Reconditioned by Twitter

Macworld crashed it.... Heath Ledger's passing broke there.

And now that Twitter is down as I type this... I am kind of surprised by my initial reaction:

Better head over to CNN to see what's going on in the world.

Anyway, unless John Kerry's supporters are crashing the service (I have trouble believing Kerry's an avid Tweeter), this one looks like a mundane outage.

Twitter.. please bring that tweet back.

Hi, I met you on the phone book

Last night, a fellow flack from the company I work with and I went out to Whiskey Park for FlashMashMeet. First off: Kudos to Adam Hirsch and the Mashable crew for throwing a really solid networking event and party.

That said, as the event wore on and networking started to become a little easier (is it just me, or should someone do a study on networking events prior-to when and after after everyone has 2 drinks in them), I was shocked by how many people were using their Facebook profile as the way to stay in touch. Even those of us who didn't forget their business cards (I know... this is one of the 10 commandments of being a flack) were passing out their cards and saying "Hey, look me up on Facebook".

It got me thinking.... was Rupert right when he called Facebook a phone book?

I don't think so, but it's becoming clear that the "Social Utility" is muscling in on LinkedIn's space, and doing so in a hurry by creating one place for professionals in tech scene to stay in touch.

Taking it a step further, in a moment that Jeff Pulver would be proud of, I met Sarah Meyers. It may have been the most awkward introduction ever (seriously.... think 14 year old guy prior to a school dance asking the cool 16 year old girl to go with him). While social networks and twitter make it easy to start a conversation because... in theory... you know a little about each other... they also make it really easy to sound creepy (Hi, I follow you... on Twitter .... should never be an introduction.)

Anyway. What's your social networking meets the real world story?

Coincidence? Likely... but I'm still taking credit (sort of)

It's been 9 whole days since I mentioned my displeasure with Netflix, but at least I have to give them this much:

For a major company, they managed to move pretty quickly.

In case you missed the news, Netflix is coming to a Mac near you, and not a moment too soon.

Maybe they heard the cries from so many Mac users, or maybe they were stunned by the outcry of the AFTB following... but either way, I do feel like it's a victory for all techies using a Mac, and quite frankly... I'm taking some credit for it.

So, Netflix. Thank you. Now, if I can be a real pain and ask for one more favor... Would you mind putting in a call to the nice folks over at MLB.tv?

Say it ain't so Ted

So.. there's no shortage of bloggers who have entertainment value and snark and no shortage of tech bloggers who bring snark... but the fact is... over the past few days we lost an artist who made it required-reading and took it to a whole 'nother level.

In case you never had the chance to read Uncov..... I can't say it enough.... you apparently missed out.

Was the guy occasionally over my head (and by occasionally... I mean more often then not)?

Absolutely.

Was the guy hilarious... brilliant..... and well.... wait... there's no way I am giving him too much credit. He was a flack's nightmare.

Anyway.... to one of the best read's I'd look forward to reading.....I'm sad to see you go.

My morning as a webworker

A little off topic

So, today is a holiday, and the PR firm I work with is "closed." As a side note, there is no such thing as a day off when you work in PR. Does Reuters ever stop broadcasting and writing? Have you ever seen CNBC display a "sorry, we're not broadcasting today because it is a holiday"?

Answer: no.

So, I thought I'd keep a running log of what my morning working from home is like, and what I learned.

9am: Sit in on a client interview. I took this one from my cell phone, and used the three-way calling feature. Note to self: the three-way calling feature on my cell phone absolutely stinks. In hindsight, I should have opened a bridge line, and had everyone dial in.

10:20am: yes... it was a long interview. I start editing some web copy for a client. I picked up the request from remote log in to my company e-mail, and went to work, editing in an e-mail. Here's what I learned: Never edit for a long time when using microsoft's remote log in. If you're in one e-mail for a long time and you then click "send".... it is possible that you will have been logged out and any changes are lost (if you happen to know... is it possible that there is a setting I can change to make this not happen? leave it in the comments and much appreciated).

11:28- I finally send out my re-written web copy (that I re-wrote twice.... thanks again Microsoft). Within 2 minutes... I get responses from other people who are "off" today. Gotta love a firm dedicated to customer service.

11:30- I move on to writing a press release. Apparently, I am one of the 4% of people using Google Docs. Although I have no doubt when I get in tomorrow, at least one person will ask me why. (Easy answers: Cost and sharing).

12:40 or so... I'm taking off for a couple of hours (after all... it is a holiday). Need to drop my laundry off (how is it possible I used to do my own laundry).

