Gmail Is a YAGG-aholic
September 26, 2009
Short honk: YAGG means “yet another Google glitch.” I have stopped using my Gmail account, so the addled goose is paddling happily. If the news report in Forbes is accurate, some of the lucky Gmail users are in the midst of YAGG-aholic recidivism. In English, Gmail is having problems again. Read “Some Google Gmail Users Losing Contacts”; judge for yourself. I just came from a meeting at the Library of Congress and now regret suggesting that Google was the cloud services outfit to watch. I hate being wrong. I think those who are struggling with Gmail problems feel less enthusiasm than I do at the moment.
Stephen Arnold, September 26, 2009
Goggle Points Out that Canada Is Lost Amidst the Maple Leaves
September 26, 2009
I liked the power play that turned the piggy Internet Explorer into sleek Chrome. Microsoft can deal with marginalization. But I was not too happy to read the story “Google Exec Says Canada Missing Web’s Potential.” Assume the story is accurate. I don’t perceive Canada as missing much in technology. I was on the Board of the Sports Information Research Center, which was Webby and one of the first government supported entities to generate a profit and then sell a chunk of its business to a big American publishing company. Tim Bray figured out how to do a nifty SGML database and find time to help with Web standards. I pay attention to Web developments from PEI to Vancouver. I even did a job for the Canadian government to use the Internet to get Métis children educational materials where distance and weather disrupt routine educational access. What interests me is why Google executives, who are obviously bright, find it necessary to make political statements that are interpreted by me as stupid. I recall the Googler Cyrus from Google’s LA office, who told me a diagram from a Google patent application was photoshopped by me. Stupid, stupid AND uninformed. May I suggest that Google focus its brilliance on issues that add some spice to my technical life like challenging Oracle in the data management sector or keeping mum when lists of Google acquisitions conveniently omit one of Google’s most important acquisitions in its history. I want to wrap up with this statement from the article cited above. The Googler is talking about online advertising, but I won’t cut this gleaming, wizard any slack:
“It’s not as competitive a business market, which basically suggests that there’s not as many businesses online because they’re not competing for more share amongst each other or there are not enough businesses competing in certain areas,” said Nikesh Arora, Google’s president of global sales operations and business development…”
Yikes. I can see Mr. Arora’s Googley grin as he displays data that shows Canadian businesses’ scores that qualify them for the short bus. In my opinion, this type of comment qualifies him to swim with me in the pond filled with mine drainage.
Stephen Arnold, September 26, 2009
More Innovation in Search
September 26, 2009
I read the TechCrunch interview with Steve Ballmer. Useful information. One point was germane to this Web log. TechCrunch reported:
Ballmer says that search innovation, both as a product and a business model, has largely stagnated over the last five years. He also thinks competition will drive more innovation in the future. “I think if you look out the next 10 years we’re going to see more innovation in search,” he said.
Interesting. I wonder what the word “search” means. Is it Web search where Microsoft is innovating by paying for traffic and using jazzy graphics to shift attention from usability. Or, does search mean finding information in an enterprise. Microsoft’s approach has been to buy people and technology. The Fast Search & Transfer acquisition was an intriguing purchase for a technology anchored in Linux and Web indexing. Powerset contributes semantic functions to Bing.com. I assume innovation means more than interface tweaks.
Stephen Arnold, September 26, 2009
Security Poker: Google Calls Microsoft
September 26, 2009
Software and security are like one of the combinations in chemistry lab. Get calcium carbine and hydrochloric acid. Mix. Ignite. Interesting. With Google marginalizing Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded with an assertion about security. Wow. Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, for me at least, has been one of the software applications that gives me headaches. My father gathers malware the way I do news stories in my RSS reader.
Microsoft’s response to Google’s marginalization play is summarized in “Microsoft believes Google Chrome Frame lowers security of IE”. Google’s response is described in “Google Barks Back at Microsoft over Chrome Frame Security.”
I have to tell that I think this is quite exciting. My knowledge about Microsoft’s security in its browsers and related software comes from Steve Gibson’s Security Now podcast. My recollection is that Mr. Gibson is quite conservative when it comes to security. For that reason, I have switched to Firefox. I don’t know if this is the optimal path for me, but I changed my father over to Firefox, and I had fewer nasties to kill when he used Firefox.
My hunch is that the war of words will escalate and quickly. Security is not Microsoft’s strong suit in my opinion. Google may continue to probe this decayed tooth.
