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Trilogy Tidings
January 2011
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in this issue
The Year in Medicine: 2010
American Greatness and Renewal
Zuckerberg v. Gutenberg
My New iPad
Resources from our Archives
What does Trilogy do?

     A quick look at some highlights in medicine in 2010, then a few perspectives on our society going forward.  Those perspectives deal with issues great and small: American renewal, Facebook and such, and my gifted iPad.

     And, by the way, all the best that 2011 has to offer to you and yours!

Regards,
Joe

Change Ahead
The Year in Medicine: 2010 
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MedscapeMedscape offers up a 25-slide presentation on the medical highlights of 2010.  If you know Medscape (which I highly recommend) you know their viewpoint is that of the healthcare provider.  With that in mind, their presentation will remind you of some key events of the year just past.  You will have to be a member and log in to view the file, but registration is free, useful and innocuous.

American Greatness and Renewal 
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David BrooksDavid Brooks has done it again.  He has perfectly captured the current American dilemma and mapped a worthy but tough path forward.  First he scares the bejesus out of you, then he inspires hope for the future.  His November 11 opinion piece in the New York Times will yield a great return on your five-minute investment.  Check it out.
Zuckerberg v. Gutenberg 
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FacebookNeal Gabler, writing for the Los Angeles Times on December 5, confirmed and gave voice to my own views on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (overexposed and inaccurately embraced as a genius) and social networking generally (trivial and dangerous).  What triggered Gabler's ire was Zuckerberg's recent manifesto proposing a "social inbox" that would form the basis of Communication 2.0, i.e. messages that must be seamless, informal, immediate, personal, simple, minimal and short.  Sound familiar?

     Gabler draws a comparison with Gutenberg, inventor of the first useful printing press.  "That invention gave rise to rationalism and of the scientific method.  In effect, the printing press created the modern mind".  "Gutenberg's Revolution transformed the world by broadening it, by proliferating ideas.  Zuckerberg's Revolution also may change consciousness, only this time by razing what Gutenberg helped erect.  The more we text and Twitter and 'friend' ... the less likely we are to have the habit of mind or the means of expressing ourselves in interesting and complex ways".  Gabler cites a corollary to Zuckerberg's Revolution, what he calls "Zuckerberg's Law: Empty communications drive out significant ones".

     "Gutenberg's Revolution left us with a world that was intellectually rich.  Zuckerberg's portends one that is all thumbs and no brains".

     You might think that Gabler has gone off the deep end, but I agree with him.  This trend is dangerous to our society and civilization.  Read the article yourself.  What do you think?

My New iPad 
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     Finally, some thoughts on this newest of Steve Jobs' technical and market innovations.  I received an iPad from my daughter for Christmas.  I never asked for one because I had no idea what I would use it for.  But here it is.  I've had it for about six days now, and I've invested about 18 hours in getting to know this gadget.  Maybe you will find my views useful - maybe you're wondering whether you need to have one for yourself!

     OK.  It looks cool.  It feels cool.  It's a substantial collection of cleverly combined technologies, something that Steve Ballmer could never achieve.  And it can store 32 GB of stuff.  But I'm a skeptic by nature.  What will I use this thing for?  Will I author significant documents on it?  No.  Will I create spreadsheets on it?  No.  Will I create or deliver client presentations with it?  No.  So what is it good for?

     Well, it's quick and as are most of Apple's products, it's intuitive.  Email is easy and fast, but attachments remain a bit of a mystery.  Web surfing seems effortless.  Everything seems to work so far, although I'm sure that will change as I gain more experience with it.  I downloaded all my contacts and bookmarks in less than two minutes.  I can navigate with it, look up words in a dictionary/thesaurus, check on drug applications and formulations, find Wi-Fi sites throughout the world, cruise a phonebook, store stuff in "the cloud", and probably perform other tasks that I have not discovered a need for just yet.  (I must confess: I did watch about two hours of Roy Orbison video clips on YouTube.  The audio is surprisingly good, especially with ear buds.)  So I'm still skeptical, but if you ask me later I'll render my final judgment.

     By the way, this gadget is a thief's dream.  However, Apple will track its location for you and remotely wipe its memory if you wish!
Resources from our Archives 
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     Check out our Reading Room to view my published articles, presentations and white papers on a variety of topics.
 
     And, you can examine an archive of my prior newsletters (since February 2007).
 
What does Trilogy do? 
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     Trilogy Associates facilitates business growth and renewal through commercialization of new products, providing the following services:
  • Opportunity assessment
  • Business planning and enterprise growth strategies
  • New-product conceptualization, commercialization and marketing
  • Market research and competitive assessment
  • Business development and partnering
  • Market and technological due diligence
  • Assessment of the therapeutic and diagnostic potential of novel technologies
  • Design of efficient and effective development strategies for early-stage biomedical products
  • Business and technical writing/publishing

     Inquiries to establish whether and how we might support your business initiatives are always welcome.  Contact us.

Contact Information
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ContactInfoJoseph J. Kalinowski, Principal
919.533.6285
LinkedIn Profile: www.linkedin.com/in/trilogy
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