A Robot in Every Home

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment 

The South Korean government has a lofty goal—it wants to put a robot in every house by 2020. As part of this grand high-tech plan, which is designed, in part, to protect South Korea’s economy for the future, the Government is considering investing hundreds of millions of dollars to build a robotics innovation center in one of three locations: Massachusetts, Georgia or the west coast.

If the South Korean Government selects the Bay State (timing TBD), the upside would be huge—an enormous influx of capital would help drive local robotics innovation and product development, two activities that are already happening in at least two universities (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Worcester Polytechnic Institute) as well as at dozens of startups around New England.

Equally important is the impact such a visionary investment would have on creating jobs.

While traditional New England manufacturing operations for such industries as shoes and toys has moved offshore, advanced manufacturing, which the robotics industry requires, creates new, high-paying jobs. In fact, advanced manufacturing is the fourth largest employer in the Bay State, according to Ted Acworth, founder and CEO of Artiac, speaking at a recent Robotics Cluster gathering sponsored by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.

Earlier this spring executives from several local robotics companies and state legislators hosted a South Korean delegation in order to “pitch” the Bay State as the perfect location for the new center; next month delegates and legislators are expected to dine with executives from local robotics companies in order to continue the conversation.

It goes without saying that all robotics companies in and around Massachusetts, from Hydroid, iRobot and Harvest Automation to Symbiotic and Heartland Robotics, stand to benefit from this potential development, as does our economy (new high-paying jobs equals stronger local economy).

Naturally I hope the South Korean Government selects the Bay State for its new center. And I encourage everyone—at robotics companies or otherwise—to get involved, if you can, with whatever it takes to win this prize. But at the end of the day, even if the South Koreans decide to build elsewhere, the new attention on the topic of robotics will only help fertilize this budding business. Layer in Amazon.com’s recent purchase of Kiva Systems for $775 million and I believe we’re sitting on a rocket ship that’s about to take off. And yes—I can see robots driving that rocketship to Mars and beyond, can’t you?

Barbara Call is director of content at Greenough. Follow her on Twitter @BarbaraCall1

Designing the Next Generation of Green Cars

Thursday, February 2, 2012 | Leave a Comment 

What do you get when you combine automotive engineering students, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors (GM)?

The answer can be found in Austin, Texas today: Teams of students from 15 universities across North America have gathered as part of EcoCAR 2: Plugging into the Future, a 3-year collegiate engineering competition aimed at reducing the environmental impact of autos without compromising performance, safety and consumer acceptability.

Austin is already a green-friendly city, but it will become even more so when these engineers of the future arrive for the EcoCAR 2 Winter Workshop and show off their advanced vehicle designs.

Established in 2011 by the DOE and GM, EcoCAR is designed to educate the next generation of automotive engineers by challenging student teams to reduce the environmental impact of a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu. The hands-on research with leading-edge automotive propulsion, fuels, materials and emissions-control technologies gives students real-world experience in addressing critical issues facing energy and the environment.

During the workshop, student teams will present newly-developed vehicle architectures, business plan updates and youth education proposals that will affect their standing in the competition. The workshop is also an opportunity for students to receive in-depth training on components and tools donated by sponsors including GM, Freescale and dSPACE.

Stay tuned for further updates on this next-generation automobile competition. For more information on EcoCar2, visit www.ecocar2.org or read the Inside the Green Garage Blog.

Healthcare in Your Pocket: The Unstoppable Rise of mHealth

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 | Leave a Comment 

Much has been written in recent months about “consumerization of IT.” In fact, InfoWorld recently launched a channel dedicated to the topic. Overused phrase? Perhaps it is, but it’s also no buzzword du jour. Mobile devices have already liberated your “at home” persona, and now corporate IT is scrambling to protect itself as work personas and home personas converge within one or more preferred devices such as smartphones and tablets.

But consumerization of IT doesn’t capture the true potential or massive scale of this disruption.  To fully grasp that, simply insert the world “healthcare” before IT.

The title of a recently published Panasonic/BizTechReports white paper (available here) concerns me. Diagnosis Danger: Governance & Security Issues Cause IT Concerns About iPad in Healthcare Setting perpetuates fear that undoubtedly exists within many healthcare enterprises. That said, the white paper is frankly a bit self-serving; its main point seems to be that iPads (unlike Panasonic devices, of course) may not be robust enough for the typical healthcare setting.  That’s a minor worry in my opinion, but a survey done with CIOs as part of the white paper clearly shows widespread angst.

Despite these worries from within, however, true disruption is underway, and patients, physicians and administrators are driving the mobile health, or “mHealth,” revolution, whether IT is ready or not. Christina Thielst, a hospital administrator who is active in social media through her blog Christina’s Considerations, champions this opportunity by putting a spotlight on ways mobile technology, even “consumery” applications such as FourSquare, are leading to deeper engagement. She doesn’t ignore the risks, but she does encourage her peers to push boundaries.

