IBM Wants an Intuitive Internet
November 12, 2010
Yep, and I want a million dollars.
In “IBM Outlines Vision of a More Intuitive Internet” the researchers at the IMB Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS) have been conducting research on how to make a more ‘intuitive’ Internet. I’m not sure about you, but I don’t necessarily want an internet that can read my mind…..I’m just saying.
Researchers are trying to create a way to make the little things in life easier, for example; making reservations and paying bills by setting up automatic notifications.
The Internet will move beyond the present paradigm where people are responsible for the initiating and managing their own manual navigation of the Web, to a ‘personalized Web,’ functioning as a platform of services and resources that are dynamically and automatically configured to suit each person’s individual goals, tasks and concerns, in a way that person wants.
Please, correct me if I’m wrong but don’t we already have automatic notification and withdrawal programs? My bills were paid via automatic withdrawal this week…..so why do I need the internet to do it for me?
They want the Internet to work for people not vice versa….Well, in my book it already does, it’s called an iPhone. You can pay bills AND make reservations at your favorite dining locale. For an example of an intuitive Web site, navigate to www.ibm.com. Now try to find the FRU for a NetFinity 5500 case fan.
Leslie Radcliff, November 12, 2010
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Forrester Expert Dings Zuckerberg
November 10, 2010
I don’t know the Facebook wizard Mark Zuckerberg. I haven’t seen the movie about Mark Zuckerberg. I don’t have much stock in the baloney that appears on Web sites—especially when that baloney includes executive biographies. Look at my bio at www.arnoldit.com/sitemap.html. Baloney. Look at the Google executive bios. Baloney. Look at consulting firms’ executive bios. Baloney. Look at a 20 something’s bio. Baloney.
Solid, fat filled, nutritional black holes. Baloney. Thus it is and thus it will ever be.
Picking apart a 20 something and criticizing his management expertise is pretty much a waste of time and indicative that an Angry Bird bone is stuck in one’s throat. Navigate to “Perspective On Zuckerberg”, written by one of the mid-tier consulting firms. Read it closely. Make up your own mind about what it is saying.
For me, grousing about a 20 something is like my quacking at a crow who wants the same chunk of bread this goose does. The crow doesn’t speak goose, doesn’t want to learn, and doesn’t want much more than the chunk of bread.
A mid tier consulting firm wants billable projects. When I read criticism of a high profile company and its top gun, I say to myself:
I think that a certain firm did not get a certain engagement. The best defense is a good offense. Let’s use the handy dandy blogosphere to point out why a certain company / person / product is deeply flawed.
Yes, this is how one 66 year old, addled goose in Harrod’s Creek thinks. My hunch is that there is a deep subtext in this consulting firms’ blog post. Will Mr. Zuckerberg care? Probably not. Will Facebook attorneys care? Maybe. I know Alexander the Great was a good manager despite some personal oddities handed down over the centuries. Does anyone in a history class care? Nah. Alexander conquered the world. Too bad he caught the sniffles and died. Bad luck, not bad management.
Do I expect a 20 something to combine the polish of a McKinsey partner, the insights of a Peter Drucker, and the financial acumen of a Warren Buffet? Not in a million years.
One thing about Mr. Zuckerberg is clear. He knows how to hire Xooglers. I don’t know how many mid tier consultants, former English majors, and wanna be techno-poobahs he has on his staff. I do know the 20 something has got the Google behind a social eight ball and Microsoft close to a side pocket. Not good enough for a mid tier consulting firm? Okay. Good enough for 600 million users, a growing base of banner ad customers, and some investment bankers? Yep.
Oh, and an important point: Mr. Zuckerberg is still alive, seems healthy, and appears to have the cash to hire some advisers. Maybe Forrester has found a magic sales method?
Stephen E Arnold, November 9, 2010
Freebie unlike the time of a mid tier consulting firm’s professionals.
