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Copying the Conservatives was not the best form of flattery
There has been mutual egotistical adoration at how wonderful certain people are by other wonderful people. David Cameron admires Tony Blair, and Tony Blair admires Margaret Thatcher (or something like that). They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and, for all the difficult decisions taken by Tony Blair, it is still possible that a donkey might have won against John Major in 1997. A retrospectoscope is a wonderful thing.
So what precisely did we emulate or try to imitate? Strangulation is supposed to be copying the best bits of the opposition party, but did we go too far? I suppose the working hypothesis is that the public likes market forces, because by introducing choice and competition, prices go down and quality improves.
This of course is a rocking farce. This has not happened in the privatised railway network, and it has not happened in the privatised utilities. An idiot with the most basic knowledge of economics can work out that there are hardly any competitors in these crowded industries, raking up profits for themselves by setting prices in a way that favours them (in the nicest possible way), there is not much choice, and the customer can frankly lump it.
So Labour took the bold move of not distinguishing itself markedly from the Conservatives in 1997, securing ‘competitive advantage’ as the corporate strategists would call it. They decided instead to copy a winning formula, on the assumption that once they got into power, they could do what they want. And then did until the clock ran out. In doing so, they did not reverse anti-Union legislation, introduced tuition fees, and introduced market forces into the NHS. Of course, there was much that they did right, for example not allowing so much private industry in the NHS, and limiting the amount a University student would have to pay for their course, but it was essentially an imitative strategy. It was not a collaborative strategy; such a strategy is often seen by parties who go into strategic alliances or partnerships, to increase their market share in business.
As a result of this strategy, Labour now, using business principles, offers no competitive advantage to the voters. Sadly for the voters, nor does the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats, as you can only put a cigarette paper between them. This is highly irritating for the voter, because like the privatised industries there is little choice and actually remarkably little competition. The Liberal Democrats are now a party about to go out of business, leaving just two major entities in an oligopolistic market of political parties.
There is still a sense of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. This is what fans of David Miliband wished might be the ‘midas touch’, because the media apparently ‘loved’ David Miliband, and were virtually euphoric over his possible performance at the despatch box, overcoming David Cameron. This is somewhat akin to Samsung locked-in to their fieresome dispute with Apple. Intellectual law has been trying to stop confusion in the customer’s eyes from arising between Apple and Samsung due to lack of distinctiveness, resulting from a similar global identity, and resulting from representing similar goods or services. In the world of intellectual property infringement, Labour has got as close as it has got to copying the Conservatives, without utterly alienating its core voters including the Unions. It has been the version of ‘vote for us because we’re very similar’.
The material difference is here there is genuine affection for the Apple brand, in terms of its dynamism, apparent youth, innovation, flexibility, novelty, to name but a few. The Conservative brand is in fact objectively characterised by economic incompetence, demonisation of the disabled, and a hugely unpopular privatisation of the NHS. Labour will secure no competitive advantage by merely copying the Tories, and in fact could successfully disenfranchise many voters this time for good.
Talk this evening 6.15pm @BPPLawSchool Holborn on innovation implementation in technology
This evening, I will be giving a presentation in room 2.6 here in the BPP Law School, Holborn, on disputes involving Apple, Samsung and HTC involving tablets and smartphones.
The learning objectives of this talk are as follows:
- To give an overview of two disputes in intellectual property between multi-national parties in the technology sector.
- To contextualise the importance of two intellectual property rights (patents and design rights) in how multinational companies create ‘competitive advantage’.
- To improve the “commercial awareness” of applicants for training contracts this summer.
I wished to give an explanation of how multi-national companies involved in technology use innovation to create competitive advantage to generate profit, but look at it from the perspective of the industry of intellectual property protection in the form of design rights (tablet) and patent (“slide-to-view” mechanism of smartphones).
The handout for this talk is here.
Students on the LPC might find the talk interesting as these intellectual property rights have been introduced on the Legal Practice Course special elective on commercial law and intellectual property. The subject-matter is also a valid topic for a recent interesting example of ‘commercial news’, which might be aired in the training contract application form or in the interview itself.
A “calico” – all will be revealed….
Society meeting: Thursday 12 July, Apple/Samsung patent dispute
We have a meeting of the BPP Legal Awareness Society tomorrow evening at 6.15 pm (until 7.15 pm) in room 2.6, BPP Law School, Red Lion Street, Holborn, London.
Any current, past or future student of BPP may attend. You may be studying any discipline, and we as a society actively encourage students from any discipline, from any site, to attend. Please however be mindful that you will be asked for ID by security should you attend, and members of reception are not able to recognise you immediately.
