and utilize the open source network for projects the NASA team does not have time to research. The open innovation model would be extremely useful to capture the hearts and minds of aspiration astronauts and give everyone a chance to be a NASA researcher. The space program has captivated the Nation since the 1960s and many of the young people who grew up gazing at the stars are retired and looking for something to do, so why not use them?

SIA’s AppChallenge is a fascinating experiment in open innovation. Crowd sourcing ideas from the public is a brilliant way to get new ideas, but also recruit potential talent. The airline’s ability to give out awards (monetary or mileage) is also an excellent way to entice students to participate in the competition. I agree with the author’s question regarding how open is too open. I am surprised there is this much public information on SIA’s innovation projects because they could, and likely will, be emulated by the competitors they are trying to beat. Additionally, the Challenge showed the five pillars of SIA’s strategy to regain market share.

This research is so important and it needs to be thorough and complete so regulatory bodies can act quickly. Fishing populations are being decimated and farming techniques can lead to unhealthy fish stocks that can have an effect on entire ecosystems. I believe consumers can have the biggest impact on this market and they should demand transparency on where their protein was sourced and asked in what manner it was caught. Only by changing the demand dynamics of this equation can we combat “big fish” and try to begin to replenish the global fisheries. From a machine learning aspect, it makes me hopeful that scientists and researchers are using advanced technology to diagnose this problem before it crosses the point where it may be too late to make incremental changes and a large scale, global effort, would be necessary to preserve the fisheries.

Spotify totally changed how I consumer music and I am an avid user of their playlists. The essay poses interesting questions about their competitiveness, but I think that, unless there is a massive shift in the competitive landscape, Spotify will continue to be the market leader in music streaming due to the switching costs associated with changing services. Music streaming is based on playlists, either ones created by the listener or the service. As long as Spotify continues to offer an enormous music library and give its listeners the ability to discover new music via its playlists, the switching costs of having to recreate their own playlists are too high for the average user.

This is an interesting application of additive manufacturing, but I question how actionable the technology is in its current state. While the concept art appears to be a beautiful structure, the essay leads me to believe printer is making a concrete box. Based on my understanding of additive manufacturing, piping, wiring, windows, and doors could not be incorporated in the printing process so the printer’s finished product would be 5 concrete surfaces (4 walls and a floor) and a substantial amount of labor would still be needed. Based on this, I think the $10,000 cost would need to be substantially reduced before it could be implemented in the developing world. However, I think this article is compelling because this technology could be used for select portions of a home to reduce costs.

Is it comfortable? 3-D printing has many interesting uses, but I am skeptical of a 3-D printed shoe being a high-performance or comfortable alternative to traditional methods. Shoe companies should strive to offer their customers the most cutting-edge technology, but performance should be the number one priority. Until Adidas proves that the benefits of this new technology either outperforms the existing technology or is substantially cheaper than the status quo, I will not be a buyer. Additionally, how has Adidas been a victim of the “Amazon Effect?” Shoe stores like Finish Line or Foot Locker have faced challenges as Amazon’s market share has grown, but people are still buying shoes and Adidas shouldn’t be materially affected by where they are purchased as long as they are buying Adidas.