Frequent Business Traveler » Apple

GlobeRunner: Dick Kreidel, Entrepreneur, Pilot, and Manufacturing Executive

Eva Leonard — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:01:59 +0000

It isn’t every frequent flyer who can say that he built his own plane. But Dick Kreidel can.

“In 1983 I built a LongEZ experimental aircraft that I keep in Southern California, and that I continue to fly,” says Kreidel, adding, “I also own an Aviat A1-C Husky that remains at my home in Montana for flying into remote backcountry areas in Montana and Idaho.”

It’s not surprising then, that Kreidel’s career reflects his talent for making things and putting them together.

In 2006, Kreidel sold his door-hardware business to the world’s largest door and door-hardware company, the Swedish manufacturer, Assa Abloy. He now works for Assa Abloy in industry and government affairs and also helps integrate new acquisitions into the company.

“I’m a manufacturing guy. I’ve worked in, run, and owned manufacturing companies, including starting a joint venture in Shenzhen, China in 1993,” says Kreidel. “I’m making it my mission to help small domestic manufacturing companies re-capture work that has gone offshore.”

In the process of doing so, he finds himself flying to both Europe (London and Munich), and to Asia (Taipei and Hong Kong) five times a year, as well as making numerous domestic business trips. He also travels between his home on a lake in Northwest Montana, where he lives in the spring and summer, and Southern California, which he calls home in the fall and winter.

All that travel has made Kreidel Premier 1K (the airline’s top level) on United Airlines and given him three-million lifetime miles as an AAdvantage Gold member with American Airlines. Or as he describes it, “United Airlines two million-miler butt-in-seat, but in the new 2012 United/Continental program it will be over three million miles.” His favorite airline: Cathay Pacific.

Internationally, the cities he most enjoys visiting are Shanghai, China and Kinsale, Ireland, and domestically, he favors Chicago. Although his favorite airport is the sizable Hong Kong International, Kreidel is very fond of Kalispell, Montana’s small airport, also known as Glacier Park International (FCA).

MOST MEMORABLE TRIP

Kreidel describes “a week spent on a very small boat on the Li River, near Guilin, China” as his most memorable travel experience so far.

“I was traveling with Taiwanese business colleagues, and it was their suggestion that we spend time on the Li River to relax and formulate strategies for advancing our joint venture.

We slowly traveled the river, stopping in small villages to eat dinner and occasionally sleep, although most meals were prepared on the boat, and we spent several nights onboard. The boat’s bunks were primitive and not designed for 6’2” Americans!

Fishing was interesting, as we carried several cormorants that were tethered to the boat and had ropes around their necks to keep them from swallowing the fish. Every fifth fish was given to the ‘fisherbird,’ and the other four were ours.”

Click here to continue to Page 2 – Improving Air Travel

Apple TV Review and Report

Paul Riegler — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:11:01 +0000

There’s a lot to like about the second-generation Apple TV. It’s incredibly small, it has a superb user interface, it streams music and video from computers on the same network (with iTunes running), and it costs only $99.

Although I knew the Apple TV would be small, it wasn’t until I had unpacked it and placed it next to the original Apple TV box that I realized just how tiny it was. It seemed even smaller when I placed it next to the Logitech Revue Google TV box (or was it that the Google TV box seemed huge by comparison?)

Setting up the Apple TV was reasonably straightforward. After unpacking, I plugged in the power, plugged in the HDMI cable and… nothing. At first, the remote (without which one cannot set up the Apple TV) did not want to work. Removing the battery and putting it back did the trick although getting the battery cover back on was tricky. The system asked me to select language and Wi-Fi network although the remote is ill-suited for entering long passphrases – it was just too easy to select the wrong character on screen.

The system asked for my Apple ID to create my Home Share and then it updated itself to the latest version before going any further.

Once this was all done (and the setup time was still under 20 minutes), I was off and running.

The Apple TV had no problem recognizing my iTunes music and film library and accessing content from my computer via the device’s sleek and elegant user interface was so simple an adult could do it.

