Ged Carroll

Month: February 2016

  • Chinas Coming War With Asia

    Chinas coming war with Asia – provocative title

    Chinas Coming War With Asia: where do I start with a book title this inflammatory? I went to the trouble of reading the book twice before starting this review. In the end, the only conclusion I can come to is ‘Policy Faultlines in East Asia’ doesn’t have the same ring to it.

    Chinas coming war with Asia is one of those books that you shouldn’t judge too harshly by its cover, but by Jonathan Holsag’s writings.
    Untitled

    About the book

    Holsag marshals a huge range of facts and opinions within the book. If you want to have a basic understanding of the modern Chinese state, then this book is a good primer.

    He provides insight into the Chinese Communist’s Party’s policy cornerstone of territory maximisation. They were happy to put off their agenda for tactical advantage, but never gave up on their goals. China’s neighbours have similar inflexible policy goals. There is is no win-win solution. This is very interesting given the treaty

    Time has brought increased pressures. A fight for resources to fuel further growth and water rights conflicts. Relative declines in economic growth also fuels nationalistic politics. In China, nationalistic sentiments in citizens grew with prosperity. It has become convenient for politicians to tap into nationalistic sentiments.

    Holsag doesn’t attempt to provide a solution for de-escalation of these edges. His book only provides a macro-level understanding of the countries involved. For the reader who wants to understand Asia, Holsag’s book is an excellent primer.  More on Chinas Coming War With Asia by Jonathan Holsag. More book reviews here.

  • VGA + more things

    VGA In Memoriam | Hackaday – interesting overview of the VGA display technology. Although as with many technology standards, declaration of its death is likely to be premature. Instead it will gradually decline, but still be supported by a variety of connecting dongles. We still see component video and audio feeds available on the latest television sets alongside HDMI connectors. More technology related posts here.

    Why the iPad Is Going Extinct | New Republic – Interesting assessment of the tablet form factor. One point that the article misses is that tablets also have long replacement cycles. Hand-me-down and secondhand sales for iPads then become important. Relatively speaking the iPad offers a good ratio of computing power to price. But it isn’t a replacement for a laptop. It is no paradigm change on the scale of the PC or the smartphone and that is why it looks doomed to the author. Instead the iPad is a replacement for the portable DVD player, a coffee table magazine or a portable TV for consuming content. It does have roles in replacing paperwork and processes for people like airline pilots who previously would have had a pilots case with a thick binder. In it would be maps, way points, check lists, worksheets computer printouts and reference materials.

    What Influences the Influencers? ComRes/Burson-Marsteller 2016 EU Media Poll findings unveiled – Burson-Marsteller – interesting to see Politico rank highly. It has enjoyed a relatively fast ascendancy to influence, particularly outside the US.

    5 new luxury retail formats to look out for this year – Luxury Daily – Columns – peer to peer fashion lending (AirBnB for bags). It is the  sort of the role that the pawn broker and secondhand stores played to date. It represents a further democratisation of luxury, which in turn causes a bigger question to me. What does this democratisation mean for luxury in the future?