It’s a serious question.  A day after Harvard Business School’s Cyberposium 18, I remain struck by the concern attendees seemed to feel about what their advanced degree will mean in a tough economy and in a tech business that elevates technical prowess above everything else. After all, college dropouts Paul Allen, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Mark Zuckerberg all built hugely successful tech companies — Microsoft, Dell, Apple, Facebook —  without a degree among them.

One Cyberposium panelist basically told MBA candidates interested in big data opportunities that they need not apply unless they also had technical chops.  I’m simplifying here, but that was the gist.

Dropbox founder Drew Houston — who does hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science from MIT  – was gentler but still not all that encouraging. Asked what he wanted in an MBA he said … um pretty much the same thing he seeks in any hire. “What we look for in any candidate is that they’re smart and passionate and not just chasing money. We look for a cultural fit,” Houston said in a Q&A session. ”The guy who runs most of the business side [at Dropbox] has a Harvard MBA but what we look for isn’t that different from what we look for in other areas,” Houston said.

The underlying theme was that business skills and teamwork are valuable and much desired. Attitude and a sense of entitlement are not.

Hunter Walk, director of product management at Google (and a Stanford MBA) must be hearing the same concerns. Yesterday, he shared a great post on the topic: “It’s fine to get an MBA, but don’t be an MBA.”

One of his points:

Getting an MBA means you shoot out of school wanting to prove yourself and see what you can contribute to others. Being an MBA means thinking the world owes you something and that your value 10x’ed just from spending two years on a campus.

Given the economic climate, it’s natural for students to worry about the worth of their degrees. And this topic crops up periodically in the sort of “builder versus spreadsheet guy” debates that get heated. Last year, auto executive Bob Lutz’ book “Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business”  stoked the debate anew. Lutz’ argument, according to the Time Magazine review was: ”To get the U.S. economy growing again,  we need to fire the MBAs and let engineers run the show.”  Harsh, But I would bet lots of people who watched the decline of US industry in the 70s and 80s under the tutelage of MBA CEOs would agree with that sentiment.

Still, promising business students should take heart. Every tech company needs people with business and financial management expertise.  As one commenter to an earlier Cyberposium story put it:

Harvard Business School was where the concept of the spreadsheet developed. Don’t be dismayed … fellow MBAs. Your day will come… Take the Disruptive Innovation courses, and pick up some Advertising while you’re at it.

And, let’s face it,  there are many times when the best technology in the world won’t win unless it’s accompanied by real business savvy.

I would love the discussion to continue, so please post your thoughts in comments below.

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I don’t agree with it — very small things I don’t really call that innovative.

Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, doesn’t care for the Apple v. Samsung patent case, saying “I hate it,” when asked about the situation from Bloomberg. Last month, a jury ruled in favor of Apple to the tune of $1.05 billion for patent infringement by Samsung but Woz says, “I don’t think the decision of California will hold.”

Wozniak of course isn’t a lawyer — nor am I — but I can’t say that I disagree with the court’s finding. Where Woz and I would likely agree is that perhaps such software patents shouldn’t exist in the first place. In a court of law, however, that opinion is irrelevant and I’d be surprised if the court decision was overturned as a result.

Regardless, Woz is reportedly looking forward to purchasing an iPhone 5, which ironically will supplement his Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone.

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“I really worry about everything going to the cloud,” Wozniak told attendees of a performance of  Mike Daisey’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” Saturday in Washington D.C., according to a report in Phys.org. ”I think it’s going to be horrendous. I think there are going to be a lot of horrible problems in the next five years.”

Wozniak, who is now chief scientist of Fusion.io,  went on to say:

With the cloud, you don’t own anything. You already signed it away through the legalistic terms of service with a cloud provider that computer users must agree to. I want to feel that I own things …  A lot of people feel, ‘Oh, everything is really on my computer,’ but I say the more we transfer everything onto the web, onto the cloud, the less we’re going to have control over it.

Former Gizmodo staff writer Mat Honan would probably agree. Honan’s iCloud account was accessed by hackers using the distinctly non-techie but highly effective technique of social engineering. The unknown culprit duped an Apple support staffer into thinking he was Honan and the rest is history — Honan lost access to his iPhone, his Macbook, all his devices, as outlined in Honan’s blog post about his own personal nightmare.

In Honan’s own words: “In short, someone gained entry to my iCloud account, used it to remote wipe all of my devices, and get entry into other accounts too.”

That is the nightmare scenario — losing access to your personal stuff and worse, knowing that someone else has that access — that keeps cloud skeptics, including Woz, up at night.

Photo courtesy of  Flickr user gloomcheng

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While it might be the future of content for those who already have the community to back it up, lower-profile projects seeking cash for their work are also managing to make an impact. Here are some samples of the sort of projects currently seeking funds on the Kickstarter scene, including a video game/fiction hybrid, a documentary about Calvin & Hobbes and a Soviet satire.

Sierra Zulu
The pitch: Austrian “art tech philosophy group” Monochrom seeks funds for a black sci-fi action comedy with political overtones — it’s a bit hard to explain, but here’s the plot summary:

A ragtag UN peacekeeping force operates a small camp guarding the no-man’s-land between Austria and the tiny agrarian microstate Soviet Unterzoegersdorf, the last existing bastion of the defunct Soviet Union. When an explosion occurs deep inside Soviet territory, the team is dragged into a bizarre conspiracy of industrial espionage, media madness and political intrigue. The knowledge economy? It’s about to get blown sky high…

The talent: Attached to appear in the film are Star Trek alumni Robert Picardo and Max Grodénchick, Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Amber Benson, Steve Wozniak and The Yes Men.

