Edge: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism By Jaron Lanier

Edge: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism By Jaron Lanier: "The problem I am concerned with here is not the Wikipedia in itself. It's been criticized quite a lot, especially in the last year, but the Wikipedia is just one experiment that still has room to change and grow. At the very least it's a success at revealing what the online people with the most determination and time on their hands are thinking, and that's actually interesting information.
No, the problem is in the way the Wikipedia has come to be regarded and used; how it's been elevated to such importance so quickly. And that is part of the larger pattern of the appeal of a new online collectivism that is nothing less than a resurgence of the idea that the collective is all-wise, that it is desirable to have influence concentrated in a bottleneck that can channel the collective with the most verity and force. This is different from representative democracy, or meritocracy. This idea has had dreadful consequences when thrust upon us from the extreme Right or the extreme Left in various historical periods. The fact that it's now being re-introduced today by prominent technologists and futurists, people who in many cases I know and like, doesn't make it any less dangerous."

Release 1.0 / Fresh Produce / The Community Site Gold Rush is Misguided

Release 1.0 / Fresh Produce / The Community Site Gold Rush is Misguided: "In the past few months, I have talked with the founders of far too many community sites. To each of them I ask the obvious question, 'How you will compete with MySpace?' All have an answer. Some are better than others. But what I am trying to figure out is this: Why is anybody bothering? All of these sites - MySpace included - are on the brink of falling apart. "

Timely reality check from Rafe Needleman

Google Watch : Google's Search Lead Widens, Reaches 50 Percent

Google Watch : Google's Search Lead Widens, Reaches 50 Percent: "Google accounted for a majority of all the Internet searches conducted in April, Nielsen/Netratings found in a report issued last week that may as well be a coronation.
This report, and another from ComScore that had Google at or near a majority, if anything shows that Google's Internet search market share lead may be insurmountable, in the near and distant future."

What are the official criteria for monopoly status these days?...

Gates Says It's Not the Motion

Gates Says It's Not the Motion: "As for those rumors of MS creating a handheld gaming system, Gates only offered a clue that the company may one day be a player in the portable market too. 'Over time you have to say, will you carry in your pocket a media device and a phone and a gaming device and, say, a tablet device for reading?' he asked. 'People have different blends of that now. The world isn't ready yet for a device that meets all of those needs. But go a few years out, the hardware gets a lot better, we'll be there with the software platform, and I think everybody will just take it for granted that there will be a better device.'"

Earn Cellphone Minutes by Watching Ads - New York Times

Earn Cellphone Minutes by Watching Ads - New York Times: "With the cost of mobile phone calls already dropping sharply, Virgin Mobile USA plans to announce a way that people can talk for no money at all. They will, however, have to pay with a chunk of their attention.
The program, called SugarMama, lets people earn one minute of talking time by watching 30-second commercials on a computer or receiving text messages on their phones, then answering questions to prove they were, in fact, paying attention."

Vonage Moves to Reassure Nervous Investors - New York Times

Vonage Moves to Reassure Nervous Investors - New York Times: "Vonage, tarred by a disastrous initial public offering last week, is scrambling to reassure investors. The company, which provides Internet phone service, said yesterday that it would reimburse the bankers who handled the sale if any Vonage customers refused to pay for shares that were allotted to them."

Apparently not a refund-on-demand scenario...

Vista revs up peer-to-peer engine | CNET News.com

Vista revs up peer-to-peer engine CNET News.com: "MeetingSpace is designed with a couple of situations in mind. First is the scenario where people meet up at a coffeehouse and want to share data with one another. The other, is say at a business, where several people are in a meeting and want to be able to view and edit a presentation together.
...
The feature requires the laptops to have built in Wi-Fi (though nearly all notebooks do these days), but does not require Internet access, since the technology uses peer-to-peer connections."

Vonage Has Customer Quandary

Vonage Has Customer Quandary: "In response to complaints like Shreiber's, the company said in a statement to CNBC Tuesday that it would make whole customers who bought the IPO. But the statement didn't make clear what the terms of any offer might be or how many buyers might be involved, and Vonage didn't respond to requests for additional information. "

CRN | VoIP, Telecommunications, Collaboration | Microsoft To Take On Cisco In Unified Communications

CRN VoIP, Telecommunications, Collaboration Microsoft To Take On Cisco In Unified Communications: "The public message will be one of collaboration between Microsoft and partners such as Cisco, Avaya and other makers of PBXes. Behind the scenes, though, all of those companies will compete for many of the same customer dollars.
'Do the math. The market for collaboration software is $4 billion. The market for voice is $40 billion. If you were Microsoft, where would you go?' asked a Microsoft source who requested anonymity. "

Technology and Easy Credit Give Identity Thieves an Edge - New York Times

Technology and Easy Credit Give Identity Thieves an Edge - New York Times: "According to a Federal Trade Commission survey in 2003, about 10 million Americans -- 1 in 30 -- had their identities stolen in the previous year, with losses to the economy of $48 billion. Subsequent surveys, by Javelin Strategy and Research, a private research company, found that the number of victims had declined to nine million last year but that the losses had risen to $56.6 billion."

India tech firms seek US talent in offshoring twist - The Boston Globe

India tech firms seek US talent in offshoring twist - The Boston Globe: "In a case of reverse offshoring, Indian tech companies are beefing up their staffs by hiring Americans and foreigners to work in India. They also are opening offices around the world and recruiting local staff. The firms are launching the global recruiting effort because of labor shortages in India. Indian companies are expanding beyond data entry and back-office processes into areas such as design, research and development, and sophisticated business applications that require highly skilled workers."

Globe to shift stock data to its website - The Boston Globe

Globe to shift stock data to its website - The Boston Globe: "In eliminating daily publication of stock and fund listings, the [Boston] Globe joins a growing number of large newspapers, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, that have moved those tables from the newspaper to other platforms to reduce costs and provide a more compelling package of financial news and information."

Sign of the times...

Software to Look for Experts Among Your Friends - New York Times

Software to Look for Experts Among Your Friends - New York Times: "Tacit plans to start testing the service, called Illumio, next month. The service allows the user to mine the data on the computers of friends, business associates and others with shared interests on any subjects.
However, Illumio is not a search engine, like Google or Yahoo. The system works by transparently distributing a request for information on questions like 'Who knows John Smith?' and 'Are Nikon digital cameras better than Olympus?' to the computers in a network of users. The questions can then be answered locally based on a novel reverse auction system that Illumio uses to determine who the experts are."

Demand grows for fast Net service - The Boston Globe

Demand grows for fast Net service - The Boston Globe: "Middle- and lower-income households still lag when it comes to broadband adoption. Among $30,000-$50,000 households, 43 percent have broadband, compared to 68 percent for those making more than $75,000.
Overall, 42 percent of adult Americans, or 84 million people, have broadband, compared to 30 percent a year ago."

Why Google makes everyone else nervous - The Boston Globe

Why Google makes everyone else nervous - The Boston Globe: "With its profits enjoying double-digit growth, up 26 percent in the first quarter, Google has grown into a financial juggernaut. Last year, its operating income climbed 33 percent to $2 billion, its revenue 92 percent to $6.1 billion, and its employee rolls 88 percent to 5,680."

From a Small Stream, a Gusher of Movie Facts - New York Times

From a Small Stream, a Gusher of Movie Facts - New York Times: "Mr. Needham, a boyish, closely-shorn 39-year-old walked to the kitchen, put on the kettle and made tea. Part of what makes him a curiosity -- beyond his enviable work setup -- is that Internet Movie Database, or Imdb for short, has become a classic example of a hobby that turns out to be a powerful media asset. For years, it has quietly gone about its business almost entirely separately from its parent, and only subtly does it encourage users to go to the Amazon site to buy videos. "

Interesting reality check.

WSJ.com - Symphony to Buy Hummingbird

WSJ.com - Symphony to Buy Hummingbird: "Canadian software developer Hummingbird Ltd. agreed to be bought by Symphony Technology Group, a Silicon Valley investment company, for $465 million in cash.
The Toronto-based company, which specializes in content-management and computer-connectivity tools, said Friday it had entered a 'definitive agreement' to be acquired by Symphony, Palo Alto, Calif., for $26.75 a share, above Hummingbird's Thursday closing price of $23.77. The deal is expected to close in July."

PCWorld.com - The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time

PCWorld.com - The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time: "At PC World, we spend most of our time talking about products that make your life easier or your work more productive. But it's the lousy ones that linger in our memory long after their shrinkwrap has shriveled, and that make tech editors cry out, 'What have I done to deserve this?'
Still, even the worst products deserve recognition (or deprecation). So as we put together our list of World Class winners for 2006, we decided also to spotlight the 25 worst tech products that have been released since PC World began publishing nearly a quarter-century ago."

Check at least the top 5...

