HOW MUCH DID KLEINER AND SEQUOIA GET FROM THE GOOGLE INVESTMENT??
Bill Burnham has an informative post on "Just How Much Did VCs Pocket On Google?"
Junto Boyz
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
|Tuesday, June 28, 2005
SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST GROKSTER... LESSIG SPEAKS OUT!
Not sure about the "whys" behind this ruling yet, but it will be interesting to see how this affects the P2P space. News.com has a good overview of articles:
Movie studios and record labels win a sweeping victory against file swapping as the Supreme Court rules that peer-to-peer companies such as Grokster can be held liable for the copyright piracy on their networks. (special report page)
HatTip to BusinessWeek's Rob Hof. Prof. Lessig's take on this:
"By making it a process that goes through the courts, you’ve just increased the legal uncertainty around innovation substantially and created great opportunities to defeat legitimate competition. You’ve shifted an enormous amount of power to those who oppose new types of competitive technologies. Even if in the end, you as the innovator are right, you still spent your money on lawyers instead of on marketing or a new technology."
"Already, money has shifted into places which will avoid any conflict with the copyright holders. Why buy a lawsuit when you can buy a new innovation that doesn’t get you a lawsuit? And you don’t even see it; you don’t even know what you don’t get, because people are afraid."
"It might take 10 years of litigation to get a clear sense of this. That’s 10 years of chilled innovation."
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Not sure about the "whys" behind this ruling yet, but it will be interesting to see how this affects the P2P space. News.com has a good overview of articles:
Movie studios and record labels win a sweeping victory against file swapping as the Supreme Court rules that peer-to-peer companies such as Grokster can be held liable for the copyright piracy on their networks. (special report page)
HatTip to BusinessWeek's Rob Hof. Prof. Lessig's take on this:
"By making it a process that goes through the courts, you’ve just increased the legal uncertainty around innovation substantially and created great opportunities to defeat legitimate competition. You’ve shifted an enormous amount of power to those who oppose new types of competitive technologies. Even if in the end, you as the innovator are right, you still spent your money on lawyers instead of on marketing or a new technology."
"Already, money has shifted into places which will avoid any conflict with the copyright holders. Why buy a lawsuit when you can buy a new innovation that doesn’t get you a lawsuit? And you don’t even see it; you don’t even know what you don’t get, because people are afraid."
"It might take 10 years of litigation to get a clear sense of this. That’s 10 years of chilled innovation."
BUSH RALLIES SUPPORT FOR CONTINUING WAR IN IRAQ
Of course. This is a no-brainer. Body counts are difficult to deal with, but this war and fight for a stable Iraqi is of historic importance.
Bush says Iraq sacrifices 'vital'
US President George W Bush has said that the sacrifices being made to fight insurgents in Iraq are vital to the future security of the United States.
BBC NEWS
He called for Americans to stand firm on "the latest battlefield in the war against terrorism".
He said the only strategy to tackle militants was to "defeat them abroad before they attack us at home".
He said he had no plans to send more US troops to Iraq - and nor would he set a timetable for withdrawing those there. (full article)
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Of course. This is a no-brainer. Body counts are difficult to deal with, but this war and fight for a stable Iraqi is of historic importance.
Bush says Iraq sacrifices 'vital'
US President George W Bush has said that the sacrifices being made to fight insurgents in Iraq are vital to the future security of the United States.
BBC NEWS
He called for Americans to stand firm on "the latest battlefield in the war against terrorism".
He said the only strategy to tackle militants was to "defeat them abroad before they attack us at home".
He said he had no plans to send more US troops to Iraq - and nor would he set a timetable for withdrawing those there. (full article)
KOREA BECOMING POP CULTURE LEADER IN ASIA
HatTip to Jeff. Not sure if this is a good thing for Asia. Korean dramas can pollute the soul:)
Roll Over, Godzilla: Korea Rules
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
June 28, 2005
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Here in one of the first corners of Asia hit by the "Korean Wave" of cultural exports, a television series about a royal cook, "A Jewel in the Palace," proved so popular that it is now used to advertise South Korea on the Taipei subway. A huge hit in Mongolia, the drama also fueled a boom in tourists from Hong Kong visiting South Korea.
A weepy love story, "Winter Sonata," became the rage in Uzbekistan after driving the Japanese into a frenzy last year. In Thailand and Malaysia, people devoured "A Tale of Autumn," and Vietnamese were glued to "Lovers in Paris." In China, South Korean dramas are sold, and pirated, everywhere, and the young adopt the clothing and hairstyles made cool by South Korean stars.
South Korea, historically more worried about fending off cultural domination by China and Japan than spreading its own culture abroad, is emerging as the pop culture leader of Asia. From well-packaged television dramas to slick movies, from pop music to online games, South Korean companies and stars are increasingly defining what the disparate people in East Asia watch, listen to and play.
The size of South Korea's entertainment industry, which began attracting heavy government investment only in the late 1990's, jumped from $8.5 billion in 1999 to $43.5 billion in 2003. In 2003, South Korea exported $650 million in cultural products; the amount was so insignificant before 1998 that the government could not provide figures.
But the figures tell only part of the story. The booming South Korean presence on television and in the movies has spurred Asians to buy up South Korean goods and to travel to South Korea, traditionally not a popular tourist destination. The images that Asians traditionally have associated with the country - violent student marches, the demilitarized zone, division - have given way to trendy entertainers and cutting-edge technology. (full article)
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HatTip to Jeff. Not sure if this is a good thing for Asia. Korean dramas can pollute the soul:)
Roll Over, Godzilla: Korea Rules
THE NEW YORK TIMES
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
June 28, 2005
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Here in one of the first corners of Asia hit by the "Korean Wave" of cultural exports, a television series about a royal cook, "A Jewel in the Palace," proved so popular that it is now used to advertise South Korea on the Taipei subway. A huge hit in Mongolia, the drama also fueled a boom in tourists from Hong Kong visiting South Korea.
A weepy love story, "Winter Sonata," became the rage in Uzbekistan after driving the Japanese into a frenzy last year. In Thailand and Malaysia, people devoured "A Tale of Autumn," and Vietnamese were glued to "Lovers in Paris." In China, South Korean dramas are sold, and pirated, everywhere, and the young adopt the clothing and hairstyles made cool by South Korean stars.
South Korea, historically more worried about fending off cultural domination by China and Japan than spreading its own culture abroad, is emerging as the pop culture leader of Asia. From well-packaged television dramas to slick movies, from pop music to online games, South Korean companies and stars are increasingly defining what the disparate people in East Asia watch, listen to and play.
The size of South Korea's entertainment industry, which began attracting heavy government investment only in the late 1990's, jumped from $8.5 billion in 1999 to $43.5 billion in 2003. In 2003, South Korea exported $650 million in cultural products; the amount was so insignificant before 1998 that the government could not provide figures.
But the figures tell only part of the story. The booming South Korean presence on television and in the movies has spurred Asians to buy up South Korean goods and to travel to South Korea, traditionally not a popular tourist destination. The images that Asians traditionally have associated with the country - violent student marches, the demilitarized zone, division - have given way to trendy entertainers and cutting-edge technology. (full article)
Monday, June 27, 2005
GOOGLE VIDEO VIEWER... EVIL EMPIRE OF THE NEXT DECADE?
Last week Google announced their PayPal competitor, now they have their own online video viewer. What's next? They keep unveiling new services that already reveal they are a portal in denial.
Next it will be an IM client, audio player, web-based OS, etc. Who knows? I love Google, but changing the angle slightly can make them look pretty evil.
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Last week Google announced their PayPal competitor, now they have their own online video viewer. What's next? They keep unveiling new services that already reveal they are a portal in denial.
Next it will be an IM client, audio player, web-based OS, etc. Who knows? I love Google, but changing the angle slightly can make them look pretty evil.
NEXON, LEADING ONLINE GAMING COMPANY... BACK HOME FROM SEOUL
I came across the following article in BusinessWeek while on my flight back to San Francisco (got in Sunday afternoon from Seoul). It was interesting timing since I met with my close friend, Jimmy, who I did a couple startups with and he was talking about his former company Nexon.
He was the unofficial and official CFO of Nexon for the past few years as a favor to his friend, Jay Kim (Founder & CEO of Nexon). Jimmy recently left this position at Nexon and as COO of HeyAnita Korea (yeah, i can state it now:) to head Innotive, the company I helped out during my last nine months in Seoul and which I posted about before (try the Technorati search on the sidebar... i'll get back to this).
Anyway, one of the topics we talked about was Nexon. They were actually a client of my when I was at iRG, a boutique investment bank, and during that time about four years ago I thought they didn't have the in-house creative talent to continue leading in the Korean online gaming market (#2 hardcore gaming company and budding casual gaming business at the time). But each year since they have proven me wrong. Jimmy says Jay and others have simply hired well as well as acquired some talent on the cheap.
Their recent hit is Kart Rider, which is discussed below, and it is generating about US$10 million/month and will help Nexon hit an estimated $250 million in revenues this year. Incredible numbers off one casual online game. Also amazing is that it has become a such marketing powerhouse to teens and twenty-somethings in Korea. Through Kart Rider, Coca Cola has almost tripled its sales in South Korea (actually, it was Jimmy who referred the idea and deal to Yong Jae Min, his "younger brother" and chief marketing officer of Nexon, along with a couple other huge deals).
Dude, Where's My Digital Car?
Tech outfit Nexon provides virtual doodads for Korean players of a hot online game, and sales are burning rubber
BusinessWeek
June 23, 2005
After graduating from college this spring, Kim Hyun Wook of Seoul had been expecting to launch into a career as an engineer. Instead, he has joined the ranks of professional race car drivers -- though he never has to leave home to hit the track.
Every morning, Kim logs on to his computer using the screen name of Sarang (Korean for "love") and races against rivals in an online game called Kart Rider for at least eight hours. For his cyber-driving, he gets paid real money by a local clothing company, which in turn emblazons its brand name on the virtual driver of a virtual car. "I feel like a star," says Kim, 21. "My fans send me gifts, and I have a sponsor supporting my life."
Sound wacky? Not to the millions of Koreans who play Kart Rider and other games like it. And certainly not to Nexon Corp., the game's creator. Nexon has built a booming business selling avatars -- digital representations of players online -- and virtual accessories such as cars and goggles. The company chalked up revenues of $110 million last year, some 85% of it from selling such digital doodads. This year, Nexon expects sales of $250 million. "The avatar market is prospering in Korea," declares Min Yong Jae, chief marketing officer. (full article)
Anyway, Jimmy passed on an offer to head Nexon's subsidiary company to try to take Innotive to the next level. My friend and former CTO of HeyAnita and ViewPlus, Peter, is also taking a risk since he recently passed on the number two spot at Macromedia Korea to join Innotive. Also J.J., the former chief strategy officer at Nexon, passed on becoming part of the executive team at CyWorld, which is coming to the U.S., to round out this kick ass team.
I don't know J.J., but I gave Jimmy and Peter crap when we met up in Seoul. For months, I would ask for their help on Innotive especially to prepare for my departure back to the U.S., but they didn't finally help out until months afterwards. And when they finally checked under the hood of Innotive they decided to take over the company on a full-time basis which the CEO agreed to since he was looking to move to a chairman role during the time I was leaving.
After my months of toil and hardship by myself, these guys come in like The Blue Angels... leaving the soil and earth untouched. Since Jimmy, Peter, and I have gone through two startups together, we said that a few years down the road we would do another, but after this experience with Innotive I'll have to reconsider since their slow response time makes me wonder if they have changed and whether they can truly hack it in the fast-paced entrepreneurial environment:)
Anyway, they just signed a deal with Infiniti to create interactive kiosks for their showrooms. Check out Innotive's new website too.
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I came across the following article in BusinessWeek while on my flight back to San Francisco (got in Sunday afternoon from Seoul). It was interesting timing since I met with my close friend, Jimmy, who I did a couple startups with and he was talking about his former company Nexon.
He was the unofficial and official CFO of Nexon for the past few years as a favor to his friend, Jay Kim (Founder & CEO of Nexon). Jimmy recently left this position at Nexon and as COO of HeyAnita Korea (yeah, i can state it now:) to head Innotive, the company I helped out during my last nine months in Seoul and which I posted about before (try the Technorati search on the sidebar... i'll get back to this).
Anyway, one of the topics we talked about was Nexon. They were actually a client of my when I was at iRG, a boutique investment bank, and during that time about four years ago I thought they didn't have the in-house creative talent to continue leading in the Korean online gaming market (#2 hardcore gaming company and budding casual gaming business at the time). But each year since they have proven me wrong. Jimmy says Jay and others have simply hired well as well as acquired some talent on the cheap.
Their recent hit is Kart Rider, which is discussed below, and it is generating about US$10 million/month and will help Nexon hit an estimated $250 million in revenues this year. Incredible numbers off one casual online game. Also amazing is that it has become a such marketing powerhouse to teens and twenty-somethings in Korea. Through Kart Rider, Coca Cola has almost tripled its sales in South Korea (actually, it was Jimmy who referred the idea and deal to Yong Jae Min, his "younger brother" and chief marketing officer of Nexon, along with a couple other huge deals).
Dude, Where's My Digital Car?
Tech outfit Nexon provides virtual doodads for Korean players of a hot online game, and sales are burning rubber
BusinessWeek
June 23, 2005
After graduating from college this spring, Kim Hyun Wook of Seoul had been expecting to launch into a career as an engineer. Instead, he has joined the ranks of professional race car drivers -- though he never has to leave home to hit the track.
Every morning, Kim logs on to his computer using the screen name of Sarang (Korean for "love") and races against rivals in an online game called Kart Rider for at least eight hours. For his cyber-driving, he gets paid real money by a local clothing company, which in turn emblazons its brand name on the virtual driver of a virtual car. "I feel like a star," says Kim, 21. "My fans send me gifts, and I have a sponsor supporting my life."
Sound wacky? Not to the millions of Koreans who play Kart Rider and other games like it. And certainly not to Nexon Corp., the game's creator. Nexon has built a booming business selling avatars -- digital representations of players online -- and virtual accessories such as cars and goggles. The company chalked up revenues of $110 million last year, some 85% of it from selling such digital doodads. This year, Nexon expects sales of $250 million. "The avatar market is prospering in Korea," declares Min Yong Jae, chief marketing officer. (full article)
Anyway, Jimmy passed on an offer to head Nexon's subsidiary company to try to take Innotive to the next level. My friend and former CTO of HeyAnita and ViewPlus, Peter, is also taking a risk since he recently passed on the number two spot at Macromedia Korea to join Innotive. Also J.J., the former chief strategy officer at Nexon, passed on becoming part of the executive team at CyWorld, which is coming to the U.S., to round out this kick ass team.
I don't know J.J., but I gave Jimmy and Peter crap when we met up in Seoul. For months, I would ask for their help on Innotive especially to prepare for my departure back to the U.S., but they didn't finally help out until months afterwards. And when they finally checked under the hood of Innotive they decided to take over the company on a full-time basis which the CEO agreed to since he was looking to move to a chairman role during the time I was leaving.
After my months of toil and hardship by myself, these guys come in like The Blue Angels... leaving the soil and earth untouched. Since Jimmy, Peter, and I have gone through two startups together, we said that a few years down the road we would do another, but after this experience with Innotive I'll have to reconsider since their slow response time makes me wonder if they have changed and whether they can truly hack it in the fast-paced entrepreneurial environment:)
Anyway, they just signed a deal with Infiniti to create interactive kiosks for their showrooms. Check out Innotive's new website too.
CASUAL GAMES... ONLINE CASUAL GAMES WILL EVENTUALLY IMPACT THE U.S.
