Jon Burg's Future Visions

Digital Piracy Explained

note: hardness includes cost.

Why do we expect more of our breakfast cereals than our presidents?

 

Social government as a concept may well be a farce or a fallacy.  A campaign slogan and a campaign promise.  And an empty one at that.

 

Obama ran on a platform of Yes We Can.  But when he got elected the chants were Yes We Did, not Yes We Are.  Because social government is a pipe dream that is unviable in the present political landscape.  And yes, I am a registered Democrat who has voted in every major election I was eligible to participate in.  

The Obama campaign demonstrated incredibly savvy use of social and digital media.  The Obama presidency's record in social and digital was lackluster.  YouTube Town Halls were a token gesture.  But the administration failed to meaningfully address most of the popular petitions on WhiteHouse.gov, including a "no comment" type response to the #2 petition with over 52,000 signatures.  

It's time to accept a reality: Social Government is not feasible in the political status quo.  Politicians generally do not jump on hot button issues unless it is core to their platform.  Politicians who avoid hot button issues of importance to their constituents (even if it is only a fraction of them) are not ready for social government.  If any brand were to ignore the comments of their fans the way that this administration avoided the feedback of their public, the brand would be slaughtered.  

Isn't it sad when we expect more of our breakfast cereal and fast food than we do our presidency?

But it's not just social government that is a pipe dream.  Social campaigns are as well.  Every social marketer can tell you that communities do not live and die with marketing campaigns.  Even presidential ones.  Yet few politicians seem to be as tuned-in to the public once they are in office as they were during their campaigns.  In this past election was saw how quickly the Obama administration tuned out their digital networks.  Text messages all but stopped coming.  Communities went virtually dark.  Momentum died on the vine.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice... 

The US public will not fall for a second or third attempt at promising and not-delivering on social government.  I recognize that social government poses incredible challenges to leadership.  But if you can't make it work once you land in office, we're going to stop falling for it when you flaunt it on the campaign trail.

I'm all for the candidates jumping on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Google+.  But I am unwilling to accept their silence when they get into office.  Community and social media are not about the campaign.  They are about the community, the country and the dialog.  

The new presidential voice and image does not involve tight message control or a perfect posture at all times.  The new presidential voice embodies mutual trust and respect of we the people, your public, our community.  And if you don't recognize this fundamental shift, good luck with your next campaign.

Anyone in K-12 Can Tell Apple Their Math Is Off

The math on the iPad for k-12 students simply doesn't line up.  Assuming that an iPad in daily use for k-12 students will last two years before requiring serious repair, we are looking at the following financial model:

 

• $500 for a base model iPad
• $15 per book
• Assume at least 7 books per year (many schools use two books for one subject)

That's a total cost of $710 for two years of k-12 education.  This is an equivalent cost of $50 per book. And ibooks cannot be passed on to younger siblings or the next grade of students.

In eighth grade I earned extra credit by stocking the book room.  This not only earned me credit, but got me and four of my friends out of class for the last week of school.  While making book forts, shooting rubber bands and doing inventory, we learned that the average book was in circulation for about 5 years.  

Higher Ed Is DifferentIf we were to compare these two models, the analog books could run as high as $253 per book before the iPad/iBook platform would be financially favorable for schools and families.  I do not know of any educational books for k-12 that cost $253.

 

 

In college, my average textbook (granted, I was a business and not a science major) was somewhere around $120 with an average resale value of about %50.  This was only 10 years ago, and prices are still pretty similar.  If college textbooks will really only cost $15, then the numbers work out favorably towards going the iPad route.  

Bottom Line

I very much appreciate that there is an incredible amount of value in interactive learning and up-to-date textbooks.  But I don't think that this value is strong enough to offset the significant financial strain this would impose on most k-12 students, schools and municipalities.

Apple will need to deliver either a leasing with insurance model to provide a longer lifespan, or a bulk-educational discount program.  Otherwise, it will be a while before we see iPads in most k-12 schools.

This Is Kodak's Golden Age

Kodak was one of the earliest movers in introducing photography to the masses.  We bought Kodak cameras, Kodak film and developed our pictures on Kodak paper using Kodak ink.  People today are taking and sharing more pictures today than ever before.  Pictures and photography play a greater role in our lives than ever before, fueled largely by the triple emergence of digital, social and mobile media.  This should be Kodak's Golden Age.