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : Ultimate OneNote 2007

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : Ultimate OneNote 2007: "Ultimate is designed to let regular consumers and small businesses get all the software we offer to volume license customers. It's a lot of stuff: Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook/Publisher/Groove/Access/InfoPath, and of course, OneNote. Given that it has quite a bit more in it than the current top of the line 'Professional', it costs more (theoretically $679 retail, although no one ever pays the full price - duh). "

Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply - New York Times

Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply - New York Times: "Most experienced employees know: Thou Shalt Not Blab About the Company's Internal Business. But the line between what is public and what is private is increasingly fuzzy for young people comfortable with broadcasting nearly every aspect of their lives on the Web, posting pictures of their grandmother at graduation next to one of them eating whipped cream off a woman's belly. For them, shifting from a like-minded audience of peers to an intergenerational, hierarchical workplace can be jarring. "

Google Reaches Agreement to Have Its Software Installed on New Dell Computers - New York Times

Google Reaches Agreement to Have Its Software Installed on New Dell Computers - New York Times: "Mr. Schmidt said that this would be first of several agreements with Dell. The time period of the deal was not disclosed.
The software, Dell said, would be put only on machines sold to consumers and to small and medium-size businesses. While the consumer market accounted for roughly 14 percent of Dell's revenue last quarter, the deal would nonetheless involve millions of new computers over time. "

WSJ.com - New Tech Alliances Signal More Scrambling Ahead

WSJ.com - New Tech Alliances Signal More Scrambling Ahead: "The Dell-Google alliance potentially cuts into Microsoft's most coveted and important partnership with a computer maker. By increasing the amount of its software in Dell PCs, Google squeezes onto a stage where Microsoft has long been the lead player. As the world's largest PC maker by number of machines, Dell has been arguably Microsoft's most important distribution channel for its most important software, the Windows operating system and Office business applications. Those two products are Microsoft's largest source of profit and revenue.
Microsoft says it sees the Google and Dell deal as an expansion of options for PC users. 'Customers are going to have choice,' Mr. Varma says, when asked if the deal threatens Microsoft's position in PC software."

Flaws seen in Symantec antivirus software - The Boston Globe

Flaws seen in Symantec antivirus software - The Boston Globe: "Symantec Corp.'s leading antivirus software, which protects some of the world's largest corporations and US government agencies, suffers from a flaw that lets hackers seize control of computers to steal sensitive data, delete files, or implant malicious programs, researchers said yesterday."

Worldwide Relational Database Management Systems Post Steady Growth, Says IDC | Tekrati Research News

Worldwide Relational Database Management Systems Post Steady Growth, Says IDC Tekrati Research News: "The worldwide market for relational database management systems (RDBMS) grew by 9.4 percent to $14.6 billion in 2005, according to preliminary figures released by IDC. These numbers reflect steady growth for the RDBMS software market, indicating a continued increase in the deployment of relational databases.
...
IDC said there were no changes among the top 5 RDBMS vendors from 2004 to 2005, in terms of share of worldwide market revenue.
Oracle: 44.6%
IBM: 21.4%
Microsoft : 16.8%
Sybase: 3.5%
NCR Teradata: 2.9%"

What's My Line: Analyst, Blogger, or Analyst Blogger? | Tekrati Opinion & Editorial

What's My Line: Analyst, Blogger, or Analyst Blogger? Tekrati Opinion & Editorial: "Richard Stiennon raises an interesting point in his Threat Chaos post, Finding Cool Companies: should analysts who blog at online media networks -- in this case, ZDNet -- be given media passes to competitor's events -- in this case, Gartner Symposium? I don't think so, but it does raise an amusing question of ethics."

Fouled By Vonage - Forbes.com

Fouled By Vonage - Forbes.com: "Some of Vonage's 1.6 million subscribers were given a fairly unique opportunity to participate in the IPO through a Vonage program that would distribute some 4 million shares to subscribers who asked for them."

I'm still relatively happy as a Vonage customer, but I'm glad I didn't opt to also become a VG investor...

Brian Jones: Open XML Formats : 4000 pages of documentation

Brian Jones: Open XML Formats : 4000 pages of documentation "There has been a great overall reaction to the news last week of Ecma's first public draft for the Office Open XML formats. One thing that is now absolutely clear to everyone that we are talking about an extremely rich and powerful set of file formats."

[print version] Allchin: Still worried about Vista | CNET News.com

[print version] Allchin: Still worried about Vista CNET News.com: "If you had to offer a list of a few lessons that the whole Vista development process has given you, what would be at the top?
Allchin: Well, since about August or whatever--the middle of 2004--when we reset, I think we did most everything right. Before then, there has been a large postmortem on paper that I personally wrote on all the things that we needed to improve, which dealt with changing the engineering process, that had to do with dependencies, what dependencies you take at what levels and the projects at what level in the system, layering. Of all of the issues, I really think dependencies are probably the biggest one. I think it's an illusion and a mirage to say, 'Oh, there's a better way to do this, we'll just ship software on the Internet, somehow the quality will improve and we'll do it faster.' It doesn't work that way."

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: An easier upgrade to Vista is foreseen

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: An easier upgrade to Vista is foreseen: "With previous Windows operating systems, fewer than 10 percent actually upgrade their PC to the next version, said Greg Sullivan, group product manager with Windows Marketing Communications.
'The vast majority get their copy of Windows on a new PC, or through a volume licensing agreement,' he said.
Still, Microsoft has upgraded versions of its operating systems to serve the technology enthusiasts who want to put a new version on an old machine. Even though it's a small market, this group is strategically important to the company, Sullivan said, because they influence their friends and associates."

MSN Spaces Now Largest Blogging Service Worldwide

MSN Spaces Now Largest Blogging Service Worldwide: "MSN® Spaces is the most widely used blogging service worldwide with more than 100 million unique visitors, according to data released today by comScore Networks Inc. of Reston, Va., an independent Internet audience measurement and consulting company.
...
Now available in 30 markets and 16 languages, the next version of MSN Spaces, called Windows Live™ Spaces, is expected to launch later this year with additional functionality including a social networking service and the ability for developers to create gadgets, new features developed by hobbyists and partners, that can be added to a Space by users."

WSJ.com - Vonage Lacks Voltage in Its IPO, With Weakest Debut in 2 Years

WSJ.com - Vonage Lacks Voltage in Its IPO, With Weakest Debut in 2 Years: "Internet phone-service provider Vonage Holdings Corp.'s initial public offering Wednesday marked the worst IPO debut in nearly two years, a reception that suggested that the excitement over unprofitable Internet calling start-ups has cooled."

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : OneNote 2007 and Outlook: Best Buddies

Chris Pratley's OneNote Blog : OneNote 2007 and Outlook: Best Buddies: "From the beginning of OneNote we've had a lot of requests to deepen our integration with Outlook. In 2003 we had several connection points: you could email notes directly from OneNote if you had Outlook 2003, and you could create tasks from OneNote items. With SP1 of OneNote 2003 we added more Outlook integration features, such as 'Insert Meeting Details', and the ability to create Outlook Appointments and Contacts.
When we did 2007 planning, it was clear from our user surveys that anything we could do to integrate better with Outlook would be most welcome. So here it is, my long-awaited post on all the great things OneNote can do with Outlook (and some additional goodies at the end).
First let me says that unless noted otherwise, all the features below work with Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. Some features may also work with older versions of Outlook but we don't support that. And a couple of things work with any mail program as noted below."

Read the full post for details and screen shots.

Common code base for Vista, Longhorn Server | CNET News.com

Common code base for Vista, Longhorn Server CNET News.com: "'The plan is unlike (Windows) XP and (Windows Server) 2003, where we had separate code bases. We'll have one code base,' Muglia said. 'That will all converge next fall, roughly...when Longhorn Server ships.'
As the Vista team patches bugs in the desktop operating system, those changes will be folded into the Server code. Meanwhile, the changes to the Server code will be added back into Vista in a service pack for the desktop operating system, currently slated for delivery next fall. "

Shoes Are Made for Talking: Telling Your iPod About You - New York Times

Shoes Are Made for Talking: Telling Your iPod About You - New York Times: "Using a Nike+iPod Sports Kit, expected to retail for about $29, consumers will get information on time, distance, pace and calories burned through the earphones of an iPod Nano via a sensor in the insole of special shoes that communicate with the digital music player.
Consumers can transfer collected data onto a Nike Web site, nikeplus.com."

What, no automatic personal training blog updates?...

Martha Stewart plans online women's social network - Yahoo! News

Martha Stewart plans online women's social network - Yahoo! News: "Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. on Tuesday said it plans to start an online social network similar to MySpace.com, but aimed at adult women. "

More evidence "social networking" has jumped the shark...

WSJ.com - When Nike Met iPod

WSJ.com - When Nike Met iPod: "Apple Computer Inc. and Nike Inc. yesterday said they have teamed up to create a wireless system that connects Apple's iPod nano digital music player to certain Nike-compatible sneakers. Using a small sensor that's inserted into the sole of a new Nike running shoe -- the $100 Air Zoom Moire -- the system lets runners record the distance, time, pace and calories burned during each workout. Nike is also rolling out workout clothes that are made to carry iPods, and other compatible shoes will be launched later in the summer.
...
In an interview, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said he believes the Nike fitness device is in keeping with the iPod's heritage in entertainment. 'I don't think we're straying too far from home,' Mr. Jobs said. 'I would like it if iPods were indispensable throughout daily life.'"

WSJ.com - Vonage Expects Its Stock to Debut At $17 a Share

WSJ.com - Vonage Expects Its Stock to Debut At $17 a Share: "Vonage, which said in April it planned to offer as many as 31.3 million shares, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange and use the stock symbol VG.
Vonage is offering a 20% stake in the IPO, which values the whole company at roughly $2.6 billion. That is in the same realm eBay Inc. paid last year for Internet-calling company Skype Technologies Inc."

Microsoft Plans to Acquire Softricity. What does this mean to Citrix?

Microsoft Plans to Acquire Softricity. What does this mean to Citrix?: "Why did Microsoft acquire Softricity?
According to Alex Balcanquall, a Technical Product Manager for Terminal Services at Microsoft, it was for three reasons:
It compliments [sic] their overall virtualization strategy by bringing more virtualization technologies into their portfolio.
It helps lower client TCO by allowing applications to run on client workstations with less administrative work, deployment effort, and testing.
It helps lower Terminal Server TCO by allowing more application to be served from single servers, thereby reducing wasted overhead associated with building server silos and lessening the amount of time to deploy new and updated applications."