Nielsen, about Those Web Traffic Data
November 9, 2010
One, two, three, four… The Nielsen Co. seems to have a problem with their counting skills. In “Nielsen Admits Undercounting Web Traffic” The Nielsen Co. recently found that they have erred in their counting of web traffic due to a glitch in how many characters their counting software is able to read. The miscount seems to have sent the illusion that web traffic is down nearly 22% in the past several months when in fact, this may not be the case at all. The article said:
Media owners have long complained that data from their internal logs was often leagues different than the data they got from Nielsen.
To most people this might not seem like a big deal, but it is. Because Nielson has a corner on the market, this error is going to be felt by many online media and advertising outlets. The numbers that Nielsen puts up affects how these companies allocate their funds. If the numbers aren’t high enough, the companies won’t put money into the website. And then:
We need to do a better job keeping pace with the rapid evolution of the internet.
It should be noted that Nielsen is doing everything they can to remedy the problem. Every part of their Internet measurement methods are under investigation. So, about those traffic stats, Mr. Nielsen?
Leslie Radcliff, November 9, 2010
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IntelTrax Available
November 9, 2010
The new Web log IntelTrax is now available. The free service from the editors of Beyond Search and ArnoldIT.com covers data fusion. The term “data fusion” refers to systems and methods for processing disparate data and information into actionable intelligence. The phrases “business intelligence”, “knowledge management,” “text mining,” “eDiscovery”, and “data analytics” have become imprecise. Marketers apply these terms to a wide range of companies, products and services.
“No one has a definition for these buzzwords. Yet there are important and exciting developments available,” said Stephen E Arnold, publisher of IntelTrax. “This Web log—edited by Patrick Roland, a professional writer—will describe companies, products, and services that are essential where business and technology intersect. Our research reveals that organizations want information about ‘what’s next’ in information access and management. IntelTrax will help readers cut a path through this dense thicket of activity.”
Like Beyond Search, the Web log will present opinions and commentary. Available immediately are more than 150 articles. These range from a discussion of the i2 Ltd.-Palantir legal matter to commentary about the need for an intelligence framework that works. The About section of the Web log explains the blog’s editorial policies. The publication accepts advertising and if a company wants a sponsored write up, those will be included in the Web log and identified as a placed article.
Arnold continued, “In the last 12 to 18 months, a number of specialized software firms have begun to market services to the general business community. Some of these firms’ technologies were funded by or developed for the US intelligence community or a similar country’s governmental entities. Now these companies are offering commercial versions of their products. These software systems move beyond traditional data mining and map mashups. The companies are shifting information retrieval from guessing words that unlock a results list to a proactive, answer-oriented approach to data and information.”
IntelTrax is updated Monday to Friday with a mix of commentary, original features, and summaries of important reports. In addition, IntelTrax will profile specific companies and products. The information in IntelTrax does not duplicate the information in Beyond Search. The content will be distributed via RSS, and you can sign up for an email each day with that day’s headlines. The service is now indexed by Silobreaker, a content processing company serving both the commercial and intelligence sector.
Comments about IntelTrax may be sent to the editor at inteltrax@ymail.com.
Stuart Schram IV, November 9, 2010
Post sponsored by ArnoldIT.com
Apps or New Browser for Access
November 9, 2010
The Google will have to make some changes to Chrome. When the GOOG adapts, I think those pushing the apps method of content access and the fuel providers behind RockMelt will have their hands full. I think a reinvention of the browser is an interesting idea. “
“New Browser Incorporates Latest Trends in Web Technology” reported:
RockMelt, a Mountain View startup that Andreessen has invested in and advises, is releasing today a beta version of a new, eponymous Web browser built around some of the latest trends in Web technologies. It integrates social networking to a degree not found in mainstream browsers and saves user data to the “cloud,” allowing users to get the same browsing experience on their work and home computers.
Both the Apps crowd and the new browser crowd are responding to needs from the exploding market for consumerized information access. Consumers like appliances. Some can be downright weird. Think about the Dyson fan and ball vacuum. Others can be helpful when one wants a way to read Web pages in unlikely places. Think iPad. The notion of mashing up information is not a new idea, but it is gaining momentum. Think apartment listings placed on a Google Map south of Houston. The mash up and a $1,000 in cash can score an apartment more effectively than a person from Harrod’s Creek and a printed listing of available spaces.
