A city that seems smart one moment can look like the dumbest thing alive the next moment. All it takes is one little cloud outage. We’ve taken cloud outages in stride. After all, how often does it really matter if you place an Amazon order now or in an hour or two? But what if […]
BI industry
Why “smart cities” is interesting, first look
At first, the term “smart cities” may sound like just another bit of fluff — another one of the data industry’s fascinations. It did to me. But I’ve been reading about it, and I’ve come to think that the reality may hold real benefits for the data industry — more than just a new market […]
A mossy viz to try at home
Visualization purists will reject this. It’s mossy — as in moss. At first glance, it’s a visualization. It represents parks, forests, rivers, and lakes in Berlin, Germany. On further examination, you want to touch it. The mossy-viz idea seems to have begun when Sebastian Meier sought a more sensual experience than he could give with […]
Qlik road goes past white coated smart guys
An earlier version of this post, with a different conclusion and minor differences, appeared in late November. Qlik CTO Anthony Deighton was drying his hands on the thick, almost cloth-like paper towels in the men’s room at the Miami Edition hotel at the recent Qlik analyst event. He heard another man in the room comparing […]
Qlik finally set to leapfrog Tableau?
Who’s your rival? I carelessly asked a Qlik person at the company’s annual analyst reception Monday night in Miami if she hadn’t once worked for Tableau. Her revulsion was immediate. “No! Never!,” she said. We smiled. There was so much more to talk about. For one thing, how will private equity change things? Qlik wasn’t […]