The device’s chief shortcoming is content. Compared to other devices such as Roku, which offers Amazon Instant Video with 90,000 movies and TV shows from every network and Hulu Plus, there simply isn’t that much with the exception of Netflix content, which the company says is in excess of 20,000 titles. There are approximately 8,000 movies in the iTunes store. Offerings consist of a limited number of shows from ABC, Disney, Fox, and the BBC. An update this past March added live streaming of sports programming from MLB.TV and NBA League Pass. Some Netflix movies will play with 5.1 Dolby Digital audio and AirPlay, which now allows compatible third-party applications to stream video to an Apple TV-connected device such as an iPad.

I was able to easily push music, photos, and videos from my iPad 2 to my flatscreen that was connected to Apple TV using AirPlay, Apple’s way of allowing users to stream such content from and iPhone or iPad to bigger (and presumably better) speakers and screens in your home. Not all applications are compatible (sadly, Hulu and the broadcast networks are not) but I was able to start a show on the iPad and then switch it to the big screen when desired. I could also control what I was watching with gestures on the iPad.

The included remote is fine for day-to-day use (although it was insufferable when I had to enter my passphrase during setup) but the Apple TV really shines when using an iOS device such as an iPhone or iPad as the controller (there’s an app for that, Remote). With Remote, you can use gesture-based controls to swipe and tap to your heart’s desire and you can also use the device’s keyboard for text entry. You can even browse through your iTunes library using cover art. (N.b. it’s not possible, however, to use an iOS device for the initial setup.)

The Netflix interface on the Apple TV is far superior to its counterpart in Google TV in that it does not require the user to take the extra step of adding movies to the instant queue on a computer. I watched a few trailers and decided to rent the sequel of Wall Street. The movie began to play within seconds and video and audio quality was excellent.

The Apple TV and its ilk are part of a revolution, one that sees more and more people watching “television” from non-traditional sources, such as streaming content from Netflix, Amazon on Demand, and other Internet sources. As of now, no one box will substitute for old-fashioned cable TV but each new device brings us one step closer to cutting the cable.

$99
www.apple.com

Apple iPad 2 Review

Jonathan Spira — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:04:24 +0000

Just a little over one year ago, Apple reenergized the moribund tablet computer market with the introduction of the original iPad. Easy to use, with a 9.7” Multi-Touch display that has already changed how we interact with applications, the iPad was an instant hit.

All of a sudden, people were browsing the Web, sending and receiving e-mail, viewing photos, watching movies and videos, playing games, reading eBooks, checking the weather, planning trips, managing stock portfolios… all with the iPad..

When the iPad 2 was introduced to the marketplace a few weeks ago, Apple had to top itself, a difficult feat. Somehow, the company managed to do it.

The iPad 2 has been completely redesigned and is 33% thinner than its predecessor. At its thinnest point, it is 0.34” (the original iPad was 0.5”). Indeed, it’s thinner than the iPhone 4. In addition, it weighs ca. 15% less than the original. And it’s smarter, faster, and better.

The first thing one notices is the innovative Smart Cover. Apparently, the four seconds we lose each time we open and start the iPad were also noticed at Apple’s headquarters. While it may sound trivial, it takes a typical computer several minutes to start up and the original iPad was quick compared to this. Now, with the Smart Cover, the display goes on immediately and we can start work (or play) more quickly. Put the Smart Cover down and it shuts off (at least we think it does as this begs the question, does the light in the refrigerator REALLY go off when one shuts the door). The Smart Cover also folds into a stand, leaving the iPad 2 on an angle for easier viewing or typing.

The 9.7” display, unchanged from the previous model, is gorgeous. Image quality is excellent with superb color balance, contrast, and deepness of black.

Everything felt faster with the iPad 2. This is due to the new dual-core A5 processor that Apple says is twice as fast and has nine times the graphics performance. The speed is evident in everyday browsing but is really noticeable (and appreciated) when gaming.

The iPad’s diet has made it easier for me to hold it for longer periods of time. While my arm would quickly get tired reading a book or newspaper on the original iPad, there’s quite an improvement with the iPad 2. It’s not Kindle-thin but it’s thinner than other tablets, such as the recently introduced Motorola Xoom, and this change will no doubt please eBook fans.

Click here to continue to Page 2 – APPS, CAMERAS, VIDEO, AND MORE

Spring Ahead! Daylight Saving Time Starts Sunday in U.S.

