Wow.
Here's what I have learned so far... it's really tough to maintain a decent blog. Lots of developments all over the place, and I have been quiet. Where do people find time to do this?
grrr.
Anyway. Let's pick up with Facebook's linkedIn.com rip-off new-toy.
I hate to say it.. but it's brilliant. LinkedIn always gave me..... on a good day... maybe one person who I had at least heard of (PS. I don't really imagine the President of a PR firm I declined an offer from becoming a professional connection).
The Facebook version..... Rocking. Mind you... there's lot's of people I wouldn't want to reconnect with that are offered (ex-girlfriends who are now married to the guy that replaced me.... you needn't to apply)... but at least I will say this:
The results I am getting are people I have definitely met in person... more than once.... and I think it's awesome.
Great work to the Facebook developer team.
Now... go find a way to Monetize the site, and I'll be even more impressed.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
AOL Buying Bebo?
There's a rumor circulating that AOL has bought Bebo... and it's backed by some pretty compelling evidence.
I really like the move on AOL's part. Instead of overpaying for a social network at the absolute peak of their hype, they're buying an up and comer, and have the potential to bring it to the masses.
Why do I think this works? Simple.
Nick O'Neill wrote a great piece on how e-mail was going to end up being the social network of choice. It's well worth the read if you have a few minutes. But, with so many people on so many different e-mail platforms... it's written from a very long tail perspective. On the other hand... if AOL can somehow integrate their new network into AIM, which apparently has 50% of the IM market, it's a complete homerun.
Should be an exciting task for Platform A's new CEO.
I really like the move on AOL's part. Instead of overpaying for a social network at the absolute peak of their hype, they're buying an up and comer, and have the potential to bring it to the masses.
Why do I think this works? Simple.
Nick O'Neill wrote a great piece on how e-mail was going to end up being the social network of choice. It's well worth the read if you have a few minutes. But, with so many people on so many different e-mail platforms... it's written from a very long tail perspective. On the other hand... if AOL can somehow integrate their new network into AIM, which apparently has 50% of the IM market, it's a complete homerun.
Should be an exciting task for Platform A's new CEO.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Hug of the titans?
Three days ago I wrote about the irony of Google Gears/Apps running on the Windows Mobile platform.
Well... yesterday, Apple thickened the plot pretty substantially.
To sum up:
Apple's iPhone now integrates with Microsoft Exchange to work in enterprises.
Microsoft is a sworn enemy of Google... who's Gears announcement and Google Docs compete with Microsoft Exchange... but also work on Microsoft Mobile
At the same time, Google also has lots of functionality on the iPhone.... which now also works with Microsoft.
Is it me... or is Apple playing both sides of the fence here?
Well... yesterday, Apple thickened the plot pretty substantially.
To sum up:
Apple's iPhone now integrates with Microsoft Exchange to work in enterprises.
Microsoft is a sworn enemy of Google... who's Gears announcement and Google Docs compete with Microsoft Exchange... but also work on Microsoft Mobile
At the same time, Google also has lots of functionality on the iPhone.... which now also works with Microsoft.
Is it me... or is Apple playing both sides of the fence here?
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Haven't we been here before?
I'm not sure if this is true for anyone else, but when I first started being a web user, AOL was my first destination. It was a portal as well as a content provider, so I could get news, sports, etc and also be an active part of community 1.0- Message Boards.
Eventually, I started venturing out (in those days... we called it 'surfing') to find communities and news sites that were more specific to my particular tastes.
Now, with Social Networks being the rage... I think we're starting the see the same thing happening, as niche sites are jumping onto the bandwagon and building more niche audiences.
Travel: Yeah, we've got that one covered
Finance: Absolutely not a problem
Even Steven Speilberg is rumored to be jumping into the fray.
The real question for me is whether or not these sites work as compliments to the Facebook's of the world.... or whether the ultimate end up taking traffic away, leaving Facebook as a still powerful online property... but one that, like AOL, becomes more of a distant memory.
Eventually, I started venturing out (in those days... we called it 'surfing') to find communities and news sites that were more specific to my particular tastes.
Now, with Social Networks being the rage... I think we're starting the see the same thing happening, as niche sites are jumping onto the bandwagon and building more niche audiences.
Travel: Yeah, we've got that one covered
Finance: Absolutely not a problem
Even Steven Speilberg is rumored to be jumping into the fray.
The real question for me is whether or not these sites work as compliments to the Facebook's of the world.... or whether the ultimate end up taking traffic away, leaving Facebook as a still powerful online property... but one that, like AOL, becomes more of a distant memory.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Clash of the Titans
The past few days have brought out one of the best versions of the old "Anything you can do, I can do better" than anything in recent memory.
We've got battles raging on the health care front, the document sharing front, and now... the mobile front.
Of course, I'm talking about Microsoft Vs. Google.
I want to focus on the latter battle slightly, because the irony is pretty thick: Google just made it possible to run Google Apps off line through Google Gears on mobile devices running... wait for it.... Windows Mobile.
Odd, huh?
We've got battles raging on the health care front, the document sharing front, and now... the mobile front.
