Google and Countries
April 2, 2010
Short honk: I saw the AFP story “Google Searches Trigger Error Messages in China” on Yahoo. No surprise there. The question is, “What’s next?” China is a country, and it has enormous hiring-and-firing power as well as a lot of other options to exercise. A lot of options. But perhaps China is an innocent lamb and the problem is a result of a Google glitch. The Register’s story “Google Backtracks on Cause of China Search Block.” So which entity do I believe? This is whom do you trust for real. Is Australia next in the country versus company game? Google seems to be separating a country’s government from its policies. I am not sure this is possible. To read a Google executive’s rationalization navigate to this German language news story. Interesting indeed.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2010
No one paid me to ask these questions or write this news item.
Search Utility for Mobile Users
April 2, 2010
In the early days of personal computers, utilities were a big deal. Not so much now. Microsoft Windows includes many useful features which made utilities drop off my radar. I am not sure if a trend is building, but I wanted to call your attention to “ACTRocket 1.3 Web Search Shortcuts for iPhone and iPod Touch.” Presumably the app will be compatible with the frenzy-inducing iPad that has the gliterati cheering.
What struck me is that this utility is “pre-configured [to work] with many popular search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) as ell as a large selection of Web sites (Wikipedia, IMBb, Twitter, eBay, Flickr.) The idea is that this app gives a user quick access to search, shortcuts to select a particular search engine, a history of queries, and smarts to allow the user to explore search results within an application. You can get more information from Houdah Software, an outfit in Switzerland.
I think the notion of utilities for finding information may be a good one. I want to monitor what other search-related apps surface.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2010
A freebie. No one paid us to write this.
Mindbreeze Goes Mobile
April 2, 2010
Fabasoft has rolled out a new add-on to allow licensed users to search via a smartphone or other mobile device.
I spoke with Michael Hadrian, the managing director of Fabasoft Distribution in Linz, Austria. Fabasoft is the holding company of Mindbreeze enterprise search system. In that conversation, I picked up two interesting insights into the Fabasoft Mindbreeze push into the market for enterprise search.
Mindbreeze Enterprise Mobile result list.
First, the Mindbreeze search technology, recently profiled in a consultant’s report, is now available as a cloud-based service. The idea is to shift from an on-premises installation to one that Fabasoft / Mindbreeze can provision and operate from the cloud. Mr. Hadrian told me, “The major benefits are achieving business related results faster and reducing the burden on an organization’s internal information technology resources.”
Second, a Mindbreeze licensee gains access to the company’s mobile interface. The idea is that a worker, regardless of his / her location, can use the Fabasoft Mindbreeze products to locate information in a wide range of sources processed by the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise system. These range from the standard Microsoft Office file types to more proprietary repositories such as those used by Lotus Domino / Notes customers.
A mobile search metadata display.
Google Slowdown Identified
April 1, 2010
Bloomberg’s “China Is Least of Google’s Woes as Slowdown Looms” identified the cat that has been out of the bag since the middle of 2009. The Bloomberg story stamps “Official” and “Declassified” on the Google matter. In addition to the $1.0 Viacom litigation, Google has made headlines with its interesting decision to stand up to a country. I think that the approach taken years ago to control countries was dicey, but the Google method lit up the addled goose’s riskometer. The Bloomberg writers said:
As sales gains diminish, some investors are concerned that Google has begun to resemble Microsoft Corp., which generates billions of dollars in cash from its mature flagship business yet has struggled to conquer new markets. Google’s sales increased 9 percent last year after almost doubling in 2005.
Money is an issue. But the more troubling aspect is that Google may be leaving money on the table by conceding the fragile but large China market to others. Financial whiz kids with big smiles want those Baidu bucks flowing into the the Google holdings. Google’s interesting decision to stand up to a country with an army, a secret service, and rule making ability means that Google is giving a free pass to others, including Microsoft.
