The Charms of Wikipedia - The New York Review of Books

Excerpt from a NYRB review/Wikipedia snapshot:

Nowadays there are rules and policy banners at every turn—there are strongly urged warnings and required tasks and normal procedures and notability guidelines and complex criteria for various decisions—a symptom of something called instruction creep: defined in Wikipedia as something that happens "when instructions increase in number and size over time until they are unmanageable." John Broughton's book, at a mere 477 pages, cuts through the creep. He's got a whole chapter on how to make better articles ("Don't Suppress or Separate Controversy") and one on "Handling Incivility and Personal Attacks."

Broughton advises that you shouldn't write a Wikipedia article about some idea or invention that you've personally come up with; that you should stay away from articles about things or people you really love or really hate; and that you shouldn't use the encyclopedia as a PR vehicle—for a new rock band, say, or an aspiring actress. Sometimes Broughton sounds like a freshman English comp teacher, a little too sure that there is one right and wrong way to do things: Strunk without White. But honestly, Wikipedia can be confusing, and you need that kind of confidence coming from a user's guide.

---

The Charms of Wikipedia - The New York Review of Books

Data Points on Googles Growth - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

A useful reality check -- see the full post for some contradictory data points

These kinds of reports and anecdotes can help us understand only part of what’s going on. Paid clicks, for instance, don’t take into account the price that advertisers pay for those clicks, which can ebb and flow based on a large number of variables. And search marketers tend to over-represent larger advertisers and under-represent the many smaller businesses that use search as a marketing tool, so their reports are far from definitive.

Investors who are making bets today based on those data points will have to wait until Google reports first-quarter earnings to find out how those bets turn out.

Data Points on Googles Growth - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

Tech Beat Jotspot Returns As Google Sites: Wiki-Style Collaboration - BusinessWeek

Google Sites got turned on for my Google Apps service last night; stay tuned for impressions...

Ross Mayfield of Socialtext and Allen Stern of Center Networks both note, correctly, that the comparison to Sharepoint and Lotus Notes is a stretch at this point(which is why I said they “nominally” compare), though Mike Arrington at TechCrunch notes that Matthew Glotzbach, product management director at Google Enterprise, calls it a “Sharepoint killer.” Not just yet, but when it comes to software, you should never underestimate free and easy.

Tech Beat Jotspot Returns As Google Sites: Wiki-Style Collaboration - BusinessWeek

Television: Tomorrow’s Web | Big Think | BNET.com

Hmmm

Does TV have to be disrupted by the Web?  Yes. That is to say, maybe.  No, wait — TV will disrupt the Web.  So goes  The Revolution Will Be Televised, an essay by Michael Hirschorn in the March issue of the the Atlantic. It’s a must-read piece for those who think it’s a matter of time before the television industry gets whacked by the Web, just like newspapers and music before it.

Television: Tomorrow’s Web | Big Think | BNET.com

Yahoo’s Lousy Performance All Microsoft’s Fault | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

One for the industry history books...

Mounting shareholder discontent over Yahoo’s response to Microsoft’s $44.6 billion takeover bid has inspired a legal pig-pile on the Internet company. In an annual report filed yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Yahoo (YHOO) said the company has been named in seven shareholder lawsuits claiming it has mishandled its response to Microsoft’s (MSFT) offer. What an annoyance that must be, but not nearly as annoying as the offer that inspired it, which Yahoo memorializes in a section of the report entitled simply,

“Microsoft’s unsolicited acquisition proposal has created a distraction for our management and uncertainty that may adversely affect our business.”

Yahoo’s Lousy Performance All Microsoft’s Fault | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Novell profit tops Street; raises '08 revenue view | CNET News.com

An interesting NOVL reality check

Revenue rose to $230.9 million from $218.4 million a year ago. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $224.8 million.

Novell said Linux sales rose 65 percent to $28 million in the quarter.