Stats Say Google Losing Something

Stats Say Google Losing Something: "Google scored a small gain in market share in April, moving from 42.7 percent to 43.1 percent, according to comScore Networks.
But a study from the Hitwise Research Group showed that Google still trails Yahoo by large margins in portal services, such as e-mail (42.4 percent to 2.54 percent), news (6.3 percent to 1.9 percent), finance (34.9 percent to .29 percent) and maps (20.5 percent to 7.5 percent). "

FT.com / By industry / Financial services - Stock options investigation widens

FT.com / By industry / Financial services - Stock options investigation widens: "Concern about the questionable timing of executive stock options spread across the US technology sector on Monday as two more companies revealed that they had been approached by authorities investigating option-award practices."

Also see this summary from Dan Gillmor

Federated Media / Tech: Google Insiders Sell off $6.5 Billion in Stock

Federated Media / Tech: Google Insiders Sell off $6.5 Billion in Stock: "If you take a look at Google's insider trading sheet you will note that company insiders have sold off $6.5 Bn worth of stock while not buying a single share (some insiders have sold every last share). With rumors of click fraud running rampant one has to wonder if these people know something the rest of us don't... "

(See the post for links to related stories)

'JPod,' by Douglas Coupland - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

'JPod,' by Douglas Coupland - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "The attentive reader may ask: Isn't this more or less the same thing Coupland did in his 1995 novel 'Microserfs'? Hasn't he simply upgraded an earlier work by relocating it from a real-life software company to a fictitious one, replacing mentions of Sega Genesis and the English Beat's cover of 'Tears of a Clown' with references to Xbox and Razormaid's remix of 'Copacabana,' and turning its rants against the Gap into tirades against Zima? The attentive reader is advised to be quiet."

I thoroughly enjoyed "Microserfs" and am about half-way through "jPod"; recommended...

Microsoft Extends Virtualization Strategy, Outlines Product Road Map

Microsoft Extends Virtualization Strategy, Outlines Product Road Map: "Microsoft puts Windows Server virtualization and System Center Virtual Machine Manager on the fast track, and announces the intent to acquire Softricity Inc., a leader in application virtualization solutions within the virtualization space."

Congrats to Bill, Stuart, and the rest of the Softricity gang.

Software Notebook: Mystery deal is high-security chip for 'FlexGo'

Software Notebook: Mystery deal is high-security chip for 'FlexGo': "The details of Microsoft Corp.'s mysterious deal with Transmeta Corp. have finally been revealed. And none of the speculation was even close.
The microprocessor company has been working for the past year on a high-security, power-efficient chip for Microsoft's new 'FlexGo' pay-as-you-go PC initiative in developing nations."

Time Warner and AOL | From :-) to :-( | Economist.com

Time Warner and AOL From :-) to :-( Economist.com: "Once the darling of the internet, AOL is struggling to remain relevant"

Stark assessment of AOL's trajectory

New Media Player: Nice Features, but It's No ITunes

New Media Player: Nice Features, but It's No ITunes: "Apple needs -- and customers deserve -- vigorous competition. But that's not going to happen if the best Apple's rivals can manage is a combination of beta software of dubious reliability and a tie-in to a music TV channel that devotes most of its airtime to things besides music."

Looks like I'll be sticking with Yahoo! Music Unlimited for a while...

Warning from Apple: don't put our laptops on your lap - Engadget

Warning from Apple: don't put our laptops on your lap - Engadget: "'Do not leave the bottom of your MacBook Pro in contact with your lap or any surface of your body for extended periods. Prolonged contact with your body could cause discomfort and potentially a burn' "

John Carmack lays out cell phone plans, voices virus fears - May. 18, 2006

John Carmack lays out cell phone plans, voices virus fears - May. 18, 2006: "John Carmack's hobbies probably aren't a lot like yours.
He spends two days a week building rocket ships. His idea of a getaway weekend consists of holing up in a hotel room and writing programming code. And he likes to speculate on worst-case scenarios for the video game industry (and believe me, this guy can envision some scary stuff)."

Continues to describe Carmack's latest adventure.

Never Mind the Clip-On Ties, Geek Squad Can Fix Your PC - New York Times

Never Mind the Clip-On Ties, Geek Squad Can Fix Your PC - New York Times: "When he sold the Geek Squad to Best Buy in 2002, his computer repair company had 60 employees, or agents. Today, it has 12,000 men and women dressed in black pants, white shirts, a black clip-on tie and white socks who arrive at customers' homes in black and white Volkswagen Beetles."

Includes a handy overview of how you can calculate your support price elasticity...

Hub start-up will back up data files for $5 a month - The Boston Globe

Hub start-up will back up data files for $5 a month - The Boston Globe: "... Carbonite Inc., will back up any Internet-connected computer in the world for $5 a month, no matter how much information is stored on the machine's hard drive.
...
He estimated that the average user will back up about eight gigabytes of data. Friend doesn't worry about the inevitable users who'll upload hundreds of gigabytes of data. ''We'll make money on 98 percent of the users and lose money on 2 percent," he said. Besides, he added, ''storage costs are dropping like a stone, so a guy who's an unprofitable customer now will be OK next year.""

Sun's Tim Bray on why he doesn't love SOA

Sun's Tim Bray on why he doesn't love SOA: "Are there just too many XML and Web services standards?
Bray: It's clearly true that there are too many of them. I also have an issue with the process. If you look at many of the successful standards, they tend to be distillations of technology that already existed. XML was a distillation of a previous technology called SGML. Java was created a dozen years ago applying the lessons that had been learned from many other object oriented languages. We had a lot of experience with object oriented languages and Java distilled those lessons. When you go and look at situations where people try to invent a whole new technology and standardize it at the same time, it's, to be charitable, a high-risk undertaking."

Read the full interview...

'Project Orange': The Killer App for WinFS?

'Project Orange': The Killer App for WinFS?: "WinFS, Microsoft's next-generation file system, is still churning its way through the beta process. But that isn't stopping Microsoft from building a new information organizer that rides on top of WinFS storage and the Windows Presentation Framework."

Not dead yet, apparently...

Microsoft surprises with Vista hardware specs - vnunet.com

Microsoft surprises with Vista hardware specs - vnunet.com: "The announcement is likely to put Intel's and AMD's noses out of joint, as the chip manufacturers are thought to have been expecting strong motherboard and processor sales on the back of the Vista launch.
But the news is good for consumers who can expect to take less of a hit on their pocket than previously expected."

Microsoft buys VPN specialist | CNET News.com

Microsoft buys VPN specialist CNET News.com: "Microsoft has been building a security business. The software giant has made several security-related acquisitions, including ID management company Alacris last September and hosted e-mail security provider FrontBridge last summer. Next month, the company is slated to start selling Windows OneCare Live, its first consumer antivirus product. "

Coincidentally, Symantec sues Microsoft...

WSJ.com - Loose Wire: How to Read 35 Million Blogs

WSJ.com - Loose Wire: How to Read 35 Million Blogs: "One solution: BlogBridge. On one level it's just another (free) news reader. It lets you collect and organize RSS feeds into folders according to theme (Technology, Sport, Squirrel Waterskiing, etc.). But BlogBridge goes further.
First off, BlogBridge calls its folders 'Guides' or 'Reading Lists.' These aren't just static collections of feeds, but are lists carefully collated by experts in the relevant fields, whose credentials you can read on the site. Instead of subscribing to a single feed, you subscribe to an expert's Guide or Reading List. Conversely, if you felt you were an expert on Squirrel Waterskiing, you could share your list of exciting blogs and other feeds on the subject as a Reading List, allowing other Squirrel Waterskiing enthusiasts to download it into their BlogBridge program."

Congrats to Pito et al for this prominent plug.

Gates: Info Glut Killing Businesses

Gates: Info Glut Killing Businesses: "Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates today told executives in not so many words that information will bury their businesses if they don't get a handle on it.
To solve the information deluge problem, Microsoft stressed improved search and increased collaboration. A keystone of that vision is Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007."

Google's Goal: A Worldwide Web of Books

Google's Goal: A Worldwide Web of Books: "The electronic pioneer and computer scientist, who now works as Google's chief Internet evangelist, is also a bibliophile who has a collection of about 10,000 hard-copy volumes lining shelves at his home in McLean.
These days, Cerf is busy promoting Google's plan to marry his two passions -- books and the Internet -- by digitizing millions of library books. He recently dropped by my office to explain the controversial plan and talk about its implications for book lovers."

Google Watch : Google Woos Java Developers

Google Watch : Google Woos Java Developers "The free Google Web Toolkit is a nexus between applications relying on AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), a method of building interactive Internet features that immediately process a user request, and Java, Sun's ubiquitous programming language.
...
'Trust us, we know--the development of our own AJAX apps, like Google Maps and Google Calendar, caused us no small amount of AJAX-induced frustration,' Products Manager Bret Taylor wrote on the Google blog."

Live Search - again? (and convergenzzzzzzz ...) - Computerworld Blogs

Live Search - again? (and convergenzzzzzzz ...) - Computerworld Blogs: "If you feel a sense of dejavu over Microsoft's announcement of Live Search, you aren't alone"

No kidding: I hadn't see this before my previous post. Check the link for a round-up of stories/perspectives from Computerworld's Eric Lai and others.