The challenge in the consumerized world of information is that whoever has eyeballs wins. Sure, some outfits can come out of left field and take over a market segment. One only needs to think about Google to realize that in the span of 12 years, Google is on the path to an AT&T-type operation. On some days, I think Google is AT&T, where some of Google’s wizards labored in a previous life. I can also point to the Apple iPad and the 200,000 plus apps available to someone with a lot of time on their hands like blog pundits.
My view is that browsers that seek to displace the incumbents have to leapfrog the competition. That’s going to be difficult because Google and other browser developers can incorporate functionality and make that functionality available to an installed base. My hunch is that the me-too tactic will make 2011 browser competition quite unlike 1993 browser competition.
Which will win? Browsers or Apps? The companies best at playing Monopoly will decide, not the market in my opinion. Fewer and fewer users want laundry lists. Complex results lists are an issue. Funky app interfaces are a barrier as well. Inertia, not innovation, is likely to be a formidable hurdle even with the ability to melt barriers made of stone.
Stephen E Arnold, November 9, 2010
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Arnold Google Column to Informed Market Intelligence
November 8, 2010
After an 18 month run at KMWorld, change is afoot. Beginning with columns submitted in December 2010, Stephen E Arnold’s Google in the Enterprise column moves to Informed Market Intelligence. The monthly analysis of Google’s enterprise products, services, and strategy will appear in ETM, the independent resource for IT executives. You can access the company’s public ETM Web site at www.globaletm.com. Informed Market Intelligence also publishes hard copy as well and, like Mr. Arnold’s discussion of open source search software, some of his Google analyses will appear in other IMI publications.
What’s happened with Mr. Arnold’s KMWorld column? Beginning in December 2010, Mr. Arnold begins a new monthly column that focuses on the use of semantic technology in the enterprise. On tap for KMWorld will be critical looks at some of the surprising applications of semantic technology from some well know enterprise vendors like Autonomy and Exalead as well as explorations of next generation “understanding systems” from companies like Digital Reasoning and Palantir.
Mr. Arnold also contributes for-fee columns on a monthly basis to Information Today, Information World Review, Online Magazine, and Smart Business Network. You are reading a free blog; the good stuff appears in the for-fee columns. Mr. Arnold told me, “No duplication. The blog does one thing, usually broad topics with help from more than seven contributors. The columns do another—incisive discussion of companies, technologies, and business issues. Each column presents my viewpoint about key issues in digital information.”
Will the 66 year old Mr. Arnold be able to sustain this writing schedule? My view is that he won’t have the stamina. Betcha a dollar.
Ken Toth, November 8, 2010
Sponsored by Stephen E Arnold and ArnoldIT.com.
$5 Billion Target for SAP
November 8, 2010
Oracle’s ex-president Charles Phillips testified the company would have sought a staggering five billion dollars from SAP for skirted licensing fees had the deal happened over the table. This is twice the minimum amount sought by Oracle in a lawsuit with SAP dating back to 2007 for copyright infringement.
“Oracle Ex-President Says SAP Ducked $5 Billion in Fees” asserted that Oracle alleges that SAP’s unit TomorrowNow intentionally downloaded the “Safe Passage” software without consent to “avoid paying licensing fees and to steal Oracle customers.” SAP has admitted there were inter-company concerns over TomorrowNow’s actions and that the lawsuit was not entirely a surprise. The top producer of business application software has also conceded the downloads in question were in fact fraudulent.
Having freely admitted fault on this scale will likely make it difficult in the future for SAP to defend any settlement less than the five billion dollar figure thrown out today.
The proceedings will continue with Larry Ellison’s, Oracle CEO, testimony slated for November 8th. Kaching may go the cash register. With an infusion of eurocash will Oracle address its long-standing need for a next-generation search and content processing system? We hope so.
Sarah Rogers, November 8, 2010
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Search Vendors and Mad Men
November 8, 2010
What’s on the horizon for search and content processing companies? When it comes to marketing, there are changes afoot. I want to highlight some marketing methods that don’t work too well and identify three that seem to be working for certain vendors. Azurini, take note. Some of these methods involve your selling contacts in the guise of objective analysis. Believe it or not, you are now more Madison Avenue than most professionals understand.
