Think Forward

Canceling TV service to explore the world of online TV

I was thinking that the recent downturn in the economy, along with my wife and my decision to cut out unnecessary expenses, provided me with a great opportunity to cut our cable service and explore online TV. 

I have for a long while now used computers as the backbone of my home media network but never for TV. So the day has arrived for me to completely buy in.   To do this I have chosen a unique piece of hardware to be connected to my TV in the AlienWare Area 51-M15x.   This is one of my favorite pieces of hardware and I know it will succeed in this task. 

My first observance was that not all the networks have all the shows I like available to stream online.  Things like American Idol, The Big Bang Theory, a host of cooking shows I like etc are not to be found online.  A host of shows on Disney my girls like are also not available.  When I looked at iTunes and possibly subscribing to shows I found the cost to be too hard to swallow and a lack of up to date availability of some of the same shows.  

The next problem I have encountered is not so much a problem then a frustration.   There is no good software online that exists that blends all the online streaming shows I like into one nice guide and user-interface.   Joost does some but not all, a new company Boxee TV does some but not all.   Both get close and are useful but I am yet to find something that brings it all together in one elegant guide and UI. 

So what I have resorted to doing to make the process as quick and painless as possible is to bookmark direct links to my favorite show pages in my browser.   So in this case a wireless mouse is my remote. 

So far it has not been to bad.  I actually have found myself watching more shows then just the ones I like to see whether I like them or not.    

I have also greatly enjoyed the Netflix streaming direct to my PC.  

All which leads me to my next discovery.    A company I heard about at CES called Allio TV which has built into the TV a fully function PC.   I am getting one of these for our Lab in order to give it the full hands on treatment but I have high expectations.  

I will continue to post feedback on this adventure.  There is a lot to be done but I do feel that many of the experiences show a ton of potential more capable computing devices show up in the digital living room.

"My Grandson said I should get a Mac."

So, I was in a local mall the other day and I saw an elderly couple carrying an iMac to the Apple store.   While they were in line waiting for a introductory course on the Mac OS I asked them why they decided to go with the Mac.    

The elderly gentleman said "Well my Grandson said I needed to get a Mac, so I did!"   I couldn't help but smile. 

Blackberry STORM: A case of the Me-To's

It has been incredibly interesting to watch how all the cell phone manufacturers have been scrambling to compete with the iPhone.    RIM's latest release with the STORM is no exception to the desperate feeling the industry has been in attempting to duplicate their own version of the iPhone.   

What this is a result of is a complete misunderstanding of what exactly it is that makes the iPhone such a successful product.   If other companies had understood this they would have focused their resources in other places entirely or to build up more of their own ecosystem in order to compete.     

RIM thinking they could simply slap a touch screen on their new device, and completely abandon what it is that made their products great in the first place, is entertaining at best.   RIM's customers gravitated to their devices simply because they were hands down the best devices for those who desperately need to pound out e-mails wherever they happen to be night and day.   To go away from this strategy is ill advised and shows RIM is not quite sure where their value actually lies.    

The iPhone is not successful because it has a touch screen.   It is successful for a hosts of reason's but primarily because Apple knows and understands who their customer is for the iPhone and they are delivering in leaps and bounds for that customer. Apple for as much as they discuss corporate e-mail support, the iPhone is NOT the best device for doing e-mail.  It is a functional e-mail device but there are other devices out there that do a better job.  Namely many of RIM's other then the STORM.  Apple has many software strength's as well to leverage its iPhone hardware.  A superior mobile web browsing experience for instance, great software developer support etc. Apple does make fantastic hardware but the addition of killer software puts them in a very good spot.  One that RIM is not even close to, nor are many other handset makers.  All of this adds up to a competitive advantage that few companies can rival.  Include in that a happy smiling Mac genius who will take care of all your troubles with a smile while you go shopping and come back to hopefully have your troubles solved.   Who wants to waste any time at all inside the store of a carrier, the mall is a much better place to waste time. 

The Internet and our New President

I hope we have seen the last of boring disassociated politics where Washington is a walled garden and we the people just observe what happens but only participate every 2 and 4 years in the democratic process.    

Since the Internet is one of the most powerful mediums for communication, collaboration and more I truly hope that Barack Obama harnesses this power to bring the people back into the democratic process.    Our nation was founded on the idea of “by the people, for the people” but as I have observed it, it feels more like “by Washington for Washington. “
It looks like all the evidence is pointing to our new president will use the Internet in new and fresh ways to get his message out and to involve the people to let their voice be heard.    It will also be interesting if he does choose the first CTO and he does in fact surround himself with smart technologists.  