Kodak should have been Flickr.  They should have been Dropbox.  They should have been Snapfish and they should have been Camera+.  They should have been GroupShot.  They should have been Skype.  They could have been all of these and more.  

Kodak was home photography.  Thanks to the innovations that Kodak brought to the market 100 years ago, we are where we are today.  And thanks to Kodak's lack of foresight, Kodak is no longer in our picture.

We are not yet in Facebook or Google's Golden Age.  We are at the grade school stages of what is sure to be an incredible cultural revolution.  The greatest lesson we can learn from Kodak is to never stop evolving, and never underestimate the power or impact of new technologies.  Here's to the future.

 

Is Silence Inaction or Protest? #SOPA #PIPA

SOPA and PIPA are bad ideas.  But is my NOT posting to this blog today going to further the protest?  Would my silence be deafening, or would it not be missed at all?

The most effective way for major sites like Google, Wikipedia and major influencers like Robert Scoble to protest is to remain silent for a single day.  And to talk about their non-participation for weeks before and after the event.  Because for major, regular value-providers, we would notice their silence.

Do the rest of us have a responsability to continue to tweet, blog and converse.  I am not on Twitter all-day-everyday, and I don't post to this blog everyday.  Would my day of silence would be a waste of energy.  Even by taking this entire blog dark for a day, would the few hundred visitors notice the difference?

Should I stay silent?  Should I educate?  Which is the more powerful form of protest for the 99% of us without massive social followings?

My New Gig: Making A Difference @ Champions Oncology

A few months ago I joined an incredible company.  Today, I would like to tell you a little bit about the wonderful team here at Champions Oncology.  Champions Oncology is a pioneering innovator delivering real value to cancer patients, leveraging a unique platform called the Personalized TumorGraft. 

This post is solely my own and reflects my own opinions.  If you have any questions regarding the contents of this post, please feell free to reach out.

The Need for Personalized Cancer Treatment

In the traditional cancer treatment model, nearly all patients with a particular cancer receive identical first-lines of treatment.  While some cancer therapies are futher developed, the first course of treatment rarely succeeds in meaningfully shrinking the patient's tumor.  While each round of treatment cost the patients time and money, there is a very real psycological and physiological toll as well.

All tumors are different and unique.  The Personalized TumorGraft platform empowers patients and physicians with a customized, individualized treatment approach.

The TumorGraft Solution

Following cancer surgery or biopsy, Champions implants a piece of the patient's live tumor into a series of mice, creating a panel of Personalized TumorGrafts.  The Personalized TumorGraft platform allow the tumors in the mice to grow into nearly identical copies of the original, human tumor.  

As the tumors grow and proliferate in the mice models, Champions works with the patient's treating physician to identify which treatments will be tested on the TumorGrafts.  By analyzing the Personalized TumorGraft responses to various anti-cancer agents, patients and treating physicians are empowered with personalized treatment information.

 

The Career Transition

Most of you know me from the marketing, technology, and social media space.  I have very much enjoyed working in this dynamic industry and will continue to participate in this industry dialogue.  But when I had the opportunity to participate in an innovative and truly caring company that was changing the cancer treatment paradigm, I jumped at it.

Everyone knows someone who has known the fear, pain and loss of cancer.  I personally have lost friends and family members to this horrible disease.  What I love about this company is that Champions isn't only delivering a first-class, innovative and meaningful solution, but these are genuinely great people.  The scientists here are first class innovators, heavy weights in the space and real industry visionaries.  I am blown away by the depth of scientific knowledge within this organization.  But most impressively, the entire organization is singularly focused on a single goal: improving and extending the lives of cancer patients.  

Working here over the past few months I have come to appreciate an unspoken credo: cancer is a disease that impacts millions of individuals.  We are here to help those people as the individuals they are.  Even within internal meetings, our patients and clients aren't referred to by a number, case or cancer type alone, but by their name.  And every element of the organization, from marketing through case management is driven by an appreciation for and focus on the patient.

What About this blog?

I will continue to participate in this industry dialog, lending my opinion and perspective to industry news.  And while my day-to-day professional focus has shifted, you can bet that there will be a social component to our fast developing marketing, CRM patient advocacy solutions.  The best is yet to come.