May 2005
Treo650: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king
Thursday - May 26, 2005 Filed in: Mobile | Consumer
Technology
As a fervent Macintosh user (I
have never bought a Windows PC in my life, but
been "forced" to use one), the Treo650 is about
the only game in town to get your office with
you on the road. The success of the Palm in 1997
started with a simple concept, provide business
users with four simple buttons that gives them
access to everything they need. No more, no
less. Since then the Palm platform has grown in
all directions, except the one I need; better
support for the business user. I like access to
e-mail and a decent browser, I don't like the
fact that many of the phone software
capabilities are not truly integrated with the
original Palm software capabilities. Bluetooth
performance of the Treo is below par, calls
sometimes do not get sent to the Treo headset,
regardless of the button you press (the headset
works fine with my Powerbook and Skype).
Categories don't work with the Mac. Call log
can't be scrolled through using navigation keys.
No keystroke consistency between applications.
No global hot button consistency. Inconsistent
user interface behavior between applications.
Should I go on?Opinion: I wish Apple made a phone, using a proprietary device that serves the needs of a business user very well (a key target considering its $500 price point) , instead of trying to appeal to a broad software market. In the same way the iPod did that for music players. Proprietary platforms competing with "open-source" will yield better customer value, Apple please bring it on.
Seismic changes in Digital Entertainment
Friday - May 06, 2005 Filed in: Media | Consumer
Technology
Attended the Churchill Club
seminar under the same name. Interesting
speakers were Chuck D (Public Enemy), Roger
McNamee (Integral Capital Partners, Silver Lake
Partners, Elevation Partners) and Blake Ross
(Firefox creator). It is becoming clear that the
old rules of how to create or tap into large
media markets have changed. To own these markets
one must provide a large selection. MP3 music
sharing has given listeners a taste of virtually
unlimited supply they are not willing to give up
on. The Long Tail roars its head yet again.
Tivo1, Mike Ramsay added that 50% of programs
recorded on Tivo are non-popular programs. Roger
quoted the Death of the Pareto principle. The
Palo Alto library has known this for many years,
more than 75% of its purchasing budget is for
non-popular selection. Mobility and locality
were mentioned as important side effects of Long
Tail markets. The ability to serve up that wide
selection on a wide variety of devices is
crucial. Arbitration of content (the way record
companies enforce The Pareto principle) is no
longer accepted by buyers. Buyers want to find
any creative material they are interested in,
and in some cases, want to have the ability to
get in touch with the artist directly. New
search capabilities become important to weed
through large selections, Google capabilities
were considered insufficient. Scanning type
search, "I know it when I see it", provides
interesting new browse capabilities for buyers.
Blake added that as a technology industry we
have the responsibility to make things easier to
use before we move on to another golden
opportunity. We agree with Roger that media
should become the new Consumer Packaged Goods.