iPad: Wall Street Journal Looks for Silver Lining
April 8, 2010
I don’t want to make big deal of the news story “Ipad Sales Fall Short of Estimates.” For me, the key point is captured is this statement:
…today [April 6, 2010[ the Wall Street Journal published a statement from Apple which said that more than 300,000 Ipads were sold on day one. This would be considered great, but if you take into account the fact the figure included all the pre-sales and the hype that said a million would be flogged on Day One that number is dismal. According to the WSJ, Wall Street took a deep breath when analysts heard the figures.
Those iPads have to sell to generate the money from the publishers’ for fee content. Without lots of iPads, we won’t know if iPad users become big buyers of for fee content. The Wall Street Journal and some other “real” journalistic operations have great expectations for the iPad and its hoped for ability to convert rich media consuming folks into magazine, book, and newspaper readers.
Stephen E Arnold, April 7, 2010
A freebie.
A Googler Comments on the Apple iPad
April 6, 2010
I know one Googler does not represent the whole of Google. I did find the observation by Matt Cutts in his article “Mini-Review of the iPad” quite interesting, particularly in view of the comment about the Android online store as a “flea market.” Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
But the iPad isn’t for me. I want the ability to run arbitrary programs without paying extra money or getting permission from the computer manufacturer. Almost the only thing you give up when buying an iPad is a degree of openness, and tons of people could care less about that if they get a better user experience in return. I think that the iPad is a magical device built for consumers, but less for makers or tinkerers. I think the world needs more makers, which is why I don’t intend to buy an iPad. That said, I think the typical consumer will love the iPad.
This distinctions between open – closed, consumer – computer whiz may be the knife edge in which the battle for online revenues will be fought. If online advertising softens, the importance of these distinctions may increase. Google is drawing lines in the digital sand it seems. On one side is Google and the other China and Australia. Now there is a line between Google and Apple. Fascinating strategy. Apple, via its closed platform, has become the inclusionary glue for certain content. Microsoft, via its willingness to find a way to work in other countries and their laws, is emerging as less dogmatic.
Stephen E Arnold, April 6, 2010
No one paid me to write this.
Harsh Words for Android Online Store
April 6, 2010
I don’t cover eCommerce unless I have a news item about one of the vendors providing structured search systems to online retailers. I want to make an exception for Barry O’Neill’s Recombu article. In “App Friday: Android’s ‘Flea Market’ Needs Urgent Attention,” I learned that
Apple‘s iPhone and iTunes combination represents a near-perfect convergence of concept, design, usability, technology and commerce in a highly polished, well executed package.
I found out:
Android has the potential to dominate if executed properly. Google’s launch has been heavily flawed and in my view Android is still in “public beta.” Android has had explosive growth, but alarm bells ring when you look at the inclination of users to purchase apps. Just 21% of Android users purchase one or more paid apps per month, compared with 50% of iPhone users. Where this gets unusual is that of the 21% of Android users purchasing one or more apps, the average number of apps purchased is 5[1]. That is 1.4 more apps per month than the equivalent iPhone user!
The catch is:
I conclude therefore that a large proportion of Android users simply cannot purchase and download paid for apps to their phone. I blame Google and its appallingly poor management of the Android market. Despite having a Google Checkout account I still cannot see, never mind purchase paid apps. Of the free apps I see, many infringe the IP of others and many more simply fail to download or don’t work on my specific device. Internet forums are flooded with similar stories. Fragmentation and technical issues abound, content discovery is difficult, and billing doesn’t work properly. It’s 2006 all over again. I’m all for an “open” market, but Google’s “completely open” policy has resulted in the Android market being a flea market, when compared to Apple’s upmarket mall.
My take away from this write up is that Google’s push into the consumer sector has invited some interesting adjectives. I had never thought of Google as a company running a “flea market”. If the iPhone continues to hold its own in the mobile phone market and the iPad contributes some new consumers, the label “flea market” may have a significant impact on Google’s image if the label sticks and goes viral.
Stephen E Arnold, April 6, 2010
No one sponsored this article.
FBI and Microsoft Fast Question
April 5, 2010
I read “FBI System Modernization Faulted” and realized that the Information Week write up might be touching upon a portion of the elephant. From my polluted pond in Kentucky, I have no access to juicy details that may be floating around watering holes in downtown DC, but maybe additional information will surface. What I noted in the write up was this interesting passage:
he Department of Justice’s inspector general has expressed new concerns about the progress of the agency’s $451 million-plus case management system, less than two weeks after FBI director Robert Mueller told Congress that the bureau had again suspended work on certain parts of the system’s deployment. “After more than 3 years and $334 million expended on the development and maintenance of Sentinel, the cost to Sentinel is rising, the completion of Sentinel has been delayed, and the FBI does not have a current schedule or cost estimate for completing the project,” the report says.
The search component seems to be chugging along:
Lockheed has begun to move administrative case data from the mainframe to the core Sentinel system itself. This will enable the FBI and Lockheed to deploy enhanced search capabilities based on Microsoft’s FAST enterprise search products. With this — and the migration of further data from ACS to Sentinel over the next phase of the project — will come the ability for users to customize their profiles, enabling them to receive automatic alerts whenever information about certain individuals, topics, and locations gets posted or uploaded to Sentinel.