Stephen Arnold, September 26, 2009
SAP Surprises Me with a Crackerjack Prize Sales Tactic
September 26, 2009
I read an article with some information that surprised me. The story appeared in The Industry Standard and was titled “SAP Offers Free CRM for ERP Buyers”. The article reported that a mid-sized company could buy SAP’s enterprise resource planning system or its bundle called Business All-in-One Suite and get a bonus. When I was younger, I would try to get my father to buy me a box of Crackerjack. I hated the popcorn coated in caramel but I loved the prize. I would get a plastic elephant or a plastic pig. I loved the “prize”. When a giant company embraces what I call the Crackerjack approach to software, I wonder if the “prize” won’t sell or if the “prize” is really what the buyer wants. In either scenario, what’s I conclude is that the idea of getting a customer to license a product that solves a problem seems to need a Crackerjack solution. I suppose there is an upside to this approach. Customers get something as a bonus. The downside is that those who bought the “prize” may find that their purchase has been devalued. Will this boost SAP’s sales? I see this as one more example of big software vendors trying to find ways to prevent a slow decline in market impact and revenue. I have heard that other vendors are bundling high end software with more desirable products in an attempt to get “shelf space” in an organization. The strategy puts pressure on other vendors and may trigger some unexpected cost spikes. What if the free stuff doesn’t do the job. There’s opportunity cost, indirects, and probably consulting expenses. If these mount up, maybe free is not a bargain. Maybe the prize is a booby trap? I just don’t know.
Stephen Arnold, September 26, 2009
Quality Defined for the Search and Content Processing Industry
September 25, 2009
Short honk: The Web log article “The Experience Is the Product” is important in my opinion. I think that any company developing search, content processing, and finding products may want to print out Cindy Alvarez’s essay and take it to lunch, think about it, and then use it as a yard stick against which to evaluate their products. The killer sentence is one that I will appropriate, use in my talks, and try to pass along, which is what Ms. Alvarez intended in my interpretation of her words:
As for my engagement ring, we finally walked into a store where I explained what I wanted and the jeweler simply said, “OK.” I found a ring that was almost perfect – but the stone wasn’t quite right. “You know what you want,” he said, “here’s what you do, you order the diamond online. Pick exactly what you want for the stone, size, color, etc., bring it here, and we’ll build you this setting to go around it.” All the other jewelers had taken the sentence “Since I’m going to wear this for the rest of my life,” and finished it for me, “you want the biggest, most expensive stone possible.” We’re the experts, this is what you want. How insulting! But finally this last guy “got it”; he listened and heard “Since I’m going to wear this for the rest of my life” and then he let me finish, “I want it to be exactly what I want.” My definition of quality. [emphasis added]
Well said, Ms. Alvarez.
Stephen Arnold, September 25, 2009
Like Law? Revel in Hearings Online
September 25, 2009
I am delighted that I don’t have to wrestle with the bottom-line at Westlaw or LexisNexis. In the gold old days, these companies had few competitors. Now the world is awash with legal information and the river of data surged recently if the report in Ars Technica is accurate. The article “Federal Courts Now Offer Hearings Online as MP3 Files” makes clear that this potentially useful stream of information is now making recordings of hearings available for $0.16. I am pretty sure that the cost will fluctuate over time, but the info is available. Suppose your download some of these audio files. Then what? Are you going to listen to hours of lousy audio? No me, grasshopper. I would turn to one of the tools that convert audio into searchable text. My weapon of choice comes from Exalead in Paris. If you are not familiar with this system, take a look at Voxalead. Audio and video data are searchable. When a hit comes up, a click plays the segment in which the term is recognized. BBN had a system, but with names changes and acquisitions, I have lost track of that technology. I suppose the for fee services will offer a searchable service, but for me the surcharge of these giant outfits is not for me.
Stephen Arnold, September 25, 2009
SharePoint: One Day You Are In, One Day Out
September 25, 2009
The Google is flexing its muscles. Microsoft is reveling in a 10 share of the Web search market and trying to deal with Zune shortages. Windows 7 is approaching like a runaway freight train. SharePoint 10 is locked and loaded. So what does the Google Labs team do to add to Microsoft’s task list? Google releases a dead easy way to move info from SharePoint to the Google platform. To make life interesting for Redmond, Google shakes the open source sauce bottle. You can read a useful description the API in “Google Sites API Opens SharePoint Escape Route”. Important move which complements the WAC attack I wrote about in KMWorld. WAC means Wave, Android, and Chrome. The acronym is now WACS. Ouch.