And push they are. A recent piece in Crain’s New York Business, Wired Docs, tells of physicians who are challenging their employers to “hook them up.” And we’re not talking about mere social media dialogue on Twitter or Facebook, we’re talking about doctors on rounds using apps such as Diagnosaurus on their iPhones to troubleshoot new symptoms.

There is no putting the genie back in the bottle; whether you call it consumerization of healthcare IT or mHealth, the movement is unstoppable. Consumers want it and understand how to use it. And so do many medical professionals.

But don’t take my word for it. Take the words of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at the recent mHealth Summit. Read her words carefully, especially her closing line: “This future is not here yet, but it is within sight.” That future is mobile, and those of us who have a stake in mHealth, from developers of new applications to the creators of new content to support them, have an obligation to keep pushing (and innovating) alongside the intrepid physicians, nurses and administrators who have taken up this cause. Sure, healthcare CIOs should be careful in these uncharted waters, but here’s hoping they are committed to doing so with sufficient speed to realize the full promise of mHealth as soon as possible.

Scott Bauman is an executive vice president for Greenough. Send him an email at sbauman@greenough.biz or follow him on twitter: @sbauman

The Streaming War is on – Pass the Popcorn!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment 

Gone are the days of going to the movie theater or renting a DVD especially now that Blockbuster has filed for bankruptcy.  With the rise of Netflix and other companies that stream movies and television shows online, it makes it easier to watch new releases at home – and has subsequently started an online streaming war.

The New York Times recently reported that Netflix is the front runner in the online streaming world with its subscription service, Watch Instantly. With the ability to watch movies on a computer, television, iPad or iPhone, a whopping 61% of Netflix’s 15 million subscribers streamed movies in the second quarter.

Netflix CEO CEO Reed Hastings - living large in the streaming wars.The only downfall is that Netflix’s catalog of 20,000 steaming movies doesn’t include many recent hits because the company hasn’t been able to negotiate rights from all the Hollywood studios. Most of Netflix’s deals require the movie to be on store shelves for 28 days before it can be available on DVD or online.

Not having the most anticipated movies and television shows available to stream when they are released makes other options very tempting. For example, “Robin Hood,” is available to stream on Amazon, but will not be available on Netflix until mid October. The online video hub, Hulu, which recently launched the subscription service, Hulu Plus has the current season of “The Office,” while the most recent episodes on Netflix are from last season.

What side will you take in the streaming war? Will you stick with the leader, Netflix, or the up-and-comers who offer the most recent releases? I’m voting for the underdogs!

-Contributed by Jena Coletti. Follow her @jmcoletti.

Game Boy? What is that?

Thursday, August 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment 

I grew up playing old school Nintendo. My favorite game? Duck Hunt. I would spend hours at a time holding the Nintendo Zapper Light Gun as close to the television as possible to hopefully knock down a duck or clay pigeon. I remember when Game Boys were all the rage and you had to blow inside your game cartridge to make sure it worked properly. I’m most comfortable with console games, but clearly the industry has changed over the years and it’s booming online. 

This week, the market research firm NPD Group distributed a study that showed that one out of every five Americans over the age of six has played an online social game at least once. That’s nearly 60 million Americans! That figure leads me to believe that consoles, like Game Boys, will soon be a thing of the past and games will strictly be played online. To back up my point, most of the NPD study respondents had never played a traditional video game and 35% had no previous gaming experience whatsoever.

With games like Duck Hunt, practice made perfect; you didn’t have the option to buy skills or items that would make you a better player. Today, gamers can buy virtual goods to improve their game play. The virtual goods market has become a cash cow and Mashable reports that by 2013 it is expected to hit $6 billion in sales. Now, games provide entertainment and cash rewards.

Do you prefer a console or focus exclusively on social games? I predict that user adoption of social gaming will continue to rise and one day, kids will wonder why their parents ever played games on a television screen.

-Contributed by Jena Coletti. Follow her @jmcoletti.

Hang Up and Drive

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 | 1 Comment 

We announced some exciting news at Greenough today – we’ve been selected as the PR agency of record for the Arbella Insurance Group. Our major focus so far has been the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation’s groundbreaking Distractology 101 program, which educates new drivers on the dangers of distraction at the wheel. The centerpiece of the effort is a mobile classroom created to change the driving behaviors through real-life driving scenarios demonstrated in the company’s state-of-the art simulators. Arbella CEO John Donohue felt strongly that something needed to be done to stop the epidemic of distracted driving. And it is an epidemic – more than 6,000 people are killed each year in accidents involving multi-tasking at the wheel. That’s a shocking number.