Now the elected officials are monitoring the information system:
“It’s terribly frustrating that we’re in this position again,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement last week after learning of the most recent delays. “This is the third go at modernizing the FBI’s computer system and hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted. I plan to hold the FBI’s feet to the fire until this project is back on track and completed.”
One question, “What happens when the system does not work?” I think this is an unlikely situation but something is causing ace integrator Lockheed and software giant Microsoft to look a bit off center. History has a habit of repeating itself. Describing software is so much easier than getting software to deliver on certain marketing assertions in my experience.
Stephen E Arnold, April 5, 2010
No one paid me to capture these thoughts.
iPad, the Contrarian View
April 4, 2010
Short honk: This is a quote to note and a recommendation to read the full write up from the tech industry’s premier contrarian. The article, “Publishing’s Last Hope”, points out that some “real” journalists may not be presenting balanced reviews of the Apple iPad. I agree. Since Apple has a lousy search system for iTunes, I don’t have much to say about a device I don’t have in my possession from a company with a search system that gives me nosebleeds. Read the full write up.
For me, the article has a quote to note.
So if you drink the Kool-Aid, you’ll be reading Newsweek and Time and all the dying print magazines and newspapers on the iPad. No matter that you are not reading these journals now.
This is an important point. Information acquisition and consumption for certain segments of the population are very different from those my cohort uses. An expensive magazine, whether digital or in print, is not the ringing the chimes of some of the younger readers whom I know. We will know if the contrarian is right or if the companies with expensive content is right in a few months. Exciting stuff.
Stephen E Arnold, April 4, 2010
Nah, unpaid post.
AIIM Report on Content Analytics
March 30, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who sent me a link available from the Allyis Web site for the report “Content Analytics – Research Tools for Unstructured Content and Rich Media”. If you are trying to figure out what about 600 AIIM members think about the changing nature of information analysis, you will find this report useful. I flipped through the 20 pages of data from what strikes me as a somewhat biased sample of enterprise professionals. Your mileage may vary, of course. One quick example. In Figure 4: How would you rate your ability to research across the following content types on page 7, the respondants’ data are pretty good at search customer support logs. The respondents are also confident of their ability to search “case files” and “litigation and legal reports.” My research suggests that these three areas are real problems in most organizations. I am not sure how this sample interprets their organizations’ capabilities, but I think something is wacky. How can, for example, a general business employee assess the ease with which litigation content can be researched. Lawyers are the folks who have the expertise. At any rate, another flashing yellow light is the indication that the respondents have a tough time searching for press articles and news along with collateral, brochures, and publications. This is pretty common content, and an outfit that can search “case files” should be able to locate a brochure. Well, maybe not?
There were three findings that I found interesting, but I am not ready to bet my bread crust on the solidity of the data.
First, Figure 14: What are your spending plans for the following areas in the next 12 months?. The top dog is enterprise search – application. This should give some search vendors the idea to market to the AIIM membership.
Second, respondents, according to the Key Findings, can find information on the Web more easily than they can find information within their organization. This matches what Martin White and I reported in our 2009 study Successful Enterprise Search Management. It is clear that this finding underscores the wackiness in Figure 4, page 7.
Finally, the Conclusion, page 15 states:
The benefits of investment in Finance and ERP systems have only come to the fore with the increasing power of Business Intelligence (BI) reporting tools and the insight they provide for business managers. In the same way, the benefits of Content Management systems can be much more heavily leveraged by the use of Content Analytics tools.
I don’t really understand this paragraph. Finance has been stretched with the present economic climate. ERP is a clunker. Content management systems are often quite problematic. So what’s the analysis? How about cost overruns?
I tucked the study into my reference file. You may want to do the same. If the Allyis link goes dead, you can get the report directly from AIIM but you may have to join the association.
Stephen E Arnold, March 31, 2010
Like the report, a freebie.
Exalead Powers PagesJaunes.fr and More
March 29, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who alerted me to the new Exalead-powered PagesJaunes service.
The system allows a user to enter a name of a company or a needed service and get a listing, a map, and other information. The Exalead system displays the traditional address and phone number, but the system taps into information on social network on which the person has a public profile.
PageJaunes.fr is high-revenue, high-use service. The Exalead system adds functionality and speed to the PageJaunes service.
The blog post PagesJaunes Integrates Social Networks with Exalead PagesBlanches.fr explains how the social networking content amplifies the listings.
I try to keep pace with innovations in directory systems. Exalead’s push into this market is welcome news. Most of the directory-centric systems I examine struggle when acquiring, indexing, and mashing up content from structured and unstructured sources. Exalead’s system makes this type of next-generation information display part of the firm’s core system.
For more information about Exalead, navigate to www.exalead.com. If you want to read an interview with the technical wizard behind the Exalead system, navigate to the ArnoldIT.com Search Wizards Speak series.
AT&T, check out PagesJaunes.com. Put your existing system out to pasture and let me use an Exalead-powered system from my goose pond in Kentucky. Yo, AT&T, are you listening?
