Pasar saham Amerika Serikat mengalami kenaikan tajam pada Senin waktu setempat, karena aksi merger dan akuisisi mendorong sentimen.
http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/03/01/07121774/Rencana.Akuisisi.Buffet.Kuatkan.Bursa.AS
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Monday, February 28, 2011
Warren Buffett vs. Allen Iverson
Warren Buffett was an amazing investor. His alpha was around 20% when he was running his partnerships. Berkshire Hathaway also managed to generate a 10+% annual alpha until 2000. Unfortunately for the past 10 years Warren Buffett's alpha went down to zero. (See how to calculate alpha and beta)
Warren Buffett underperformed the market in 2010 as well. His equity portfolio underperformed the SPY and his best stock picker, Lou Simpson, retired at the end of 2010. This is what Buffett wrote in 2010s annual letter about his performance:
The per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock increased by 13% in 2010. Over the last 46 years (that is, since present management took over), book value has grown from $19 to $95,453, a rate of 20.2% compounded annually.
Do you have any idea what he wrote in 1998s annual letter about his performance? Check it out:
Our gain in net worth during 1998 was $25.9 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 48.3%. Over the last 34 years (that is, since present management took over) per-share book value has grown from $19 to $37,801, a rate of 24.7% compounded annually.
So, during the first 34 years Buffett managed to increase Berkshire's book value by 24.7%. Over the last 12 years the annual increase in book value was only 8.3%. You don't hear about this in his annual letter. This isn't much different from Allen Iverson bragging about his 26.7 points per game career performance. We know, Warren Buffett was a great investor when he was younger. We also know that Allen Iverson was a great basketball player when he was younger. Unfortunately, Iverson doesn't have any alpha anymore either. He couldn't compete in the NBA, so he had to go to Turkey to play in the Turkish Basketball League. It's time for Warren Buffett to pick a real successor or successors who could beat the market by a large margin. There are several hedge fund managers who beat the market by 15+ percentage points during the past decade by investing conservatively. Julian Robertson's Tiger cubs collectively manage more than $100+ Billion and as a group they have been performing spectacularly. Warren Buffett should follow suit before it's too late.
Join the conversation about this story
Warren Buffett underperformed the market in 2010 as well. His equity portfolio underperformed the SPY and his best stock picker, Lou Simpson, retired at the end of 2010. This is what Buffett wrote in 2010s annual letter about his performance:
The per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock increased by 13% in 2010. Over the last 46 years (that is, since present management took over), book value has grown from $19 to $95,453, a rate of 20.2% compounded annually.
Do you have any idea what he wrote in 1998s annual letter about his performance? Check it out:
Our gain in net worth during 1998 was $25.9 billion, which increased the per-share book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 48.3%. Over the last 34 years (that is, since present management took over) per-share book value has grown from $19 to $37,801, a rate of 24.7% compounded annually.
So, during the first 34 years Buffett managed to increase Berkshire's book value by 24.7%. Over the last 12 years the annual increase in book value was only 8.3%. You don't hear about this in his annual letter. This isn't much different from Allen Iverson bragging about his 26.7 points per game career performance. We know, Warren Buffett was a great investor when he was younger. We also know that Allen Iverson was a great basketball player when he was younger. Unfortunately, Iverson doesn't have any alpha anymore either. He couldn't compete in the NBA, so he had to go to Turkey to play in the Turkish Basketball League. It's time for Warren Buffett to pick a real successor or successors who could beat the market by a large margin. There are several hedge fund managers who beat the market by 15+ percentage points during the past decade by investing conservatively. Julian Robertson's Tiger cubs collectively manage more than $100+ Billion and as a group they have been performing spectacularly. Warren Buffett should follow suit before it's too late.
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-vs-allen-iverson-2011-2
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Sunday, February 27, 2011
Burning Chrome
"A good player goes where the puck is. A great player goes where the puck is going to be"—The Great One
Google made a few interesting announcements this week. First, Google Docs Viewer support for a sheaf of new document types, including Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop and PostScript. Second, Chrome's new ability to run background apps that run seamlessly and invisibly behind the browser. Third, they released Google Cloud Connect, which lets Windows users sync Office documents to Google Docs. They also announced the Android 3.0 SDK - but despite the ongoing tablet hysteria, in the long run, the first three are more important.
Little by little, iteration by iteration, the Chrome browser is quietly morphing into a full-fledged multitasking operating system in its own right. Oh, sure, technically it's actually running on another OS, but you increasingly never need to launch anything else. View and edit documents in Google Docs, watch and listen to HTML5 video and audio, communicate via Gmail and its Google Voice plugin, use Google Docs as a file system - and the line between "Chrome OS" and "Chrome on any other OS" suddenly grows very fine.
Google's long-term strategy seems to be to supplant Microsoft by first building the best browser, then making it easy to move your files to Google Docs and finally, slowly but inexorably, making Windows and Office irrelevant. Obviously no one will abandon Microsoft products wholesale anytime soon; but as cloud computing grows more ubiquitous, Google steadily iterates feature after feature, and people grow accustomed to working in the browser, then one day, maybe only a couple of years from now, a whole lot of people - and businesses - will begin to think to themselves "Hey, we haven't actually needed Windows or Office in months. Why do we even have them at all?"
The "network computer" dumb-terminal approach has failed many times before but so did Six Degrees, Tribe.net, Friendster, and (eventually) MySpace, before Facebook came along. The original iMac was roundly criticized because it didn't have a floppy drive, criticism that now sounds hilariously stupid. We might look back at the first Chrome OS notebook in much the same way. Of course, Chrome can't actually compete with Windows until always-on broadband Internet access reaches the same level of reliability and ubiquity as electricity itself; but that's only a matter of time. In the early days of electricity, every factory had its own power plant, and its managers would have been appalled by the notion of outsourcing that vital engine - but soon enough those inefficient installations were replaced by today's electrical grid. Computing power is the new electricity, and cloud computing is the new grid.
Unlike most companies, when Google says "cloud", they mean it. Compare Amazon's cloud-computing service to Google's. With the former, you essentially call up and configure one or more servers with the OS and specifications of your choice; but with Google's App Engine, you don't know anything about its hardware or operating system, because that no longer matters. It just runs the code you give it, and you don't much care how. Similarly, Chrome is being built for a future where the ambient, omnipresent wireless Internet connects everything from clothes to computers to cars (which explains how their self-driving cars fits into their strategy) and it doesn't much matter what OS any given device is running.
I've criticized Google pretty harshly of late, but credit where it's due: they still think bigger and further than anyone else. The problem is that all these brilliant strategies are predicated on their continued dominance of the search space, whose users are forever just a whim away from jumping ship to an alternative, and they've taken their eye off that ball of late. But at least they've finally started cracking down on search spam. It's a start. Maybe they haven't grown too bureaucratic and sclerotic to make the Chrome future happen after all.
CrunchBase Information
Google Chrome
Information provided by CrunchBase
Google made a few interesting announcements this week. First, Google Docs Viewer support for a sheaf of new document types, including Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop and PostScript. Second, Chrome's new ability to run background apps that run seamlessly and invisibly behind the browser. Third, they released Google Cloud Connect, which lets Windows users sync Office documents to Google Docs. They also announced the Android 3.0 SDK - but despite the ongoing tablet hysteria, in the long run, the first three are more important.
Little by little, iteration by iteration, the Chrome browser is quietly morphing into a full-fledged multitasking operating system in its own right. Oh, sure, technically it's actually running on another OS, but you increasingly never need to launch anything else. View and edit documents in Google Docs, watch and listen to HTML5 video and audio, communicate via Gmail and its Google Voice plugin, use Google Docs as a file system - and the line between "Chrome OS" and "Chrome on any other OS" suddenly grows very fine.
Google's long-term strategy seems to be to supplant Microsoft by first building the best browser, then making it easy to move your files to Google Docs and finally, slowly but inexorably, making Windows and Office irrelevant. Obviously no one will abandon Microsoft products wholesale anytime soon; but as cloud computing grows more ubiquitous, Google steadily iterates feature after feature, and people grow accustomed to working in the browser, then one day, maybe only a couple of years from now, a whole lot of people - and businesses - will begin to think to themselves "Hey, we haven't actually needed Windows or Office in months. Why do we even have them at all?"
The "network computer" dumb-terminal approach has failed many times before but so did Six Degrees, Tribe.net, Friendster, and (eventually) MySpace, before Facebook came along. The original iMac was roundly criticized because it didn't have a floppy drive, criticism that now sounds hilariously stupid. We might look back at the first Chrome OS notebook in much the same way. Of course, Chrome can't actually compete with Windows until always-on broadband Internet access reaches the same level of reliability and ubiquity as electricity itself; but that's only a matter of time. In the early days of electricity, every factory had its own power plant, and its managers would have been appalled by the notion of outsourcing that vital engine - but soon enough those inefficient installations were replaced by today's electrical grid. Computing power is the new electricity, and cloud computing is the new grid.
Unlike most companies, when Google says "cloud", they mean it. Compare Amazon's cloud-computing service to Google's. With the former, you essentially call up and configure one or more servers with the OS and specifications of your choice; but with Google's App Engine, you don't know anything about its hardware or operating system, because that no longer matters. It just runs the code you give it, and you don't much care how. Similarly, Chrome is being built for a future where the ambient, omnipresent wireless Internet connects everything from clothes to computers to cars (which explains how their self-driving cars fits into their strategy) and it doesn't much matter what OS any given device is running.
I've criticized Google pretty harshly of late, but credit where it's due: they still think bigger and further than anyone else. The problem is that all these brilliant strategies are predicated on their continued dominance of the search space, whose users are forever just a whim away from jumping ship to an alternative, and they've taken their eye off that ball of late. But at least they've finally started cracking down on search spam. It's a start. Maybe they haven't grown too bureaucratic and sclerotic to make the Chrome future happen after all.
CrunchBase Information
Google Chrome
Information provided by CrunchBase
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/70zGx2MdVJ8/
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Belanja Iklan Media Online Diperkirakan Naik 10 Persen
Yogyakarta- Tahun 2011 ini, ada baiknya para pengiklan mulai melirik media online sebagai ajang promosi. Persatuan Perusahaan Periklanan Indonesia Pusat (PPPI) memperkirakan belanja iklan di media online akan naik dari yang semula 3-5 persen di tahun 2010, menjadi 15 persen di tahun 2011.
http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/bisnis/2011/02/27/brk,20110227-316365,id.html
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Overstat: The easiest way to test your website?
Testing, testing, testing it's one of the mantras among startups, but it can be tough to find the resources to make that happen when you're a startup with relatively small amount of capital and a tiny tech team. So a new company called Overstat wants to make the process as easy as possible.
Overstat demonstrated its product on-stage at the Launch conference in San Francisco. Optimizely seems to have made headway in this market already, but it sounds like Overstat offers an interface that's impressively easy to use. First, founder Matthew Cordasco brought up a heat map of the Mint.com welcome page.
"A moment ago we knew that 200,000 people had come to this web page, but we didn't know where they were clicking on," Cordasco said. "Now we're beginning to get a clear picture of what they're interested in."
In about two minutes Overstat's team saw that the registration button wasn't getting many clicks, so it created an alternate version of the page with a different image, then launched a test comparing the results of the two different images.
It's hard to imagine a simpler, faster product for this kind of testing. Overstat said it goes beyond testing a single page, with the ability to track a sales or registration "funnel" across multiple pages.
The conference judges said there seemed to be a lot of potential with reservation. Coradsco suggested that Overstat could be used by large and small companies alike, but the judges said larger companies will have moire sophisticated needs and will want to build their own tools. And even though websites only need to add a snippet of JavaScript to their pages to make Overstat work, some companies might have reservations about adding yet another feature that they don't control to their site.
Overstat demonstrated its product on-stage at the Launch conference in San Francisco. Optimizely seems to have made headway in this market already, but it sounds like Overstat offers an interface that's impressively easy to use. First, founder Matthew Cordasco brought up a heat map of the Mint.com welcome page.
"A moment ago we knew that 200,000 people had come to this web page, but we didn't know where they were clicking on," Cordasco said. "Now we're beginning to get a clear picture of what they're interested in."
In about two minutes Overstat's team saw that the registration button wasn't getting many clicks, so it created an alternate version of the page with a different image, then launched a test comparing the results of the two different images.
It's hard to imagine a simpler, faster product for this kind of testing. Overstat said it goes beyond testing a single page, with the ability to track a sales or registration "funnel" across multiple pages.
The conference judges said there seemed to be a lot of potential with reservation. Coradsco suggested that Overstat could be used by large and small companies alike, but the judges said larger companies will have moire sophisticated needs and will want to build their own tools. And even though websites only need to add a snippet of JavaScript to their pages to make Overstat work, some companies might have reservations about adding yet another feature that they don't control to their site.
http://venturebeat.com/?p=244464
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Monday, February 21, 2011
QR Codes, Barcodes and RFID: What’s the Difference?
This series is commissioned by UPS.
QR Codes, barcodes and RFID (radio frequency identification) are all systems for conveying large amounts of data in a small format. They offer speed, labor savings and cost savings, among other benefits. But there are distinct differences between all 3 and differences in the purposes they are best suited for.
QR CODES
A recent trend among small businesses is the growing use of QR codes. QR codes (pictured below) are similar in one sense to bar codes, in that they contain information which can be read by a QR code reader.
QR codes can be scanned and read by a camera-equipped smartphone when you've downloaded a scanner app, such as i-nigma for the iPhone. What this means is that the average person can now de-code (read) a QR code, without special equipment. You could walk into a place of business, see a QR code on an item, scan it with your smartphone, and immediately have access to a lot of information electronically.
QR codes have been around for years. But in the last 12 months I've seen usage skyrocket among entrepreneurs as mobile usages has grown. QR Codes are well suited for marketing purposes, among other uses. For example, now it is becoming more common to receive business cards with QR Codes on them. That way, you get access to a lot more information than can fit on a small card. For instance, you might hand out business cards at an event containing a QR code that leads people to a Web page with a special offer for attendees. Or the QR Code on a business card might contain a V-card (digital business card) that you can save without having to manually input the card information.
Or you might give out schwag such as a coffee mug, imprinted with a QR code where someone can find out more information about your company. Or how about imprinting a QR Code on one of those pop-up banners when exhibiting at your next trade show? Attendees can scan your company's information by holding their smartphones up to the banner so you don't have to shell out for expensive printed materials and they don't have to lug all that heavy paper home on the plane.
It's not hard to generate a QR code. You can create one for free online. In fact, the Google URL shortener automatically creates one for a Web page each time a URL is shortened. The QR code image above is one I created using the Google URL shortener and it took me all of 2 seconds to create.
QR Codes have infinite uses in small businesses, especially for marketing, now that everybody on the planet seems to walk around glued to a smartphone. For more information, I urge you to read How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business or download the QR Code Marketing Kit from Sunrise Signs.
BARCODES
Barcodes have been around for decades. They are versatile with a large variety of uses especially in retail and manufacturing settings, and in transport and shipping.
We're used to seeing the common barcode printed on packaging at the grocery store or in other retail outlets, when items are passed over the barcode reader at the checkout counter to ring up a sale. Barcodes not only are valuable at the point of sale, but also for managing inventory and raw materials internally, so that you know what you have in stock.
Barcodes have become common in shipping, to enable greater accuracy and speed in getting packages delivered. And barcodes are used to manage large filing systems, library books, and a host of other purposes where large numbers of items need to be tracked efficiently.
Barcodes are relatively inexpensive, and help drive speed, efficiency and profitability. For ideas about how barcodes can be used, read my earlier article: Using Barcodes to Manage Inventory Returns.
RFID
RFID (radio frequency identification) has likewise been around for decades. However, RFID tends to require more technological hand-holding. RFID involves applying RFID tags to items or boxes or pallets. Tags vary greatly in size, shape and capabilities, but one example is pictured below. The tag with its small antenna emits a radio frequency signal that is picked up and read by a special wireless RFID reader, conveying information from the tag about the item it is affixed to.
RFID is adaptable to many of the same uses that barcodes are good for. But RFID is especially useful in situations where vast quantities of goods must be moved or tracked, or where tracking of item-specific information is necessary. RFID has been mandated by some customers, such as Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense, to track the vast quantities of items they require in their supply chains and to supply much more detailed information. In such situations, RFID maybe able to do it more quickly, effectively and efficiently than barcodes.