My hunch is that you, gentle reader, are immersed in the excitement of every day life. You get a paycheck or send an invoice to a sugar daddy client. Life is reasonably good. Just don’t peer too far down the Road to Tomorrow is my advice.
Who can omit the lucky individuals who have to meet payroll, keep vulture capitalists high in the sky, and cope with the Peter Principle experience a different type of thrill. That thrill is the adrenaline rush of avoiding failure, ridicule, and becoming a bit on the Colbert Report.
As the search and content processing sector limps toward 2011, the challenge of generating big revenue looms larger. Maybe the proposed $600 billion in borrowed dollars will turn the trick?
Here’s what I have observed in 2010 about marketing search and content processing systems. These activities seem to be less effective than they were a year or two ago.
- Web site traffic. Vendors get really defensive when one looks at the traffic to search vendors’ Web sites. I know the usage states are wrong, but the data do indicate general trends. The trend I see is that traffic to the top 50 search and content processing vendors I track more closely than the 250 I monitor via Overflight is that Web site traffic is not so hot. Our review showed most Web sites have fewer uniques than this Web log. Run your own tests at www.compete.com. The situation is probably going to get worse in 2011, so that investment may not deliver a pay back beyond brochureware a person may stumble upon despite Google Instant.
- Web logs. These are not working. My Overflight system makes it dead easy to spot vendors with Web logs and the poor track record in updating the content with new posts and corrections. Blogs seem so easy to do, yet are beyond the reach of most search and content processing companies. Consulting firms like 451 and Gartner benefit because their services shift the content burden and the traffic acquisition from the search vendor to the marketing “experts”.
- Big trade show booths. Wow, these are expensive. One vendor told me that qualified sales leads are difficult to find at trade shows. Some types of events do work, but the 1980s style approach is a bit like wearing spurs when I drive a rental car.
- Terminology. I am not sure what some vendors are selling. The buzzwords are an effort to communicate. Most of the explanations from vendors are so similar I could cut and paste paragraphs from different collateral and most people would not notice. How about “information optimization” or “business intelligence”. So easy to say. So fuzzy today.
BBC Journalists Show News Nose
November 7, 2010
Short honk: I am not a real journalist. I don’t have a pension. I don’t strike. “BBC News Staff Strike over Pensions” alerted me that real journalists write large with their actions. I am certain the rationale is solid. Nevertheless, I noted this passage as exemplary:
Members of the National Union of Journalists at the BBC are taking part in a two-day strike in a dispute over proposed changes to the pension plan….When employees draw their pension, payments will increase automatically each year in line with inflation, by up to 4% – again up from a previous offer of 2.5%. Bectu, which represents technical and production staff, said after last month’s ballot that the amended offer was “the best that can be achieved through negotiation”.
The impression this leaves upon me is that what is offered is not enough. The goose gets nothing yet does not complain. Real journalists do that I suppose. I do remember that the BBC search boss told me that the BBC had search nailed. I suppose that type of confidence extends to financial acumen as well. Pension funding and search are obviously no brainers.
Stephen E Arnold, November 7, 2010
Freebie, just like a pension except without the money part.
Brainware jumps to Version 5.2
November 4, 2010
Short honk: My in box overflowed with a news release about Brainware’s Version 5.2 of its enterprise search system. The news release provides some publicity for a trade show at which Brainware has an exhibit. In addition to helping out the trade show outfit, Brainware called my attention to new features in Version 5.2. These include:
- More flexible security for processed documents
- Enhanced indexing of content in relational databases
- More control over what’s displayed in response to a query.
Brainware’s approach to content processing relies on trigrams for which the firm has a patent. For more information about Brainware, navigate to the firm’s Web site at www.brainware.com. No licensing fee details are available to me at this time. I did see a demo of the new system and I think the firm will give you a peek as well. I had been watching to see if Oracle would acquire Brainware. The database giant seems happy with Brainware’s content acquisition components. Oracle, however, moved in a different direction. I will keep my ear to the shoreline here at the goose pond.
Stephen E Arnold, November 4, 2010
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