I don't mean to imply I think the latest Microsoft stuff isn't substantive, incidentally; it's just sort of weird to see leading vendors take another run at this problem space.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft wants to make searches a snap

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft wants to make searches a snap: "One product, Windows Live Search, will let workers use a single action to find information in their e-mail, in documents stored on their computers, in databases maintained by their companies -- including those provided by companies such as SAP and Siebel -- and the Internet.
...
Another product, Knowledge Network, automatically creates profiles of workers, listing their expertise related to the company's business and customers."

I'm having serious déjà vu this week; there was a big IBM/Microsoft/other push (no pun intended) in these domains ~a decade ago...

One-Button Data Backup in a Tiny Package - New York Times

One-Button Data Backup in a Tiny Package - New York Times: "At the rate things are going, we'll soon be able to store 25,000 MP3's on a disk the size of a fingernail. A step in that direction is the Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition. This shock-resistant hard drive is about as big as an iPod and can back up your PC or laptop drive with the click of a button."

Going Wireless Most Places You Go - New York Times

Going Wireless Most Places You Go - New York Times: "Another wireless option on the rise, this one from cellular carriers, provides high-speed Internet access over many of the nation's most populated and heavily traveled regions. These services, made possible by the new networks that carriers are referring to as 3G (for 'third generation'), may be useful to business travelers, professionals who need a connection constantly within reach, businesses with roving employees or small groups of users looking to share a single connection."

Timely snapshot of providers and plans.

WSJ.com - SAP Seeks to Enhance NetWeaver

WSJ.com - SAP Seeks to Enhance NetWeaver: "SAP AG will today announce it is launching a $125 million fund to encourage software makers to build applications on its NetWeaver platform, which acts as the connective tissue between different kinds of software.
SAP, of Walldorf, Germany, already has a venture arm, SAP Ventures, but the new fund, known as the NetWeaver Fund, will operate separately, funded by SAP's corporate-development budget and run jointly in its Newton Square, Penn., and Palo Alto, Calif. offices."

PBS | I, Cringely . May 11, 2006 - Google-on

PBS | I, Cringely . May 11, 2006 - Google-on: In a column subtitled "Google Doesn't Have to Try Nearly as Hard as Microsoft, Yet to Maximize Its Success Google Ought to Try Even Less", Cringely continues his stark prognostication series:

"If Apple is just a pimped-out Microsoft, then what is IBM? IBM is a disaster-in-the-making. Big Blue as a total enterprise is running primarily on customer inertia and clever advertising, which definitely isn't enough.
Of course they have their Power5 and Cell processors, AIX and DB2, but IBM's customers are now all in big business, which doesn't touch my readers or the PC market very much. And IBM is in trouble. I have lots of friends at IBM and none of them are happy. The company is not going anywhere, but it is also going nowhere, if you know what I mean."

...

"Remember my doom-and-gloom prediction last week for Sun Microsystems? That's based almost entirely on the company's inability to see itself moving from being vertically integrated (doing its own proprietary hardware and software) to competing on a level (that is horizontal) playing field. While that might make them just another PC vendor, don't worry about that happening because Sun would rather die first. And will."

Good Morning Silicon Valley: Oh ... we thought the "iPod killer" was going to be a product

Good Morning Silicon Valley: Oh ... we thought the "iPod killer" was going to be a product: "Now that its ambitious MP3 war against Apple has turned into something between Little Big Horn and Waterloo, Creative has taken to the courts to attack its distant rival. The Singapore-based consumer electronics group said Monday it has filed patent complaints against Apple, seeking to halt the import and sale of the iPod music player in the U.S."

GigaOM : ? Will SkypeFree KO Vonage IPO?

GigaOM : ? Will SkypeFree KO Vonage IPO?: "The buzz on the Street is that the Vonage IPO is on the rocks. They HAVE to raise money or they are in a world of hurt. Their investors don't want to put another penny in and the company seems to still be bleeding cash, $75 million in the first quarter of 2006. Geez, Vonage is begging customers to buy 20% of the deal - not a great sign.
Ebay knows this, why not toy with the mouse before you kill it. What better way to do away with the Vonage IPO and raise their cost of capital then scare investors even more. Every prospective buyer on this deal asking the same questions: what about pricing, why will anyone pay a flat fee per month when skype connects in the US for 2 cents a minute. $25 per month to Vonage is the equivalent of 1250 minutes."

The scary part: in the midst of Bubble v2, it probably won't matter -- i.e., the IPO will go ahead anyway.

Gates wants to let you in your co-workers' heads | CNET News.com

Gates wants to let you in your co-workers' heads CNET News.com: "The next release of Microsoft's SharePoint server software will have a feature called Knowledge Network that automatically builds profiles of employees and their areas of expertise.
That's important because a ton of business data is stored in brains, rather than hard drives. Estimates are that anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent of a company's institutional knowledge is inside of its employees' heads. "

Data-mining pioneer joins Microsoft | Tech News on ZDNet

Data-mining pioneer joins Microsoft Tech News on ZDNet: "Rakesh Agrawal, who is credited with creating data mining, or the science of extracting trends from large and often disparate databases, has left IBM to become a Microsoft technical fellow in the company's Search Labs. "

Chief Says Sun Plans to Offer Open-Source Version of Java - New York Times

Chief Says Sun Plans to Offer Open-Source Version of Java - New York Times: "The new chief executive of Sun Microsystems said on Tuesday that the company was working toward making its Java programming language available free as open-source software, providing further evidence that Sun's new management sees it as more of a services company than a network computer maker. "

Although...

"Mr. Schwartz declined to provide a timeline for delivering an open-source version of the Java programming language, saying the company still faced the considerable challenge of ensuring that it remained compatible with other software programs while inviting participation from the large base of independent Java developers."

Cablevision to Offer Flat Rates for International Phone Calling - New York Times

Cablevision to Offer Flat Rates for International Phone Calling - New York Times: "Cablevision, one of the largest cable companies in the metropolitan area, will announce today a flat-rate plan for international calls, the latest example of how digital and Internet-based phone services from cable companies and start-ups like Vonage are challenging traditional phone carriers.
Customers will be able to buy 500 minutes of calls to any country overseas for $19.95 a month. At 4 cents a minute, the service plan would cost far less than calls to most countries outside major cities in Western Europe and Asia."

WSJ.com - AOL Enters Social-Network Fray

WSJ.com - AOL Enters Social-Network Fray: "Playing catch-up with rivals like MySpace and Microsoft Corp., AOL has launched a social-networking site for its 43 million U.S. instant-messaging users.
AIM Pages, which debuted last week, allow AIM users to chat with 'buddies' while creating and searching profile pages similar to those on other leading social-networking sites.
Users who sign up with their AIM user name on AIMPages.com can customize a profile page with photos; bloglike journal entries; and drag and drop features like polls, games and personalized content from third parties like YouTube and Netflix Inc."

A Conversation with Werner Vogels

A Conversation with Werner Vogels: "Many think of Amazon as 'that hugely successful online bookstore.' You would expect Amazon CTO Werner Vogels to embrace this distinction, but in fact it causes him some concern. 'I think it's important to realize that first and foremost Amazon is a technology company,' says Vogels. And he's right. Over the past years, Vogels has helped Amazon grow from an online retailer (albeit one of the largest, with more than 55 million active customer accounts) into a platform on which more than 1 million active retail partners worldwide do business. Behind Amazon's successful evolution from retailer to technology platform is its SOA (service-oriented architecture), which broke new technological ground and proved that SOAs can deliver on their promises.
Vogels came to Amazon from Cornell University, where he was working on high-availability systems and the management of scalable enterprise systems. He maintains that research spirit at Amazon, which regularly must solve problems never before encountered. 'Maybe other companies call it research. We just call it development,' he points out.
Interviewing Vogels is ACM Turing Award winner and Microsoft Technical Fellow Jim Gray."

Must-read interview.

Sign up for the free dead-tree version of ACM Queue while you're there; for some mysterious reason, the publishers still delay web posting (for days to weeks) after print publishing.

SharePoint: Microsoft's Sleeper Hit?

SharePoint: Microsoft's Sleeper Hit?: "Microsoft has sold more than 75 million SharePoint Portal Server 2003 licenses to date. More than 180 Microsoft partners are building SharePoint solutions. And just about every Windows customer is using Windows SharePoint Services, according to Microsoft officials."

Google Watch : Google, Yahoo Search Engine Makeovers Ramp Up

Google Watch : Google, Yahoo Search Engine Makeovers Ramp Up: "It's nearly routine now for search inquiries at www.google.com having to do with health, music and a variety of other topics to render results accompanied by a feature for additional topic-specific searching.
For instance, the results from searching for the key word 'flu', 'cold' or other health-related search terms at www.google.com now are always accompanied by a way to search Google's database by eight health-related topics."

Google search goes multifaceted...

Patent Holder Sues Apple Over iPod Software - New York Times

Patent Holder Sues Apple Over iPod Software - New York Times: "Creative said the Zen patent covered the software menus that allow users to find and play music on most portable digital media players, including Creative's Zen and Nomad brands as well as the Apple iPod devices. Creative seeks an injunction and increased damages for what it says is Apple's 'willful infringement of the Zen patent.' "

Bill Gates' Web Site - Speech Transcript, SharePoint Conference 2006

Bill Gates' Web Site - Speech Transcript, SharePoint Conference 2006: "I think when people look back on what we're doing with Office here, the most revolutionary element will be what we're doing with SharePoint. And that's saying a lot, because this release of Office is a major one with lots of incredible functionality, a new user interface, the deep XML support, to rich capabilities in all the modules, but the whole way that people think about information sharing, both within the company and outside the company, I think will be reshaped by the SharePoint platform."

