ACTIVEBLU WIRELESS BLUETOOTH HELMET HEADSET

Professor CK Prahlad, author of "The Bottom of the Pyramid" (can we say a "Long Tail" of sorts) talks about "Democratization of Learning".

Key points made:

-- Growing success in large companies serves as an impediment to innovation. Growth implies processes and execution. When new forces attack the environment, large companies are unable to move quickly to react to those forces.

-- In the new world order large companies also need to be intimately connected to their markets, especially to their end-users be they customers or end-users

-- Key components contribution to the "Democratization of learning" are: the rise of SmartPhones/wireless, widespread availability of search tools in all media, pay-per-use ERP (e.g. cheap storage in cloud), access to Social Networks, and free assessment of knowledge gained by the social networks.

From blogger Russell Smith:

C.K. Prahalad identifies the world’s poor (the “bottom of the pyramid”) as a mostly untapped market for companies, worth up to $13 trillion a year in revenues. In his words, “the real source of market promise is not the wealthy few in the developing world, or even the emerging middle-income consumers. It is the billions of aspiring poor who are joining the market economy for the first time.” In his TED talk, Dr. Prahalad warned against “learning disabilities” on the part of companies, leading to mistakes, such as mistaking current profits for leadership, and unwillingness to face up to capability gaps. He seems to be saying that the answer lies in democratizing technology, communication, and learning, such that everybody from the top to the bottom will know what’s going on."

C-FORT - Fleet 60K - Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
built in 1940 -
The Fleet Fort Model 60K was the only aircraft designed and built by Canadians in World War II. The rest of the aeroplanes produced in this country were constructed under license. The Fort was also the first all-metal monoplane built by Fleet Aircraft of Canada (Fort Erie); and it was intended as a cheaper version of the Harvard, also an intermediate trainer. The Fort's maiden flight occurred in 1940, and the RCAF took an additional 100 on strength in 1941.
Initially, the RCAF did not want to order the Model 60K, and their doubts proved valid. The Fort was relatively easy for pilot trainees to master, thereby making it unsuitable for transition to combat aircraft (e.g., Hawker Hurricane). Also, the RCAF decided that pilots who had soloed in Finches and Tiger Moths could proceed to Harvards without training on Forts. The Forts were then used to train wireless operators until the last Model 60K was retired in 1946.
The CWH Fort was the prototype that was employed by the National Research Council Test and Development Establishment until it was assigned to 2 Wireless School in 1942. The Museum acquired this aircraft in 1979. The following year, Fleet Aerospace, having just rebuilt the Cornell, volunteered to return the Fort to airworthy status. It is the only example of this type, world-wide, to still fly.


on static display during the Hamilton Air Show 2011