I know I'll get blasted for saying it again, but I firmly believe it to be true: many small businesses are not ready for RFID. True, RFID systems have improved, becoming easier and faster to implement than even a few years ago, with more accuracy and less cost. But for many small businesses RFID would be overkill. Small businesses may find barcodes more within their budgets and within their people resources to implement and manage. For more, read RFID or Barcodes: Which Are Better for Small Businesses?
CONCLUSION
RFID, barcodes and QR Codes all have their place for different purposes and under different circumstances. As with most technology, the cost to acquire and use it keeps coming down with each passing year. All 3 of these data management systems also have gotten much easier to implement in the past few years. So there's no excuse for not using technology to operate your business more efficiently and effectively it's just a question of which technology is better for your needs and your budget.
From Small Business TrendsQR Codes, Barcodes and RFID: What's the Difference?
Join the conversation about this story
QR Codes, barcodes and RFID (radio frequency identification) are all systems for conveying large amounts of data in a small format. They offer speed, labor savings and cost savings, among other benefits. But there are distinct differences between all 3 and differences in the purposes they are best suited for.
QR CODES
A recent trend among small businesses is the growing use of QR codes. QR codes (pictured below) are similar in one sense to bar codes, in that they contain information which can be read by a QR code reader.
QR codes can be scanned and read by a camera-equipped smartphone when you've downloaded a scanner app, such as i-nigma for the iPhone. What this means is that the average person can now de-code (read) a QR code, without special equipment. You could walk into a place of business, see a QR code on an item, scan it with your smartphone, and immediately have access to a lot of information electronically.
QR codes have been around for years. But in the last 12 months I've seen usage skyrocket among entrepreneurs as mobile usages has grown. QR Codes are well suited for marketing purposes, among other uses. For example, now it is becoming more common to receive business cards with QR Codes on them. That way, you get access to a lot more information than can fit on a small card. For instance, you might hand out business cards at an event containing a QR code that leads people to a Web page with a special offer for attendees. Or the QR Code on a business card might contain a V-card (digital business card) that you can save without having to manually input the card information.
Or you might give out schwag such as a coffee mug, imprinted with a QR code where someone can find out more information about your company. Or how about imprinting a QR Code on one of those pop-up banners when exhibiting at your next trade show? Attendees can scan your company's information by holding their smartphones up to the banner so you don't have to shell out for expensive printed materials and they don't have to lug all that heavy paper home on the plane.
It's not hard to generate a QR code. You can create one for free online. In fact, the Google URL shortener automatically creates one for a Web page each time a URL is shortened. The QR code image above is one I created using the Google URL shortener and it took me all of 2 seconds to create.
QR Codes have infinite uses in small businesses, especially for marketing, now that everybody on the planet seems to walk around glued to a smartphone. For more information, I urge you to read How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business or download the QR Code Marketing Kit from Sunrise Signs.
BARCODES
Barcodes have been around for decades. They are versatile with a large variety of uses especially in retail and manufacturing settings, and in transport and shipping.
We're used to seeing the common barcode printed on packaging at the grocery store or in other retail outlets, when items are passed over the barcode reader at the checkout counter to ring up a sale. Barcodes not only are valuable at the point of sale, but also for managing inventory and raw materials internally, so that you know what you have in stock.
Barcodes have become common in shipping, to enable greater accuracy and speed in getting packages delivered. And barcodes are used to manage large filing systems, library books, and a host of other purposes where large numbers of items need to be tracked efficiently.
Barcodes are relatively inexpensive, and help drive speed, efficiency and profitability. For ideas about how barcodes can be used, read my earlier article: Using Barcodes to Manage Inventory Returns.
RFID
RFID (radio frequency identification) has likewise been around for decades. However, RFID tends to require more technological hand-holding. RFID involves applying RFID tags to items or boxes or pallets. Tags vary greatly in size, shape and capabilities, but one example is pictured below. The tag with its small antenna emits a radio frequency signal that is picked up and read by a special wireless RFID reader, conveying information from the tag about the item it is affixed to.
RFID is adaptable to many of the same uses that barcodes are good for. But RFID is especially useful in situations where vast quantities of goods must be moved or tracked, or where tracking of item-specific information is necessary. RFID has been mandated by some customers, such as Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense, to track the vast quantities of items they require in their supply chains and to supply much more detailed information. In such situations, RFID maybe able to do it more quickly, effectively and efficiently than barcodes.
I know I'll get blasted for saying it again, but I firmly believe it to be true: many small businesses are not ready for RFID. True, RFID systems have improved, becoming easier and faster to implement than even a few years ago, with more accuracy and less cost. But for many small businesses RFID would be overkill. Small businesses may find barcodes more within their budgets and within their people resources to implement and manage. For more, read RFID or Barcodes: Which Are Better for Small Businesses?
CONCLUSION
RFID, barcodes and QR Codes all have their place for different purposes and under different circumstances. As with most technology, the cost to acquire and use it keeps coming down with each passing year. All 3 of these data management systems also have gotten much easier to implement in the past few years. So there's no excuse for not using technology to operate your business more efficiently and effectively it's just a question of which technology is better for your needs and your budget.
From Small Business TrendsQR Codes, Barcodes and RFID: What's the Difference?
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/qr-codes-barcodes-and-rfid-whats-the-difference-2011-2
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Sunday, February 20, 2011
Risk and Reward Are Not Always Obvious
I went to business school in the mid 80s. Investment banking was hot. The leveraged buyout craze was on. Junk bonds were hot. Everyone wanted to work on wall street.
I was obsessed with venture capital and had worked in a small venture firm the previous summer and had gotten an offer to work full time in venture capital for $60k per year with no bonus and no incentive comp. I also had gotten a job offer from an investment bank at $125k per year with a bonus opportunity of $250k.
Those investment banking job offers were all over the business school and almost everyone I knew took them. They all went on amazing summer vacations and showed up on wall street in September. In October 1987 the stock market crashed and by December many of my classmates were out of work.
I took the VC job, made basically enough to live in an apartment in NYC for ten years, but I did set myself up for Flatiron and then USV.
I told this story in a comment to my MBA Tuesdays post and figured it was worth posting as a full blog post. Risk is not obvious. And reward is not obvious. Don't do the obvious thing. Because I can assure you it rarely works out as planned.
Join the conversation about this story
I was obsessed with venture capital and had worked in a small venture firm the previous summer and had gotten an offer to work full time in venture capital for $60k per year with no bonus and no incentive comp. I also had gotten a job offer from an investment bank at $125k per year with a bonus opportunity of $250k.
Those investment banking job offers were all over the business school and almost everyone I knew took them. They all went on amazing summer vacations and showed up on wall street in September. In October 1987 the stock market crashed and by December many of my classmates were out of work.
I took the VC job, made basically enough to live in an apartment in NYC for ten years, but I did set myself up for Flatiron and then USV.
I told this story in a comment to my MBA Tuesdays post and figured it was worth posting as a full blog post. Risk is not obvious. And reward is not obvious. Don't do the obvious thing. Because I can assure you it rarely works out as planned.
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/risk-and-reward-are-not-always-obvious-2011-2
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Living Life is better than Dying in College
I know I've been doing a lot on college lately. But I view it as a stepping stone for how the life we live now diverges from the life we could be living (and the life I hope my kids will live). I'm in the process of writing a book on this where I hope to give some more views not on just college but a better way to spend your entire life, every moment, being educated and learning from experience. Here's an interview I just gave to a newsaper which clarifies my views a bit more:
> When you say that parents should not send their kids to college, do you mean that they should not go to college indefinitely? Or come back to college later in life?
Kids at 18 have no idea what they want to do in life. The world is a very big place. Its bigger than five classes a day on philosophy or chemical engineering. Most kids at 18 don't relish philosophy but they relish the experience of freedom and being out of their parents' home for the first time in their lives. There is nothing wrong with this. Young adults have a lot of energy and should use it. But the problem is that college costs have risen 1000% in the past 30 years while healthcare has risen 700% and inflation has risen "only" 300%. Colleges have made use of the myth that you can't get a job unless you have a college education. So young people feel a rush to get that college out of the way so they can get a job and "begin" their adult lives. I think kids should begin their adult lives at 18 by experiencing what else the world has to offer other (see my eight alternatives to college) than a classroom (which they've all just been locked in for the prior 18 years). A rose needs space to bloom.
Then, later, if they've thought about the debt burden they will place themselves and their parents in, they can choose to go to college. Right now student loan debt is greater than homeowner debt and credit card debt in this country. Thats a lot of debt. Whereas previously we've created generations of innovators and creators, now we are creating a generation of young people mired down in hopeless debt. When will they get to live life?
> When did you come up with your theory? How did you come to think of your theory?
A lot of people say, "Oh, James Altucher went to college so he shouldn't be talking about this". Well, why not? I saw what people were doing in college. I know now how much I learned in college and how much I learned in other experiences in life and which is more relevant to me now at the age of 43. And, btw, it was much cheaper when I went to school than it is now. So when did I develop this theory? Almost immediately when I realized college had nothing to do with any successes or failures that I had in life (and I had A LOT of failure despite college). And also, it took my 8 years to pay back my student loan debt. Now it takes kids 30 years to pay down that debt. Its not fair to the youth of our country.
To summarize:
A) you learn very little that you use in real life
B) you are so burdened by debt that you can't use your new-found
knowledge to create real freedom and joy for yourself
C) a young person can use their energy in many other ways than just college.
> Do you think that nothing well worth learning is taught in college? Or is it the fact that students might not be willing to learn?
There are many things worth learning in college. And not every person in the world should avoid college. But the best colleges cost a lot of money and its a burden for young people. And most things that you can learn in college you can learn for free outside of college thanks to the Internet. For instance, computer programming is best learned on the job. English literature is best learned by reading the books you are passionate about. Writing is best learned by having real experiences, writing every day, and reading the great writers who inspire you. Philosophy is learned by having real experiences and reading the philosophers or religious practitioners who inspire you. Imagine learning all of these things because of real world experiences, and then not having any debt. Also, when learning is not force-fed to you you develop a real love and knowledge for how to learn on your own and thats something you keep for the rest of your life. Most young people don't learn this.
> Do you think you learned anything when you went to college? Or do you think you could have learned more if you chose not to go to college?
I went to college from 1986-1989. I was paying for it with debt so i graduated in 3 years. I took six courses a semester so Icould graduate early. And I took courses every summer. I also worked about 30-40 hours a week at jobs so I could afford my expenses outside of tuititon. Even then i graduated with enormous debt. I majored in
Computer Science and learned how to program. I thought I was a very good programmer when I graduated college. I prided myself into thinking I was the best since I was sure I was better than any of my classmates. While I was in college I programmed computers to play chess, I wrote papers that were published in international conferences on artificial intelligence, I got As in every practical programming-related class (other than Fortran, ugh!), and then, by the way, I got a full scholarship to go to graduate school for two years. Then, when I finally had a job in the "real world" at HBO, the television network, my programming was so bad (awful!) I had to go to courses offered at AT&T for two months in order to get my programming in shape. And even then I was still nowhere near ready to do real programming in the real world. It probably took about another six months of daily effort to learn how to really program. I had the passion for computers and I'm sure if all I had done were those AT&T courses right from the beginning I would've been fine.
(college hasnt protected society from being miserable)
Sometimes you have to throw a kid in the water to teach them how to swim (or let them drown). Thats the way to learn. Not being force-fed from textbooks written twenty years ago and being taught by professors with little real world experience. Its a shame also that unless you have a PhD a college won't let you teach (in most cases). PhDs are often the most intellectual but have the least real world experience. And for that great experience we have to go into massive debt now.
> Do you have any advice for students who are in college right now and feel like they aren't getting anything out of their education?
Yes, take a year or two off and try some of my eight alternatives. I'm writing a book now with over 40 alternatives and explaining my views in greater depth.
> Are there many people who disagree with your thoughts? Agree? How do people react when they first hear what you have to say?
I think many people agree and don't say anything. But the people who disagree get very very upset. Its like I'm questioning their religion. I can go right now in the center of Times Square in NYC and shout, "Jesus is Satan!" and people would just walk around me and think, "ok, its free speech". But if I shouted, "don't send your kids to college", WHOAH!! Lock this guy up! Take away his kids!
I've even had death threats based on this opinion. People have a huge life attachment to the fact that college is a part of life, the same way that birth, marriage, parenting, and death are. Its not. Its a relatively modern invention (for the mainstream American, its about fifty years old the idea that most kids should go to college, after 6000 years of civilization). Unfortunately this modern invention has been so abused by college administrators that the next generation of kids we graduate will be mired down in debt, and STILL need to learn the skills required for basic jobs that they want to do. Lets not forget, nobody learns how to be a doctor in college. Thats pre med. They learn a little in one or two years of medical school, but then they really learn when they are a resident in an actual hospital. And then between debt, insurance, and the burdens government is now placing on doctors, how will they ever pay down their burdens? The entire system needs to change but the discussion has to happen somewhere. Hopefully it will be here.
> Anything else you'd like to add?
I began my career at the age of 23, after I left graduate school. And then I began a career from scratch again when i was 26, and then 28, and a totally new career when i was 33. And then a completely new career when i was 36. And now I'm 43 and I'm still open to changing careers and doing new things in life. There's no rush to start a career at the age of 22. Life changes as you go out in the world and experience things. Failures happen, seeds grow and take years to turn into a tree. Give yourself time to plant those seeds, to learn from your failures, to experience new things in life. The earlier you start to do this, the wiser, healthier, and more balanced you will be. You will be more capable of making decisions on career, family, and life in general.
Its also important that people stop using the statistic: people who went to college make more money. This is a very true statistic but anyone who takes Statistics 101 in college should know that correlation is not cause-and-effect. It could quite possibly be that over the past 30 years, people who are more achievement oriented (and hence more likely to make more money) were more likely to go to college. A better test would be if we take 2000 people who got accepted to Harvard today and divide them randomly into 2 groups: one that goes to college, the other that doesn't, and see what they are earning 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now. (Some people will then say, "but money isn't everything" and I strongly agree, but this is just to counterbalance that one statistic that seems to suggest money is everything)
Don't discount the value of spending time experiencing the world before you make the enormous financial committment of going to college. It will teach you the beginnings (and JUST the beginnings) of what might be important to you. It will teach you how to survive, it will teach you about people other than from your own age group and socio-economic demographic, it will teach you about the 99% of opportunities that happen in the world that have nothing to do with college, it will teach you how to stretch your mind to learn how to sell and communicate, and finally it will show you at an early age that failure, choices, and life is a spectrum and not a ladder. Take advantage of that when still young and I can guarantee you all of life will bend down and support your endeavors.
Join the conversation about this story
> When you say that parents should not send their kids to college, do you mean that they should not go to college indefinitely? Or come back to college later in life?
Kids at 18 have no idea what they want to do in life. The world is a very big place. Its bigger than five classes a day on philosophy or chemical engineering. Most kids at 18 don't relish philosophy but they relish the experience of freedom and being out of their parents' home for the first time in their lives. There is nothing wrong with this. Young adults have a lot of energy and should use it. But the problem is that college costs have risen 1000% in the past 30 years while healthcare has risen 700% and inflation has risen "only" 300%. Colleges have made use of the myth that you can't get a job unless you have a college education. So young people feel a rush to get that college out of the way so they can get a job and "begin" their adult lives. I think kids should begin their adult lives at 18 by experiencing what else the world has to offer other (see my eight alternatives to college) than a classroom (which they've all just been locked in for the prior 18 years). A rose needs space to bloom.
Then, later, if they've thought about the debt burden they will place themselves and their parents in, they can choose to go to college. Right now student loan debt is greater than homeowner debt and credit card debt in this country. Thats a lot of debt. Whereas previously we've created generations of innovators and creators, now we are creating a generation of young people mired down in hopeless debt. When will they get to live life?
> When did you come up with your theory? How did you come to think of your theory?
