Tech Knowledge - Take Notes

o reilly

Hardware

Skilling

O'REILLY

The O'Reilly Hardware Podcast is hosted by Jon Bruner and David Cranor, and focuses on the people, ideas, and technology that we feature at the O'Reilly Solid Conference (solidcon.com). We explore topics related to the Internet of Things, hardware, software, manufacturing, and the blurring of the physical and virtual worlds.

O'Reilly Hardware Podcast

O'Reilly's Mary Treseler chats with Microsoft designer Cindy Alvarez about how design is changing, how the approach to design at Microsoft is changing, and user research misperceptions and challenges. She also offers advice to those who are insisting all designers should code.

Design is How Users Feel When Experiencing Products

Messaging app WeChat tells us a lot about mobile and business in China. In a recent deep-dive primer on the WeChat phenomenon, a16z partner Connie Chan analyzed WeChat and the notion of app-within-apps, payments as a gateway drug, platforms vs portals, and what happens when utility is more important than being "social". Wired senior writer David Pierce also describes the power of conversational messaging as the main interface, further arguing that “A great messaging app could be to the web browser what the browser was to the internet before it.”

So what happens when a messaging app essentially becomes an operating system for our lives? What conditions made the mobile, business, and cultural environment in China so ripe for a phenomenon like WeChat? How does voice change everything? And, let's face it, what are the tradeoffs users (both consumer and business) as well as developers may have to make when one app does in fact rule an entire ecosystem? Connie and David discuss on this episode of the a16z Podcast. Plus what happens to loneliness, work-life balance, and more.

a16z Podcast: Messaging As the Interface to Everything

Can digital work fight poverty? Can companies be profitable and also do social good -- especially in a society where the proxy for value is capital and much of that value accrues to platforms? And finally, what's the difference between a mission-driven and 'social' entrepreneur?
 
Samasource, a nonprofit that uses technology to connect marginalized people around the world to digital work, is one attempt at answering those questions. In this segment of the a16z Podcast, we talk with founder and CEO Leila Janah about employment of all kinds -- from sweatshop work to the gig economy to remote work. Janah also argues what the nonprofit world should borrow from for-profit startups -- including attitudes around failure and better measures of success.

---

The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.
 
This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments and certain publicly traded cryptocurrencies/ digital assets for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly) is available at https://a16z.com/investments/.

Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see https://a16z.com/disclosures for additional important information.

a16z Podcast: Connecting People with Digital Work, the Gig Economy, and More

O'Reilly's Mary Treseler chats with Suzanne Pellican, VP and executive creative director at Intuit, about three core principles of design thinking and about Intuit’s journey to become a design-driven organization.

Reconciling Design Thinking With the Craft of Design Doing

Ben Einstein chats with David Cranor and O'Reilly's Jon Bruner about critical issues for hardware startups.

Ben Einstein on Accelerating Hardware Startups

Google engineer Tyler Akidau on the evolution of stream processing, the challenges of building systems that scale to massive data sets, and the recent surge in interest in all things real time.

Building Systems for Massive Scale Data Applications

O’Reilly’s Mary Treseler chats with Aaron Irizarry, director of user experience for Nasdaq product design, about Nasdaq’s journey to become a design-driven organization.

Irizarry also talks about the best ways to have solid conversations about the designs you’re working on, and why getting a seat at the proverbial table isn’t the endgame.

Aaron Irizarry on Nasdaq's Journey to Embrace Product Design

Jai Ranganathan, senior director of product management at Cloudera, on trends in the Hadoop ecosystem, cloud computing, the recent surge in interest in all things real time, and hardware trends

Jai Ranganathan On Architecting Big Data Applications In The Cloud

Vanessa Cho, head of UX and research for the software and services group at GoPro, on designing for hardware and software, building design teams, and what she looks for in new recruits.

Vanessa Cho on GoPro's Design Approach

Kristian Hammond, Narrative Science’s chief scientist, on Natural Language Generation, Narrative Science’s shift into the world of business data, and evolving beyond the dashboard.

Kristian Hammond on Truly Democratizing Data and the Value of AI in the Enterprise

In this episode of the Hardware Podcast, we talk with Mengmeng Chen, head of U.S. operations at Seeed Studio.

Mengmeng Chen on Demystifying Manufacturing

This episode of the Hardware Podcast features Jon Bruner's second discussion with Joe Biron, VP of IoT technology at ThingWorx, a PTC business that offers a platform for rapid deployment of Internet of Things applications.

Joe Biron on IoT Platforms

In this new episode of the Hardware Podcast, David Cranor and Jon Bruner talk with Roger Chen, formerly a principal at O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, O’Reilly Media’s sister VC firm.

Roger Chen on Hardware and Robotics Startups

David Cranor and Jon Bruner talk with Matthew Berggren, who at the time the interview was conducted last December was senior director of product at Supplyframe. (Berggren is now director of Autodesk Circuits at Autodesk.) Their discussion focuses on the need for abstracted modules and better metadata in electronics.

Matthew Berggren on Making Electronics Accessible

The New Hardware Movement at CES 2016

David Cranor and Jon Bruner talk with Sanjit Biswas, founder and CEO of the industrial sensor company Samsara.

Sanjit Biswas on Industrial Sensors

On this week’s Hardware Podcast, we talk seed funding with Katherine Hague, founder and CEO of Female Funders, and previously co-founder of ShopLocket, which she sold to PCH International in 2014.

