10^100

 

"Confucius playing with his first toys" CS Bernays, 2005, TheGreatestSearchEngineArt

In 1995 I wonder how much it occurred to Larry & Sergey that BackRub would be the new, leading innovation of the 21st century, apart from Apple's iPod, oh and maybe Facebook and a few others.  Moreover, I wonder if they knew BackRub, renamed Google (misspelling of googol) was coined by the American mathematician, Kasner's 9yr old nephew in 1938, representing the number 1 with a whole bunch of zeros following, 100 to be exact.  Google is an official word in the Oxford English Dictionary and it is a word uttered daily by millions of people across the globe.  You have a query, forget 'Just Do It'...just GOOGLE it!  What Google has done for the internet is nothing short of spectacular and seemed to follow shortly thereafter Microsoft's steep climb to the heavens.

                             

With a strengthening revenue stream, a recently launched server and an OS on the way, Google is defining its future as a world power and direct competitor to Microsoft, Apple and everyone else.  Will it manage to crush its opponents and if so will this mean antitrust suits?  Can world domination exist today if you do not have China?  If Google is blazing a well lit path will the company become predictable, a word that goes against it's very core?

1. Competition Law: A thorn in GOOG's side or MS's side?

The development of Google Chrome OS may take the company down the familiar path of antitrust lawsuits seen in the last decade by Microsoft and earlier by AT&T.  Is the company thinking that its future OS along with its umbrella or 'cloud' of products will potentially rob the market of competition.  How will the pc market in the future decide between Microsoft's Windows and Google's Chrome?  Could Windows be unleaded and Chrome be premium or will it be a bitter divide and conquer strategy betwixt them?  I suppose the company is unable to know if violating antitrust law will be an issue, perhaps my expectations for its OS are unrealistically high, but given its ability to focus and deliver a monopoly is cannot be a far stretch.

2. Baidu vs Google

Perhaps the topic of Google's imperial rule should have come before le subjet d'antitrust. Where nearly 20% of the world's population resides in China, how can a company call itself a global player if China is not at the table?  I know Google is asking itself

                      

if the B.R.I. of BRIC can support Google, why can't China?  The answer to that question is a long one, certainly beyond the scope of this entry and the truth is China may very well warm up in time.  To give a slight clue on China's beef with Google, think the big 'C' word, Baidu, and lastly but of equal value the USA -- remember China owns the majority of our sovereign debt, should they extend the love to include backing our search engine? Ehhh.  The most interesting aspect of Google's struggle to penetrate the Chinese market is the government's aversion to reality and fear of the public having more visibility and power.  What began as a harmless exercise in building users and revenues in the great Republic, Google stews in its trenches, Hong Kong, while a nasty political battle ensues.  Should Google dig a tunnel out of China's landmine ridden terrain or should it throw copious amounts of resources and time?  Keep in mind Google has a 30% market share with its search engine.  With total internet users at 300M (eqiv US population), 100M users is not bad, Google may have already won the battle.

3. Predictability: Arrow in Google's Achilles tendon

Every year Google manages to introduce several new add on's, projects, etc but as its core business forms a wily silhouette of add on's, a server and soon an OS, where will it seek to surprise and be innovative?  I guess it can continue to add an infinite number of add on's, but isn't that predictable?  Once an OS is in place and updated every few years does the company get to a complacent state, similar to that of Microsoft?  Assuming MSFT is complacent is a dangerous assumption but for a surface example it will do, the reality is MSFT is playing catch up and is very busy trying to offer what its competitors are offering, ie open source OS.  Is it a bad thing to become less surprising as an industry and company age?  Think the auto industry.  The great challenge of companies this century is staying ahead, ten, twenty years from now where will I be.  Fifty years ago GM was not asking itself where it would be in 10 years, nor was Xerox, they did not have to.  Perhaps this obsession with the future is what is stifling many companies and instilling fear to innovate.

'The Cheese' No Longer Stands Alone

Microsoft, though it enjoys the lion's share of browser users and though Excel remains king, the competition is heating up.  

Microsoft like so many great beginnings had a serendipitous one, it managed to corner the pc market business market through a small R&D purchase.  Its ability to service nearly an entire generation's computer needs is a feat few brands and or products have been able to do, with the exception of maybe Edison's light bulb or Graham's telephone.  How did Microsoft take over?  Apart from IBM's heavy endorsement the success came from the unexpected demand in personal computers.  The '90's in many parts of the world even the former Soviet Block represented a time of peace, prosperity and exponential technological growth perhaps most visible within homes.  With rising global standards of living suddenly you had personal computers invading bedrooms and living rooms alike taking primarily children and teenagers hostage.  Microsoft's operating system was installed in every pc.  Every time you turned on and off your computer you were reminded all this was made possible by Microsoft.  As a child even if you managed to miss Microsoft's Anti-trust cases or its subsequent softer suite products, its Internet Explorer left an indelible impression.  By the late nineties competitors were left crippled as MS provided Internet Explorer installed on new computers, even the net appeared to be run by Him.  With a powerful product and attentive audience needing parenting, Microsoft led.  Many reasonably argue quality has been compromised and competition is gaining strength, but this in no way subtracts from its unprecedented reign in the space of pc's.