Novell profit tops Street; raises '08 revenue view | CNET News.com

Sprint introduces the “Simply Everything We Can Do To Keep This Sucker Afloat” plan : Good Morning Silicon Valley

Sign of the telecom times

When its three major competitors in the wireless game started offering unlimited cell plans for a flat rate of $99.99 a month a week or so ago, Sprint Nextel, with a shrinking pile of chips, had the usual choices — fold, call or raise. Today it chose to raise, introducing a plan at the same price point called “Simply Everything,” which offers unlimited voice (like Verizon Wireless and AT&T) and messaging (like T-Mobile), but also unlimited data use, Web surfing, Sprint TV and Music, GPS and more.

Sprint introduces the “Simply Everything We Can Do To Keep This Sucker Afloat” plan : Good Morning Silicon Valley

Pattern Finder: Google Sites: The Thing That Makes Google Apps Take Off?

Guy Creese's take

While Google Sites is a huge improvement over Page Creator--and Google is saying it's the last missing component--I'm not convinced that this latest incarnation will be enough to get large enterprises to buy Google Apps. Google Apps has been a big success with small and medium size businesses who want to avoid paying for an IT staff for as long as they can. But the Fortune 500 companies I talk to are still nervous about the lack of some nuts and bolts features, such as 24/7 phone support, the inability to administer the system via roles, the rudimentary e-mail distribution list capabilities, and the lack of records management capabilities for documents and spreadsheets. These are non-glitzy requirements, but real requirements nevertheless.

So while Google continues to improve Google Apps from a user interface point-of-view, it hasn't improved the underlying data model--Google Apps still shows its consumer heritage. (E-mail distribution lists that contain other distribution lists have been around for 20 years--yet Google has yet to include that important enterprise feature). While that isn't hurting Google within the SMB space, it is within the larger enterprise space. The vendor race in the collaboration and content space continues.

Pattern Finder: Google Sites: The Thing That Makes Google Apps Take Off?

The Audacity of Data

Very timely article in The New Republic 

And, yet, it's not just the details of Obama's policies that suggest a behavioral approach. In some respects, the sensibility behind the behaviorist critique of economics is one shared by all the Obama wonks, whether they're domestic policy nerds or grizzled foreign policy hands. Despite Obama's reputation for grandiose rhetoric and utopian hope-mongering, the Obamanauts aren't radicals--far from it. They're pragmatists--people who, when an existing paradigm clashes with reality, opt to tweak that paradigm rather than replace it wholesale. As Thaler puts it, "Physics with friction is not as beautiful. But you need it to get rockets off the ground." It might as well be the motto for Obama's entire policy shop.

Read the full article, especially if you live in Ohio or Texas :)

The Audacity of Data

Google offers team Web site publishing service | Technology | Reuters

The Reuters perspective, from Eric Auchard

Google Sites is a stripped-down version of Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration software, which lets users inside an organization share documents and maintain calendars on secure Web sites, but is far more complex to set up and maintain.

Unlike SharePoint, which typically requires organizations to buy and maintain their own hardware and software at costs that can run from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to serve one hundred users, Google Sites is hosted on Google computers and is free to users of Google Apps, which the company offers at a fraction of the cost of Microsoft tools.

"We think this is SharePoint-like, but better," Girouard said in an interview.

Yeah, the battle is joined...

Google offers team Web site publishing service | Technology | Reuters

Google gets into Web site building biz - Boston.com [plus some impressions/projections]

Yet more press on Google Sites -- somebody at Google deserves a PR gold star; from what I've seen so far today, for example, there are more Google Sites stories than stories about the Microsoft (Windows Server 2008/Visual Studio 2008/SQL Server 2008) launch event yesterday

With only a few clicks, just about anyone will be able to quickly set up and update a Web site featuring a wide array of material, including pictures, calendars and video from Google Inc.'s YouTube subsidiary, said Dave Girouard, general manager of the division overseeing the new application.

"We are literally adding an edit button to the Web," Girouard said.

