Great for the Olympics but not Good Enough for the NFL?
As reported by Valleywag NBC sports favors Flash over Microsoft’s Silverlight to showcase the NFL.
I’m torn about this mainly because I personally watched so much of the Olympics on Silverlight this year and was so impressed by the tech that I sang their praises to everyone within earshot during the entire summer games.
Anyways, this is kinda old news by now but I needed to take a few days after the Monday US Open Final where Federer rocked his 13th Grand Slam Title.
Plus, I’m looking forward to playing some hold ‘em this weekend.
So I got nothing else on this other than…
Silverlight: good enough for the Olympics but not enough for the NFL.
This was a story that was out on Techcrunch before the long holiday season but nonetheless it’s something that ties in all the recent tech news that’s taking up much virtual ink lately.
So is this all just too much for all us consumers to ponder? One of the biggest factors for me would be just how interchanagable all this geeky stuff is? What if the google app store has a kick ass app that just isn’t offered in the itunes app store? Most likely the app developer will create several versions that will be compatible to every major wireless device. The problem comes in when you are ready to upgrade, change services, service plans, etc. Will we have to repurchase all our favorite apps? Will it be a big factor in our committments to our phone, carrier, plans, etc?
Come to think of it, still at it’s infancy, it’s already getting to be a huge pain in the ass, no?
I gotta make sense of all this later in the month. There’s a grand slam tournament still going on that’s far more interesting to this tennis geek.
As reported by several sources including Yahoo here, Google enters the browser market with the Tuesday beta release of their very own browser Chrome.
Alongside it’s development of word processing and spreadsheet software, it’s dominance in search and general abilities to do whatever it really wants to, this may be yet another blow that Microsoft must not only endure but overcome.
Kinda looks like Opera
Ironically, between the PR drummings their OS Vista software has been receiving against the Mac OS, it’s continued third banana status in search behind Google and Yahoo, Microsoft finds itself from the penthouse to the outhouse as the perennial underdogs.
The obvious issue now is whether Google can make such a huge dent in an already highly competitive browser market what with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Safari out there with such an established base.
But I guess if anyone could rock it, it would be the global goliath of the silicon valley.
No doubt the geek patrol will be all over this all week.
First finding the story in Engadget it certainly looks like all the involved companies are working fast to get this one out and running into the marketplace.
I’m sure all you tech geeks (myself included) have read or heard more than a few recent stories of Apple’s continuous stumbles in the media from their iphone ills to their mobile me troubles to even accidentally publishing Steve Jobs’ obituary! So it makes not only great sense to launch something new so close to the holiday season but also an added timing bonus for competing with the wildly popular Mac when they seem to not be the “Apple” in everyone’s eye anymore.
Many believe that when the “prosumer” digital video cameras landed into the excited hands of the mainstream audience that that would usher in the new era of filmmakers / videomakers / videographers / etc.
That hasn’t happened yet.
We can go into the numerous specifics of why that is:
1) Traditional auteurs / filmmakers still latch onto sing the praises of film.
2) The mostly young directors-in-training are still developing their skills.
3) Because of this recent surge in cheaper technology, somehow these folks have forgotten the basics to develop their abilities to tell stories.
4) I’ll really have to expound more on this later (I’m getting pissed just thinking about it here).
Criticizing modern wave filmmaking isn’t the point of this post.
Beyond the Canon XL series, the Panasonic DVX series and the Sony Cine Alta comes the newest darling of the pro level, cheaper and comparable to film geek gadget for the cinephiles could just very well be: The Red Digital Camera.
Founded by billionaire founder of Oakley (yes, those Oakleys) Jim Jannard, The Red Digital Camera promises to finally shut the gap between celluloid and digital in terms of aesthetics and depth that film has provided for 100 years.
If you’re like me, you might be in one form of iphone limbo or other. I am just starting year two of my two year mobile contract with T-Mobile, I’m very happy with my Dragon-Engraved Motorola Razr (minus the dying battery issue after the 12 month period) and it’s services. Because most of my day I’m in front of a fully wired computer and my current mobile contract sitch I don’t find myself yet at the point where I need to have a fully mobile 3G phone ala the mac iphone (besides, there are plenty of people out there who can’t stop showing off their lame ass lightsaber app on their iphone to me… fey).
Then recently all this news regarding google’s 3G enabled android began to build up steam once again and it made me 1) glad I didn’t commit to the iphone yet and 2) gave me more excuses to embrace the “wait and see” approach.
Now comes this week’s addition to my mental hell about all this which are these rumors from Digg’s Kevin Rose sharing his knowledge and information on the new line of ipods that are on the verge of making a huge splash in the next month.