Stephen E Arnold, March 29, 2010
No one paid me to point out that the Exalead directory system is a heck of a lot better than what I have to use from Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky. I suppose I can report this to the ever vigilant FCC. But Exalead is a French company, so maybe I have to report to the State Department. Goodness, compliance is often confusing.
Exalead Tightens NewspaperArchive Tie Up
March 26, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who alerted me to a Marketwire story about Exalead’s deal with NewspaperArchive.com. Exalead is one of the most interesting search applications and content processing companies we monitor. The story I read was “NewspaperArchive.com Scales With Exalead”.
The story reported:
NewspaperArchive.com is the largest historical newspaper database online. It contains tens of millions of newspaper pages from 1753 to present. Every newspaper in the archive is fully searchable by keyword and date, making it easy for people to quickly explore historical content. NewspaperArchive.com had bumped up against limitations of having nearly 100 million records. After the switch to Exalead in December 2009, NewspaperArchive.com has been able to scale again, increasing the number of records by 20%; while at same time reducing the amount of hardware by 75%.
The performance angle is important based on our research. There are very few companies with the engineering and architecture to deal with the types of data flows found in many organizations today. One of the founders of Exalead worked on the AltaVista.com search system. I have identified a number of Exalead innovations that moved beyond the Digital Equipment approach to search. One of the most important is scaling and a design that permits enterprise applications to break free of their lock step methods of making data available to users. Exalead can give today’s iPod savvy user a way to access business information with the fluidity of downloading a tune from Apple’s system. In the enterprise, this type of functionality is a rare animal in my experience.
Exalead, founded in 2000,
…is the leading search-based application platform provider to business and government. Exalead’s worldwide client base includes leading companies such as PricewaterhouseCooper, ViaMichelin, GEFCO, American Greetings and Sanofi Pasteur, and more than 100 million unique users a month use Exalead’s technology for search. Today, Exalead is reshaping the digital content landscape with its platform, Exalead CloudView™, which uses advanced semantic technologies to bring structure, meaning and accessibility to previously unused or under-used data in the new hybrid enterprise and Web information cloud. Cloudview collects data from virtually any source, in any format, and transforms it into structured, pervasive, contextualized building blocks of business information that can be directly searched and queried, or used as the foundation for a new breed of lean, innovative information access applications. Exalead is an operating unit of Qualis, an international holding company, with offices in Paris, San Francisco, Glasgow, Milan and Darmstadt.
I want to let you know that the last time I was in Paris I got a preview of Exalead’s forthcoming search application technology. I am not at liberty to let le chat out of the bag, but I will be describing the system when Exalead makes a formal announcement.
You can get more information about Exalead at www.exalead.com. Additional information about NewspaperArchive is available at
Nginer, Timesaving Metasearch
March 23, 2010
I find that for certain types of queries, I need a metasearch system. I have mentioned Devilfinder before, and I like that service because it generates the top 100 hits for queries. I can scan the list and get a good sense of what’s available. That type of overview is useful because I prefer to hit the Web before using the for fee services.
A reader sent me a link to Nginer.com, a system that displays results from Google, Bing, Yahoo, Clusty and several others in one window. I ran several queries and found the service quite useful. Here are the points I noted:
- A drop down list lets me confine the query to a collection; for example, blogs, books, and social bookmarks, among other subsets.
- A tabbed display which lets me look at the top hits across a number of search and metasearch systems. I like this approach because I can tell at a glance which system is indexing certain content quickly.
- A tag cloud that shows me what is getting traffic at the time I ran the query.
I did not like two things. First, there was no button to let me clear the results and run another query. No big deal, just annoying. Second, I want way to eliminate systems that in my experience rarely yield any useful results for my types of queries. Otherwise, I was a happy camper.
My recommendation is for you take a test drive.
Google Beyond Text Sample Chapter
March 23, 2010
Stephen E Arnold’s new monograph about Google technology is just about complete. The study will be available in May 2010 from Intellas Press. The monograph focuses on Google non-text technical disclosures. Like Mr. Arnold’s previous three Google studies, the focus is on Google’s technical capabilities. Mr. Arnold’s 2009 study, Google: The Digital Gutenberg examined the company’s infrastructure as a digital River Rouge; that is, information goes in one end and complete content objects come out the other. Google Beyond Text tackles rich media, including images, audio, and video. The research has consumed more than one year and relies upon Google’s open source disclosures in technical papers, financial filings, and patent documents. You can get a sense of the type of information in this important new study by requesting a sample chapter from the monograph. The chapter that is available in draft form and without charge discusses the gap in Google’s non-text capabilities. Among the companies discussed are Catch Media, La La Media, and DoubleTwist. The book is intended from technically inclined individuals, investors, Google competitors, and those interested in a book that skips the “Sergey and Larry eat pizza” approach to Google’s technical systems and methods. You can request the sample chapter by navigating to http://www.theseed2020.com/gbt/. A PDF will be sent to you without charge. The hope is that you will either provide some constructive criticism and maybe order a copy of the monograph when it becomes available.
Ken Toth, March 23, 2010
This was a sponsored post supported by ArnoldIT.com. This is a marketing article.
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