A few quick impressions:

1. I was intrigued with JotSpot before Google acquired and took it dark for ~16 months -- the idea of using "the wiki way" with site design elements (such as forms/page templates and views) is empowering (e.g., see this report, if you're a Burton Group Collaboration and Content Strategies service customer)

2. I'm surprised Google is apparently striving to not use the w-word (wiki) in conjunction with Google Sites, and look forward to exploring Google Sites to see if any of the empowering JotSpot wiki-centric features have been eliminated

3. The timing of the Google Sites press blitz, coming a few days before Microsoft's annual SharePoint Conference, along with the press spin about Google Sites competing with SharePoint, warrants another PR gold star.

4. Google Sites, assuming it's reasonably robust, intuitive, and feature-rich, will significantly change the trajectory of Google Apps, making it applicable to a much wider range of collaboration and content management scenarios. I suspect this will be a bigger immediate-term competitive challenge for vendors other than Microsoft, e.g., smaller SaaS vendors specializing in basic site/list/apps/etc. as services, but the press will probably focus on the SharePoint competitive dimension, since it's a more compelling story line to speculate about the potential for a major Microsoft cashectomy (on SharePoint and Office). Note that SharePoint isn't just for enterprises anymore, as it's also the foundation for Office Live Workspace and Office Live Small Business, and part of Microsoft's expanding "software + services" Microsoft Online offering; I expect Google will attempt to compete with all but the on-premises (traditional software product) SharePoint customer scenarios.

5. The competitive landscape in this context is going to evolve very rapidly -- e.g., watch for more updates in this context next week, from the Microsoft SharePoint and MIX events.

6. On a related note, I'm starting to seriously wonder if robust off-line/disconnected usage scenarios, best exemplified today by IBM Lotus Notes and Microsoft Groove, are fading considerations in the post-90s. It'll be interesting to see if Google gets away with doing a Google Gears hand-wave on Google Sites, for users who need off-line support. Perhaps vendors such as Colligo, specializing in taking SharePoint apps and content off-line, will also find market opportunities with Google Sites.

Google gets into Web site building biz - Boston.com

IE is Still Beating Mozilla and Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead « KnowledgeForward

A timely reality check, the week before the introduction of IE8, from my Burton Group colleague Craig Roth; see the full post for stats and more insights

I just checked the most recent browser stats and, no surprise, IE is still keeping it’s grip on the browser “market” (can it be a market if it’s free?).  A browser study I did in 2005 of 217 organizations found that 89% had some form of IE (mostly IE6 at the time) as their desktop standard.  At the time 17% of respondents said they had considered changing their browser standard.  Corporations, governments, and non-profits also influence consumer browser habits since they create the majority of sites that consumers browse.

IE is Still Beating Mozilla and Generalissimo Francisco Franco is Still Dead « KnowledgeForward

Google Apps: Google Sites overview

Google overview of Google Sites -- see the page for more details, screen shots, etc.

Google Sites is the easiest way to make information accessible to people who need quick, up-to-date access. People can work together on a Site to add file attachments, information from other Google applications (like Google Docs, Google Calendar, YouTube and Picasa), and new free-form content. Creating a site together is as easy as editing a document, and you always control who has access, whether it's just yourself, your team, or your whole organization. You can even publish Sites to the world. The Google Sites web application is accessible from any internet connected computer.

Google Apps

Google Goes After Another Microsoft Cash Cow - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

It'll be interesting to see how Google Sites rates, compared with SharePoint and other incumbents

Google is adding a new front to its assault on Microsoft’s software applications business.

The Internet search giant on Wednesday is rolling out a rival to Microsoft’s SharePoint, a program used for collaboration among teams of workers. Google’s program, called Google Sites, will become part of the company’s applications suite, which includes e-mail, calendar, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software. Like other elements of Google Apps, it will be free and require no installation, maintenance or upgrades.

Google Goes After Another Microsoft Cash Cow - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

JotSpot reincarnated as Google Sites | Outside the Lines - CNET News.com

More details on Google Sites

In October 2006, Google acquired JotSpot, a hosted wiki platform for building collaborative Web sites. Sixteen months later, which is like 10 years in Web time, Google is launching a revamped JotSpot as Google Sites.