Final thoughts: I could definitely be a webworker (hey... I read WWD every day), but a few things would need to happen.

1- I need a mouse (which i don't currently have with me... since I also don't have a desk in my apartment(
2- I need to have a home office (the debate about where to write a press release focused on 'lying in bed' or 'sitting on a couch').
3- I need a conference bridge line.

Anyway... back to ranting about ISP's and talking other tech things tomorrow. Happy (rest of the) holiday

Why Sprint should become a cable provider

Man oh man... The carriers are going crazy. Less than a week after it becomes possible to download movies off of iTunes, Time Warner drops this bombshell explaining that they are going to be charging for bandwidth usage. I'm sure this will add a lot to their bottom line... which it should... considering all of the people who will be flocking away from their service.

Here's what I found profoundly interesting: This is the same Time Warner aggressively marketing their triple play option just like every other annoying code caddy. So in other words... you'll be paying Time Warner for Cable, Internet, Phone and the right to actually use your internet connection and internet phone. Got it? Sure.. they say they're happy to put everything on one bill... problem is... it's going to be a really big bill. Heck.. it might even rival this bill.

So Sprint... here is my suggestion to you: Once Xohm is rolled out...redefine the triple-play.

I am saying scrap the land-line package all together. There's a whole generation of us who haven't had a land-line in years, and really don't have any intention of going back to one. Make the triple-play about mobility. Internet, Streaming Video (more on this in a minute) and Cell phone.... built into one bill.

Now: Streaming video. This is a bit out there, but it has effects in a lot of verticals, so bear with me. I think Sprint should negotiate with the networks in order to be the first provider of a la carte cable, all streamed via the net (sidenote here: You can almost see next year's Stevenote explaining that Apple TV is on board with this initiative... making the streaming video portion available on your TV)).

Think of it like this: If you could get the channels you want (and only the channels you want), what would you pay for them? My billing model (for the purposes of keeping it simple) would be $1 monthly for standard def channels, and $2 monthly for HD.

Why this works.

First off, in case you've missed it, there's a writer's strike that's been going on for a while now. One of the major issues is in regards to digital distribution, and for the sake of this argument... I am not choosing sides in the strike. I am saying that if.... say... Sprint were to come up with this sort of a la carte package and some sort of revenue split (let's say the networks get $.50 for each standard channel and $1 for each HD)... you've built a clear cut way to monitor what people are watching and can now pay the writer's appropriately (i.e. the networks are finally generating revenue off online video, something that hasn't happened yet)... and everyone ends up happy.

Secondly.. does anyone actually watch most of the channels that Time Warner provides? They come as a package... it's it's a one size fits all recipe. Quite frankly... I am positive that if Lifetime stopped appearing on my TV.... I would have no way to know... because, you know... the channel has never been on in my home. I'd rather pay for what I am going to watch. Now, some shows don't matter to me if they are in HD (Law and Order is a great show, no matter what the video quality), where as some networks would be an HD must for me. If I could get NESN in HD... I might actually become a hockey fan again.

Finally... going back to next year's Stevenote. Imagine if the iPhone were somehow WiMAX enabled. Verizon's VCast would presumably also take a hit.

In other words, Sprint would be gaining customers from Time Warner, Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. The writer's strike could come to an end and online video could become profitable.

Make this happen Sprint.

Apple TV rains on Netflix's parade

On the odd chance that you were in a coma yesterday, here's a quick update on MacWorld, which pretty much brought out every tech blogger on the planet.

The highlights:

Apple released a really thin notebook.... mentioned that they're at something crazy like 4 billion music downloads (note to music industry- you're in trouble), launched a neat backup server and revamped Apple TV. The event was so wonderfully hyped that it managed a crash tools for live-blogging and Twitter.

Now, there's no need to go into too much detail with regards to Apple TV and its effect on Netflix... that's been done, a few times.

So here we are... a day after the Stevenote, and lot's of bloggers and media types will be analyzing what was announced and what wasn't (whither WiMAX???).... so they can give some sort of reaction.

Speaking of reactions... here's Netflix's reaction to yesterday's news.

Hey uh.... Netflix.... in case you missed it.... I'm a mac user.

Netflix- a little too little

Yesterday, the blogosphere was all over the fact that Netflix is making their streaming video option unlimited. It was hailed as a preemptive strike on Apple, and virtually every blogger I read covered the story.

