Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check

Saturday, February 09, 2013

9 things Apple could do with $137 billion - Business - The Boston Globe

Excerpt from an Apple accounting snapshot

"Based on market value at Thursday’s close, Apple could acquire Facebook, Groupon, LinkedIn, Netflix, Pandora, Research In Motion, Yahoo, Yelp, Zillow, and Zynga — and have over $2 billion to spare."

9 things Apple could do with $137 billion - Business - The Boston Globe

Beware the Big Errors of 'Big Data' | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

Excerpt from a Nassim Taleb big data reality check

"The problem with big data, in fact, is not unlike the problem with observational studies in medical research. In observational studies, statistical relationships are examined on the researcher’s computer. In double-blind cohort experiments, however, information is extracted in a way that mimics real life. The former produces all manner of results that tend to be spurious (as last computed by John Ioannidis) more than eight times out of 10.
Yet these observational studies get reported in the media and in some scientific journals. (Thankfully, they’re not accepted by the Food and Drug Administration). Stan Young, an activist against spurious statistics, and I found a genetics-based study claiming significance from statistical data even in the reputable New England Journal of Medicine — where the results, according to us, were no better than random. [...]

I am not saying here that there is no information in big data. There is plenty of information. The problem — the central issue — is that the needle comes in an increasingly larger haystack."

Beware the Big Errors of 'Big Data' | Wired Opinion | Wired.com

SkyDrive users can now share Office documents with anyone | Webware - CNET

No Passport required...

"Using Microsoft's Office Web Apps or Office 2013, you can create a URL of any document that you store online. You can then e-mail that URL to anyone who needs to view or edit your file. Previously, that process required your collaborators to sign in with a Microsoft account before they could tweak your document. Now that restriction is gone.
Users who receive the URL to your document can click on it to view the file in Office Web Apps. From there, they simply click on a link in the Web app to edit the file in the browser. The file opens in the associated Office Web App without prompting for a log-in account, where your collaborators can then edit and resave the document."

SkyDrive users can now share Office documents with anyone | Webware - CNET

Friday, February 08, 2013

Amazon Wants to Get Into the Used E-Book Business -- Or Bury It | Wired Business | Wired.com

E-nightmare for publishers?

"Last week, Amazon patented a way to sell “used” e-books, music, videos, apps and other “digital objects.” The marketplace described in the patent would let such exchanges take place by cutting off the seller’s access to a piece of digital content once the buyer paid.
If the world’s largest online retailer opens the door to digital yard sales, the result could upend the business models of already struggling book publishers and record companies, not to mention thriving digital marketplaces like iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon itself. That is, if Amazon ever really intends to make used digital sales a reality."

Amazon Wants to Get Into the Used E-Book Business -- Or Bury It | Wired Business | Wired.com

Going Pro: Replacing the Desktop | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

"Better living through lowered expectations"

"To this point, my Surface Pro experience had followed a fairly negative new technology adoption curve: An initial wave of excitement because it’s something new, followed by a nervous a round of disappointment as the device’s limitations because glaringly obvious and problematic, and then a begrudging acceptance of the compromises I’d have to make. Oddly enough, things actually got better over time as I came to appreciate that the Surface Pro, while painfully not perfect, did indeed offer some unique charms. And certainly, my expectations were quite high, perhaps too high."

Going Pro: Replacing the Desktop | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

LinkedIn eyes future as professional publishing hub | Internet & Media - CNET News

Promoted Whitepapers R Us?

"The professional network today reported earnings that blew the Street's socks off, so to speak. LinkedIn's stock is trading up close to 10 percent on the after-hours market because the company floored everyone with fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 35 cents, revenue of $303.6 million, and net income of $11.5 million.
Then in a call with investors and analysts, CEO Jeff Weiner upped the company's long-term sex appeal with this statement: "One of the things that we're increasingly focused on in 2013 is going to be the opportunity to support content marketing.""

