Quote to Note: Possible Name for Search Vendor?
May 5, 2012
In the Louisville Courier Journal newspaper I saw a memorable phrase. Tucked into an advertisement for a local religious group was a great phrase. I wanted to capture it, and I thought my two or three readers might find it a thought starter.
The ad ran on April 29, 2012, on page B3. The religious group was soliciting members who wanted to join the founder of—get ready:
Team Sweaty Sheep
Only in Kentucky, gentle reader, only in Kentucky.
Stephen E Arnold, May 5, 2012
Sponsored by no one.
Quote to Note: Google Fears for Net Freedom
April 15, 2012
Navigate to “Google’s Sergey Brin: Facebook and Apple a Threat to Internet Freedom.” From the Googler who wanted China to change its internal policies:
Brin said he and co-founder Larry Page would not have been able to create Google if the internet was dominated by Facebook. “You have to play by their rules, which are really restrictive,” he said. “The kind of environment that we developed Google in, the reason that we were able to develop a search engine, is the web was so open. Once you get too many rules, that will stifle innovation.”
There you go. Right from the outfit which has orphaned Web site owners with Panda bites, left users out in the cold with the termination of services like Knol, and the stock play which is designed to leave Messrs. Brin, Page, and Schmidt in control no matter what.
Yowza.
Stephen E Arnold, April 15, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Quote to Note: Google and Its Intent
March 9, 2012
I don’t have much to say about the quite remarkable write up “Why Search Engines Can’t Just ‘Fix’ Search Results The Way The MPAA/RIAA Want.”
Here’s the quote:
Google isn’t designed to prop up the entertainment industry’s old business model. It’s designed to provide people results for what they’re searching for.
Google is like to be quite pleased with this view of its purpose, which, I thought was generating revenue from ads. One learns something new each day.
Yebo, gaga.
Stephen E Arnold, March 9, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
A New Lower Class: Aspiring Majority
February 29, 2012
I remember a high school history teacher explaining the Middle Ages. The idea was that there was a king, some earls and barons, and lots of serfs. The idea was a harbinger of upper, middle, and lower class. The notion of the Great Chain of Being was tossed in to make sure the rats carrying fleas knew where they stood in this “chain.”
When I read “The Future According to Eric Schmidt”, I learned the medieval social order was back. Here’s the passage I noted:
A third group [serfs], though, will have no or only limited access to the Internet. This “aspiring majority,” as Schmidt calls them, will likely have some form of access to technology, but it will look different from what we expect today. Maybe, though, they will use mesh networks to create local networks that isn’t even connected to the wider Internet. For Schmidt, it seems, mesh networks represent the easiest and cheapest way to get these underprivileged users at least partly online.
Serf is updated to be the “aspiring majority.” Okay, I get it. Addled geese are part of the serf world, oops, aspiring majority. I need a T shirt with this catchphrase.
Stephen E Arnold, February 29, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Quote to Note: AOL Top Dog on Flat Revenues
February 26, 2012
This may be online. You can try to access the story “Arianna’s Work Husband” at www.nytimes.com. In this write up from the Times’s magazine for February 26, 2012, ran a story which was “condensed and edited,” the top AOLer, Tim Armstrong allegedly said about AOL’s financial performance:
So flat is up for us.
I find this quote clever (see my essay explaining exogenous complexity and clever output on February 24, 2012). I also find it fascinating because it echoes the belief that the world is flat from the semi-clueless ancient world and the New York Times’s columnist, Thomas L. Friedman.
The only issue for me is that revenues are supposed to go up. Maybe the stakeholders of AOL have a different viewpoint?
Stephen E Arnold, February 26, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Quote Cache
February 25, 2012
We’ve found a useful source of quotations at Dennys Funny Quotes. The site collects quotes on subjects from cats to music videos to politics. Anything, really. The tagline reads:
“Dennys Funny Quotes: Laugh at life, politics, the universe: irreverent, satire, photos, cartoons.”
There really is a lot here, but it is better for browsing than for looking for something specific. It is a real challenge to find anything in particular, as the topic links are scattered around the site rather than presented in a comprehensive list. There is a search field in the upper left, but you’d have to know what is already there to target a search with any accuracy.
Oh, and each click produces a full-page ad you must click past. Annoying. Give it a whirl when you have a few minutes to kill. You might stumble upon the perfect quote to tuck into your pocket for your next social event.
Cynthia Murrell, February 25, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Cracking Technology Start Ups
February 1, 2012
Quote to Note: If you have an MBA and are dreaming about making big money in technology start ups, you will want to read “New Identified Research Reveals Engineers Far More Likely than MBAs to Build and Run Companies.” My interest is search, which is a spectacularly complex technical process. I have watched companies run by MBAs crash and burn. An English major with a knowledge of medieval Latin would probably have done an equally poor job. But MBAs!
Here’s the quote I noted:
We culled through 36 million professional profiles in the Identified database and found 3,337 founder/CEOs have an advanced engineering background compared with 1,016 MBAs. The ratio of undergrad business and engineering founders/ CEOs is about even (9,461 versus 9,334), a significant shift occurs in the number of leaders who have advanced degrees.
Not all will succeed, of course, and you will want to read the entire document which is available at this link. I don’t know for how long, however.
Stephen E Arnold, February 1, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The China Market: Apple and Google
January 30, 2012
Quote to note: I read the Fast Company story “Apple Could Sell 40 Million iPhones In China…” The guts of the story is an estimate—probably crazy—that Apple will sell beaucoup iPhones in China. Here’s the snippet I jotted down in my paper notebook:
Apple will seek out tie-ups with China Telecom and China Mobile to sell up to 40 million iPhones in China alone in 2013.
Underneath this estimate I wrote, “Are these 40 million phone sales which Google has lost?” Interesting question related to the notion of getting a nation state to change how it runs its railroads. I think some of them crash, but 40 million is an interesting number, if accurate. Can Google get back into China? One hopes.
Stephen E Arnold, January 30, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Google Business Model Revealed
January 29, 2012
Quote to Note:
I just read “Will Google Have to Start a Patent War to Get $9bn of Value from Motorola?” I find much of the write up somewhat interesting and silly. The purchase of Motorola has yet to prove it was a wise move. Nevertheless, there was one statement which now finds its way into the Quote to Note folder. Here you go:
Google’s business model – everywhere – is to disrupt by driving the cost of services down to zero, and monetizing them by selling ads against them. Even if it goes after all sorts of companies aggressively with those Motorola patents, I can’t see it charging per-handset for Android.
Sounds good. The problem is that the model does not apply to Google’s enterprise products and services. But why worry about details?
Stephen E Arnold, January 29, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Quote to Note: Google and Its Modest Understatement
December 29, 2011
Short honk: I am tuckered out. Big day in Harrod’s Creek, but I took time to read “Tom Anderson”. Sorry, no title it is a blog post, err, a Google Plus post. Here’s the quote I noted:
It’s not that Google+ has decided to do things differently, it’s just that they’re ahead of the game and doing things better.
Impressively modest. MySpace is a cesspool, and Singapore is a fine place. Oh, yeah. Pharma ad free, no improper pix, and harsh punishment for spitting gum.
Stephen E Arnold, December 30, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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