Rafe Needleman at CNET Webware has a more in-depth post on how Google Sites works.

Curiously,

The term "wiki" has been banished from Googlespeak as the company tries to mainstream its collaborative applications. "There shouldn't be a distinction between wikis and sites," said product manager Scott Johnston. He hopes that the "edit button" becomes pervasive as the collaborative Web takes hold.

JotSpot reincarnated as Google Sites | Outside the Lines - CNET News.com

Google to Offer Health Records On the Web - WSJ.com

Interesting times

Google's initiative puts it in company with Internet rival Microsoft Corp. and Revolution Health Group LLC, led by America Online Inc. co-founder Steve Case, in launching sites for users to fill out and manage online profiles that are known as personal health records. The companies are seeking to get in on the ground floor as more health practitioners begin digitizing records. President Bush has called for most Americans to have access to electronic medical records by 2014, because of the potential to reduce health-care costs and prevent medical errors.

Google to Offer Health Records On the Web - WSJ.com

Google Plans to Unveil Data-Sharing Service - WSJ.com

JotSpot reappears -- after going dark upon Google's acquisition on 2006/10/31

Google Inc. today plans to introduce a service for creating Web sites that help colleagues share information with each other or people outside their organizations, in a further sortie into Microsoft Corp.'s core turf. The Google Sites service, which will replace an offering called Page Creator, is based on technology from a start-up called JotSpot that Google acquired in 2006. It allows individuals to create Web pages to share information, such as videos, presentations and document files. Google Sites will be available free to business users of Google's Apps suite of online services such as word processing.

Google Plans to Unveil Data-Sharing Service - WSJ.com

Microsoft Gets Record Fine and a Rebuke From Europe - New York Times

Next in line to feel the wrath of Neelie Kroes...

The commission’s willingness to enforce vigorously its interpretation of what constitutes unfair competition potentially raises the costs of running a successful business in Europe for many American companies. It might pose problems for companies like Apple, Intel and Qualcomm, whose market dominance in online music downloads, computer chips and mobile phone technology is also being scrutinized by the European Commission.

Google, which has a dominant share of the market for Internet search and its related advertising, also faces a tough examination of its proposed acquisition of Doubleclick, an Internet advertising company.

Microsoft Gets Record Fine and a Rebuke From Europe - New York Times

What the...? EU Fines Microsoft $1.3 Billion [Paul Thurrott]

The plot thickens -- see the full post for more context-setting

Microsoft says it is reviewing the EU's decision but notes that the European Commission (EC) said in October that Microsoft "was in full compliance with the 2004 decision, so these fines are about past issues that have been resolved." The EU's continued belligerence--EU regulators publicly mocked Microsoft's documentation publication and interoperability announcement last week before even reviewing what the company had done--is somewhat unsettling.

Even more unsettling, for Microsoft, is that the 2004 antitrust ruling is just one of three separate antitrust actions that the EU is considering against the company. It is separately conducting two other antitrust investigations against the company, involving product tying and Office document interoperability. Not coincidentally, Microsoft's interoperability announcement last week completely addresses the second of those two concerns. Given the EU's behavior with regards to Microsoft lately, however, it's unclear whether they'll see it that way.

What the...? EU Fines Microsoft $1.3 Billion

Congress Probes Case Of The Missing White House E-Mails -- E-Mail -- InformationWeek

Also see this post 

Taking a break from grilling pro baseball players, Congress on Tuesday held a hearing to try to get to the bottom of the growing scandal of the missing White House e-mail archives.

California Rep. Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, briefly outlined the ongoing saga of the White House e-mails in his opening statement, noting that the Bush administration in 2002 effectively dismantled the Automatic Records Management (ARM) System instituted by the Clinton administration in 1994.

Congress Probes Case Of The Missing White House E-Mails -- E-Mail -- InformationWeek

Collaborative Thinking: Economic Concerns Will Renew Interest In Web Conferencing

See this Mike Gotta post for more details 

Every so often, economic downturns, health-related outbreaks or acts of terrorism cause organizations to prioritize alternatives for corporate travel. Given growing energy costs and recession concerns, decision-makers are likely to "dust off" prior programs aimed at streamlining travel budgets. While there may not be as much waste in current travel programs, I suspect that we will see an upswing in web conferencing over the next several months.