Our new president has chosen Change.Gov to be the destination where he plans to continually outline his plans for government.   He has expressed interest in having more regular video messages from himself and others on his site updated fairly regularly.  This will break the mold in a positive way away from only hearing for our President frequently and generally in times of distress.  
Obama has also said that he will take feedback from the people on all legislation he is working on that is not immediate presidential decisions.     This will allow the people’s voice to really be heard in new ways we have not seen before. 

He also plans to use the site to inspire and encourage people to get involved and serve in their community to make it better.    I applaud this greatly and truly hope that he accomplishes this.    I know that this will go over quite well with the younger generation who already desires to make a difference in the world.   

At the end of the day I truly hope that we are making progress to overcome the incredible wall of indifference that has kept American’s, not all but a majority, from truly caring for their neighbor.     Obama highlighted this in his victory speech when he pointed out that it is not just about us but also about caring for others.   This is a motto we should all live by.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” - Ghandi

Paul Newman's Model as a solution to rebuild the economy

In light of Paul Newman's passing this week and the economic woes I want to highlight a way that Paul Newman's mission in business.

The media keeps talking about the "greed" of these industries causing their downfall.   Of course that played a role but I personally feel the private sector has lost some of the fundamental values and philosophies that made them successful in the first place.   18th Century economist and philosopher Adam Smith in his great book "Wealth of Nations" underscored the importance of business' realizing their place which is to exist for the common good where profit is the means not the motive.   His understanding was that the profit a company made was its reward for contributing well to the common good.    

Paul Newman understood this with his food company Newman's Own.    100% of the profits of his company went to many causes as well as his foundation which provided camps for children with serious illness.   His philosophy was that his business did not exist to deepen his pockets or the pockets of greedy executives put it existed solely to fund the efforts that benefit the common good.   Paul Newman understood Adam Smith's philosophy for the way capitalism should work.  

As we look now to begin rebuilding our economy I believe we should use Paul Newman as an example of how the private sector should operate.   By looking for ways business contribute to the common good and operate with value and integrity.   Business exists for the common good to create jobs and sustainable environments for families and all of those a business touches in its supply chain and beyond.  

I find it increasingly difficult in this day and age to find companies that I can support or get behind that I feel cling to my values.   Newmans Own was one of those companies that should be a model for the private sector.    I encourage us to look at his legacy of holistic generosity and when we do consumers will reward those companies accordingly.

The Economic Woes and the Technology Industry

CNET today ran an article today on this subject highlighting why the tech industry should be concerned about these economic times.   http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10057190-92.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.0

I wanted to respond to this but also recommend reading our president Tim's article that ran in PC Magazine http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2331231,00.asp.   Tim has been in the PC industry since the early 80's and brings a good perspective.

I think in times like these looking at history is important for us to make good decisions about the future.   Every major industry in our country had a growth boom or a small bubble that gets burst.    This was first explained to me by Brian Halla of National Semiconductor after the dot-com bust.   His point was that if you look at history big industries like railroad and auto went through similar cycles.   Ones where a early bubble gets burst but historically those small bubbles were followed, not immediately, by bell curve growth cycles much larger then the first bubble.   The reason for this is because of the bursting of the first bubble or growth stage costs of goods for that market come down drasically.     In the early boom of the railroad a ton of innovation happened in infrastructure.   Which is what was left after the first bust including the costs of goods for that industry dropped drastically.   Entrepreneurs who couldn't get in before now could afford to experiement.   In fact the refrigerated or cooled railroad car didn't get developed until the second boom and let to the meat packing industry.  This was possible becasue of the first bubble's affect on prices.   

In each and every boom and initial bust we were left with infrastructure.   The tech boom left us with lower costs of silicon and components which led to more experiementation and innovation.   We were also left with fiber and broadband wires that set the stage for the current global broadband growth we are currently seeing.   

The real question with this bust is what infastrucutre are we left with, in this case it is houses and housing infrastrcuture.   The result will be lower cost of housing potentially making it possible for more folks to own homes and potentially lower costs to build homes.   Assuming the credit crisis gets resolved and people can actually get loans of course.      If history is true then we should still expect, all though it may be delayed, a continuing growth cycle in the technology industry and again at some point in time, all though hopefully regulated better, better growth in the housing industry.  