A lot of people say, "Oh, James Altucher went to college so he shouldn't be talking about this". Well, why not? I saw what people were doing in college. I know now how much I learned in college and how much I learned in other experiences in life and which is more relevant to me now at the age of 43. And, btw, it was much cheaper when I went to school than it is now. So when did I develop this theory? Almost immediately when I realized college had nothing to do with any successes or failures that I had in life (and I had A LOT of failure despite college). And also, it took my 8 years to pay back my student loan debt. Now it takes kids 30 years to pay down that debt. Its not fair to the youth of our country.
To summarize:
A) you learn very little that you use in real life
B) you are so burdened by debt that you can't use your new-found
knowledge to create real freedom and joy for yourself
C) a young person can use their energy in many other ways than just college.
> Do you think that nothing well worth learning is taught in college? Or is it the fact that students might not be willing to learn?
There are many things worth learning in college. And not every person in the world should avoid college. But the best colleges cost a lot of money and its a burden for young people. And most things that you can learn in college you can learn for free outside of college thanks to the Internet. For instance, computer programming is best learned on the job. English literature is best learned by reading the books you are passionate about. Writing is best learned by having real experiences, writing every day, and reading the great writers who inspire you. Philosophy is learned by having real experiences and reading the philosophers or religious practitioners who inspire you. Imagine learning all of these things because of real world experiences, and then not having any debt. Also, when learning is not force-fed to you you develop a real love and knowledge for how to learn on your own and thats something you keep for the rest of your life. Most young people don't learn this.
> Do you think you learned anything when you went to college? Or do you think you could have learned more if you chose not to go to college?
I went to college from 1986-1989. I was paying for it with debt so i graduated in 3 years. I took six courses a semester so Icould graduate early. And I took courses every summer. I also worked about 30-40 hours a week at jobs so I could afford my expenses outside of tuititon. Even then i graduated with enormous debt. I majored in
Computer Science and learned how to program. I thought I was a very good programmer when I graduated college. I prided myself into thinking I was the best since I was sure I was better than any of my classmates. While I was in college I programmed computers to play chess, I wrote papers that were published in international conferences on artificial intelligence, I got As in every practical programming-related class (other than Fortran, ugh!), and then, by the way, I got a full scholarship to go to graduate school for two years. Then, when I finally had a job in the "real world" at HBO, the television network, my programming was so bad (awful!) I had to go to courses offered at AT&T for two months in order to get my programming in shape. And even then I was still nowhere near ready to do real programming in the real world. It probably took about another six months of daily effort to learn how to really program. I had the passion for computers and I'm sure if all I had done were those AT&T courses right from the beginning I would've been fine.
(college hasnt protected society from being miserable)
Sometimes you have to throw a kid in the water to teach them how to swim (or let them drown). Thats the way to learn. Not being force-fed from textbooks written twenty years ago and being taught by professors with little real world experience. Its a shame also that unless you have a PhD a college won't let you teach (in most cases). PhDs are often the most intellectual but have the least real world experience. And for that great experience we have to go into massive debt now.
> Do you have any advice for students who are in college right now and feel like they aren't getting anything out of their education?
Yes, take a year or two off and try some of my eight alternatives. I'm writing a book now with over 40 alternatives and explaining my views in greater depth.
> Are there many people who disagree with your thoughts? Agree? How do people react when they first hear what you have to say?
I think many people agree and don't say anything. But the people who disagree get very very upset. Its like I'm questioning their religion. I can go right now in the center of Times Square in NYC and shout, "Jesus is Satan!" and people would just walk around me and think, "ok, its free speech". But if I shouted, "don't send your kids to college", WHOAH!! Lock this guy up! Take away his kids!
I've even had death threats based on this opinion. People have a huge life attachment to the fact that college is a part of life, the same way that birth, marriage, parenting, and death are. Its not. Its a relatively modern invention (for the mainstream American, its about fifty years old the idea that most kids should go to college, after 6000 years of civilization). Unfortunately this modern invention has been so abused by college administrators that the next generation of kids we graduate will be mired down in debt, and STILL need to learn the skills required for basic jobs that they want to do. Lets not forget, nobody learns how to be a doctor in college. Thats pre med. They learn a little in one or two years of medical school, but then they really learn when they are a resident in an actual hospital. And then between debt, insurance, and the burdens government is now placing on doctors, how will they ever pay down their burdens? The entire system needs to change but the discussion has to happen somewhere. Hopefully it will be here.
> Anything else you'd like to add?
I began my career at the age of 23, after I left graduate school. And then I began a career from scratch again when i was 26, and then 28, and a totally new career when i was 33. And then a completely new career when i was 36. And now I'm 43 and I'm still open to changing careers and doing new things in life. There's no rush to start a career at the age of 22. Life changes as you go out in the world and experience things. Failures happen, seeds grow and take years to turn into a tree. Give yourself time to plant those seeds, to learn from your failures, to experience new things in life. The earlier you start to do this, the wiser, healthier, and more balanced you will be. You will be more capable of making decisions on career, family, and life in general.
Its also important that people stop using the statistic: people who went to college make more money. This is a very true statistic but anyone who takes Statistics 101 in college should know that correlation is not cause-and-effect. It could quite possibly be that over the past 30 years, people who are more achievement oriented (and hence more likely to make more money) were more likely to go to college. A better test would be if we take 2000 people who got accepted to Harvard today and divide them randomly into 2 groups: one that goes to college, the other that doesn't, and see what they are earning 5, 10, 20, 30 years from now. (Some people will then say, "but money isn't everything" and I strongly agree, but this is just to counterbalance that one statistic that seems to suggest money is everything)
Don't discount the value of spending time experiencing the world before you make the enormous financial committment of going to college. It will teach you the beginnings (and JUST the beginnings) of what might be important to you. It will teach you how to survive, it will teach you about people other than from your own age group and socio-economic demographic, it will teach you about the 99% of opportunities that happen in the world that have nothing to do with college, it will teach you how to stretch your mind to learn how to sell and communicate, and finally it will show you at an early age that failure, choices, and life is a spectrum and not a ladder. Take advantage of that when still young and I can guarantee you all of life will bend down and support your endeavors.
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/living-life-is-better-than-dying-in-college-2011-2
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Start With Innovation, Then Make it a Revolution
Great startups these days start with innovation, and then take it up a few notches to make it a revolution. An example is Google, who turned a new search technology into a tool that most of us couldn't live without. As an entrepreneur, how do you know if you have the potential to innovate, and what are the steps to get from innovation to revolution?
While digging into this subject, I came across a new book by Patrick J. Howie, called "The Evolution of Revolutions," which makes the points that resonate with my experience. He starts with a discussion of the Big Five personality traits, used to explain individual differences across all walks of life. The following three seem to relate most closely to innovative potential:
Openness to experience. Scoring high on openness has been found to be the top predictor of an entrepreneur's innovativeness. Having a curiosity to learn about all new things increases the likelihood of "seeing" novel solutions.
Hardworking and responsible. Innovation is hard work. Good entrepreneurs have to develop sufficient knowledge and enjoy the difficult problem-solving process to achieve real innovation. That requires a high level of commitment, and a high degree of ambition.
Desire to communicate. If an entrepreneur creates an innovation but never talks and shares it, then the innovation may never be recognized. An entrepreneur doesn't have to be a raving extravert, but working with other people and selling are required capabilities.
With the right personality traits, the next step is to follow a productive innovation process. The sad fact is that the vast majority of new products and new companies fail to make it to market or fail to turn a profit. Here the key steps of a process that good entrepreneurs espouse:
Problem identification. Useful innovations are ones that solve a real human problem, rather than simply illustrating a capability of a new technology. Many entrepreneurs start with an impressive technology, but forget to relate it to a problem that affects large numbers of potential customers who have the means to buy it.
Motivation to inspiration. The germination of an innovation is elusive. Overt attempts to motivate people to be innovative or usually counterproductive. Good entrepreneurs are usually intrinsically motivated by a dream or vision, or even money, or inspired by a personal challenge or opportunity to change the world.
The new reality. Entrepreneurs need to critically evaluate their "habits of perception" to come up with new concepts of reality. This is called re-conceptualization, using the innovation they bring to the table. The hard part is bringing customers to that new reality.
The final step to successful innovation is to get it adopted by real customers, rather than simply being the subject of an academic report or technical journal. Patrick calls this "taking an innovation to a revolution." This involves moving through the following three stages:
Overcoming resistance. All new innovations are evaluated against the current option, which may be doing nothing. The reality is that most people have a natural bias against change and innovation, so your challenge is to get them to re-concepualize.
Clarification and iteration. Most new products are not conceived or developed perfectly the first time. Thus resistance is a good thing, since it helps the entrepreneur to be more precise as they iterate on the definition, production, and selling of the innovation.
Evolution to a revolution. Every innovative product needs continuous follow-on, meaning additional innovation, with a cumulative value much greater than the original. Failure to pass this stage means your innovation is a fad, or a 'one-trick' pony.
Notice that none of these elements mentions risk. Traditionally, the level of innovation is aligned with the level of risk, yet many entrepreneurs do not consider themselves to be risk takers at all. If your goal is to spark "the next big thing," it has to start with innovation, but that is only the beginning. Can you make the evolution from there to a revolution?
Marty Zwilling
Join the conversation about this story
While digging into this subject, I came across a new book by Patrick J. Howie, called "The Evolution of Revolutions," which makes the points that resonate with my experience. He starts with a discussion of the Big Five personality traits, used to explain individual differences across all walks of life. The following three seem to relate most closely to innovative potential:
Openness to experience. Scoring high on openness has been found to be the top predictor of an entrepreneur's innovativeness. Having a curiosity to learn about all new things increases the likelihood of "seeing" novel solutions.
Hardworking and responsible. Innovation is hard work. Good entrepreneurs have to develop sufficient knowledge and enjoy the difficult problem-solving process to achieve real innovation. That requires a high level of commitment, and a high degree of ambition.
Desire to communicate. If an entrepreneur creates an innovation but never talks and shares it, then the innovation may never be recognized. An entrepreneur doesn't have to be a raving extravert, but working with other people and selling are required capabilities.
With the right personality traits, the next step is to follow a productive innovation process. The sad fact is that the vast majority of new products and new companies fail to make it to market or fail to turn a profit. Here the key steps of a process that good entrepreneurs espouse:
Problem identification. Useful innovations are ones that solve a real human problem, rather than simply illustrating a capability of a new technology. Many entrepreneurs start with an impressive technology, but forget to relate it to a problem that affects large numbers of potential customers who have the means to buy it.
Motivation to inspiration. The germination of an innovation is elusive. Overt attempts to motivate people to be innovative or usually counterproductive. Good entrepreneurs are usually intrinsically motivated by a dream or vision, or even money, or inspired by a personal challenge or opportunity to change the world.
The new reality. Entrepreneurs need to critically evaluate their "habits of perception" to come up with new concepts of reality. This is called re-conceptualization, using the innovation they bring to the table. The hard part is bringing customers to that new reality.
The final step to successful innovation is to get it adopted by real customers, rather than simply being the subject of an academic report or technical journal. Patrick calls this "taking an innovation to a revolution." This involves moving through the following three stages:
Overcoming resistance. All new innovations are evaluated against the current option, which may be doing nothing. The reality is that most people have a natural bias against change and innovation, so your challenge is to get them to re-concepualize.
Clarification and iteration. Most new products are not conceived or developed perfectly the first time. Thus resistance is a good thing, since it helps the entrepreneur to be more precise as they iterate on the definition, production, and selling of the innovation.
Evolution to a revolution. Every innovative product needs continuous follow-on, meaning additional innovation, with a cumulative value much greater than the original. Failure to pass this stage means your innovation is a fad, or a 'one-trick' pony.
Notice that none of these elements mentions risk. Traditionally, the level of innovation is aligned with the level of risk, yet many entrepreneurs do not consider themselves to be risk takers at all. If your goal is to spark "the next big thing," it has to start with innovation, but that is only the beginning. Can you make the evolution from there to a revolution?
Marty Zwilling
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/start-with-innovation-then-make-it-a-revolution-2011-2
--
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For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
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7 Steps To Spice Up Your Marketing Plan
One of the most powerful strategic planning tools your business can possess is a marketing plan.
I'm not referring to an academic exercise found in college marketing textbooks. Your marketing plan should be a simple (in some cases, one-page) document that specifically answers who you are, what you do, who needs what you do and how you plan to attract their attention.
It's a combination of the planning process and the completed action plan.
Narrow your market focus.
Try to describe your ideal customer in the narrowest and most detailed terms possible, as though you're describing him or her to a referral source.
Position your business.
Figure out what you do best and what your target market wants. Maybe it's how you serve a niche or package your products.
If you don't know what it is, call up three or four of your clients and ask them why they buy from you. Craft a core marketing message that allows you to quickly differentiate your business.
Create education-based marketing materials.
Recreate all your marketing materials, including your website, to focus on education.
Make certain every word in your marketing materials speaks of your core messages and to your target market.
View more at Business Insider
I'm not referring to an academic exercise found in college marketing textbooks. Your marketing plan should be a simple (in some cases, one-page) document that specifically answers who you are, what you do, who needs what you do and how you plan to attract their attention.
It's a combination of the planning process and the completed action plan.
Narrow your market focus.
Try to describe your ideal customer in the narrowest and most detailed terms possible, as though you're describing him or her to a referral source.
Position your business.
Figure out what you do best and what your target market wants. Maybe it's how you serve a niche or package your products.
If you don't know what it is, call up three or four of your clients and ask them why they buy from you. Craft a core marketing message that allows you to quickly differentiate your business.
Create education-based marketing materials.
Recreate all your marketing materials, including your website, to focus on education.
Make certain every word in your marketing materials speaks of your core messages and to your target market.
View more at Business Insider
--
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For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
Friday, February 18, 2011
The ‘Big Bang’ Theory Doesn’t Work for Startups
The traditional mode of starting a company is to plan a serial process, where you complete only once all the steps, leading to the "big bang" launch of the company. I strongly recommend a dramatic departure from this model, called "planned iteration," where you assume you won't get it right the first time.
This idea was well articulated by Paul Graham in an old essay, called "Startups in 13 Sentences" in which he talked about "making a few people really happy rather than making a lot of people semi-happy." One of his key points is that "launching teaches you what you should have been building," and I agree.
All you old software development types will recognize the analogy to the traditional two year "waterfall model" of software development, which has been totally replaced with the Agile iterative methodology. Agile assumes and plans for iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve as more is known and markets change.
Don't mistake this for a license to launch an incomplete or poor quality solution. Your strategy today should be to define and excellently prepare the absolute minimum product that will excite a selected small segment of your intended customers, and roll it out to them – as a Beta, early promotion, or even a give-away.
Then you assess feedback, adjust your offering, and iterate until you get it right (have some very satisfied customers). Plan on multiple small launches, with iterations, rather than a big launch. Here are the advantages I see with this approach:
Faster time to market. If you launch fast, you can be working with real customers in 4-6 months from your start, rather than 1-2 years. In today's fast moving marketplace, needs, competitors, and costs change rapidly, so even if you were right, two years later the wave has moved on. Equally likely, your first target was wrong, and you will need to adjust.
Get traction before funding. Let's face reality, the angel or VC funding process now takes 4-6 months of almost dedicated effort and time, and usually fails because you don't yet have a product or customer. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.
Find customers, partners and channels early. There is nothing like a real customer pipeline to convince you that you need partners and channels, and to convince partners, channels, and investors that you are real. Get out there personally and find that first customer. It will narrow your development focus, and adjust your strategy for you. Spend your time finding renewable sources of customers and iterate.
Use social networking to start the wave. Costs are low these days to set up a credible website, do some search engine optimization, start blogging, and start mining the social networks for interest. It won't cost you your whole funding pot to start some momentum, or to realize that your original strategy needs major tuning.
Think about it. Where did Google, eBay, and Facebook come from? They inched their way into public view before the first multi-million dollar funding rounds, and they have never had a big public launch. New product companies in the offline world start one store at a time, or in one geographic area.
Big bang product launches are the domain of big enterprises, and you can never match their clout and budget. The biggest advantages you have as a startup are speed and agility. Use them.
Marty Zwilling
Join the conversation about this story
This idea was well articulated by Paul Graham in an old essay, called "Startups in 13 Sentences" in which he talked about "making a few people really happy rather than making a lot of people semi-happy." One of his key points is that "launching teaches you what you should have been building," and I agree.