News from PC Magazine: PlayStation 3: What Sony Doesn't Want You to Know

News from PC Magazine: PlayStation 3: What Sony Doesn't Want You to Know: "As it turns out, a little examining of Sony's announcement press release reveals the $499 model will lack support for Memory Sticks, SD and Compact Flash cards, no built-in Wi-Fi and will surprisingly have the HDMI output removed (necessary for achieving the much bragged about 1080p screen resolution). "

Lotus Notes gets upgrade - The Boston Globe

Lotus Notes gets upgrade - The Boston Globe: "The next version of IBM Corp.'s flagship collaboration software, Lotus Notes, will challenge the dominance of Microsoft Corp.'s Office suite by offering built-in word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation graphics software.
''This is the first time that Notes code itself has actually included a document editor,' said Ken Bisconti, vice president of IBM Lotus Workplace, Portal & Collaboration unit, based in Cambridge and Westford."

Irwin Lazar's "Real-Time" Blog: SkypeOut - Free to North America

Irwin Lazar's "Real-Time" Blog: SkypeOut - Free to North America "Major announcement from Skype today, all SkypeOut calls to the U.S. and Canada are free for the rest of the year. I'm guessing this represents a large investment for Skype as I would bet an awful lot of their SkypeOut revenue comes from calls that terminate in the U.S. & Canada."

Somehow I suspect this is not unrelated to recent moves by AOL and others to offer free PC-to-phone services.

Burton Group - Collaboration and Content Strategies

Burton Group - Collaboration and Content Strategies FYI an RSS feed for tracking our CCS documents/etc.

Burton Group PR Burton Group Launches New Research Service Covering Communication, Collaboration and Content Management Technologies

Burton Group PR Burton Group Launches New Research Service Covering Communication, Collaboration and Content Management Technologies: "Burton Group, Inc., an IT research firm focused on in-depth analysis of enterprise infrastructure technologies, today announced a new service that focuses on helping enterprise technologists understand the planning, application, integration, infrastructure, and governance impacts associated with use of enterprise communication, collaboration, and content management technologies."

More on CCS, including team and topic overviews.

View the last ten recently published documents by Burton Group

View the last ten recently published documents by Burton Group: handy index of the first several docs published in our new Collaboration and Content Strategies service; each links to a doc summary.

The New Yorker: The Facebook Generation

The New Yorker: The Facebook Generation: "In the May 15, 2006, issue of The New Yorker, John Cassidy reports on Facebook, an on-line social network primarily for college students, and on how its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, avoided some of the pitfalls of similar services ('Me Media,' p. 50). Facebook, Cassidy explains, like other popular sites such as Friendster and MySpace, 'invited members to post a photograph and a few personal details -- a profile --and link to other members, exploit[ing] the peculiar logic of networks, by which large numbers of people are connected through a small number of intermediaries and become part of a vast virtual community.' When Zuckerberg started the web site near the end of his sophomore year at Harvard, in 2004, he intended it to be an on-line extension of the campus, a place for fellow-students to share information. That idea of a more intimate on-line network caught on quickly, and, two years later, there are seven and a half million registered users in more than two thousand colleges around the country, making Facebook by some measures one of the most popular sites on the Web. "

Excellent article; unfortunately the full article is not available on-line, but the summary linked-to above continues for a couple more paragraphs.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Zeal to innovate drives Google founders

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Zeal to innovate drives Google founders: "Microsoft is nervous because the Google guys have bigger things in mind than search. And they have the same bug that got Bill Gates and Paul Allen started back in 1975: Enchanted by the power and potential of computer systems, they want to make it easier and cheaper for everyone to use them."

Timely snapshot -- read the full article, and remember: robust competition is a good thing...

MTV Will Test Its Own Entry in Online Music - New York Times

MTV Will Test Its Own Entry in Online Music - New York Times: "A test version of MTV's long-delayed online music service, called Urge, will be introduced today.
The service was developed in cooperation with Microsoft, and will be heavily promoted from within the latest version of the Windows Media Player, which also begins public testing today."

Collaborative Thinking: Burton Group Launches New Collaboration & Content Strategies Service

Collaborative Thinking: Burton Group Launches New Collaboration & Content Strategies Service: My colleague Mike Gotta posted an overview of Burton Group's new service, which launches today. His final paragraph includes a link to some related podcasts as well as info about how you can access a complimentary report that explains our perspective on current communication/collaboration/content market dynamics (start here if you want to download the report).

We've been in team-building mode for the last few months, hiring and creating content for today's launch. Watch this space -- and Mike's blog, and team member Guy Creese's blog -- for much more on communication/collaboration/content topics, now that we're out of stealth mode.

WSJ.com - MySpace to Offer Downloads of TV Show '24'

WSJ.com - MySpace to Offer Downloads of TV Show '24': "News Corp.' MySpace.com next week plans to begin offering $1.99-an-episode downloads of two seasons of the popular Fox drama '24.' It also will offer free downloads of two episodes of '24' sponsored by Burger King Holdings.
The move is part of an effort by News Corp. to transform MySpace.com from a social-networking site popular with teens into a full-featured, advertising-supported portal that can compete with Yahoo and Apple Computer's iTunes.com."

Something tells me Myspace just jumped the shark.

Teens' online postings are new tool for police - The Boston Globe

Teens' online postings are new tool for police - The Boston Globe: "MySpace and its cousins, Xanga and Facebook, have, in little more than two years, attracted more than 100 million users, most of them young people creating their own pages to show off to friends. Law enforcement officials, however, have another use for them: They are fast becoming a crucial source of evidence in crimes involving young people ranging from pornography to drugs to terrorist threats."

Inadvertent collaboration software...

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Unbound for glory

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Unbound for glory: "If we can use the internet to bring books to people who otherwise wouldn't have them, let's do it. But let's not demean the act of reading - and writing - in the process. Snippets, Kevin Kelly, aren't literature."

More insightful analysis of the domain for Kevin Kelly's NYT book-scanning article.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: The phone of the future: wired to run your life

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: The phone of the future: wired to run your life: "Harry Santamäki vows to take a sip of cod liver oil from the bottle on his desk if he ever utters the word phone.
That's odd, considering Santamäki works at Nokia, the largest mobile phone maker in the world."

Interesting Nokia snapshot/profile.

'Revolutionary Wealth,' by Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

'Revolutionary Wealth,' by Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times: "Now the Tofflers are again back from the near future. Their new book, 'Revolutionary Wealth,' builds on the framework of their previous writings, so there's a lot of talk about clashes among First Wave (agrarian), Second Wave (industrialized) and Third Wave (postindustrial, or 'knowledge-based') societies. They argue convincingly that we are on the verge of a post-scarcity world that will slash poverty and 'unlock countless opportunities and new life trajectories,' at least if we avoid the rapidly escalating risks to such progress."

Scan This Book! - New York Times

Scan This Book! - New York Times: "Brewster Kahle, an archivist overseeing another scanning project, says that the universal library is now within reach. 'This is our chance to one-up the Greeks!' he shouts. 'It is really possible with the technology of today, not tomorrow. We can provide all the works of humankind to all the people of the world. It will be an achievement remembered for all time, like putting a man on the moon.' And unlike the libraries of old, which were restricted to the elite, this library would be truly democratic, offering every book to every person."

Outstanding and timely article -- read the whole thing. Another excerpt:

"From the days of Sumerian clay tablets till now, humans have "published" at least 32 million books, 750 million articles and essays, 25 million songs, 500 million images, 500,000 movies, 3 million videos, TV shows and short films and 100 billion public Web pages. All this material is currently contained in all the libraries and archives of the world. When fully digitized, the whole lot could be compressed (at current technological rates) onto 50 petabyte hard disks. Today you need a building about the size of a small-town library to house 50 petabytes. With tomorrow's technology, it will all fit onto your iPod."

In Case of Disaster, Have a Backup Plan for Your PC - New York Times

In Case of Disaster, Have a Backup Plan for Your PC - New York Times: "If you don't want to depend on a device or the limited lifespan of digital media, you might consider online storage. 'This used to be something that was only available to large businesses,' said Stephanie Balaouras, a senior technology analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, 'but now we're seeing the emergence of a lot of niche players targeting individuals.'
Computer users can subscribe to a service like Iomega, Iron Mountain or My Docs Online for $5 to $50 a month, depending on the amount of storage and the level of security desired. "

I think this "megaserver" solution is the only one that makes sense longer-term, e.g., as more people routinely use multiple PCs, and both hard disk capacities and the amount of digital stuff people collect continue to rapidly increase.

I use a combination of Lotus Notes (hosted by 4t Domino, in my case) and Microsoft Groove to back-up stuff I use on multiple PCs. I used to also run Novell iFolder for my Burton Group work files, but iFolder stopped working (for no apparent reason) on my primary PC several months ago, and it looks like Novell is focusing exclusively on Linux for future iFolder releases, so I dropped it.

Can TV's and PC's Live Together Happily Ever After? - New York Times

Can TV's and PC's Live Together Happily Ever After? - New York Times: "But here is the swirling myth -- or is it The Big Lie? ? about convergence: It's not as close as all of that activity suggests. For various reasons, watching TV programs delivered by the Internet on regular TV looks like it will remain tantalizingly out of reach for all but the most enthusiastic gadget junkies for some time."

Maybe it'll all come together by the time there's actually something worth watching on TV again.

(Don't forget tonight is the final episode of "The West Wing"...)

E-mail Out of Every Plug

E-mail Out of Every Plug: "Broadband sent over power lines offers Internet access everywhere in your house -- and could also offer the country a way to save energy"

Great article in the June issue of The Atlantic Monthly by James Fallows (who is one of my favorite writers). I'm afraid the full article is only supposed to be accessible to subscribers, however, so I'll take the liberty of excerpting a bit more...