Microsoft's "Healing Windows" Campaign

Depending on how closely you have followed the news about Microsoft's plan to launch marketing campaigns attempting to "heal" the tarnished image you have most likely by now seen the new "I'm a PC or Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfield commercials.    Apple has been running it's "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" commercials for a couple years now and is linked to one of the many things that has caused Microsoft's consumer brand appeal to drop according to recent polls.    Of course Microsoft would not sit back and let Apple continue to make them look silly but the real question was what would they do.  

Apple's direct attack at  PC was brilliant and put Microsoft in a difficult position because they couldn't duplicate the attack.  It was one of those whoever struck first wins because if the other duplicates the attack they look like a copy cat.   Interestingly I liken what Microsoft is doing and should continue to do to heal its image to what the Presidential candidates should do with their messages.   Which is don't attack your opponent but talk about what you bring to the table.    Microsoft's had for too long depended on the fact that they were the "default" operating systems and that consumers didn't really have much choice on using their products.    That is no longer true and consumers are beginning to wake up to the fact that they do have a choice on what computer meets their needs as consumers.   This has put Microsoft into a position where innovation must return to the central driving force for their company.   They need to actually begin to start creating things consumer want and will consciously choose rather then be snuck into their hands with the purchase of their PC.  

This again, as competition in any market does, will lead to innovations in consumer hardware, software and services and thus the consumer wins.   We want Microsoft to remain competitive and innovate on its offering so that Apple will finally have a worthy competitor.  

Microsoft is taking baby steps toward the right future and their new branding campaign is done quite well in my opinion to soften their image.   I advise them to continue to send the message of what they bring to the table for consumers and keep pushing what consumers can do on their platform that is relevant to their lives.

Apple, The App Store and Developer Woes

A couple observations on some of the negative press harping on the closed or appearing to be closed Apple App store.

1. There are more forces at play here then just Apple.   AT&T also has some influence on what application run on the iPhone while it runs on their network.   Take Netshare for example the application that let you use your 3G iPhone to connect to your computer and browse the internet at 3G speeds on AT&T's 3G network.  They did not like that so they made Apple remove it.

2. Apple is doing their best to guarentee a solid user experience on their device.   This looks outrageous on the outside but one can argue they have a specific type of experience in mind and they want to do what they can to perseve that.

3. I don't hear the masses complaining.  The only ones who ever balk about Apple's closed systems whatever it may be are the tech heads.   I don't see mainstream consumers complaining that Apple is too closed.   Sometimes too much choice leads to draining experiences.    Consumers needs are simple and Apple does a great job meeting those needs.

Now all that being said it is absolutely criticial to Apple's future success that they maintain good relations with the developer community.   Apple's knows that software both their own and third party are essential for them to continue to be successful.   Software is an importnat part of the value chain and always adds value to hardware.     I think Apple should be a little more open about why apps make and why ones don't.   They can't loose the development community but rather should build a head of steam with the right kind of developers.    I am sure their are a great deal of developers who probably won't agree with terms of Apple for applications and I believe Apple would view them as not the right kind of develepers for their platform.    We can argue whether this is right or wrong all day but as long as Apple continues to see the kind of growth in the consumer market I dont' see it changing.

For more thoughts on this listen to the latest Podcast interview I did with Ken Ray over at Mac OS Ken. http://macosken.com/

Best of both worlds

I have as a point aggressively done all I can to avoid Windows.    All though Outlook is simply the best exchange client in my opinion and left me with no choice but to run VM Ware Fusion on my Macbook Pro.  Ultimately I am pleased with this route because now on one machine I get to experience the best of both worlds.   Windows still has a lot to offer as a platform and since it is easier to develop for a lot of innovative software shows up on Windows first.    Amazingly many of the write ups insisting that the Mac system runs Windows better then Wintel machines is right on.   I have been pretty impressed with how fast Windows boots up and resumes from sleep on my Mac.   

I have observed many more executives in the industry doing the same thing but simply using the Mac to run Windows and not doing much with OSX.   

Clash of the Titans

I recently started contributing to a new media website called Pajamas Media.     Here is the original link to a recent article I posted on the coming fight between Adobe and Microsoft for the standard internet software platform. 

http://pajamasmedia.com/edgelings/2008/07/07/next-clash-of-titans-microsoft-vs-adobe/