The aim of this meeting is to look behind the purposive nature of the law of patents in the English courts, and to look at how the recent Apple/Samsung dispute was decided in the High Court (judgment delivered 18/19 June 2012). This will require a discussion of how patent claims are looked at general. Because of the nature of society, we will be considering carefully the commercial strategy of Apple and Samsung internationally in achieving competitive advantage, but paying attention why they might have sought to pursue civil litigation for this.
As such, you may find this meeting particularly interesting if you are studying the commercial law and intellectual property special elective on the Legal Practice Course at BPP. It may also be useful if you are wishing to demonstrate the competence of ‘commercial awareness’ in your training contract interview this summer. Deadlines are during this month, usually culminating on midnight of 31 July (i.e. prior to 0.01 1 August 2012).
To download the poster, press here
Is the modern book dead?
Paradoxically, I love using my #ipad2 in BPP Law School library, Holborn.
I use my #ipad2 during my LPC, and I latterly used to use it in my MBA. The future of knowledge changing and sharing is changing. Edmund Hewson recently discussed the presentation of media for students like me on the BPP blog:
I chair our university’s publishing company. I worry as much as any manufacturer about the cost of print (a ‘non-strategic cost’), which includes holding stock, returns policies, stock write-offs, the ecological impact of paper, carbon footprints (or whatever we print people photocopy when they sit on the copier), recycling, forest stewardship, fire, glue, chiropractic or osteopathic bills (as students carry weighty tomes around on their backs) and ‘just-in-time’ production.
In fact, our company has digitised its workflow to create a seamless link between print and the type of interactive content we have been providing for some time. All our books can be bought as eBooks. With eBooks, students can create links to other digital content. They can access their entire library from anywhere near a wireless network connection. A shared eBook library can encourage collaborative learning: students can share their mark-ups and create, together, a modern palimpsest. (see Wikipedia’s definition of palimpsest, in case you don’t know what this means.)Amazon announced volume sales of ebooks exceeded paperbacks and hardbacks combined…though I suspect this referred to fiction not academic titles.
Moreover, I work for a university that is committed to:
- blended learning, with a full use of digital media
- supplying ebooks
- fully using for learning what technology has to offer.
William Rankin, Director of Educational Innovation and Associate Professor of English, Abilene Christian University presents at the LWF Festival of Learning & Technology discussing the campus wide deployment of iPads and mobile devices within the university. London, January 10th 2011. What are we to do with the modern book? Is this a technology which has outlived his shelf life? What will ‘disruptive technologies’ like ebook do for modern education.
Rankin argues that ‘digitising a text is not the same as producing a digital book’. Anyone who has ever used the Morris app for the #ipad2will definitely know that. Today, apparently, Apple is to announce a platform that might ‘destroy’ book publishing. It’s very interesting to see some preliminary thoughts on this:
Technology-in-education expert Dr. William Rankin also believes digital books will expand with tools that will enable social interactions among textbook users. Rankin, who serves as Director of Educational Innovation of Abilene Christian University and has extensively researched the use of mobile devices in the classroom, was one of three authors of a white paper on the effects of digital convergence on learning titled “Code/X,” published in 2009.
“What we really believe is important is the role of social networking in a converged learning environment,” Rankin told Ars. “We’re already seeing that in Inkling’s platform, and Kno‘s journaling feature. Future digital texts should allow students to layer all kind of other data, such as pictures, and notes, and then share that with the class or, ideally, anyone.”
Exactly how what Apple announces on Thursday will impact digital publishing isn’t certain, however.
“Think about how meaningful simply authoring and publishing to an iPad will be for K-12,” MacInnis said. “However, it might not be great for molecular biology.”
MacInnis sees Apple as possibly up-ending the traditional print publishing model for the low-end, where basic information has for many years remained locked behind high textbook prices. Apple can “kick up dust with the education market,” which could then create visibility for platforms like Inkling. This could then serve as a sort of professional Logic-type tool for interactive textbook creation complement to Apple’s “GarageBand for e-books.”
I am a huge fan of e-books, but I like the physical feel of books. It’s really exciting going to BPP Law School library where you don’t have to carry huge volumes of books, and you can just go on a pleasurable learning journey on a ‘bppstudents’ broadband connection. I think the future for law students, writing their own professional material in a spirit of collaboration, is also a good way, and very sociable in fact.
From the Apple website as of 0430 UK : Steve Jobs, 1955-2011
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an aspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company which only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
Why is Apple so successful?
I have just completed my marketing course for my MBA. In this course, we have looked at the branding and market positioning of products, and how they are ultimately priced. Apple’s marketing strategy (and distribution channels) continues to interest me. I wonder how it chooses to develop new products, and retains its competitive advantage.