Again these articles seem really old to someone who lived in Korea during the boom of the online video gaming market, but interesting enough that they are slowly penetrating the U.S. market. As broadband penetration increases, so will casual online gaming (i.e. pool, blackjack, go-kart racing, tetris).
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Again these articles seem really old to someone who lived in Korea during the boom of the online video gaming market, but interesting enough that they are slowly penetrating the U.S. market. As broadband penetration increases, so will casual online gaming (i.e. pool, blackjack, go-kart racing, tetris).
"MICROSOFT BETS RSS IS NEXT BIG THING"
RSS aggregators and other blogosphere cousins should be afraid. Very afraid. Now that the cat is out of the bag, the Evil Empire has begun to focus its attention on this space:
Internet Explorer users accustomed to surfing the Web will be able to use a future version of the program to make waves of information come automatically to them.
Microsoft said yesterday that the Web browser in the next generation of Windows will be able to detect, display and subscribe to streams of news and information in a format called RSS, an increasingly popular method of receiving content online.
The feature, already included in rival browsers, is part of a broader push by the Redmond company to add RSS functions to the next Windows version, known as Longhorn, due out next year. (full article)
Mitch Radcliffe has more and some good commentary:
Shows MSN Search on "Gnomedex," which returns an RSS feed for the search results. No more searching again and again, because you can subscribe to the results. (Hmm, Microsoft is aiming at Technorati, PubSub, etc.) (full post)
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RSS aggregators and other blogosphere cousins should be afraid. Very afraid. Now that the cat is out of the bag, the Evil Empire has begun to focus its attention on this space:
Internet Explorer users accustomed to surfing the Web will be able to use a future version of the program to make waves of information come automatically to them.
Microsoft said yesterday that the Web browser in the next generation of Windows will be able to detect, display and subscribe to streams of news and information in a format called RSS, an increasingly popular method of receiving content online.
The feature, already included in rival browsers, is part of a broader push by the Redmond company to add RSS functions to the next Windows version, known as Longhorn, due out next year. (full article)
Mitch Radcliffe has more and some good commentary:
Shows MSN Search on "Gnomedex," which returns an RSS feed for the search results. No more searching again and again, because you can subscribe to the results. (Hmm, Microsoft is aiming at Technorati, PubSub, etc.) (full post)
Friday, June 24, 2005
DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER... JAPANESE ROBOTS GUARDING SHOPS AND OFFICES
Pretty cool. Japanese are definitely years ahead in the area of robotics.
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Pretty cool. Japanese are definitely years ahead in the area of robotics.
"THE WISDOM WE NEED TO FIGHT AIDS"
David Brooks op-ed in the The New York Times on AIDS was incredibly insightful, touching, and true. Definitely a must read. The NYTimes.com site requires purchase, but I found copy on another online paper:
The wisdom we need to fight AIDS
By DAVID BROOKS
There's a church in southern Mozambique that is about 10 yards long, with a tin roof and walls made of sticks. Women gather there to sing and pray and look after the orphans of AIDS victims. When you ask those women and their pastor what they tell people to prevent the spread of AIDS, the first thing they say is that it's important to use condoms.
They also talk about the consequences of unsafe sex. But after a while they slip out of the language of safety and into a different language. They say, "It is easier for those who have been touched by God to accept when a woman says no." They talk about praying for the man who beats his HIV-positive wife, and trying to bring him into the congregation. They have polygamists in their church but say God loves monogamy best.
In the week I've spent traveling around southern Africa, I've been struck by how much technical knowledge we have brought to bear combating AIDS. You give us a problem that can be solved technically — like creating the medicines to treat the disease — and we can perform mighty feats.
The problem is that while treatment is a technical problem, prevention is not. Prevention is about changing behavior. It is getting into the hearts of people in their vulnerable moments — when they are drinking, when they are in the throes of passion — and influencing them to change the behavior that they have not so far changed under the threat of death.
This is a mysterious task. In Mozambique's Gaza province, thousands of kids nursed their parents as they died. And yet, according to those who now care for the orphans, the children are exactly replicating the behaviors that led to their parents' demise. If that experience doesn't change people, what will?
We have tried to change behavior, but we have mostly tried technical means to prevent the spread of AIDS, and these techniques have proved necessary but insufficient.
We have tried awareness, but awareness alone is insufficient. Surveys show that vast majorities understand, at least intellectually, the dangers of HIV. They behave in risky ways anyway.
We have issued condoms, but condoms alone are insufficient. Surveys also show that a vast majority know where they can get condoms. But that doesn't mean they actually use them, as rising or stable infection rates demonstrate.
We have tried economic development, but that too is necessary but insufficient. The most aggressive spreaders of the disease are relatively well off. They are miners who have sex with prostitutes and bring the disease home to their wives. They are teachers who trade grades for sex. They are sugar daddies who have sex with 14-year-old girls in exchange for cell phone time.
If this were about offering people the right incentives, we would have solved this problem. But the AIDS crisis has another element, which can be addressed only by some other language — the language those people in church slipped into.
The AIDS crisis is about evil. It's about the small gangs of predatory men who knowingly infect women by the score without a second thought.
The AIDS crisis is about the sanctity of life. It's about people who have come to so undervalue their own lives that ruinous behavior seems unimportant and death is accepted fatalistically.
It's about disproportionate suffering. It's about people who commit minor transgressions, or even no transgressions, and suffer consequences too horrible to contemplate. In America we read the Book of Job; in sub-Saharan Africa they have 10 Jobs per acre.
It's about these and a dozen other things — trust, fear, weakness, traditions, temptation — none of which can be fully addressed by externals. They can be addressed only by the language of ought, by fixing behavior into some relevant set of transcendent ideals and faiths. (full article)
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David Brooks op-ed in the The New York Times on AIDS was incredibly insightful, touching, and true. Definitely a must read. The NYTimes.com site requires purchase, but I found copy on another online paper:
The wisdom we need to fight AIDS
By DAVID BROOKS
There's a church in southern Mozambique that is about 10 yards long, with a tin roof and walls made of sticks. Women gather there to sing and pray and look after the orphans of AIDS victims. When you ask those women and their pastor what they tell people to prevent the spread of AIDS, the first thing they say is that it's important to use condoms.
They also talk about the consequences of unsafe sex. But after a while they slip out of the language of safety and into a different language. They say, "It is easier for those who have been touched by God to accept when a woman says no." They talk about praying for the man who beats his HIV-positive wife, and trying to bring him into the congregation. They have polygamists in their church but say God loves monogamy best.
In the week I've spent traveling around southern Africa, I've been struck by how much technical knowledge we have brought to bear combating AIDS. You give us a problem that can be solved technically — like creating the medicines to treat the disease — and we can perform mighty feats.
The problem is that while treatment is a technical problem, prevention is not. Prevention is about changing behavior. It is getting into the hearts of people in their vulnerable moments — when they are drinking, when they are in the throes of passion — and influencing them to change the behavior that they have not so far changed under the threat of death.
This is a mysterious task. In Mozambique's Gaza province, thousands of kids nursed their parents as they died. And yet, according to those who now care for the orphans, the children are exactly replicating the behaviors that led to their parents' demise. If that experience doesn't change people, what will?
We have tried to change behavior, but we have mostly tried technical means to prevent the spread of AIDS, and these techniques have proved necessary but insufficient.
We have tried awareness, but awareness alone is insufficient. Surveys show that vast majorities understand, at least intellectually, the dangers of HIV. They behave in risky ways anyway.
We have issued condoms, but condoms alone are insufficient. Surveys also show that a vast majority know where they can get condoms. But that doesn't mean they actually use them, as rising or stable infection rates demonstrate.
We have tried economic development, but that too is necessary but insufficient. The most aggressive spreaders of the disease are relatively well off. They are miners who have sex with prostitutes and bring the disease home to their wives. They are teachers who trade grades for sex. They are sugar daddies who have sex with 14-year-old girls in exchange for cell phone time.
If this were about offering people the right incentives, we would have solved this problem. But the AIDS crisis has another element, which can be addressed only by some other language — the language those people in church slipped into.
The AIDS crisis is about evil. It's about the small gangs of predatory men who knowingly infect women by the score without a second thought.
The AIDS crisis is about the sanctity of life. It's about people who have come to so undervalue their own lives that ruinous behavior seems unimportant and death is accepted fatalistically.
It's about disproportionate suffering. It's about people who commit minor transgressions, or even no transgressions, and suffer consequences too horrible to contemplate. In America we read the Book of Job; in sub-Saharan Africa they have 10 Jobs per acre.
It's about these and a dozen other things — trust, fear, weakness, traditions, temptation — none of which can be fully addressed by externals. They can be addressed only by the language of ought, by fixing behavior into some relevant set of transcendent ideals and faiths. (full article)
STEVE JOBS STANFORD COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
HatTip to Grace. Great speech by Jobs. Have to post the whole thing.
Stanford Report
June 14, 2005
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one
example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came
along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
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HatTip to Grace. Great speech by Jobs. Have to post the whole thing.
Stanford Report
June 14, 2005
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one
example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came
along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
COLUMN UP AT ALWAYSON... "NO SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE IS AN ISLAND"
It went up yesterday without my knowing. I had a break in the schedule from the OhMyNews International Citizen Reporters' Forum in Seoul since I didn't want to attend a visit of Samsung Electronics. Just got back to the hotel room and catching up on some work and a bit of blogging.
Jill, my editor, came up big with a great header and subheader since I couldn't come up with one in the rush of things before I took off for Seoul. Anyway, check it out!
No Social Networking Site Is an Island
But they can and will become key components of a host of next-generation web offerings in which content is king and the way users interact with it is paramount.
|
It went up yesterday without my knowing. I had a break in the schedule from the OhMyNews International Citizen Reporters' Forum in Seoul since I didn't want to attend a visit of Samsung Electronics. Just got back to the hotel room and catching up on some work and a bit of blogging.
Jill, my editor, came up big with a great header and subheader since I couldn't come up with one in the rush of things before I took off for Seoul. Anyway, check it out!
No Social Networking Site Is an Island
But they can and will become key components of a host of next-generation web offerings in which content is king and the way users interact with it is paramount.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
OHMYNEWS INTERNATIONAL CITIZEN REPORTERS' FORUM
Taking off on the redeye for Seoul. Going to OhMyNews's conference. Probably won't blog for the next few days, so have a great week!
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Taking off on the redeye for Seoul. Going to OhMyNews's conference. Probably won't blog for the next few days, so have a great week!
AO TECHNORATI OPEN MEDIA 100!
It's done. Check out the list! Post more later. Gotta go.
Introducing the AO/Technorati Open Media 100
Want to break the lock on mainstream media? So do these folks, and they are inviting us to blow the business wide open.
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It's done. Check out the list! Post more later. Gotta go.
Introducing the AO/Technorati Open Media 100
Want to break the lock on mainstream media? So do these folks, and they are inviting us to blow the business wide open.
"SADDAM INSISTS HE'S STILL IRAQ PRESIDENT"... EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU JOHN KERRY?
I don't know who is worse in terms of getting reality. Saddam Hussein or John Kerry? Saddam thinks he's still Iraq's President while John Kerry thinks he's still a viable candidate for the Democratic Party in 2008. Will you both sit down? Leave. Please.
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I don't know who is worse in terms of getting reality. Saddam Hussein or John Kerry? Saddam thinks he's still Iraq's President while John Kerry thinks he's still a viable candidate for the Democratic Party in 2008. Will you both sit down? Leave. Please.
Monday, June 20, 2005
OURMEDIA.ORG... OPEN MEDIA NETWORK... GOOD THINGS CAN COME FOR FREE
Ourmedia has been getting some good press lately. A couple weeks ago, I went to a meeting to visit Mike Homer, a long-time Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a pedigree from GO and Netscape, who is now heading Kontiki and just started a nonprofit content distribution organization called the Open Media Network. The focus of their content is on public television and radio programming and they have established relationships with many PBS stations throughout the U.S.
When I heard this, I was thinking this overlaps and competes with Ourmedia a bit. And I thought this was a great approach in capturing high quality content, and of course a great display of Kontiki's technology. Hmmm... there is room for both organizations, but it seems Ourmedia is more grassroots while the Open Media Network is a higher-end "customer." Anyway, it will be great to see how these two efforts and others, such as Google's and AOL's, change the landscape of content storage and distribution.
Suddenly it seems that everyone on the Internet, from corporate giants to nonprofits, wants to host your bulky video content--free of charge.
For independent filmmakers and video moms, the trend promises to provide venues for distributing the videos that have made easier than ever to produce by a new wave of tiny cameras, inexpensive editing software and more powerful computers.
But the dot-coms and dot-orgs offering to host these works for free are in it for something potentially far more valuable--the chance to control a Web of the not-so-distant future, one that's overflowing with moving pictures the way that the online world of today teems with text and still images. (full article)
|
Ourmedia has been getting some good press lately. A couple weeks ago, I went to a meeting to visit Mike Homer, a long-time Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a pedigree from GO and Netscape, who is now heading Kontiki and just started a nonprofit content distribution organization called the Open Media Network. The focus of their content is on public television and radio programming and they have established relationships with many PBS stations throughout the U.S.
When I heard this, I was thinking this overlaps and competes with Ourmedia a bit. And I thought this was a great approach in capturing high quality content, and of course a great display of Kontiki's technology. Hmmm... there is room for both organizations, but it seems Ourmedia is more grassroots while the Open Media Network is a higher-end "customer." Anyway, it will be great to see how these two efforts and others, such as Google's and AOL's, change the landscape of content storage and distribution.
Suddenly it seems that everyone on the Internet, from corporate giants to nonprofits, wants to host your bulky video content--free of charge.
For independent filmmakers and video moms, the trend promises to provide venues for distributing the videos that have made easier than ever to produce by a new wave of tiny cameras, inexpensive editing software and more powerful computers.
But the dot-coms and dot-orgs offering to host these works for free are in it for something potentially far more valuable--the chance to control a Web of the not-so-distant future, one that's overflowing with moving pictures the way that the online world of today teems with text and still images. (full article)
"WHAT DOES THE NEW INTERNET MEAN FOR BUSINESS?"... WIKIS, WEBLOGS, AND RSS
Good interview by Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics and host of the SuperNova conference, and some great bits of information by the panel:
... Philip Evans is a senior vice president at Boston Consulting Group, known for his work on information technology and business strategy; he is the co-author of the book, Blown to Bits. Janice Fraser is CEO of Adaptive Path, a user experience consulting firm. Her essay, "It's a Whole New Internet," will be the basis of a workshop at Supernova 2005. Ross Mayfield is CEO of Socialtext, a startup provider of lightweight business collaboration software based Wikis. (Disclosure: Werbach serves on Socialtext's advisory board.)
Werbach: Let me start with you, Janice. You recently posted an essay that got a great deal of attention called, "It's a Whole New Internet." I'm curious what you think is potentially new about the Internet today and what that might mean for business?
Fraser: Two things are new about the Internet today. I'm going to separate technology from human beings. Some new technologies are coming out now that make different kinds of interactivity possible with online applications. But what is really new is what people are doing with existing technology.
I have seen lots of excitement in the last six months about what's possible. There have been, for example, applications such as Google Maps that have allowed people to envision new ways of working -- but when I say it's a whole new Internet I mean there's new vigor. And that's going to lead to more creative thinking.
.....
Evans: That's exactly right. There's a spectacular example which illustrates that technology isn't really the key. When you compare Toyota with the Big Three automakers in the U.S. there's a fundamental difference in the way they deal with their suppliers. The Big Three basically negotiate to the last penny. In particular, if a supplier succeeds in a process improvement that lowers costs, he knows darn well in one negotiation round that General Motors will come back and demand a price concession taking away that benefit. That gives that supplier a very powerful incentive not to share with anybody, least of all General Motors, what that process improvement was.
