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Why Buzz Could Succeed in the Enterprise

February 9, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

…and why Wave may not.

When I was watching the presentation for Google Buzz, I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the functionality was duplicated in Wave. So why could Buzz catch on where Wave hasn’t?

Because it’s not something “new”. It’s just something in addition to the email everyone is used to working with.

In large organizations, services like Yammer (which I love) are too much of a shift in mindset for too many people at once. But if something is introduced as simply an extended feature of a tool you’re already using, the game changes.

The enterprise LOVES its email. It’s smart to build a service on top of that instead of trying to establish a new service altogether, which is what Wave tried to do.

What I really love is that both of these products are coming out of the same company and look to be competing with one another on some level. The end user will be the ultimate winner as these two groups within Google try to make their product the standard.

As Sharepoint…either way, it was (sorta) nice knowing you.

Google Buzz. Want. Now!

February 9, 2010 / Scott / 1 Comment

Google Buzz

Better group management than Facebook
Share photos and videos inline from Picasa and Flickr
Reduction of noise of posts you don’t care about (interested to see this one in action)
Comments at your inbox instead of going to a site.
Suggestions, suggestions, suggestions.
Oh, and instant indexing of your Buzz’s–VERY important for bloggers.
Unbelievable location based features

And still, I think the most potential is in the enterprise.

If it would only write to Twitter. Lot’s of people have a lot of equity built up over there and aren’t going to want to throw that away.

Last Night’s Shuttle Launch

February 8, 2010 / Scott / 1 Comment

Ok…I give up trying to take home video of these things that’s good enough to put on the web and be worth anyone’s time to watch. But it was really cool…like the sun rising. Glad I got to see a night launch!!!

There’s No Place I’d Rather Be Than Right Here!

February 5, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

Rednecks. White socks. Blue ribbon beer.

A Letter To The Gov’ment

February 5, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

And you want them to run health care?

How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a TV cable from them back in 1987, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date.

….

I apologize, I’m really pissed off this morning. Between you an’ me, I’ve had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my address.

Read the whole thing. I LOL’d several times. One for the ages!

Stuff You Should See– February 2nd through February 5th

February 5, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

Consumer debt will hold back spending, holding back economic growth. – Don't be ridiculous. We just have to "get banks lending again". Right.

Booze Camp Nashville – EVERY city needs something like this. You can keep your geek breakfast.

Teenagers Are Kind of Over Blogging – I think that headline is a little misleading. It should have read, "Like, Teenagers Are, Like, Kind of Over, Like, Blogging?"

The Day the Music Died – Pretty cool…check this out.

Bagged salad: how clean are packaged salads? – {insert your own joke using the word "toss" here}

Punching a Dude in the Face For Jesus – Love the marketing innovation here.

UI Concepts for Chromium Tablet – I like that Apple has set the bar so low on pricing. That's good for all of us, especially as competitors pop up.

Lost: 16 Hopes For The Final Season – I actually don't agree with a lot of these. For instance, I don't think Charles and Jacob are at the top of the battle for the island. Jacob maybe, but Charles is a mortal. I think.

Tormented by the Wall Street Journal

February 4, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

I’ve read two articles in the WSJ this week about the housing market, and now I’m less certain than ever about what’s going to happen in the next year.

Is 2010 the Year of the Short Sale?

If 2009 was the year of the foreclosure (and loan modification), then 2010 may be shaping up as the year of the short sale.

I’d say 2011 is more realistic, unless they are predicting a slew of short sales starting in Q1. Our experience with trying to purchase short sales is that they take a long time. How long? We’re not really sure, because we haven’t made it to the end of the process yet. But five months seems to be a reasonable expectation for a minimum, and that’s just for the bank to get back to you with a yes or no.

I’m interested to see what is going to happen when, by the time the bank responds to an offer with a “yes”, the house is no longer worth the amount that was originally offered. Because, some people think we’re still in a housing bubble:

Rental apartment vacancies are reaching record highs. Many segments of the housing market are still oversupplied. And the core demographic in the country—the baby boomers—are reaching the age where they’re more likely to downsize, buying less house in the years to come.

Throw in the tax credits, artificially low mortgage rates, and the fact that the fed is still buying mortgage backed securities, and it’s hard to make the case that the housing market is not still artificially high.

It seems like the easiest way back to a true(r) market would be for banks to sell off their bad assets as quickly and efficiently as possible through the short sale process. Quick and efficient doesn’t seem to be the order of the day, however.

Stuff You Should See– January 26th through February 1st

February 1, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

The Death of Global Warming – I don’t think it’s dead just yet. Just like in a bad horror movie, it will make one last effort to grab us by the ankle and stab us in the knee. Or something painful like that.

Iran News in February. – If this involves a Segway or an iPad I’m going to be very disappointed.

The 25 Hottest Olympians To Watch For – Ok.Fine. I’ll watch.

Wanna Buy Lane Kiffin’s House? – I propose a group of boosters get together to purchase this place. Then invite 100,000 of their closest friends over and roast marshmallows as it burns to the ground. 😛

Free in Tennessee – German Homeschooling Asylum – Speechless. For whatever reason this family chose to homeschool, I’m glad they found a place they are allowed to do so.

People’s Sexiest Man–Dead or Alive.

February 1, 2010 / Scott / 0 Comments

I bet if you look at People magazine from the 70s and 80 there’s a little asterisk next to the “Sexiest Man Alive” title that says, “Except for Conway Twitty”. They had to make it fair for everyone else or Kenny Rogers and Gene Watson would not have participated in the contest.