Lunch with Mike LaJoie (CTO, Time Warner Cable)
Today I hosted Mike LaJoie (CTO, Time Warner Cable) for one of our CDS Tech lunches. Mike showed off TWC’s cool new ipad app that lets cable users watch their favorite shows anywhere in their home. Released two weeks ago, the app has been a huge hit with over 300,000 downloads this month and has also created its share of controversy over the wireless delivery. While the app can only be used at home (a legal distribution issue, not a technical one), content owners are crying foul. Looks like the content owners are missing it again, limiting paying customers on the device they can use! What next—will they limit program consumption to the living room? To be continued.
Besides talking about the future of content delivery, Mike gave the students advice about pursuing careers in technical roles. He noted that the key to success was bridging the gap between technology and the business. Too often techies can’t crawl out of their love for the technology itself to see how it can impact the firm and eco system around them. Mike said his career was defined by his ability to understand how new technologies translated into time and money.
Watch CDS Fellow Elissa Kline’s interview with Mike:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/ypE_1VC-B_s[/youtube]
In the interest of full disclosure, Tuck and Time Warner Cable share a business relationship.