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The EU commission wants to end Microsoft's bundling of a browser with the operating system. But can you really force a split between the two? And can you force Microsoft to carry competing products as well? In the end, it depends on product architecture

Modularity in cars is increasing. It used to be a relatively simple approach for making assembly easier and exploiting economies of scope. Now it is becoming a transformational technical approach that will change product architecture and business models

Boeing is suffering more than two years delay in launching its new composite-material 787 airliner and order cancellations are coming in. The reasons are interesting. First, Boeing has not only severely forfeited the product development capability it has always shown (e.g. in the 777 program) by shifting its attention and top management culture from engineering to sales. Second, it has inappropriately increased the degree of outsourcing, given the type of innovation involved. Using composite materials instead of alluminum for the airframe clearly is a radical innovation. Given that airplanes have an integral architecture, Boeing should have just done the opposite and developed competencies internally.

The diffusion of netbooks exhibits many interesting traits of radical and disruptive innovation: the change in technical tradeoffs and product architecture (though not of core technology), the downsizing in performance (good enough for a new market), the inertia shown by incumbents.

A report on BMW's megacity project, investigating the "car of the future", trying to revisit product architecture as well as underlying technology... which leads to a "real" concept of radical innovation

Another post on "the car of the future". Radically new architecture (fuel cells, electric wheels, ultracapacitors, etc.) and business model based on microfactories and open source IP. Will it be the dominant design of the future?

It's likely that some of the words such as "netbook", "smartbook", "tablet", etc. will sound funny and obsolete in the near future. However, it is always like this during paradigm changes. Industry is now trying to understand what comes after the PC, and no product architecture and usage process has yet emerged as dominant.

One of the interesting elements in Apple's new product line - the iPad tablets - is the fact that the processor is not sourced from suppliers. Developing a microprocessor in-house is not a trivial thing at all, but the integrated nature of the product evidently suggested Apple to make this step in order to optimize performance and - possibly - to keep a stronger grip over a key component, thus avoiding commoditization.

Intel's acquisition of McAfee is puzzling. Beyond the financial motivation are there technical and business ones? Are we going to see a higher degree of integration, with security algorithms built in microprocessors? What is the impact going to be on the product and the value chain?

Same as previous post

Microsoft replies by giving up bundling. It's probably to let PC-makers force the choice on customers.

A must-read website showing the breadth of the challenges that are connected to the radical innovations attached to the "future of mobility". At the center is the "megacity" urban vehicle, that exhibits an interesting approach to modularity.

Now that all phone makers have left Symbian, Nokia is doing the only sensible thing, i.e. taking full control of the operating system, creating a stronger integration between hardware and software, possibly improving customer experience and quickening development