I’ve had the privilege of working with the Arbella team on the Distractology 101 program and can tell you it’s definitely been an eye-opening experience. I’ll reluctantly admit that before getting on board with the program, I’d been known to read or send a text or two while behind the wheel. Not anymore. What I’ve learned has surprised me. Sure, we all know that looking away from the road and at the cell phone in your hand is dangerous – but most of us think we’re safe as long as we’re using a hands free device, right? Not necessarily so. According to a study done by the University of Utah, there is little or no documented difference between the risks associated with handheld and hands-free devices. Researchers found that the distraction actually comes from the conversation, not holding the phone. Even more surprising? The study also found that using a cell phone will driving, whether hands-free or handheld, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. And all of us are paying the price for this deadly multi-tasking: the annual cost of crashes caused by cell phone use is estimated at more than $43 billion, according to the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis.

So how do we stop the madness? One answer, certainly, is legislation. Seven states have banned driving while talking on a handheld cell phone. 22 other states, including Massachusetts, have enacted legislation that bans text messaging while driving. But the fact is, as with drunk driving, laws just aren’t enough. As Donohue says, it’s about changing behaviors – not just with teens, with all of us. I realize now that every time I pick up the phone while I’m at the wheel, I’m sending a message to my kids in the backseat that it’s ok to multi-task while driving. It’s not ok. We’re all so used to the immediacy of communication these days and sometimes we have to force ourselves to step back and unplug for a bit, especially when we’re behind the steering wheel. Believe it or not, the world will wait.

-Contributed by Amy Erickson. Follow her @amyerickson.

Should You Give Away Your Product for Free?

Friday, July 30, 2010 | 2 Comments 

Should you give your product away for free? Consider the Wikipedia entry for freebie marketing: “Freebie marketing, also known as the razor and blades business model, is the concept of either giving away a salable item for nothing or charging an extremely low price to generate a continual market for another, generally disposable, item.” Seems temptingly simple, doesn’t it?

The concept of free isn’t new and it’s actually not that simple. There are different models for free, including the razor blade model made famous by King Gillette; cross-subsidization; which somehow (magically it seems) shuffles cost among related products or consumer sets; and “freemium,” which provides free basic usage, but then charges for upgrades. This last model can require an alchemist’s touch, however, because you must pick the right break points and really understand the conversion process (what, for example, is the tipping point for users upgrading to a “Business Plus” or “Executive”  account on LinkedIn?).

In recent years, many marketers have been fascinated by free. Chris Anderson of Wired fame wrote a book entitled Free, but his controversial argument seems to fall apart outside the digital world where information, not tangible product, is the thing of value. When you hear “free eBook,” do you feel the same instant excitement you’d feel if someone said “free iPod?” Of course not. Seth Godin, another deep thinker on the issue of free, recently wrote the following on his blog:

In an attention economy (like this one), marketers struggle for attention and if you don't have it, you lose. Free is a relatively cheap way to get attention (both at the start and then through viral techniques). Second, in a digital economy with lots of players and lower barriers to entry, it's quite natural that the price will be lowered until it meets the incremental cost of making one more unit. If a brand can gain share by charging less, a rational player will.

What this says to me is that business is becoming a game of chicken. Company A will sacrifice margin to get more attention so it can stay alive to sell more product. This is an exhausting, but true scenario today. So let’s go back to the question about whether you should give your product (or service) away for free. I’d say no, there’s another way. Perhaps the answer is a hybrid that both Chris and Seth would say is reasonable: charge whatever you want for your product or service – treat it as a commodity – and focus your business instead on earning the most valuable asset businesses trade every day: trust.

Is trust really valuable? If you don’t believe me, check out Francis Fukuyama, whose book, Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity, argues that the U.S. has historically been a “high-trust society” but that the erosion of that threatens our very economic security. We live during a time of tight supply chains and even tighter margins, and risk is everywhere. Is my food safe? Is that product well-made? Will that marketing initiative really work? When health – business or personal – is at stake, will you turn to the best price or most trusted? I’d say you’re much less likely to leave a product or partner behind because of price difference if the relationship you have with the brand or individual is based on trust, not price.

Your trust is more valuable than your product. Give that away freely, but not cavalierly. How? Start by listening to and engaging with your customers and clients. And don’t be that company that’s talked into “using social media” to sell. You won’t build trust that way. We use a methodology, FUSE, which forces us (our clients) to see themselves through the eyes of the customer. We look for ways to freely give away trust in exchange loyalty. We look for areas where a trust deficit exists and recommend ways to fill that deficit with honest, relevant, ongoing and valuable assets (I don’t say content, because I fear the word content has been cheapened to pablum status).

Don’t give away your product or service for free. You have something more valuable to give away: trust. But don’t blow it, trust is more perishable than you think!

-Contributed by Scott Bauman. Follow him @sbauman. 

