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July 31, 2007
proposed Gmail feature ..
Being a gmail (and a Google!) fan ..
Here is a qs: (its not 'mobile' but I hope its interesting)
This may be very simple but I want to see a view of my inbox in terms of people that I have SENT email to i.e.
gmail already knows from SENT box who I have sent email to.
Thus if gmail shows my inbox with a view of these people, that’s VERY useful to me since people I SEND email to are valued by me.
So, suppose I sent emails to Werner, Tomi, Alan, Vladimir etc .. then I want to see a view of my inbox with these names first - the logic being almost anyone I have sent emails to is 'important' for me (and most correspondence will be with existing contacts)
Has this been done?
Thoughts? Do you think it is useful?
(I have emailed the gmail team - just wondering if such a feature is useful)
Posted by ajit at 5:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 30, 2007
Buzzwire - what's so special about it? am I missing something ..
Buzzwire(www.buzzwire.com) seems to be getting a lot of publicity.
The PR blurb says ..
Buzzwire lets you stream video, audio, and live internet radio to your mobile phone — something other companies do. — But Buzzwire does this without requiring a download — setting it apart from the crowd.
Both Scoble and techmeme have covered this.
What's special about it? seems like normal streaming to me? no? Can anyone explain?
Posted by ajit at 9:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
A question about Angola / africa ..unitel ..
Most of you can ignore this, I'm hoping to reach the one person that might actually know this question...
One of my contacts asked me this question:
Does Unitel in Angola provide mobile data services across all or part of their network either using GPRS or 3G???
Please comment or email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com kind rgds Ajit
Posted by ajit at 3:10 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Google positions in London
As many of you know, I chair Oxford University’s next generation mobile applications panel. (Free to join at forumoxford). Our last event was co-sponsored by Google and it was a great success.
Adrian Blair (Director Strategic partner development Google) was a speaker and Shannon Maher – Site Director for Engineering at Google has always been very supportive of my work in general and also forumoxford.
In that context, Google is looking for some very interesting positions in London and I am cross posting these from forumoxford to my blog.
Please don’t contact me about these – please contact the Google sourcer Sophie Le Masson: sophielm at google.com.
However, if you have a specific technical question about these positions, I may be able to add some insights
Direct candidates please (no recruiters)
For immediate consideration, please send a text (ASCII), PDF, Word or HTML version of your resume in English to Sophie Le Masson: sophielm at google.com.
Technical Account Manager – London
This position is available in London, UK.
Ready to tackle the industry’s leading challenges, affecting how millions click their mouse? Interested in joining a growing pool of world-class talent bent on bettering the world? Only Google can offer you so much potential for growth. Only Google's Partner Solutions Organization (PSO) can expose you to the full breadth of the Google experience.
The Partner Solutions Organization is an integral part of every Google partnership responsible for signing deals worth billions. That's our job, to forge strategic relationships that enable Google to acquire and distribute technology and content. Just two of our projects include Google Checkout, which is popping out all over the Web as a trusted means of payment and Gmail and Google Maps, which now go with you on your mobile device.
As a Technical Account Manager, you serve as the critical link between the lab and partner, helping to transform brilliant ideas into tangible products with your blend of technical and entrepreneurial skills. You are creative and self-motivated, excited to discover new business opportunities while optimizing existing relationships. You are comfortable assuming responsibility for all aspects of the partner relationship including the launch of new partners and the long-term satisfaction of existing partners.
Responsibilities:
• Explore and drive new business opportunities.
• Lead the integration and deployment of new partners.
• Solidify Google’s strategic partnerships across a variety of product lines, including search, mobile, video, and e-commerce.
• Guarantee the technical aspects of a partner’s integration (both new and ongoing) by providing the necessary documentation and technical guidance.
• Perform technical reviews, evangelize new product features, and ensure prompt and proper resolution of technical challenges.
• Analyze and optimize the revenue flow of existing partners.
• Assume responsibility for all aspects of a partner’s relationship with Google, forging long-term mutually beneficial partnerships.
Requirements:
• Bachelors degree in computer science (or related technical major) and/or a technically-oriented MBA.
• Strong experience in technical project management, program management, or professional services.
• Experience in Internet architecture and software development.
• Demonstrated experience working with cross-functional teams.
• Strong experience with Web technologies.
• Strong familiarity with Unix or Linux.
• HTML, XML and scripting programming experience.
• Broad understanding of TCP/IP, HTTP, and other internet protocols.
• Excellent written and oral business communication skills.
• High energy, strong team player, creative thinker, analytical skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to complete multiple tasks concurrently and deliver results under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
Desirable Experience:
• Understanding of the search engine space and advertising industry.
• Previous work in a client-facing environment with various technical and non-technical teams.
• Expertise in one or more of the following vertical markets:
o Mobile—applications and content, not networking/hardware /infrastructure.
o Video—video on demand, streaming video.
o Search—scalable architecture, information retrieval, natural language processing, understanding of web development, online advertising, SEO, SEM.
o Ecommerce—billing systems, online payment, application development.
o Email—email migration, single sign-on, provisioning.
o ISP—search, advertising, etc.
o Content acquisition in any industry.
o VOIP and telephony–software, understanding of networking.
For immediate consideration, please send a text (ASCII), PDF, Word or HTML version of your resume in English to Sophie Le Masson: sophielm@google.com.
Software Engineer, Television Technology– London
Position based in London, UK.
We are hiring well-rounded Software Engineers with a proven track record in creating and deploying robust, high-volume applications for consumer devices.
Responsibilities:
• To develop robust, high-volume applications for consumer devices.
• To develop prototype applications and manage the evolution of these to scalable, shipping products.
Requirements:
• BS/MS/PhD in Computer Science or equivalent.
• Strong Java and/or C++ skills and object oriented design experience, including working knowledge of core libraries and design patterns.
• Experience developing client or server-based applications for consumer devices (mobile, TV, or games).
• Experience with emerging TV standards such as DVB, MHP and RTSP would be an advantage, as would direct experience deploying applications with cable or telecommunications partners across the world.
• Experience with Python, Javascript, XML, and SOAP a plus.
• Experience with content management systems, user interface development for content-rich applications, cable and IPTV headend systems and digital video technology in embedded systems a plus.
Technical Solutions Engineer - London
Position based in London, UK.
Are you reading this job description on your phone? Enjoy working with the latest technologies to solve real-world business problems? Want to deliver technical solutions that expand Google’s business and drive revenue growth through strategic partnerships? Interested in gaining in-depth experience across a broad range of industries?
As a Technical Solutions Engineer in Mobile, you enhance Google’s mobile products to make them more useful for our partners using your experience developing applications for mobile devices and your in-depth knowledge of mobile application platforms. In addition, your thorough understanding of Internet and wireless protocols enables you to build tools to prevent, diagnose, and resolve problems before they affect our partners.
Google’s Partner Solutions Organization (PSO) is a strategic technology group that incubates new business ideas and delivers engineering solutions critical to the success of our global partners and Google's business. If you are a creative thinker who thrives in a fast-paced, market-driven environment, we want to talk to you. We are looking for self-motivated individuals to join our strategic execution team and solidify Google's partnerships across a variety of product lines that include search, mobile, video, e-commerce, and many other new initiatives.
Responsibilities:
• Enhance Google's mobile products to make them more useful for our partners.
• Work closely with our engineering team to enhance Google's mobile products.
• Build tools to help diagnose and resolve problems before they impact our partners.
Requirements:
• BA/BS in computer science or related technical degree, MS a plus.
• Industry experience in the wireless software industry, experience working with mobile devices is a plus.