"My nominee for the innovation now mutating into the most interesting new forms is a technology called Broadband over Power Lines, or BPL (about which I first wrote in The New York Times two years ago). For years it has been touted as the answer to a problem that, it now appears, will be solved in other ways. But meanwhile it is providing a useful new service for consumers. It could even play a part in addressing environmental and national-security concerns."

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: U.S. wants to extend oversight of Microsoft

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: U.S. wants to extend oversight of Microsoft: "The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to extend by at least two years its oversight of Microsoft relating to a specific provision of the broad 2001 antitrust settlement between the company and the government."

Meanwhile, in Redmond, a slightly different spin:

"Microsoft today has voluntarily agreed to extend for two additional years part of the U.S. consent decree. This agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general will extend until November 2009 the part of the decree related to our licensing program for communications protocols. The agreement requires court approval.
Microsoft is also announcing today that it has decided that, even after the expiration of these provisions of the consent decree, it will continue on a voluntary basis to document and license the communications protocols in the Windows desktop operating system that are used to interoperate with Windows server OS products."

U.S. Says Microsoft Browser Is No Threat to Competition - New York Times

U.S. Says Microsoft Browser Is No Threat to Competition - New York Times: "The Justice Department, in a court filing, said yesterday that it found that the design of Microsoft's new Web browser did not pose a threat to competition in the lucrative new market for Internet search."

Dell's World Isn't What It Used to Be - New York Times

Dell's World Isn't What It Used to Be - New York Times: "Despite its changing circumstances, Dell is hardly down and out. It still holds an operating profit margin advantage over Hewlett of at least 5 percent, Mr. Gardner calculated, though that has shrunk from 20 percent at the beginning of the decade. Other analysts, like A. M. Sacconaghi Jr. of Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, say Hewlett will not try to match Dell's price cuts because Mr. Hurd is not ready to sacrifice profit for revenue unless the company starts losing significant market share."

Video games | Everything to play for | Economist.com

Video games Everything to play for Economist.com: "The stakes are high for Sony: it is banking on the success of the PS3 not just to maintain its dominance in video gaming, but also to boost the fortunes of its Blu-ray technology, one of two rivals vying to become the high-definition successor to the DVD. Each PS3 will contain a Blu-ray drive -- hence its high price -- so that each console sold will help to seed the market for Blu-ray. But this strategy will work only if the PS3 sells well. Sony hopes its existing customers will prove faithful to the PlayStation brand despite the price tag, thus ensuring victory for the PS3 and Blu-ray. But the lower prices and innovative features of the PS3's rivals could test their loyalty to the limit."

Computers | For whom the Dell tolls | Economist.com

Computers For whom the Dell tolls Economist.com: "Dell remains the largest PC vendor in the world, shipping 37m machines worldwide last year and commanding nearly 20% of the market (32% in America). Yet the firm, with a business model that was once the envy of the industry, has found that its chief advantages -- the lack of a physical sales channel and the ability to squeeze suppliers -- have become the chief sources of its woe. "

Timely reality check -- read the article.

Microsoft Office could hit $20 billion in sales by 2010

Microsoft Office could hit $20 billion in sales by 2010: "President Jeff Raikes of Microsoft Corp.'s Business Division says Office software revenue could double from 2002 levels to reach $20 billion by 2010.
That target remains 'a viable possibility,' Raikes said Tuesday night at a media dinner at the Redmond headquarters.
Raikes, whose group includes the Office word processing, spreadsheet and e-mail software, originally disclosed the unit's 2010 revenue target in 2002."

I've already seen a reference this morning suggesting Microsoft may need to colonize other planets in order to reach this goal...

TechCrunch ? Blog Archive ? Google Notebook Screen Shots

TechCrunch ? Blog Archive ? Google Notebook Screen Shots: "Notebook looks like it is designed to be a flat out del.icio.us competitor, allowing you to gather content from around the web, add metadata like categories and, if you like, publish the information."

I suppose this is what Onfolio or OneNote might have looked like, if user experience evolution ended in c1999...

WSJ.com - SAP to Expand Technical Support For Oracle Lines

WSJ.com - SAP to Expand Technical Support For Oracle Lines: "Opening another front in its battle against rival software maker Oracle Corp., SAP AG plans to announce as early as Monday that it will offer technical support for more of Oracle's own products for a far cheaper price.
SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow Inc. on Monday will begin offering support for customers of Siebel Systems Inc., which Oracle acquired this year, for about half the rate Oracle charges. Many Oracle customers typically pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for Oracle support."

The invisible hand of capitalism ... reaches out and attempts to slap Oracle in the face.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Tables turning for gaming rivals

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Tables turning for gaming rivals: [Xbox chief Peter Moore:] "There are three things we're focusing on. Your games are right in the middle. Your friends, which is Xbox Live and Live Anywhere, which Bill [Gates] took everybody through. And then on the outside is your lifestyle: music, movies, video, television. This is a games machine.
I'll buy -- or many they'll give me one -- an HD-DVD player because my primary function is to play games, but if I want to watch a movie, I'll pull it out, I'll pop it in and I'm good to go."

Microsoft CEO: catching Yahoo, Google to take time - Yahoo! News

Microsoft CEO: catching Yahoo, Google to take time - Yahoo! News: "California (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday he has a five-year target to gain a bigger slice of the lucrative online advertising market dominated by Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc."

IBM's collaboration tools evolve | InfoWorld | Review | 2006-05-11 | By Mike Heck

IBM's collaboration tools evolve InfoWorld Review 2006-05-11 By Mike Heck: "Introduced in 1989, IBM Lotus Notes 7 stays true to the original's ideals of efficient collaboration. In this release, Notes e-mail and calendar entries are even easier to manage, and the Domino 7 server embraces more standards, including Web services, so developers can expose Notes databases to external systems. The already outstanding platform support is broadened with desktop Linux for e-mail and calendaring -- as well as systems management. "

Google Desktop 4 (beta) review by PC Magazine

Google Desktop 4 (beta) review by PC Magazine: "You'll find a marvelously eclectic cornucopia of both whimsical programs that have no practical value and little apps you could end up finding truly useful in your day-to-day life--SyncPad, for instance, which lets you place a sticky note on one computer and view it on all computers you've set up with Google's Search Across Computers feature."

Robin Williams yucks it up for 'Spore' | CNET News.com

Robin Williams yucks it up for 'Spore' CNET News.com "Actor uses game's creature editor to make a critter that would make Darwin say, 'I'm not taking acid ever again.'"

I'm sure there's a clear statement about evolution somewhere in this article...

TechCrunch - Rumor: Yahoo Acquired Jotspot

TechCrunch - Rumor: Yahoo Acquired Jotspot: "From recent buzz and confirmation from two trusted sources, it sounds like Yahoo closed its rumored acquisition of Joe Kraus' Jotspot, and will be entering the wiki market. No official announcement of this, or any indication of price (buy Yahoo is famously stingy)."

Interesting permutation...

Google holds seminar for press on accurate story telling | The Register

Google holds seminar for press on accurate story telling The Register: "One question that kept creeping up was how Google would improve its non-search services. A couple of reporters noted that search is Google's only stable service and that other services are often flakey and not well-baked.
'Well, I guess we think a lot of (the products) are great but not perfect,' Brin said. 'You know, we probably abused the word beta.'
Brin noted that Google Labs was originally meant to be a testing zone but has since received too much attention for it to serve as a true beta ground for fledgling products.
'We don't have an appropriate venue,' he said. 'I think we need to communicate better the things that we actually expect to do well and the things that are really just where you guys are guinea pigs.'"

Phoning Home with Microsoft MSN Messenger

Phoning Home with Microsoft MSN Messenger: "Two new cordless home phones from major electronics makers that went on sale May 8 are helping Microsoft's MSN Messenger leap from the PC and into more office cubicles and living rooms.
Each phone comes preloaded with the latest test version of the instant messenger, MSN Messenger, Microsoft said.
As a result, the Win 1200 home phone from manufacturer Uniden and the VOIP433 phone from Royal Philips Electronics are both capable of making Internet phone calls via MSN Messenger. "

Google's Desktop Offensive

Google's Desktop Offensive: "On May 10 Google announced several new services aimed at moving it further into the heart of Microsoft territory: the computer desktop. For starters, it unveiled a new version of Google Desktop, which in addition to letting users search their own hard drives will now give them 'Gadgets' -- small applications that sit on the desktop to provide everything from news and weather to entertaining animations.
Also in the lineup: Google Notebook, a Web-based note-taking program; Google Co-Op, an enhancement to the search engine that lets users annotate search results; and Google Trends, which lets users chart the frequency of specific searches over time. Google touted the new wares at a series of presentations for the media at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif."

PlayStation3 consoles to sell for $499 -- will it be game over? - The Boston Globe

PlayStation3 consoles to sell for $499 -- will it be game over? - The Boston Globe: "Only 11 percent of the 1,046 gamers in a national AP-AOL Games telephone poll last month reported spending more than $500 last year on gaming, including consoles, game software, online charges, and accessories"

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Google wants to act more grown-up

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Google wants to act more grown-up: "Executives declined to discuss how they're increasingly in head-on competition with Microsoft in the search-, advertising- and online-services businesses.
But Brin acknowledged Google is concerned it could suffer the fate of Netscape, which saw its commanding lead in Web browsers dissipate after Microsoft moved in.
'We certainly see the history with that particular company -- being a convicted monopoly and not necessarily playing fair in other situations -- Netscape and whatnot -- so we want to focus early on and make sure we at least are looking at the situations where power can be abused,' he said."

