Networks competing with networks is the future for supply chains. Harvard Professor Marco Iansiti in his book "The Keystone Advantage: What the New Dynamics of Business Ecosystems Mean for Strategy, Innovation and Sustainability" predicts that the future business competition will not be between companies or even supply chains but between networks.

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Always on mobile devices need supporting etiquette

The Economist (Jan 2003) in a short article “Think before you talk” reports on how Ideo (the designers behind the Palm Pilot and Microsoft Mouse) have developed 5 prototype “social mobiles” known as SoMo's which modify their user’s behavior to make them less disruptive. Click here to view an excellent web presentation on the 5 SoMos. Other technologies like VoIP and IM can be equally disruptive and intrusive - its prompted me to develop a draft POLite Intrusive Technology Etiquette (PoLITE for short) a discussion starter of which you can find here.

Rapleaf is a neat application which takes an email address and returns an online reputation dashboard based on the owner's participation in online social networks etc. I interviewed Dan Scudder, Product Marketing for Rapleaf, to find out more.

Enter flash-based email

In a previous article, The virtual road warrior software checklist, I wrote about using web-based email to ensure that you stay connected whilst you are on the road. However the reality is that most forms of web-based email represent a compromise on the kind of email service you enjoy at home or at work.