• Programming experience in C/C++, J2ME, or BREW.
• Knowledge of mobile networks and wireless messaging (SMS, EMS, MMS) preferred.
• Scripting experience in JavaScript, PHP, Python, and/or Perl.
• In-depth knowledge of WAP, cHTML, XML/XSLT, HTTP, SSL, TCP/IP.
• Hands-on experience in UNIX or GNU/Linux system administration.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Strong organizational and analytical skills.
• High energy, self-motivated, detail-oriented, analytical.
Technical Lead Manager, Mobile Software Engineering – London
Position based in London, UK.
The successful candidate will be responsible for Mobile Software Engineering Technical Management in London. The Mobile SW Engineering Technical Lead Manager will create and manage the development of new and enhancement of existing Google products, and conduct regular product release reviews for the Mobile Team. The role will also be responsible for liaising with external partners at various phases in the project.
This is a highly visible position that is critical to Google’s future capability in the mobile space.
Responsibilities:
• Provide significant thought and hands-on technical leadership for London Mobile SW Engineering, including design and coding.
• Lead Mobile work in a number of the following areas:
o New mobile applications.
o Information retrieval algorithms.
o Large-scale cluster computing.
o Systems software.
o Java applications.
o A variety of new search products.
• Design, build and support client applications on mobile platforms, including Symbian, Palm, Java, and Microsoft Smartphones
• Work with other teams where components overlap
• Really contribute to a high quality team of people as smart as you
• Engage closely with the Product Management team to help determine the best technical implementation methods and reasonable execution schedules
• Develop and maintain strong communication processes to ensure smooth and efficient flow of accurate information across Google.com, especially between sites within EMEA and between EMEA and Mountain View.
Requirements:
• Candidates will be degree qualified in Computer Science or similar, and a PhD is desirable.
• Advanced professional technical background through actual Software Engineering in the Mobile arena.
• Proven track record for product delivery, and the effective line management of teams (10+ direct reports).
• Deep technical Mobile SW Engineering experience from a client sever/applications software environment (either in an enterprise software company or a consumer software company).
• Recognised as a hands-on technical driver of new mobile technology and products.
• Proven track record for technical product delivery with the ability to fit in well within an informal "start-up" environment requiring hands-on management.
• Demonstrated inherent ability “knowing how to learn”, mental agility, and people agility.
• Google is both a high mental-performance company and one in which working collaboratively in an almost hierarchy-free setting is prized.
• He/she will be able to establish credibility with smart engineers quickly.
• Proven track record of setting aggressive goals and meeting them, with a style characterised by personal motivation, organisational skills, and communications effectiveness.
• Ability to develop and monitor multiple project schedules and timelines, and to identify risks and mitigations.
• Must be able to communicate to senior executives internally and externally.
• Effective use of reading, writing, oral communications skills, presentation techniques, meeting mechanics, and teambuilding techniques.
• Strong experience in developing advanced applications on wireless devices: Symbian, Java (J2ME MIDP2.0), Palm, or Microsoft Smartphone/ PocketPC.
• Experience with extreme programming (XP)/ Agile development practices a plus.
Software Engineer, Mobile Applications – London
This position is based in London, UK.
Are you:
* ... a great coder, analyst, collaborator, inventor and architect all rolled into one?
* ... looking for the next cool problem to solve, in a fast-paced and engineering-driven environment?
* ... entertained in your off hours by taking things apart just to see how they work? Are you successful putting them back together when you're done?
* ... excited by the idea of making Google even faster, more reliable, more available, more – well, Googley?
If you answered "Yes" to more than three of the above questions, you may be our kind of Engineer! Keep reading.
Google is looking for highly intelligent, enthusiastic client applications engineers for Google's Mobile team in London to help us make the world's information universally accessible and useful - on mobile devices.
You must enjoy a challenge and love working with a high quality team of people as smart as you. This position provides an excellent opportunity to help drive the flow of information into users hands, with the backing of one of the most recognised brands in the world.
Our engineering team is working on problems in a number of areas, including cutting-edge mobile applications, information retrieval algorithms, large-scale cluster computing, systems software, Java applications, and a variety of novel search products.
Responsibilities:
* Designing, building and supporting client applications on mobile platforms, including Symbian, Palm, Java, and Microsoft Smartphones.
* Work closely with Product Management peers and users to understand product requirements, and with server-side colleagues to develop optimum client-server products.
* Be comfortable with multi-tasking, handling interrupts and interacting with a distributed team.
Requirements:
* University Degree in Computer Science (Ph.D a plus).
* Strong experience in developing advanced applications on wireless devices: Symbian, Java (J2ME MIDP2.0), Palm, or Microsoft Smartphone / PocketPC.
* Solid track record delivering successful client applications through the full product lifecycle.
* Excellent organisation, communication and interpersonal skills.
* Strong customer orientation.
* Experience with extreme programming (XP) / Agile development practices a plus.
Posted by ajit at 12:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2007
German hacker denied entry into U.S. for Black Hat training
German hacker denied entry into U.S. for Black Hat training
This is very sad .. especially since more and more European companies - including my company - are looking to set up an office in America. Certainly, a person of this stature can't be accused of 'taking jobs from local people!'
Posted by ajit at 11:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
If facebook is not ashamed of calling itself a utility, why are other networks and mobile network operators ashamed of being a ‘pipe’?
If facebook is not ashamed of calling itself a utility, why are other networks and mobile network operators ashamed of being a ‘pipe’? ?
Will they continue to extol the virtues of their closed models as they ride into the sunset?
Let’s start with a few general stats about facebook from Dan Farber’s blog
General Growth
• More than 24 million active users
• More than 100,000 new registrations per day since Jan. 2007
• An average of 3 percent weekly growth since Jan. 2007
• Active users have doubled since Facebook expanded registration in Sept. 2006
User Demographics
• Over 47,000 regional, work-related, collegiate, and high school networks
• More than half of Facebook users are outside of college
• The fastest growing demographic is those 25 years old and older
• Maintain 85 percent market share of 4-year U.S. universities
User Engagement
• Sixth-most trafficked site in the United States*
• More than 40 billion page views per month in May 2007
• More than half of active users return daily
• People spend an average of 20 minutes on the site daily*
Applications
• No. 1 photo sharing application on the web*
• Photo application draws more than twice as much traffic as the next three sites combined*
• More than 1.8 billion photos on the site
• More than 6 million active user groups on the site
International Growth
• Canada has the most users outside of the United States, with more than 2.5 million active users
• The U.K. is the third largest country with more than 1.4 million active users
• Remaining Top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Norway, Australia, South Africa, Lebanon, Egypt, Sweden and India
Also from the same blog ..
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls this latest iteration of the service a “social utility,” which is an apt term. It’s a utility in terms of a tool for the 24 million Facebook users, but it also reflects Facebook’s desire to become a utility, like a power company, in which potentially billions of people use the service in their personal and professional lives. Facebook, MySpace, and other growing colonies of linked communities with semi-permeable walls represent the rise of the social Web and Web utility companies.
Zuckerberg describes the Facebook core function that the new third-party applications can tap into as a “social graph,” the network of connections and relationships between people on the service.
Read that last bit again ..
Facebook’s desire to become a utility, like a power company, in which potentially billions of people use the service in their personal and professional lives.
Sounds like a pipe to me .. i.e. a utility ..
Talking to many Mobile Operators and many other social networks like Ryze, Myspace, Ecademy etc etc .. that’s the LAST thing they want to be ! i.e. a utility ..
In that sense .. its ironic is it not that this ‘pipe/utility’ is valued at $10 billion or more - while valuations of most Mobile network operators and other closed networks continue to languish ..
