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A good article in light of the furore around Justine Sacco. Tarun Wadhwa makes an interesting point that what would have happened if Joanne had in fact been hacked. Also makes the comparison with the Boston Bombing fiasco involving the use of social media.

We're at the dawn of the tablet era now. Earlier this month, Apple sold 3 million of its new iPad during the opening weekend, with some analysts expecting over 60 million of the tablets to be sold worldwide. What's more, e-book readers are selling even more briskly than tablets. People are using those e-readers, too. On Amazon.com, books for its Kindle outsell its paper books. What's more, the explosion of e-books is putting pressure on publishers between demands for price cuts on one hand, and competition from independent authors like Amanda Hocking, who earned over $2 million selling e-books on her own before signing with a major publisher. It's no surprise, then, that publishers are turning to the app as a possible product for books moving forward.  This has led to another movement towards enhanced books, particularly as apps for iPhone, Android, and other tablets. Are tablet apps the book of the future?

"The global shift in education technology means that in the future the ten billion dollars once spent by schools mostly on PCs will be divided between tablets, Chromebooks and netbooks. But will the lion's share of the market go to Apple? Or Google? Or some other player? Or will it be evenly divided? Although Apple's iPad is currently the mobile device of choice, the majority of the market is still up for grabs, and there are some compelling reasons why educators recently have begun to choose Chromebooks over iPads, Netbooks and PCs."

"While schools should promote creativity, I'm not sure that it is wise to prioritize innovation in education."

Having surveyed teenagers in 30 countries, they revealed that the number of teenagers claiming to be active on Facebook (ie. doing more than just "liking" a separate page on the web) had dropped to 56% in the third quarter of 2013, from 76% in the first. The biggest decline in active usage (by 52%) was in the Netherlands; there was a 16% fall for American teens. Where are they going instead? Not surprisingly, it's mobile chat services like WeChat, and photo-sharing apps like Instagram and Snapchat. What's truly startling though, is how quickly global teenagers are taking up the services instead:

"One of the biggest problems in business development, partnerships, and sales is managing your pipeline. A close second is managing, tracking, and keep up to date with your email inbox. I've tried many tools to help both issues but each has had its shortcomings. About a week ago a friend tipped me off to a company called Yesware, a tool for salespeople that tracks emails, create templates, CRM sync, and more. With his endorsement I immediately added it to my business and personal Gmail accounts."

"Fraser Speirs is a busy man. Having convinced Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, Scotland to buy more than 100 iPads and distribute them to all its students (age 5-17) earlier this year for class and homework, the private school's head of IT is traveling around the United States to talk about his school's experience with the Apple tablet."

1:1 school with a tablet computer, it is happening already now.

"Would I purchase the Microsoft MSFT +1% Surface? Not anymore. And I'm not sure that you should either."

"For a long time, customers on volume licensing plans have just assumed its logical to keep paying for each desktop or notebook to get a copy of Office. But SoftWatch has highlighted in great detail what a lot of IT departments probably already suspected: That's an awful lot of expense for not a lot of return. Alternatives like Google Apps and Apple's free Office-like Pages, Numbers and Keynote come in at much lower prices and offer file compatibility along with much of the functionality of Microsoft's suite. While none are perfect substitutes, what IT has come to realize in the past half decade is that often productivity isn't about perfection."