LinkedIn eyes future as professional publishing hub | Internet & Media - CNET News

Blizzard Wireless Emergency Alerts: Why Only Some People Got Them - ABC News

Sign of the times

"Those notifications, similar to ones issued during Hurricane Sandy, were what FEMA and the FCC call Wireless Emergency Alerts, or WEAs. They were designed to alert people via their phones about three types of emergencies -- imminent threats (including extreme or severe weather), AMBER alerts, and presidential alerts issued by the White House. The alerts, which are not done via text message, were launched last year in many parts of the country and in May 2012 came to AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other carriers.
[...]
Guttman-McCabe said users can disable the imminent and AMBER alerts, but not the presidential ones."

Blizzard Wireless Emergency Alerts: Why Only Some People Got Them - ABC News

In One Fell Swoop, Facebook Deep-Sixes the Web - Mike Isaac - Social - AllThingsD

Dis Connect

"Now we may know how powerful Facebook really is.
On Thursday, many major websites were taken down by an error that stemmed from Facebook, as Internet mainstays like MSNBC.com, CNN, Yelp and New York Magazine all sent users to redirect pages almost immediately upon loading."

In One Fell Swoop, Facebook Deep-Sixes the Web - Mike Isaac - Social - AllThingsD

Thursday, February 07, 2013

Microsoft SharePoint faces tough future, Forrester says - Computerworld

A stark SharePoint social snapshot

"Despite strong support from IT pros, SharePoint faces increased skepticism from business leaders and it's unclear whether the collaboration product will deliver cloud, social and mobile advancements needed for future growth.
Those are some of the findings from a new Forrester Research study published on Tuesday titled "SharePoint Enters Its Awkward Teenage Years.""

Microsoft SharePoint faces tough future, Forrester says - Computerworld

Microsoft Addresses Surface Pro Concerns | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Check the link below for Microsoft responses to some of the common Surface concerns/complaints

"Microsoft corporate vice president Panos Panay and the Surface team took to Reddit today to address some of the concerns that have cropped up in the wake of the first Surface with Windows 8 Pro reviews. Panay is the person most directly responsible for Surface, so his words—and those of his team—carry a lot of weight."

Microsoft Addresses Surface Pro Concerns | Windows 8 content from Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows

Burning Down the House of S. & P. : The New Yorker

For another recent case study in how to inadvertently increase business transparency via email, see E-Mails Imply JPMorgan Knew Some Mortgage Deals Were Bad (NYT)

"McGraw-Hill did this fully aware that, in handing over some twenty million pages of e-mails to government prosecutors, it presented them with some pretty damaging stuff, including a number of messages in which S. & P. employees criticize the firm’s rating process and seemingly acknowledge that it issued generous ratings to please its customers—the Wall Street banks that issued subprime bonds—and avoid losing market share to rivals Moody’s and Fitch. In one instant message, turned over by the company and included in the government’s complaint, an S. & P. analyst says the firm would have given a good rating to a deal put together by cows."

Burning Down the House of S. & P. : The New Yorker

Google Buys E-Commerce Company to Improve Shopping Search - NYTimes.com

(Google Shopping)*2

"The acquisition is Google’s latest effort to take on Amazon.com, which has become an archrival in shopping search. A third of shoppers start their searches on Amazon, compared with just 13 percent on a search engine, according to Forrester Research. That’s a shift from several years ago, when a quarter started shopping research on a search engine and 18 percent on Amazon.
It is also the latest example of Google’s moves into building vertical search engines for searching certain topics, like local businesses, flights or shopping. Google’s stiffest competition has come from these types of businesses, like Yelp, Kayak and Shopping.com."

Google Buys E-Commerce Company to Improve Shopping Search - NYTimes.com

Microsoft Attacks Google on Gmail Privacy - NYTimes.com

Following this logic (consumers creeped-out by potential privacy concerns), neither Facebook nor Twitter should exist; also see Incoming! Microsoft Launching Another Pathetic Smear Campaign Against Google (Readwrite)

"On Thursday, Microsoft plans to unveil a new print, television and online advertising campaign that attacks Google on an issue that Microsoft believes is one of its great vulnerabilities: privacy. The ads will showcase research that shows most people don’t know that Web e-mail providers like Google scan the contents of their e-mail messages to deliver personalized ads to them — and when they do find out, they don’t like it.
If Gmail was a physical product, Microsoft’s actions would amount to putting a sticker on it that said, “Warning: Google is creepy.”"