Toyota has a different philosophy. The company allows its suppliers to keep the benefits of their innovation, but it insists that that process improvement in technology is shared not just with Toyota but also with all the other component suppliers. As a result, you see among that population of 60 or 70 companies a rate of sharing ideas beyond what you see in the U.S. It has a cumulative effect over time of driving up productivity in the whole Toyota supply chain. Over a 30-year period, its productivity has gone up six times as much as in the U.S. system. I think that's entirely because of the difference in philosophies. At a time when 50% of the cost of a car comes from outside components, and your suppliers are 600% more productive, that buys you one hell of an advantage -- even if you give some of it back to them in price concessions. (full article)
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Good interview by Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics and host of the SuperNova conference, and some great bits of information by the panel:
... Philip Evans is a senior vice president at Boston Consulting Group, known for his work on information technology and business strategy; he is the co-author of the book, Blown to Bits. Janice Fraser is CEO of Adaptive Path, a user experience consulting firm. Her essay, "It's a Whole New Internet," will be the basis of a workshop at Supernova 2005. Ross Mayfield is CEO of Socialtext, a startup provider of lightweight business collaboration software based Wikis. (Disclosure: Werbach serves on Socialtext's advisory board.)
Werbach: Let me start with you, Janice. You recently posted an essay that got a great deal of attention called, "It's a Whole New Internet." I'm curious what you think is potentially new about the Internet today and what that might mean for business?
Fraser: Two things are new about the Internet today. I'm going to separate technology from human beings. Some new technologies are coming out now that make different kinds of interactivity possible with online applications. But what is really new is what people are doing with existing technology.
I have seen lots of excitement in the last six months about what's possible. There have been, for example, applications such as Google Maps that have allowed people to envision new ways of working -- but when I say it's a whole new Internet I mean there's new vigor. And that's going to lead to more creative thinking.
.....
Evans: That's exactly right. There's a spectacular example which illustrates that technology isn't really the key. When you compare Toyota with the Big Three automakers in the U.S. there's a fundamental difference in the way they deal with their suppliers. The Big Three basically negotiate to the last penny. In particular, if a supplier succeeds in a process improvement that lowers costs, he knows darn well in one negotiation round that General Motors will come back and demand a price concession taking away that benefit. That gives that supplier a very powerful incentive not to share with anybody, least of all General Motors, what that process improvement was.
Toyota has a different philosophy. The company allows its suppliers to keep the benefits of their innovation, but it insists that that process improvement in technology is shared not just with Toyota but also with all the other component suppliers. As a result, you see among that population of 60 or 70 companies a rate of sharing ideas beyond what you see in the U.S. It has a cumulative effect over time of driving up productivity in the whole Toyota supply chain. Over a 30-year period, its productivity has gone up six times as much as in the U.S. system. I think that's entirely because of the difference in philosophies. At a time when 50% of the cost of a car comes from outside components, and your suppliers are 600% more productive, that buys you one hell of an advantage -- even if you give some of it back to them in price concessions. (full article)
BIG SHOT ROB! GAME FIVE WAS INTENSE
First game of the NBA Playoffs that kept me glued to the couch. The whole second half was one clutch shot or play after another. I was leaning towards the Pistons even though I liked the Spurs since the early days of David Robinson and Sean Elliot. Detroits grit and guts just appeal to me.
As I was rooting for the Pistons, each time Robert Horry made a clutch play (e.g. three-pointer, putback, etc.) I would yell, "You the MAN, Bob! You are SO MONEY!"
I could have written a lengthy post praising Horry, but Bill Simmons just does a better job. He gives me another reason why follow his articles like a squirrel on an acorn:
...Here's the point: Even if Horry had retired in 2003, we would have remembered Big Shot Bob for life. But he saved his defining moment for Sunday night, throwing a rattled Spurs team on his back in Detroit and making … I mean … it would almost demean what happened to write something like "some huge 3-pointers" or "a number of game-saving plays." Considering the situation (a budding Spurs collapse that seemed eerily reminiscent of the 2004 Lakers series), the circumstances (nobody else on his team was stepping up) and the opponent (one of the best defensive teams ever, playing at home), Horry's Game 5 ranks alongside MJ's Game 6 in 1998, Worthy's Game 7 in 1988, Frazier's Game 7 in 1970 and every other clutch Finals performance over the years. If Horry hadn't scored 21 of his team's last 35 points, the Spurs would have been "Dead Man Walking" heading back to San Antonio. Instead, they're probably going to win the title Tuesday night.
.....
In a league loaded with guys who believe they're better than they actually are, Horry understands his own strengths and limitations better than anyone. That's what makes him so great. And that's why I like the poker analogy for him. He's the guy sitting at the table with a towering stack of chips, the guy who never chases a bad hand, the guy who makes your heart pound when he's staring you down. You never remember the hands he lost, but you always remember the ones he won. And when he finally cashes out and gets up from the table, you hope you never have to see him again. (full article)
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First game of the NBA Playoffs that kept me glued to the couch. The whole second half was one clutch shot or play after another. I was leaning towards the Pistons even though I liked the Spurs since the early days of David Robinson and Sean Elliot. Detroits grit and guts just appeal to me.
As I was rooting for the Pistons, each time Robert Horry made a clutch play (e.g. three-pointer, putback, etc.) I would yell, "You the MAN, Bob! You are SO MONEY!"
I could have written a lengthy post praising Horry, but Bill Simmons just does a better job. He gives me another reason why follow his articles like a squirrel on an acorn:
...Here's the point: Even if Horry had retired in 2003, we would have remembered Big Shot Bob for life. But he saved his defining moment for Sunday night, throwing a rattled Spurs team on his back in Detroit and making … I mean … it would almost demean what happened to write something like "some huge 3-pointers" or "a number of game-saving plays." Considering the situation (a budding Spurs collapse that seemed eerily reminiscent of the 2004 Lakers series), the circumstances (nobody else on his team was stepping up) and the opponent (one of the best defensive teams ever, playing at home), Horry's Game 5 ranks alongside MJ's Game 6 in 1998, Worthy's Game 7 in 1988, Frazier's Game 7 in 1970 and every other clutch Finals performance over the years. If Horry hadn't scored 21 of his team's last 35 points, the Spurs would have been "Dead Man Walking" heading back to San Antonio. Instead, they're probably going to win the title Tuesday night.
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In a league loaded with guys who believe they're better than they actually are, Horry understands his own strengths and limitations better than anyone. That's what makes him so great. And that's why I like the poker analogy for him. He's the guy sitting at the table with a towering stack of chips, the guy who never chases a bad hand, the guy who makes your heart pound when he's staring you down. You never remember the hands he lost, but you always remember the ones he won. And when he finally cashes out and gets up from the table, you hope you never have to see him again. (full article)
Friday, June 17, 2005
SENATOR DICK DURBIN COMPARES U.S. TROOPS TO NAZIS, STALINISTS, AND POL POT
What was he thinking? Especially after the heavy shots Amnesty took for making similar comparisons (great editorial by Anne Applebaum, who wrote "Gulag: A History" and won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for non-Fiction for it). Durbin's staff must have missed the internal memo by the Democratic message machine to back off the Gulag, Nazi, and Communist comparisons. Yo! Check your faxes and emails again!
Actually, thinking about it some more, I'm guessing Amnesty must have recently signed into George Soros's attempt to centralize the left's message against the Bush administration. Obviously some wires are getting crossed. :)
Anyway, Hugh Hewitt brings up a good point (and others)... why isn't this being covered by MSM?
Power Line has more on the Senate Democrats' Whip (second in leadership):
We give Durbin failing grades in attention, conduct, intelligence, knowledge, candor, logic, manners, loyalty and decency. He has put his manifold defects on display before an appreciative worldwide audience.
As the Senate Democrats' whip, his voice is his party's. No Senate Democrat has condemned him, the infantile leftists at the heart of his party support him, and he has given renewed prominence to the malady that should at least for a while be dubbed in his honor Durbin's Disorder. (full post)
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What was he thinking? Especially after the heavy shots Amnesty took for making similar comparisons (great editorial by Anne Applebaum, who wrote "Gulag: A History" and won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for non-Fiction for it). Durbin's staff must have missed the internal memo by the Democratic message machine to back off the Gulag, Nazi, and Communist comparisons. Yo! Check your faxes and emails again!
Actually, thinking about it some more, I'm guessing Amnesty must have recently signed into George Soros's attempt to centralize the left's message against the Bush administration. Obviously some wires are getting crossed. :)
Anyway, Hugh Hewitt brings up a good point (and others)... why isn't this being covered by MSM?
Power Line has more on the Senate Democrats' Whip (second in leadership):
We give Durbin failing grades in attention, conduct, intelligence, knowledge, candor, logic, manners, loyalty and decency. He has put his manifold defects on display before an appreciative worldwide audience.
As the Senate Democrats' whip, his voice is his party's. No Senate Democrat has condemned him, the infantile leftists at the heart of his party support him, and he has given renewed prominence to the malady that should at least for a while be dubbed in his honor Durbin's Disorder. (full post)
GOOGLE SEARCH FOR MOBILE
Now all those investors into mobile search startups get their "x-factor" question answered... What if Google enters the mobile search market? How will your company's prospects be affected? How will your company respond?
Now those investors might be thinking... Crap! Why did I buy that BS and invest into this company that's going to get squashed and not acquired??
Google has introduced a new search engine for mobile users which offers a selective index of web sites which are “small screen friendly.” The new Google Mobile search service gives web publishers one more reason to prepare their sites for mobile readers. Susan Kuchinskas of Internet News reviews the new Google Mobile Search Engine in her piece. (full article)
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Now all those investors into mobile search startups get their "x-factor" question answered... What if Google enters the mobile search market? How will your company's prospects be affected? How will your company respond?
Now those investors might be thinking... Crap! Why did I buy that BS and invest into this company that's going to get squashed and not acquired??
Google has introduced a new search engine for mobile users which offers a selective index of web sites which are “small screen friendly.” The new Google Mobile search service gives web publishers one more reason to prepare their sites for mobile readers. Susan Kuchinskas of Internet News reviews the new Google Mobile Search Engine in her piece. (full article)
JOHN BATTELLE'S FM PUBLISHING GETS FUNDING
John Battelle's startup gets funding from a pretty good list of investors.
Battelle previously founded The Industry Standard, and prior to that was a co-founding editor of Wired magazine.
Omidyar Network led the round, with The New York Times Company and Mitchell Kapor, Andrew Anker, Mike Homer, and Tim O'Reilly also participating, in what Battelle crows is an "extraordinary" lineup.
The company is helping top-tier blogs with marketing. More is explained at Battelle's on-going blog about the company, and also here.
For what it's worth, Kapor and Omidyar Network were also backers of Dan Gillmor's company, Grassroots Media Inc, which publishes what is now called Bayosphere. (full post)
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John Battelle's startup gets funding from a pretty good list of investors.
Battelle previously founded The Industry Standard, and prior to that was a co-founding editor of Wired magazine.
Omidyar Network led the round, with The New York Times Company and Mitchell Kapor, Andrew Anker, Mike Homer, and Tim O'Reilly also participating, in what Battelle crows is an "extraordinary" lineup.
The company is helping top-tier blogs with marketing. More is explained at Battelle's on-going blog about the company, and also here.
For what it's worth, Kapor and Omidyar Network were also backers of Dan Gillmor's company, Grassroots Media Inc, which publishes what is now called Bayosphere. (full post)
BLOGS LEADING THE WAY IN IRAN'S ELECTIONS
HatTip to Dave Winer.
Reading Blogs In Tehran
Thursday, June 16, 2005
With a population that is 70 percent under age 25 (and a voting age of 15), Iran’s younger voters will play a big role in elections there on Friday. Many of them are turning to blogs to avoid the mullahs’ stifling grip on public discourse. (Listen to the whole radio show)
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HatTip to Dave Winer.
Reading Blogs In Tehran
Thursday, June 16, 2005
With a population that is 70 percent under age 25 (and a voting age of 15), Iran’s younger voters will play a big role in elections there on Friday. Many of them are turning to blogs to avoid the mullahs’ stifling grip on public discourse. (Listen to the whole radio show)
INSIDE ENRON... GREAT STORY FROM KEN NORTON
HatTip to Brad Feld. Never knew about Ken Norton or his blog until I clicked from Brad Feld's blog, but this post was great on his encounter with Enron during their go-go time.
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HatTip to Brad Feld. Never knew about Ken Norton or his blog until I clicked from Brad Feld's blog, but this post was great on his encounter with Enron during their go-go time.
COMPENSATION FOR OUTSIDE DIRECTORS... GOOD ADVICE FROM BRAD FELD
VC Feld gives some good guidelines for entrepreneurs seeking formal advisors or directors on what benchmarks to use to compensate them.
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VC Feld gives some good guidelines for entrepreneurs seeking formal advisors or directors on what benchmarks to use to compensate them.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
VSKYPE... VIDEO CALLS THROUGH SKYPE
HatTip to Om. Combo of two DFJ companies equals something pretty cool.
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HatTip to Om. Combo of two DFJ companies equals something pretty cool.
"SCHIAVO'S PARENTS NOT SWAYED BY AUTOPSY"
An autopsy that found Terri Schiavo suffered from severe and irreversible brain-damage has done nothing to sway her parents' position that she deserved to live and may have gotten better with therapy.
The long-awaited report Wednesday found Schiavo's brain had shrunk to about half the normal size for a woman her age when she died March 31 after her feeding tube was disconnected. The autopsy also determined she was blind.
Bob and Mary Schindler disputed the results, insisting their daughter interacted with them and tried to speak. Their attorney said the family plans to discuss the autopsy with other medical experts and may take some unspecified legal action. (full article)
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An autopsy that found Terri Schiavo suffered from severe and irreversible brain-damage has done nothing to sway her parents' position that she deserved to live and may have gotten better with therapy.
The long-awaited report Wednesday found Schiavo's brain had shrunk to about half the normal size for a woman her age when she died March 31 after her feeding tube was disconnected. The autopsy also determined she was blind.
Bob and Mary Schindler disputed the results, insisting their daughter interacted with them and tried to speak. Their attorney said the family plans to discuss the autopsy with other medical experts and may take some unspecified legal action. (full article)
"THE POWER OF US"... BUSINESSWEEK DOING WELL
BusinessWeek has a couple good articles this week:
The Power Of Us
Mass collaboration on the Internet is shaking up business
The 35 employees at Meiosys Inc., a software firm in Palo Alto, Calif., didn't know they were joining a gang of telecom-industry marauders. They just wanted to save a few bucks. Last year they began using Skype, a program that lets them make free calls over the Internet, with better sound quality than regular phones, using headsets connected to their PCs. Callers simply click on a name in their Skype contact lists, and if the person is there, they connect and talk just like on a regular phone call. (full article)
Pierre Omidyar on "Connecting People"
eBay's founder talks about the power of community and his efforts to apply lessons learned from the online giant to other spheres
Pierre Omidyar started eBay with the hope of using the Internet to create a truly efficient market, open to individuals and not just large companies. But he never dreamed how much people would be able to empower themselves online. That experience got him thinking that the same dynamic could be applied well beyond the online marketplace. (full article)
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BusinessWeek has a couple good articles this week:
The Power Of Us
Mass collaboration on the Internet is shaking up business
The 35 employees at Meiosys Inc., a software firm in Palo Alto, Calif., didn't know they were joining a gang of telecom-industry marauders. They just wanted to save a few bucks. Last year they began using Skype, a program that lets them make free calls over the Internet, with better sound quality than regular phones, using headsets connected to their PCs. Callers simply click on a name in their Skype contact lists, and if the person is there, they connect and talk just like on a regular phone call. (full article)
Pierre Omidyar on "Connecting People"
eBay's founder talks about the power of community and his efforts to apply lessons learned from the online giant to other spheres
Pierre Omidyar started eBay with the hope of using the Internet to create a truly efficient market, open to individuals and not just large companies. But he never dreamed how much people would be able to empower themselves online. That experience got him thinking that the same dynamic could be applied well beyond the online marketplace. (full article)
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
"SELLING INNOVATION"
Great post by Tom Evslin, who is an experience entrepreneur and writes at AlwaysOn. His post reminds me of my days at HeyAnita Korea. We were selling an innovation in obtaining information for consumers (i.e. surfing for information by voice through your phone) and accessing information for workers (i.e. improving call center efficiencies). It was cool and outwardly revolutionary, but not an easy sell on how it would make businesses work better. Combined with our initial misstep in trying to be everything to everyone, we started off slow and almost sunk the ship.
