Sep 13, 2021

Rick Bullotta posted a provocative comment on LinkedIn predicting a shakeup in the industrial software business with the hyperscaler cloud companies acquiring a chunk of those now owned by OEMs or the few independent ones. I've thought about this for a long time. What do you think?

Aug 13, 2021

231 Are You Being Served?

While thinking about the proliferation of as-a-service models of business, thoughts of that 70s and 80s British comedy TV show came to mind. Are you being served? Proved feasible by Salesforce and then adopted by many including recently HPE as the strategy for the entire company, we are...

Jul 17, 2021

230 AR and VR

AR, MR, VR, XR--what R we supposed to make of all this technology. We've been playing with the idea for more than 20 years when I first reported on a new product that promised to connect a line technician with a remote expert (using video camera) and show work instructions (augmented reality). At the time...

Jul 6, 2021

229 Flying in the Clouds

A beginning student pilot must only fly on clear days where the ground is always visible. Following much additional training, the student can achieve instrument rating and can "fly in the clouds."

Manufacturing and production companies are moving to flying in the clouds perhaps much more quickly...

Jun 25, 2021

Sometimes we clutter our minds with what we think we know and leave no room for learning new things. In the process, we fixate on an idea and miss the simple and most elegant explanation.

I had received a news release from a manufacturing software company so full of jargon that I could barely decipher it. In the midst...