Paul Riegler — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:01:09 +0000

Set Clocks, Reset Your iPhone Alarm, and Double Check Your Appointments

This coming Sunday morning, while most people are asleep, the United States and parts of Canada will switch to Daylight Saving Time at 2 a.m. local time.

This should all go smoothly unless you happen to own an iPhone. Last year, a glitch in the iPhone’s operating system caused recurring weekday alarms not to ring on time on the Monday morning after the time change.

Although Apple has claimed the problem is fixed, a similar issue occurred on January 1, 2011, when reoccurring alarms didn’t function until January 3. It is possible that, come Monday morning, the alarm app won’t recognize the time change and will ring an hour late unless you manually resets the alarm. It is also possible that some other bug will rear its ugly head.

Last fall, Apple did announce plans for an updated version of its mobile software, iOS 4.2, which the company said would permanently fix the problem. A newer version, iOS 4.3, is already out but set a backup alarm if you are an iPhone user, just to be sure.

There’s another small wrinkle as well. As of Sunday, the United States will once again be out of sync with the rest of the world for longer than usual. Europe used to change its clocks to “Summer Time” (in the U.K., it’s BST or British Summer Time; in Germany and Austria, it’s Sommerzeit) one week before the U.S. Now most of Europe will switch to Summer Time on March 27, two weeks later. [Most of Asia, Africa, and South America do not observe Daylight Saving Time at all.]

The early change is in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and once again is one week earlier later than in years before the 2005 Act. If you don’t think that these changes are a big deal, change the time on your laptop by an hour and see what happens. The impact of this seemingly minor change extends well beyond computers, to legions of business travelers and mobile knowledge workers, among others.

In the past few weeks, I have noticed that several recurring appointments scheduled by colleagues outside of the U.S. using Microsoft Outlook (I use Lotus Notes) mysteriously moved from, for example, 11 a.m. to noon – only in the week of March 13. Subsequent meetings remained at the original time, e.g. 11 a.m. EDT. Apparently, we haven’t gotten all of the bugs out of the systems as this seems to happen each time we change the clocks.

Daylight Saving Time ends on November 6 in most of North America; in the European Union, Summer Time ends on October 30, leaving the U.S. out of sync with the world for a week then as well.

What exactly is Daylight Saving Time?
Daylight Saving Time is a system of managing the changing amounts of daylight that occur during the year, with a goal of maximizing daylight hours during typical waking hours. It was first proposed in 1784 by Benjamin Franklin, who believed it would save an “immense sum.” It was not broadly adopted until the early twentieth century when the U.S. temporarily enacted Daylight Saving Time as an energy-saving measure.

By adjusting clocks ahead by an hour, people typically have more daylight available during the workday. For example, in the case of someone who typically awakens at 7 a.m., since in the spring the sun rises earlier each day, an individual would have to wake up at 6 a.m. to take advantage of the additional daylight. Instead, by moving the clock ahead by one hour, that person can continue to wake up at 7 a.m. and enjoy more daylight in the evening hours.

The previous change to the Daylight Saving Time schedule was in 1986, when legislation changing Daylight Saving Time from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in April was enacted.

But recent studies indicate that the savings may be illusory. One study demonstrated how a switch to Daylight Saving Time across the entire state in April 2006 cost Indiana households an additional $8.6 million in electricity. Another study suggested that the temporary extension of daylight-saving in two Australian territories for the 2000 Summer Olympics increased energy usage.

On the other hand, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit group, estimated that the cumulative benefit of the change through the year 2020 will be a savings of ca. $4.4 billion and 10.8 million metric tons less carbon sent into the environment. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, for every day we are on Daylight Saving Time, we trim one percent of the country’s electrical consumption.

Every year, companies send out all-hands memos to employees asking them to help identify systems that might be impacted by the time change. These systems range from automated wake-up systems in hotels to systems that schedule airline crew members and slot aircraft for gates. In addition, many computer-to-computer systems might also be impacted.

With the exception of iPhone and calendaring problems mentioned earlier, most business travelers should be covered by now, at least insofar as their desktop or laptop computers are concerned. Microsoft released a single global time zone update for Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2003 (and for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1) that installed automatically. This update included updates for all DST-related changes from 2007 or that have taken place since the operating system’s original release. The updated time zone definitions ship with Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Windows XP SP1 and older operating systems have passed their end of support dates and did not receive the update, although they can be manually updated in some cases.