There is a lesson here ..
And it has to do with the network effects i.e. the market is paying for existing rate of growth, future rates of growth and competitive advantages .. (look at the scramble for survival from linkedin and others to emulate FB )
This is not new .. in fact .. it’s as old as the Internet itself .. i.e. any network that can emulate the open ethos of the Internet .. can grow at a phenomenal rate ..
I talked about this in a blog called Salt Pepper and Social networking ..
As I said in the Salt, Pepper and social networking ..
>>>
And what is the ethos of the Internet? It’s something I have been advocating to Mobile network operators for years now .. You can summarise it by the phrase: ‘Dumb pipes and Smart nodes’
The network (Internet) itself is ‘dumb’. Its only job is to ‘connect people’. The value is provided by the nodes (the people / systems that are at the ends of the pipe). Jonathan Schwartz summarises these ideas in the Power of the end nodes (AKA: ‘the network is the computer’). I believe that the same phenomenon applies to social networks on the Internet. The moment you introduce tiered membership, complex pricing models and so on, you hamper connectivity. The effective size of the network decreases because all members can’t do all things.
<<<
So closed network, telecoms networks as they are today, social networks which have a fee structure .. win the battle .. i.e. make some money .. but lose the war .. i.e. have low valuations due to poor growth rates.
In fact, with the rate of growth of open networks – they may well lose the battle to survive ..
The battle for being a ‘pipe or not utility vs. non utility’ is sooo Web 1.0 – most people don’t realise that in a world of connectivity there is no unpipe!
And there in lies the success of facebook i.e. simply in connecting people and let intelligence shift to the edge of the network(think facebook applications)!
Sadly, many will never get it – and will continue to extol the virtues of their closed models as they ride into the sunset ..
Image source: noopportunitywasted
Posted by ajit at 10:15 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Iraq celebrates football victory
Iraq celebrates football victory - this is good news for Iraq! and its nice to celebrate good news from Iraq ..
>>>
Thousands of Iraqis have spilled onto the streets to celebrate their football squad's Asian Cup victory, firing guns into the air despite a government ban.
Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0. Celebratory gunfire was heard in Baghdad, where authorities had banned vehicles and urged fans not to gather.
It was feared crowds could be targets for bombers. Some 50 people died in attacks after Wednesday's semi-final.
Correspondents say Iraq's progress has temporarily united the divided country.
The team includes Sunni and Shia Muslims, as well as Kurds.
In pictures: Football fever
Thousands of Iraqis, who had been following the match in Indonesia on television, rushed into the streets of the capital and other cities to celebrate.
The crowds in Baghdad included members of the security forces. Guns were fired into the air despite an earlier warning by the authorities that any such displays would be punished.
"It's a huge success for Iraq and it's a very, very good news for Iraq," Iraq's national security adviser Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie told the BBC.
"You should come to see the jubilation and the joy which is spreading all over Baghdad's streets now. People are pouring in, hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into the streets."
Meanwhile, at the stadium in Jakarta, the BBC's Lucy Williamson said the atmosphere was electric.
She said there was huge sympathy and support in Indonesia for the Iraqi team, for their difficulties in training and the continuing violence at home.
Football fever
Earlier, the Iraqi authorities banned the use of vehicles in Baghdad until 0600 (0200 GMT) on Monday in an effort to prevent a repeat of the bloodshed which followed the semi-final win.
The crowds in Baghdad included members of the security forces
A similar ban was also imposed in the northern city of Kirkuk.
Military spokesman Brigadier General Qassim Moussawi said they wanted to stop "terrorists, Sunni extremists and criminals from targeting the joy of the people".
Iraq surprised the football world by beating tournament favourites Australia, and then former winners South Korea in Wednesday's semi-final match.
Wild celebrations followed that victory, with crowds dancing in the streets and waving the national flag.
But the party was brought to a bloody end as insurgents detonated bombs in two parts of Baghdad, killing about 50 people.
Posted by ajit at 9:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thin and dumb, or fat and smart? - The interim steps ..
Dont miss this article by Dominique HAZAEL-MASSIEUX of the W3C and also see some insights from CEO on this topic
Both Dominique and CEO are clued on guys and good friends ..
Its nice to see W3C take the right initiatives in this space ..
The key aspect is the interim steps ..
>>>
The goal seems clear: getting the two paths to converge at some point in the future; getting there is difficult, but there are a few intermediate steps that seem pretty important to me:
there needs to be some serious work on the offline capabilities of mobile devices - Google Gears may be a step in that direction, but I tend to think that some real investment on making HTTP-caching a platform-level operation (the same way getting a network connection is, for instance) would be a tremendeous help - I have already ranted about it for browsing, but that's even more important for Web applications development; more largely, synchronization protocols will become increasingly important - WebDAV, CalDAV should lead the way, but a generic framework for synchronizing data has not crossed my radar yet
currently, most browsers don't have access to low-level client APIs; there has been a lot of work done in the Java world on defining these interfaces (through the JSR process), but they remain invisible to the browsers in most cases, and to their client-side scripting capabilities even more so; the W3C Ubiquituous Web Application Working Group is chartered among other things to look at this problem space, and hopefully will make it possible for Web applications to get better integrated in their hosting devices
Web access should become much more pervasive in client-side applications; as of today, on most phones, if you get a Web address in an SMS or in your calendar application, you would be hardpressed to use it directly to launch your local browser
the level of interoperability for rich client Web technologies needs to improve dramatically to make it possible to rely on them for serious user interfaces; I'm hopeful that the work made by the W3C Compound Document Formats Working Group will help; it seems also to me that increasing the availabilities of test suites for user agents is primordial to achieve that goal
<<<
Posted by ajit at 11:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
futuretext announces partnership with Frauenhofer FOKUS
I am happy to announce a partnership between futuretext(my company) and Frauenhofer FOKUS. As you know from reading my blog, I work closely with the Mobile Web, IMS and Convergence. I already conduct a course on Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS at Oxford University and also spoke on the synergies between Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS at the Informa IMS event in Monaco.
Hence, the partnership with Frauenhofer FOKUS is especially strategic.
What does this mean in practice?
I have always believed that Mobile Web 2.0 stretches far beyond the browser. With the advent of IP within the Telecoms network led by IMS, the digital world becomes a truly interesting place.
The impact stretches far beyond ‘mobile’ – since all the players in the value chain are adopting IP simultaneously – leading to a true convergence between Fixed, Mobile, IPTV, Cable and so on ..
The role of the Telecoms operator, far from being a pipe, will become more strategic as the Operator starts to leverage assets like Identity, Location etc through APIs. We will also see completely new mashup services that span the Web, IPTV, Cable, Fixed and Mobile ecosystems.
What makes Frauenhofer FOKUS unique is its infrastructure, IMS testbeds and overall approach. I have been working with Dr Thomas Magedanz and Niklas Blum from earlier this year and we have made great progress with a lot more to come ..
Specifically, the focus of our partnership will be
a) Creating a framework for integrating the concepts of Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS
b) Addressing the non Telco world and specifically the ‘Web’ world outlining the benefits of Telecoms and convergence
c) Focusing on the North American market for fixed, mobile, cable, IPTV and Web – which is an important personal focus for me as well as the partnership
d) A book called Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS – which will we are jointly working on
We are looking for partners in America and I am already spending a lot of time there. If you have any synergies and want to help us set up a consulting/training/event business in North America, please comment here or contact me by email on ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com(note we are moving servers this weekend so email may be sporadic)
PS: If you can make it to Berlin, dont miss this workshop on NGN, IMS, Triple play and convergence
Posted by ajit at 12:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 26, 2007
Potential downtime this weekend
Hello all
We are moving servers this weekend and there may be some downtime for the blog. Also, my personal email may be affected. Hopefully all should be well by Monday. Apologies for the downtime .. kind rgds Ajit
Posted by ajit at 10:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Reputation, Identity, Trust, Thomas Power and Cloning ..