Let's see -- global market share 60% and rising; when does Google qualify as a monopoly?...

Google Shows New Services in Battle of Search Engines - New York Times

Google Shows New Services in Battle of Search Engines - New York Times: "Google's new efforts are an answer to Yahoo, its main search rival, which has tried to differentiate its products by adding social features. MyWeb from Yahoo, for example, allows users to identify and label interesting Web pages and share them with their friends.
On Wednesday, Google introduced a beta, or test service, called Google Co-op. Eventually it will allow Google users to mark Web pages they like and associate each page with certain topics. For now the service is mainly of use to large organizations, which can mark their own sites with labels and submit them to Google to make relevant information easier to find in search results. "

Microsoft Offers Preview of Next Windows CE

Microsoft Offers Preview of Next Windows CE: "Windows CE 6 has been completely rearchitected with a new kernel and support for up 32,000 simultaneous processes, a huge jump over the previous limitation of 32. Each of these software processes can take advantage of its own 2 GB address space, Microsoft says. These changes, along with the ability for developers to target Windows CE 6 applications using a plug-in for Visual Studio 2005, will make Windows CE 6 more viable for next generation devices, such as set-top boxes, GPS-based mobile phones, PDAs, and various vertical devices targeting markets such as industrial automation."

NTT DoCoMo Collaborates With Microsoft to Add Windows Media Technologies to 3G FOMA Handsets

NTT DoCoMo Collaborates With Microsoft to Add Windows Media Technologies to 3G FOMA Handsets: "“Microsoft’s Windows Media platform and the company’s commitment toward enabling new digital rights management solutions for the wireless environment are helping to push the industry forward,” said Takeshi Natsuno, senior vice president, managing director, Multimedia Services of NTT DoCoMo. “With support for Windows Media, users of our FOMA handsets will enjoy a broader range of services and more choices for entertainment.”
...
With support on hundreds of devices and services, Windows Media Audio and Windows Media DRM are the most widely deployed technologies in the world for the delivery of digital music."

Google CEO sees "limitless growth" - Yahoo! News

Google CEO sees "limitless growth" - Yahoo! News: "Asked whether the Google Desktop platform represents a new level of competition with Microsoft, Schmidt reiterated that the company was not seeking to replace the Windows desktop.
'The cornerstone of our strategy is to solve new problems,' he said, adding that advertising and its resulting cash flows give Google the luxury to innovate over time.
However, co-founder and president Sergey Brin underscored the enmity between Google and Microsoft.
'We just certainly see the history of Microsoft behaving anti-competitively, not playing fair (and being) a convicted monopolist,' Brin said. "

Looks like somebody memorized his script...

Why the World Doesn't Need Hi-Def DVD's - New York Times

Why the World Doesn't Need Hi-Def DVD's - New York Times: "Just contemplating the rise of a new DVD format is enough to make you feel played. What's wrong with the original DVD format, anyway? It offers brilliant picture, thundering surround sound and bonus material. The catalog of DVD movies is immense and reasonably priced. And DVD players are so cheap, they practically fall out of magazines; 82 percent of American homes have at least one DVD player.
To electronics executives, all of this can mean only one thing: It's time to junk that format and start over."

Timely reality check

Putting the Wire Back Into Networking - New York Times

Putting the Wire Back Into Networking - New York Times: "At first blush, these products may seem to be nonstarters. After all, who would want to pay two or three times the price of a wireless network?
The answer lies in the simplicity.
Robert Stephens, founder and 'chief inspector' of the Geek Squad installation and troubleshooting division at Best Buy, said installing wireless networks was the leading reason for house calls.
...
But the real selling point for the technology is that it can transmit high-definition video without pixelating or skipping. It can claim that advantage over wireless networks — at least for now — because it has a higher data transmission rate."

WSJ.com - Personal Technology: In Our Post-PC Era, Apple's Device Model Beats the PC Way

WSJ.com - In Our Post-PC Era, Apple's Device Model Beats the PC Way: "Microsoft is hedging its bets. It has, in effect, created a little Apple inside Microsoft with the Xbox group. The Xbox team shunned Windows and wrote its own operating system and user interface, and built its own hardware. (The new Xbox was even developed using Macintosh computers.)
Some Microsoft officials dismiss this anomaly by claiming that the game-console business is a special case. But now, Microsoft has assigned the Xbox team to create a portable music player it hopes can knock off the iPod. Why? Because the company is frustrated that the component model, which separates hardware and software, has failed in the music market. It's looking for more integration.
Still, the end-to-end model isn't a lock. If Apple can't keep churning out cool products at reasonable prices, it could crash and burn. Unlike Microsoft, it doesn't have much help from other companies to succeed. But the iPod experience has shown that the PC model may not be best for all digital devices."

I'm pretty sure the Xbox team is using an OS based on Windows XP; that was definitely the case for the original Xbox, in any case.

Check Walt Mossberg's Personal Technology page for a no-subscription-required version of the article (the latest column wasn't yet posted when I created this post, however).

At a Gamers' Show, Gates Makes His Pitch as a Player - New York Times

At a Gamers' Show, Gates Makes His Pitch as a Player - New York Times: "With Microsoft's Live Anywhere system, game developers will be able to incorporate features that allow users to send instant messages between devices, and see if their friends are listening to music on their mobile phone or working on a PC. On certain games, players will be able to begin play on the Xbox 360, then switch to a mobile phone; they could also challenge others remotely regardless of whether they were using a PC or an Xbox 360. "

Bill Gates pitches "anywhere" gaming at expo - Yahoo! News

Bill Gates pitches "anywhere" gaming at expo - Yahoo! News: "Gates introduced a plan called 'Live Anywhere' that aims to capitalize on the success of Xbox Live online play to tap into a network of over 150 million users already playing games on computers that run the Windows operating system and more than one billion cell phones ready to play video games."

I'd find this a lot more disconcerting if I hadn't read
Everything Bad is Good For You...

Microsoft and Google Grapple for Supremacy as Stakes Escalate - New York Times

Microsoft and Google Grapple for Supremacy as Stakes Escalate - New York Times: "Microsoft, of course, is the reigning powerhouse of computing and Google is the muscular Internet challenger. On each side, the battalions are arrayed: executives, engineers, marketers, lawyers and lobbyists. The spending and competition are escalating daily. For each, it seems, the other passes what Andrew S. Grove, a founder and former chairman of Intel, calls the 'silver bullet test' of strategic competition. 'If you had one bullet, who would you shoot with it?'"

Timely reality check from Steve Lohr (who I wish would write another book; his Go to: The Story of the Math Majors, Bridge Players, Engineers, Chess Wizards, Scientists and Iconoclasts who were the Hero Programmers of the Software Revolution was excellent)

WSJ.com - TiVo to Offer Video From the Internet In Brightcove Deal

WSJ.com - TiVo to Offer Video From the Internet In Brightcove Deal: "TiVo Inc., in a push to add features that could help its digital video recorder stand out from rivals, reached an agreement with Brightcove Inc. that will let TiVo users download and watch video from the Internet on television sets.
Closely held Brightcove of Cambridge, Mass., will allow companies that use its system for distributing video over the Internet to make their shows available to TiVo users. Brightcove plans to start offering video from six to 12 programmers to TiVo users in June, though it didn't identify the programmers. The companies using Brightcove to publish video over the Internet include New York Times Co., Oxygen Network and SmartMoney, a finance magazine published by Hearst Corp. and Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal."

AI Gets a Brain [Amazon Mechanical Turk]

AI Gets a Brain [Amazon Mechanical Turk]: "In 1769, Wolfgang von Kempelen built an automaton that defeated many human opponents at chess. Known as 'The Turk,' the wooden mannequin toured the United States and Europe for many years, defeating such famous challengers as Benjamin Franklin, Napolean Bonaparte, and Edgar Allen Poe. The secret to the automaton was, of course, a human chess master hidden inside. Like its namesake, Amazon's Mechanical Turk presents a mechanical front to conceal, or abstract, the human processing power and intelligence hidden inside. Developers can use the Amazon Mechanical Turk Web services API to submit tasks to the Amazon Mechanical Turk Web site, approve completed tasks, and incorporate the answers into their software applications. To the application, the transaction looks very much like any remote procedure call: The application sends the request, and the service returns the results. In reality, a network of humans fuels this 'artificial artificial intelligence' by coming to the Web site, searching for and completing tasks, and receiving payment for their work. This allows software developers to easily and economically build programs that tap into a worldwide, massively parallel, Internet-scale human workforce on an incremental, as-needed basis."

Great article by two Amazon.com technologists.

Lighting Up Microsoft - May. 8, 2006

Lighting Up Microsoft - May. 8, 2006: "[John Battelle:] A lot has been made about Google's computing infrastructure - those hundreds of thousands of CPUs distributed around the globe. Why haven't we heard anything about Microsoft's?
[Ray Ozzie:] If you just step back and forget about this year or next year, in five or 10 years there will be very few companies on the face of the earth with both the capacity and the willingness to spend billions of dollars on the capital equipment and operating expenses it takes to field that kind of infrastructure. Microsoft will be one of those, Google will be one of those, and by all indications Yahoo will be one of those. I don't think any one of them will have a substantial advantage."

Read the full interview...

Warner Bros. to Sell Movies and TV Shows on Internet - New York Times

Warner Bros. to Sell Movies and TV Shows on Internet - New York Times: "'We've been struggling with peer-to-peer technology and trying to figure out a way to harness the good in all that the technology allows us to do,' said Kevin Tsujihara, the president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group.
'If we can convert 5, 10 or 15 percent of the illegal downloaders into consumers of our product, that is significant.'"

