Ubiquitous Computing for Business: Find New Markets, Create Better Businesses, and Reach Customers Around The World 24-7-365

11. Clear Sailing

The effect of sailing is produced by a judicious arrangement of the sails to the direction of the wind.

—William Falconer, Universal Dictionary of the Marine, 1784¹

The previous chapters described ways to reduce costs through personalization, proactive information delivery, inexpensive device interoperation and efficient group coordination. Combined, these savings should free up resources for more profitable pursuits, and that’s where it gets exciting. All businesspeople know that there are two ways to increase profit: reduce cost or increase revenue. Reducing cost is always painful, no matter how necessary, whereas increasing revenue is exhilarating. Instead of using the hard-bitten tactics needed to compete in existing markets ...