All you old software development types will recognize the analogy to the traditional two year "waterfall model" of software development, which has been totally replaced with the Agile iterative methodology. Agile assumes and plans for iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve as more is known and markets change.
Don't mistake this for a license to launch an incomplete or poor quality solution. Your strategy today should be to define and excellently prepare the absolute minimum product that will excite a selected small segment of your intended customers, and roll it out to them – as a Beta, early promotion, or even a give-away.
Then you assess feedback, adjust your offering, and iterate until you get it right (have some very satisfied customers). Plan on multiple small launches, with iterations, rather than a big launch. Here are the advantages I see with this approach:
Faster time to market. If you launch fast, you can be working with real customers in 4-6 months from your start, rather than 1-2 years. In today's fast moving marketplace, needs, competitors, and costs change rapidly, so even if you were right, two years later the wave has moved on. Equally likely, your first target was wrong, and you will need to adjust.
Get traction before funding. Let's face reality, the angel or VC funding process now takes 4-6 months of almost dedicated effort and time, and usually fails because you don't yet have a product or customer. By using a laser focused approach for the first iteration, you may actually produce something and get a customer without funding. Now investors will pay attention, since scale-up funding is less risky and has a time frame.
Find customers, partners and channels early. There is nothing like a real customer pipeline to convince you that you need partners and channels, and to convince partners, channels, and investors that you are real. Get out there personally and find that first customer. It will narrow your development focus, and adjust your strategy for you. Spend your time finding renewable sources of customers and iterate.
Use social networking to start the wave. Costs are low these days to set up a credible website, do some search engine optimization, start blogging, and start mining the social networks for interest. It won't cost you your whole funding pot to start some momentum, or to realize that your original strategy needs major tuning.
Think about it. Where did Google, eBay, and Facebook come from? They inched their way into public view before the first multi-million dollar funding rounds, and they have never had a big public launch. New product companies in the offline world start one store at a time, or in one geographic area.
Big bang product launches are the domain of big enterprises, and you can never match their clout and budget. The biggest advantages you have as a startup are speed and agility. Use them.
Marty Zwilling
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-big-bang-theory-doesnt-work-for-startups-2011-2
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Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
Telkom Kembangkan Perangkat Monitor Rumah
Semarang, CyberNews. Perkembangan teknologi saat ini semakin menyentuh ke berbagai bidang, termasuk sisi keamanan dan pengawasan rumah, kantor, maupun sekolah. ...
http://suaramerdeka.com/v1/index.php/read/news/2011/02/18/78278
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http://suaramerdeka.com/v1/index.php/read/news/2011/02/18/78278
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This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Label Halal Coca-Cola Bisa Dicabut
Kabar tak sedang tengah menimpa minuman ringan Coca-Cola. Salah satu media asing melansir, minuman tersebut dikabarkan telah menggunakan alkohol dalam proses pembuatannya.
http://news.okezone.com/read/2011/02/17/337/425753/label-halal-coca-cola-bisa-dicabut
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Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
http://news.okezone.com/read/2011/02/17/337/425753/label-halal-coca-cola-bisa-dicabut
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Forget 90/10 Split, Key To Google One Pass Is That Customer Information Is Shared With Publishers
In perhaps the most coincidental bit of timing ever, Google has today announced their content subscription and management service for publishers: One Pass. Okay, let's be honest, it's not coincidental. Google announced it today because just yesterday, Apple announced their own subscription service within the App Store. And their offering is highly controversial, to say the least.
Google, it appears, is once again taking the anti-Apple approach. In their blog post on the matter, the company makes it very clear that they mean for One Pass to be very publisher-friendly. But is it too publisher-friendly?
Here's the key nugget that everyone seems to be overlooking:
With Google One Pass, publishers can maintain direct relationships with their customers and give readers access to digital content across websites and mobile apps.
I've confirmed that this means that customer information collected by Google will be shared with publishers. What kind of information? Name, zip code, and most importantly, email addresses. Billing information will not be shared, we're told. Users can choose to opt-out of sharing this information, but they'll have to explicitly do so. By default, the information is shared.
And as we've talked about before, that's a huge win for publishers who mainly fear these online subscription services because it could mean giving up their all-important rolodex of customer information. You know, the information they use to market stuff to you. With Google's system, they'll be able to maintain at least part of that direct relationship.
And that's important because with Apple's system, publishers are getting the shaft. The way Apple set it up, user data can be shared with publishers — but only if the users themselves explicitly choose to share it. When you subscribe to a publication, a pop-up appears asking if you'd like to allow the publisher to get your contact information. There are two options: "Allow" and "Don't Allow". It's a simple option that will make sense to customers. But it also means that basically no one is going to share such information. Who in their right mind would?
Well, unless it's shared for you, that is.
There is no question that Google's system will be more flexible for publishers. And yes, Google will be keeping only 10 percent of the revenue from sales, as opposed to the 30 percent that Apple is keeping. But from a user perspective, given the data sharing situation, there's no question that Apple's system is more favorable.
The next question is if users will have a choice between the two systems, or if publishers will rush to Google given the infinitely better terms for them. Of course, given Google's record so far selling Android apps compared to Apple selling iOS apps, that may not be so cut and dry either. The race is on.
[photo: flickr/be.futureproof]
CrunchBase Information
Google
Apple
Information provided by CrunchBase
Google, it appears, is once again taking the anti-Apple approach. In their blog post on the matter, the company makes it very clear that they mean for One Pass to be very publisher-friendly. But is it too publisher-friendly?
Here's the key nugget that everyone seems to be overlooking:
With Google One Pass, publishers can maintain direct relationships with their customers and give readers access to digital content across websites and mobile apps.
I've confirmed that this means that customer information collected by Google will be shared with publishers. What kind of information? Name, zip code, and most importantly, email addresses. Billing information will not be shared, we're told. Users can choose to opt-out of sharing this information, but they'll have to explicitly do so. By default, the information is shared.
And as we've talked about before, that's a huge win for publishers who mainly fear these online subscription services because it could mean giving up their all-important rolodex of customer information. You know, the information they use to market stuff to you. With Google's system, they'll be able to maintain at least part of that direct relationship.
And that's important because with Apple's system, publishers are getting the shaft. The way Apple set it up, user data can be shared with publishers — but only if the users themselves explicitly choose to share it. When you subscribe to a publication, a pop-up appears asking if you'd like to allow the publisher to get your contact information. There are two options: "Allow" and "Don't Allow". It's a simple option that will make sense to customers. But it also means that basically no one is going to share such information. Who in their right mind would?
Well, unless it's shared for you, that is.
There is no question that Google's system will be more flexible for publishers. And yes, Google will be keeping only 10 percent of the revenue from sales, as opposed to the 30 percent that Apple is keeping. But from a user perspective, given the data sharing situation, there's no question that Apple's system is more favorable.
The next question is if users will have a choice between the two systems, or if publishers will rush to Google given the infinitely better terms for them. Of course, given Google's record so far selling Android apps compared to Apple selling iOS apps, that may not be so cut and dry either. The race is on.
[photo: flickr/be.futureproof]
CrunchBase Information
Apple
Information provided by CrunchBase
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wAasUa5BeHs/
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Monday, February 14, 2011
Menagih Janji Location Based Service
Location Based Service, pertama kita kenal lewat FourSquare. Yang kita dengar, seorang pengunjung rutin pub mendapatkan gelar Mayor karena frekuensi kunjungannya. Dan dengan gelar Mayor pub ini maka dia berhak akan reward sejumlah beberapa dollar atau layanan ekstra lain. Idealnya seperti itu, namun sejauh ini rasanya kita tak banyak mendapatkan manfaat kecuali kesenangan di milis dan mendapatkan badges dari layanan LBS ini.
Sebenarnya apa saja yang dijanjikan LBS dan bagaimana kenyataannya sampai hari ini?
Reward for Loyal Customer
Well, sebenarnya ini tidak dijanjikan oleh LBS langsung namun oleh para merchant yang memakai LBS untuk memasarkan atau menambah experience di produknya. Tapi ternyata sampai sekarang tidak banyak atau hampir tidak ada yang bisa memanfaatkan LBS dan memenuhi janji memanjakan loyal customer. Entah pendekatan pemakain LBS yang kurang tepat sehingga tidak ada pengunjung yang berpartisipasi dalam kampanye atau LBS memang sama sekali belum memenuhi kriteria layanan yang dicari merchant. Takut dengan jumper?
Connecting Near-by Friends
Salah satu janji LBS yang menarik adalah mempermudahkan pertemuan antar teman. Sering kita tak tahu ternyata teman-teman kita berada di tempat yang sedang kita kunjungi. LBS menjanjikan kita bisa lebih connect dengan teman-teman kita karena posisi tiap-tiap orang bisa terlacak.
Namun yang terjadi adakah kita justru memanfaatkan media lain (Twitter) untuk menyebarkan posisi kita dan mengatur pertemuan dengan teman. LBS tidak jadi core connecting tool. Yang menggagalkan janji LB ini bukan ketiadaan push notification tapi soal integrasinya dengan perangkat bergerak yang kita gunakan. Notifikasi diberikan saat teman kita checkin di suatu tempat namun kita sedang tidak di sana. Informasi ini terkadang jadi tak relevan dan tak tepat timingnya.
Push Near-by Promo
Masih ingat Minority Report? Saat iklan berganti begitu Tom Cruise melewati sebuah koridor. LBS juga punya janji untuk memenuhi kecanggihan itu. Namun lagi-lagi kita jarang mendengar kisahnya apalagi kisah sukses. Dengan berbekal lokasi pengguna, semestinya siapapun sudah bisa melakukan push-promo ke pengunjung yang lewat. Dari segi peminat pengiklan, pasti jumlahnya banyak. Lebih targeted secara lokasi yang berarti begitu bisa ditimbulkan keinginan untuk membeli maka tidak akan ada banyak halangan untuk terjadi konversi. Apa yang membuatnya tidak jalan?
The Game Changer
LBS adalah layanan yang menarik namun lahir prematur. Teknologi pendukungnya ada tapi belum benar-benar sempurna dan mencapai citical mass. Ada dua hal utama yang menghambat perkembangannya. Pertama dari sisi teknologi. GPS dan alat penentu lokasi lain belum terlekat secara default ke tiap perangkat bergerak. Pun terekat, konsumsi dayanya sering membuat orang sengaja mematikan fitur tersebut.
Saya membayangkan nantinya ada NFC (Near Field Communication) dengan dukungan range yang lebih dari 10cm. Terinstall di masing-masing merchant dan perangkat bergerak kita. Menjadi semacam sensor saat kita mendekat dan mengirimkan notifikasi tak mengganggu tentang diskon atau sisa reward point kita.
Faktor kedua yang menghambat perkembangan LBS adalah privasi. Auto-checkin pernah diperkenalkan oleh beberapa aplikasi LBS namun pemakainya masih agak enggan karena ada kekhawatiran tentang terbaginya data yang harusnya privat. Ada yang pakai? Data lokasi sepertinya perlu dibungkus dengan semacam OAuth dan merchant akan berperan sebagai aplikasi yang meminta permisi ke tiap akses lokasi. Dengan demikian kita bsia mengendalikan siapa saja yang otomatis bisa mengetahui lokasi kita.
Tanpa auto-checkin, LBS rasanya bak WiFi yang harus kita set setiap kali hendak dipakai. Menyebalkan, namun untungnya tidak demikian. Begitu kita datang, koneksi WiFi sudah langsung on dan kita bisa segera mengupdate status Facebook.
PS:
Sepertinya saya sempat mendengar ada Telco yang sudah melakukan push-promo berbasis lokasi. Ada yang bisa membantu dengan informasi lebih lanjut?
Google Latitude sudah menambahkan fitur checkin dan sepertinya LBS inilah yang lebih dekat ke produk ideal yang kita cari. Saya cari, bagi Anda mungkin lain cerita.
Artikel Terkait:
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Sebenarnya apa saja yang dijanjikan LBS dan bagaimana kenyataannya sampai hari ini?
Reward for Loyal Customer
Well, sebenarnya ini tidak dijanjikan oleh LBS langsung namun oleh para merchant yang memakai LBS untuk memasarkan atau menambah experience di produknya. Tapi ternyata sampai sekarang tidak banyak atau hampir tidak ada yang bisa memanfaatkan LBS dan memenuhi janji memanjakan loyal customer. Entah pendekatan pemakain LBS yang kurang tepat sehingga tidak ada pengunjung yang berpartisipasi dalam kampanye atau LBS memang sama sekali belum memenuhi kriteria layanan yang dicari merchant. Takut dengan jumper?
Connecting Near-by Friends
Salah satu janji LBS yang menarik adalah mempermudahkan pertemuan antar teman. Sering kita tak tahu ternyata teman-teman kita berada di tempat yang sedang kita kunjungi. LBS menjanjikan kita bisa lebih connect dengan teman-teman kita karena posisi tiap-tiap orang bisa terlacak.
Namun yang terjadi adakah kita justru memanfaatkan media lain (Twitter) untuk menyebarkan posisi kita dan mengatur pertemuan dengan teman. LBS tidak jadi core connecting tool. Yang menggagalkan janji LB ini bukan ketiadaan push notification tapi soal integrasinya dengan perangkat bergerak yang kita gunakan. Notifikasi diberikan saat teman kita checkin di suatu tempat namun kita sedang tidak di sana. Informasi ini terkadang jadi tak relevan dan tak tepat timingnya.
Push Near-by Promo
Masih ingat Minority Report? Saat iklan berganti begitu Tom Cruise melewati sebuah koridor. LBS juga punya janji untuk memenuhi kecanggihan itu. Namun lagi-lagi kita jarang mendengar kisahnya apalagi kisah sukses. Dengan berbekal lokasi pengguna, semestinya siapapun sudah bisa melakukan push-promo ke pengunjung yang lewat. Dari segi peminat pengiklan, pasti jumlahnya banyak. Lebih targeted secara lokasi yang berarti begitu bisa ditimbulkan keinginan untuk membeli maka tidak akan ada banyak halangan untuk terjadi konversi. Apa yang membuatnya tidak jalan?
The Game Changer
LBS adalah layanan yang menarik namun lahir prematur. Teknologi pendukungnya ada tapi belum benar-benar sempurna dan mencapai citical mass. Ada dua hal utama yang menghambat perkembangannya. Pertama dari sisi teknologi. GPS dan alat penentu lokasi lain belum terlekat secara default ke tiap perangkat bergerak. Pun terekat, konsumsi dayanya sering membuat orang sengaja mematikan fitur tersebut.
Saya membayangkan nantinya ada NFC (Near Field Communication) dengan dukungan range yang lebih dari 10cm. Terinstall di masing-masing merchant dan perangkat bergerak kita. Menjadi semacam sensor saat kita mendekat dan mengirimkan notifikasi tak mengganggu tentang diskon atau sisa reward point kita.
Faktor kedua yang menghambat perkembangan LBS adalah privasi. Auto-checkin pernah diperkenalkan oleh beberapa aplikasi LBS namun pemakainya masih agak enggan karena ada kekhawatiran tentang terbaginya data yang harusnya privat. Ada yang pakai? Data lokasi sepertinya perlu dibungkus dengan semacam OAuth dan merchant akan berperan sebagai aplikasi yang meminta permisi ke tiap akses lokasi. Dengan demikian kita bsia mengendalikan siapa saja yang otomatis bisa mengetahui lokasi kita.
Tanpa auto-checkin, LBS rasanya bak WiFi yang harus kita set setiap kali hendak dipakai. Menyebalkan, namun untungnya tidak demikian. Begitu kita datang, koneksi WiFi sudah langsung on dan kita bisa segera mengupdate status Facebook.
PS:
Sepertinya saya sempat mendengar ada Telco yang sudah melakukan push-promo berbasis lokasi. Ada yang bisa membantu dengan informasi lebih lanjut?
Google Latitude sudah menambahkan fitur checkin dan sepertinya LBS inilah yang lebih dekat ke produk ideal yang kita cari. Saya cari, bagi Anda mungkin lain cerita.
Artikel Terkait:
Google Has It All, But Saya bukan orang yang sangat up to date soal gadget....