Of course, I'm talking about Microsoft Vs. Google.
I want to focus on the latter battle slightly, because the irony is pretty thick: Google just made it possible to run Google Apps off line through Google Gears on mobile devices running... wait for it.... Windows Mobile.
Odd, huh?
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sprint Step 1- Complete
Despite a really rough day for the company... a day in which the could have almost purchased Yahoo with their losses (hey look, a company who HASN'T been linked to Yahoo)... Sprint had what I consider to be an all right day... completing Step 1 in my argument that Sprint should redefine the Triple Play (phone, Internet and cable) and make it a wireless play.
In case you missed it, Sprint rolled out a new Simply Everything plan that includes unlimited talk, text, TV and web time on your cell phone.
Why is this big?
In my mind, there's a fairly lengthy list of reasons, not the least of which is that Sprint may have just convinced me to stick with my loyalty to them and not get a JesusPhone any time soon, which had been a front burner issue for me.
Second, and likely more importantly.... it opens up the door to a truly Wireless Triple Play option. We know Sprint has dabbled with mobile TV, so there are clearly some sort of options going on. In addition, Xohm is rolling out slowly now in a few test markets.
So, here's the question: We know that most triple play option offered from code caddies tends to run around $100 monthly for Cable, Internet and TV. Figure a "normal" cell plan costs around $50 (and I am coming in at a price I believe to be slightly low... but not everyone is like me and working off of a cell as their only phone).
That leads to Sprint putting together some sort of a premium for complete mobility. I'd think $50 monthly would be completely worth it. What about you? How much would you pay if the triple play was Cell phone, Mobile WiMAX, and TV sent to your phone and laptop?
In case you missed it, Sprint rolled out a new Simply Everything plan that includes unlimited talk, text, TV and web time on your cell phone.
Why is this big?
In my mind, there's a fairly lengthy list of reasons, not the least of which is that Sprint may have just convinced me to stick with my loyalty to them and not get a JesusPhone any time soon, which had been a front burner issue for me.
Second, and likely more importantly.... it opens up the door to a truly Wireless Triple Play option. We know Sprint has dabbled with mobile TV, so there are clearly some sort of options going on. In addition, Xohm is rolling out slowly now in a few test markets.
So, here's the question: We know that most triple play option offered from code caddies tends to run around $100 monthly for Cable, Internet and TV. Figure a "normal" cell plan costs around $50 (and I am coming in at a price I believe to be slightly low... but not everyone is like me and working off of a cell as their only phone).
That leads to Sprint putting together some sort of a premium for complete mobility. I'd think $50 monthly would be completely worth it. What about you? How much would you pay if the triple play was Cell phone, Mobile WiMAX, and TV sent to your phone and laptop?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Touched all over
First off, I want to quickly congratulate Jeff Pulver on a great event yesterday morning. Jeff has been traveling the country throwing Social Media breakfasts, inviting Facebook and Twitter friends to get to know each other in person.
It's not entirely dissimilar from an event like the NY Tech Meetup, from Meetup.com, but in this case, you have some sort of connection already in place (friend of a friend, etc). Taking it a step further, Jeff explained that he thought using Facebook made great sense, because instead of the standard business card exchange, it's really easy to log into Facebook, find members of the group who you'd like to stay in contact with, and easily add them as friends (side note: after the event, I had lots of new Facebook and LinkedIn contacts, which was great).
The event came pretty much on the same day that the blogosphere was all abuzz with the launch of Friendfeed, a service to aggregate feeds from lots of networks (Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc). I signed up for it.... but haven't really played with it too much yet.
During Jeff's event, I got to thinking about the different ways people can now get in touch with me, and I am wondering if I am getting to the point where I have too many touch points. In no particular order, here's a list of ways to get in touch with me:
It's not entirely dissimilar from an event like the NY Tech Meetup, from Meetup.com, but in this case, you have some sort of connection already in place (friend of a friend, etc). Taking it a step further, Jeff explained that he thought using Facebook made great sense, because instead of the standard business card exchange, it's really easy to log into Facebook, find members of the group who you'd like to stay in contact with, and easily add them as friends (side note: after the event, I had lots of new Facebook and LinkedIn contacts, which was great).
The event came pretty much on the same day that the blogosphere was all abuzz with the launch of Friendfeed, a service to aggregate feeds from lots of networks (Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc). I signed up for it.... but haven't really played with it too much yet.
During Jeff's event, I got to thinking about the different ways people can now get in touch with me, and I am wondering if I am getting to the point where I have too many touch points. In no particular order, here's a list of ways to get in touch with me:
- Cell Phone (calls and text messages)
- AIM
- Google Talk
- E-mail (personal and work)
- AFTB
- MySpace (I'm still on it... maybe.... once a month?)
- Friendfeed (admittedly... this one isn't yet a full blown contact point for me)
Not to go all "one ring to rule them all" here, but at some point... doesn't it make sense to have everything aggregated into a central location? Maybe Friendfeed can be that tool, but based on limited time on it... I'm not sure that's the case.
How do you deal with having so many touch points? Any tips?
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