Two main factors bring us to a current environment where Microsoft recognizes and can do little to stop the competition.  Gen X and Y are grown up, savvy computer users and while they know Microsoft did its best to raise them, they are demanding more and discovering new technologies.  Secondly, a Post 9/11 generation has several new role models in place.  To a great extent the latest generations have no fealty to Microsoft unlike the 70's and 80's babies.  In addition to the two factors aforementioned, Microsoft is simply focused in a different direction leaving us all asking the Google dollar question.  Where is it headed?

Skills: Manual Dexterity, Strategy, Social Skills

    Olafur Eliasson "Four Square"

When it comes to virtual connecting and networking we are back at the playground my friends.   Ferociously bbm'in' down the street you bump into an older man and nearly knock him over.  You scan your watch again wishing you had left 15 minutes earlier and now at the last minute you realize...where am I going?  Ahh, what email had the directions?  Should you just ask for directions?  No friends are messaging back.  Foursquare is here to help.  Suddenly you look down at your palm, there is a map and your three friends have arrived.  With the Foursquare app on iPhone or Blackberry or even using a basic texting version on any cell phone you have the bar location, you know who's there, what they are drinking, thinking and what the scene is like (assuming your friends have checked in).  So what are Four Square's other objectives?  Is this a 'jacked' version of Twitter?

At the end of March, Foursquare inked a deal with MTV and VH1 to promote their shows and cast members.  Foursquare already struck a deal with Bravo TV.  Warner Bros, Marc Jacobs, Zagat, Conde Nast are on board as well, they have a dream team of clients.  Celebrities may share their location with their inner circle or their entire fan base.  Are these deals supposed to really entice users?  Definitely, the power of suggestion well is powerful and CEO Dennis Crowley is moving early for market share.  In less than a year since inception Foursquare has managed to get major company attention and sign on 300,000 users.  It is incredible, the power of plugging in to the right networks.  The Foursquare team is a master of the original game.  MTV and VH1 may realize Foursquare does more to damage their up and coming shows as everyone will be too busy to watch as they are  out shopping dining, and bar hopping, celebs included.


Apart from helping hip Music Channels turned mega brands, celebs, local spots, and even common folks what's in it for Foursquare?  The company's answer to everyone's burning question is YES, we are generating revenue!  No profits yet but in its first year revs are positive, positive is good.  Some of the established corporate deals had dollar figures attached while others are more experimental in nature.  Foursquare seems focused on product delivery initially but already is building a tiered service plan appealing at one level to small businesses, another level aimed at retail chains and a third targeting large marketers.  With deals in place Foursquare would look to offer packages to clients including web ads, clicks, and searches.  As for users a small check-in cost could be the future.


The team at Foursquare as noted is a fastidious one, but what seems more powerful is the world's receptiveness to them, especially with respect to brand recognition and participation.  The companies that have already have agreements with Foursquare are industry leaders and this is why.  The companies are proactively searching for new revenue streams and ways to strengthen and develop relationships with customers by at the very least KNOWING where their customers frequent.  The companies are tuned in and not afraid to try new things and move first.


Foursquare vs Twitter.  Foursquare has added bonuses of GPS, business promotion and backing on all levels, and don't forget the self-titles, does this mean the end of Twitter?  When people begin asking the difference between two services it means a showdown and the one with more allies will probably win.




My final question...where are Ashton and Demi??  They have been fearless, market leaders Tweeting to death but do they have the stomach for a GPS app?  Will they mind arriving on the scene where there is already a Mayor?

Mic Test

Testing Microphone -52s 2005/6

Microphone Check 1, Check 2.  Testing.  Mic 1, Mic 1, 2.  Am I good?  Ehhmmm (clearing throat)

An enforced experiment, intentions ambiguous.  

The piece above from a series entitled, Experiments for Microphones, by British artist, Bob Levene plainly shows how difficult it is to produce quality sound when the microphone is set beyond reach.  His work visually and audibly captures today's struggle, to be heard.  To be heard by our spouses, parents, siblings, by our bosses...to be heard by colleagues, sellers and buyers is the challenge.  In a world where so many are connected and distracted, how can we get more than a few secs at the mic?

From a business retailing perspective television in the 1960's reached 80% of the US population, today 80% of the US population resides in the "long tail", the smaller niche markets (amazon.com ISBN 1-4013-0237-8).  Even the fat corporate cats are struggling to be heard.

Some say blogging has revolutionized the way we interact, learn and disseminate info.  Others stress it is nothing more than a virtual world for the self conscious desperately seeking clicks. Is it okay in 2010 to have formed no opinion on blogging?  Pro's and con's are abundant but can most individuals articulate or quantify how the blog has affected their lives?  Perhaps a more interesting question, where are blogs taking us?

In recent days spent scouring blog sites an unsettling thought remains, what if I were to have read blogs all these years?  Would I be better off, where would I be?  What have I missed?  Then a more disturbing thought interrupts the former, I could just as easily be the worse off basing certain realities on bloggers' experiences, opinions and views.  

Recently participating in a unique exercise, a former pro basketball player turned coach, stressed the need for players to use all possible resources, EVERY AVAILABLE RESOURCE.  Let's say life is a basketball game and blogs are a resource at our fingertips.  In an effort to implement ALL available resources and up the ante, I beg dear readers to name drop your favorite blog.

Let the fun and games begin...