That covers operating systems – but it doesn’t mean that we are out of the woods yet. Most current programs with calendar support should have been updated by now, but if yours has not, any meetings that fall within the extended Daylight Saving Time period before the application of extended DST rules will appear incorrectly after the extended DST rules have been applied, namely they will appear an hour later than originally scheduled.

What can you do to avoid problems?

First, double check any calendar entries or plans for the coming week.

Second, make certain to adjust or update your operating system to apply the changed Daylight Saving Times rules if this hasn’t already taken place. Most smartphones, with the exception of the Apple iPhone, should also update automatically, but it pays to double check.

Third, remember that Daylight Saving Time is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Arizona (with the exception of the Navajo Nation). Until 2006, the counties in the Eastern Time Zone of Indiana did not observe Daylight Saving Time and remained on standard time year round. As of April 2006, all of Indiana observes Daylight Saving Time.

Finally, after changing all of your timepieces, remember to get a good night’s sleep.

-Paul Riegler is a contributing editor at Executive Road Warrior.

High-Tech Holiday Gift Guide

Paul Riegler — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:09:24 +0000

Shopping for the holiday season is now in full swing and business travelers across the globe are contemplating the purchase of high-tech gifts both for themselves as well as for others.

What do you buy the business traveler who has everything? The Executive Road Warrior editorial staff tested dozens of interesting potential gifts in varying price ranges in order to bring you our top picks.

Here are eight items that the road warriors in your life will both enjoy receiving and using.

The selections range from an inexpensive way to clean up messy cables to a powerful new high-tech vacuum to a compact camera that takes DSLR-quality photos to tiny loudspeakers that fill a room. We also look at headphones, iPad cases, leather cases for your tablet computer, and Apple’s latest and tiniest iPod Nano.

Without further ado, here are our suggestions for gifts that we’re sure you’ll and your friends and colleagues will enjoy using – both at home or on a trip.

AiAiAi TMA-1 Headphones

Apple iPod Nano

Bluelounge CableBox

Dyson D23 Turbinehead Canister Vacuum

Orb Audio Classic Two Stereo Speaker System

Sena Folio iPad Case

Olympus Pen E-PL1

Tumi Alpha Flap Zip Leather Crossbody bag

–Paul Riegler is Technology Editor of Executive Road Warrior.

Apple iPod Nano Review

Paul Riegler — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:04:13 +0000

How small can a touchscreen MP3 player get? True to its name, the latest Apple iPod Nano is also Apple’s smallest to date, measuring a mere 1.5” square and 0.35” thick. Available in seven colors (blue, gray, green, orange, pink, red, and silver), it comes with a clip (similar to the iPod Shuffle) and is available in 8 GB and 16 GB versions.

Apple should be applauded for designing such an easy-to-use interface on such a small device as well as for the excellent battery life (24 hours!). Simply tap or swipe the 1.54” multi-touch display (with 240×240 resolution) and you are up and running.

The new Nano is almost half the size and weight (only 21 g) of the previous-generation device, but it’s lost a bit of functionality while on that diet. With a primary focus on music, the video camera is gone as are video playback and rental capabilities. Click-wheel games are gone, as is the click-wheel interface. There are just three buttons, namely volume up, volume down, and power/sleep.

Notable features include Genius Mixes, the ability to create and edit playlists, a built-in FM tuner with live pause, and Shake to Shuffle, which allows users to shake the device resulting in the playback of a different song in the music library.

For the business traveler who wants his music on the go, the tiny iPod Nano may be the perfect gift.

$149 (8 GB)/$179 (16 GB) at www.apple.com

-Paul Riegler is Technology Editor at Executive Road Warrior.

Click here to return to page one of the High-Tech Holiday Gift Guide

8 Reasons Why I Sold my iPad and Bought a MacBook Air

Paul Riegler — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:23:14 +0000

I’ve had an iPad for over a month but, after spending over an hour in an Apple Store, I decided to replace it with a basic 11″ MacBook Air. I plan to sell the iPad on eBay as I’m not really satisfied with it.