Now HeyAnita Korea has revenues of over $10 million per year, which isn't even close to our dreams and hockey stick financial projections but it is profitable with solid operations. I believe the U.S. entity generates around $20 million, but I'm not certain since I haven't communicated with them in a couple years.
It is almost impossible to sell something which customers can’t use unless they change the way they do business. That’s a hard lesson for an innovator to swallow because the best use of innovative products is to change the way business is done. The more you tell your prospect that your product is revolutionary, the more nervous he’ll get. Besides, it may not matter to him that what’s inside your product is revolutionary; he doesn’t want to buy a revolution. He wants something that’ll make his business work better. (full post)
UPDATE: Checked out HeyAnita's site and they received two recent awards, "Fierce 15" Award from FierceWireless, and "Top 10" company nationally in Deloitte's Rising Star program. Awesome! Congratulations to Sanjeev, Dan, Adesh, Rick and others.
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Great post by Tom Evslin, who is an experience entrepreneur and writes at AlwaysOn. His post reminds me of my days at HeyAnita Korea. We were selling an innovation in obtaining information for consumers (i.e. surfing for information by voice through your phone) and accessing information for workers (i.e. improving call center efficiencies). It was cool and outwardly revolutionary, but not an easy sell on how it would make businesses work better. Combined with our initial misstep in trying to be everything to everyone, we started off slow and almost sunk the ship.
Now HeyAnita Korea has revenues of over $10 million per year, which isn't even close to our dreams and hockey stick financial projections but it is profitable with solid operations. I believe the U.S. entity generates around $20 million, but I'm not certain since I haven't communicated with them in a couple years.
It is almost impossible to sell something which customers can’t use unless they change the way they do business. That’s a hard lesson for an innovator to swallow because the best use of innovative products is to change the way business is done. The more you tell your prospect that your product is revolutionary, the more nervous he’ll get. Besides, it may not matter to him that what’s inside your product is revolutionary; he doesn’t want to buy a revolution. He wants something that’ll make his business work better. (full post)
UPDATE: Checked out HeyAnita's site and they received two recent awards, "Fierce 15" Award from FierceWireless, and "Top 10" company nationally in Deloitte's Rising Star program. Awesome! Congratulations to Sanjeev, Dan, Adesh, Rick and others.
MARC ANDREESSEN DOING LAUNDRY... BLOGGING & SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape is starting a blogging and social networking site for consumers called 24 Hour Laundry (24HL). Definitely competes with Yahoo 360.
Interesting since this validates again a vision I believe in that blogging and social networking are not separate services but complementary, and will become a common element of people's online lives within the next five years.
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Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape is starting a blogging and social networking site for consumers called 24 Hour Laundry (24HL). Definitely competes with Yahoo 360.
Interesting since this validates again a vision I believe in that blogging and social networking are not separate services but complementary, and will become a common element of people's online lives within the next five years.
YAHOO BUYS VOIP COMPANY... DIALPAD
So it wasn't Skype, but Dialpad that got acquired by Yahoo!. This Korean company was one of the first VoIP companies that started during the boom times. I remember so many Koreans and Korean Americans using the service, which was crappy quality, when they initially launched and the hype it received. This deal brings images of Old Yeller being shot.
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So it wasn't Skype, but Dialpad that got acquired by Yahoo!. This Korean company was one of the first VoIP companies that started during the boom times. I remember so many Koreans and Korean Americans using the service, which was crappy quality, when they initially launched and the hype it received. This deal brings images of Old Yeller being shot.
ERICSSON AND NAPSTER HITS APPLE WITH MOBILE MUSIC DEAL
The race is on! Ericsson and Napster vs. Motorola and Apple.
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The race is on! Ericsson and Napster vs. Motorola and Apple.
VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY ON GITMO... WHY NEED TO CONTINUE HOLDING PRISONERS THERE
HatTip to Power Line. Post and links on Cheney's solid explanation.
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HatTip to Power Line. Post and links on Cheney's solid explanation.
NEGOTIATION ADVICE
A bit old, but a good post by Ed Sim at BeyondVC:
I recently helped negotiate an employment contract for a new hire at a portfolio company. It was clear from the very beginning that this new VP of Marketing was the right fit for the company and that the chemistry was there. Both sides were excited about moving forward until we got to the employment contract. In theory, we were in general agreement on salary range, bonus, etc. but what ended up scaring us was the fact that every issue, big or small, was negotiated to the nth degree. There was no give from the other side and when issues such as vacation days were hotly contested, I got quite concerned. (full post)
A side note to this on corporate partnerships is not to beat down the other side. Some people get caught up in the negotiating game and want to take and take if they gain leverage or see the opportunity. It's not a competition and egos should be checked at the door.
If you make a very one-sided deal, it can lead to a very unhappy partner down the road that can lead to other problems especially if the tables turn. If you really want a solid long-term partner, get the most you can to benefit your company but remember not to take the person's underwear.
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A bit old, but a good post by Ed Sim at BeyondVC:
I recently helped negotiate an employment contract for a new hire at a portfolio company. It was clear from the very beginning that this new VP of Marketing was the right fit for the company and that the chemistry was there. Both sides were excited about moving forward until we got to the employment contract. In theory, we were in general agreement on salary range, bonus, etc. but what ended up scaring us was the fact that every issue, big or small, was negotiated to the nth degree. There was no give from the other side and when issues such as vacation days were hotly contested, I got quite concerned. (full post)
A side note to this on corporate partnerships is not to beat down the other side. Some people get caught up in the negotiating game and want to take and take if they gain leverage or see the opportunity. It's not a competition and egos should be checked at the door.
If you make a very one-sided deal, it can lead to a very unhappy partner down the road that can lead to other problems especially if the tables turn. If you really want a solid long-term partner, get the most you can to benefit your company but remember not to take the person's underwear.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
DRUMS OF CORPORATE BLOGGING COMING CLOSER... DO YOU HEAR THEM?
Lots of stuff on corporate blogging lately. Last week I posted one article from CNN. Now there a flood of them:
Writing the codes on blogs
Companies figure out what's OK, what's not in online realm
by Benjamin Pimentel
Mark Jen became a cause celebre in the blogging world when he was sacked in January after writing about life inside Google in his personal blog. But the experience hasn't dampened the 22-year-old software programmer's passion for blogging.
After joining Plaxo Inc. three months ago, Jen even helped draft the Mountain View firm's blogging guidelines.
Given what he went through, the Plaxo rules are striking: They make it OK to blog on company time and to criticize the corporate bosses. (full article)
Corporations Entering Brave New World of Blogs
By Nicole Ziegler Dizon
When General Motors Corp. wanted to stop speculation this spring that it might eliminate its Pontiac and Buick brands, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz took his case directly to dealers and customers who were up in arms about the possibility.
He wrote about it on the company's blog. (full article)
The naysayer view...
Blogging Is Not Fundamental
By Robert Manning
UPS' Robert Manning urges digital marketers to stop chasing fads such as blogging without first focusing on the fundamentals of digital marketing.
I almost fell out of my Aeron chair when the May 2 issue of Business Week arrived featuring a cover story predicting that "Blogs will change your business." For a minute, I felt ashamed that UPS doesn’t have a blogging or a vlogging (blogging with video) strategy. Please, enough about blogs already. (full article)
Ross Mayfield has a post on how he sees fear and greed driving the corporate blogging market:
Fear, Greed and Social Software
Enterprises are adopting social software out of both fear and greed. Fear is the primary driver for corporate blogging, while greed is driving adoption of social software within the enterprise. I have used this metaphor to explain what I see in the market lately, so here it is in one place.
Fear Drives Corporate Blogging
Fear is a powerful emotion for the corporate animal. An early adopter wave of non-brand-centric tech companies from Sun to Microsoft to SAP saw opportunity to engage developers with the tools they use. Today most every F500 company is looking into blogging, particularly brand centric companies, but they do so differently. All those revolutionary bloggers having conversations about their brands and influencing others is pretty scary. Suddenly your brand is being watched, augmented, de-located. (full post)
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Lots of stuff on corporate blogging lately. Last week I posted one article from CNN. Now there a flood of them:
Writing the codes on blogs
Companies figure out what's OK, what's not in online realm
by Benjamin Pimentel
Mark Jen became a cause celebre in the blogging world when he was sacked in January after writing about life inside Google in his personal blog. But the experience hasn't dampened the 22-year-old software programmer's passion for blogging.
After joining Plaxo Inc. three months ago, Jen even helped draft the Mountain View firm's blogging guidelines.
Given what he went through, the Plaxo rules are striking: They make it OK to blog on company time and to criticize the corporate bosses. (full article)
Corporations Entering Brave New World of Blogs
By Nicole Ziegler Dizon
When General Motors Corp. wanted to stop speculation this spring that it might eliminate its Pontiac and Buick brands, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz took his case directly to dealers and customers who were up in arms about the possibility.
He wrote about it on the company's blog. (full article)
The naysayer view...
Blogging Is Not Fundamental
By Robert Manning
UPS' Robert Manning urges digital marketers to stop chasing fads such as blogging without first focusing on the fundamentals of digital marketing.
I almost fell out of my Aeron chair when the May 2 issue of Business Week arrived featuring a cover story predicting that "Blogs will change your business." For a minute, I felt ashamed that UPS doesn’t have a blogging or a vlogging (blogging with video) strategy. Please, enough about blogs already. (full article)
Ross Mayfield has a post on how he sees fear and greed driving the corporate blogging market:
Fear, Greed and Social Software
Enterprises are adopting social software out of both fear and greed. Fear is the primary driver for corporate blogging, while greed is driving adoption of social software within the enterprise. I have used this metaphor to explain what I see in the market lately, so here it is in one place.
Fear Drives Corporate Blogging
Fear is a powerful emotion for the corporate animal. An early adopter wave of non-brand-centric tech companies from Sun to Microsoft to SAP saw opportunity to engage developers with the tools they use. Today most every F500 company is looking into blogging, particularly brand centric companies, but they do so differently. All those revolutionary bloggers having conversations about their brands and influencing others is pretty scary. Suddenly your brand is being watched, augmented, de-located. (full post)
"SILICON VALLEY AND HOLLYWOOD: A NEW PARTNERSHIP?"
Notes from Michael Stroud's iHollywood Digital Media Summit by William Luciw (Michael also writes a column at AlwaysOn).
Will Hearst gave a keynote, "Silicon Valley and Hollywood: A New Partnership," and William provides his summary and thoughts here.
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Notes from Michael Stroud's iHollywood Digital Media Summit by William Luciw (Michael also writes a column at AlwaysOn).
Will Hearst gave a keynote, "Silicon Valley and Hollywood: A New Partnership," and William provides his summary and thoughts here.
NOT JUST SKYPE... VONAGE FALTERING
I posted last week about my friend telling how Skype's paid service was faltering. Now's it's Vonage too. I was talking with a friend who uses Vonage just now and the call was going in and out and he had to call me back, but it still didn't get any better so we hung up. I wonder if for Vonage this was an isolated incident or an indication that its quality of service is being affect by its growth?
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I posted last week about my friend telling how Skype's paid service was faltering. Now's it's Vonage too. I was talking with a friend who uses Vonage just now and the call was going in and out and he had to call me back, but it still didn't get any better so we hung up. I wonder if for Vonage this was an isolated incident or an indication that its quality of service is being affect by its growth?
Monday, June 13, 2005
MORGAN STANLEY CEO PHILIP PURCELL STEPS DOWN
After all these months of drama at Morgan Stanley with the old guard pressuring the firm to fire Philip Purcell, Purcell finally steps down. Christine, my wife, actually was at Morgan Stanley for a few years, but got tired of investment banking so she left. Anyway, here's the article:
After months of withering criticism of his management and dozens of high-profile defections, embattled Morgan Stanley CEO Philip Purcell said early Monday he's retiring as soon as a successor is named.
The company said Purcell will leave no later than March 2006, the date of the next annual meeting.
In a letter released by Morgan Stanley, Purcell wrote: "It has become clear that in light of the continuing personal attacks on me, and the unprecedented level of negative attention our Firm -- and each of you -- has had to endure, that this is the best thing I can do for you, our clients and our shareholders."
"I will retire when my successor is appointed," Purcell said.
Morgan Stanley shares rose 2.2%, or $1.11, to $50.99 at midday.
The company also said it expects its fiscal second-quarter earnings to be about 15% to 20% below the year-ago figure of $1.10 a share, based on weakened market conditions. The company will report results June 22.
Purcell was not asked to resign, company spokesmen said.
"Way too much attention is being paid to acrimony and criticism, most of it directed at me," Purcell said in a conference call adding that he made the decision "to get everybody's attention focused on performance and clients and what we are doing as opposed to a sideshow." (full article)
Fortune had a good article I read on the inside drama a couple months ago, "Brahmins at the Gate." Classic banker line on the division between the white shoe Morgan Stanley guys and the Dean Witter guys (Purcell came from Dean Witter):
"We could always spot the Dean Witter guys," says a former Morgan banker. "All we had to do was go up to the gym. They were the ones who walked on the treadmills."
Hahaha... that arrogance with an underlying insecurity to make sure you're one up on the other guy. Also some bankers I knew from Morgan Stanley took too much pride in being at that firm. I guess in investment banking only Goldman Sachs is better in terms of history and reputation. One person I use to work with was at Lehman Brothers for over 13 years and 2 years at Morgan Stanley, but would only talk about his connection with Morgan Stanley when talking with people or clients. Hahaha... that cracked up me too. What a tool.
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After all these months of drama at Morgan Stanley with the old guard pressuring the firm to fire Philip Purcell, Purcell finally steps down. Christine, my wife, actually was at Morgan Stanley for a few years, but got tired of investment banking so she left. Anyway, here's the article:
After months of withering criticism of his management and dozens of high-profile defections, embattled Morgan Stanley CEO Philip Purcell said early Monday he's retiring as soon as a successor is named.
The company said Purcell will leave no later than March 2006, the date of the next annual meeting.
In a letter released by Morgan Stanley, Purcell wrote: "It has become clear that in light of the continuing personal attacks on me, and the unprecedented level of negative attention our Firm -- and each of you -- has had to endure, that this is the best thing I can do for you, our clients and our shareholders."
"I will retire when my successor is appointed," Purcell said.
Morgan Stanley shares rose 2.2%, or $1.11, to $50.99 at midday.
The company also said it expects its fiscal second-quarter earnings to be about 15% to 20% below the year-ago figure of $1.10 a share, based on weakened market conditions. The company will report results June 22.
Purcell was not asked to resign, company spokesmen said.
"Way too much attention is being paid to acrimony and criticism, most of it directed at me," Purcell said in a conference call adding that he made the decision "to get everybody's attention focused on performance and clients and what we are doing as opposed to a sideshow." (full article)
Fortune had a good article I read on the inside drama a couple months ago, "Brahmins at the Gate." Classic banker line on the division between the white shoe Morgan Stanley guys and the Dean Witter guys (Purcell came from Dean Witter):
"We could always spot the Dean Witter guys," says a former Morgan banker. "All we had to do was go up to the gym. They were the ones who walked on the treadmills."