Let's Talk About Foursquare Location, location, location. Begitulah kabarnya mantera tahun-tahun ini. Dalam beberapa...
Gimme The Badges! Badge harusnya tak bisa luntur atau ditukar dengan barang. Badge...
Interview With Ollie From NulisBuku.com Yup! All you have to do just sign up on...
What Is Your Business Again? What was your business again? Facebook bilang: cool business. Facebook...
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Navinot/~3/4xp8_g1hCRE/
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The 10 Coolest New Toys at This Year’s Toy Fair [PICS]
The holiday season just ended, but the toy industry is already looking ahead to the next holiday season and beyond. Toy Fair, the industry's big trade show, hit New York this week and along with it, some high-profile attention-getting stunts. (If you were wondering, for instance, why Mattel chose this moment to publicize Ken and Barbie's relationship struggles, this should answer your question.)
As usual, the big trend in toys is KGOY or "Kids getting older younger," or more simply, "age-compression." In short, kids want to play with stuff their older siblings and parents play with, which is why we're seeing so many iPhone-based offshoots this time around. Still, there are ways to let kids be kids even in this digital age, as evidenced by the heartwarming success of Angry Birds plush toys. Here's a look at that item plus nine other cool toys we spotted at Toy Fair.
Photos by Jehangir Irani.
Angry Birds Plush Toy
Newer, angrier plush toys based on the uber-popular game ship next month at the manufacturers' suggested retail price of $59.99.
Baby iCan Play iPhone case, Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price's new toy protects mom and dad's iPhone while letting baby play with the apps or chat with grandma on Face Time. Ships July 2011. MSRP: $14.99.
Digi-Piggy, Cisco Sales Corp.
A variation on the traditional piggy bank, Digi-Piggy keeps a running total of what you've saved. An internal memory card records the amount, in case the batteries die. Distribution is set for the third quarter, but you can buy it now over Cisco's web site for $14.99.
360 LED Helmet, Mobo
Not a toy per se, but a nice safety accoutrement for the biker on the go. MRSP: $119. Currently available.
Inchworm, by Hexbug
Little boys love insects and robots. The Hexbug Inchworm is the perfect combination of both. Measuring 2.5"x2.5", the Inchworm is controlled through a seven-way steering system and even has the ability to pirouette in place. MSRP: $19.99. Available now.
"Brick" iPhone case, Thumbs Up
Remember the Zack Morris phone? Now you can have your own. Plug your iPhone into the back of this replica vintage cell phone and give Kelly Kapowski a ring. MSRP: $14.99. Available now.
iPhone Telescope, Thumbs Up
Want to get a closer look something, without leaning out the window? British-based Thumbs Up let's you peek from a safe distance with their iPhone telescope accessory. MSRP: $39.99.
Kid Tough See Yourself Camera, Fisher-Price
Want to teach the little ones about photography without risking your DSLR? Fisher Price's new Kid Tough See Yourself Camera allows you to do just that. With a lens that rotates 180 degrees, your kids can point and shoot at just about anything. MSRP: $69.99. Ships in July.
Magna Color tablet
The Magna Color tablet allows you (and the kids, if they let you have it) to draw and color in 3D. Look for it in 2012.
Plants vs. Zombies Board Game, Screenlife Games
There's a zombie on your lawn... and table! This fall, Screenlife Games is releasing Plants Vs. Zombies, the board game. MSRP: $19.99
More About: angry birds, fisher-price, List, Lists, mattel, toy fair, toys
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As usual, the big trend in toys is KGOY or "Kids getting older younger," or more simply, "age-compression." In short, kids want to play with stuff their older siblings and parents play with, which is why we're seeing so many iPhone-based offshoots this time around. Still, there are ways to let kids be kids even in this digital age, as evidenced by the heartwarming success of Angry Birds plush toys. Here's a look at that item plus nine other cool toys we spotted at Toy Fair.
Photos by Jehangir Irani.
Angry Birds Plush Toy
Newer, angrier plush toys based on the uber-popular game ship next month at the manufacturers' suggested retail price of $59.99.
Baby iCan Play iPhone case, Fisher-Price
Fisher-Price's new toy protects mom and dad's iPhone while letting baby play with the apps or chat with grandma on Face Time. Ships July 2011. MSRP: $14.99.
Digi-Piggy, Cisco Sales Corp.
A variation on the traditional piggy bank, Digi-Piggy keeps a running total of what you've saved. An internal memory card records the amount, in case the batteries die. Distribution is set for the third quarter, but you can buy it now over Cisco's web site for $14.99.
360 LED Helmet, Mobo
Not a toy per se, but a nice safety accoutrement for the biker on the go. MRSP: $119. Currently available.
Inchworm, by Hexbug
Little boys love insects and robots. The Hexbug Inchworm is the perfect combination of both. Measuring 2.5"x2.5", the Inchworm is controlled through a seven-way steering system and even has the ability to pirouette in place. MSRP: $19.99. Available now.
"Brick" iPhone case, Thumbs Up
Remember the Zack Morris phone? Now you can have your own. Plug your iPhone into the back of this replica vintage cell phone and give Kelly Kapowski a ring. MSRP: $14.99. Available now.
iPhone Telescope, Thumbs Up
Want to get a closer look something, without leaning out the window? British-based Thumbs Up let's you peek from a safe distance with their iPhone telescope accessory. MSRP: $39.99.
Kid Tough See Yourself Camera, Fisher-Price
Want to teach the little ones about photography without risking your DSLR? Fisher Price's new Kid Tough See Yourself Camera allows you to do just that. With a lens that rotates 180 degrees, your kids can point and shoot at just about anything. MSRP: $69.99. Ships in July.
Magna Color tablet
The Magna Color tablet allows you (and the kids, if they let you have it) to draw and color in 3D. Look for it in 2012.
Plants vs. Zombies Board Game, Screenlife Games
There's a zombie on your lawn... and table! This fall, Screenlife Games is releasing Plants Vs. Zombies, the board game. MSRP: $19.99
More About: angry birds, fisher-price, List, Lists, mattel, toy fair, toys
For more Tech & Gadgets coverage:
Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on Twitter
Become a Fan on Facebook
Subscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channel
Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
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Inilah 10 Besar Bank di Indonesia
Bank Indonesia merilis peringkat perbankan dari segi aset dan "market share".
http://bisniskeuangan.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/14/1707069/Inilah.10.Besar.Bank.di.Indonesia
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Sunday, February 13, 2011
Why Engineers Are Better Off Joining Startups
Editor's note: Guest author Bindu Reddy is the CEO of MyLikes, a word-of-mouth ad network funded by former Googlers. Previously at Google she managed a team of product managers in charge of various Google apps including Google Docs, Google Sites, and Blogger. Her last guest post was on Facebook overtaking Google.
It is truly a great time to be an engineer building new things. Gadgets from sci-fi movies of 10 years ago are creeping up on us in the real world and mobile devices and social networking have made the internet go truly mainstream. We are on the cusp of seeing even more world changing ideas becoming a reality when everyone is walking around with powerful computers connected with over 20MBps of bandwidth to millions of people.
To top it all off, there is another technology boom happening right now. Anyone who has lived in Silicon Valley through a few business cycles can feel it just by watching the traffic on 101, or reading about "bubbles" in the tech press.
In the previous tech booms, a steady stream of top-notch technical graduates from other countries helped fill the recruiting needs of startups flush with VC money. But that is no longer the case. When I talk to recent top graduates from the IITs, my own alma-mater, I can clearly see the trend—very few of the rest of the world's best recent graduates are planning to build their careers in the US over the next decade. In addition, we have multiple successful large companies, most notably Google and Facebook, which have hired huge numbers of engineers and plan to grow their hiring rates even more.
All this has caused a severe shortage of good engineering talent. Which is why, the time has never been better to work at a startup.
The downside risk is relatively low. With lots of venture capital funding, salaries and benefits at startups are competitive to those at large companies. And the potential upside possibilities are big, as the IPO and exit markets heat up. Worst case scenarios are also getting better as the big internet companies are doing lots of talent acquisitions and acqhires of failed startups.
More importantly, the one thing that every passionate engineer cares about—the ability to build and ship products—is harder at large companies. Engineers become hobbled by large code bases, bureaucratic processes, countless meetings, common infrastructure, and endless email threads, among other obstacles. Amazon web services and other cloud-computing technologies have enabled small teams of engineers to build large scalable products and scale to millions of users without a lot of upfront capital. The competitive advantage has swung over the last couple of years to smaller, more nimble companies.
Until recently, engineers developed their careers by becoming proficient at the latest and greatest platforms, languages and techniques either through experience or by having the ability to quickly get up to speed.
Today, most interesting technology is built directly for end users and it is a crucial skill for an engineer to understand quick iteration based on user feedback, however complex the technology. Increased technology and distribution leverage means that in the future, smaller teams are going to build higher impact things and being able to build an end to end solution as part of a small team is going to be a necessary skill. A startup is an ideal environment to develop your career for the future as far as both these aspects go.
People usually consider making big decisions in terms of what they stand to lose or gain. But often times, the cost to consider is that of an opportunity not taken and a decision not made.
So here's my admittedly self-serving advice to all engineers working at large companies: Yes, it is a comfortable job. You probably don't have to work very hard. There are lots of people to keep you company. But think about the cost of staying.
The time is now . . . to join a startup.
Photo by Anirudh Koul.
CrunchBase Information
Bindu Reddy
Information provided by CrunchBase
It is truly a great time to be an engineer building new things. Gadgets from sci-fi movies of 10 years ago are creeping up on us in the real world and mobile devices and social networking have made the internet go truly mainstream. We are on the cusp of seeing even more world changing ideas becoming a reality when everyone is walking around with powerful computers connected with over 20MBps of bandwidth to millions of people.
To top it all off, there is another technology boom happening right now. Anyone who has lived in Silicon Valley through a few business cycles can feel it just by watching the traffic on 101, or reading about "bubbles" in the tech press.
In the previous tech booms, a steady stream of top-notch technical graduates from other countries helped fill the recruiting needs of startups flush with VC money. But that is no longer the case. When I talk to recent top graduates from the IITs, my own alma-mater, I can clearly see the trend—very few of the rest of the world's best recent graduates are planning to build their careers in the US over the next decade. In addition, we have multiple successful large companies, most notably Google and Facebook, which have hired huge numbers of engineers and plan to grow their hiring rates even more.
All this has caused a severe shortage of good engineering talent. Which is why, the time has never been better to work at a startup.
The downside risk is relatively low. With lots of venture capital funding, salaries and benefits at startups are competitive to those at large companies. And the potential upside possibilities are big, as the IPO and exit markets heat up. Worst case scenarios are also getting better as the big internet companies are doing lots of talent acquisitions and acqhires of failed startups.
More importantly, the one thing that every passionate engineer cares about—the ability to build and ship products—is harder at large companies. Engineers become hobbled by large code bases, bureaucratic processes, countless meetings, common infrastructure, and endless email threads, among other obstacles. Amazon web services and other cloud-computing technologies have enabled small teams of engineers to build large scalable products and scale to millions of users without a lot of upfront capital. The competitive advantage has swung over the last couple of years to smaller, more nimble companies.
Until recently, engineers developed their careers by becoming proficient at the latest and greatest platforms, languages and techniques either through experience or by having the ability to quickly get up to speed.
Today, most interesting technology is built directly for end users and it is a crucial skill for an engineer to understand quick iteration based on user feedback, however complex the technology. Increased technology and distribution leverage means that in the future, smaller teams are going to build higher impact things and being able to build an end to end solution as part of a small team is going to be a necessary skill. A startup is an ideal environment to develop your career for the future as far as both these aspects go.
People usually consider making big decisions in terms of what they stand to lose or gain. But often times, the cost to consider is that of an opportunity not taken and a decision not made.
So here's my admittedly self-serving advice to all engineers working at large companies: Yes, it is a comfortable job. You probably don't have to work very hard. There are lots of people to keep you company. But think about the cost of staying.
The time is now . . . to join a startup.
Photo by Anirudh Koul.
CrunchBase Information
Bindu Reddy
Information provided by CrunchBase
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Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sabak Bertinta Digital
Pengguna dapat menulis dan membuat sketsa dengan pena pada sebuah perangkat digital.
http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/it/2011/02/12/brk,20110212-313030,id.html
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http://www.tempointeraktif.com/hg/it/2011/02/12/brk,20110212-313030,id.html
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Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Most Successful Rebranding Campaigns Ever
Rebranding a company's goals, message, and culture is hard -- many have tried and most fail.
A successful campaign requires more than a revamped logo. It demands a vision that inspires customers, investors, and others to see the company in a new light.
Through savvy marketing and better quality control, some companies discovered new ways to revive their brands and in some cases, made them stronger than ever.
J.Crew's sales were plummeting; now Michelle Obama is an endorser
When Millard Drexler, the man who turned the Gap into a multi-billion dollar icon, showed up as J. Crew's new CEO in 2003, sales were plummeting.
Under Drexler's guidance, J. Crew rebounded dramatically, earning $3.8 million in 2005, its first profit in five years and between 2003 and 2008 revenues rose 107 percent, according to the Wall St. Journal. In 2009, revenues exceeded pre-recession levels and same-store sales climbed 11 percent.
Drexler re-energized J. Crew by rebranding it as a store that sells basics like tank tops and capris that are well-made with a hint of luxury (think cashmere sweaters).
J. Crew also got an extra boost from the first family: all four wore the brand during the inauguration festivities. In addition, the First Lady provided her own endorsements. When Michelle Obama appeared on "The Tonight Show" and told Jay Leno that her yellow sweater, skirt and blouse were a "J.Crew ensemble," the company's stock shot up 8.2 percent.
The Lesson: Offer quality products while always looking for new ways to meet customer demands. J.Crew's new bridal line reportedly came about after Drexler learned from a sales rep that customers were buying simple sundresses in different colors to serve as bridesmaid dresses.
Note: Private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners are in talks to buy J. Crew, in a deal valued at about $3 billion. The PE firms have the cooperation of J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, reported Bloomberg News.
Burberry was considered gangwear; now it's worn by Emma Watson and Kate Moss
Even if you don't know the name Burberry, you would probably recognize its trademark black, tan and red check pattern. Founded in England more than 150 years ago, the once small brand, which introduced the waterproof fabric gabardine and trench coats, has been embraced by celebrities, royalty and preppies alike.
Not too long ago, Burberry was at risk of being dismissed as frumpy and over-extended, however. It was even considered gangwear. Due to rumors that the Burberry brand was popular amongst hooligans, two pubs in Leicester famously banned anyone wearing the label.
New leadership and savvy product design are what transformed the brand into one of the hottest fashion labels, say retail experts. Christopher Bailey, Burberry's creative director since 2001, overhauled the brand with a mix of modern and classic looks that included a sexier trench coat and swimwear, and snapped up high-profile celebrities like Kate Moss and actress Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.
An increase in Burberry's sales is proof that luxury brands are staging a comeback with shoppers, according to analysts. Sales rose 27 percent to $747 million in the third quarter ended Dec. 31 and may expand 11 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2012, reported The Market Oracle. Burberry has also been steadily expanding in China and built 50 stores in 2010.
The Lesson: Brands can be successfully revamped by adapting current styles while celebrating its history. "Burberry is about heritage, but about making that heritage relevant for today," said Bailey in 2009. "You have to make sure what you do is right for the moment you live in. What makes things relevant? Without wishing to sound flaky, it's a sensitivity to the spirit we live by today."
Pabst Blue Ribbon was cheap and fratty; now it sells for $44 in China
The blue-collar Milwaukee lager -- best known for being a cheap beer and the drink of choice among college students and hipsters -- popped up in China last year. Americans may not recognize their PBR, however, since the beer retails for a an eye-popping $44.
Labeled "Blue Ribbon 1844" (the year the Pabst Brewing Company was founded) the beer is different from its American counterpart, says the company, since it is a special brew of German malts and aged in oak whiskey barrels. It's brewed and sold in China by a distributor who licensed the Pabst name.
China is the world's biggest beer market, reported Euromonitor and thanks to a new craze for high-end alcoholic drinks among the Chinese rising class, Blue Ribbon 1844 seems well positioned to take advantage of the Chinese taste for expensive beers.
