Radar7 Edition 2 (Read edition 1 here)

16 Sept 2013

‘Radar7’ is a regular feature where we highlight the top seven pieces of thought-provoking industry commentary that should be on your radar. Here are this edition’s seven picks…

1. Driving innovation: Why Microsoft should buy Ford

After the revelation that Microsoft has acquired Nokia’s phone business, The Drum asks whether it is high time that the motor industry was injected with a similar dose of new thinking and change.

2. The Untold Story of Google’s Quest to Bring the Internet Everywhere—By Balloon

Wired goes behind the scenes of Google’s audacious attempt to bring the World Wide Web to every corner of the planet by launching a fleet of hot air balloons.

3. Locker, Library, Stream: The 5 Big Digital Music Models of 2013

With the recent launch of Google’s Spotify-baiting All Access service, this year will arguably be remembered as the year music streaming finally went mainstream. The Atlantic presents a taxonomy of legal ways to distribute music online in 2013.

4. Tomorrow’s cities: How big data is changing the world

Big data is probably one of the most over-used and most misunderstood terms in tech today. However, as this BBC feature points out, it is changing almost every part of our world, from the way scientists measure human happiness to refining how rubbish is collected in megacities.

5. Why Mobile ROI is So Hard

Twitter’s product manager Ameet Ranadive pens a fascinating article on Medium.com where he explores some of the main challenges facing brands looking to win in the mobile space today.

6. How the NSA cracked the web

A thoughtful and insightful look at the largest story of the year, and possibly the decade, from Matt Buchanan in the New Yorker.

7. Nintendo in crisis

You don’t have to be a gaming fan to realise that the gaming super brand is not currently enjoying the same level of success that it once did. What’s interesting about this piece on Hypercritical isn’t the dissection of the fall from grace of a once well-loved icon, but actually how it highlights the fickleness of the tech industry as a whole.