Hahaha... that arrogance with an underlying insecurity to make sure you're one up on the other guy. Also some bankers I knew from Morgan Stanley took too much pride in being at that firm. I guess in investment banking only Goldman Sachs is better in terms of history and reputation. One person I use to work with was at Lehman Brothers for over 13 years and 2 years at Morgan Stanley, but would only talk about his connection with Morgan Stanley when talking with people or clients. Hahaha... that cracked up me too. What a tool.
YAHOO, SKYPE RUMORS
Om is at it again and maybe he'll be right again. Now it's floating around the blogosphere that Yahoo might acquire Skype or at least some type of partnership deal. I agree with some of the other bloggers that it's too early for Skype to sell, but it will be interesting to see what deal comes out if any.
It is too early to tell, what is going on, but there seems to be rumors floating that Skype and Yahoo are in close contact, and perhaps cooking up a commercial partnership. The reports are based on a post on Jean-Michel’s blog. It might be too soon for Skype to be cashing out, and I am not sure if Yahoo can justify the big ticket valuation that would be slapped on Skype. There maybe a revenue share deal in the offering! That would make my recent post on Skype, more relevant. (full post)
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Om is at it again and maybe he'll be right again. Now it's floating around the blogosphere that Yahoo might acquire Skype or at least some type of partnership deal. I agree with some of the other bloggers that it's too early for Skype to sell, but it will be interesting to see what deal comes out if any.
It is too early to tell, what is going on, but there seems to be rumors floating that Skype and Yahoo are in close contact, and perhaps cooking up a commercial partnership. The reports are based on a post on Jean-Michel’s blog. It might be too soon for Skype to be cashing out, and I am not sure if Yahoo can justify the big ticket valuation that would be slapped on Skype. There maybe a revenue share deal in the offering! That would make my recent post on Skype, more relevant. (full post)
Friday, June 10, 2005
THE SMACKDOWN ON SENATOR BYRD BY DICK MORRIS
He's climbing the ropes with Byrd! Oh, no! A flying supplex! Good article by Dick Morris:
Here’s good news to the cause of good government. West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, styled by partisan Democrats as the "conscience of the Senate" and by those who are less biased as the last troglodyte in the body, could be defeated in his bid for his umpteenth term in the Senate.
He’s up for election in 2006, and the latest polling in West Virginia indicates that an attack of sanity and judgment may, at last, be hitting an electorate that has routinely elected the 87-year-old Byrd to the Senate eight times with never less than 59 percent of the vote. A survey by RMS Strategies, a West Virginia firm, shows Byrd barely ahead of Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, 46-43 percent.
.....
But Byrd needs beating for a host of other reasons. His defense of the filibuster was natural, since it was he who conducted a lonely 14-hour attempt to kill the 1964 Civil Rights Act by talking until he almost dropped. He stays in office by being a pork-barrel machine who waxes eloquent, at the same time, on the perils of deficit spending.
If he is the Senate’s conscience, the body is in deep trouble. (full article)
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He's climbing the ropes with Byrd! Oh, no! A flying supplex! Good article by Dick Morris:
Here’s good news to the cause of good government. West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, styled by partisan Democrats as the "conscience of the Senate" and by those who are less biased as the last troglodyte in the body, could be defeated in his bid for his umpteenth term in the Senate.
He’s up for election in 2006, and the latest polling in West Virginia indicates that an attack of sanity and judgment may, at last, be hitting an electorate that has routinely elected the 87-year-old Byrd to the Senate eight times with never less than 59 percent of the vote. A survey by RMS Strategies, a West Virginia firm, shows Byrd barely ahead of Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, 46-43 percent.
.....
But Byrd needs beating for a host of other reasons. His defense of the filibuster was natural, since it was he who conducted a lonely 14-hour attempt to kill the 1964 Civil Rights Act by talking until he almost dropped. He stays in office by being a pork-barrel machine who waxes eloquent, at the same time, on the perils of deficit spending.
If he is the Senate’s conscience, the body is in deep trouble. (full article)
SHOULD YOU REALLY BE A LAWYER? BLOG
Plugging for my friend, Deborah Schneider, again. She wrote:
Should You Really Be A Lawyer?
The Guide to Smart Career Choices Before, During and After Law School
http://www.shouldyoureally.com
Now her book's blog is out, so if you're thinking about the legal field check it out!
"It's a place for prospective lawyers, law students and lawyers (and their loved ones) to come for questions and answers about all things related to law school, job and career decisions."
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Plugging for my friend, Deborah Schneider, again. She wrote:
Should You Really Be A Lawyer?
The Guide to Smart Career Choices Before, During and After Law School
http://www.shouldyoureally.com
Now her book's blog is out, so if you're thinking about the legal field check it out!
"It's a place for prospective lawyers, law students and lawyers (and their loved ones) to come for questions and answers about all things related to law school, job and career decisions."
Thursday, June 09, 2005
"RSS AND NEWS AGGREGATORS: OPPORTUNITY OR THREAT?"
Good presentation by The Guardian's Simon Waldman to the World Editor's Forum in Seoul:
There is only one thing you need to understand about RSS and news aggregators.
It explains why this such an important and at times such a difficult issue for us.
It is this:
None of this has been developed to make traditional publishers’ lives any easier or our businesses any healthier. It is all there for our readers – and it does a very good job for them.
The result is that the world of RSS and aggregation is fraught with complexity, but understanding it and coping with it is, I believe, one of the most critical parts of a successful long term online publishing strategy.
.....
And I see three critical issues we are going to face with RSS.
The first is what’s happening to our readers.
The second is what’s happening to our content.
And the third – is what’s going to happen to our classified ads.
(full post)
|
Good presentation by The Guardian's Simon Waldman to the World Editor's Forum in Seoul:
There is only one thing you need to understand about RSS and news aggregators.
It explains why this such an important and at times such a difficult issue for us.
It is this:
None of this has been developed to make traditional publishers’ lives any easier or our businesses any healthier. It is all there for our readers – and it does a very good job for them.
The result is that the world of RSS and aggregation is fraught with complexity, but understanding it and coping with it is, I believe, one of the most critical parts of a successful long term online publishing strategy.
.....
And I see three critical issues we are going to face with RSS.
The first is what’s happening to our readers.
The second is what’s happening to our content.
And the third – is what’s going to happen to our classified ads.
(full post)
APPLE CHANGES TO INTEL FROM POWERPC CHIPS
Big news in the tech industry, and a big deal for Transitive Technologies:
Rosetta is a key to Apple's Intel shift
TRANSLATION SAVES OLD MAC SOFTWARE
By Dean Takahashi
Mercury News
Apple Computer is making the leap to Intel thanks in part to a software translation technology from a 65-person company in Los Gatos.
Transitive Technologies confirmed Tuesday that it is providing Apple with technology that allows old Macintosh software programs to run on computers based on Intel rather than IBM chips. Transitive's technology will be part of software called Rosetta, which will work for current Macintosh OS X programs that run on PowerPC systems but not for older programs that run on OS 8 and OS 9 software, according to Apple. (full article)
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Big news in the tech industry, and a big deal for Transitive Technologies:
Rosetta is a key to Apple's Intel shift
TRANSLATION SAVES OLD MAC SOFTWARE
By Dean Takahashi
Mercury News
Apple Computer is making the leap to Intel thanks in part to a software translation technology from a 65-person company in Los Gatos.
Transitive Technologies confirmed Tuesday that it is providing Apple with technology that allows old Macintosh software programs to run on computers based on Intel rather than IBM chips. Transitive's technology will be part of software called Rosetta, which will work for current Macintosh OS X programs that run on PowerPC systems but not for older programs that run on OS 8 and OS 9 software, according to Apple. (full article)
JOI ITO'S REPORT ON KOREAN BLOGGING
Joi has a good overview of the blogging culture and landscape in Korea.
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Joi has a good overview of the blogging culture and landscape in Korea.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
KERRY'S GRADES ON PAR WITH BUSH'S
HatTip to Sam. This is gravy. During the election, Dems (and Kerry himself) tried to portray John Kerry as the "intellectual" candidate... the smarter one than Bush. Of course it got out that Bush's IQ was higher than Kerry's, which pissed Kerry off and I'm sure embarrassed a bunch of Dems. Now Kerry's grades came out that shows he didn't even do well in school. I know this is pissing him off. Now he doesn't even have a high IQ to fall back on to explain why he's so smart. Poor Kerry. He should serious stop his silly dreams of running again in 2008.
Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student
His 4-year average on par with Bush's
During last year's presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences.
But newly released records show that Bush and Kerry had a virtually identical grade average at Yale University four decades ago.
In 1999, The New Yorker published a transcript indicating that Bush had received a cumulative score of 77 for his first three years at Yale and a roughly similar average under a non-numerical rating system during his senior year.
Kerry, who graduated two years before Bush, got a cumulative 76 for his four years, according to a transcript that Kerry sent to the Navy when he was applying for officer training school. He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years.
The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record. During the campaign the Globe sought Kerry's naval records, but he refused to waive privacy restrictions for the full file. Late last month, Kerry gave the Navy permission to send the documents to the Globe. (full article)
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HatTip to Sam. This is gravy. During the election, Dems (and Kerry himself) tried to portray John Kerry as the "intellectual" candidate... the smarter one than Bush. Of course it got out that Bush's IQ was higher than Kerry's, which pissed Kerry off and I'm sure embarrassed a bunch of Dems. Now Kerry's grades came out that shows he didn't even do well in school. I know this is pissing him off. Now he doesn't even have a high IQ to fall back on to explain why he's so smart. Poor Kerry. He should serious stop his silly dreams of running again in 2008.
Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student
His 4-year average on par with Bush's
During last year's presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences.
But newly released records show that Bush and Kerry had a virtually identical grade average at Yale University four decades ago.
In 1999, The New Yorker published a transcript indicating that Bush had received a cumulative score of 77 for his first three years at Yale and a roughly similar average under a non-numerical rating system during his senior year.
Kerry, who graduated two years before Bush, got a cumulative 76 for his four years, according to a transcript that Kerry sent to the Navy when he was applying for officer training school. He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years.
The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record. During the campaign the Globe sought Kerry's naval records, but he refused to waive privacy restrictions for the full file. Late last month, Kerry gave the Navy permission to send the documents to the Globe. (full article)
ALWAYSON COLUMN UP... ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
I didn't realize until I checked now that I haven't had an AO piece up for seven weeks. Wow. I thought I laid off writing for about a month, but I guess my sense of time has been off. Now since the wedding planning and wedding is over I will devote more time to getting more articles out at AlwaysOn. Anyway, check it out:
Staring Down the Digital Divide
Bloggers are the haves in the new new economy, but there are plenty of have-nots as well—and none of us can afford to forget them.
Last week on my honeymoon in Crete, Greece, I found myself detached from civilization. Not so much because of the remote locale, the lack of video-on-demand or cable news in my hotel suite, or even the dearth of America fast-food outlets. The real reason for my detachment was that I didn't have internet access. That's right: No internet access for an entire week.
Each day I listened as hotel staff explained to me that their "servers were down"—which toward the end of my stay I came to interpret as they were never up. There was no access. Ever. A couple days before we left, I spoke with one of the staff technicians, who fed me the same line but also informed me (when asked) that their connection speed was "56K." 56K? I hadn't heard that number/letter combination in about a decade. If this is the speed the majority of the island is connecting at, a digital divide definitely exists between the people here and the folks back home in Silicon Valley. (full article)
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I didn't realize until I checked now that I haven't had an AO piece up for seven weeks. Wow. I thought I laid off writing for about a month, but I guess my sense of time has been off. Now since the wedding planning and wedding is over I will devote more time to getting more articles out at AlwaysOn. Anyway, check it out:
Staring Down the Digital Divide
Bloggers are the haves in the new new economy, but there are plenty of have-nots as well—and none of us can afford to forget them.
Last week on my honeymoon in Crete, Greece, I found myself detached from civilization. Not so much because of the remote locale, the lack of video-on-demand or cable news in my hotel suite, or even the dearth of America fast-food outlets. The real reason for my detachment was that I didn't have internet access. That's right: No internet access for an entire week.
Each day I listened as hotel staff explained to me that their "servers were down"—which toward the end of my stay I came to interpret as they were never up. There was no access. Ever. A couple days before we left, I spoke with one of the staff technicians, who fed me the same line but also informed me (when asked) that their connection speed was "56K." 56K? I hadn't heard that number/letter combination in about a decade. If this is the speed the majority of the island is connecting at, a digital divide definitely exists between the people here and the folks back home in Silicon Valley. (full article)
VOIP PICKING UP... SKYPE QUALITY LOWERING?
My friend, Dave, who is an avid VoIP user (testing out all the services) told me that Skype's quality has been fading a bit and we were both wondering if it was due to the rapid growth of its user base and the inability for the company to keep up with a stable infrastructure. I really don't know how the architechture is set up, but I assume its rapid growth has to do something with the lapses in quality. Dave is a premium SkypeOut user and he has recently experienced call droppage, which isn't good on business calls. I'm sure Skype is working to stablize their system and correct these bugs. Anyway, it still amazes me that they have over 119 million downloads of their software and over 1 million premium users in such a short period of time.
Some recent data on the VoIP market from eMarketer:
VoIP subscriber numbers continue to ramp up and competition shows no signs of abating.
TeleGeography recently joined a number of other research companies in releasing its predictions about the VoIP residential market, estimating that the number of US residential VoIP subscribers in the US will reach over 4.1 million in 2005, up from 150,000 at the end of 2003. As of March 2005, the number stood at 2 million, meaning that growth will be great enough to double that figure by the end of the year. Revenues for 2005 will total over $1 billion. (full article)
VoIP Access Lines in the U.S.
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My friend, Dave, who is an avid VoIP user (testing out all the services) told me that Skype's quality has been fading a bit and we were both wondering if it was due to the rapid growth of its user base and the inability for the company to keep up with a stable infrastructure. I really don't know how the architechture is set up, but I assume its rapid growth has to do something with the lapses in quality. Dave is a premium SkypeOut user and he has recently experienced call droppage, which isn't good on business calls. I'm sure Skype is working to stablize their system and correct these bugs. Anyway, it still amazes me that they have over 119 million downloads of their software and over 1 million premium users in such a short period of time.
Some recent data on the VoIP market from eMarketer:
VoIP subscriber numbers continue to ramp up and competition shows no signs of abating.
TeleGeography recently joined a number of other research companies in releasing its predictions about the VoIP residential market, estimating that the number of US residential VoIP subscribers in the US will reach over 4.1 million in 2005, up from 150,000 at the end of 2003. As of March 2005, the number stood at 2 million, meaning that growth will be great enough to double that figure by the end of the year. Revenues for 2005 will total over $1 billion. (full article)
VoIP Access Lines in the U.S.
FLASH STANDARD... MACROMEDIA'S KEVIN LYNCH WANTS THE WEB TO BE BUILT ON FLASH
Business 2.0's Erick Schonfeld has a good article on Lynch's vision for Flash:
"I believe there is an opportunity to create a better experience on the Internet," says Kevin Lynch, chief software architect for Macromedia. On Monday he's going to try to do just that when he lays out his plan to make Macromedia's Flash technology the platform for creating Web content.
Among Web programmers, Lynch is something of a celebrity. He developed Macromedia's Dreamweaver, the market's leading Web design software, and when Adobe (ADBE) completes its $3.4 billion purchase of Macromedia later this year, he will become the chief software architect for the much larger, merged company. For the past couple of years, he's been consumed with transforming Flash from a clever application to Macromedia's growth engine.