The Lesson: Adding a foreign tag and fancier packaging can make a brand more appealing.
View more at Business Insider
A successful campaign requires more than a revamped logo. It demands a vision that inspires customers, investors, and others to see the company in a new light.
Through savvy marketing and better quality control, some companies discovered new ways to revive their brands and in some cases, made them stronger than ever.
J.Crew's sales were plummeting; now Michelle Obama is an endorser
When Millard Drexler, the man who turned the Gap into a multi-billion dollar icon, showed up as J. Crew's new CEO in 2003, sales were plummeting.
Under Drexler's guidance, J. Crew rebounded dramatically, earning $3.8 million in 2005, its first profit in five years and between 2003 and 2008 revenues rose 107 percent, according to the Wall St. Journal. In 2009, revenues exceeded pre-recession levels and same-store sales climbed 11 percent.
Drexler re-energized J. Crew by rebranding it as a store that sells basics like tank tops and capris that are well-made with a hint of luxury (think cashmere sweaters).
J. Crew also got an extra boost from the first family: all four wore the brand during the inauguration festivities. In addition, the First Lady provided her own endorsements. When Michelle Obama appeared on "The Tonight Show" and told Jay Leno that her yellow sweater, skirt and blouse were a "J.Crew ensemble," the company's stock shot up 8.2 percent.
The Lesson: Offer quality products while always looking for new ways to meet customer demands. J.Crew's new bridal line reportedly came about after Drexler learned from a sales rep that customers were buying simple sundresses in different colors to serve as bridesmaid dresses.
Note: Private-equity firms TPG Capital and Leonard Green & Partners are in talks to buy J. Crew, in a deal valued at about $3 billion. The PE firms have the cooperation of J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler, reported Bloomberg News.
Burberry was considered gangwear; now it's worn by Emma Watson and Kate Moss
Even if you don't know the name Burberry, you would probably recognize its trademark black, tan and red check pattern. Founded in England more than 150 years ago, the once small brand, which introduced the waterproof fabric gabardine and trench coats, has been embraced by celebrities, royalty and preppies alike.
Not too long ago, Burberry was at risk of being dismissed as frumpy and over-extended, however. It was even considered gangwear. Due to rumors that the Burberry brand was popular amongst hooligans, two pubs in Leicester famously banned anyone wearing the label.
New leadership and savvy product design are what transformed the brand into one of the hottest fashion labels, say retail experts. Christopher Bailey, Burberry's creative director since 2001, overhauled the brand with a mix of modern and classic looks that included a sexier trench coat and swimwear, and snapped up high-profile celebrities like Kate Moss and actress Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.
An increase in Burberry's sales is proof that luxury brands are staging a comeback with shoppers, according to analysts. Sales rose 27 percent to $747 million in the third quarter ended Dec. 31 and may expand 11 percent in the fiscal year ending March 2012, reported The Market Oracle. Burberry has also been steadily expanding in China and built 50 stores in 2010.
The Lesson: Brands can be successfully revamped by adapting current styles while celebrating its history. "Burberry is about heritage, but about making that heritage relevant for today," said Bailey in 2009. "You have to make sure what you do is right for the moment you live in. What makes things relevant? Without wishing to sound flaky, it's a sensitivity to the spirit we live by today."
Pabst Blue Ribbon was cheap and fratty; now it sells for $44 in China
The blue-collar Milwaukee lager -- best known for being a cheap beer and the drink of choice among college students and hipsters -- popped up in China last year. Americans may not recognize their PBR, however, since the beer retails for a an eye-popping $44.
Labeled "Blue Ribbon 1844" (the year the Pabst Brewing Company was founded) the beer is different from its American counterpart, says the company, since it is a special brew of German malts and aged in oak whiskey barrels. It's brewed and sold in China by a distributor who licensed the Pabst name.
China is the world's biggest beer market, reported Euromonitor and thanks to a new craze for high-end alcoholic drinks among the Chinese rising class, Blue Ribbon 1844 seems well positioned to take advantage of the Chinese taste for expensive beers.
The Lesson: Adding a foreign tag and fancier packaging can make a brand more appealing.
View more at Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-successful-rebranding-campaigns-2011-2
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Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Visa approves this transaction: PlaySpan for $190M
Visa has agreed to buy PlaySpan for $190 million in a big move into the market for digital goods.
PlaySpan is a service provider that enables game companies and video publishers to make money
through the buying and selling of virtual goods. It's a key part of the food chain in the free-to-play business model.
In free-to-play, users play online games for free. They pay real money for virtual goods such as
better weapons or decorations. PlaySpan enables the game companies to issue virtual currency and create a market for digital goods.
PlaySpan will get more moeny in the deal if it hits performance targets. While the purchase price
itself is not a huge one, given the amount of money that PlaySpan raised, Visa's entry into the virtual goods market is a validation of the emerging field.
The giant credit card company is a huge player alongside MasterCard in the $948 billion global
electronic commerce market. As part of that, digital goods has become a $25 billion market on a global basis, according to PwC Global Entertainment. That market could grow to $280 billion by 2014.
PlaySpan, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has more than 150 employees and was founded by Karl Mehta, chief executive, based on a business idea that came from his son. The company has hundreds of employees and recently moved into handling transactions for video publishers.
The company raised xx from investors including Vodaphone Ventures, SoftBank, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC.
PlaySpan has several different businesses layered on top of each other. It provides game publishers with one-stop service when it comes to introducing their own virtual currency and virtual goods into online games. The company has prospered as publishers flock to the free-to-play business model, where users can play games for free but pay real money for virtual goods such as better weapons. PlaySpan provides virtual currency and virtual goods platform, offloading the task of creating this infrastructure from game developers. It also provides the UltimatePay payment system that allows game companies to make money from their virtual goods. And it sells virtual currency Ultimate Game Card gift cards at 48,000 retailers around the world so that users who don't have credit cards can pay cash for the cards at stores and then enter a code to get virtual currency in a game.
About four years ago, there was almost no interest in the platform. But with the success of virtual goods and micro-transactions in Asia and with the impact of the recession on U.S. gamers, the virtual goods business has skyrocketed. Inside Network estimated that virtual goods in social games grew to $1.6 billion in revenues in 2010.
PlaySpan's biggest competitors are the internal engineering teams at big game companies. Mehta said in the past that UltimatePay has gained considerable traction as users in 180 countries use it to pay for their virtual goods in games. PlaySpan brings services such as fraud prevention, merchandising, and promotion to game companies, helping them to squeeze more money out of their games.
Millions of gamers are using the Ultimate Game Card and PlaySpan's own PlaySpan.com marketplace. Tens of millions of gamers are using PlaySpan's products, and revenues have grown more than 100 percent a year in the past three years.
Among the customers are Warner Bros., Nexon, Perfect World, Hello Kitty Online, Disney, Adobe, Revision3 and Nickelodeon. Rivals include Live Gamer, though PlaySpan differs in that it doesn't do custom platforms for its customers. On the payment side of the business, rivals include PayPal. In game cards, rivals include InComm.
Tags: digital goods, virtual goods
Companies: PlaySpan, Visa
People: Karl Mehta
PlaySpan is a service provider that enables game companies and video publishers to make money
through the buying and selling of virtual goods. It's a key part of the food chain in the free-to-play business model.
In free-to-play, users play online games for free. They pay real money for virtual goods such as
better weapons or decorations. PlaySpan enables the game companies to issue virtual currency and create a market for digital goods.
PlaySpan will get more moeny in the deal if it hits performance targets. While the purchase price
itself is not a huge one, given the amount of money that PlaySpan raised, Visa's entry into the virtual goods market is a validation of the emerging field.
The giant credit card company is a huge player alongside MasterCard in the $948 billion global
electronic commerce market. As part of that, digital goods has become a $25 billion market on a global basis, according to PwC Global Entertainment. That market could grow to $280 billion by 2014.
PlaySpan, based in Santa Clara, Calif., has more than 150 employees and was founded by Karl Mehta, chief executive, based on a business idea that came from his son. The company has hundreds of employees and recently moved into handling transactions for video publishers.
The company raised xx from investors including Vodaphone Ventures, SoftBank, Menlo Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC.
PlaySpan has several different businesses layered on top of each other. It provides game publishers with one-stop service when it comes to introducing their own virtual currency and virtual goods into online games. The company has prospered as publishers flock to the free-to-play business model, where users can play games for free but pay real money for virtual goods such as better weapons. PlaySpan provides virtual currency and virtual goods platform, offloading the task of creating this infrastructure from game developers. It also provides the UltimatePay payment system that allows game companies to make money from their virtual goods. And it sells virtual currency Ultimate Game Card gift cards at 48,000 retailers around the world so that users who don't have credit cards can pay cash for the cards at stores and then enter a code to get virtual currency in a game.
About four years ago, there was almost no interest in the platform. But with the success of virtual goods and micro-transactions in Asia and with the impact of the recession on U.S. gamers, the virtual goods business has skyrocketed. Inside Network estimated that virtual goods in social games grew to $1.6 billion in revenues in 2010.
PlaySpan's biggest competitors are the internal engineering teams at big game companies. Mehta said in the past that UltimatePay has gained considerable traction as users in 180 countries use it to pay for their virtual goods in games. PlaySpan brings services such as fraud prevention, merchandising, and promotion to game companies, helping them to squeeze more money out of their games.
Millions of gamers are using the Ultimate Game Card and PlaySpan's own PlaySpan.com marketplace. Tens of millions of gamers are using PlaySpan's products, and revenues have grown more than 100 percent a year in the past three years.
Among the customers are Warner Bros., Nexon, Perfect World, Hello Kitty Online, Disney, Adobe, Revision3 and Nickelodeon. Rivals include Live Gamer, though PlaySpan differs in that it doesn't do custom platforms for its customers. On the payment side of the business, rivals include PayPal. In game cards, rivals include InComm.
Tags: digital goods, virtual goods
Companies: PlaySpan, Visa
People: Karl Mehta
http://venturebeat.com/?p=242143
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Daily Deal sites: passing fad or future of shopping?
Daily Deal sites: passing fad or future of shopping?
CardStar has partnered with Groupon, we ask CardStar's CEO Andy Miller if this is just another passing fad.
Wednesday, Mobile loyalty card app CardStar announced it has become the first app of its ilk to partner with Groupon, the extremely hot daily deal service, and users of its iPhone and Android apps in more than 160 cities will have location-specific access to Groupon deals.
CardStar lets users scan or manually enter all those shopping rewards cards into a single app, and then their smartphone's screen can be scanned at the cash register when they check out. Generally speaking, the app focuses on cards that users already have or ones that they get separately from CardStar. But with this new version of the software, users can now sign up for new cards directly through the app, and with the Groupon deal, membership isn't even required to view the daily deals.
"We didn't want membership to be an impediment to new users," CardStar CEO Andy Miller told us this week. "So you can see the Groupon deals available to you, even if you're not a member."
If you've added the Groupon card to CardStar, a little "sales tag" appears next to the card's name whenever there's an active deal, and if you click on it, it goes to an interface within the app that's been designed to feel like the Groupon site. The app shares your location and user data with Groupon, and if you've looked at a deal, but didn't buy into it, you can go back to it later on the Groupon site and it knows that you saw it on CardStar.
The last time we talked to CardStar was when they integrated their app with FourSquare, the formerly hot (and now not so much) location-based service. We asked Miller about whether these are just passing fads.
"Foursquare's competitors, Brightkite, Gowalla, and so on, all those guys are pivoting, but Foursquare is staying the path, they have a long uphill battle. I mean, Facebook Places is just crushing everybody," Miller said. "But Foursquare, I don't think they're toast. I think they're in a pretty great niche market."
"Now you're seeing this explosion in daily deal sites, just like you did in location-based services," continued Miller. "The same thing could happen again. It'll change more after Google's Groupon clone takes root, and when Facebook unleashes Facebook Deals. What does that do to Groupon and LvingSocial? No one knows, but it could all converge. A lot of folks will want to be in this business."
Indeed, since Groupon caught on, daily deal sites have begun springing up like weeds. In December, there were more than 200 daily deal sites in the US alone. I asked if CardStar will partner with any of them to flesh out the app's daily deal offerings.
"It's funny, we're announcing the partnership with Groupon today, but we actually know the guys at LivingSocial better, and we've had discussions with them. We've also talked to the company that powers AOL's deal sites and Mobile Spinach," Miller said.
"At the end of the day, I think we should partner with whoever offers something unique to our users. Among all these daily deals, we're seeing a lot of overlap," said Miller. "I'm signed up for 4 cities, and I'm seeing the same content in a lot of them, they seem to all be sourcing the same deals. But as long as a service is providing original content and creating unique utilities for users, we'll check them out."
Announcing a partnership with Groupon at this point in time, naturally leads to one question: What did you think of their Super Bowl ads?
"I was getting texts from friends about the Groupon commercials as well as the LivingSocial commercials whenever they happened. They weren't scandals, though," Miller said. "People were just surprised at seeing them on TV at such a prime, $3 million per minute advertising time. The people who texted me obviously weren't aware of how much money these companies are making right now."
Read more at: http://www.betanews.com/article/Daily-Deal-sites-passing-fad-or-future-of-shopping/1297229175
-----------
Copyright (C) 1998-2010 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
CardStar has partnered with Groupon, we ask CardStar's CEO Andy Miller if this is just another passing fad.
Wednesday, Mobile loyalty card app CardStar announced it has become the first app of its ilk to partner with Groupon, the extremely hot daily deal service, and users of its iPhone and Android apps in more than 160 cities will have location-specific access to Groupon deals.
CardStar lets users scan or manually enter all those shopping rewards cards into a single app, and then their smartphone's screen can be scanned at the cash register when they check out. Generally speaking, the app focuses on cards that users already have or ones that they get separately from CardStar. But with this new version of the software, users can now sign up for new cards directly through the app, and with the Groupon deal, membership isn't even required to view the daily deals.
"We didn't want membership to be an impediment to new users," CardStar CEO Andy Miller told us this week. "So you can see the Groupon deals available to you, even if you're not a member."
If you've added the Groupon card to CardStar, a little "sales tag" appears next to the card's name whenever there's an active deal, and if you click on it, it goes to an interface within the app that's been designed to feel like the Groupon site. The app shares your location and user data with Groupon, and if you've looked at a deal, but didn't buy into it, you can go back to it later on the Groupon site and it knows that you saw it on CardStar.
The last time we talked to CardStar was when they integrated their app with FourSquare, the formerly hot (and now not so much) location-based service. We asked Miller about whether these are just passing fads.
"Foursquare's competitors, Brightkite, Gowalla, and so on, all those guys are pivoting, but Foursquare is staying the path, they have a long uphill battle. I mean, Facebook Places is just crushing everybody," Miller said. "But Foursquare, I don't think they're toast. I think they're in a pretty great niche market."
"Now you're seeing this explosion in daily deal sites, just like you did in location-based services," continued Miller. "The same thing could happen again. It'll change more after Google's Groupon clone takes root, and when Facebook unleashes Facebook Deals. What does that do to Groupon and LvingSocial? No one knows, but it could all converge. A lot of folks will want to be in this business."
Indeed, since Groupon caught on, daily deal sites have begun springing up like weeds. In December, there were more than 200 daily deal sites in the US alone. I asked if CardStar will partner with any of them to flesh out the app's daily deal offerings.
"It's funny, we're announcing the partnership with Groupon today, but we actually know the guys at LivingSocial better, and we've had discussions with them. We've also talked to the company that powers AOL's deal sites and Mobile Spinach," Miller said.
"At the end of the day, I think we should partner with whoever offers something unique to our users. Among all these daily deals, we're seeing a lot of overlap," said Miller. "I'm signed up for 4 cities, and I'm seeing the same content in a lot of them, they seem to all be sourcing the same deals. But as long as a service is providing original content and creating unique utilities for users, we'll check them out."
Announcing a partnership with Groupon at this point in time, naturally leads to one question: What did you think of their Super Bowl ads?
"I was getting texts from friends about the Groupon commercials as well as the LivingSocial commercials whenever they happened. They weren't scandals, though," Miller said. "People were just surprised at seeing them on TV at such a prime, $3 million per minute advertising time. The people who texted me obviously weren't aware of how much money these companies are making right now."