Who will be on the hot seat? Google management. For me, the Bloomberg story marks the start of increasing investor scrutiny.
Stephen E Arnold, April 1, 2010
A freebie. Not an April fools’ joke.
Apple May Jump into Search Fray
April 1, 2010
Apple has a deeply flawed search system for iTunes in my opinion. I have used Apple’s feedback mechanism to complain about the inability I have to locate a particular item. Run a query and the system generates false drops and stuff in which I have zero interest. Does Apple care? According to Web Pro News, maybe. “Analyst Bets Apple Search Engine Might Be On The Way” points to a financial analyst who is providing the information. There’s more speculation in Barron’s, and that esteemed publication points to Apple’s buying a former Googler’s search system.
Earlier today I read about Amazon’s $1 Billion business in eBooks, a revelation from another financial analyst. The recession must be over. Apple needs to solve its search-related problems, and I think that home grown solutions are fun for some developers but I will be interested to see how the system performs, assuming of course that Apple is building its own search engine and not licensing technology from one or more of the 300 vendors in the search sector. Apple has the money, but my question is, “Why?” I know why the analysts are cranking out these bold ideas—churn. That’s where the money is for the analysts’ pals.
Stephen E Arnold, April 1,2010
No one paid me to write this news item.
Amazon and Its eBook Bonanza
April 1, 2010
Short honk: Gigaom’s “iPad or Not, Amazon Will Still Make a $1 Billions [sic] from eBooks” caught my attention Amazon is a pretty secretive outfit. The source of the number is an analyst report from JP Morgan. Is this public relations or a bold revelation designed to make clear how far ahead of Apple Amazon is? My hunch is that this is PR designed to give Amazon a shot of that Apple juice that is fueling Apple’s share price. Maybe the economy is recovering. The “E” is not for effort; the “E” is for estimated.
Stephen E Arnold, April 1, 2010
A freebie.
Rivet Pounds OpenText
April 1, 2010
OpenText—a content management, data management, collaboration, and search vendor—made headlines with its acquistions of Vignette (content management system) and nStein (asset management and content processing vendor). OpenText, once the playground of Dr. Tim Bray (now at Google) has evolved over the last decade. The company has reached nearly $250 million in revenue in the period ending December 31, 2010. That’s getting close to $1.0 billion in revenue, which makes it one of the big dogs in the information space. Among the firm’s search properties are BASIS, the SGML system, Fulcrum, and BRS Search. The products has strong adherents, My last brush with OpenText required some sniffing around RedDot and its embedded Autonomy search stub. Interesting work. Complex too. Great for consultants in my opinion.
A reader sent me a copy of a newsletter / report document from an outfit called Rivet Logic. I was not familiar with the company. The company’s Q1 2010 “report” carries the title “Recent Developments in Cotent, Collaboration and Community.” That document contains some information about OpenText. The Rivet Logic story contained a quote from an analyst named Seth Gottlieb, founder of Content Here. He allegedlysaid:
“Open Text is in the business of buying and then bleeding software products to death, and this is the software customer’s worst nightmare.” -Analyst Seth Gottlieb, founder of Content Here, on FierceContentManagement
The idea is that OpenText’s proprietary approach is part of a “lock in” approach.
The Rivet Logic write up points out that open source “presents the most vialble altrnative to this foreboding trend of gorilla takeovers.”
My view is that some companies’ core strategy is to buy companies with customers and then build on that base while seeking synergy and upsell opportunities. I am not sure “gorilla” is an approrpiate adject. Just my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, April 1, 2010
Free and no April Fools’ story.
SSN Minute for April 1, 2010, Now Available
April 1, 2010
David Thimme, Strategic Social Networking, addresses the topic “Redrawing the Line for Employee Privacy.” The two minute video makes clear that there are some tough decisions and trade offs when social media are in use at an organization. You can access the video from the SSN Minute link or navigate directly to YouTube.com.
Stephen E Arnold, April 1, 2010
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