Amazon and RIM: Sour Grapes Day and Its Whines
June 30, 2011
Long day for the goose. Most folks heading toward 67 do the golf thing, maybe drink a lunch, or hang out at the mall and check out the walkers. Not me. I was checking out the latest in news and info on the rapidly deteriorating Internet. It is not just the lousy throughput here in Harrod’s Creek, it is the increase in the whine volume. Yep, sour grapes make whine.
The first example is the anonymous letter about the management woes at Research in Motion. Based in Waterloo, the BlackBerry whine maker criticized policies, procedures, innovation, and the furniture. Yep, griping about the office decorations will fix up the BlackBerry orchard in a nonce. You will want to read “Open Letter to BlackBerry Bosses: Senior RIM Exec Tells All as Company Crumbles around Him.” There are some great lines in the letter. The passage I found most amusing was:
Let’s obsess about what is best for the end user. We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice — the end user doesn’t care. We simply have to admit that Apple is nailing this and it is one of the reasons they have people lining up overnight at stores around the world, and products sold out for months. These people aren’t hypnotized zombies, they simply love beautifully designed products that are user centric and work how they are supposed to work. Android has a major weakness — it will always lack the simplicity and elegance that comes with end-to-end device software, middleware and hardware control. We really have a great opportunity to build something new and “uniquely BlackBerry” with the QNX platform. Let’s start an internal innovation revival with teams focused on what users will love instead of chasing “feature parity” and feature differentiation for no good reason (Adobe Flash being a major example). When was the last time we pushed out a significant new experience or feature that wasn’t already on other platforms? Rather than constantly mocking iPhone and Android, we should encourage key decision makers across the board to use these products as their primary device for a week or so at a time — yes, on Exchange! This way we can understand why our users are switching and get inspiration as to how we can build our next-gen products even better! It’s incomprehensible that our top software engineers and executives aren’t using or deeply familiar with our competitor’s products.
The snippet has some interesting assertions. Let me squeeze those grapes:
- RIM takes guidance from partners and lawyers. Hey, partners and lawyers know what to do. Partners resell and lawyers bill by the hour. A sharp outfit like RIM not be able to climb much higher up the innovation jungle gym unless it pays more attention to partners and lawyers. RIM is on the right track.
- Android has “a weakness.” That is one reason why the whiner is not working at Google. Google is the top dog. Android. Weakness. Oxymoron.
- Features. Look. Features made Microsoft Word the outstanding product it is. I find the intelligent reformatting, the wonderful numbering function, the intuitive placement of images, and the lightning fast response regardless of computing platform nearly perfect. RIM needs to work harder to add complex functionality. Stop whining and starting adding more icons, earthworm menus, and ever-so-precise trackball ALT key thingies.
Now read “An Open Letter To Jeff Bezos On Terminating The Amazon Affiliate Program In California.” Like the high pitched scree of the RIM letter, this epistle makes my ear drums bleed and my frontal lobes throb throb throb. The issue is that a high traffic Web site gets a piece of the action, a commission, a kick back, a bounty, a beak dip, or a cut of what ever a visitor to an affiliate site spends on Amazon. The world’s smartest man may struggle with uptime for its blend of open source and proprietary software for webby services things, but TWSM, aka Jeff Bezos, knows how to make money. Here’s a passage I found amusing:
Not only are you [The World’s Smartest Man] sucking purchases (and thus potentially jobs) out of my state and undermining those retailers, but you’re also not letting the state earn off the sales tax like those retailers who actually are based here do. That makes me feel really good as a Californian.
Why should Amazon pay sales tax?
Amazon is a sort of virtual company. It does not drive on the roads of California too often. It does not use the California school or sewer systems all that much, and it does not provide fire protection for TWSM’s Seattle area properties. Why pay for what you do not use, do not need, and do not acknowledge as being relevant to the Amazon implementation of the Walton retail vision built of bits, not bricks?
So what’s with the whining about Amazon’s doing what a company is supposed to do in post crash America? Any nibbling at the edges of Amazon’s revenue is bad. What is bad for Amazon is bad for Mr. Bezos. Mr. Bezos wants his way in a manner similar to other tech titans’ perception of right and proper behavior. This whiner wants an entity in America to be fair. Get with the program. Join Prime. Suck it up and get back to search engine optimization, a field of great value and promise.
So there you have it. Two whines. If I drank, I suppose I could slurp some whine too. I am more of a commenter and from a goose pond at that. These two whiners are muddying the waters of the way business is conducted in the US today. Get with the program and put a stopper in the whine bottle, please. Honk.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2011
Stephen E Arnold, described by super real news person Ken Auletta as gruff is the author of the New Landscape of Search, published by Pandia in Oslo, Norway. The monograph is not available for the BlackBerry (I cannot read my screen’s type. Too small.) and not available through Amazon either. I often wonder why I bother to write candid and objective analyses of enterprise search systems. Whining is where it is at for today.