In a way, Lynch has already succeeded. The Flash player sits on 98 percent of all PCs and 30 million cell phones. It works in the background of browsers, where most people don't even think about it. Flash started out in 1996 as a simple animation player, with two engineers working on it. Today more than 100 engineers work on Flash, and it encompasses much more than animation. CNET (CNET), for instance, uses Flash to incorporate video seamlessly into its webpages. Nike (NKE) and Mini USA use it on their websites to let people customize sneakers and cars, down to the color of the shoelaces or the side mirrors. Every time you see some slick graphics on a website changing without the whole page reloading, Flash is likely involved.
Until now Flash has been viewed as a collection of linked technologies (the player, animation tools, software development tools, server software, and mobile software). But on Monday, Lynch is going to declare the obvious: that this assortment of technologies constitutes a platform on top of which others can build beautiful websites. "What makes us a platform," he explains, "is that we are something people can target with their applications." All of the technologies under the Flash rubric provide "an on-ramp to get on the platform," he says. In that sense Flash is already the invisible platform that powers many of the more visually compelling websites. (full article)
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Business 2.0's Erick Schonfeld has a good article on Lynch's vision for Flash:
"I believe there is an opportunity to create a better experience on the Internet," says Kevin Lynch, chief software architect for Macromedia. On Monday he's going to try to do just that when he lays out his plan to make Macromedia's Flash technology the platform for creating Web content.
Among Web programmers, Lynch is something of a celebrity. He developed Macromedia's Dreamweaver, the market's leading Web design software, and when Adobe (ADBE) completes its $3.4 billion purchase of Macromedia later this year, he will become the chief software architect for the much larger, merged company. For the past couple of years, he's been consumed with transforming Flash from a clever application to Macromedia's growth engine.
In a way, Lynch has already succeeded. The Flash player sits on 98 percent of all PCs and 30 million cell phones. It works in the background of browsers, where most people don't even think about it. Flash started out in 1996 as a simple animation player, with two engineers working on it. Today more than 100 engineers work on Flash, and it encompasses much more than animation. CNET (CNET), for instance, uses Flash to incorporate video seamlessly into its webpages. Nike (NKE) and Mini USA use it on their websites to let people customize sneakers and cars, down to the color of the shoelaces or the side mirrors. Every time you see some slick graphics on a website changing without the whole page reloading, Flash is likely involved.
Until now Flash has been viewed as a collection of linked technologies (the player, animation tools, software development tools, server software, and mobile software). But on Monday, Lynch is going to declare the obvious: that this assortment of technologies constitutes a platform on top of which others can build beautiful websites. "What makes us a platform," he explains, "is that we are something people can target with their applications." All of the technologies under the Flash rubric provide "an on-ramp to get on the platform," he says. In that sense Flash is already the invisible platform that powers many of the more visually compelling websites. (full article)
"CHINESE YOUTH, UNITE!"
Good article and discussion at AlwaysOn:
Chinese Youth, Unite!
A moral view of China must take into account more than its rampant economic growth.
AlwaysOn
By Tony Perkins
When the political, economic, and philosophical tales of the last century are written, historians could celebrate the great human innovations of this period, like the telephone, automobile, penicillin, and microprocessor. We could draft these stories on computers or with laser beams, both gifts from the 20th century. But for greater accuracy, this story should be written in blood.
The 20th century spilled more innocent blood than all previous centuries combined. When our grandchildren look at the accomplishments of that extraordinary century, they might easily be dazzled by the insights and inventions, and how it became possible to broadly communicate and share these innovations. Yet they will have to wonder how so much good could be mingled with so much terror.
In the 20th century, in China alone, an estimated 65 million people were killed. In the Soviet Union, at least 20 million. In Cambodia, 2 million—considering Cambodia’s overall population size, the worst genocide in human history. Another 2 million were killed in North Korea, 1 million in Vietnam, at least 1 million in Eastern and Central Europe, 1.7 million in Africa, 1.5 million in Afghanistan, and over 150,000 in Latin America. And these statistics are apart from the millions of deaths during World War I and II and the Jewish Holocaust. They represent only the murders committed in the name of that lurid denial of the sanctity and dignity of human life: Marxism. (full article)
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Good article and discussion at AlwaysOn:
Chinese Youth, Unite!
A moral view of China must take into account more than its rampant economic growth.
AlwaysOn
By Tony Perkins
When the political, economic, and philosophical tales of the last century are written, historians could celebrate the great human innovations of this period, like the telephone, automobile, penicillin, and microprocessor. We could draft these stories on computers or with laser beams, both gifts from the 20th century. But for greater accuracy, this story should be written in blood.
The 20th century spilled more innocent blood than all previous centuries combined. When our grandchildren look at the accomplishments of that extraordinary century, they might easily be dazzled by the insights and inventions, and how it became possible to broadly communicate and share these innovations. Yet they will have to wonder how so much good could be mingled with so much terror.
In the 20th century, in China alone, an estimated 65 million people were killed. In the Soviet Union, at least 20 million. In Cambodia, 2 million—considering Cambodia’s overall population size, the worst genocide in human history. Another 2 million were killed in North Korea, 1 million in Vietnam, at least 1 million in Eastern and Central Europe, 1.7 million in Africa, 1.5 million in Afghanistan, and over 150,000 in Latin America. And these statistics are apart from the millions of deaths during World War I and II and the Jewish Holocaust. They represent only the murders committed in the name of that lurid denial of the sanctity and dignity of human life: Marxism. (full article)
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
"THE GREAT GROUND ZERO HEIST"
HatTip to Power Line. Definitely read in the WSJ. The post from Power Line was good, so no need to sweat a bit more:
...deeply disturbing column in the WSJ by Debra Burlingame, sister of the 9/11 pilot whose plane was flown into the Pentagon. Burlingame explains how, through the efforts of American leftists, the World Trade Center memorial is set to become a didactic lecture on the meaning of liberty in a post-9/11 world that will include a healthy dose of America bashing.
This is so outrageous that I don't trust myself to comment, so permit me to rely on Burlingame:
The so-called lessons of September 11 should not be force-fed by ideologues hoping to use the memorial site as nothing more than a powerful visual aid to promote their agenda. Instead of exhibits and symposiums about Internationalism and Global Policy we should hear the story of the courageous young firefighter whose body, cut in half, was found with his legs entwined around the body of a woman. Recovery personnel concluded that because of their positions, the young firefighter was carrying her.
The people who visit Ground Zero in five years will come because they want to pay their respects at the place where heroes died. They will come because they want to remember what they saw that day, because they want a personal connection, to touch the place that touched them, the place that rallied the nation and changed their lives forever. I would wager that, if given a choice, they would rather walk through that dusty hanger at JFK Airport where 1,000 World Trade Center artifacts are stored than be herded through the International Freedom Center's multi-million dollar insult.
Ground Zero has been stolen, right from under our noses. How do we get it back? (full article)
UPDATE: Definitely read it, blog about it, talk about it, and maybe write your representatives on the Hill. This is tragic for all the lives lost if the truth is hidden by Tom Bernstein. Some more:
The public will be confused at first, and then feel hoodwinked and betrayed. Where, they will ask, do we go to see the September 11 Memorial? The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will have erected a building whose only connection to September 11 is a strained, intellectual one. While the IFC is getting 300,000 square feet of space to teach us how to think about liberty, the actual Memorial Center on the opposite corner of the site will get a meager 50,000 square feet to exhibit its 9/11 artifacts, all out of sight and underground. Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere -- anywhere -- else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.
More disturbing, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is handing over millions of federal dollars and the keys to that building to some of the very same people who consider the post-9/11 provisions of the Patriot Act more dangerous than the terrorists that they were enacted to apprehend -- people whose inflammatory claims of a deliberate torture policy at Guantanamo Bay are undermining this country's efforts to foster freedom elsewhere in the world.
The driving force behind the IFC is Tom Bernstein, the dynamic co-founder of the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex who made a fortune financing Hollywood movies. But his capital ventures appear to have funded his true calling, the pro bono work he has done his entire adult life -- as an activist lawyer in the human rights movement. He has been a proud member of Human Rights First since it was founded -- as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights -- 27 years ago, and has served as its president for the last 12.
The public has a right to know that it was Mr. Bernstein's organization, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, that filed a lawsuit three months ago against Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was Human Rights First that filed an amicus brief on behalf of alleged "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla, an American citizen who the Justice Department believes is an al Qaeda recruit. It was Human Rights First that has called for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the alleged torture of detainees, complete with budget authority, subpoena power and the ability to demand that witnesses testify under oath.
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HatTip to Power Line. Definitely read in the WSJ. The post from Power Line was good, so no need to sweat a bit more:
...deeply disturbing column in the WSJ by Debra Burlingame, sister of the 9/11 pilot whose plane was flown into the Pentagon. Burlingame explains how, through the efforts of American leftists, the World Trade Center memorial is set to become a didactic lecture on the meaning of liberty in a post-9/11 world that will include a healthy dose of America bashing.
This is so outrageous that I don't trust myself to comment, so permit me to rely on Burlingame:
The so-called lessons of September 11 should not be force-fed by ideologues hoping to use the memorial site as nothing more than a powerful visual aid to promote their agenda. Instead of exhibits and symposiums about Internationalism and Global Policy we should hear the story of the courageous young firefighter whose body, cut in half, was found with his legs entwined around the body of a woman. Recovery personnel concluded that because of their positions, the young firefighter was carrying her.
The people who visit Ground Zero in five years will come because they want to pay their respects at the place where heroes died. They will come because they want to remember what they saw that day, because they want a personal connection, to touch the place that touched them, the place that rallied the nation and changed their lives forever. I would wager that, if given a choice, they would rather walk through that dusty hanger at JFK Airport where 1,000 World Trade Center artifacts are stored than be herded through the International Freedom Center's multi-million dollar insult.
Ground Zero has been stolen, right from under our noses. How do we get it back? (full article)
UPDATE: Definitely read it, blog about it, talk about it, and maybe write your representatives on the Hill. This is tragic for all the lives lost if the truth is hidden by Tom Bernstein. Some more:
The public will be confused at first, and then feel hoodwinked and betrayed. Where, they will ask, do we go to see the September 11 Memorial? The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will have erected a building whose only connection to September 11 is a strained, intellectual one. While the IFC is getting 300,000 square feet of space to teach us how to think about liberty, the actual Memorial Center on the opposite corner of the site will get a meager 50,000 square feet to exhibit its 9/11 artifacts, all out of sight and underground. Most of the cherished objects which were salvaged from Ground Zero in those first traumatic months will never return to the site. There is simply no room. But the International Freedom Center will have ample space to present us with exhibits about Chinese dissidents and Chilean refugees. These are important subjects, but for somewhere -- anywhere -- else, not the site of the worst attack on American soil in the history of the republic.
More disturbing, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is handing over millions of federal dollars and the keys to that building to some of the very same people who consider the post-9/11 provisions of the Patriot Act more dangerous than the terrorists that they were enacted to apprehend -- people whose inflammatory claims of a deliberate torture policy at Guantanamo Bay are undermining this country's efforts to foster freedom elsewhere in the world.
The driving force behind the IFC is Tom Bernstein, the dynamic co-founder of the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex who made a fortune financing Hollywood movies. But his capital ventures appear to have funded his true calling, the pro bono work he has done his entire adult life -- as an activist lawyer in the human rights movement. He has been a proud member of Human Rights First since it was founded -- as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights -- 27 years ago, and has served as its president for the last 12.
The public has a right to know that it was Mr. Bernstein's organization, joined by the American Civil Liberties Union, that filed a lawsuit three months ago against Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was Human Rights First that filed an amicus brief on behalf of alleged "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla, an American citizen who the Justice Department believes is an al Qaeda recruit. It was Human Rights First that has called for a 9/11-style commission to investigate the alleged torture of detainees, complete with budget authority, subpoena power and the ability to demand that witnesses testify under oath.
IRAQ DETAINS 900 SUSPECTED MILITANTS
New checkpoints are working:
The Iraqi government announced Monday it detained nearly 900 suspected militants and set up more than 800 checkpoints in a two-week sweep that appears to have somewhat blunted attacks in the capital. Also, a list obtained Monday shows
Saddam Hussein will be charged with a range of war crimes when he goes on trial, probably within the next two months. (full article)
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New checkpoints are working:
The Iraqi government announced Monday it detained nearly 900 suspected militants and set up more than 800 checkpoints in a two-week sweep that appears to have somewhat blunted attacks in the capital. Also, a list obtained Monday shows
Saddam Hussein will be charged with a range of war crimes when he goes on trial, probably within the next two months. (full article)
BALLMER CALLS OUT GOOGLE
Definitely fighting words. How many people can call out and spit on a billion dollar company? Steve Ballmer can. Interview at InformationWeek:
Security woes and search setbacks. MBS foibles and EU meddling. Product delays and rival upstarts--all legitimate explanations why Microsoft could be blue. But it's not. There is, however, something that's got the company's normally irrepressible CEO, Steve Ballmer, a little more than agitated.
That's a new threat from search leader Google, which was one of the subjects at the center of a contentious discussion with top lieutenants. (The meeting was so rambunctious that this editor was asked to move away from the room where the gathering was taking place for fear that shouts and screams would spill over to the adjacent foyer.)
.....
VB: Google--Obviously, the growing competition or perceived competition between you two guys that takes up more and more of your time. Why is this company giving you guys such fits?
Ballmer: I think they got off to a good start. Hey, lot of reasons for that. 20/20 hindsight, wouldn't do it again, of course. But, I'm confident. We just had a long meeting--the meeting I was late for you with, unfortunately--in which we were talking about some of the big options. We love what we are doing, and our portfolio, and we just have to crunch it out.
VB: Where is their vulnerability?
Ballmer: Look, they still do only one thing: search. Nothing else they have done is all that successful. And their search experience has gotten worse in the past 12 months, not better.
VB: How so? The paid, the whole phenomenon? The complexity of what they are trying to get their arms around?
Ballmer: Their relevancy as measured objectively in the past 12 months is down. I'm not saving they just [caved]. But they haven't gotten better. And at the end of the day, that's what people are paying...or using the service for. And we have made big strides, and I know we will continue to make big strides. (full interview)
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Definitely fighting words. How many people can call out and spit on a billion dollar company? Steve Ballmer can. Interview at InformationWeek:
Security woes and search setbacks. MBS foibles and EU meddling. Product delays and rival upstarts--all legitimate explanations why Microsoft could be blue. But it's not. There is, however, something that's got the company's normally irrepressible CEO, Steve Ballmer, a little more than agitated.
That's a new threat from search leader Google, which was one of the subjects at the center of a contentious discussion with top lieutenants. (The meeting was so rambunctious that this editor was asked to move away from the room where the gathering was taking place for fear that shouts and screams would spill over to the adjacent foyer.)
.....
VB: Google--Obviously, the growing competition or perceived competition between you two guys that takes up more and more of your time. Why is this company giving you guys such fits?
Ballmer: I think they got off to a good start. Hey, lot of reasons for that. 20/20 hindsight, wouldn't do it again, of course. But, I'm confident. We just had a long meeting--the meeting I was late for you with, unfortunately--in which we were talking about some of the big options. We love what we are doing, and our portfolio, and we just have to crunch it out.
VB: Where is their vulnerability?
Ballmer: Look, they still do only one thing: search. Nothing else they have done is all that successful. And their search experience has gotten worse in the past 12 months, not better.
VB: How so? The paid, the whole phenomenon? The complexity of what they are trying to get their arms around?