Read more at: http://www.betanews.com/article/Daily-Deal-sites-passing-fad-or-future-of-shopping/1297229175
-----------
Copyright (C) 1998-2010 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Daily Deal sites: passing fad or future of shopping?
The following article was sent to you by edward.chamdani@gmail.com.
Daily Deal sites: passing fad or future of shopping?
CardStar has partnered with Groupon, we ask CardStar's CEO Andy Miller if this is just another passing fad.
Wednesday, Mobile loyalty card app CardStar announced it has become the first app of its ilk to partner with Groupon, the extremely hot daily deal service, and users of its iPhone and Android apps in more than 160 cities will have location-specific access to Groupon deals.
CardStar lets users scan or manually enter all those shopping rewards cards into a single app, and then their smartphone's screen can be scanned at the cash register when they check out. Generally speaking, the app focuses on cards that users already have or ones that they get separately from CardStar. But with this new version of the software, users can now sign up for new cards directly through the app, and with the Groupon deal, membership isn't even required to view the daily deals.
"We didn't want membership to be an impediment to new users," CardStar CEO Andy Miller told us this week. "So you can see the Groupon deals available to you, even if you're not a member."
If you've added the Groupon card to CardStar, a little "sales tag" appears next to the card's name whenever there's an active deal, and if you click on it, it goes to an interface within the app that's been designed to feel like the Groupon site. The app shares your location and user data with Groupon, and if you've looked at a deal, but didn't buy into it, you can go back to it later on the Groupon site and it knows that you saw it on CardStar.
The last time we talked to CardStar was when they integrated their app with FourSquare, the formerly hot (and now not so much) location-based service. We asked Miller about whether these are just passing fads.
"Foursquare's competitors, Brightkite, Gowalla, and so on, all those guys are pivoting, but Foursquare is staying the path, they have a long uphill battle. I mean, Facebook Places is just crushing everybody," Miller said. "But Foursquare, I don't think they're toast. I think they're in a pretty great niche market."
"Now you're seeing this explosion in daily deal sites, just like you did in location-based services," continued Miller. "The same thing could happen again. It'll change more after Google's Groupon clone takes root, and when Facebook unleashes Facebook Deals. What does that do to Groupon and LvingSocial? No one knows, but it could all converge. A lot of folks will want to be in this business."
Indeed, since Groupon caught on, daily deal sites have begun springing up like weeds. In December, there were more than 200 daily deal sites in the US alone. I asked if CardStar will partner with any of them to flesh out the app's daily deal offerings.
"It's funny, we're announcing the partnership with Groupon today, but we actually know the guys at LivingSocial better, and we've had discussions with them. We've also talked to the company that powers AOL's deal sites and Mobile Spinach," Miller said.
"At the end of the day, I think we should partner with whoever offers something unique to our users. Among all these daily deals, we're seeing a lot of overlap," said Miller. "I'm signed up for 4 cities, and I'm seeing the same content in a lot of them, they seem to all be sourcing the same deals. But as long as a service is providing original content and creating unique utilities for users, we'll check them out."
Announcing a partnership with Groupon at this point in time, naturally leads to one question: What did you think of their Super Bowl ads?
"I was getting texts from friends about the Groupon commercials as well as the LivingSocial commercials whenever they happened. They weren't scandals, though," Miller said. "People were just surprised at seeing them on TV at such a prime, $3 million per minute advertising time. The people who texted me obviously weren't aware of how much money these companies are making right now."
Read more at: http://www.betanews.com/article/Daily-Deal-sites-passing-fad-or-future-of-shopping/1297229175
-----------
Copyright (C) 1998-2010 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Best CEO Memo Ever (NOK)
Engadget got ahold of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's memo to employees yesterday, and it's one of the most scathingly honest assessments of a company from its leader that we've ever seen.
He basically says that Nokia's current position is hopeless -- Apple owns the high-end smartphone market, Android has taken market leadership from Nokia in the midrange after only two years, and Chinese company MediaTek has created reference designs that now ship in one-third of all smartphones worldwide.
On Nokia's last earnings call, Elop said that the company would announce a major strategic shift this Friday, probably including an embrace of either Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform or Android, and rumors are circulating about a big executive shake-up as well. Given some of the scathing comments Elop had for Nokia's current leadership in the memo, that seems very likely:
The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.
And the truly perplexing aspect is that we're not even fighting with the right weapons. We are still too often trying to approach each price range on a device-to-device basis.
How did we get to this point? Why did we fall behind when the world around us evolved?
This is what I have been trying to understand. I believe at least some of it has been due to our attitude inside Nokia. We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven't been delivering innovation fast enough. We're not collaborating internally.
It's worth reading the entire memo: he also goes into detail about how S&P and Moody's may be lowering Nokia's credit rating and how it's losing in customer preference rankings around the world.
Elop was brought in from Microsoft to shake things up. Looks like the board is getting what they wanted.
Join the conversation about this story
He basically says that Nokia's current position is hopeless -- Apple owns the high-end smartphone market, Android has taken market leadership from Nokia in the midrange after only two years, and Chinese company MediaTek has created reference designs that now ship in one-third of all smartphones worldwide.
On Nokia's last earnings call, Elop said that the company would announce a major strategic shift this Friday, probably including an embrace of either Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform or Android, and rumors are circulating about a big executive shake-up as well. Given some of the scathing comments Elop had for Nokia's current leadership in the memo, that seems very likely:
The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable.
And the truly perplexing aspect is that we're not even fighting with the right weapons. We are still too often trying to approach each price range on a device-to-device basis.
How did we get to this point? Why did we fall behind when the world around us evolved?
This is what I have been trying to understand. I believe at least some of it has been due to our attitude inside Nokia. We poured gasoline on our own burning platform. I believe we have lacked accountability and leadership to align and direct the company through these disruptive times. We had a series of misses. We haven't been delivering innovation fast enough. We're not collaborating internally.
It's worth reading the entire memo: he also goes into detail about how S&P and Moody's may be lowering Nokia's credit rating and how it's losing in customer preference rankings around the world.
Elop was brought in from Microsoft to shake things up. Looks like the board is getting what they wanted.
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-ceo-memo-ever-2011-2
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This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Kisah Si Pendaki Tangguh
Kebayang nggak sih mengamputasi tangan sendiri demi bertahan hidup Tapi itulah yang dilakukan seorang pegawai toko yang gemar berpetualang, Aron.
http://entertainment.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/09/08530626/Kisah.Si.Pendaki.Tangguh.
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http://entertainment.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/09/08530626/Kisah.Si.Pendaki.Tangguh.
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Monday, February 7, 2011
Surat Cinta untuk Aa
Hikmah yang umi petik dengan poligami ini adalah berusaha untuk tidak dengki dan iri hati kepada orang lain, lebih mendekatkan diri kepada Allah.
http://oase.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/08/00534226/Surat.Cinta.untuk.Aa
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http://oase.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/08/00534226/Surat.Cinta.untuk.Aa
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Why Does Wikipedia Have Such A Tough Time Attracting Female Editors?
With more than 3.5 million articles in English, Wikipedia contains information on nearly every topic imaginable, including its own authors. One thing the self-named Wikipedians reveal about themselves: Most of them are male.
According to a chart titled Demography of Wikipedia Editors, included in the Wikipedia entry for Wikipedia, less than 15 percent of those who label themselves occasional or regular contributors are female. A study by the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that runs Wikipedia, and a joint center of the United Nations University and Maastricht University found that even when it comes to reading, Wikipedia is predominantly a male realm.
The Wikimedia Foundation's executive director, Sue Gardner, recently told The New York Times that she hopes to narrow the gender gap. She said she is concerned that the gender imbalance has fueled an imbalance in information, with topics that typically interest Wikipedia's core contributor base, men in their late teens and twenties, growing daily while other entries stagnate with just a few sentences. Her goal is to increase the share of female contributors to 25 percent by 2015.
But in order to get more women to participate, Gardner will first have to figure out what is currently stopping potential female contributors from taking the plunge.
In the Wikimedia study, 23 percent of respondents who engaged with Wikipedia but didn't contribute said one of the reasons was that they did not know how. Sixteen percent said technological difficulties were a hurdle for them. A video produced by Wikimedia shows several people expressing their frustration while trying to figure out how to edit pages. It could be that the technological complexity of editing Wikipedia, which involves some knowledge of HTML, disproportionately affects female users.
But women are not outnumbered everywhere on the Web. On Facebook, female users make up 55 percent of the population, according to a chart produced by iStrategyLabs, based on data from Facebook's Social Ads system. While Facebook's basic interface is fairly simple, it too requires users to have some programming knowledge for certain advanced tasks, and even asks users to learn a separate programming language, Facebook Markup Language, to fully engage in all of the site's functions.
It seems to me that the reason Facebook has a slight majority of female users while Wikipedia has a majority of male users has more to do with the ways the sites allow people to communicate, rather than with the complexity of their plumbing. On Facebook, people share things of personal significance with an audience that consists at least partly, if not entirely, of people they know. On Wikipedia, people expound on impersonal topics to an audience of strangers.
In all likelihood, women have as much information to contribute to Wikipedia as men, but they may be less likely to believe they have adequate information. In the Wikimedia study, over half of non-contributors said one of the reasons they didn't contribute was I don't think I have enough information to contribute. A recent study found that, while male and female students around the world generally perform similarly on math assessments, male students express a great deal more confidence in their mathematical abilities.
In other words, our wives, sisters, daughters and girlfriends may tell us that we men are not as smart as we think we are, but we're smart enough to know they're wrong.
True to form, most comments on this blog seem to come from men. Those comments generally demonstrate a great deal of confidence, if not necessarily a great deal of analytical ability.
When my fairly light-hearted piece on a Mexican company's acquisition of Sara Lee's baked goods division was picked up by businessinsider.com, people with masculine screen names had a lot to say. Someone going by Big Ed 47 asked, You are sort of a moron aren't you??? and another person, using the name MrSmith, took the time to comment, Who Cares..Next.
The antagonistic environment that can evolve from so many men sharing their opinions so forcefully may be enough to drive women away from the conversation. While the outer shell of Wikipedia generally presents unified, collaboratively constructed articles, behind the scenes contributors defend their changes, often attacking alternative edits and other editors, on each article's Discussion page.
Facebook, on the other hand, is geared toward personal conversation, rather than ideological debates. One of my Facebook friends recently posted that she could not sit through the entire showing of the acclaimed film Black Swan. This elicited about a dozen comments, ranging from agreement to I saw it twice. But there was no name-calling or other sign of hostility. No one asked if she was a moron.
So long as Wikipedia remains a place for people to trumpet their opinions and knowledge, it will face an uphill battle to bring in more women. According to the Op-Ed Project, an organization that tracks gender ratios in various media, a participation rate of roughly 85-to-15 percent men to women is common for any public thought or leadership forum.
Unless Gardner finds a new way to overcome these old gender tendencies, Wikipedia will probably continue to be a better source for information on fishing than fashion, on Transformers than Polly Pockets, and on The Sopranos than Sex and the City.
For more articles on financial, business, and other topics, view the Palisades Hudson newsletter, Sentinel, or subscribe to my daily opinion column, Current Commentary.
Join the conversation about this story
According to a chart titled Demography of Wikipedia Editors, included in the Wikipedia entry for Wikipedia, less than 15 percent of those who label themselves occasional or regular contributors are female. A study by the Wikimedia Foundation, the organization that runs Wikipedia, and a joint center of the United Nations University and Maastricht University found that even when it comes to reading, Wikipedia is predominantly a male realm.
The Wikimedia Foundation's executive director, Sue Gardner, recently told The New York Times that she hopes to narrow the gender gap. She said she is concerned that the gender imbalance has fueled an imbalance in information, with topics that typically interest Wikipedia's core contributor base, men in their late teens and twenties, growing daily while other entries stagnate with just a few sentences. Her goal is to increase the share of female contributors to 25 percent by 2015.
But in order to get more women to participate, Gardner will first have to figure out what is currently stopping potential female contributors from taking the plunge.
In the Wikimedia study, 23 percent of respondents who engaged with Wikipedia but didn't contribute said one of the reasons was that they did not know how. Sixteen percent said technological difficulties were a hurdle for them. A video produced by Wikimedia shows several people expressing their frustration while trying to figure out how to edit pages. It could be that the technological complexity of editing Wikipedia, which involves some knowledge of HTML, disproportionately affects female users.
But women are not outnumbered everywhere on the Web. On Facebook, female users make up 55 percent of the population, according to a chart produced by iStrategyLabs, based on data from Facebook's Social Ads system. While Facebook's basic interface is fairly simple, it too requires users to have some programming knowledge for certain advanced tasks, and even asks users to learn a separate programming language, Facebook Markup Language, to fully engage in all of the site's functions.
It seems to me that the reason Facebook has a slight majority of female users while Wikipedia has a majority of male users has more to do with the ways the sites allow people to communicate, rather than with the complexity of their plumbing. On Facebook, people share things of personal significance with an audience that consists at least partly, if not entirely, of people they know. On Wikipedia, people expound on impersonal topics to an audience of strangers.
In all likelihood, women have as much information to contribute to Wikipedia as men, but they may be less likely to believe they have adequate information. In the Wikimedia study, over half of non-contributors said one of the reasons they didn't contribute was I don't think I have enough information to contribute. A recent study found that, while male and female students around the world generally perform similarly on math assessments, male students express a great deal more confidence in their mathematical abilities.
In other words, our wives, sisters, daughters and girlfriends may tell us that we men are not as smart as we think we are, but we're smart enough to know they're wrong.
True to form, most comments on this blog seem to come from men. Those comments generally demonstrate a great deal of confidence, if not necessarily a great deal of analytical ability.
When my fairly light-hearted piece on a Mexican company's acquisition of Sara Lee's baked goods division was picked up by businessinsider.com, people with masculine screen names had a lot to say. Someone going by Big Ed 47 asked, You are sort of a moron aren't you??? and another person, using the name MrSmith, took the time to comment, Who Cares..Next.
The antagonistic environment that can evolve from so many men sharing their opinions so forcefully may be enough to drive women away from the conversation. While the outer shell of Wikipedia generally presents unified, collaboratively constructed articles, behind the scenes contributors defend their changes, often attacking alternative edits and other editors, on each article's Discussion page.
Facebook, on the other hand, is geared toward personal conversation, rather than ideological debates. One of my Facebook friends recently posted that she could not sit through the entire showing of the acclaimed film Black Swan. This elicited about a dozen comments, ranging from agreement to I saw it twice. But there was no name-calling or other sign of hostility. No one asked if she was a moron.
So long as Wikipedia remains a place for people to trumpet their opinions and knowledge, it will face an uphill battle to bring in more women. According to the Op-Ed Project, an organization that tracks gender ratios in various media, a participation rate of roughly 85-to-15 percent men to women is common for any public thought or leadership forum.
Unless Gardner finds a new way to overcome these old gender tendencies, Wikipedia will probably continue to be a better source for information on fishing than fashion, on Transformers than Polly Pockets, and on The Sopranos than Sex and the City.
For more articles on financial, business, and other topics, view the Palisades Hudson newsletter, Sentinel, or subscribe to my daily opinion column, Current Commentary.
Join the conversation about this story
http://www.businessinsider.com/women-discuss-men-expound-2011-2
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How To Use Groupon's Mobile App And Save With Local Deals
New to Groupon? Don't worry, we got you covered.
Groupon already has plenty of exposure, but expect to see more people signing up after yesterday's controversial Super Bowl commercial.
This deal-of-the-day company offers localized coupons for different cities all around the country.
We took a look at their mobile app. Here's our walkthrough on how to start saving money immediately.
Just visit their mobile app page and install the proper app for your device.
Tap on the Groupon app icon to open it.
The app will ask if it can use your current location. Tap "OK."
You will be presented with the deal of the day. If you want it, tap on "Buy."
View more at Business Insider
Groupon already has plenty of exposure, but expect to see more people signing up after yesterday's controversial Super Bowl commercial.
This deal-of-the-day company offers localized coupons for different cities all around the country.
We took a look at their mobile app. Here's our walkthrough on how to start saving money immediately.
