Author: Thaddeus Preston (Nick Waye)

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Proto Podcast for 21 Feb, 2011 (Recap)

Show Notes/Topics:

– Apple Subscriptions (who cares)
– Watch the real-time fall of the GADDAFI Regime

UK Daily Mail Coverage
UK Guardian Coverage
Middle East Protest

– Internet Use Stats: Food for Thought
– Is Google Fighting the Last War? (http://goo.gl/DS2mR)
– Location Location Location (http://goo.gl/e30WS)
– future of cloud computing (http://goo.gl/422Sd)

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Is Google Fighting the Last War?

My New Social Overlord
Google executives time and time again when asked about the rising power and influence of Facebook always spout the same dismissive talking point. I’m paraphrasing but it goes a little something like this, “ we don’t look at Facebook as a competitor, our true competition that we are worried about is Microsoft.” Microsoft? Outside of the Enterprise and Consumer Electronics, where on the web should Google be worried about Microsoft?  Surely not Bing?  This got me to thinking, is Google fighting last decades war?  Like an old Cold War general, Google still sees Microsoft as a threat. The battle against Microsoft was last decades battle and their no longer the formidable forces it once was, government anti-trust suits beat that out of them. This gave the giant innovators paralysis that allowed an agile up start to win the war for search and the web. In my personal opinion Microsoft is now IBM, big, profitable and slow. Don’t get me wrong, their attempting some cool things with Bing, but Google’s mind shared couple with Android leave Redmond in the dust. The Nokia announcement aside, Microsoft is an Enterprise and Platform company that occasionally makes great consumer products. I think the focus on Microsoft as Google’s chief competitor will die a slow death once Larry Page takes the helm.  I believe Eric Schmidt neuroses about Microsoft stems from the bloody battles he fought against Microsoft as an executive at Sun and CEO of Novell in the 90’s. Back then Gates and the boys left indelible scars on those the crossed them.  Mr. Schmidt was part of that generation and I bet when he took the reins of Google he was determined to not let Microsoft win again.  Could the post traumatic scars of its CEO have left Google blind to the growth of Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare?  This is a classic example of fighting the last war. While Google dispatched its engineers to win the web versus Microsoft, they weren’t looking forward to the next web. Microsoft is not a real competitor in Google’s space.  Microsoft is IBM. In the 80’s Apple and Steve Jobs feared IBM when they should have been looking toward Microsoft and for that misstep they paid dearly, a mistake that took nearly 15 years to recover from.  With the war pretty much won,  Google is still on a myopic crusade to free us from the chains of heavy, bloated desktop software and while that’s all well and good, it’s an old battle. What the tech industry needs now is open, distributed, federated standards for social layer to the web and it looks like thay might be getting there.  The real battle  ahead  is liberating user data from the the silos of Twitter, Facebook and their ilk. Hopefully Larry will recognize this on day one.
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Location! Location! Location!

I was using the shit out of location-based services today between Buzz and FB. Did you follow me?  Here are my impressions of both services: It was kind of a tie, but I’ll give the edge to Google Buzz because Google location is pretty damn good. Google always knew where I was address wise even if its guess was one store off (by 50 feet in one case).

Facebook Places was a bit easier to use because there is an App. Buzz needs an true stand alone app on iPhone to better take advantage of Latitude, Hotpot and its other location services. Facebook just felt better because I know my family would see and comment on my location. I was even cool to see who else had checked-in at some of the places. However again the edge goes to Buzz because there was more engagement from my Buzz followers.

All-in-all my brief use of LBS today was kind of fun, but frustrating because I had to Check-in manually. The pressure was distracting. There needs to be a more automatic method to check-in to geodetic (geo-fenced) locations. Google needs to link Buzz to all if its other location services as well as allow you to use FB Places, Yelp, Foursquare and other check-in systems.  There was some good data I gleamed from my check-in activities. I hit 4 spots in an hour, a pretty efficient family outing.  I challenge you to give these services a try. You may learn something about your movements.

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Internet Use Stats: Food for Thought

The Rest of the World

This was originally posted on Tech in a Bottle blog 17 Feb 2011

There 220 million Internet users in the US so in my opinion, except for the old school types and outliers, its safe to say that exponential Internet growth in America is over.  We now have to start to think globally about the next 2 Billion plus people coming online in the next decade. Here are some numbers that will both boggle the minds of those not following this stuff like I do or have up and coming technology entrepreneurs salivating.  According to Internet World Stats there are 220 million Internet users in the US out of a total 2010 census calculated 308 million citizens.  This represents over 70% of our population with access to the Internet in some way, shape or form.  If China, which currently has a 32% Internet penetration rate ,  achieves US levels of Internet penetration that will bring their total number to 944,400,320 users online. If India, a country more amiable to an open web, where to move its Internet penetration rate  from  7% to the 70% US rate that would bring their total number to 821,175,613 users online. We’re not even counting places like Africa and the Middle East with their huge youth demographics starving for access. Most of these users coming online in the next decade will be mobile.  That is why it is important for things like HTML5 (mobile web optimized ) must be standardized soon and deployed.  The new ethos that Western developers must adopt is “build globally”.  These market needs the Internet entrepreneurs here and in Europe to aid them in building their own Silicon Valley-like ecosystems.

Western markets are saturated with clones and competitors funded by a Geocentric elite (I’m talking to you Silicon Valley). The US market doesn’t need another Foursquare, Lagos, Nigeria does.   Europe doesn’t need another location-base service, Pune, India does.  Japan doesn’t need yet another mapping service, Kinshasa, DRC could utilize such a service to map, categorize and identify locations in its growing, sprawling megalopolis.  These are market that are not only open to location based services, but could use them in innovative ways. I personally wouldn’t build a development team just to launch a US product. There are too many clones here (US). If anything I would use the US market as a test market to deploy and iterate my App or service, not as the primary target market. In a previous blog post at Blogs@Relative Progress I made a New Years Eve proclamation to “Build Something Great Some Where Else”.  Granted it was an Anti-Silicon Valley, Anti-Geeknarati hate-fest but in there were some gems of inspiration. Give it a read. Then when your done listen in on Monday nights to the “Proto Podcast” with my thoughts (and rants) out loud on tech.

Go to the Techwizshow.com under “Nick” and http://flipzu.com/nickwaye.   Also, follow me on Twitter @nickwaye. Thanks Jon for this opportunity to spit some knowledge.