Microsoft Attacks Google on Gmail Privacy - NYTimes.com

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

ANDY IHNATKO: Microsoft Surface Pro review: Great tablet PC, but needs apps - Chicago Sun-Times

Because no household is complete without a Kegerator...

"One thing I’ll say for certain: Surface Pro is no “toaster refrigerator,” as Apple’s CEO good-naturedly replied when he was asked about the idea of hybrid devices like Surface. Surface Pro is more like the Kegerator of PCs...a combination keg and refrigerator. There are these two simple ideas. Microsoft put them together. And what do you know? It keeps the party going."

ANDY IHNATKO: Microsoft Surface Pro review: Great tablet PC, but needs apps - Chicago Sun-Times

Boeing 787’s problems blamed on outsourcing, lack of oversight | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times

"Insourcing" is destined to become the business word of the year

"Company engineers blame the 787’s outsourced supply chain, saying that poor quality components are coming from subcontractors that have operated largely out of Boeing’s view.
“The risk to the company is not this battery, even though this is really bad right now,” said one 787 electrical engineer, who asked not to be identified. “The real problem is the power panels.”
Unlike earlier Boeing jets, he said, the innards of the 787 power distribution panels — which control the flow of electricity to the plane’s many systems — are “like Radio Shack,” with parts that are “cheap, plastic and prone to failure.”"

Boeing 787’s problems blamed on outsourcing, lack of oversight | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times

Lackluster Start for BlackBerry's New Phone in Canada - NYTimes.com

Not good, eh

"The underwhelming sales reception at the Rideau Centre’s Bell store was repeated not just later at competing outlets in the mall but throughout BlackBerry’s homeland. Rogers Communications, Bell and Telus, the country’s three major carriers, declined to provide specific opening-day sales numbers. But several news outlets reported a similar absence of lines or, in some cases even customers, at wireless carrier and cellphone stores across Canada."

Lackluster Start for BlackBerry's New Phone in Canada - NYTimes.com

Lenovo’s Diplomatic Response to Dell Buyout - Digits - WSJ

Considerate of the Lenovo exec to not add "And by the way, be sure to check out our new Chromebooks..."

"Lenovo, in its statement on the Dell deal, said that “the financial actions of some of our traditional competitors will not substantially change our outlook.” Still, the statement – which Lenovo offered as its comment on Dell’s announcement — didn’t even contain the word “Dell” in the text. “Our strategy is clear, our financial position is healthy and our business is very strong — so we are focused on our products, customers and overall execution rather than distracting financial maneuvers and major strategic shifts.”"

Lenovo’s Diplomatic Response to Dell Buyout - Digits - WSJ

Microsoft Surface Pro Is a Hefty Tablet and a Lightweight Laptop - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

Excerpt from one of many Surface Pro reviews over the last 24 hours; see Microsoft Surface Pro gets tough early reviews (Reuters) and Surface Pro review roundup: fast/fat, cool/compromised (Computerworld) for review round-ups

"I like the original Surface and see it as a tablet with the extra benefit of some Microsoft Office programs. However, I am less enamored with the Surface Pro. It’s too hefty and costly and power-hungry to best the leading tablet, Apple’s full-size iPad. It is also too difficult to use in your lap. It’s something of a tweener — a compromised tablet and a compromised laptop."

Microsoft Surface Pro Is a Hefty Tablet and a Lightweight Laptop - Walt Mossberg - Personal Technology - AllThingsD

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Dell in $24 Billion Deal to Go Private - NYTimes.com

tbd if this is a prelude to a tear-down or perhaps destined to become one of the biggest "greater fool" case studies ever

"“I believe this transaction will open an exciting new chapter for Dell, our customers and team members,” Mr. Dell said in a statement. “Dell has made solid progress executing this strategy over the past four years, but we recognize that it will still take more time, investment and patience, and I believe our efforts will be better supported by partnering with Silver Lake in our shared vision.”
Still, analysts have expressed concern that even a move away from the unyielding scrutiny of the public markets will let Mr. Dell accomplish what years of previous turnaround efforts have not."