Ballmer: Their relevancy as measured objectively in the past 12 months is down. I'm not saving they just [caved]. But they haven't gotten better. And at the end of the day, that's what people are paying...or using the service for. And we have made big strides, and I know we will continue to make big strides. (full interview)
"CORPORATIONS ENTER BLOGOSPHERE"
Blogging is getting more and more press these days. Interesting also that in this CNN article there are links to several blogs on the webpage:
When General Motors Corp. wanted to stop speculation this spring that it might eliminate its Pontiac and Buick brands, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz took his case directly to dealers and customers who were up in arms about the possibility.
He wrote about it on the company's blog.
"The media coverage on the auto industry of late has done much to paint an ugly portrait of General Motors," began Lutz's entry on GM's FastLane Blog, which the company launched in January.
The March 30 entry went on to say that widely reported remarks he made to analysts the week before had been "taken out of context" and that the automaker would not shed the brands.
A growing number of companies are stepping softly into the blogosphere, following a path blazed by Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and others in the technology field. (full article)
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Blogging is getting more and more press these days. Interesting also that in this CNN article there are links to several blogs on the webpage:
When General Motors Corp. wanted to stop speculation this spring that it might eliminate its Pontiac and Buick brands, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz took his case directly to dealers and customers who were up in arms about the possibility.
He wrote about it on the company's blog.
"The media coverage on the auto industry of late has done much to paint an ugly portrait of General Motors," began Lutz's entry on GM's FastLane Blog, which the company launched in January.
The March 30 entry went on to say that widely reported remarks he made to analysts the week before had been "taken out of context" and that the automaker would not shed the brands.
A growing number of companies are stepping softly into the blogosphere, following a path blazed by Microsoft Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc. and others in the technology field. (full article)
Monday, June 06, 2005
OTHER SIDE OF GUANTANAMO BAY
Good article...
Army "block guards" were making their daily walk through the stifling heat of the cellblocks inside the barbed wired camp here in late May.
But after a guard discovered a dangerously sharp object hidden in the empty cell of a detainee, a violent confrontation ensued, illustrating military officials' contention that criticisms from human rights groups only tell part of the story.
According to two Army prison guards, one 22 years old and the other 28, the prisoner was temporarily in another part of the prison for a bath when the jagged, rectangular piece of metal, three to four inches long was found and removed.
But the two guards, who spoke in a rare interview with The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity, said an altercation then followed in which the detainee tried to gouge out one of the guards' eyes. (full article)
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Good article...
Army "block guards" were making their daily walk through the stifling heat of the cellblocks inside the barbed wired camp here in late May.
But after a guard discovered a dangerously sharp object hidden in the empty cell of a detainee, a violent confrontation ensued, illustrating military officials' contention that criticisms from human rights groups only tell part of the story.
According to two Army prison guards, one 22 years old and the other 28, the prisoner was temporarily in another part of the prison for a bath when the jagged, rectangular piece of metal, three to four inches long was found and removed.
But the two guards, who spoke in a rare interview with The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity, said an altercation then followed in which the detainee tried to gouge out one of the guards' eyes. (full article)
AMNESTY BACKS OFF IDIOTIC 'GULAG' COMMENTS
Last Sunday, on the flight back to San Francisco, I read the following editorial in The Wall Street Journal (subscription needed but i'm posting the whole thing):
Amnesty's 'Gulag'
May 26, 2005
"Gulag" is the Russian acronym made famous by Alexander Solzhenitsyn to describe the vast network of Soviet slave labor camps in which millions died. It is thus one more sign of the moral degradation of Amnesty International that the pressure group is now calling the U.S. detention facility for Taliban and al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time."
At a press conference yesterday releasing its annual human rights report, William Schultz, the executive director of Amnesty's U.S. branch, called the U.S. a "leading purveyor and practitioner" of torture. He urged foreign governments to investigate and arrest U.S. officials. "The apparent high-level architects of torture should think twice before planning their next vacation to places like Acapulco or the French Riviera," he said, "because they may find themselves under arrest as Augusto Pinochet famously did in London in 1998." The "apparent" is a nice touch, perhaps an unconscious bow to the fact that multiple probes and courts martial have found no evidence that the U.S. condones or encourages torture.
"Our list," as Mr. Orwell -- er, Mr. Schultz -- puts it, is too long to print in full. But it includes Donald Rumsfeld, Douglas Feith and William Haynes at Defense; Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Jack Goldsmith, and Patrick Philbin from Justice; Tim Flanigan, just nominated to be Deputy Attorney General; George Tenet, former head of the CIA; and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
It's old news that Amnesty International is a highly politicized pressure group, but these latest accusations amount to pro-al Qaeda propaganda. A "human rights" group that can't distinguish between Stalin's death camps and detention centers for terrorists who kill civilians can't be taken seriously.
I was upset, annoyed, and slightly embarrassed. Embarrassed because I helped build Amnesty at my high school during its second year of formation as an officer (shoutout to my friend Yael for dragging me in), and I continued to donate to the organization for several years after college. Annoyed since while it is a left-leaning organization (increasely farther left over the past decade) it does have some good programs and drives for the human rights struggle, but basically lost years of credibility and masses of potential moderate and some conservative support with William Schultz's ridiculous and radical statements about our nation. Upset that any organization would use such extreme words and false statements to achieve publicity and its end-goals.
NOW they back off:
Amnesty International, which set off a storm by calling the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our times," backed away from the label Sunday.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had ripped as "reprehensible" the description, made last month when the human rights group's secretary general, Irene Khan, issued its annual report.
Amnesty International was comparing American jails for prisoners in the war on terror with the "gulag" operated by the former Soviet Union. The Soviets maintained an extensive system of prison camps, many in remote Siberia. (full article)
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Last Sunday, on the flight back to San Francisco, I read the following editorial in The Wall Street Journal (subscription needed but i'm posting the whole thing):
Amnesty's 'Gulag'
May 26, 2005
"Gulag" is the Russian acronym made famous by Alexander Solzhenitsyn to describe the vast network of Soviet slave labor camps in which millions died. It is thus one more sign of the moral degradation of Amnesty International that the pressure group is now calling the U.S. detention facility for Taliban and al Qaeda suspects at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our time."
At a press conference yesterday releasing its annual human rights report, William Schultz, the executive director of Amnesty's U.S. branch, called the U.S. a "leading purveyor and practitioner" of torture. He urged foreign governments to investigate and arrest U.S. officials. "The apparent high-level architects of torture should think twice before planning their next vacation to places like Acapulco or the French Riviera," he said, "because they may find themselves under arrest as Augusto Pinochet famously did in London in 1998." The "apparent" is a nice touch, perhaps an unconscious bow to the fact that multiple probes and courts martial have found no evidence that the U.S. condones or encourages torture.
"Our list," as Mr. Orwell -- er, Mr. Schultz -- puts it, is too long to print in full. But it includes Donald Rumsfeld, Douglas Feith and William Haynes at Defense; Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Jack Goldsmith, and Patrick Philbin from Justice; Tim Flanigan, just nominated to be Deputy Attorney General; George Tenet, former head of the CIA; and Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.
It's old news that Amnesty International is a highly politicized pressure group, but these latest accusations amount to pro-al Qaeda propaganda. A "human rights" group that can't distinguish between Stalin's death camps and detention centers for terrorists who kill civilians can't be taken seriously.
I was upset, annoyed, and slightly embarrassed. Embarrassed because I helped build Amnesty at my high school during its second year of formation as an officer (shoutout to my friend Yael for dragging me in), and I continued to donate to the organization for several years after college. Annoyed since while it is a left-leaning organization (increasely farther left over the past decade) it does have some good programs and drives for the human rights struggle, but basically lost years of credibility and masses of potential moderate and some conservative support with William Schultz's ridiculous and radical statements about our nation. Upset that any organization would use such extreme words and false statements to achieve publicity and its end-goals.
NOW they back off:
Amnesty International, which set off a storm by calling the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay "the gulag of our times," backed away from the label Sunday.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had ripped as "reprehensible" the description, made last month when the human rights group's secretary general, Irene Khan, issued its annual report.
Amnesty International was comparing American jails for prisoners in the war on terror with the "gulag" operated by the former Soviet Union. The Soviets maintained an extensive system of prison camps, many in remote Siberia. (full article)
CATCHING UP WITH THE PAST MONTH... OLD NEWS, REVIEWS, AND RANTS
Since I was absent from this blog for almost a month and the online world in general, I wanted to catch up with my RSS feeds and email newsletters to see what I missed. So I'm listing articles and posts of interest just in case you might have missed them too:
"China closing the tech gap?" (April 21, 2005... okay, this is really old)
"Stage two of the podcasting revolution" (April 29, 2005... okay, these top two are from my old "to read" inbox and not my "missed in may" inbox)
"A Blog Revolution? Get a Grip" (May 8, 2005... nick denton interview and plug)
"Arianna's Echo Park, First impressions of the 'Huffington Post' Web site." (May 9, 2005)
"What Matters in Kansas, The evolution of creationism." (May 11, 2005)
"Gates Says iPod Success Won't Last" (May 12, 2005)
"Can Yahoo's New Music Service Earn a Profit?" (May 12, 2005)
"Blogging, as in Slogging" (May 15, 2005... dave greenberg learns he's not cut for blogging)
"Netflix makes Wal-Mart say uncle" (May 19, 2005)
"History Lessons: Another Way to Think About Secular Humanism" (May 24, 2005)
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Since I was absent from this blog for almost a month and the online world in general, I wanted to catch up with my RSS feeds and email newsletters to see what I missed. So I'm listing articles and posts of interest just in case you might have missed them too:
"China closing the tech gap?" (April 21, 2005... okay, this is really old)
"Stage two of the podcasting revolution" (April 29, 2005... okay, these top two are from my old "to read" inbox and not my "missed in may" inbox)
"A Blog Revolution? Get a Grip" (May 8, 2005... nick denton interview and plug)
"Arianna's Echo Park, First impressions of the 'Huffington Post' Web site." (May 9, 2005)
"What Matters in Kansas, The evolution of creationism." (May 11, 2005)
"Gates Says iPod Success Won't Last" (May 12, 2005)
"Can Yahoo's New Music Service Earn a Profit?" (May 12, 2005)
"Blogging, as in Slogging" (May 15, 2005... dave greenberg learns he's not cut for blogging)
"Netflix makes Wal-Mart say uncle" (May 19, 2005)
"History Lessons: Another Way to Think About Secular Humanism" (May 24, 2005)
Friday, June 03, 2005
EBAY BUYS SHOPPING.COM FOR $620
With this news, I'm sure Become.com and other new shopping search players will become tastier bait for the big fish in the tech pond.
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With this news, I'm sure Become.com and other new shopping search players will become tastier bait for the big fish in the tech pond.
IBD NETWORK'S UNDER THE RADAR EVENT
IBDNetwork (International Business Development Network) had its Under the Radar event for consumer technologies this past Tuesday. This is where various early-stage companies pitch to VCs in front of an audience for 5 minutes and the VCs pepper them with questions afterwards.
Valerie, who I work with on some projects, was kind enough to get me a free invite. I wanted to get there earlier, but I had to finish up on some documents so I only caught the last session. The winners are listed below and John Furrier, from PodTech.net, has podcasts from the event:
Search
VC top pick: FatLens
Audience Choice: Wondir, Medio Systems
Mobile Apps
VC top pick: GoTV Networks
Audience Choice: UpSnap, GoTV Networks
Social Software & Tools
VC top pick: PeerFlix
Audience Choice: PeerFlix, PubSub
Home & Entertainment
VC top pick: PureDepth
Audience Choice: PureDepth, RadioTime
William Luciw, from ViewPoint West Partners, has more insights and commentary from the event here.
American Idol for Startups
You can think of this event as a sort of "American Idol" for Startups, and this was in fact the running joke throughout the day. Company principals, mostly CEOs & Founders, would perform a 5 minute company pitch in their best singing voice, a cappella, to a panel of three Venture Capitalists for each area: Search, Social Software, Mobile Applications and Home & Entertainment. Ok, they didn't actually sing, but for some contestants it may have helped their efforts tremendously. You see, singing involves rhythm, precision timing, and a good ear. And when done well, it results in several minutes of audience reverie while the artist interprets a lifeless score and gives it meaning and impact. There's alot to learn from those crooners on Fox's America Idol ... but at least the judges at this event were more like Paula Abdul than Simon Cowell. Lucky for all of us! (full post)
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IBDNetwork (International Business Development Network) had its Under the Radar event for consumer technologies this past Tuesday. This is where various early-stage companies pitch to VCs in front of an audience for 5 minutes and the VCs pepper them with questions afterwards.
Valerie, who I work with on some projects, was kind enough to get me a free invite. I wanted to get there earlier, but I had to finish up on some documents so I only caught the last session. The winners are listed below and John Furrier, from PodTech.net, has podcasts from the event:
Search
VC top pick: FatLens
Audience Choice: Wondir, Medio Systems
Mobile Apps
VC top pick: GoTV Networks
Audience Choice: UpSnap, GoTV Networks
Social Software & Tools
VC top pick: PeerFlix
Audience Choice: PeerFlix, PubSub
Home & Entertainment
VC top pick: PureDepth
Audience Choice: PureDepth, RadioTime
William Luciw, from ViewPoint West Partners, has more insights and commentary from the event here.
American Idol for Startups
You can think of this event as a sort of "American Idol" for Startups, and this was in fact the running joke throughout the day. Company principals, mostly CEOs & Founders, would perform a 5 minute company pitch in their best singing voice, a cappella, to a panel of three Venture Capitalists for each area: Search, Social Software, Mobile Applications and Home & Entertainment. Ok, they didn't actually sing, but for some contestants it may have helped their efforts tremendously. You see, singing involves rhythm, precision timing, and a good ear. And when done well, it results in several minutes of audience reverie while the artist interprets a lifeless score and gives it meaning and impact. There's alot to learn from those crooners on Fox's America Idol ... but at least the judges at this event were more like Paula Abdul than Simon Cowell. Lucky for all of us! (full post)
Thursday, June 02, 2005
"AT THE BREAKING POINT, PASSING UP VACATION"
Vacation deprived? Washington Post article with no relevance to this blog besides a mentioning of my friend, his recent visit to Chicago and my wedding:
For Thomas Kim, it's a combination of all those factors that has left him vacationless for longer than he can remember. Kim runs a Web and software development firm in Washington that recently merged with a lobbying organization. Between that and a 1-year-old, Kim and his wife, a lawyer, haven't had a vacation "in a couple of years."
Other than a long weekend to Chicago for a recent wedding, they have mostly been tied to their work. Kim said that although owning his own business may make it hard to get away, it also offers a more flexible environment, so he can take longer lunches or stay home if his son is sick.
But still, he said, that's no vacation. "It would be wonderful to just kind of get away and unplug for a week and recoup, reenergize myself. But I don't really feel like it's an absolute necessity right now," he said. "And if I were to go away, I'm sure I'd still check e-mail or bring my BlackBerry."
Kim's not alone in that no-vacation vacation so many people take. According to the survey, 16 percent of respondents checked work e-mail or voice mail while vacationing. ( Just 16 percent?) (full article)
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Vacation deprived? Washington Post article with no relevance to this blog besides a mentioning of my friend, his recent visit to Chicago and my wedding:
For Thomas Kim, it's a combination of all those factors that has left him vacationless for longer than he can remember. Kim runs a Web and software development firm in Washington that recently merged with a lobbying organization. Between that and a 1-year-old, Kim and his wife, a lawyer, haven't had a vacation "in a couple of years."
Other than a long weekend to Chicago for a recent wedding, they have mostly been tied to their work. Kim said that although owning his own business may make it hard to get away, it also offers a more flexible environment, so he can take longer lunches or stay home if his son is sick.
But still, he said, that's no vacation. "It would be wonderful to just kind of get away and unplug for a week and recoup, reenergize myself. But I don't really feel like it's an absolute necessity right now," he said. "And if I were to go away, I'm sure I'd still check e-mail or bring my BlackBerry."
