Jean-Christophe starts off a series about Banks in Second Life.  For the non French speakers, there are enough links in this post to make it very worthwhile. Aujourd’hui, 1er volet de la série “Les banques dans Second Life”, consacrée aux banques qui existent IRL (In Real Life) et qui sont également présentes “in-world” (c’est à dire dans SL) Source: Jean-Christophe Capelli: Les banques dans Second Life (1)   Technorati tags: SecondLife, Virtual+Reality+Banks Continue reading Jean-Christophe Capelli: Les banques dans Second Life

 Yet another bank, this one from Denmark enters SL. Another recent launch in Second Life has been Saxo Bank, an online investment bank, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Source: Ambling in Second Life: Danish Bankers on the Job   Technorati tags: SecondLife, Saxo+Bank Continue reading Saxo Bank enters Second Life

 When I made this statement it struck me after reading a comment (thanks Dan .. grrr), that this needs more exploration.  Why is open source a good thing, and is it contradictory to traditional business?  This was all prompted by Chris’s post where he says I question any institutional trend towards consolidation, crystallization, centralization or the locking up of naturally occurring resources or readily reproducible resources (like digital data) I ended up stating this, and realise this needs more thought. (normal programming will resume after I finish this) In general, the hypothesis here is that naturally ocurring information and data … Continue reading Open Source – why its useful

 Citi were leaders in the convergence of financial services in 1993 when they purchased Travelers Insurance.  They have gone full circle now, having sold Travelers to MetLife, and now selling the trademark red umbrella back to Travelers.  So what does this mean for Citi as they now call themselves.  this article speculates with the recent purchase of Egg Bank that they are focussed on broad based distribution and integrated channels now, instead of marketing partnerships of different brands. Citi’s announcement earlier this month that it will acquire Egg, the U.K.-based online banking provider, can be viewed as recognition that distribution … Continue reading Citi rebrands, and moves to an integrated distribution business model

 Phil expresses some frustration about campuses and their totalitarian attempts to control users, and how perhaps corporate’s will become more open.  That said, with changing business culture, corporate networks are probably going to become more like campus networks than the other way around Source: Phil Windley’s Technometria | Conflicting Roles and the Use of Tor In my experience and speaking to others, I have to say I see no sign, or even light on the horizon for Banks to open up their networks.   Technorati tags: bank+networks, cluetrain, networked+employees Continue reading Who is moving fastest – Universities, or corporate?

 I couldn’t agree more with Ron on this point.  Wesabe is a real innovator in the financial services space.  I believe Banks (generally) are not in e-commerce.  They have merely automated branch transactions/ paved the cowpath. The promise if Wesabe is to harness the power of the web, in ways that Amazon, and eBay have done (more here).  While social media proponents talk about the community-building aspects of this new movement, the Cranky in me says that it’s still about me. Letting my voice be heard, validating my opinion. Wesabe holds out the promise to help consumers validate their financial decisions … Continue reading Wesabe brings financial services in to the e-commerce space

apophenia makes a great point and defines the prediction on social networks well.  Users will tire of large-scale, portal-style social network sites like MySpace and Facebook in 2007″ but the framing of it as “social network fatigue” reveals the inherent problem in this prediction. Users aren’t going to tire of their friends but they will tire of problematic social spaces that make hanging out with friends difficult. Source: apophenia: some thoughts on 2007 (advertising, bullying, and mobile) I see this as a healthy shift.  I personally don’t buy social networks as a business model per se.  That’s like suggesting operating a … Continue reading A new dilemma – ‘Social fatigue’