Identity and Reputation are of interest to me since they are related to my PhD – and hence I have a viewpoint on this story ..
I have learnt a lot from a UK based online networking site called ecademy – both the Dos and the Don’ts ..
This is a case of ‘Don’ts
For me, the story starts with an article about Ecademy founder Thomas Power in the BBC.
Since I got to know this from another source – I thought that it was unusual – since any PR mention of Ecademy is widely propagated on the site ..
Unless .. It is not exactly flattering ..
Which it transpires – it was not!
The issue has to do with Thomas using ‘ghost bloggers’ i.e. paying people to write on his behalf under his name ..
Indeed, famous politicians use ghost writers .. And so do others use ghost writers ..
What’s wrong in doing the same online?
A LOT in my view ..
Let’s take a step back ..
Identity is based on primary attributes (such as biometric information). In the absence of primary attributes, Conferred Identity is used which is based on attributes from accepted sources (such as a passport).
Reputation is what others say about me. The more ‘reputed’ these other people are and the more they ‘know’ you and vouch for you – the better your reputation
All this takes an interesting turn in the online world
Online Identity does not necessarily mirror your ‘real’ identity. Thus, Online Identity is malleable. Hence it needs to be complemented by reputation.
In other words, Reputation becomes a very important part of my online identity because my online identity is malleable and non unique.
Also, Reputation is additive i.e. accumulates over time. Thus, online Identity and reputation are interlinked – and may even be synonymous
It is in this context that – a ghost blog writers become a betrayal of Identity, Reputation and ultimately .. that most valued of commodities online – Trust!
If the person behind the blog is ‘not’ Thomas – how can I trust Thomas? How can the people ‘vouching’ for a blogger – know who they are vouching for(since Identity has got muddied now)?
Thus, there is a breakdown of Reputation(since the Identity of the blogger is unknown) and also trust.
The BBC article quotes Thomas as: "People expect me to have a profile on all the social networks - Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn,"
My view is .. Not really .. No .. people simply expect us to be ourselves and human ..
Behind the scenes cloning is not human! :)
Posted by ajit at 11:17 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 25, 2007
Ovum's flawed registration process ..
This is very irritating and so customer unfriendly .. I wanted to see a document from Ovum(I found the title through Google). After a fairly long registration process, which included giving my address, whether I was an 'incumbent telecom operator' or a 'new entrant' - I finally find that the document is a part of their paid subscription!
(If I had known it was a paid document, I would not have signed up for it in the first place)
Not very customer friendly .. and now I guess I am stuck for life with emails from Ovum!
Posted by ajit at 9:43 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 24, 2007
The WHAT principle and the WHO effect
By Tony Fish
Tony fish, co-author of Mobile Web 2.0
Source: Tony Fish on etribes
This Viewpoint focuses on where value is being created. As professionals and industry leaders we understand that market development through the integration of mobile, TV and web creates possibilities and complexity. Whilst it is evident that new interactive and customer engaging services can be created, without the enormous development costs of pre-Internet days; where our limited resources should be focused is still a significant concern. Balancing risk and reward is as much an executive skill today as at any time in corporate history.
With the attention of the world press, Apple has launched the iPhone, however, the iphone doesn’t create additional value for the device and telecoms market. Apple sells devices at the expense of Nokia and Motorola, AT&T acquires additional subscribers from competitors by forced churn, but these activities don’t grow the market. Apple and its global telecom partners hope that through personalization, the newly acquired customers will not churn again, therefore retaining value for themselves through the introduction of a new device (and its children); but no new incremental market value has been created.
The WHAT principle
The focus of today’s services is personalization – the making of your user experience, creating value from the reduction in churn and incremental service revenue, assuming that any incremental margin is not eroded by competitive pressures. The focus on personalization is, to AMF Ventures understanding, a focus on WHAT:– what you as a user want to do; what service you want; what is needed now. The sole benefactor is the individual, but does this create any value? The assumption is that personalization provides focus, and that this focus leads to the ability to deliver engaging and personalized services including advertising. This advertising being derived from the same advertising budgets, which is now redirected from other display channels. Therefore does personalization actually create any new value and will it actually grow the overall spend of the entire market?
Commentators, consultants and media sellers will provide convincing evidence to back their own propositions and the purpose of this Viewpoint is not to debate the personalization opportunity but to introduce the WHO effect. Whilst personalization will increase value for the provider; assuming that there is value for the user, it does not itself create new value for the entire converged industries. However mobile personalization could create value, if the focus is on WHO and not WHAT!
The WHO effect
Personalization has been about the WHAT principle. This has focused on a single customer: ‘you’. The WHO effect is the multiplier. The focus shifts from WHAT, to orientate on WHO you are doing something with. In simple terms when you go for dinner, who are you with? When you are in a business meeting or seminar, who are you with? When you are at a concert, in school, or on holiday – who are you with? The opportunity is that these ‘WHO’s’ are gravitating toward and enjoying the same experiences as ‘you’. The additional profiles of those who you are with, can combine to create a new and incremental market value!
Consider the advertising issue created through personalization, it reaches you – one person in two billion. The world is divided into two billion personalized worlds, only relevant to one person at any given time, and each person with an unequal bite of the advertising spend! The WHO effect would suggest that as you are enjoying something with others, even though it is outside of their personalized preference, it is possible that it would be worth providing information on products and services to the group. The WHO effect is the electronic ‘word of mouth’. It assumes and depends on the fact that we adopt at different rates and some not at all. These issues provide the limitation to personalization and the WHAT principle, but opportunity to the WHO effect.
This WHO effect is not open to the traditional broadcast, TV and entertainment companies, although they are the traditional home of the display advertising budgets. This service could be offered by Web companies, however as your profile and personalization has a dependency on your web access time, it could be difficult. The major benefactor of the WHO effect will be mobile companies as the mobile device becomes the platform to collect data, interrupt the connection and deliver the value.
The opportunity to exploit the WHO effect is not open to companies who want to ‘control’ the user experience and developer environment such as Apple, they can only enjoy the WHAT principle. Open mobile platforms, open access services and developers who services work across all devices will be able to exploit the WHO effect. The multiplier value of mobile is not in knowing WHAT you are doing (location and attention), but WHO you are doing it with; surely the outcome is WHO Google buys and not WHAT!
Development of ‘Mobile Web 2.0’ thinking and debate by Tony Fish.
Tony Fish can be reached at tony.fish at amventures.com
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July 18, 2007
On holidays ..
I will be away on holiday for the rest of this week in Switzerland. Will be back early next week onwards ..
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Carphone warehouse publishes Mobile Life report ..
I meant to blog this before, Carphone warehouse has published a free report called Mobile Life. on the impact of the mobile phone in our daily lives. Well worth a read. Fast becoming an industry standard
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July 13, 2007
Is this true Carterphone? New Rules Could Change Wireless Forever
This is true Carterphone principle ! Very interesting!
From Yahoo news:
>>>>
You buy a cell phone, load any software you want on it, then choose your carrier. This vision of expanded consumer choices in the wireless world might be a little closer today than it has ever been, especially with reports that the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is circulating an "open platform" proposal for the upcoming auction of the 700-MHz band.
FCC Chair Kevin Martin told USA Today on Monday that "whoever wins this spectrum" will have to provide a "truly open broadband network -- one that will open the door to a lot of innovative services to the consumer."