Kim's not alone in that no-vacation vacation so many people take. According to the survey, 16 percent of respondents checked work e-mail or voice mail while vacationing. ( Just 16 percent?) (full article)
FEEDSTER CLOSES ROUND OF FINANCING
HatTip to SiliconBeat. Congrats to Scott and his team on the round of VC financing!
Feedster, the San Francisco search engine for blogs and RSS feeds, said today (see release) that it has closed its first round of venture financing (which we hinted at here a while back). No figure attached to the new announcement, but the deal was led by Selby Venture Partners... (full post)
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HatTip to SiliconBeat. Congrats to Scott and his team on the round of VC financing!
Feedster, the San Francisco search engine for blogs and RSS feeds, said today (see release) that it has closed its first round of venture financing (which we hinted at here a while back). No figure attached to the new announcement, but the deal was led by Selby Venture Partners... (full post)
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
"THE SPIRIT OF '05"
HatTip to Mingi. Piece written by his friend, Philip Klein, for The American Spectator:
The following was written after reading the New York Times and Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton on the same subway ride...
PITTSBURGH, AUGUST, 1794 - In a striking display of divisions that have plagued the fledgling United States government, thousands of insurgents in Western Pennsylvania have set fire to homes, kidnapped public officials, and vowed continued defiance of a federal excise tax on whiskey.
Facing an insurgency that is proving itself resilient, President Washington mulled sending federal troops to quell the rebellion. Such an action would be sure to draw harsh criticism, creating deeper fissures within the already fragile nascent American republic.
The president's opponents seized on the crisis to revive questions about the rationale for the War of Independence, renewing criticism that colonial intelligence overstated the threat that was posed by the British monarchy.
"This is exactly what I've been telling people all along," said Josephus Kerry, whose intention to seek the presidency in 1796 is somewhat of an open secret. "When he was a general, Washington misled the colonies to war without a plan to win the peace."
Others were more emphatic in their criticism, especially Michael Morbid, whose blockbuster pamphlet "Fahrenheit 1776" alleges that the War of Independence occurred because the British government backed out of secret plans to build a beer pipeline from Massachusetts to Virginia.
"People seem to forget that in the 1750s, Washington was fighting alongside the British in the French and Indian War," Mr. Morbid said. "It was only after King George III put the kibosh on the pipeline project that things changed." (full article)
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HatTip to Mingi. Piece written by his friend, Philip Klein, for The American Spectator:
The following was written after reading the New York Times and Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton on the same subway ride...
PITTSBURGH, AUGUST, 1794 - In a striking display of divisions that have plagued the fledgling United States government, thousands of insurgents in Western Pennsylvania have set fire to homes, kidnapped public officials, and vowed continued defiance of a federal excise tax on whiskey.
Facing an insurgency that is proving itself resilient, President Washington mulled sending federal troops to quell the rebellion. Such an action would be sure to draw harsh criticism, creating deeper fissures within the already fragile nascent American republic.
The president's opponents seized on the crisis to revive questions about the rationale for the War of Independence, renewing criticism that colonial intelligence overstated the threat that was posed by the British monarchy.
"This is exactly what I've been telling people all along," said Josephus Kerry, whose intention to seek the presidency in 1796 is somewhat of an open secret. "When he was a general, Washington misled the colonies to war without a plan to win the peace."
Others were more emphatic in their criticism, especially Michael Morbid, whose blockbuster pamphlet "Fahrenheit 1776" alleges that the War of Independence occurred because the British government backed out of secret plans to build a beer pipeline from Massachusetts to Virginia.
"People seem to forget that in the 1750s, Washington was fighting alongside the British in the French and Indian War," Mr. Morbid said. "It was only after King George III put the kibosh on the pipeline project that things changed." (full article)
KOREAN SOAPS DRIVING JAPAN'S HOT IPTV MARKET
Funny coming across this from Rafat's newsletter:
"Japanese Hot IPTV Market, Thanks To Korean Soaps"
Also part of the Newsweek cover feature (read stories below): a story about the Japanese online/IPTV market: Dozens of companies offer old dramas, anime series, movies, news and variety shows on IPTV (Internet protocol TV), and hundreds of thousands of Japanese are getting their TV online. Yoshihiro Adachi, an assistant director of Tokyo's Fuji Chimera Research Institute, estimates the broadband-TV market will be worth $230 million in five years, up from $42 million in 2003. Why has the market taken off so suddenly? Because in Japan, IPTV has a killer app: Korean dramas.
And I don't believe I'm reading about Bae Yong Joon in a MSNBC article instead of a Korean gossip rag:
Why has the market taken off so suddenly? Because in Japan, IPTV has a killer app: Korean dramas. "Winter Sonata," which was produced by Korea's KBS and starred the smiling heartthrob Bae Yong Joon, jump-started the Korea boom in Japan, when the series aired on Japan Broadcasting Corp.'s satellite channel. Due to overwhelming popular demand, the TV station aired repeats through 2004, but "Yong-sama" fanatics clamored for older programs starring Bae and other dramas with the actors and actresses from "Winter Sonata." Service providers soon jumped on the bandwagon by dredging up old programs. Fans were more than willing to pay $2 to register for the service and about $2 per episode.
First, he's a geeky looking Korean actor that captured the hearts of Japanese women a couple years ago. Second, I met him a couple times and he's definitely a player. Nice, shy guy routine that's definitely shady.
Anyway, this article is interesting for me since my friend Jeff mentioned to me a few months ago how him and his wife, who is Korean, download TV shows from Korean broadcasting websites to his PC and then plugs it into their TV to watch them. He told me there was a niche market for Korean soaps in the U.S... obviously he's an early-adopter. Maybe Korean soaps will also drive the IPTV market in the U.S. :)
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Funny coming across this from Rafat's newsletter:
"Japanese Hot IPTV Market, Thanks To Korean Soaps"
Also part of the Newsweek cover feature (read stories below): a story about the Japanese online/IPTV market: Dozens of companies offer old dramas, anime series, movies, news and variety shows on IPTV (Internet protocol TV), and hundreds of thousands of Japanese are getting their TV online. Yoshihiro Adachi, an assistant director of Tokyo's Fuji Chimera Research Institute, estimates the broadband-TV market will be worth $230 million in five years, up from $42 million in 2003. Why has the market taken off so suddenly? Because in Japan, IPTV has a killer app: Korean dramas.
And I don't believe I'm reading about Bae Yong Joon in a MSNBC article instead of a Korean gossip rag:
Why has the market taken off so suddenly? Because in Japan, IPTV has a killer app: Korean dramas. "Winter Sonata," which was produced by Korea's KBS and starred the smiling heartthrob Bae Yong Joon, jump-started the Korea boom in Japan, when the series aired on Japan Broadcasting Corp.'s satellite channel. Due to overwhelming popular demand, the TV station aired repeats through 2004, but "Yong-sama" fanatics clamored for older programs starring Bae and other dramas with the actors and actresses from "Winter Sonata." Service providers soon jumped on the bandwagon by dredging up old programs. Fans were more than willing to pay $2 to register for the service and about $2 per episode.
First, he's a geeky looking Korean actor that captured the hearts of Japanese women a couple years ago. Second, I met him a couple times and he's definitely a player. Nice, shy guy routine that's definitely shady.
Anyway, this article is interesting for me since my friend Jeff mentioned to me a few months ago how him and his wife, who is Korean, download TV shows from Korean broadcasting websites to his PC and then plugs it into their TV to watch them. He told me there was a niche market for Korean soaps in the U.S... obviously he's an early-adopter. Maybe Korean soaps will also drive the IPTV market in the U.S. :)
RFID M&A
Informative white paper and link from the RFID Weblog... part of Torsten Jacobi's Creative Weblogging network.
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Informative white paper and link from the RFID Weblog... part of Torsten Jacobi's Creative Weblogging network.
MYSPACE IS HOT... A BIT LATE
HatTip to Doug. Good article from BusinessWeek but a bit late on the timing since it should have been written months ago... ahhh, mainstream media.
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HatTip to Doug. Good article from BusinessWeek but a bit late on the timing since it should have been written months ago... ahhh, mainstream media.
WICTORY WEDNESDAY
From PoliPundit.com:
Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), one of the strongest champions of the conservative cause, is in the fight of his political life. He’s facing an uphill race for re-election in 2006 against Democrat Bob Casey Jr. Casey claims he’s "pro-life," but don’t be deceived:
When Casey has spoken about the abortion issue, he doesn’t approach the Santorum record — though Democrats who worry about such things hope the "pro-life" descriptor neutralizes discussion.
A few feminist abortion groups have done a little grumbling about his position on their issue, but backed by the likes of leading Senate Democratic obstructionist Charlie Schumer of New York, Casey has made his loyalties clear. Rather than being a fresh voice, singing a "break the gridlock" kinda tone, Casey fits in lockstep with the current Democratic senatorial club.
President Bush’s judge nominee Priscilla Owen waited for confirmation for over four years, largely over a parental-notification (barring minors from getting abortions without a parent’s permission) ruling. Instead of being miffed at the unfair delay she was subject to (and others remain subject to), largely because of abortion and religion, Casey mimicked Democratic senators’ talking points. He opposed changing the filibuster rule because it “forces bipartisanship.”
If he’s elected, Casey will be just another run-of-the-mill hard-left Democrat. He says he’ll vote against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He says he’ll filibuster President Bush’s judges. Is there any doubt that he’ll also vote for tax hikes, against strengthening our national defense, and for increased government regulations of business?
What’s more, the campaign against Santorum is only the beginning:
The Pennsylvania Senate race is the eye of the storm in 2006. "This race is about Republican control of the Senate, not so much for control in 2006, but for 2008 and beyond," says Cesar Conda, a former adviser to Dick Cheney. "The Left recognizes it — that’s why MoveOn.org and other Democrat 527s will be pouring millions of dollars into Pennsylvania." A winning takedown strategy would make Santorum only the first of many.
The Pennsylvania race is about a lot more than Pennsylvania. Voters in every state would be wise to bear that in mind in the coming months as they watch the "Vast Left Wing Conspiracy" move into the Keystone state to take down the senator the media most loves to hate.
You can do something about this. Please donate whatever you can to Santorum’s campaign today. You can donate online. It only takes a few minutes.
Today is Wictory Wednesday. Every Wednesday, hundreds of bloggers ask their readers to support an important Republican campaign.
If you’re a blogger, you can join Wictory Wednesdays by e-mailing me at wictory@blogsforbush.com. I’ll add you to the Wictory Wednesday blogroll. I’ll also send you a reminder e-mail every Wednesday, explaining which candidate to support that day.
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From PoliPundit.com:
Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), one of the strongest champions of the conservative cause, is in the fight of his political life. He’s facing an uphill race for re-election in 2006 against Democrat Bob Casey Jr. Casey claims he’s "pro-life," but don’t be deceived:
When Casey has spoken about the abortion issue, he doesn’t approach the Santorum record — though Democrats who worry about such things hope the "pro-life" descriptor neutralizes discussion.
A few feminist abortion groups have done a little grumbling about his position on their issue, but backed by the likes of leading Senate Democratic obstructionist Charlie Schumer of New York, Casey has made his loyalties clear. Rather than being a fresh voice, singing a "break the gridlock" kinda tone, Casey fits in lockstep with the current Democratic senatorial club.
President Bush’s judge nominee Priscilla Owen waited for confirmation for over four years, largely over a parental-notification (barring minors from getting abortions without a parent’s permission) ruling. Instead of being miffed at the unfair delay she was subject to (and others remain subject to), largely because of abortion and religion, Casey mimicked Democratic senators’ talking points. He opposed changing the filibuster rule because it “forces bipartisanship.”
If he’s elected, Casey will be just another run-of-the-mill hard-left Democrat. He says he’ll vote against a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. He says he’ll filibuster President Bush’s judges. Is there any doubt that he’ll also vote for tax hikes, against strengthening our national defense, and for increased government regulations of business?
What’s more, the campaign against Santorum is only the beginning:
The Pennsylvania Senate race is the eye of the storm in 2006. "This race is about Republican control of the Senate, not so much for control in 2006, but for 2008 and beyond," says Cesar Conda, a former adviser to Dick Cheney. "The Left recognizes it — that’s why MoveOn.org and other Democrat 527s will be pouring millions of dollars into Pennsylvania." A winning takedown strategy would make Santorum only the first of many.
The Pennsylvania race is about a lot more than Pennsylvania. Voters in every state would be wise to bear that in mind in the coming months as they watch the "Vast Left Wing Conspiracy" move into the Keystone state to take down the senator the media most loves to hate.
You can do something about this. Please donate whatever you can to Santorum’s campaign today. You can donate online. It only takes a few minutes.
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REPUBLICAN WOMEN... GOOD-NATURED, WELL-ROUNDED
DEMOCRATIC WOMEN... MEAN, SCARY, AND NASTY
Just look below for the proof. :) HatTip to Thomas (who is actually a brainwashed conservative Democrat... dude, the welcome mat was pulled out a long time ago for conservatives in your party! just switch to our side.)
Democratic Women vs. Republican Women
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DEMOCRATIC WOMEN... MEAN, SCARY, AND NASTY
Just look below for the proof. :) HatTip to Thomas (who is actually a brainwashed conservative Democrat... dude, the welcome mat was pulled out a long time ago for conservatives in your party! just switch to our side.)
Democratic Women vs. Republican Women
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Place of Birth: Seoul, Korea
Hometown: Northbrook, IL USA
Lived in: Seoul, Chicago (Villa Park & Northbrook), Madison, WI, Springfield, IL, St. Louis, New York City, Chicago (Glenview), Seoul, San Francisco
Also blogs at: AlwaysOn, Coro Blog, SportsBlog
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Max Yow
Homeland: Canada
Sports: combative sports, sports you play with a ball, sports with no swimming, sports you can play while drinking and smoking (pool, darts, bowling, video games).
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"You cannot go on explaining away things over forever or you will find that you have explained even explanation itself away. You cannot go on seeing through things forever because the whole point of seeing through something is to see something else through it." - C.S Lewis
December 11, 2005
"This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876
December 4, 2005
"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful." - Marie Curie
November 27, 2005
"One cannot step into the same river twice." - Heratidus
November 20, 2005
"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment." - Robert Maynard Hutchins
November 13, 2005
"We are moving away from the old idea of leadership -- leadership has less to do (now) with heroism. We don’t look for... unblemished omnipotent heroes, but leaders who are complex, dependent, changeable... We do not need one dominant authority structure telling all our inner voices to shut up..." - Walter Truett Anderson
November 6, 2005
"To know oneself is to know one’s [country]. It is also... paradoxically a form of exile from that world... to know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility, and that virtue is not conspicuous in any national character." - Flannery O’Connor
October 30, 2005
"Men content themselves with the same words as other people use, as if the very sound necessarily carried the same meaning." - John Locke
October 23, 2005
"In order to thrive in a world of change and chaos, we will need to accept 'chaos' as an essential process by which natural systems, including organizations, renew and revitalize themselves." - Margaret Wheatley
October 16, 2004
"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary." - Robert Louis Stevenson
October 9, 2004
"We will be better and braver if we engage and inquire than if we indulge in the idle fancy that we already know - or that it is of no use seeking to know what we do not know." - Plato
October 2, 2004
"Man's mind stretched to a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions." - Oliver W. Holmes
September 25, 2004
"What you learn intellectually lies in the shallow pools among the wrinkles of your brain. What you learn through the skin of experience sinks deep into your roots." - Hank Taft
September 18, 2004
"In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him." - C.S. Lewis
September 11, 2004
"A society is judged by how it treats its least desirable people." - Anonymous
September 4, 2004
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
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