Smart grid in series of heat pipes

Last week I was challenged by our CTO here at Pano Logic if I had ever heard of selling heat. I assumed immediately he didn’t mean selling electricity or gas, but I have never heard of just selling “heat.” So I turned to Google, as I was sure this must be a common practice somewhere. Strangely, it wasn’t.

While most of the continental Europe is rather corrupt, there is not too much hope that political will is there to brake centralized heat supply monopolies and separate heat production and distribution (like it is attempted in electricity markets). Further distribution should be split into backbone city heat pipelines and distribution branches to multi apartment buildings. Then each apartment building may generate heat using integrated solar thermal facades or roofs plus heat pumps. A  “smart grid” markets technology applied to heat would make wonders to heat prices.

Kur pinigai? (Where’s the money?)

John Hagel kaip visada genialiai taiklus:

So, where’s the money?  Here’s my answer: to find the money, seek out scarcity. Abundance in some areas inevitably creates scarcity in others. Attention, reputation and talent become relatively scarce in economies of abundance.  Businesses will be well positioned to charge for their services if they can deliver one or more of the following values:

• help amplify attention through more effective advice/recommendations
• foster and protect reputation
• help amplify talent development through rich learning environments

The real winners will realize that amplifying return on attention, building reputation and developing talent are deeply and intricately related – the most valuable platforms will address these needs in powerful new ways.

Here’s my answer: to find the money, seek out scarcity. Abundance in some areas inevitably creates scarcity in others. Attention, reputation and talent become relatively scarce in economies of abundance.  Businesses will be well positioned to charge for their services if they can deliver one or more of the following values:

• help amplify attention through more effective advice/recommendations
• foster and protect reputation
• help amplify talent development through rich learning environments

The real winners will realize that amplifying return on attention, building reputation and developing talent are deeply and intricately related – the most valuable platforms will address these needs in powerful new ways.

Facebook ads and trust

My thoughts: This could be huge if done right, but it could also backfire badly for Facebook. If I start to think that my friends are advertising to me, I may no longer trust them (and, in fact, try to avoid them . .. by not logging into Facebook anymore). So the the trick is to make these appear to be genuine recommendations, and not ads. I am not sure how many people will be fooled by this, though. It risks turning something useful—the feed of my friends’ activities—into something spammy.

… this is exactly what has to happen once you start to mess up with a very fine fabric of social trust. Enginnered (read-algorithm bases) approach is trust (value) destroyer, not creator.  I am glad it has turned out that way. You are not gonna outsmart us, Mark.

In fact, I like Nick’s take on this dynamics much better: the medium is the message from our sponsor. The irony is so deep it’s subterranean.

Cudos to Umair for inspiration.