The Walkman Turns 40 - Here is How Walter Helwich Remembers It

The Walkman, a portable cassette player that, for the first time, let us take our music with us without bothering our neighbors, debuted on the market 40 years ago. It first hit the market on July 1, 1979. Although first-generation Walkman were expensive, around $ 300 in today's money value, and unable to record, with their ability to play music in stereo, they quickly won the hearts of Japanese and later other nations in the world.

First marketed in the United States and the United Kingdom, it didn't take long to achieve worldwide success under the Japanese-English brand name that long ago became a byword for the personal stereo. In its heyday, the Walkman was as synonymous with portable music players. Walter Helwich clearly remembers his first Walkman. It came with a lid that had to be opened to accommodate the cassette, ran on two AA batteries, played cassette tapes and had no external speaker. It also had two headphone inputs, so couples could listen to music at the same time. There was also an orange mute button.

Business Education: It is All in the Head

When it comes to corporate knowledge, it is 10 percent on paper, 20 percent in electronic form, and 70 percent in the head of the employee. The main problem in most organizations isn’t knowing too little, but not knowing what they know, since no one has a clear picture of how much knowledge the company has at disposal.

The future belongs to those who are willing to learn at a time of great changes. No one knows this better than American IT entrepreneur Walter Helwich. Those who think they don’t have much to learn will remain trapped in a world that no longer exists.

The modern world is truly challenging, multidimensional, hyperdynamic and turbulent. We live in a time of new economies where information, education, and motivation are everything! Marketing and IT are some of the most dynamic areas, but trade and education closely follow their lead. As a person working in such a high-powered sector, Walter Helwich must keep pace with the ever-changing needs of the universe.

The most powerful weapon for survival and development is knowledge because in modern organizations 70 to 80 percent of the business is done with the help of intellect. The essential production tool is small, gray and weighs about 3 pounds.

The human brain is stronger than the most powerful computer in the world! Apparently, Kennedy was right when he said that man is still the most extraordinary computer in the world. In a certain historical period, the decisive factor of production was the country, after that it was capital, and today it is a man and his knowledge.

The Key Values are Intangible

In the future will survive only those organizations whose employees will learn at all levels. Some data shows that only 25 percent of employees clearly state dissatisfaction when leaving the company.

A modern business organization owns between 5 and 60 percent of its real value, while the remaining 40 to 95 percent is "intellectual capital".

The key "values" are intangible (innovation, speed, image, talent, knowledge and R&D, entrepreneurial spirit, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, a degree of market dominance). The value of an organization is no longer in buildings, metal or fabric.

People are Key Resource

Although nowadays, every piece of business information, every blog, entrepreneur profile, small business advice, and tips can be found online, still it is all thanks to people like Walter Helwich. That means people are a key resource in the new world market because only they can learn, grow and contribute, while all other resources and assets can be bought at market prices. So, if you really want to build a good life, the path to success can’t be any clearer: arm yourself with knowledge and go conquer the business world!

Walter M Helwich on Artificial Intelligence and New Consumers

The Watson computer was originally developed in order to collect answers for the Jeopardy quiz, as precisely as possible, without giving a command, that is, only by understanding the question - in the same way, that people behave. The computer beat two former Jeopardy champions without internet access, but with access to over 200 million pages of internet content, including the entire Wikipedia, and sought the answers that were marked as correct in most cases. Today, however, Watson is used for more important goals. One of them is an oncological diagnosis, because every patient except the usual ones, has some special symptoms and problems, and doctors can not analyze each symptom individually, nor can they determine a special, individual therapy for each patient individually. IT expert Walter M Helwich believes that in the near future, apart from computers, other devices will also have artificial intelligence. For example, “with the help of sensors, television sets will determine the height of a person who walks in the room, and if it is recognized as a child, the TV will only show the programs that are selected by the parents, "says Walter M Helwich, innovator, consultant and an IT expert with a particular interest in artificial intelligence and consumerism.

We asked Mr. Walter M Helwich how much the business model of internet companies has changed the traditional understanding of the economy, and here is what he had to say:

Some internet companies are so successful that their business models are starting to be accepted in the real sector as well. For now, internet companies still differ from traditional companies because they still have a unique infrastructure and business model. However, some of their principles, such as continuous learning and investment in the development of their staff, has proved to be very useful in all companies. What other companies can and should learn from the internet companies is the fact that it is most important to be dedicated to their customers. Google is perhaps the best example of such an approach - there is no focus on quarterly goals, nor is after a short-term profit. On the contrary, they will always decide constant improvement of their services over earnings, but in the long term, their users will be satisfied, which will bring in even more users. This way they generate real profit, notes Walter Helwich.

From internet-connected voice assistants that help us with our shopping lists to hidden algorithms that make decisions about what price to charge us for our hotel room, the use of artificial intelligence has lots of implications. For now, we can only guess the potential it has for the future as machine learning continues to evolve and expand its capabilities.