logika

Google Beats FTC, Creates Whole New Tier of...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 12:42:00 -0500

Google Beats FTC, Creates Whole New Tier of “Renegade-ism”

“As it became clear the FTC had its sights set on the company, Google recognized it had no choice but to mature or risk its own “Microsoft moment.” In the months to follow, the company embarked on a coordinated push to expand its lobbying balance sheet, donate more to lawmakers, connect better with public-interest groups and make new friends in the academic community, many sources told POLITICO.”

I’m torn.

On one hand: It’s nice to see that Google matured past thinking their original defense: “We promise we’re trying to help the world, not hurt it” alone would beat FTC antitrust wing-clipping. Thank god. I love you. You make my life easy and, because you grew up, are still allowed to make my life easy.

On the other: my underground high school kid roots are flaring up just a bit, and a thin-but-there-for-sure blanket of sad nostalgia has settled around my perception of Google as a renegade. As Politico so eloquently put it, “the traditional outsiders worked the system from the inside.”

A single tear as an initial gut reaction. But waaaiiit a second…

In beating the FTC this time around, is the internet giant more or less of a renegade, and, as a result: more or less of an antitrust risk, more of less quickly moving toward a goal of untouchable global information monopoly?

Gut reaction 2: Probably more.

Now that Google has crystallized its ability to defend itself on a whole new playing field, (legitimate massive corporation vs. Silicon Valley tech startup) Washington politics are just one more complex, interconnected system for Google’s brilliant logical minds to frolic in, spider, organize, itemize, and…own.

Let’s face it: the company is based on mastering then commanding the most illogical, messy heaps of information systems. My prediction: Google will dominate (they’re already well on the way) the art of beltway manipulation into its back pocket. That system has already proven it’s prone to harboring untouchable forces, protected by a Kevlar web of favors extending from infinite sources, in infinite directions. What single force has ever been more equipped with minds and resources that specialize in working a system to its favor from absolutely every conceivable angle?

These next few months will be interesting. Google will undoubtedly continue to dominate the search and internet ad space, and will undoubtedly continue to grow. The sheer size and speed with which Google innovates will undoubtedly prompt additional rounds of FTC investigation—my bet—before 2013 is over. It’s inevitable. Google is big, fast, successful, and voluminously moving through uncharted legal/regulation territory.

Will this be the straw that finally forces all kinds of government and legal regulations camels to finally be legitimately re-examined and revised into the digital age?

I’m no longer torn: It’s still the digital Wild West, Google is still the renegade, and this victory opens up the door for some potentially pretty revolutionary changes in the way the technology/digital/internet landscape is regulated.

Onward!

Beautiful Chaos #RED

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 10:08:00 -0400

Beautiful Chaos #RED

Steve Jobs shows off a Next computer in Redwood City, Calif., on...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:26:43 -0500

Steve Jobs shows off a Next computer in Redwood City, Calif., on April 4, 1991. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

Amazon recently released Q4 (and year end) numbers. Gigaom...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:51:11 -0500

Amazon recently released Q4 (and year end) numbers. Gigaom reports that, aside from interesting Kindle Fire stats, the biggest hyped data point is the company’s headcount—employees are up 67% vs. YA. Even more interesting is CFO Thomas Szkutak’s justification that hiring has skyrocketed due to AWS growth and the subsequent need for increased customer support.

This may be an indication that Amazon is shifting its business model to focus more on higher-margin, enterprise software-oriented “product” offerings (instead of books). If that’s true, I’m impressed (though not surprised) at the huge company’s foresight. Establishing a standard of customer support, and bulking up on engineers before taking the leap into more specific product development is a calculated (though obvious) move that fewer and fewer technology companies are abiding by.

Thanks for establishing another shining beacon for smart process, Amazon. There are many tech startups (and plenty of established companies, too) that could benefit wildly by following your example.

A whole new era opens up for checkin/location-based apps. CSR...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:26:00 -0500

A whole new era opens up for checkin/location-based apps. CSR reveals plans to bring GPS down to the microlevel (think convention centers) to make device-tracking that much more detailed.

Beautiful data visualization. It still gets me every time. I...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:39:52 -0500

Beautiful data visualization. It still gets me every time. I stumbled across a Telegraph.uk gallery just now with gorgeous satellite photos depicting the presence of “human technology” across the globe. It’s purely enchanting.