I have an old ass ipod. During the early 2000’s it seemed like Apple was literally unveiling a bigger, cooler, smaller version of the ipod every other day. After playing the “wait and see” game for several months, the big 40 gig photo ipod with the click wheel came out to the market and I quickly purchased one. At the time I didn’t think that it could get any better than this. I have a HUGE CD collection and this ipod would still have all the room to carry all my music plus have like 10 gigs left for photos. The only next stage would probably be video but that won’t be for at least a year or two right? Screw it. I’m getting the ipod photo.
I think it was like the next month (at least that’s what it felt like to me at the time) Apple unveiled the ipod video. I went in too early again.
Now with the potential of a newly revamped ipod touch on the horizon, I may have the opportunity to get the best of all worlds. All the benefits of the iphone without the monthly fees, hassles, BS (the fact that AT&T is the only licensed US carrier still bugs me). Plus Apple is expected to lower the price on top of it? Sounds like a no brainer to me.
With my luck though I’m sure the day after I buy the new ipod touch, Apple will be like: “yo, check this shit out. new apple ipod teleportation! with the help of google earth and maps, you can now use apple’s gps technology and teleport yourself anywhere in the world! $299″.
The World is Flat and You Better Get With The Times
I read (and was floored by) The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman a while back but couldn’t fathom how to write a post about something that is so big and fundamentally pivotal and necessary knowledge to find success in the modern global landscape. Then I realized that that is exactly what the book is for and about.
If you want to understand why oil (and life overall) has gotten so expensive so quickly… if you’re curious as to exactly how and when we went from hiring travel agents to priceline and expedia… if you want to know how some smart kid in India is answering all your technical questions about your Los Angeles based PC… if you wonder how we came from the encyclopedia Brittanica to Wikipedia, cable to youtube and Hulu, libraries to Google, Blockbuster to Netflix, iTunes and Pandora… if you want to know what is really the purpose and business model of UPS (those dudes in the brown shorts aren’t just about delivering packages. They are doing so much more)… if you want to know how you are actually working for Southwest airlines right now… if you want to get a grasp of where the next level of this hyper speed innovations are potentially headed… and so so so so much more.
You need to read this book.
And to all the readers born after the Reagan administration: This shit is mad important, yo!
First, let me share this audio clip from one of Friedman’s speaking engagements to whet your palette.
Though I had heard much about Friedman and this book in particular before, this was the catalyst that made me order the book on Amazon and devour the information in a few days. Then let it sink in and go over all my highlights at various time to make it stick.
Friedman lists out all the factors that contributed to the connected world we live in now:
Beginning at the fall of the Berlin Wall, to the day Netscape went public, to outsourcing, to insourcing, to the sudden awakening to the global network of potential employees (your job could be taken by someone who lives halfway around the world who has more qualifications and is cheaper. Plus they no longer even have to move to do your work!), to all the “technical steroids” that continue to speed up the innovations and workflows even further, The World is Flat is an extremely well researched and well communicated book that I just can’t stop lauding (in case you couldn’t tell).
I know it’s maddening right now. So many changes so fast. And just when you think you’ve got a grasp on one thing, another thousand pop up to change everything you’ve killed yourself to learn.
Yes, you can pay people to know this for you. But I’m perpetually curious with a voracious appetite to learn as much on my own as I can. It’s a blessing. But mostly it’s a curse.
I would consider this book almost a prerequisite to entering your adulthood. The best minds in our country are already hip to this. We all should be. Don’t be left out.
I said earlier that I didn’t know exactly how I was going to write a post about this book. I think I just ended up writing an expanded headline. And in doing so I’m hoping that some of you will stop wondering about why our wallets are getting lighter, our homes are losing value, food is costing more, etc. and start informing yourself of the factors behind it.
The World is Flat doesn’t try to answer all these questions directly but it does give you all the fundamental changes that occurred and continues to happen in the world so we get a better grasp as to how we got here and where we’re headed.
John Battelle’s The Search is both a highly informative and fascinating book on the origins of the search engine, it’s present status, a well educated guesstimate of where it’s headed and it tells these complex tales of history and subject matters in a relatively, fun and non-tech geeky way for anyone to understand. It merely and clearly defines the values and benefits of the search engine and discusses why there’s so much resource being put into this next generation of technology.
The Search also uses the search engine / corporation / new most powerful entity / every other superlative juggernaut in the known world in Google to tell this story. If you’re going to tell any tales of this stature, you might as well start from the top.
A few key points learned from reading The Search by John Battelle:
- Google and most search engines are really in the business less about what actual words we’re typing into our search boxes and more into learning about our intentions. The “why” we’re typing in certain terms or phrases into the search boxes. They’re literally in the business of trying to read our minds and thoughts.