WSJ.com - Online Sharing Evolves for Warner Bros.

WSJ.com - Online Sharing Evolves for Warner Bros.: "In a sign that Hollywood is trying to adapt to a technology it long feared, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. is expected to announce that it will sell and rent movies and television shows online using BitTorrent Inc.'s peer-to-peer technology.
...
Prices haven't yet been determined, but they could be less than physical DVDs. 'We're working with a user base that is accustomed to not paying for content,' said Ashwin Navin, president and co-founder of BitTorrent, who says TV shows might sell for as little as $1."

Strange days indeed...

WSJ.com - Will Videogame Race Go to Tortoise, Hare or Alien?

WSJ.com - Will Videogame Race Go to Tortoise, Hare or Alien?: "Microsoft executives today are expected to say that the company has shipped to stores around 3.3 million Xbox 360 consoles, which they say is strong progress toward a goal of selling nearly 10 million by the time PlayStation 3 ships. That's an important threshold for attracting developers to write their best games for a system.
The company is expected to show for the first time Halo 3, the next version of the most popular game for the current Xbox and one of the key drivers of its sales. Microsoft will also demonstrate ways for mobile phones to link with its Xbox Live service, which allows Xbox 360 users to play games with each other over the Internet."

Later in the article:
"Sony announced prices for two versions of the PlayStation 3: One with a 20-gigabyte hard drive will go for $499 and one with a 60-gigabyte hard drive for $599, more expensive than many industry executives had hoped. The premium version of the Xbox 360 sells for $399. However, the PlayStation 3 will include the Blu-ray DVD drive, while a next-generation drive for the Xbox 360 will sell separately."

I suspect price elasticity is going to be a serious challenge for Sony.

PBS | I, Cringely . May 4, 2006 - Killer Apps

PBS | I, Cringely . May 4, 2006 - Killer Apps: "It doesn't take an Einstein to realize why Microsoft is headed down and
Google is headed up."

More Microsoft == bad, Google == good from Cringely. Unusually harsh and binary for Cringely, who is apparently still annoyed about an IE + Yahoo incident that recently infected two of his PCs. Tangential excerpt:

"A lot of this comes down to how companies view themselves and what they are really good at. You'll notice, for example, that I didn't include Sun in my list of vital companies. That's not so much because Sun can be defined in terms of the others but that Sun is simply doomed. Their software isn't better, their hardware isn't better, and they can't see themselves as anything but a maker of hardware or software, so my simple recommendation is that they take the rest of their cash and try entering a hot new field like -- say -- space flight. Or making really fine cakes. The world will always need fine baked goods. Or just give it back to the shareholders. Really."

WSJ.com - Silicon Graphics Files For Chapter 11 Protection

WSJ.com - Silicon Graphics Files For Chapter 11 Protection: "Silicon Graphics Inc., a long-struggling maker of high-performance computers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
SGI is known for desktop workstations and larger server systems that are favored by engineers and others who demand sophisticated graphics, including Hollywood studios. But the company has suffered a long slide, partly due to competition from machines based on standard components used in personal computers."

I.B.M. Seeks to Make the Mainframe Modern Technology - New York Times

I.B.M. Seeks to Make the Mainframe Modern Technology - New York Times: "The mainframe business, while far smaller than it was, remains crucial for I.B.M. Sales of the machines alone account for only about 5 percent of I.B.M.'s revenue. But all mainframe-related hardware, software and services account for a quarter of its revenue and, more important, about half of I.B.M.'s total operating profit, A. M. Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, estimates. "

WSJ.com - Judge Rules Apple Computer May Use Apple Logo on iTunes

WSJ.com - Judge Rules Apple Computer May Use Apple Logo on iTunes: "Apple Computer Inc. is entitled to use the apple logo on its iTunes music store, a judge ruled Monday, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Apple Corps Ltd., guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests.
Apple Corps contended that the computer company had broken a 1991 agreement in which each agreed not to enter into the other's field of business. But Judge Edward Mann ruled that the apple logo was used in association with the store, not the music, and thus was not a breach."

Poll finds 4 in 10 are electronic gamers - The Boston Globe

Poll finds 4 in 10 are electronic gamers - The Boston Globe: "According to a new AP-AOL Games poll, 40 percent of American adults play games on a computer or a console. Men, younger adults, and minorities were most likely to play those games.
Among those who describe themselves as gamers, 45 percent play over the Internet. And more than a third of online gamers spent more than $200 last year on gaming, compared with nearly a quarter of those who don't play games online."

Welcome to the New Dollhouse - New York Times

Welcome to the New Dollhouse - New York Times: "As far as we know, children have always played with dolls of one sort or another to act out variations on their own lives, or lives they observe or imagine. Today, a vast and growing number of kids are doing the same thing -- but with a very new tool. Instead of dolls, they are using video games. And perhaps most of all, they're using The Sims. "

McAfee bites into Apple security | CNET News.com

McAfee bites into Apple security CNET News.com: "McAfee has launched a Mac security product, saying that Apple Computer's OS X is 'just as vulnerable' as other operating systems are to targeted attacks. "

FAST FORWARD: Microsoft's cash versus Google - May. 5, 2006

FAST FORWARD: Microsoft's cash versus Google - May. 5, 2006: "The software giant's plan to build datacenters the size of 10 Costcos, complete with electrical substations, signals a major shift in the industry's fundamental economics.
...
I believe Microsoft's strategy will increasingly be to seek to outspend Google. Since Microsoft has $35 billion in cash, that may not seem too difficult. But at the end of the first quarter Google had $8.4 billion of its own. Then it raised another $2.1 billion in a secondary stock offering. It is clearly concerned about having sufficient financial resources. With each of its recent stock offerings, people have asked why Google could possibly need so much money. The answer is becoming clear."

Read the entire article...

foldera - blog ? Blog Archive ? A Few Words From Foldera Tech Evangelist Jnan Dash

foldera - blog ? Blog Archive ? A Few Words From Foldera Tech Evangelist Jnan Dash: "Editor's Note: Jnan Dash is Foldera's Chief Technology Evangelist and the former CTO of Oracle Corporation. Jnan was also directly responsible for the development of the DB2 database while at IBM. Here he shares with us his thoughts from two years ago when he made the decision to come aboard the then fledgling Foldera Team"

(Hey Michael, I'm ready for a briefing any time :)...)

Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed: Please Google, No New Products

Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed: Please Google, No New Products: "Apparently Google is announcing a number of new products next week, including Google Health. I wish it wasn't. Not, however, because I have anything against health-related services -- a friendlier and faster Medline would be a dandy thing -- but because I want ever-scattered Google to sit in place for a minute and finish crucial features in existing products. "

See the post for some examples.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: McCaw's Clearwire partners with AOL

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: McCaw's Clearwire partners with AOL: "Kirkland-based Clearwire said Thursday it has formed a partnership with Time Warner's America Online to resell its wireless broadband services.
The partnership is yet another high-profile announcement for Clearwire, the venture led by wireless entrepreneur Craig McCaw."

Microsoft and QUALCOMM to Revolutionize the Next Generation of Smartphones

Microsoft and QUALCOMM to Revolutionize the Next Generation of Smartphones "QUALCOMM Incorporated and Microsoft Corp. today jointly announced a collaboration to enable the porting of the Microsoft® Windows Mobile® operating system to QUALCOMM’s Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipsets. The companies’ collaboration will enable device manufacturers to develop affordable, feature-rich and attractive Windows Mobile-powered phones with MSM chipsets while shortening their product development times. Support for the Windows Mobile platform on QUALCOMM’s highly integrated MSM solutions also gives users extended battery life while running a wide variety of business and entertainment applications, such as Microsoft Office Mobile and Windows Media® Player Mobile, along with third-party offerings."

Hopefully this also means my next Windows Mobile phone will boot in less than 2 minutes...

AOL to Add Free Phone to Instant Messaging Feature - New York Times

AOL to Add Free Phone to Instant Messaging Feature - New York Times: "AOL is preparing to offer the 41 million users of its instant messaging system a free phone number that will allow people to call them from regular phones while they are online.
...
In addition to expanded Internet calling features, AOL also plans to introduce AIM Pages, an effort to compete with MySpace.com, the rapidly growing social networking service. MySpace, which is owned by the News Corporation, gives its 70 million mostly young members a place to post their writings, photographs, favorite music and video clips."

Scripting News: 5/3/2006

Scripting News: 5/3/2006: "And the [Apple] ad about viruses is just plain STUPID. Man are they asking for it. What happens when users who bought Macs thinking they couldn't get viruses all of a sudden are getting them. The Federal Trade Commission is going to love that. Can you spell Class Action Lawsuit?"

Read the rest of the day's post for some Dave Winer perspectives on Microsoft, Google, and Apple.

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Will Google win the enterprise?

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Will Google win the enterprise?: "It remains to be seen whether Google will be able to adapt its noble and strongly-held 'user empowerment' ideology to the realities of big-company operations. The company's confidence and arrogance are strengths, but they're also weaknesses.
But Worthen ends on the right note. Even if 'Google implodes on its own, done in by growth, internal squabbling or hubris,' he writes, 'the model will survive and thrive. Applications are destined to move to the Web. Perhaps not all at once, and maybe not even quickly (after all, companies are still running Cobol applications on mainframes), but Google has demonstrated that the Web computing model is viable ... And that's going to change everything for CIOs.'"

If I were using categories for this blog, I'd categorize this post (read the full essay, BTW) under "Google c2006 == Netscape c1996?"