The GOOG MSFT User Experience
June 23, 2011
One of the goslings asked me to take a quick look at US7966638, “ Interactive Media Display across Devices.” Here’s the abstract:
A computer-implemented method includes identifying a computer-based portable program module, automatically altering code in the portable program module to permit display of the module on a television-based display so that the displayed module has a substantially similar appearance on the television-based display as on a computer display, and providing the altered code for execution on a processor connected to a television-based display.
The question today at lunch is, “How likely is it that Google will be on the same Windows 8 interface bicycle?”
My view: Google has struggled to make use of its plethora of interesting inventions. Assume this invention moves to the “one interface” across any of a user’s devices or veers in another direction. Will Google be forced to buy a company that has been able to connect the dots? The example of which I am thinking is the Sage TV buy. The issue may be internal communication about available technology regardless of the team originating the system and method.
Stephen E Arnold, June 23, 2011
From the leader in next-generation analysis of search and content processing, Beyond Search.
Nifty New Mobile Search App
June 20, 2011
Mashable reports, “Mobile Search Startup Do@ Queries Apps Instead of the Web.” Is this the beginning of the end for AltaVista.com style search? Perhaps, especially as PCs go the way of the VCR.
Here’s how Do@ works:
[On one’s mobile device,] the user types in a keyword, subject or topic, including movies, music, foods, products and more. The app then recognizes what categories the keyword fits into. . . . Once you tap the query that fits your needs, Do@ loads your results, which will appear as mobile web apps from a carefully curated selection of the best publishers and app developers. You can quickly swipe from one app with relevant content to the next until you spot the exact tidbit of information or functionality you seek. In addition to predictable categories like movies, news, and shopping, Do@ is introducing some innovative classifications of their own, like @near.me and @play.online.
In my opinion, this type of system simplify the search process. Instead of wrestling with quotes, plus and minus signs, and exacting turns of phrase, you just type the most basic of subjects and select the appropriate realm. Very convenient. Both the article and the Do@ site contain a demonstration video that illustrates the process well.
My only concern: what will we lose as we move away from the (comparatively) free-flowing Web-wide search to a “curated” set of options?
Cynthia Murrell June 20, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
Motorola CEO Admits Open Android Store Can Cause Problems
June 16, 2011
The Android App Store is to blame according to the Computer World article “Motorola CEO: Open Android Store Leads to Quality Issues.”
Sanjay Jha, the CEO of Motorola Mobility. claims that the majority of Motorola phones are returned because of performance issues caused by malicious applications downloaded from Android Market.
Google has an open door policy when it comes to uploading apps to the application store. “For power consumption and CPU use, those apps are not tested. We’re beginning to understand the impact that has,” Jha said.” Motorola has modified its Motoblur application to help better understand applications and their effect on performance. The article asserts:
“Motoblur collects information about customer use of applications and how that use relates to functions like power consumption. We are getting to the place that we should be able to warn you,” Jha said.”
Motorola hopes Motoblur can serve a twofold purpose. Not only will it alert customers concerning malicious acts but it could also provide Motorola with an attractive competitive age in the large Android market.
The criticism is particularly pointed because on June 15, 2011, Google focused more attention on Android and mobile search. If malware or other issues plague the operating system, Google may have a difficult-to-control problem on its agenda.
Stephen E Arnold, June 16, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
The SoLoMo Angle for Google
June 15, 2011
We wanted to highlight a great Google acronym. Google’s Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt, was interviewed recently at the D9 conference and answered some tough questions as reported in SEW’s ” Eric Schmidt on Search Result Answers, Social Failures & Google Offers Launch.”
Opining on topics that “…ranged from a new approach to answering questions in search results, to Google’s social media failures, and the launch of Google Offers,” Schmidt openly admitted responsibility for his flubs, particularly in the social venue. He indicated that Google searches would be evolving from link-based answers to algorithmically-based answers. Mr. Schmidt allegedly said:
The future of Google is “SoLoMo — social, local, and mobile;”
This is a wonderful buzzword and it meshes nicely with the assertion that that Google counts itself among the four top brands of the post-PC era excluding Microsoft.
Google is moving down the me-to lane at the innovation supermarket. The company rolled out Google Offers. This is an online deal service which reminds me of the Groupon and LivingSocial service, the Yellow Pages service, the Courier-Journal’s service, and a number of other online deal plays.
Yep, “SoLoMo”.
Stephen E Arnold, June 15, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
Tech Parade: Rain Forecast with Hail and High Winds
June 9, 2011
Oh, oh. Is the tech parade scheduled for a July celebration in bad weather?
AdAge Blogs’ “Affluency: Being ‘Technology-Infused’ Proves Taxing for Affluent” offers the results of a survey that shows how the lives of the affluent have become technology-infused.
While this group has seen explosive growth in smartphone, e-reader, and tablet ownership, the technology has also complicated their lives. Advertisers and media:
“must understand the growing adoption and use of new technology, as well as the evolving “topography” of platforms and occasions. At each point in this topography, [they] must understand consumers’ level of engagement, receptivity to advertising, preferences for apps vs. Web-based content, unmet information needs and much more. And [they] must do it all in an environment in which consumers feel they are facing more complex and stressful decisions than ever before.”