Just visit their mobile app page and install the proper app for your device.
Tap on the Groupon app icon to open it.
The app will ask if it can use your current location. Tap "OK."
You will be presented with the deal of the day. If you want it, tap on "Buy."
View more at Business Insider
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-groupon-app-2011-2
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Sunday, February 6, 2011
Penjualan "Online" Jadi Solusi
Menyiasati terpuruknya penjualan buku cetak, sejumlah penerbit mulai melakukan penjualan buku melalui internet
http://edukasi.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/07/07143861/Penjualan.Online.Jadi.Solusi
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Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
http://edukasi.kompas.com/read/xml/2011/02/07/07143861/Penjualan.Online.Jadi.Solusi
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For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
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Thursday, February 3, 2011
First Impressions Using Android Honeycomb, Google’s iPad Rival
This morning Google held an event to showcase Android Honeycomb, the new version of the mobile OS that is focused on tablets. There wasn't much news around the OS — we've seen it previewed in a few demos — but the team did show off some of Honeycomb's slickest features, like widgets and an improved 3D rendering engine.
But what about actually using the tablet OS? For all the whiz-bang previews we've seen, very few people have actually written about what it's like to use these tablets. Unfortunately today's event wasn't the ideal place to do a full hands-on, either — there were dozens of reporters and only four tablets (most people got to play with one for maybe five minutes). But I wanted my fill of Honeycomb, so I stuck around til the crowd finally died down, put on my blinders, and took the Motorola Xoom for a 20+ minute spin. Apologies to the guy waiting behind me — I honestly didn't realize you were there.
Here are some of the features and apps that stood out — be sure to check out the video below for some of these in action.
The Action Bar
One of the most drastic changes is the move from dedicated hardware buttons to access Menu options to the Action Bar' — a UI element at the top of the screen with options that change depending on whatever application you're using.
If you're in the tablet's browser (which is based on Google Chrome) then this is where you'll find your open tabs. If you're in the movie editing app, it's where you'll find buttons to import a new clip — but if you hold your finger down on a section of a clip then the Action Bar will populate with options to add a transition or text overlay. In other words, the Action Bar changes dynamically based on what you're doing in an application.
Most applications also include a Settings button in the far righthand side of the Action Bar, though this is only a convention and not a rule.
In practice the system seems to work well, and you'll find that you instinctively look toward the Action Bar whenever you want to find an application option or setting that isn't part of the main UI. Of course, developers are in complete control over what appears in the Action Bar so there could be some consistency issues. But at least people will actually be able to find these options, which is more than can be said about the options hidden behind the Menu' button on current versions of Android (which many people never hit).
Browser
Kicks the pants off of the iPad's browser. Tabs are great, and the fact that the tablet browser syncs with your desktop version of Google Chrome is very nice. Scrolling felt smooth. And there's Incognito Mode.
Gmail
We've seen it showcased a few times now, but Gmail for Honeycomb is awesome — it's like the iPad-optimized web version of Gmail, but without the slight lag you still find on browser apps. I want it badly.
Copy And Paste
I've never cared about copy & paste nearly as much as the people who spend their time complaining about its implementation on the web. But I know you're out there, so here's some good news: it's works well on Honeycomb.
If you've used Android Gingerbread you're already familiar with the orange arrows that appear when you go to highlight text. These work pretty well, but there's one problem: there's no button to choose what you want to do with that text (the solution is to simply tap the highlighted text, which copies it to the clipboard, but some sort of menu overlay would be nice).
Things are much better in Honeycomb: when you highlight text, the Action Bar changes from its current options to let you Cut, Copy, Paste, or Select All. Is it exciting? Not at all. But it's a good example of how the Action Bar changes depending on what you're doing, and I'm sure some of you are going to be over the moon about this.
Android Market
The UI of Android Market has been revamped for the tablet. I think it's pretty ugly: the Android Green' striped lines feel almost like placeholder graphics and it doesn't look nearly as attractive as iOS's App Store. But it gets the job done.
Movie Studio
It hasn't gotten much press, but there's a new application included as part of the Honeycomb suite of Google applications: Movie Studio. I didn't spend too much time in this, but it includes the features you'd expect: transitions between clips, text overlays, and so on. The UI isn't what you'd call pretty and it may leave some people scratching their heads, but it's a nice app to have.
Performance
In general Honeycomb felt snappy — you can see in the video that there's never really any lag. I did notice some slight jittering when dragging widgets, but was later shown a more recent build of the OS that seemed to fix this. And the fact that the Xoom has 1GB of RAM means that you aren't going to find your browser tabs emptying the way they do on the current iPad.
Ease of Use
One of my biggest questions about Android tablet concerns usability. I believe that the iPad has been a hit in part because it is a simpler alternative to normal desktop operating systems, while still providing plenty of functionality for people who primarily surf the web, email, and watch videos. Many people buy iPads not just because they like the form factor, but because they want a computer that won't prompt them with endless security alerts, software updates, and confusing installation processes.
Android Honeycomb is decidedly more complex than the iPad. Instead of a single hardware button used to jump back to the home screen, as there is on iOS, Honeycomb uses a soft button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. And maybe it's just me, but the home button doesn't even look that much like a home button (it could pass as an up' arrow, especially given the fact that the adjacent Back button is an arrow pointing left).
And some of Honeycomb's improvements over iOS could also be considered possible stumbling blocks. If you long-press the desktop, you'll bring up the widget/wallpaper selector, which some people will undoubtedly activate accidentally (and promptly panic). The third button in the bottom left corner lets you jump between recently used applications — a feature that I'll love, but could confuse people who aren't sure what's going on.
But overall the OS is pretty easy to get the hang of. I'd still feel more comfortable handing an iPad to my mother (who absolutely loves hers, for what it's worth), but the learning curve with Honeycomb isn't very steep.
And For Those Who Like A Bit More Power
If you're comfortable doing more on your computer than email and browsing the web — and have ever felt a little restrained using an iPad — then Honeycomb may feel like a breath of fresh air.
Your home screen is no longer simply a grid of your favorite applications — it's a dashboard populated with content, like your recent emails, favorite chat buddies, weather, to-do list, and more. Widgets aren't anything new for Android, but they've always been cumbersome on mobile devices because screen real estate is so limited (I've found myself debating between keeping my Calendar widget or giving myself an extra row of apps on my phone's home screen).
On Honeycomb this is much less of an issue. Widgets are the sort of thing that prove their worth over time (as opposed to during a 20 minute demo), but my initial hunch is that people will love them.
Honeycomb also features a new notification system that reminds me of Growl on Mac OS X. New updates slide into view in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, and you don't have to squint to see them the way you do on Android phones. Again, very nice.
This is a big advantage for Android now, but I'll be surprised if the next version of iOS doesn't include widgets and notifications. Then again, I was surprised that the last version didn't include them, so who knows.
The Xoom Hardware
The first Honeycomb tablet is the Motorola Xoom, which will probably ship in the next month (the release date hasn't been announced yet). From a hardware perspective the tablet feels fine. It's not great — it feels a little too heavy for its size, and I wish the screen resolution were higher — but it's good enough for people itching to get their hands on an Android tablet.
And if you don't like the Xoom there will be plenty of other choices in the coming months. Judging Honeycomb based on the Xoom would be like judging Android based on the G1 (okay, okay — maybe the HTC Hero).
Outlook
During the last Apple earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook dismissed existing Android tablets as "bizarre". And rightly so — they took an OS that was designed with mobile phones in mind, scaled them up to larger screens, and told consumers they were good to go. The Galaxy Tab was supposedly selling anyway, until it was revealed that previously released figures were misleading and that actual sales were quite small. Which shouldn't surprise anyone who actually used one. Update: Apparently the Samsung exec who said sales were "quite small" was misquoted — he said "quite smooth". I still don't think it's nearly as good as the iPad.
But Honeycomb changes all that. It's a solid competitor to iOS — better, even, in some ways. I won't be at all surprised if we see Honeycomb explode on tablets the way Android has exploded on mobile handsets since the original Droid launched in November 2009. Yes, carriers and OEMs will undoubtedly add their own skins and bundled applications, but provided they don't do anything too outrageous to the user experience, Honeycomb feels like a winner.
Related:
Honeycomb Is The First Shot Fired Along Apple's Bow
In-App Purchasing Finally Coming To Android; Disney Brings Tap Tap Revenge To Take Advantage
Google Unveils Android Market Webstore. It's Already Live!
Android Honeycomb Livestream Is Happening Now
Live From Google's Android Honeycomb Event
Here's What Pulse Will Look Like On Android Honeycomb
CrunchBase Information
Android
Information provided by CrunchBase
But what about actually using the tablet OS? For all the whiz-bang previews we've seen, very few people have actually written about what it's like to use these tablets. Unfortunately today's event wasn't the ideal place to do a full hands-on, either — there were dozens of reporters and only four tablets (most people got to play with one for maybe five minutes). But I wanted my fill of Honeycomb, so I stuck around til the crowd finally died down, put on my blinders, and took the Motorola Xoom for a 20+ minute spin. Apologies to the guy waiting behind me — I honestly didn't realize you were there.
Here are some of the features and apps that stood out — be sure to check out the video below for some of these in action.
The Action Bar
One of the most drastic changes is the move from dedicated hardware buttons to access Menu options to the Action Bar' — a UI element at the top of the screen with options that change depending on whatever application you're using.
If you're in the tablet's browser (which is based on Google Chrome) then this is where you'll find your open tabs. If you're in the movie editing app, it's where you'll find buttons to import a new clip — but if you hold your finger down on a section of a clip then the Action Bar will populate with options to add a transition or text overlay. In other words, the Action Bar changes dynamically based on what you're doing in an application.
Most applications also include a Settings button in the far righthand side of the Action Bar, though this is only a convention and not a rule.
In practice the system seems to work well, and you'll find that you instinctively look toward the Action Bar whenever you want to find an application option or setting that isn't part of the main UI. Of course, developers are in complete control over what appears in the Action Bar so there could be some consistency issues. But at least people will actually be able to find these options, which is more than can be said about the options hidden behind the Menu' button on current versions of Android (which many people never hit).
Browser
Kicks the pants off of the iPad's browser. Tabs are great, and the fact that the tablet browser syncs with your desktop version of Google Chrome is very nice. Scrolling felt smooth. And there's Incognito Mode.
Gmail
We've seen it showcased a few times now, but Gmail for Honeycomb is awesome — it's like the iPad-optimized web version of Gmail, but without the slight lag you still find on browser apps. I want it badly.
Copy And Paste
I've never cared about copy & paste nearly as much as the people who spend their time complaining about its implementation on the web. But I know you're out there, so here's some good news: it's works well on Honeycomb.
If you've used Android Gingerbread you're already familiar with the orange arrows that appear when you go to highlight text. These work pretty well, but there's one problem: there's no button to choose what you want to do with that text (the solution is to simply tap the highlighted text, which copies it to the clipboard, but some sort of menu overlay would be nice).
Things are much better in Honeycomb: when you highlight text, the Action Bar changes from its current options to let you Cut, Copy, Paste, or Select All. Is it exciting? Not at all. But it's a good example of how the Action Bar changes depending on what you're doing, and I'm sure some of you are going to be over the moon about this.
Android Market
The UI of Android Market has been revamped for the tablet. I think it's pretty ugly: the Android Green' striped lines feel almost like placeholder graphics and it doesn't look nearly as attractive as iOS's App Store. But it gets the job done.
Movie Studio
It hasn't gotten much press, but there's a new application included as part of the Honeycomb suite of Google applications: Movie Studio. I didn't spend too much time in this, but it includes the features you'd expect: transitions between clips, text overlays, and so on. The UI isn't what you'd call pretty and it may leave some people scratching their heads, but it's a nice app to have.
Performance
In general Honeycomb felt snappy — you can see in the video that there's never really any lag. I did notice some slight jittering when dragging widgets, but was later shown a more recent build of the OS that seemed to fix this. And the fact that the Xoom has 1GB of RAM means that you aren't going to find your browser tabs emptying the way they do on the current iPad.
Ease of Use
One of my biggest questions about Android tablet concerns usability. I believe that the iPad has been a hit in part because it is a simpler alternative to normal desktop operating systems, while still providing plenty of functionality for people who primarily surf the web, email, and watch videos. Many people buy iPads not just because they like the form factor, but because they want a computer that won't prompt them with endless security alerts, software updates, and confusing installation processes.
Android Honeycomb is decidedly more complex than the iPad. Instead of a single hardware button used to jump back to the home screen, as there is on iOS, Honeycomb uses a soft button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen. And maybe it's just me, but the home button doesn't even look that much like a home button (it could pass as an up' arrow, especially given the fact that the adjacent Back button is an arrow pointing left).
And some of Honeycomb's improvements over iOS could also be considered possible stumbling blocks. If you long-press the desktop, you'll bring up the widget/wallpaper selector, which some people will undoubtedly activate accidentally (and promptly panic). The third button in the bottom left corner lets you jump between recently used applications — a feature that I'll love, but could confuse people who aren't sure what's going on.
But overall the OS is pretty easy to get the hang of. I'd still feel more comfortable handing an iPad to my mother (who absolutely loves hers, for what it's worth), but the learning curve with Honeycomb isn't very steep.
And For Those Who Like A Bit More Power
If you're comfortable doing more on your computer than email and browsing the web — and have ever felt a little restrained using an iPad — then Honeycomb may feel like a breath of fresh air.
Your home screen is no longer simply a grid of your favorite applications — it's a dashboard populated with content, like your recent emails, favorite chat buddies, weather, to-do list, and more. Widgets aren't anything new for Android, but they've always been cumbersome on mobile devices because screen real estate is so limited (I've found myself debating between keeping my Calendar widget or giving myself an extra row of apps on my phone's home screen).
On Honeycomb this is much less of an issue. Widgets are the sort of thing that prove their worth over time (as opposed to during a 20 minute demo), but my initial hunch is that people will love them.
Honeycomb also features a new notification system that reminds me of Growl on Mac OS X. New updates slide into view in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, and you don't have to squint to see them the way you do on Android phones. Again, very nice.
This is a big advantage for Android now, but I'll be surprised if the next version of iOS doesn't include widgets and notifications. Then again, I was surprised that the last version didn't include them, so who knows.
The Xoom Hardware
The first Honeycomb tablet is the Motorola Xoom, which will probably ship in the next month (the release date hasn't been announced yet). From a hardware perspective the tablet feels fine. It's not great — it feels a little too heavy for its size, and I wish the screen resolution were higher — but it's good enough for people itching to get their hands on an Android tablet.
And if you don't like the Xoom there will be plenty of other choices in the coming months. Judging Honeycomb based on the Xoom would be like judging Android based on the G1 (okay, okay — maybe the HTC Hero).
Outlook
During the last Apple earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook dismissed existing Android tablets as "bizarre". And rightly so — they took an OS that was designed with mobile phones in mind, scaled them up to larger screens, and told consumers they were good to go. The Galaxy Tab was supposedly selling anyway, until it was revealed that previously released figures were misleading and that actual sales were quite small. Which shouldn't surprise anyone who actually used one. Update: Apparently the Samsung exec who said sales were "quite small" was misquoted — he said "quite smooth". I still don't think it's nearly as good as the iPad.
But Honeycomb changes all that. It's a solid competitor to iOS — better, even, in some ways. I won't be at all surprised if we see Honeycomb explode on tablets the way Android has exploded on mobile handsets since the original Droid launched in November 2009. Yes, carriers and OEMs will undoubtedly add their own skins and bundled applications, but provided they don't do anything too outrageous to the user experience, Honeycomb feels like a winner.
Related:
Honeycomb Is The First Shot Fired Along Apple's Bow
In-App Purchasing Finally Coming To Android; Disney Brings Tap Tap Revenge To Take Advantage
Google Unveils Android Market Webstore. It's Already Live!
Android Honeycomb Livestream Is Happening Now
Live From Google's Android Honeycomb Event
Here's What Pulse Will Look Like On Android Honeycomb
CrunchBase Information
Android
Information provided by CrunchBase
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/DKSbeMXGj_4/
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This article was sent using my Viigo.
For a free download, go to http://getviigo.com
Sent from Ismawan E. Chamdani's BlackBerry®
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