He said an open network would mean a consumer could "use any wireless device and download any mobile broadband application, with no restrictions," except for illegal or malicious software. USA Today and other news outlets are reporting that Martin has sent or is about to send a draft proposal to his fellow commissioners.
Martin noted that, in some other countries, consumers usually take their unlocked devices with them when they change carriers, as opposed to in the U.S., where cell phones typically are locked for use only on a given carrier's network.
Google Applauds Martin
Writing Tuesday on its public policy blog, Google Telecom and Media Counsel Richard Whitt applauded the reports of Martin's proposal. Whitt, hired by Google a few months ago, formerly headed up MCI's regulatory department.
Google, which said it has not decided whether it will participate in the auction, sent a letter to the FCC on Monday, according to Whitt, urging that winning bidders be required to adopt several types of "open platforms."
A key part of open platforms, Google contends, is that consumers would be able to use any combination of devices, software applications, content, or services. In addition, the company maintains, resellers should be able "to acquire wireless services from a 700-MHz licensee on a wholesale basis," and ISPs should be able to interconnect "at a technically feasible point" to a 700-MHz licensee's wireless network.
However, Current Analysis analyst Bill Ho identified potential issues with these ideas, notingthat interconnection and the use of any device could require some uniform or encompassing technological standards, rather than the competing standards that now exist.
Gearing Up for Epic Sale
The auction for bandwidth, scheduled for later this year, is gearing up to be epic. The sale will include spectrum in the 700-MHz band that has been used for analog television since the beginning of that medium, as U.S. TV is going completely digital by mid-2009.
The 700-MHz spectrum is particularly valuable because it penetrates walls and various obstacles more effectively than other frequencies, and the FCC is now developing the rules for the auction.
A 108-MHz block of bandwidth will become available after the analog TV stations complete their transition. Of that 108 MHz, 60 MHz will be auctioned in January 2008, public safety officials will receive 24 MHz, and 24 MHz already has been sold.
Estimates indicate that the auction could yield $20 to $30 billion for the government
<<<<
Source: New Rules Could Change Wireless Forever
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Japan goes back to the dark age of election campaigning..
I feel strongly about this because technology is the one way in which we can spread democracy and good governance at a grass roots level! So, it’s a 'wider' aspect of 'Open Gardens' i.e. Open societies!
Compared to the refreshing approach by the European parliament and also Senator Barrack and others, it is indeed strange to see Japan taking this stance.
I have always believed that both Japan and Korea have structural flaws in their society that need to be revised / modernised.
In that sense, the West is a far better place in the long run for the growth of technology and indeed Japan and Korea should learn much from the West in terms of Open societies.
Note that all this is motivated by ‘treating politicians with respect’ i.e.
>>>
Here in Japan, it is seen as important to treat politicians with respect. But such is the deference paid to them; it is hard for anyone to challenge them to try new ways to make the political system better.<<<
But that just impedes the growth of society, maintains existing cartels and fiefdoms.
This is indeed a backward step for Japan!
from the BBC
>>>
Surprisingly, in a country with some of the fastest broadband speeds and a wide internet penetration, it is now illegal for candidates to create new websites or update existing web pages between now and election day, 29 July
<<<
Japan's old-fashioned campaigning
By Chris Hogg
BBC News, Tokyo
This Japanese politician's office in Second Life is closed temporarily
Now the campaign for the upper house election in Japan has started, tough rules on how politicians can canvas for votes have come into force.
Surprisingly, in a country with some of the fastest broadband speeds and a wide internet penetration, it is now illegal for candidates to create new websites or update existing web pages between now and election day, 29 July.
So instead, the loudspeaker vans are out on the streets again. The candidates sit inside, waving regally wearing white gloves, smiling and politely asking for votes.
Prof Phil Deans, who works at Temple University in Tokyo, describes it as "almost a throwback to the 1950s".
"Cars with speakers on the roof, the use of posters, leafleting, and the almost complete absence of electronic media to communicate political messages, is one of the most startling things about the way elections are conducted here," he says.
Kan Suzuki wants to change all that. He is a lawmaker who wants to modernise the way elections are fought here.
In my constituency, I can only distribute enough [leaflets] for 3% of voters
Kan Suzuki
He has built an office in Second Life, the virtual world where you can work, play and interact with others.
Here, he says, he can get his message out to people who do not normally listen to politicians.
But now that the campaign has started, he has had to close the office temporarily.
"Basically, the election law was drawn up in the 1950s," he says.
He is also critical of another old-fashioned rule, limiting the number of posters and leaflets that a candidate can give out.
"In my constituency, I can only distribute enough for 3% of voters to get a leaflet from my party. So 97% of voters can't. How can I reach them?"
Little support
Usually Japan allows its politicians to use the internet to communicate with voters.
But as soon as an election campaign starts - the time when you might well think you would really want to communicate with them - the use of electronic media for campaigning is banned.
Instead it is on the traditional media where politicians hold court - for instance, on ponderous political TV discussion shows that sometimes look like they have not changed in 20 years.
YouTube is more casual... but if the government or any politicians are on the web it doesn't feel right
Kentaro Shimano, student
Prof Yasunori Sone, a political analyst from Keio University in Tokyo, says Japanese election law is very strict.
"There are many rules and prohibitions. But many parties want a strict law to contain other parties' political activities," he says.
"Some of us are trying to get the law changed. But the number of supporters for a change in the law is very small."
One group you would think would be keen to see the internet used in campaigning is young voters.
In Japan, 95% of people in their 20s surf the web, but only a third of them bother to vote.
Some, though, do not seem keen on politicians using the web to try to win their support.
"I believe that internet resources are not very official," says Kentaro Shimano, a student at Temple University in Tokyo.
"YouTube is more casual; you watch music videos or funny videos on it, but if the government or any politicians are on the web it doesn't feel right."
Haruka Konishi agrees.
"Japanese politics is something really serious," she says. "Young people shouldn't be involved, I guess because they're not serious enough or they don't have the education."
There cannot be many places in the world where students feel their views should not count. Perhaps it is really a reflection of the reality - that they do not.
Here in Japan, it is seen as important to treat politicians with respect.
But such is the deference paid to them, it is hard for anyone to challenge them to try new ways to make the political system better.
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July 11, 2007
Sprint-Nextel - Banning top 1000 complaining (paying) customers
Tomi Ahonen is very upset and has a long blog about this issue : For industry accused of arrogance, pinnacle of conceit: Customer comes last at Sprint Nextel
Tomi says ..
>>>
CNN has just a few moment ago reported that Sprint Nextel, in its infinite wisdom, has sent 1,000 of its customers a letter informing them that because they have placed too many calls to the calling center asking for help or complaining about the Sprint/Nextel services, they are terminating the customer relationship.
Sprint Nextel must immediately apologize and invite all cancelled customers to return. We cannot allow ANY business to arbitrarily punish customers who call the calling center "too much above the average"
Shame on you Sprint Nextel ! This will go down as the most moronic marketing move by any company ever, worse than New Coke. The Marketing Management at Sprint Nextel better offer their resignations and the CEO better accept them. This is shameful for the whole profession of marketing, not just wireless telecoms.
We will monitor this story and report on its developments. I will dig up Sprint Nextel's CMO name etc next. But all of you, please join us, blog about this now and condemn this abusive action. No company can get away with this. Not in this new age when Communities Dominate.
