Coupons, Checks, and Envelopes
During the open enrollment period for 2014 healthcare insurance a few months ago, my wife and I chose the AARP Medicare Rx Preferred plan offered by United Healthcare, the largest health insurance provider in America. How could we go wrong? A United Healthcare unit had been chosen to fix the healthcare.gov website. They are reputed to […]
Inside Bitcoins – 2
A friend and I were having breakfast the other morning at Funky Pelican at the Flagler Beach Pier. I was reflecting on the similarities between the evolution of Bitcoin and the World Wide Web (WWW) as I had posted in Inside Bitcoins. Our discussion made me think of other similarities between the early days of the web and […]
Inside Bitcoins
Electronic money is not a new idea. The Electronic Fund Transfer Act was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Jimmy Carter 35 years ago (1978). Other forms of electronic money include payment processors, direct deposit, and digital currencies such as Bitcoin. What distinguishes Bitcoin from other electronic money is that it is a cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are a […]
Protecting the Status Quo
CD and record companies did not like it when Napster et al started distributing MP3 digital music files because it threatened the status quo and the companies’ business model. Book publishers did not like it when Amazon started selling books for $9.99 because the new digital books threaten the status quo and the publisher’s business […]
IBM’s Crystal Ball
Every year, IBM researchers take a look to the future and publish their top five predictions for what we will see five years from now. Take a look at IBM – Smarter Planet – The IBM 5 in 5 for their latest. The site has a well-done 90 second video to summarize what each of the five […]