In the last column we looked at the general dynamics underlying the reality and need to create an automotive industry in the U.S for the 21^st century. We now take a look at what this industry might look like. An analysis of trends, developing technologies and the role that the federal government can and should play, makes it is clear that this industry will be substantially different than that of the 20^th century.

At the beginning of the 20^th century there were dozens of car companies.  The story of the last century is one of consolidation so that by the 1990s there were only the Big Three and a few foreign companies producing vehicles in the U.S.  These companies from the last century will continue as the scale part of the business for the next 5-10 years.  They will be joined by smaller, more nimble companies that will bring innovation to the marketplace.  Tesla and Aptera, mentioned in the last column are just two examples.  There is a real possibility that there will be dozens of companies by 2015.  The new companies will not provide scale, at least initially, but they will lead the market with innovation.  Some companies may produce hundreds of vehicles, others thousands, others tens of thousands.  These companies will successfully compete with the big companies on the playing field of innovation.

Clearly the cars produced in the next 10-15 years will be generally smaller, much more fuel efficient and will use less and less gasoline.  The first stage …

The mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope is a magnificent and historically important event.  The images coming to us from space as the astronauts work on repairing the telescope are beautiful, up close and personal and once again instill awe in those of us that watch.

For most of my life the increasingly incredible pictures and videos that have come back from space have taken we humans out of our planetary realm and realities and lifted up into the cosmos.  The world literally stopped and listened on transistor radios when John Glenn orbited earth in the early 1960s.  The whole world watched as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon in July 1969.  The first space walks allowed us to live through others the almost unimaginable reality of a human floating freely in space.

Since then we have become detached from what NASA and other space agencies are doing up above as we have allowed ourselves to become somewhat jaded.  The first time things happen we are captivated, as they continue in on-going frequency they seem to lose their impact.  We no longer stop what we are doing to stand, listen and watch in awe. We again get absorbed both in our personal lives and the seemingly urgent and much more important political, cultural and economic dynamics of our world.

The Hubble telescope has been in orbit for 15 years.  In that time it has altered the knowledge and theories scientists have held about the universe and its infiniteness.  It has shown us …

The fundamental force dominating the global economic condition right now is fear.  The equity markets seem to have no other reality.  Any rally of a day or two when buyers enter the market to take advantage of historic lows in share prices is then wiped out by the longer term, more powerful emotion of outright fear and increasingly entrenched pessimism..

The media does occasionally gives us the heart warming human interest story and tells us of jobs out there but serve this up only after spending most of the time delivering bad news with a tone of concern and a furrowed brow.  We turn on the news, or open the paper with an expectation of learning of something else that sounds bad and, yup, there it is, another story of a company or a country in crisis or people having lost everything. Watching the stock market indices has become a …

It is clear that one of the reasons that Barack Obama won the Presidency is his campaign utilized the Internet in all aspects and in new ways.  The Obama campaign of 2008 introduced and defined success with this latest transformative medium.  The campaign’s use of all aspects of interactivity will be the definition and measurement of success for the next 8-16 years.

Now that Obama is President and comes into office with a mandate for change in a time of incredible challenges it will be interesting to see how the campaign mastery of the Internet is deployed to the process of governing.  It is already clear that this administration is and will do things via Internet connectivity that have never been done before.

Over the years, how many of you ever listened to the “President’s weekly radio address”.  I always saw it reported on TV but never ever listened to it.  Well, since the Saturday after his election Obama has delivered a Saturday video message via first his Change website and now from the White House web site and of course simultaneously uploaded it to YouTube.  Within 48 hours, hundreds of thousands of people have taken the time to watch the video.  The Saturday evening local and network newscasts feature highlights from the video, bringing the message to millions more.  What used to be a rare event, the President of the United States speaking directly to the American people via video is now a weekly event.

What is even more intriguing …

What a day!  President Barack Obama is the 44^th President of the United States.  This will be a day that will go down in history as an inflection day.  Today is a day when the United States and the world changes course and move in a new direction.

Yes President Obama is the first African American to become President and that is a truly momentous event given the history of race in American.  There is no question that this is an event that not only moves America to the next stage of racial harmony but also signals that fact to the world.  It can not be overstated that this achievement opens a new chapter for a country whose democracy stands for equality under the law with freedom and justice for all.  The symmetry with Dr. King’s birthday cannot be overstated.

Expectations and optimism lead to new beginnings.  For those who think the world will change, it will.  Change can be profound and incremental.  Many think that the euphoria will wear off and things will return to partisanship and bureaucracy.  To some degree they will be right.  It is important to keep in mind how even small changes can move individuals and countries in totally new directions.

Motivational and self help gurus talk about how if someone just makes a 10% change in effort or direction each year, that in several years they will be in an entirely different place living an entirely different life.  Well it is quite clear that President Obama, his …