<<<
The report is HERE
The report says that Sprint 'needed to cull its customer base to improve services'. :)
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Links from my Oxford courses: Web 2.0, IMS, user generated content, mobile web 2.0
Last week, I conducted two courses at Oxford University: Web 2.0 and user generated content (now conducted for the second time) and Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS (conducted jointly with Mark Searle)
These courses have an industry audience – i.e. not normally for the students of Oxford – and participants included senior strategists from Qualcomm, France Telecom, Nokia, Du, HP, Mobile Dhamal (India), Vodafone, BBC, three, Openwave, HP, Michael Page International and also a number of start-ups and communities
I always learn a lot from the participants and it was great to have so much feedback and many insights from the two courses.
Many thanks to Peter Holland for some great promotion of these courses and they seem to have become a permanent fixture of Oxford now.
Here are some of the links I used in this course
And also links from my blogs
Crossing the chasm with the Long Tail
Salt, Pepper and Social networking
The mathematics of Web 2.0
SEO – how to use blogs for social networking
Feedback on the book Cult of the Amateur
Communities are not web 2.0 because talk is cheap
Mobile web 2.0: AJAX for mobile devices – why mobile AJAX will replace both J2ME and XHTML as the preferred platform for mobile applications development
The Mobile Ajax FAQ
Dick Hardt’s Identity 2.0 presentation
Finally, my book is at Mobile Web 2.0 and forumoxford is at forumoxford(free to join) – chaired by Ajit and Tomi
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July 9, 2007
weaverluke gets seed round funding ..
It is always good to see a British company get funding .. And better still when it is founded by one of my friends :) .. I have a lot of respect for Luke Razzell's views and last week, Luke's startup got seed round funding. My compliments to Luke and his team. Watch this space.
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Grand Central: I am not a number – I am a tag
In our book Mobile Web 2.0, we put forward many ideas, not all of which may stand the test of time. However, two have clearly started to be mainstream
The first is the power of Mobile Ajax ; and that is becoming a reality through the uptake of the Mobile Web and other factors such as the release of the iPhone
The second was a very disruptive concept called I am not a number – I am a tag – posted originally by Tony Fish.
The idea of I am not a number – I am a tag sounded far fetched even a year ago .. Suddenly with the acquisition of Grand Central by Google , it is not.
The fulfillment of the ‘I am not a number – I am a tag’ vision requires two things to happen
a) A Web based ‘tag’ which maps to all your ‘phone numbers’ and
b) A validation of that tag
(a) is Grand Central
As per zdnet
>>>
Google has acquired GrandCentral Communications, a start-up that lets users manage their existing phones and voice mailboxes over the web as if they were a single account, the company said on Monday.
"You get a single phone number that forwards to all of your phones, giving you one number for life," Walker and Paquet said in a statement on GrandCentral's website confirming the deal.
<<<
Grand Central has some really cool features ..
As per techworld
>>>
GrandCentral's users can combine all their phone numbers and voice-mail boxes under one phone number so they can manage various phone features online. Users can set up their accounts so that the number can ring on one or multiple phones, based on who is calling. Customers can hear voice-mail online or from a phone, and forward voice-mails to others or post them to a blog.
Users can log into their online address book and then click on an entry to make a call. Once the user clicks on the number, GrandCentral calls the user’s designated phone and then connects it to the number from the address book.
<<<
(b) , The second problem(identifying a ‘trusted’ tag based on information from other tags), was addressed by Dick Hardt in his famous presentation at Web 2.0 2005.
Dick’s company sxip presented a mechanism called sxore which has now sadly been discontinued but you can see more about it HERE
But others are addressing this problem.
The problem of a generic system of trusted tags has been addressed by researchers like Levin (and is also related to my own PhD at UCL
In any case, this area is starting to get a lot of interest
If you are interested, you can see one such implementation of a Trust metric (Levin) in the following three links(Gets very mathematical but the even if you ignore the mathematical part, the overview is good)
http://www.levien.com/free/tmetric-HOWTO.html
http://www.advogato.org/trust-metric.html
http://www.levien.com/thesis/compact.pdf
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July 7, 2007
Looking for management consultants: Middle east ..
A friend of mine is looking for the following:
If you are interested, please email me at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com with the keyword: 'Contract' in the subject line
Chief Commercial Officer type - next generation networks, broadband or cable
company type background.
Chief Technology Officer - next generation networks, broadband or cable
company type background.
Chief Financial Officer - next generation networks, broadband or cable
company type background.
Senior project managers - implementation of next generation networks.
Will be 6 - 8 months full time in relatively safe Middle Eastern country
(with return trips of course).
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July 5, 2007
Seedcamp: from Saul Klein
From Saul Klein via Tony Fish
I know I've spoken to you all at some point about trying to create something in Europe which would help to inspire and support the next generation of young technology entrepreneurs create world-beating businesses.
Well, things are finally starting to take shape in the form of Seedcamp - there is a short presentation online.
Up till now, its just been the work of some really great people who've dedicated some serious time to kick start the process but now we've laid a few foundations to hopefully get some more people involved.
How? It's easy... please let people know
· Blog about it (please use "seedcamp" tag)
· Pass along this email to someone you think could help or would like to be involved
· Tell a young entrepreneur to apply
And if you're inclined to get more involved (which we'd really love), please let me know - you've all made a real difference to the development of the industry in Europe and you can really inspire young talent to do great things.
Please let me know.
Hope you're all very well
Saul
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Andrew Keen – The cult of the amateur - Book review by Tony Fish
By Tony Fish
Tony fish, co-author of Mobile Web 2.0
Source: Tony Fish on etribes
Andrew Keen – The cult of the amateur – how today’s internet is killing our culture and assaulting our economy.
This is a great read as it is the counter balance to the O’Reilly message and excitement over social networking and user generated content, and if for that reason alone – read it.
I suffer with the assumptions, the logic and overall lack of deep coherent strategic thinking. Given the recognition of change – to address the change from one direction (traditional media) without the suggestion that other (tech, telecom, web and mobile) could be the benefactor of the change is naive. It is an ivory tower defence of his own industry and suggests that this should survive above all others.
There is a premise that an amateur is an amateur and will always be an amateur in every context. The book does not recognise a specialist or expert. An expert in one field should not cross the divide and try to move into media. I am not sure when an amateur becomes an expert, where does the ability come from to make a judgement of taste vs talent? Why is a director or editor so good - because he amateur consumers read it and like it – voting with cash. But they are only good or an expert why there is money to be made – this argument is never put forward.
Whilst there is an abundance of criticism of the ‘free business model’ and user generated content from an ‘amateur’ there is no suggestion of a better model. The question you are left with is so what. This is a defence of the existing job and own career and not positioned to punch through to the next level.
There is an underlying belief that all amateur content is rubbish and that the professionals are the only ones who can produce results - there is no difference between news and opinion. Keen never brings out a case where the amateur has caused, to the mainstream medias’ embarrassment, revelations that what they promoted as fact was a lie. WhiteWashGate
Keen ignores the fact that cost saved in one business area is either passed on as profit and increasing wealth to shareholders or diverted into some other budget. Whilst a travesty that adverting lost out on one model, Google gained on the other – there is a need for a balance, especially when my pension fund is at stake.
On page 69, Keen is right to point out that amateur claims are dangerous, but the belief that two governors, four congressmen, three former white house officials and two special counsels are more trust worthy or without bias. If they were (trustworthy) the news industry would be dead! The question is about motivation, not trust!
Perhaps the reason that most of the UGC is rubbish is that we have all read too much mainstream media, watched too much TV ? Where is the responsibility for the education level. Further the book assumes that the news reporters are of a higher moral standing than everyone else. Why then sensational headlines? What sells?
Another assumption is because it works (media) keep it. I am so glade we stuck at the steam train!