Check out the full gallery

Love it…”ability to execute” vs....

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:19:52 -0500

Love it…”ability to execute” vs. “completeness of vision”…

While this certainly is relevant to mobile device management software, it pretty much applies to anyone or anything trying to make something happen.

“The spec is dead.” This is the adamantly definitive...

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:25:00 -0500

“The spec is dead.” This is the adamantly definitive statement made by MG Siegler on TechCrunch today. His article reviews recent tech marketing trends that sell devices and new technology to consumers based on “human language” (think Apple’s assertion that the 4GS is the “Fastest iPhone yet”) instead of via a list of tech specs.

So, yeah…of course this is true…from certain perspectives. Let’s take a tiny step back and take the adoption of technology into consideration as a backdrop for the tech spec’s supposed dive into oblivion.

The good ol’ days Siegler speaks of when gamers religiously compared PC specs to make purchase decisions aren’t behind us…they’re actually probably even more prevalent—it’s just that many more, many less traditionally tech-savvy consumers are now comfortable buying technology. The tech spec hasn’t died—it’s just been diluted as a marketing vehicle. Gamers respond to specs; the Joneses respond to emotional marketing.

But this doesn’t mean the spec is dead. The shift in marketing techniques actually—you could argue—makes the spec more important (or at least the implication that “spec” is synonymous with well thought-out, elegant technology). The “spec” is the recipe for a great user experience. Without a solid experience, even if Amazon is already plugged in, or Apple hypes the device as a “joy to use,” the product won’t last.

Similar to how simplicity often requires the most complex path, encouraging adoption of a device with emotional and brand marketing actually makes the brand’s technical R&D job harder. It means the brand is asking the user to trust and believe that the hard part is done; the technology a brand is putting into their hands will live up to a set of highly subjective, and highly emotional standards, despite the objectivity of hardware.

The thought, dedication, and pride that goes into a killer spec isn’t dead…unfortunately, it’s now just expected.

“It hasn’t been a day yet and the jerkoffs come...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:27:00 -0400

“It hasn’t been a day yet and the jerkoffs come out,” my good friend, John, sent to me with a link to this Gawker post. Of course, it’s Gawker. The outlet’s entire existence is based on offensive posts, comments, and general prods at the public. This type of probably inappropriately-timed stock opposition to popular human sentiment is to be expected…

For me, though, what’s interesting about this one is my reaction to it. I’m not disgusted or even really that annoyed. Those reactions are actually far overcast by a fascination with the incredible job it does of requiring that—contrary to the title—we contemplate Steve Jobs as something much bigger than even the standard “visionary” label that essentially goes without saying.

Going through the article I was compelled immediately to point out the utter ignorance of the line:

“When we start mourning technocrats as idols, we cheapen the lives of those who have sacrificed more for their fellow man.”

No one will argue that Steve Jobs wasn’t living in poverty in Africa assisting, one-by-one, his stereotypically less fortunate fellow humans. He didn’t make a physical one-to-one difference. What he did do was recognize a passion and an uncanny talent for making technology more accesible and more understandable to human beings, and devoted that talent to enhancing the lives and personal relationships of millions across the globe. That’s right…his gift wasn’t one-to-one…it was one-to-millions.

He shattered communication and technology adoption barriers that no other effort or company had even attempted. My parents thought texting was “stupid” until they got an iPhone. Now, because of the simple, elegant interface, I get random text messages from my parents that they’re thinking about me. I get ridiculously amusing pictures of my Dad with a llama at a petting zoo (yes, this actually happened because he knew I’d love it). I get to stay closer to my parents, and touch them much more often, all because of the opportunity our relationship is afforded by one device.

Another phenomenon that strikes me: during the early years of the iPhone, one of the highest indexing (and most rapidly growing) demographics for adoption of the device was American households with <$70K incomes. With the introduction of a new, cheaper, more omnipresent option for accessing all the power of the internet, lower-income families’ barrier-to-entry to owning a “computer” was wildly decreased.

So when Gawker writes:

“He did not meaningfully reduce poverty, or make life-saving scientific discoveries, or end wars or heal the sick or befriend the friendless.”