Perk of note: For a pledge of $23, you can adopt one frame of the film — only 2,980,770 are still available as of writing, though.

Current funding status: Over $5,400 of the $50,000 goal has been pledged. Deadline is July 30th.

A Drink With Dave: Season 2
The pitch: The production team behind the second season of Dave Holmes‘s low-key talk show seeks $30,000 to produce 80 more episodes. (Which breaks down as $375 an episode — good value for your dollar.)

The talent: In the first season of A Drink With Dave, Holmes interviewed comedians and web personalities including Rob Delaney, Michael Ian Black and Molly McAleer. For the second season of Dave Holmes’s informal talk show, folks like Paul F. Tompkins have been approached, but it “all depends on scheduling, so we can’t book anyone until the project is funded,” according to the project FAQ.

Perk of note: For a $100 pledge, “You introduce an episode AND tease the next episode. We’ll help you record a fun video or audio intro & tease, so that you’re a part of the show!”

Current funding status: About $7,800 of the $30,000 goal has been pledged. Deadline is July 11th.

Dear Mr. Watterson: A Calvin & Hobbes Documentary
The pitch: What began in 2007 as director Joel Schroeder’s documentary exploration of the iconic comic strip Calvin & Hobbes became a much bigger film after a 2010 Kickstarter campaign, which enabled the team to conduct interviews with some of the biggest names in the comics industry. Now, This campaign, according to the project listing, is “our KickFINISH Campaign, as that’s what we hope this’ll help us do: finish the film so that we can share it with all of you.” The funds raised will go towards scoring, music licensing, sound mixing and legal fees, hopefully leading to the film’s completion.

The talent: Those interviewed for the final film include Seth Green, FoxTrot creator Bill Amend, Bloom Country creator Berkeley Breathed, Rhymes With Orange creator Hilary Price and Knight Life creator Keith Knight.

Perk of note: For a $500 pledge, Schroeder writes, “I, Joel, the director of Dear Mr. Watterson, will write you a personal thank you note using a Calvin & Hobbes pad of paper I made in junior high school. And I’ll send it in an awesome homemade Calvin & Hobbes envelope.”

Current funding status: Over $72,000 has been raised, exceeding the $50,000 goal. Pledges are still being accepted, though; deadline is July 14th.

The Inn
The pitch: Steve Silverman, the creator of the award-winning web series Pretty, has teamed up with Buffy alum and Bandwagon creator Emma Caulfield for a new original thriller series.

The talent: Caulfield’s co-stars will include The Bannen Way‘s Mark Gantt, soap opera icon Denise Alexander, and others.

Perk of note: The person who makes the largest pledge will receive a personal phone call from Caulfield.

Current funding status: $880 of the $10,000 goal has been raised. Deadline is August 7th, though as the campaign is being run through Indiegogo, the project will receive all pledged funds, whether or not it meets that goal.

Neal Stephenson’s Clang
The pitch: Author Neal Stephenson has turned his attention from prose to video game development, and is spearheading a campaign to raise funds for a new sword-fighting simulator — one that accurately reflects the reality of swinging around steel. Clang will not only evolve into an open-source toolkit for others to develop their own sword-oriented games, but will also be the basis for a new fiction series, published through Amazon’s 47North imprint.

The talent: Stephenson’s the big name, but game companies Bungie and Valve are included in the project’s thanks. According to the project FAQ, Clang will be released on Valve’s Steam platform.

Perk of note: For a $10,000 pledge, not only do you get perks like multiple copies of Clang and your face on your own exclusive in-game character, but a “Gotlandic war knife based on a design by bladesmith Jeff Pringle (a wootz and pattern welding specialist). These are replicas of 8th century weapons… In those days, ‘war knife’ meant something akin to ‘short sword’ rather than ‘pocket knife.’”

Current funding status: Nearly $466,000 of the $500,000 goal has been pledged. Deadline is July 9th.

Any interesting projects you’re following? Tell us in the comments!

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My primary phone is the iPhone. I love the beauty of it. But I wish it did all the things my Android does, I really do.

Speaking to Dan Lyons in an article comparing the iPhone to Android devices, Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak points out the relative limitations of Apple’s iPhone. Woz makes the case made by many smartphone power-users, suggesting the iPhone is still a great device for most people, but with a little effort and understanding, more can be done to an Android phone. Greater customization and user control have always been key selling points for Android devices; both the high-end smartphones and even the low-cost units.

Another interesting tidbit from Lyons’ article: unlike me, Woz prefers the Motorola Droid Razr over the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Really, Woz? Are you running a custom ROM or are you suggesting that Android 4.0 isn’t as good as its predecessor? Oh well; that’s the beauty of Android: To each his or her own!

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I was especially interested to learn that though Wozniak had confidence in Apple’s ability to rise out of the depths in 1996 when Jobs returned to the company through the purchase of NeXT, he admitted that he was initially skeptical of how Jobs would accomplish that. He then goes on to state that Jobs’ success in doing so was due in large part to his ability “to keep secrets where you need to keep secrets” and “to make sure you’re not overbuilding a bunch of junk you can’t sell.”

It’s also interesting to see the role that Wayne played, which was explained by both in what are obviously fairly diplomatic terms. It was pretty harsh when Chang reminds Wayne that he’s “not a wealthy man” after selling his stake in Apple at a very early stage, which comes at around 6:50 mark in the interview. Take a look at the full interview below and let us know what you think.

Video courtesy of Boomberg Televison.

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