With 30 percent of searches now associated with mobile devices, and, according to Google, 40 percent of those searches local, it’s easy to see how mobile data is having a real impact on purchase decisions. All of this takes on added importance when you realize that the mobile devices are in the hands of affluent households, a market everyone’s chasing.
Too many companies chasing too few customers—could a miserable summer be upon us.
Stephen E Arnold, June 9, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
Caller ID and the Smartphone
June 4, 2011
With the infiltration of smart phones, this app was just a matter of time. True Software has created TrueCaller, which brings caller-id functionality to smart phones.
Because it searches “Yellow- and white-pages from around the world,” it not only lets users know who’s calling, it can update phonebook contacts. TrueCaller includes an extensive filter for fraud, spam, and unwanted calls.
While there are other caller-id apps out there, the additional functionality in this one makes it stand out in the crowd. These are features users have wanted when it comes to any kind of phone. It’s a nice example of technology meeting a need.
Another enhancement for mobile findability.
Rita Safranek, June 4, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
Endeca Enters the Mobile Search Ring
June 2, 2011
We’re a mobile society; the days of sitting at the desktop and spending hours researching information appear to be sliding away as fast as technology can keep up. There are data which suggest that mobile search is growing more rapidly than Web search. Whether the data are accurate is less important than the perception that the Web is yesterday, and mobile search is tomorrow.
Mobile searching is becoming increasingly popular and while it’s new, the heat is on to offer consumers the fastest, most relevant mobile search experience. Search vendors, in their search for Big Rock Candy Mountain revenue, are charging toward the alleged gold deposits.
Business Intelligence software company, Endeca also is a player in mobile search. EcontentMag’s “Creating a Recipe for Success: Mobile Search in Action,” reported:
…companies need to truly understand the context in which mobile users will search their content. Only then can they provide a search interface and tools that provide results that target those users’ specific queries.
Increasingly utilized as customers make healthcare decisions or automotive choices, mobile users don’t want to waste time searching. Typing in a couple keywords, mobile users want speed, accuracy, and the same information across all channels. Endeca is there seems to be one aspect of the eContent write up.
My view is that mobile search is going to be an interesting twist in the search tornado. Situational search, geographical search, and personalized search may come together to stretch the limits of today’s more traditional information retrieval methods. New form factors seem to invite fresh approaches to finding answers.
Stephen E Arnold, June 2, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
Google, Mobile, and Money: Can We Discern a Pattern, Connect Some Dots
May 31, 2011
I woke up early this morning mostly because the crows decided to have a Post Memorial Day celebration here in the hollow near Harrod’s Creek. Beautiful birds. Often their discourse reminds me of data about the success of Android, the lack of success at RIM, and the slow start Microsoft Phone 7 Windows Mobile edition has had. And Apple? Well, even the crows have iPhones in Kentucky.
What I found interesting was more data about the success/failure of Android and Apple in the mobile game. “Nielsen: Android’s Lead Over iOS May Have Stopped Growing” reports that Android is popular “but no more than it was in March [2011].” You can work through the numbers which are based on Nielsen’s survey results. Note that Nielsen is hedging its bets on its results. My experience is that the results are often driven by the needs of marketing and sales and not so much what I want to know.
I want to connect the dots, but I am not sure what’s happening. Source: http://corknuts.tumblr.com/
Here’s the passage I noted on my trusty iPad:
The Android Revenue Rocket and Gravity
May 30, 2011
The Android blast off has been spectacular. In the span of 24 months, Android is everywhere. Poor Apple. Although the company is rolling in dough, its mobile market share has been kicked to the curb by Googzilla. Everything Apple did as an innovator has migrated to the Googleplex. With mobile search accounting for a significant amount of Web traffic, Google is the winner.
Well, that’s what it looks like to some former Web masters, art history major who have become consultants, and poobahs focused on poopahing.
Then there is “Why It’s Harder to Make Money on Android than on Apple’s iOS.” I don’t put much effort into tracking the musings of Time Warner, but I did find this article interesting.
The data in the story came from an outfit called Distimo. I have a healthy skepticism for most sampled data related to anything Webby. You can read the original write up to get the numbers and specific numbers each appears to be.
Here’s the key point in my opinion:
Roughly Drafted’s Dilger, an Apple partisan who clearly has a stick in this fire, suggests that the rapid ascendance of the Android Market is an illusion. Android may be gaining in sheer volume, he says, but not in quality. He quotes the app guidelines Apple issued last September:
“We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don’t need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn’t do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted.”
Google has no such policy, Dilger writes. “All one has to do is pay a fee and shovel junk into its online listings. Suddenly it’s obvious why Google is ‘beating’ Apple in free titles: 134,342 to 121,845 according to Distimo: they’re only comparing Fart Apps, ringtones and wallpapers. Of course Google is winning in that regard.”
The bottom line on the write up is that Android developers are not exactly rolling in cash–yet. Other observations:
- “Controlled chaos” has to demonstrate that it works better than Apple’s control method
- Android needs to produce some vocal, developers who are rolling in dough before the developers look for more lucrative things to do
- Fragmentation and the telecommunications industry’s penchant for doing proprietary things to benefit themselves reduces Google’s span of control.
Stephen E Arnold, May 30, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information
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