My favorite coverage came from Will Richmond over at Videonuze, and can be found here (even if I think Will missed the boat with his 'small percentage of the population' comment... seriously... has he EVER ridden the subway?)

Here's the thing that no one is saying though:

Netflix is making a move against what is allegedly going to be announced today at Macworld... but there's one major problem: Netflix streaming doesn't work on Macs.

From their FAQ's:

"Currently the Netflix Movie Viewer requires Internet Explorer Version 6 or later running on Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista."

Now... Netflix isn't the only company doing some sort of online video that isn't Mac friendly. Quite frankly... there's a lot of them. But somehow, I see this lack of Mac-friendliness as a really silly move for all of them. Maybe it's my perception (being tainted by my own reality as a Mac user), but it seems to me that the person who is most likely to step away from traditional TV and replace it with an Internet connection is a Mac user (if you happen to have numbers available to either prove me right or wrong... I'd be thrilled to see them).

You can read just about any blog written by an early adopter, and almost certainly... the writer is using a Mac..... so when does Netflix ad the rest of the online video community figure that out?

Oh well... it's countdown time to Macworld... time to get ready to worship at the altar of Jobs.

A Techie Institution Turns 100

Over the weekend, I managed to actually sit down and watch a little football. During the game, an incredibly bizarre commercial ran (it's yet another commercial that makes me ask 'what marketing person should be relieved of their duties for letting this thing go through?').

That said: It's a commercial announcing that Converse has turned 100 years old. Upon thinking about it (and getting over the feeling that some marketing person is now sitting in the unemployment line), I started thinking about most of the techies I've work with over the years. After a few phone calls: the vote was unanimous:

Every techie I know has owned at least one pair of Chuck Taylors, and most of them admitted to owning multiple pairs. So Converse... despite the unnecessarily pseudo-artsy commercial (pasted below)... I say congratulations on making it to 100 years old.

Another Code Caddy annoys me

I promise not to focus exclusively on Code Caddies... but seriously.... how did this ridiculous P.O.S. TV commercial (Thanks YouTube) ever make it passed a marketing department as a "good idea."

Code Caddies

Really... I didn't have any intention of making the first few posts into an ISP-bashing festival... and I truly can't be blamed if they are going to keep making it unbelievably easy.

First off.. let's get something established... I am lumping wireless carriers and ISP's into one group. Mobility is here, and only will continue to grow... so in my mind, ISP's and Wireless carriers are now becoming one vertical. I'd lump them as "pipe providers"... but that's not accurate. I'd propose calling them Code Caddies.

They really only have one specific function: carry data from Point A to Point B.

So now, another of these Code Caddies is doing something fascinating: Verizon is making their "open wireless plan" completely useless. They are going to charge by the data usage on their network.

In the article I linked to, Dan Frommer said it very well: "Which means if you want to watch a lot of videos or make a lot of Internet phone calls, it probably won't be cheap."

Did Verizon just provide a glimpe into their version of 'open access' should they actually win the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction? After all... they never really wanted to offer open access anyway.

AT&T Commits a No-No... Sprint in a good position

Two ISP related items today that have AT&T, and Sprint heading in different directions.

The first is this little nugget, suggesting that AT&T is thinking about dumping net neutrality. Rich Tehrani weighs in with a short, but to-the-point thought on this development.

Rich.... I couldn't have said it any more elegantly, so I am not going to try.

The second is that Sprint has now set a date to roll out Xohm, its Wimax network. Sprint... PLEASE make this happen. Seriously. This is a potentially game changing technology you're sitting on. (Here's a random little thought for you: If you were driving from NY to DC, which is about a 4 hour drive, how cool would it be to log your car's internet radio into Pandora to listen to music you'd actually want to listen to?). I can say, without a doubt, that I will certainly be an early adopter when Sprint rolls this out in the NYC area.

Anything I can do to get away from Time Warner Cable is a welcome move in my book.

So, what do you think? What makes you get on the Wimax bandwagon?

Getting started

Here in the AFTB headquarters (i.e. a really tiny Manhattan apartment), I created this little blog. I had a few entries already kind of sketched out for what I wanted to write about... and then I got to thinking: How does one actually start a blog?

Should I just start with a rant about some program that isn't Mac compatible? Should I actually... wait for it.... not bash Sprint?

Well anyway... here's the deal. Because there aren't enough of them out there {/sarcasm}, I've started a tech blog.

The hope is to make it something of an entertaining read, and maybe even take come contrarian views and spark some discussions.

There you have it.... the start of another freaking tech blog.