Gordon Fletcher

Kickstarter is turning into eBay as shoppers play investor

Crowdfunding has come a long way in its short history. Today, it is even changing the way we consume. What was once a way to give a largely ready product a helping hand on its final push to market has become a means for consumers to get involved with something still on the drawing board, […]

The $10 billion Japanese app bringing Candy Crush tactics to messaging

A Japanese messaging app called Line has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) valued at nearly US$10 billion. For an app almost unknown outside Japan it’s an audacious move. However, messaging is there simply to suck you into Line’s mobile world, where the real profits are made. Unlike its rivals, it is already making […]

Creatively prototyping the future high street

Creatively prototyping the future high street is a workshop hosted by the University of Salford at the MediaCityUK campus and organised by colleagues from Salford, Manchester and Liverpool Business Schools. During the one day programme a variety of innovative and engaging hands-on methods will be used to identify and understand the big challenges facing high […]

The right to be forgotten is fundamental in the digital age

The current debate over the right to be forgotten, spurred by a European Union ruling that allows people to stop certain web pages from appearing in search results, is proof – if further proof was required – of the distinct form of public life that is being created by the internet. Our digital identities are […]

Prince Philip, Cargo Cult island – Tanna and Survivorship Bias

The recent release of a book by Matthew Bayliss concerning the South Pacific tribe who worship Prince Philip echoes my own experience and observation of cargo cults at Salford Business School in reverse and, consequently, draws me to an alternative set of observations and conclusions. For example, there is the Prince Philip cargo cult island […]

Universities should ban Facebook before punishing Dogecoin mining

Universities are facing a dilemma now that students have been discovered mining cryptocurrencies using campus facilities. Are these students displaying entrepreneurship or unacceptable behaviour? Harvard has decided it’s the latter, permanently banning an unidentified person from using its computer research facilities after they were found using a supercomputer to mine dogecoin. It is not known […]

Bitcoin is like a real gold rush: it’s the miners who are exploited

The recent crash of popular bitcoin exchange MtGox has given some commentators the opportunity to hint at the collapse of bitcoin itself. There are historical comparisons to be drawn here with the 2001 dotcom crash or the South Sea Bubble of 1720. However, these examples can only offer a partial explanation of recent events.

What is Bitcoin?

Over the last few months this seemingly simple question has crossed the minds of academics, reporters and many others. In the Centre for Digital Business our discussions have focussed on the real impact that bitcoins will have on mainstream eCommerce. For the moment we have no definitive conclusion. However, the technology press picked up on the […]