- Yahoo and Google have very fundamentally opposing philosophies on how best to satisfy searcher’s needs using the technology of search. Complex algorithms and text ads aside, the end goal is to properly read our true intentions and purposes in our search. What are we searching for and why?
- No matter how advanced all the search technology seems to be to us plebians, the general concensus is that it’s all still very much at it’s infancy. Just about every expert in the industry believes that we’re only about 10% into getting to the “perfect search”.
- As powerful as Yahoo and Google are now, neither seem to flex much muscle when opposed by the Chinese government. In order to enter the highly lucrative Chinese market, both companies (as well as many others) have had to bend on their principles and previously “unbendable rules”.
- The guys over at Google, Amazon, Yahoo, eBay, etc are all extremely powerful companies filled with highly intelligent people. But at the end of the day, they’re learning this as they go along just like the rest of us.
- Brin and Page both like to eat Burger King after a major breakthrough.
There are countless other points of interest that make this book a worthwhile read.
The Search is an easy, fascinating read told very well. It’s not nearly as juicy in terms of dirt as James Stewart’s Disney War and that’s a good thing. Besides, Google is far too new and riding high to warrant much negative “inside” gossip… Yet.
As this relatively new and perpetually innovative industry continues to change, update and repeat itself, The Search is a great book to start to learn about the humble beginnings and see where all this crazy ass interweb stuff came from.
It’s Sunday afternoon and despite my best efforts to make this long weekend as productive as possible, I succumbed to a moment of weakness and went out to meet friends, grab a quick bite which lead to a few drinks and a slight hangover this morning.
But I woke up to the pleasant surpise of the opening day of The French Open which saw:
Gustavo Kuerten play his final professional match ever in the tournament that’s treated him so well over the years.
Novak Djokovic lose the first set only to come back and win the next three.
Serena Williams run through some chick like ex-lax through your bunghole.
Now as a not so subtle means to procrastinate from finishing up some weekend work, I want to quickly think out loud about Allen Adamson’s Brand Simple.
Great book. Well written. Simply expressed. A fundamental must read for anyone who finds anything about anything interesting.
What I mean is that even though it’s primarily about marketing, advertising, branding and the such, the fundamentals of the messages contained within this little tome with a big punch can be applied to just about anything in modern day life from blogging to promoting to writing to many many more subjects.
Without getting too boring in my explanation (besides, this post is more about me trying to have an exercise to better remember the main points from the book) I’ll try to lay out the most important bullet points to hopefully get others interested in getting involved with the book.
1) Brand and Branding are two two completely different concepts. A “Brand” is something, anything that someone associates with your product, service, company or individual associated with the company. “Branding” is the actual process of getting people to associate the right messages as it pertains to your product, service, etc.
2) One of the most important steps to take when you’re about to brand or market something is really think about how your product, service, company, etc. differs from the competition. People are very savvy now. It just takes a few minutes on Google to figure out if your promises are legit or not.
Once you’ve determined what that difference is, you must use that as the core method in which to market or brand your product or service.
3) Know your audience. Know who you are marketing to. Specifically. You can’t please every demographic at once. Start with the core audience and expand accordingly.
4) Don’t overcomplicate things. Most likely the thing that differentiates your product from your competition is probably right under your nose.
5) Have a business strategy that coincides with your branding strategy. Once you figure out what and who you want to market to, stick to it. Don’t change either factors on a whim. This sends out too many signals to your audience and they are not going to respond to any of them. Stick to your game plan.
6) Consider a tagline for your brand. In the film and TV world it’s sorta like the logline that best tells us about your product or service in a nutshell. Make sure it fits with the overall strategy.
7) Map out how your typical customer will run through your product. From the initial thought of needing or wanting your product or service all the way to the actual purchase of it and beyond, walk it through and see where you can make the process simpler and more satisfying for the client or customer.
Eight) Spend wisely. You can’t control every factor. Don’t be wasteful in the aspects of your strategies that you really don’t have any control over. And not just with money but with your time and energies as well.
9) Make sure that the difference you promote for your product or service is a difference that people will genuinely care about. A difference for the sake of difference is not gonna do anyone any good.
10) Remember that this is all a marathon and not a sprint. Once you’ve got your strategy and ready to execute your plan, stick to it and realize that time will be the only true tell sign on whether it will be effective or not.
Adamson really goes into quite a few examples based on personal experience to really flesh out these ideas above and it’s all very interesting.
I’m in the process of closing a pretty exciting deal myself for my company in the next few weeks and wholly plan on utilizing the techniques outlined and explained in Brand Simple.
Now if only I can be this focused with the rest of my life.
Posted by cap
Posted by cap
Posted by cap
