When I was consulting with western companies I always advised my clients to be cautious about dealing with Chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOE).  In fact, I generally urged them to steer clear because SOEs are well known to make decisions for political reasons that may be contrary to the best interests of the business.  Further, SOEs rarely have any particular motivation to “play ball” with their western partners.

With that context in mind, I’ve watched the U.S. nationalize broad swaths of the financial industry, and now the government is taking over automobile manufacturing.  This story was all over the media today, but I like the WSJ, so I’ll quote from their report:

“… plan that would give the U.S. government a 72.5% stake and keep the auto maker closely held for as many as 18 months.

The government is set to boost its support for GM by as much as $50 billion through a bankruptcy filing that could come Monday.”

The only U.S. made cars that I’ve owned since 1980 were Fords (and that was some time ago – gotta love the F-250 4x4), so I guess that I can take some comfort in that.  Anyway, we’re now in a position where major chunks of our financial system, and our “too critical to fail” manufacturing infrastructure are, effectively, SOE’s.  Maybe, in the 21st century, our government is taking its lead from China.  Given the relative performance of our two economies, maybe it’s not such a bad thing, but it’s tough to accept for a guy like me, who learned about business way back in the 20th century.

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Technorati Tags:  China, Nationalization

RingDance, provides a soothing audiovisual encounter with eight brightly colored rings dancing on your iPhone™ or iPod touch™.  When the rings touch, they exchange colors and produce a gentle sound.  The calming melodies from the dancing rings create a relaxing environment that enables you to either focus your thoughts, or completely surrender to the otherworldly music.

Readers of this blog will, of course, understand the significance of the eight rings.

RingDance is available on the App Store.

Technorati Tags:  iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, mobile, iPuck, iPunt, RingDance

Find iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal,

“The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed an agreement with an investment group from China to become minority owners of the NBA franchise and its arena, a partnership that could affect superstar LeBron James’ future with the team.”

Apparently the group could end up owning as much as 15% of Cavaliers Operating Company, the entity that owns the team and operates the ironically sponsored “Quicken Loans Arena.”

The story suggests that the expanded marketing opportunities in China could help keep LeBron James in Cleveland after next summer, when he will be eligible to become a free agent.

I have two comments.  First, anybody who wants to argue that (h/t to Thomas Friedman) the world is not flat should ponder the implications of this story.  Second, I’m an old guy, so I remember a time when groups from Japan were buying lots of overpriced American assets of questionable real value.  That didn’t work out so well.  Why is it always entertainment related stuff that turns out to be such “interesting” investments for the newly wealthy (Pebble Beach, Rockefeller Center, …)?

In other news, we are waiting for our newest app to be approved for sale on the Apple App Store (it should hit this week).  Version 1.0.1 of iPuck should also hit this week.  (We hope…)

Technorati Tags:  China, iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, Mobile Perspectives, BluMtnWerx

I sincerely apologize for neglecting this blog.  My only excuse is that I’ve been completely consumed by a new venture.  A small group of us recently founded a company to do software development for mobile devices.  Software and software engineering was my first love, and this is an exciting opportunity to get back to actually building some interesting products for a new computing paradigm (bet you haven’t seen that phrase for awhile - shows how old I am).

The new group is BluMtnWerx.  Our first two iPhone / iPod touch apps, iPunt and iPuck are now available on Apple’s App Store here and here (links will take you right to the iTunes App store).

Find iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

Find iPhone apps at AppStoreHQ

iPunt is a 3-D immersive environment that is impossible to categorize.  You kind of have to play it for yourself to get the idea.

iPuck is a casual arcade game that involves using your ring to guard your goal while trying to smack the puck into the opponent’s goal.

We have a third app in its final testing stages and we’re planning on a major upgrade for iPunt in the very near future.

By way of apology for my long silence, I have a handful of app promo codes left that I’d be happy to share with “Go East” readers.  Just get in touch with me - first-come, first-served.  All that I ask is that you take a couple of seconds to give us a rating on the app store.

I’ll certainly continue to post on this blog, but the majority of my new writing will be on the BluMtnWerx Mobile Perspectives blog, so please check there if you’re interested in my most up to date ranting.  Also, I’m trying to drum up followers on Twitter, if you’re using that strangely popular service - http://twitter.com/deansx

Technorati Tags:  iPhone, iPod Touch, Apple, Mobile Perspectives, BluMtnWerx