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- THE FRIDAY LETTER -
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from Gilder Publishing,
for friends and subscribers)
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| http://www.gilder.com/ | Issue 345.0/June 20,
2008
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HEADLINES:
- The Week / George Gilder: The
Elements of Innovation (video)
- Friday Feature /
Tim Russert:
An Appreciation
- Friday Blogger Bonus / Energy Does Not Equal the Environment
- Readings /
The Week / The Elements of Innovation
(video)
George Gilder, Gilder/Forbes
Telecosm Conference
(video): It is the end of an era. J.R. Simplot died yesterday.
I don’t know how many of you know J.R. Simplot, the great entrepreneur of
Boise, Idaho, who figured out how to make french fries for McDonald’s and
created a vast french fry and potato chip empire. And, then in his eighties
decided to finance a company called Micron Technologies, which really brought
me into the study of technology more than any other company and lead to my very
first article on technology in Forbes.
It was about J.R. Simplot and his launch of Micron—in the teeth at the time of
the utter dominance of DRAM (dynamic random access memories, the key memory for
all personal computers by the Japanese) in the face of a general belief that
the U.S. was beaten in semiconductor technology.
As Peter Drucker put it, “building DRAMs
in the United States was like growing pineapples in South Dakota.” It was just
a completely futile type of venture. But, Micron ended up (for a while) the
leading DRAM producer on the face of the Earth, and Simplot managed to double
his vast potato fortune, which epitomized the spirit of enterprise and was the
central story of The Spirit of Enterprise
(published in 1986).
Simplot died at age 99 and he spans the
entire recent history of American enterprise. He went out to Idaho I a covered
wagon and ended up making microchips and completing globally. I’d like to
dedicate this Telecosm to J.R. Simplot.
This really is an era of the fulfillment of the Telecosm. 2008 is the time,
despite all the dismal reports and rumors you encounter about the state of the
economy and the state of American technology, this is the era of the Telecosm’s
fulfillment.
There were two key principles at the
beginning that fueled the Telecosm. One was Bob Metcalfe and Metcalfe’s law and
the gravitation of wealth to networks, and the other was what I call the
“Negreponte switch” (everything that went by wires would end up going by air,
and everything that went by air would move to wires) ….
Hear more. View the video:
http://www.discovery.org/v/101
NOTE: Look for more Gilder/Forbes
Telecosm 2008 videos in upcoming Friday Letters.
|
The Gilder Telecosm Forum To
learn how to join this powerful network of talented, tech-savvy investors and
thinkers online daily to debate, discuss, and decode new and emerging
technologies and share valuable and actionable investment advice, visit www.Gildertech.com today. |
Friday Feature / Tim Russert: An Appreciation
Steve Forbes, Forbes.com
(6/13/08): Tim Russert was the giant
of political journalism.
He made Meet the Press the gold standard of the Sunday talk shows, indeed of
any serious television interviewing. He was the model for how to prepare for an
interview and how to conduct it on air: He knew when to hit hard and when to
probe gently.
He knew better than to take a one-size-fits-all approach to his interviewing
task. He understood his subjects and he never suffered from the all-too-common
disease in this arena--"gotcha" journalism.
He consistently got information out of the interviewee. If a person appeared on
his show who did not "know their brief," the experience was painful.
His ability to nuance interviews was a marvel to behold. Tim Russert was an
insightful original.
Russert loved politics and had a basic affection for those who underwent its
rigors. But he was not a fawner or a "they're all bad" cynic. The
reason was that he was a man of deep faith, who set high standards for
himself--and for others.
In my brief time in the political arena, I appeared several times on Meet the
Press. Going on his show when you were a candidate was akin to going for an
oral exam with a renowned taskmaster. The experiences were sometimes rough, but
never unfair. He never took cheap shots or tried to hit you with sound bites.
Tim Russert genuinely enriched the era in which he too-shortly lived.
Our hearts go out to his wonderful wife Maureen and his son Luke, who just
graduated from Boston College.
Read on:
http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/06/13/russert-appreciation-forbes-biz-media-cx_sf_0613sforbes.html
__________________________________________
Friday Blogger Bonus / Energy Does Not Equal the Environment
The NOAA Climate Story
(6/16/08): The last three weeks have
been a very dense version of the unique mix of science, politics and production
challenge that this particular production offers.
Three weeks ago I was at George Gilder’s Telecosm, a unique conference blending
science, technology and economics that reflects the vision of Gilder. The
opening evening talk was by the author of “The Deniers” Lawrence Solomon. I
recommend Solomon’s book, as he carefully delineates the actual work of each of
the scientists he profiles, and the fact that none identify themselves as
deniers of climate change. He also candidly admits in his wrap up chapter that
none of his sources convinced him that climate change isn’t happening or human
caused.
What is most relevant about their stories is the personal and professional
costs suffered by those who are so labeled- something that should be of great
concern to all committed to the pursuit of knowledge, to say nothing of freedom
of thought and speech.
In a subject as global as climate, and complicated, we should be expecting
there to be thousands of conflicting data points, and indeed there are. We
should also be committed to exploring as deeply as possible to further refine
our understanding of the subject, and the interactions of life forms with it.
While Gilder himself is a contrarian (and on more subjects than climate change)
the conference featured and encouraged argument and independent thinking. Bob
Metcalfe, best known as co-inventor of Ethernet, who spoke on energy. Among his
key insights—energy does not equal the environment. As he points out, solving
either one does not solve the other. Citing Santayana on learning from history,
he point by point applied the oft cited Internet phenomena being precedent for
a clean energy revolution. My favorite was his point that conservation is never
as successful as generating abundance. The Internet had several episodes of
limits constraining capacity, but each time some unexpected breakthrough proved
the limit false. So he calls for people to start making “silver bullets” in
spite of the common wisdom that there are no silver bullets. He also points
both the need and danger of bubbles. You can see a similar presentation and get
a great sense of Metcalfe by watching this presentation he gave at Always On
Venture Summit East. (See: http://alwayson.goingon.com/page/display/26310?param=session/229)
My favorite quote of the conference was from co-sponsor and former presidential
candidate Steve Forbes, “Economics is turning scarcity into abundances”….
Read on & check out the NOAA blog:
http://ceilingsunlimited.tv/blog/?p=35
__________________________________________
Readings /
Pay Teachers More
http://www.forbes.com/columnists/forbes/2008/0630/029.html
Mobile
Start-up Goldrush!
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/06/15/mobile-startups-networks-tech-wireless08-cx_ew_0616startups.html
Drucker’s Law
http://groupinanity.blogspot.com/2008/06/druckers-law.html
A Danger Of Being Obamatized
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=298682143226078
A Display That Tracks Your Movements
http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20987/?a=f
Chip for Future Eye Implants Runs on Picowatts
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6355
__________________________________________
Friday Letter Editor: Mary Collins George / mcollins@gilder.com
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