I have to disagree. Never would I have put Job’s accomplishments or impact into those words prior to reading this article, but each of those jabs can be countered. Jobs did make access to the power and the information of the web more accessible to lower income families; he introduced a method for easily disseminating and putting at arm’s length life-saving information (think about all the of first-aid apps that have reportedly saved life after life during disasters); he made social media and other organizing technologies mobile and nimble to, maybe not end wars, but begin protests and demonstrations in offense to human injustice; and yes…friends are closer when you have an iPhone.

So, joining in: Steve Jobs, thank you. Your presence will be sorely missed, but your inspiration is surely here to stay.

Mashable reported today that an Austin, TX advertising firm,...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:45:18 -0400

Mashable reported today that an Austin, TX advertising firm, Phillips & Co., recently rolled out a new service offering called Blue Marble. The concept? The company will install QR codes on the physical roofs of businesses in an attempt to leverage Google Maps and Google Earth as “free” advertising space.

It’s actually a really simple, elegant idea; I’m surprised we hadn’t already thought of it. It’s interesting, though, in its reminder that we just keep layering on entirely accessible, entirely integrated plains of virtual space and realities on top of our physical ones. Google Maps, Foursquare, Yelp, and many others can end up just serving as one more empty space to fill with graffiti, vandalism, or advertising. Fascinating.

I have a problem with the NYTimes article published last week,...

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:36:36 -0400

I have a problem with the NYTimes article published last week, prodding and kneading the idea that we are gradually falling in love with, and becoming addicted to, the actual hardware composing our smartphones—particularly iPhones.

Well, two problems. First, the article discusses screening, testing, and other forms of human behavior and psychology research as though they were executed scientifically. And maybe they were, but the overall tone of the article is exceedingly casual…and it’s in the in op-ed section of the site. Call me a stickler, but citing research findings in perhaps the softest section of the news outlet seems a little off-kilter, a little like cheating, taking the easy way out, pulling a fast one, etc. Albeit on the slow end of the “fast one” spectrum.

Anyway—my much bigger problem is the wild jump across a gaping chasm between finding and conclusion in most of these studies. The studies describe growing conclusive data that humans are falling in love with machines because when they look at content on their smartphones, or become engaged with it, the human brain reacts pretty similarly to the way it does when we look at or engage with the humans we love in our lives. (Chemical and magnetic brain patterns were cited in the article.)

Presto! We must love glass and lead! The line between human and machine is finally blurring…look out generations-to-come; make sure you keep those robots and algorithms operating at only 2/3 human capacity to avoid a takeover!

But wait. Nowhere does the article take into account the fact that the iPhone is acting as a pretty effective conduit to our most cherished friends. I don’t know about you, but when I get a letter and see my Grandma’s handwriting on the envelope, I smile; I’m thinking of my Grandma. It doesn’t mean I love the envelope—it means I’m fortunate enough to have interfaces with her, other than face to face conversation, that respark our relationship from afar, and keep our friendship alive.

I’m venturing a bet that our brains aren’t experiencing anxiety over the loss of a device when we shatter that almost-defective iPhone screen or forget it at home—we experience anxiety over losing flexibility of access to the people we love most. It probably is “separation anxiety,” as the article speculates, but because our frequency of contact with those we love (that we’ve become accustomed to because of the unspeakable glories of technology advancement contained within the devices, certainly) is cut off…not our physical access to the little portal itself.

I just saw this Wired article about Google’s newest...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:59:00 -0400

I just saw this Wired article about Google’s newest algorithm tweak. Apparently Google just rolled out a feature to level the playing field a bit in the online news search visibility world. By embedding a “standout” tag in the header of a news article (there is a set of parameters and limits on the number of times a publication can use this tag per week) Google’s little crawlers will mark the news articles as such.

The consensus is this is an attempt both to make News more social, and to give smaller, local publications (especially newspapers) a better shot at higher search results than their NYT, Washington Post, and USA Today peers.

A little socialistic? Maybe…let’s see how well this is adopted.

No…this isn’t the internet factory.

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:24:38 -0400

No…this isn’t the internet factory.

So I just learned today that Facebook users with developer...

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:00:00 -0400

So I just learned today that Facebook users with developer status can activate the much anticipated, new timeline UI NOW instead of waiting until September 30th like everyone else. Yes, please. I want to be first.

Anyway, here’s the video with the extremely simple instructions for how to get the new Facebook.