I know you will ask why so I’ll tell you.

1.) It is no laptop. Every trip away from home, I wanted to do something and then realized, “Oh, I can’t do that on the iPad.” The bottom line is that the iPad runs the iOS software and is closer to a very large iPod Touch than a replacement for a notebook. It didn’t take long after I started traveling with the iPad as my primary computing device for me to begin missing not having a laptop with me. I considered buying a used Mac laptop to fill the gap but, with the release of the new 11″ basic Air, it wasn’t practical to buy a 4+ year old machine.

2.) Multi-Tasking is big for me. I want to be able to watch the Sling Player and write and e-mail at the same time or chat on Skype. Not possible on the iPad. While the software upgrade later this month will allow multiple apps to run at same time, only one at a time can remain open.

3.) Photo upload to MobileMe. This is partially a Mobile Me limitation but also an iPad issue. You can only upload one photo at a time on the iPhone and iPad. Also you can e-mail only five photos at a time. You can remotely upload photos using the iPad to Mobile Me only if you have already set up a folder in the MobileMe Gallery at home on the iMac before leaving. There is no iPhoto gallery manipulation on the iPad.

4.) I really dislike carrying two separate components (the iPad and a Bluetooth keyboard). The Apple iPad case is not a great solution as a stand as you can’t adjust the angle. I don’t want to carry an additional stand as that would be three items to carry around. I really don’t like the on-screen iPad keyboard, so not carrying the BT keyboard is not an option.

5.) I can’t use my Bose headset with the iPad. It suffers from the same humming noise as the original iPhone.

6.) No Flash video.

7.) I don’t mind the dirty screen on the iPhone as it is easily wiped off, but the iPad screen is consistently dirty and is harder to clean without carrying around a cloth to do it.

8.) It’s only a matter of time before I am going to want a USB port to do something such as attach a flash drive, scan, or print.

–Paul Riegler is associate editor for technology at Executive Road Warrior

Apple iPod touch Review

Jonathan Spira — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:51:17 +0000

Last year, I commented that Apple’s iPod touch “may” defy categorization. Now that I’ve had a chance to spend time using the fourth generation touch, I feel comfortable changing the “may” to a most emphatic “does.” This is clearly the best iPod yet.

The newest Apple iPod touch is not only an ultra-portable mobile Web browser, a game console, and an MP3 music player, but it is also an HD camcorder, a video conferencing camera, and a phone (using Voice-over-IP when connected to WiFi). And let’s not overlook the gyroscope sensor.

All this comes in a thinner and lighter package, with the touch weighing only 101 g.

The new iPod touch includes iOS 4.1, which adds multitasking (missing from earlier versions), FaceTime video calling, folder support, and Game Center.

I used the video camera on several trips with excellent results. Apple makes it very easy to share and post videos directly from the device. The lens is placed so that there is little risk of holding one’s finger over it when in use. This is usually a problem with other portable devices.

FaceTime could be very useful for the business traveler. Picking a contact with a compatible iPhone or new touch, allows one to see and hear the person called (and vice versa). One can switch between the front and rear cameras and switch to voice-only mode.

Another new feature is the ability to rent TV shows directly from the iPod touch, for those who like to watch TV on the go. Game Center allows users to play friends or find new opponents and share scores and achievements.

Click here to continue to page 2

Apple iPad: The End of Tablets As We Know Them?

Jonathan Spira — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:08:46 +0000

The launch of the Apple iPad today has many proclaiming this moment to be akin to the information revolution sparked by Gutenberg’s invention of mechanical movable type. As an author of multiple books and articles, I agree that the advent of the iPad is significant, but not in the way most people are viewing it.

Look at an important (and related) parallel: the move from analog to digital photography. Similar to the eBook reader, where the opening salvos were launched by Sony in 1990 (the Sony Data Discman) and 1991 (the Sony Bookman), photography’s electronic age was also launched by Sony (back in 1981) with a product that never hit the market, the Mavica (MAgnetic VIdeo CAmera). (Three years later, Canon introduced the first commercially-available electronic camera, the RC-701, at the Los Angeles Olympics.)