I am not sure that surveillance is the issue, capture, sharing and analysis are. People have always watched other people, it is just there is now a mechanism for perfect recall. Everyone Knows.
My favourite bits
Page 7
It’s hardly surprising that the increasingly tasteless nature of such self-advertisements has led to an infestation of anonymous sexual predators and paedophiles
Page 9
Old media is facing extinction. But if so, what will take its place? Apparently, it will be Silicon Valley’s hot new search engines, social media sites, and video portal. Every new page on MySpace, every new blog post, every new YouTube video adds up to another potential source of advertising revenue lost to the main stream media
Page 14
Audience and author had become one, and we were transforming culture into cacophony (discord, disharmony)
Page 17
Truth, to paraphrase Tom Friedman, is being “flattened”, as we create an on-demand, personalised version that reflects our individual myopia. One person’s truth becomes as “true” as anyone else’s. Today’s media is shattering the world into a billion personalized truths, each seemingly equally valid and worthwhile.
Page 20
Truth and trust are the whipping boys of the web 2.0 revolution
Page 21
As Marshall Poe observed in the September 2006 issue of the Atlantic “ We tend to think of truth as something that resides in the world. The fact that two plus two equals four is written in the stars…. But wikkipedia suggests a different theory of truth. Just think about the way we learn what words mean… the community decides that two plus two equals four the same way it decides what an apple is, by consensus. Yes, that means that it the community changes its mind and decides that two plus two equals five, then two plus two does equal five. The community isn’t likely to do such an absurd or useless thing, but it has the ability”
Page 23
Our attitudes about “authorship,” too, are undergoing a radical change as a result of today’s demorcratized Internet culture, In a world in which audience and author are increasingly indistinguishable, and where authenticity is almost impossible to verify, the idea of original authorship and intellectual property has been seriously compromised.
Page 23
This nebulous definition of ownership, compounded by the ease in which we can cut and paste other people’s work to make it appear as if it’s ours, has resulted in a troubling new permissiveness about intellectual property.
Page 25
The liquid version of a book
Page 27
This blurring of liners between the audience and the author, between fact and fiction, between invention and reality further obscures objectivity. The cult of the amateur has made it increasingly difficult to determine the difference between reader and writer, between artist and spin doctor, between art and advertisement, between amateur and expert. The result? The decline of the quality and reliability of the information we receive, thereby distorting, if not outrightly corrupting, our national civic conversation.
Page 28
Our culture is essentially cannibalizing its young, destroying the very sources of the content they crave.
Page 28
You the consumer as the creator
Page 29
But while there may be infinite typewriters, there is a scarcity of talent, expertise, experience, and mastery in any given field. Finding and nurturing true talent is a sea of amateurs may the real challenge in today’s Web 2.0 world.
Page 32
The real challenge in Anderson’s long tail market of infinite shelf space is finding what to read, listen to, or watch. If you think the choice in your local record store is daunting, then just wait till the long tail uncoils it infinite length. Trawling through the blogshere, or the millions of bands on MySpace, or the tens of millions of videos on YouTube for the one or two blogs or songs or video with real value isn’t viable for those of us with a life or a full time job. The one resource that is challenged all the more by this long tail of amateur content is out time – the most limited and precious resource of all.
Page 34
In a cartoon that appeared in the New Yorker in 1993, two dogs sit beside a computer. One has his paw on the keyboard; the other is looking at him quizzically. “On the Internet,” the dog using the keyboard reassures his canine friend, “nobody knows you’re a Dog” That is more true than ever, On today’s self-publicising internet, nobody knows if you’re a dog, a monkey, or the Easter bunny. That’s because everyone lese is too busy ego-casting, too immersed int eh Darwinian struggle for mind-share, to listen to anyone else
Page 48
Citizen journalists simply don’t have the resources to bring us reliable news. They lack not only expertise and training, but connections and access to information.
Page 49
“In America, bloggers don’t go to jail for their work” That’s the difference between professionals and amateurs”
Page 51
Gillmore’s answer reflected the self-absorption of the typical amateur journalist. He told be that the real value of citizen journalism was it’s ability to address niche markets otherwise ignored by mainstream media.
When I asked him for an example, he replied, Hybrid Cars.
Page 52
Unfortunately, the internet is bloated with the hot air of the amateur journalists, Despite the size of their readership[, even the A-list bloggers have no formal journalist training. And, in fact, much of the real news their blogs contain has been lifted from (or aggregated from) the very news organisations they aim to replace
Page 55
“.. the only conversations we want to hear are those with ourselves and those like us.”
Page 59
The popular Toronto band Bearnecked Ladies recently launched a “remix” contest, allowing fans to download songs from their latest album and re-mix and re-edit them into new versions, the best of which will eventually be released on CD. It’s rather like an expert chef who, instead of cooking a fine meal, provides the raw ingredients for the dinner. Or the surgeon who, instead of performing the surgery, leaves the amateur in the operating chamber with some surgical instruments and a brief pep talk
Page 62
$331,000 sucked out of the economy
Page 74
The owners of traditional newspapers and news networks are help legally accountable for the statements of their reporters, anchors and columnists encouraging them to uphold a certain standard of truth in the content they allow in their paper or on air. Web site owners, on the other hand, are not liable for what is posted by a third party.
Page 75
Before the Web 2.0, our collective intellectual history has been driven by the careful aggregation of truth, through professionally edited books and reference material, newspapers, and radio and television. But as all the information becomes digitalized and democratized and is made universally and permanently available, the media record becomes and Internet on which misinformation never goes away.
Page 79
All this points to a fundamental flaw with our user-driven content. We’re never sure if what we read ir see is what it seems. The user-run internet not only allows, but encourages, the invention of false identity. Yet no one questions why so many of use are determined to hide who we are or what our affiliation is.
Page 82
In contract. On YouTube, one can watch thousands of short videos of grieving Lebanese men and women in the ruins of Beirut, holding dead babies in their arms. On a web site with no filters, no ethics codes, no accountability or disciplinary consequences, one has no way of knowing how many of these films were doctored.
Page 83
..where we can be sure that the prevailing sentiment matches our own.
Page 88
This blurring of lines between advertising and content is partly due to our growing mistrust in marketers and adverting.
Page 89
Web 2.0 consumers “are embracing new technologies that empower them with more control over how and when they are marketed to.”
Page 91
What Hurley is really suggesting is that on YouTube advertising and content can be successfully collapsed; that advertising is entertainment and entertainment is advertising.
Page 92
But there is a fundamental difference between advertising and user-generated content – on is a paid message carefully calibrated to entice people to buy a product, while the other is an expression of information, creativity, or art.
Page 94
UGC – user generated corruption
Page 95
The most disturbing thing of all about social news sites is that many influencers are gaming the engines to promote their own agendas
Page 96
Web 2.0, the madness is about the crowd falling in lover with itself.
Page 105
But what online stores don’t have is the deeply knowledgeable Tower clerk to act as the cultural tastemaker. Instead, our buying choices depend upon the anonymous Amazon.com reviews ( who recommended this book for me!) a very poor substitute for the bodily encounters that Tower once offered
Page 107
As a free ‘come-on’ to sell other stuff. Rather than a utility like electricity or water, music in the web2.0 revolution may become equivalent to the plastic toy found at the bottom of the cornflake box.
Page 108
Given that only one in forty digital songs are being paid for, digital music is, like it or not, essentially free.
