Google has some very interesting thoughts on Social Networks
This presentation is great. It's fairly long. However, I think everyone interested in social media should take a look. It's worth it.
where analog thoughts meet digital things
manuel koelman | entrepreneur from cologne | dutch nationality | web and social media enthusiast | practical philosopher | co-founder of talential.com | born on the 23rd | trying to keep it real | caotina lover
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Google Developing Tablet to Take on iPad!?
via mashable.com
Mashable reports that Google is working hard on developing its own tablet pc. To do so, it is apparently teaming up with HTC again.
So far Google hasn't announced such plans publicly. Since Apple presented its iPad the tablet market has heated up. Other companies (e.g. Nokia) are developing own devices.
I believe tablets are somewhat overrated. They sure are nice gadgets and I can think of several very interesting use cases for them. However, will they really be game changers like the iPhone or the iPod? What do you think?
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Chart: Microsoft operating profit by division
This is an interesting chart which shows where Microsoft's profit comes from. And make no mistake, Microsoft is still the most profitable software company in the world.
Its profits are still being generated by the same engines that have driven Microsoft for years: Office, Windows, and its server division. (Meanwhile, its entertainment and devices division is only recently profitable again, and its online division is a money pit.)
This is why Google is increasingly focusing on disrupting Microsoft's core businesses, including its Google Docs rival to Office; its Chrome OS rival to Windows; and now Google Buzz, an add-on to Gmail that some have compared most closely to Sharepoint, one of Microsoft's enterprise tools.
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Video: What is Google Buzz
Google just announced Google Buzz, its new social service. Admittingly Google hasn't been very strong on the social media site. However, I have a feeling with Buzz they are on to something. Not that this is a revolutionary product but they have a massive userbase and buzz seems to take the best out of Friendfeed and Twitter and adds localization. This sounds like a very strong recipe for success. And I believe what they said during the product presentation: "We are just getting started". There are so many cool scenarios for Buzz. I am really looking forward to see an integration into our Google Apps suite. This could eventually even replace our beloved Socialcast as our internal communication platform/system.
Here is a 2 minute video of what Google Buzz is/does:
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Google Buzz
Google
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"The age of privacy is over" - Why Marc Zuckerberg is wrong
In her great post, Danah Boyd - researcher at Microsoft Research New England and a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center for Internet and Society - excellently explains why the reasoning made by Marc Zuckerbergs' privacy statements is wrong.
Sure, social media has changed the way we communicate. However, just like in the real world there are scenarios where we want to tell certain people things others shouldn't know about (and I am not talking about illegal activities).
The most important thing is that I want to have control over what I have to say and to whom I say it. And to make my content "public" should be the choice not the other way around. "Opt-In" instead of "Opt-out".
Privacy isn't a technological binary that you turn off and on. Privacy is about having control of a situation. It's about controlling what information flows where and adjusting measures of trust when things flow in unexpected ways. It's about creating certainty so that we can act appropriately. People still care about privacy because they care about control. Sure, many teens repeatedly tell me "public by default, private when necessary" but this doesn't suggest that privacy is declining; it suggests that publicity has value and, more importantly, that folks are very conscious about when something is private and want it to remain so. When the default is private, you have to think about making something public. When the default is public, you become very aware of privacy. And thus, I would suspect, people are more conscious of privacy now than ever. Because not everyone wants to share everything to everyone else all the time.
In the end it all boils down to the fact that Facebook can earn a lot more money when the information is publicly available than when the information is sealed off. So please Facebook, be frank and don't sell us the new privacy rules as beneficial to us users. The changes are a strategic move for you to grow your business. And there is nothing wrong with that... just please be transparent about it.
BTW: Zuckerberg is not the only one making remarks about user privacy. Several weeks ago I posted a link about Eric Schmidt - CEO of Google - and his thoughts about privacy. He has pretty similar ideas.
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Nice article on Apple vs. Google
via businessweek.com
When companies start to imitate one another, it's usually either an extreme case of flattery—or war. In the case of Google and Apple, it's both. They are merely 10 miles apart from each other in Silicon Valley and for almost a decade the two have been on good terms. Apparently, those times are now over.
With the Nexus One, Goole enters the Hardware game - threatening Apples iPhone. Apple recently acquired Quattro Wireless - an upstart advertising company that excels at targeting ads to mobile-phone users based on their behavior. With this acquisition Apple not only aims to create completely new mobile ads, apparently, they want to make search on mobile phones obsolete. An attack directed at the heart of Google.
In the next months the Apple-Google battle might get even much rougher. What happens if Apple decides to dump Google as the default search engine on its devices? This would be an obvious move as it would cut Google off from mobile data that could be used to improve its advertising and Android technology. Nevertheless, Apple needs search on the iPhone. This could even go so far that Steve Jobs could cut a deal with - gasp! - Microsoft to make Bing Apple's engine of choice, or even launch its own search engine.
Very interesting. Let's see how this develops.
PS: In case you missed it: Check out a prediction of mobile trends until 2020 - a look into the future of mobile.
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Android
Apple
Bing
Google
iPhone
Microsoft
Mobile
Mobile Ad
Nexus One
Quattro Wireless
Silicon Valley
Steve Jobs
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Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, on privacy - Hmm, that sure keeps me thinking...
If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines -- including Google -- do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities.
here is the original video:
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