Smart Products, Smarter Services
Strategies for Embedded Control

An analysis of smart products and their impact on the automotive, wireless, energy, residential and health industries.

Mary J. Cronin (Author)

9780521195195, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 August 2010

350 pages, 5 b/w illus. 4 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 2 cm, 0.69 kg

'Over 14 billion embedded micro-controllers were shipped in the first half of 2010, and that's without Professor Cronin's smart book! But I say better late than never. She lays it all out, how to make the most of smart products. Embedded networking, for example. Imagine what we'll be able to do when we get all these smart products networked and multiplying one another according to Metcalfe's Law!' Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet Inventor and 3Com Founder

We are surrounded by products that have minds of their own. Computing power, in the form of microcontrollers, microprocessors, sensors, and data storage chips, has become so cheap that manufacturers are building connectivity and embedded intelligence into all types of consumer goods. These 'smart products' are fundamentally changing both the competitive landscape for business and the daily lives of consumers. This book analyzes the evolution of smart products to help managers understand the impact of embedded product intelligence on corporate strategy, consumer value, and industry competition. It describes four different ecosystem strategies for designing and launching smart products: the control-focused Hegemon, the standards-focused Federator, the high growth and brand-focused Charismatic Leader, and the disruptive industry Transformer. This ecosystem model is then applied to smart products in the automotive, wireless, energy, residential, and health industries. The book concludes with recommendations for successfully managing smart products and services.

List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
1. Evolution of embedded intelligence
2. Smart product ecosystems
3. Embedded product controls
4. Intelligent automobiles
5. Smartphones and wireless services
6. Energy: imbalance of power
7. Smart home vision and reality
8. Connected machines and consumer value
9. Smart product privacy issues
10. Strategies for managing smart products and services
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Sales & marketing [KJS], Entrepreneurship [KJH], Business innovation [KJD], Business & management [KJ], Communication studies [GTC]