Stephen Arnold, September 25, 2009
Why SEO Experts Ruffle Goose Feathers
September 25, 2009
I am not an SEO enthusiast. In fact, I am worse than old fashioned. I am absolutely ossified. I believe that Web sites should be focused on solving a user’s problem. That means clear information, useful functions, and no “aren’t we smart” tricks to spoof my 88 year old father. When I read “Experts Offer Search Marketing Tips to Quickly Boost Sales”, I knew that most of the observations were made in a sincere attempt to help people with Web sites that don’t pay the bills. I even agreed with some of the observations. A case in point was the suggestion to include user generated content on sites. But some of the recommendations and the approach taken in the article troubled me. I did not like the phrase “quickly boost sales.” Web site changes may produce some immediate pay off, but the notion that taking Action A will lead to instant cash (Outcome B) is misleading. For some sites, Action A may produce an unexpected event such as dropping in a Google results list. There are a couple of hundred factors in the Google PageRank algorithm and with smart software doing the heavy lifting, not even Google’s wizards can figure out what may have caused an unexpected event. Even more annoying was the lack of qualification in the experts’ statements. If these folks knew exactly what to do to hit the Google home run, would these folks be giving lectures at SEO conferences or would they be sitting home watching the AdSense money roll in?
Stephen Arnold, September 25, 2009
Wave Drowns Internet Explorer
September 25, 2009
In my lingo, Google has marginalized Internet Explorer. One take on this dismissal of Microsoft’s technology appears in “Google Plug-In Makes IE8 10x Faster. Chrome Frame Instantly Boosts Microsoft Browser’s JavaScript Performance.”
I don’t want to walk do the worn path in the grove of grief that is Internet Explorer 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. I cannot comment about IE 8 because I used it once on new machines only to download Chrome and Opera. Firefox has some weird memory and thrashing behavior that forced me to dump Firefox. You can read about Chrome finding IE6 and resolving its issues by making IE6 into Chrome. But the big news for me was in the article “We Give Up on Internet Explorer say Google Wave Team” which appeared on IT Wire. The article stated:
Google assert, Internet Explorer has not kept up with recent developments in Web technology. The Google team claim Internet Explorer’s JavaScript performance is many times slower than that of Firefox 3.5, Google’s own Chrome browser and Apple’s Safari 4. Additionally, Google state Internet Explorer’s support for the HTML 5 standard is also far behind these browsers. The Google Wave team explain they have spent countless hours solely on improving the Google Wave experience within Internet Explorer but have decided to just cut their losses. By producing Chrome Frame future development effort can be expended solely in core development for all users, but without leaving Internet Explorer users behind.
In my opinion, Google’s action makes clear how Google’s engineers will deal with Microsoft’s technical inadequacies. Google, as I see it, will identify a Microsoft stumble and then write code that handles the problem the way medical workers deal with an Ebola patient. Exercise appropriate caution and use isolation to minimize risk to patient, other patients, medical staff, and family members.
This approach signals a change in the way in which Google will deal not just with Microsoft, but it tells me that Web page designers who work to spoof Google will face similar treatment. Companies that develop software to fiddle in unacceptable ways with functions Google has crafted will find themselves sitting in an isolation chamber with no electrical power.
How can Google take this type of action?
Easy. Its engineers perceive Google as the winner in online, search, and the platform services the company is dribbling out bit by bit. Few know that Google has thousands of these “grains of sand” and even fewer know that with a little lime and ash can build some impressive computational structures.
The isolation ward tactic or IWT makes clear that Google’s management understands that the Rubicon has been crossed and the digital Caesar is marching to Rome. The folks in Rome were nervous 2000 years ago and the folks in the traditional computing world are nervous today. Caesar slaughtered a city as a good bye message, and he ignored the “tradition” which kept generals and their armies well away from the seat of power. Gloogle looks a lot like a digital Caesar to me.
I made this point in late 2008 at the poorly attended Enterprise Search Summit and got a truck load of crap from people who did not agree with my statement: “Google has won in search and the enterprise.” I stand by that statement one year later. Marginalization is proof of the soundness of my observation about Google’s strength.
At this time, Google is growing via capillary action. Each service diffuses into space, pulled by molecular forces that most choose not to measure or quantify. Yesterday at the briefing in which I participated at the National Press Club, I heard Somat Engineering’s president state that government agencies must develop methods that bridge the gap between their existing systems and Google’s services. That was echoed by a former CIA intelligence officer who is no friend of any major vendor. His view was practical and pragmatic. Google’s premier government partner—Adhere Solutions—listed a number of features and functions that can reduce costs and improve delivery of citizen services. The audience, which consisted of high ranking government officials, made clear in the Q&A session that Google’s presence was indeed a significant one.
Now Microsoft is finding itself pushed from the center of the stage. If Google can dodge potentially lethal legal and management bullets fired at the company, Microsoft may find itself watching the Google show from the balcony or on Turner Classic Movies from a trailer park in Hardin County, Kentucky.
Gentle reader, feel free to disagree. Just bring facts, not uninformed views and recycled punditry.
Stephen Arnold, September 24, 2009
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