No one’s lying: this update is EXTREMELY different. But also extremely arresting and—in my opinion—mesmerizing. It completely shifts the utility of Facebook from status- and recency-focused to archive focused. Facebook is now a scrapbook of your life…essentially…and it remembers and displays everything.

What I’m interested in, though, is what the adaptation and adoption behavior will look like. We have to remember that Facebook has a huge, rippling user base of baby boomers who, typically, respond a little less elastically to abrupt, significant change. And I’m willing to bet there’s never been a sample group as huge as the one Facebook has access to to take a look at how that demographic responds to immense UI changes.

I can only assume someone’s on that and will be watching. I can only hope we’ll get to see even a peek of some of the findings and results.

Okay, so these watches are...

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:28:00 -0400

Okay, so these watches are insanely—inSANEly—geeky…annnnd pretty amazing. As per the blurb on Watchismo, these new Click watches throw back to 80s arcade game printed circuit boards with their innovative use of Dip and Turn Switches. Click watches revive retro video game electronics controls to actually spawn a whole slew of new methods for displaying “time.”

“If you look at the circuit boards of any 80’s arcade game or electronic device, you’d find these switches. Designed to be used on a printed circuit board along with other electronic components and are commonly used to customize the behavior of an electronic device for specific situations.”

Google Plus Releases Hangouts API

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:01:37 -0400

Google Plus Releases Hangouts API

Thanks to my good friend, Jenks for this gem…

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:05:04 -0400

Thanks to my good friend, Jenks for this gem…

God I love dubstep. For those who don’t know, Wikipedia...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:06:59 -0400

God I love dubstep. For those who don’t know, Wikipedia describes it as a genre of dance music characterized by “tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals.” The style originated in South London, some would say as far back as 1998. It spread to NYC and became a phenomenon here around 2006 or so, I believe.

Anyway—here’s why it’s excessively relevant to this blog: from a personal experience standpoint, listening to dubstep can be an ephemeral, *almost* physical experience. It can get intense enough to simulate what I can only describe as a vibrato, brain massaging affect. This is especially true if you strap on a set of headphones and pump in remixes of songs you’re unfamiliar with—suddenly all that matters are the actual physics of the audio experience. It’s these abrasive, though artfully organized, audio waves that feel like magic fingers opening up the faucets that release concentration, productivity, ideation…essentially anything that requires prolonged thinking, creativity and problem-solving.

Do I need to go into why this can be tech’s equivalent to the sports worlds’ steroid? Try it. Grooveshark has a great collection. Here’s the compilation I’m listening to now: 100% Pure Dubstep.

Enjoy!

More Talk of Margins Ad Age followed suit today by joining in...

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 23:03:39 -0400

More Talk of Margins

Ad Age followed suit today by joining in the growing discussion over profit margins vs. brand equity as businesses evolve in new ways digitally.

My last post discusses thinner margins as strengths for Hulu and Amazon in getting ahead of more traditional companies with outdated business models and methodologies. Today, though, Ad Age introduced the counterpart: some of the companies who are getting slammed for too-thin profit margins.

Who seems to be in trouble here? 1.) Traditional consumer players who are being forced to compete with more agile models (CPGs, Banks); and 2.) online companies who have seen spectacular growth and who now also answer to Wall Street. As an example, even Netflix, arguably one of the more successful online business based IPOs, demonstrated growing pains with their hikes in subscription fees recently, all in the never ending pursuit of higher stock values.

So this begs the question: Are thinner margins really the secret to successful digital business models? Is it a strategy that will only ever work for private companies?

As always, I’m interested to watch more of these stories unfold.

Are Thinner Margins the Future for the Tech Marketplace?

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:24:00 -0400

So for the second time in two days I’ve skimmed stories attributing tech companies’ success, where others have failed, to thinner-than-generally expected profit margins.

I admit this article is pretty old, but it provides a pretty great, in-depth look at Hulu’s revenue strategy. Perhaps the most striking component is the success the company’s seen by accepting razor thin profit margins as an opportunity rather than a burden when looking at income.

In a slightly different world, WSJ reports that Amazon’s shot at success in the already crowded (and littered with failure) tablet marketplace likely lies in the company’s ability to operate with profit margins thinner than those traditional hardware manufacturers and distributors require to stay afloat.

It’s an interesting theme to watch in the coming months—is business for the sake of business the wave of the promising technological future?