Sunday, December 16, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
Live Office - Catching Up With Google Docs
Microsoft has, in the past, made a lot of hay with a strategy of letting others prove out an idea, then moving into the market with their own product and dominating. Recently, Google and Apple have been eating their lunch, however (iPod, search, Google Docs, etc.). The Zen and MSN search haven't quite lived up to this strategy.
So it is actually fairly easy to write off Live Office as just another weak attempt by the aging Emperor to make a losing strategy work.
The problem with that is this - even fans of Google's Office alternative (like me) have to admit that MS Office is hard to break free of. MS Office, unlike Windows, is a very useful software suite, and has a large installed base. Additionally, while collaboration features are nice, there are lots of compatible alternatives in place for accessing these features. Microsoft themselves have also examined this collaboration feature set (Placeware, Project Central, etc.).
So Microsoft may still have a very, very big advantage in leveraging its installed base.
This may also not be an all-or-nothing war. Use of both applications may actually be complementary, just as you might belong to more than one social network.
It is certain to be an interesting fight.
So it is actually fairly easy to write off Live Office as just another weak attempt by the aging Emperor to make a losing strategy work.
The problem with that is this - even fans of Google's Office alternative (like me) have to admit that MS Office is hard to break free of. MS Office, unlike Windows, is a very useful software suite, and has a large installed base. Additionally, while collaboration features are nice, there are lots of compatible alternatives in place for accessing these features. Microsoft themselves have also examined this collaboration feature set (Placeware, Project Central, etc.).
So Microsoft may still have a very, very big advantage in leveraging its installed base.
This may also not be an all-or-nothing war. Use of both applications may actually be complementary, just as you might belong to more than one social network.
It is certain to be an interesting fight.
Web Statistics and the Ongoing Advertising Conundrum
An Economist (December 1st 2007 issue) artice "Many Ways To Skin A Cat" provides an interesting view into the future by discussing web statistics and advertising.
As you may know, one of the big stories of Web 2.0 has been advertising - lots of folks talk about "capturing eyeballs" and other catch phrases. Internet companies have slowly been knocking old style media companies off their pedestals in terms of ad revenues.
But before the new king can be crowned, some of the rules of the game have already changed through innovation and refinement. The central topic of this article is the ongoing issue of how to gauge how much of an audience an ad is capturing (even as ads go from banners to videos to who knows what). In days gone by "hits" were king. But this overcounted user activity, and lately "page views" were the standard of choice.
However, as AJAX has proliferated, it has become trickier to figure out what constitutes a page view. AJAX basically allows for parts of a page to update without a wholesale page refresh, and so user sessions may become more of a standard.
But there are pitfalls there as well.
Long story short, even as it seems that the issue is settled, the horizon moves out, and new competitors join the fray...
As you may know, one of the big stories of Web 2.0 has been advertising - lots of folks talk about "capturing eyeballs" and other catch phrases. Internet companies have slowly been knocking old style media companies off their pedestals in terms of ad revenues.
But before the new king can be crowned, some of the rules of the game have already changed through innovation and refinement. The central topic of this article is the ongoing issue of how to gauge how much of an audience an ad is capturing (even as ads go from banners to videos to who knows what). In days gone by "hits" were king. But this overcounted user activity, and lately "page views" were the standard of choice.
However, as AJAX has proliferated, it has become trickier to figure out what constitutes a page view. AJAX basically allows for parts of a page to update without a wholesale page refresh, and so user sessions may become more of a standard.
But there are pitfalls there as well.
Long story short, even as it seems that the issue is settled, the horizon moves out, and new competitors join the fray...
Being Bold
This has to be one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. Obviously, this is quite off topic for this blog, but the New York Times is featuring a video today on Jeb Corliss, who is attempting flight and landing with a wing suit.
Here's the connection - on the face of things, you might look at this guy and say "Ah, typical nut case. Hope he doesn't get hurt." Obviously, he's doing something few would voluntarily try.
But this desire to confront and master fear is basically the entrepreneurial spirit. At the end of the video, he says that he wants to achieve winged flight and land because no one has ever done it before. He also has spent years and years training and mastering techniques to get him to this point.
And he still needs $2M in funding.
Sounds like an entrepreneur to me.
Here's the connection - on the face of things, you might look at this guy and say "Ah, typical nut case. Hope he doesn't get hurt." Obviously, he's doing something few would voluntarily try.
But this desire to confront and master fear is basically the entrepreneurial spirit. At the end of the video, he says that he wants to achieve winged flight and land because no one has ever done it before. He also has spent years and years training and mastering techniques to get him to this point.
And he still needs $2M in funding.
Sounds like an entrepreneur to me.
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