Page 113
“I’m personally against web 2.0 in the same way as I’m personally against my own death”
Page 117
Kelly argues that in the future, instead of making money on the sale of books, authors can “sell performances, access to the creator, personalisation, add-on information, sponsorship, periodic subscriptions – in short, all the many values that cannot be copied
Even Kelly admits that the protection of the physical copy has ‘enabled millions of people to earn a living directly from the sale of their art to the audience” and that is has “produced the greatest flowering of human achievement the world has ever seen” Isn’t this a model worth preserving.
Page 126
Radio is in the midst of its own identity crisis. Teenagers, historically radios biggest and most devoted audience, simply aren’t listening to radio anymore
Page 130
Some will argue that seismic economic change always results in downsizing in one sector but the creation of jobs in another. The problem is, the web2.0 economy is not creating jobs to replace those it destroys.
Page 132
Of course, the demise of newspapers cannot all be blamed on the Internet. The rise of cable news, too, has contributed to the newpapers’ waning profit margins. And many newspapers are cannibalizing themselves by migrating to the web
Page 134
Should mainstream newspapers and television fold, where will online news sites get their content.
Page 142
The Judeo-Christian ethic of respecting others’ property that has been central to our society since the country’s founding is being tossed into the delete file of our desktop computers. The pasting, remixing, mashing, borrowing, copying – the stealing of intellectual property has become the single most pervasive activity on the internet.
Page 143
Web 2.0 technology is confusing the very concept of ownership, creating a generation of plagiarists and copyright thieves with little respect for intellectual property.
Page 165
She trusted he search engine absolutely… broadcast knowledge without permission.. welcome to 1984 version 2.0.
Page 185
Our challenge, instead, is to protect the legacy of our mainstream media ad two hundred years of copyright protections within the context of 21 century digital technology … we need to find a way to balance the best of the digital future without destroying the institution of the past
Page 186
He (Sanger) learned that fully democratic open-source networks inevitably get corrupted by loonies
Page 188
Maintain the all-important division between content creators and content consumers.
Page 189
We can- and must resist the siren song of the noble amateur and use Web 2.0 to put trust in our experts again
Posted by ajit at 3:26 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
July 4, 2007
Invite for Discover Innovation in France in San Francisco
When I spoke in France last week, Veronique PEQUIGNAT – Investment manager for Grenoble-Isere Economic Development , extended me an invite to attend the ‘Discover innovation in France’ event.
Veronique and her team are putting in a lot of work to promote Grenoble – and although I will be in San Francisco at the same time, it’s a pity I can’t attend it.
However, if you are interested, I can get you an invite. Please contact me on ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com if you want an invite to this event.
Details are
Date: 17, 18 & 19 July
Topics:
Mainstream Micro Nano
Clean Tech
Back End & MEMS
Presentations - 9am to 12 noon
Networking lunch - 12 noon to 2pm
One-to-One meetings - 2 to 6pm
Moscone Center Esplanade Hall - Room 309 (access from South
Hall; see map below)
Moscone Center
Esplanade Hall, Room # 309
747 Howard Street, 5th Flr.
San Francisco, CA 94103
Posted by ajit at 9:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
iPhone APIs - 2.0 :)
Another update:
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I feel like a protector to walled gardens - however I stand by my belief that APIs must have some form of authentication.
This is not specifically a defence of Apple. But I believe that no one in the industry can afford to open up APIs without some restrictions/authentication.
For instance, as the phone becomes a wallet, free access to APIs would mean access to money. Similarly, other scams could be possible
Secondly, If Location is known, then there are protection and privacy issues especially for minors.
I believe for these reasons, we need some form of signing mechanism - i.e. a controlled access to APIs.
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There was a comment from a person about my blog on the iPhone – suggesting that I am advocating a walled garden approach.
I said that: The lack of such access is an interim measure in my view.
Interim – meaning ‘temporary’
Ultimately, I believe that a mechanism like Symbian signed applications will enable access to device APIs (not just for iPhone, but also Nokia S60 and Opera). That’s a good thing. And I believe that it is essential.
It is easy for people to criticise the industry – but let us not forget that uncontrolled access to APIs is an invitation to scammers and paedophiles.
I advocate Open Gardens – but I have always been pragmatic – and I see the Open Gardens blog as a respected voice whose goal is evolve the industry in a cooperative and a pragmatic way – not by bashing Operators, device manufacturers etc.
It is precisely for its pragmatism and insights that - the blog has following both in the Operator community and in the device manufacturer community (in spite of having a name like ‘Open Gardens’).
I very much endorse good initiatives from Operators - for instance BT 21CN and Vodafone Betavine . Hence, I stand by my comments.
Posted by ajit at 7:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Illegitimate name is legitimate name on facebook but Patrick Lord is not :) – Mobile Monday Barcelona
I thought I was the only person who had tough time with my second name :)
Spare a thought for 'Patrick Lord' CMO of mobiluck
Patrick and I spoke at Mobile Monday Barcelona last night and he told me this amusing story ..
It concerns Facebook, of which I am a fan ..
When Patrick tried to register on facebook with his real name 'Patrick Lord' , facebook thinks 'Patrick Lord' is NOT a real name.
Of course that IS his name!
So, in desperation he registered under the name 'Illegitimate Name' i.e. first name = ‘Illegitimate’ second name = 'Name'
Voila that was accepted by facebook!
So don't be surprised if you get 'poked' by 'Illegitimate Name'. That's Patrick!
Joking apart .. It was nice to speak at Mobile Monday Barcelona - run by the uber mobile blogger Rudy De Waele .
This is vibrant momo chapter - and it was great to meet Rudy for the first time(inspite of a number of conversations, we had never met before)
Apart from me, Patrick Lord CMO of mobiluck (aka facebook – ‘illegitimate name’!) and Lucia Garate Mutiloa R and D specialist - Group R and D at Vodafone were the speakers.
Lucia did a great job of presenting Vodafone betavine. Of course I have blogged about betavine before since both Dan and Stephan Wolak are involved with it
Lucia mentioned that Betavine has released their APIs - so don't forget to have a look HERE
The interesting things for me in mobiluck's presentation were
a) Use of anonymous voice chat(for dating)
b) The uptake of their Bluetooth service in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East
c) Use of cell ID http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_of_origin_(telecommunications) to get location(hence free and cross operator)
You always meet many interesting start-ups at a momo event - and I shall be blogging about some I met yesterday. But one interesting company I met(and it’s not a tech company) is Manfatta. They manage online reputations – i.e. track what people are saying about a brand and try to manage that brand’s reputation online. I always knew this existed but never met anyone who did this for a living!
Posted by ajit at 1:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
local.com patent ..
I am curious about this patent from local.com
The patent appears to be for ..
>>>
the patent relates to responding to directory assistance inquiries using protocols including voice-enabled and SMS systems. The patent can help search results to be provided to consumers via mobile channels, including voice.
Posted by ajit at 9:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 3, 2007
Sam Sethi launches Blognation ..
Sam has been working on blognation for some time now, and its good to see blognation being launched
Posted by ajit at 8:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Mobile as the seventh mass media white paper ..
Another post about Communities dominate brands .. This white paper from Tomi and Alan is worth a read. See the full post : What do, Cyworld, the iPhone, blyk, Admob, MyNuMo, Artists first, Moblog UK have in common? They are all part of the 7th Mass Media: Mobile and post a comment there for the white paper.
Posted by ajit at 7:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The future of publishing is mobile ..
As many of you may know, I am the publisher of Communities Dominate Brands
Tomi and Alan do a great post on the future of publishing - which is mobile .. based on an economist article of the same theme. Well worth a read
The Economist shows us the future for books, authors, publishers. And yes, our readers know it. For all the impressive power of the internet, which will continue to grow into the foreseeable future, the long term BELONGS to mobile
Full post HERE
Posted by ajit at 7:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack