Monthly Archives: August 2008

26/08/2008 Posted in Business, New Zealand, Society 6 Comments

This is why unions are irrelevant

By Ben Kepes

A slightly off-topic post but I’m steaming. Union employee Shawn Tan is currently undergoing disciplinary proceedings with his employer due to the fact that he has decided to stand as a candidate in the upcoming general elections in New Zealand. Bear in mind that unions in New Zealand have a

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26/08/2008 Posted in Business, Design, IT 1 Comment

So maybe there is a point to spam…..

By Ben Kepes

I’d always been pretty amazed that spammers even bother putting in the effort they do – convinced that it never works so what’s the point. However if you subscribe to Chris Anderson’s long tail theory – the extension for spam is that a spam offer sent to millions will find

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25/08/2008 Posted in Business, IT, New business, SaaS, Strategy, The Cloud, Web x.0 Leave a comment

The value of community, and an opportunity for start-ups

By Ben Kepes

I’ve been talking about the upcoming Office 2.0 conference a fair bit lately – mostly because it very much seems to be a blueprint for how to organise an effective, collaborative and nimble conference. A couple of advisements from the organisers caught my eye. The first was a very open

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25/08/2008 Posted in Business, IT, SaaS, The Cloud, Web x.0 3 Comments

All about clouds – for neophytes

By Ben Kepes

As some of you know I write for (gasp – does it still exist) print media as well as online. My post last month for Unlimited magazine looked at cloud computing from an newbies point of view. I think it gave a simple and understandable explanation to what going cloudy

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25/08/2008 Posted in Business, IT, SaaS, The Cloud, Web x.0 Leave a comment

Interfacing with The One

By Ben Kepes

A few days ago I posted about a TED lecture by Kevin Kelly that looked at the next 5000 days of the web. The upshot of that post was that we’ll reach, in the next few years, a situation where all devices are connected in a Gaia like mesh that

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24/08/2008 Posted in Business, Design, IT, The Cloud, Web x.0 Leave a comment

Crowdsourcing a name and discussion topics

By Ben Kepes

For those with an interest in online accounting and personal finance – please feel free to head over here and contribute to both the naming and the content of the panel I’m moderating at the Office 2.0 conference in a couple of weeks. Cheers.

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24/08/2008 Posted in Business, Efficiency, IT, New business, SaaS, Strategy, Web x.0 Leave a comment

The weightless economy….

By Ben Kepes

Just in case my post yesterday made people think that I’m a fan of manufacturing only I thought I’d post today about why the weightless economy is so attractive. I heard from Danish helpdesk software vendor Zendesk yesterday with the following image that shows the global spread of their custom

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23/08/2008 Posted in Business, Design, IT, New Zealand, Society, Strategy 4 Comments

It’s not banking 2.0 but it’s the closest we’ve got…

By Ben Kepes

I’m somewhat dismissive of banks in general, having seen how slow they are to move with the times, how threatened they feel with offerings that challenge them, and how mired they are in the status quo generally. However this guest post by Kiwibank developer Jay Nielson restores some of my

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23/08/2008 Posted in Business, Economic Development, Manufacturing, My businesses, New Zealand, Society, Strategy 2 Comments

Another one bites the dust…

By Ben Kepes

Its been a few months since I had a rant about the demise of first world manufacturing. Sure there are companies like American Apparel and my own Cactus Climbing creating a brand story out of retaining a first world manufacturing ethos but they are in the minority. News this morning

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22/08/2008 Posted in Business, Economic Development, IT, New business, New Zealand, Society, Strategy 4 Comments

If New Zealand is looking for a model to follow…

By Ben Kepes

I read a fascinating post the other day about the emergence of a massive tech scene in Israel – they’re even calling sites within Israel Silicon Wadi (a play on both Silicon Valley and Wadi, the Arabic word for a valley). If New Zealand is looking for a model to

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The Author

Ben Kepes is an analyst, an entrepreneur, a commentator and a business adviser. His business interests include a diverse range of industries from manufacturing to property to technology. As a technology commentator he has a broad presence both in the traditional media and extensively online. Ben covers the convergance of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users. More on Ben

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