Hague is an authority on seed financing and has experienced the process from both sides, and she’s both writing an O’Reilly book, Funded: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Raising Your First Round and leading an online seminar on seed funding on March 30, 2016.

How to Raise Seed Funding

Coco Krumme is a data scientist who’s worked at the intersection of applied math and agriculture, and her recent “Silicon Valley Magnets” project gently satirizes Silicon Valley’s “techno-utopian mythology.” In this episode of the Hardware podcast, we talk about how connected sensors, AI, and data science are changing agriculture, and reflect on the different ways that Silicon Valley and farmers are inclined to solve problems.

Coco Krumme on Silicon Valley Culture

In this episode of the O’Reilly Hardware Podcast, Jeff Bleiel and I speak with Gilad Rosner, a privacy and information policy researcher, and the founder of the Internet of Things Privacy Forum.  Rosner is also the author of the recently-published free O’Reilly ebook, “Privacy and the Internet of Things.”

Gilad Rosner on Privacy in the Age of The Internet of Things

With interest growing in field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)—witness Amazon’s recent addition of AWS EC2 instances that include dedicated FPGAs—this episode of the O’Reilly Hardware Podcast looks at what FPGAs are and how their capabilities are different from microcontroller boards (such as Arduino and Raspberry Pi).Jeff Bleiel and I speak with Ryan Cousins, co-founder and CEO of KRTKL (pronounced “critical”), the makers of Snickerdoodle, a board that’s based on an ARM/FPGA hybrid chip.

Ryan Cousins on Field Programmable Gate Arrays

In this episode of the O’Reilly Hardware Podcast, Jeff Bleiel and I speak with Niko Triulzi, co-founder and CTO of AE Dreams, the makers of the children’s product Turtle Mail, a wooden mailbox with a WiFi-connected thermal printer inside. Triulzi explains the hardware and software workings of the device, which enables parents, relatives, and friends to send a message from a computer or mobile device. The child then receives the message, which is printed from the mailbox.

Niko Triulzi on IoT Toys

In this episode of the O’Reilly Hardware Podcast, Jeff Bleiel and I speak with Joel Johnson, co-founder and CEO of BoXZY, a startup that makes an all-in-one desktop CNC mill, 3D printer, and laser engraver. We discuss the BoXZY device’s software and hardware, including its CAD/CAM software (Autodesk’s Fusion 360) and controller board (Arduino Mega), as well as its shield, steppers, and firmware.

Joel Johnson on Desktop Fabrication

In this episode of the O’Reilly Hardware Podcast, Brian Jepson and I speak with Mike Vladimer, co-founder of the Orange IoT Studio at Orange Silicon Valley. Vladimer discusses how Internet of Things devices could benefit from connectivity options other than those provided by well-known technologies (including cellular, WiFi, and Bluetooth), and explains the LoRa wireless protocol, which supports long-range and lower-power applications.

Mike Vladimer on IoT Connectivity

Sharing inspirations from both innovative companies and works of art, entrepreneur and technology sage Tim O'Reilly weaves together a series of thoughtful lessons for startups. From rethinking workflows and experiences to the valuable role of idealism in business, O'Reilly makes the case for entrepreneurs to work on the hard problems that matter.

Tim O'Reilly - Create More Value Than You Capture

Jon Bruner and Mike Loukides talk about the classical music publishing industry and how it's being disrupted by projects like the Petrucci Music Library (http://imslp.org/) that make public-domain scores available online.

The future of classical music

Jim Stogdill, Edd Dumbill and Roger Magoulas have a conversation about in-memory databases and the impact on real time analysis. Leave questions and comments for us at http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/05/talking-about-in-memory.html

Talking about in-memory

Jon Bruner, Mike Loukides and Jim Stogdill from O'Reilly Radar muse on the return of software to the physical world.

Software and the physical world

Jon Bruner, Jim Stogdill, and Roger Magoulas talk about anthropology in big data, advances in JavaScript, searching for ancient civilizations, the importance of context, and good sites for checking the weather.

Related blog post: http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/06/radar-podcast-anthropology-big-data-and-the-importance-of-context.html

Anthropology, big data, and the importance of context

Jon Bruner, Jim Stogdill, and Roger Magoulas talk about what's been on their minds this week: the NSA's surveillance programs, what defense contractors will do with their technology as defense budgets dry up, and a Californian who isn't doing what you think he's doing with hydroponics.

For more on these topics, and links to the things we talked about, see http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/06/radar-podcast-the-internet-of-things-prism-and-defense-technology-that-goes-civilian.html.

The Internet of Things, PRISM, and defense technology that goes civilian

O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators. At O’Reilly, a big part of our business is paying attention to what’s new and interesting in the world of technology. We have a pretty good record at having anticipated some of the big technology developments in recent history. For instance, we launched the first commercial Web site, GNN, in 1993; we organized the meeting at which the term “open source” was first adopted; we were early investors in Blogger, which helped launch the blogging revolution; and more recently, our Web 2.0 conference launched a world-wide meme. We call this predictive sense the “O’Reilly Radar.” And while we’re certainly not always right, we are, at least, good at making interesting guesses.

Our methodology is simple: we draw from the wisdom of the alpha geeks in our midst, paying attention to what’s interesting to them, amplifying these weak signals, and seeing where they fit into the innovation ecology. Add to that the original research conducted by our Research team, and you start to get a good picture of what the technology world is thinking about.