Time for Parents to Unplug?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 | 1 Comment 

A recent New York Times article has spurred some interesting conversations among my friends with children. In “Parenting While Plugged In” reporter Julie Scelfo examined the issue of whether parents’ increasing use of cell phones, blackberries and other mobile devices is harming their kids. 

We already know it isn’t healthy to let our children spend hours each day on the computer or playing video games. But in her article, Scelfo poses the question of whether we as parents are harming our children by not restricting our own use of technology in their presence. She cites a 5-year MIT study which found that children often feel jealous and hurt when their parents are constantly checking their devices and logging on to social networks instead of parenting. One mother from Chicago is quoted saying that her 3-year-old son now sets the microwave timer to let her know when she’s spent too much time on her smartphone and not enough with him. 


Reading that made me stop and think about my own habits, especially when I’m around my young daughters. Do I furtively steal glances at my phone during playtime if I get a notification about a work email? Guilty. Do I occasionally pop on to my social networks to catch up with my friends when the girls and I are curled up on the couch watching a movie? Guilty again (side note: I cringed a few months ago when I watched the girls play with my camera and one of them exclaimed “Oh! Great picture! I have to put it on my Facebook!” She’s 5 and doesn’t have a Facebook account, but still, you get the point).

So what am I teaching my girls when I read that work email during playtime? Am I subconsciously telling them that work is more important than they are? I hope not, although did give me pause. I’d like to think that the amount of quality time I spend with them more than makes up for those brief time-outs I have to take to respond to an urgent email request.

Interestingly, one expert Scelfo quoted did point out that parents have always had distractions, and it’s impossible to say whether mobile technology is actually causing more distraction. Frederick J. Zimmerman is a professor at UCLA’s School of Public Health. He says: “Distracted time is not high-quality time, whether parents are checking the newspaper or their BlackBerry.”  He also notes that not all distracting technology is bad news for kids. Zimmerman points out that technology now allows many parents to work from home, giving them more time with their children. 

Although the article scared some moms I know into imposing temporary Facebook and email bans on themselves, I’m choosing instead to simply reevaluate how often I reach for that phone when I’m with my girls. Granted, ignoring that flashing green notification light can sometimes be tough, but they’re worth it – without a doubt.

-Contributed by Amy Erickson. Follow her @amyerickson

Jealous of iPhone Users, but Not for Long

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 | 1 Comment 

T minus four days till the iPad goes on sale and it's all anyone is talking about. But I want to get to the bottom of a few things about the iPhone. It goes without saying that it's the Rolls-Royce of smart phones, but let’s be honest, after hearing about countless cases of dropped AT&T calls and dead zones, I refuse to give up my Verizon Wireless service in exchange for some really cool apps – and I’m not the only one. Apple has been listening to the requests and is answering our prayers. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a new iPhone will soon be available that will allow U.S. phone carriers other than AT&T to sell the device.  

The new iPhone would work on a type of wireless network called CDMA. With Apple developing a phone with CDMA capability, its exclusive U.S. arrangement with AT&T dating to 2007 appears set to end. Currently, iPhones exclusively use GSM, a rival wireless technology, but with CDMA, carriers like Verizon and Sprint will be able to offer the iPhone to customers. Smart move, Steve Jobs! Bernstein analyst, Toni Sacconaghi, estimates Verizon alone could help Apple nearly double the number of iPhone users in the U.S.

The production of the new iPhone is scheduled for September. Of course that date may change, but when the device is finally available through Verizon, I will be the first in line to buy one. Are you willing to put down your Blackberry or Droid and join the Apple hysteria? I think the Bump app alone is worth the switch!

Contributed by Jena Coletti.  Follow her @jmcoletti

Who doesn’t love Pandora

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | 1 Comment 

Thanks to a successful iPhone application, people are starting to show their love for Pandora in a big way – the 10-year-old company is finally starting to make money. The New York Times recently reported that for years Pandora has “been on the verge of death, struggling to find investors and battling record labels over royalties,” until now. Its iPhone success is starting to attract attention from investment bankers and there is talk about the company going public. Congratulations, Pandora! Well deserved.

Personalization is key in today's market, so it comes as no surprise that people love having the option to customize their own radio station based on their favorite tunes. What’s up next for Pandora? Ford is including Pandora in its voice-activated Sync system and consumer electronic companies like Samsung and Vizio are integrating the program into their Blu-ray players, TVs and music systems.It’s only a matter of time before other companies in the auto and tech industries jump on the bandwagon.

The ultimate goal for the company’s co-founder and chief strategy officer, Tim Westergren, is to “develop a location-based service that alerts people that an unknown band they heard on the site is coming to their city that weekend.”  I’m not sure if Pandora will get off the ground in that big of a way, but I will continue to support the company while enjoying my Michael Jackson station in my cubicle!

- Contributed by Jena Coletti.  Follow her @jmcoletti