Collaborative Thinking: Economic Concerns Will Renew Interest In Web Conferencing

Microsoft | Microsoft launching Windows Server 2008 | Seattle Times Newspaper

A major Microsoft milestone, albeit also one a long time coming

Microsoft is celebrating the release of a new version of one of its most successful products outside of the desktop Windows and Office one-two punch.

Windows Server 2008, which is being feted in a series of launch events starting in Los Angeles today, is the flagship product of Microsoft's long-term effort to build a presence in the lucrative market for software that businesses run behind the scenes.

Microsoft | Microsoft launching Windows Server 2008 | Seattle Times Newspaper

When will iTunes replace Wal-Mart as No. 1 music retailer? | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Impressive...

Apple's iTunes will likely whip past Wal-Mart Stores to become the largest U.S. music retailer sometime this year.

The NPD Group issued a report Tuesday that said Apple had outpaced Best Buy and Target to become the No. 2 U.S. music retailer. Unless the downward trend in CD sales suddenly reverses, Apple will be No. 1, said Russ Crupnick, the NPD Group's president of Music.

When will iTunes replace Wal-Mart as No. 1 music retailer? | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

EU Fines Microsoft $1.35 Billion Over Antitrust Ruling - WSJ.com

I wonder if the timing for this has anything to do with the ISO Open XML ballot resolution meeting in Geneva this week...

The European Commission Wednesday fined Microsoft Corp. a record €899 million, or $1.35 billion, for failing to comply with the commission's 2004 antitrust ruling.

The commission said that, until Oct. 22, 2007, Microsoft had charged "unreasonable prices for access to interface documentation for work group servers."

EU Fines Microsoft $1.35 Billion Over Antitrust Ruling - WSJ.com

I.B.M. Plans $15 Billion Share Buyback - New York Times

Interesting times

News of the planned repurchase, equivalent to about 10 percent of the market capitalization of I.B.M., pushed the stock market higher. The company’s shares rose $4.30, to $114.38.

I.B.M. Plans $15 Billion Share Buyback - New York Times

A Highflier Loses Altitude as Google’s Clicks Go Flat - New York Times

Hmm...

Are Internet users clicking on fewer Google ads and putting the company’s growth prospects at risk?

Those questions are weighing on investors, who have cut the value of Google shares by 38 percent since they peaked at $747.24 in early November.

A Highflier Loses Altitude as Google’s Clicks Go Flat - New York Times

Official Google Blog: A renewed wish for open document standards

See the full post for more context-setting -- another vote for unification...

We join the ODF Alliance and many other experts in our belief that OOXML doesn't meet the criteria required for a globally-accepted standard. (An overview of our findings and sample technical issues unresolved are posted here.)
As ISO Member bodies around the world work on possible revisions of their vote previously submitted, the deadline of March 30th approaches fast. I invite you to pay close attention, and heed the call of many for unification of OOXML into ODF. A document standards decision may not matter to you today, but as someone who relies on constant access to editable documents, spreadsheets and presentations, it may matter immensely in the near future.

Official Google Blog: A renewed wish for open document standards

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Social networking goes to war

Another timely reality check from Nicholas Carr

One thing that Talbot doesn't mention in his otherwise excellent article is the fact that cheap, simple web-based systems are also easily available to insurgent and guerrilla forces. It's clear, for example, that insurgents are already using online mapping tools, like Google Earth, to target attacks and missiles, and other web-based social-networking and data-management tools are well-suited to the kind of real-time information sharing that armies can use to plan and coordinate their actions. Because they're cheap and easy to deploy - and in many cases freely available over the web - the tools of what might be called social warmaking represent a two-edged sword for large, modern armies. They can provide a powerful new way to share tactical information, but they also tend to level the battlefield.