Pundits at the time proclaimed the end of photography without stopping to look at both the definition of photography (“light picture”) and the opportunities that electronic and eventually digital photography would give the medium.

Today, more photographs than ever are taken and high-quality, high-resolution casual snapshots can be shared from one’s mobile phone in seconds.

Change is inevitable. I’m quite certain that scroll makers were rather upset when the codex appeared in ancient Rome but the advantages of portability, compactness, sturdiness, ease of use, and lower cost were able to ensure the success of the codex format for centuries to come. Buggy whip makers were none too thrilled with the invention of the horseless carriage centuries later.

But back to the eBook world, where the Amazon Kindle is the current market leader. A single-purpose device that is beloved by many, the Kindle is also illustrative of phenomenon where single-purpose devices create an initial market (other examples include personal digital assistants (PDAs) prior to smartphones as well as mobile phones sans cameras) and then step aside for improved, multi-purpose devices.

The Kindle has paved the way for future eBook readers, both in terms of developing market awareness and entirely new relationships between book publishers and book sellers, but it is ill-equipped to serve as anything except an eBook reader. This is why Amazon, keenly aware of the resistance of people to carry more than one device, has started to introduce Kindle software for smartphones and personal computers in addition to the standalone Kindle reader.

The road to tablet computing is a bit longer, however.

The history of tablet computing goes back to the 1950s and 1960s with the Styalator, the Rand Tablet, and Alan Kay’s Dynabook concept. The first commercially viable tablet was the GridPad (1989), which was followed by several other tablet-like devices including the Apple Newton (1991). Despite the participation of almost every major computer maker in this space in recent years (including AT&T, IBM, and Microsoft, among others), consumer acceptance has been limited as has been market success (which has been confined to specific niche markets such as health care and insurance).

Every computer maker that has since introduced a tablet has proclaimed it to be a turning point in the market, just as Apple is doing now with the iPad. But in Apple’s case, given widespread availability of Wi-Fi and 3G wireless technologies, content agreements with newspaper, magazine, and book publishers, and a much improved user interface, the launch of the iPad may be just the push the market needs.

However, the iPad is far from perfect.

It’s thinner and lighter than a netbook or laptop but at 680 g (the same weight as some netbooks), it’s still heavier than a Kindle (the larger Kindle weighs 535 g, the smaller 290 g).

The iPad has significant limitations, of course, including no support for multitasking, no physical keyboard, a non-replaceable battery, and non-expandable memory. Unlike netbooks and laptops, the iPad has no Webcam and no USB ports.

If the iPad is ultimately perceived as yet another device to carry around (like the Kindle), it will be met with limited success in the market. However, if it starts to look like a replacement for bulkier computers that people carry around today for e-mail, Web surfing, book reading, game playing, music, and more, it may very well be the modern-day equivalent of the 1991 Kodak DCS-100 digital camera, which was the first digital SLR on the market and which eventually changed everything.

–Jonathan B. Spira is the Editor of Executive Road Warrior and Chief Analyst at Basex, a knowledge economy research firm. He is also the co-author of The History of Photography, named “a best book of the year” by the New York Times.

Skype for iPhone

David Goldes — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 03:51:39 +0000

Skype is a popular communications tool for many business travelers. Skype for iPhone, which also works on the second generation iPod touch, adds Skype calling and instant messaging to both devices and is available from Apple’s App Store, free of charge. I installed it on the iPod touch the first day it was available and, while there have been a few glitches, my experience has been pretty much stellar. The application opens up myriad communications possibilities for the business traveler, including the ability to assign multiple “local” numbers to an iPhone or iPod touch at very low cost.

Skype for iPhone allows users to place free Skype-to-Skype calls when connected to Wi-Fi anywhere in the world. To reach non-Skype users at rates that are typically a few cents per minute is just as easy. The sound quality of the call was crystal clear for me but those I was speaking to reported that I sounded a bit distant.

Skype instant messaging is available on all supported connections (Wi-Fi, 3G, GPRS, or EDGE) to both individuals and groups. Users can also edit contacts and set their presence status.

Visit www.skype.com and the Apple App Store on supported devices

–David Goldes is a Contributing Editor at Executive Road Warrior and President and Senior Analyst at Basex, a knowledge economy research firm.