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Social networking goes to war

Microsoft Watch - Developer - Adobe Points AIR Gun at Microsoft

Timely Joe Wilcox reality check; read the full article for more context-setting

From MIX08, the major battle ahead will be between entrenched Flash and newcomer Silverlight. Flex and AIR, along with products like Adobe Media Player, support Flash. But the war will be won on different turf: Broader developer toolsets and supporting server software. Expression Studio and Visual Studio 2008 are two products enjoined. Of course, they will be used separately, but Microsoft has created integration points for designers and developers that make Expression and Visual Studio much better together.

Microsoft Watch - Developer - Adobe Points AIR Gun at Microsoft

The Encyclopedia of Life, No Bookshelf Required - New York Times

And imagine it free, and on the web -- see the full article for details

Imagine the Book of All Species: a single volume made up of one-page descriptions of every species known to science. On one page is the blue-footed booby. On another, the Douglas fir. Another, the oyster mushroom. If you owned the Book of All Species, you would need quite a bookshelf to hold it. Just to cover the 1.8 million known species, the book would have to be more than 300 feet long. And you’d have to be ready to expand the bookshelf strikingly, because scientists estimate there are 10 times more species waiting to be discovered.

The Encyclopedia of Life, No Bookshelf Required - New York Times

I.B.M. to Introduce a Notably Improved Mainframe - New York Times

More on IBM's mainframe mission

The stakes are high. Though the sales of mainframes account for less than 4 percent of I.B.M.’s revenue, the sales of mainframe software, storage and services are a big, profitable business. The overall business dependent on mainframes represents about 25 percent of company revenue and nearly half of its profit, said A. M. Sacconaghi, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.

I.B.M. to Introduce a Notably Improved Mainframe - New York Times

New IBM Mainframe Is Seen Lifting Sales - WSJ.com

Strange days indeed

A decade ago, technology savants considered mainframe computers dinosaurs that would inevitably be replaced by rafts of cheaper computer servers based on commodity microprocessors. But IBM, which has driven competitors from the mainframe market, has managed to keep many customers in sectors like banking, airlines and government agencies. These users are reluctant to drop the company's mainframes, which are based on a proprietary operating system, because it would force them to rewrite millions of lines of software code that was developed for earlier generations of the high-priced, reliable machines.

IBM executives predict that the new Z10 mainframe, which goes on sale today with a base price of $1 million, may even take away some market share from low-end servers. The company says customers can consolidate computing jobs on the mainframe, which the company says is more energy efficient and takes less floor space in crowded corporate computer rooms.

New IBM Mainframe Is Seen Lifting Sales - WSJ.com

FCC chief says Net providers can't block access 'arbitrarily' - The Boston Globe

Glad to see this

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin warned yesterday that Internet service providers can't block consumers from using lawful Internet activities in the name of providing better service.

"While networks may have legitimate network issues and practices," Martin said, "that does not mean that they can arbitrarily block access to certain network services."

FCC chief says Net providers can't block access 'arbitrarily' - The Boston Globe

Pakistan's Censors Target YouTube, Trigger Brief World-Wide Outage - WSJ.com

Oops...

PTCL is Pakistan's largest telecommunications company, and controls the vast majority of the nation's network infrastructure. According to several people familiar with the matter, the company only meant to block YouTube within Pakistan. But erroneous handling of PTCL's routers inadvertently brought YouTube down, according to an explanation offered by two people with knowledge of the situation in Pakistan.

PTCL was simply trying to block traffic from YouTube to Pakistan, a process commonly known as "black holing," according to these people. The instructions sent out across PTCL's network were meant to apply only to traffic within Pakistan. But somehow that message started getting replicated on the Internet world-wide, and other Internet service providers started experiencing trouble accessing the site.

Pakistan's Censors Target YouTube, Trigger Brief World-Wide Outage - WSJ.com

BBC NEWS | Technology | Adobe merge on and offline worlds

Another AIR snapshot

The BBC is also building prototype applications with AIR.

"The nice thing about it is that it works on all the different platforms - Mac, PC and eventually Linux," said John O'Donovan, chief architect in the BBC's Future Media and Technology Journalism division.

The corporation is currently building prototype versions of several applications such as the news ticker, which displays headlines on a desktop, and mini Motty, which provides desktop football commentary.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Adobe merge on and offline worlds

Microsoft | Microsoft finally pulls plug on HD DVD | Seattle Times Newspaper

Game over for HD DVD

Microsoft said it will stop making HD DVD players for its Xbox 360 video-game system after Toshiba ceded the high-definition video format battle to Sony's Blu-ray.

Microsoft said Saturday it would continue to provide standard warranty support for its HD DVD players.

A spokeswoman told Bloomberg News the company also will cut the price of players remaining in stock by more than half, to $49.

Microsoft | Microsoft finally pulls plug on HD DVD | Seattle Times Newspaper

Vision evolves, but $100 laptop is still the goal - The Boston Globe

Excerpt from interview in yesterday's Boston Globe:

Q. The laptop sells for $188. You still say you'll get it down to $100, and then even cheaper. How?

A. [Nicholas Negroponte:] The way you get down to $100 is by integration. There are 900 pieces in that machine. You want to get it down to 50. That's the big barrier. Then I'd like to go one step further, and the one step further is to bring the price to zero. Our goal has to be the zero-dollar laptop. Give One, Get One generated about 100,000 zero-dollar laptops. Somebody else paid for them, but from the recipient's point of view, that's zero.

Vision evolves, but $100 laptop is still the goal - The Boston Globe

Microsoft Joins Forces With SAP America for Healthcare IT: Market strategy launched for Microsoft-based SAP solutions in the healthcare industry.

Hmm...

Today from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 Conference & Exhibition, Microsoft Corp. announced it has signed a joint marketing agreement with SAP America Inc., a subsidiary of SAP AG, through which the companies have agreed to work together to deliver solutions that meet the unique needs of the healthcare industry. The companies’ collaboration will seek to help healthcare organizations increase operational efficiency and reduce costs using software to automate and streamline processes that are today often manual or based on cumbersome legacy technology. The companies will focus their healthcare collaboration activities in the United States.

Microsoft Joins Forces With SAP America for Healthcare IT: Market strategy launched for Microsoft-based SAP solutions in the healthcare industry.

Microsoft readies Silverlight 2 beta | InfoWorld

Meanwhile, in the broader Adobe AIR competitive landscape...

Microsoft's Scott Guthrie, general manager in the Microsoft Developer Division, provided a list of features planned for Silverlight 2 and the beta in his blog. A Microsoft representative subsequently described the blog as the most detail provided to date on Silverlight 2.

With the Silverlight platform, Microsoft is expected to battle Adobe and its popular Flash technology in the RIA space. Microsoft's Mix08 conference in Las Vegas in two weeks seems like the obvious place to introduce the beta as Silverlight was the star attraction at the Mix07 conference last year. The Microsoft representative would not comment on whether this would actually be the case but did acknowledge plans to ship the beta during the first quarter of this year. 

Microsoft readies Silverlight 2 beta | InfoWorld | News | 2008-02-22 | By Paul Krill

Adobe Blurs Line Between PC and Web - New York Times

More on AIR, which launches today; see the full article for more context, including a competitive landscape summary

Adobe sees AIR as a major advance that builds on its Flash multimedia software. Flash is the engine behind Web animations, e-commerce sites and many streaming videos. It is, the company says, the most ubiquitous software on earth, residing on almost all Internet-connected personal computers.

But most people may never know AIR is there. Applications will look and run the same whether the user is at his desk or his portable computer, and soon when using a mobile device or at an Internet kiosk. Applications will increasingly be built with routine access to all the Web’s information, and a user’s files will be accessible whether at home or traveling.

AIR is intended to help software developers create applications that exist in part on a user’s PC or smartphone and in part on servers reachable through the Internet.

Adobe Blurs Line Between PC and Web - New York Times

Blogger, Sans Pajamas, Rakes Muck and a Prize - New York Times

A timely reality check

Of the many landmarks along a journalist’s