Bezos Math, Google Numbers, and Symbian Statistics
August 8, 2010
I have noticed some puffery in the normally conservative world of marketing wackies. First, there was the announcement that Google is outgunning Apple in the mobile phone business. Okay, but I do see lots of bodies in the local Apple store. Then Symbian reported that it was installing 300,000 somethings every day, week, or month. I am not sure what difference that makes because there are lots of people in the Apple store.
Finally, I noted Amazon’s bold assertion. It’s the king of eBooks.
It’s safe to say everyone from John D. Rockefeller to Rich Uncle Pennybags have denied being involved in a monopoly. So it’s no shock that Amazon, with its assertion that it is devouring of the e-book market, is doing business behind a curtain of fog and smoke.
This was illustrated well in a recent Cnet interview: “Amazon: We Have 70 to 80 Percent of the E-book Market”. In an interview with the Kindle’s vice president, the Baby Bezos referred to competition like the iPad as a “gadget”. True to Bezos math, the Kindler failed to present hard market numbers. Claiming instead, “we’re pretty sure we’re 70 to 80 percent of the market. So, something, somewhere isn’t quite working right. I encourage you to do some more research,” when asked about hazy market share figures between Kindle, iPad and Nook. This type of secrecy reeks of monopolistic deeds and until we see hard numbers, we’ll continue to think so. I wonder what the search share of A-9 on Amazon is? Wait, I know. Five million objects.
Amazon math, Google numbers, and Symbian statistics. What happened to objective search?
Stephen E Arnold, August 8, 2010
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BSB Gets Brainy with Brainware
August 8, 2010
My newsreader delivered to me this Red Orbit news release: “British Sky Broadcasting Group Adopts Brainware Distiller to A/P Automation.” [Link may go dead at any time.] “A/P” is shorthand for accounts payable. The “automation” refers to using Brainware’s content acquisition methods for manipulating accounts payable information. According to the news release:
BSkyB) has selected the company’s Brainware Distiller(TM) solution for the processing of invoices in the United Kingdom and Ireland. BSkyB will also implement the Brainware Distiller Visibility(TM) module for real-time metrics and reporting on the invoice processing cycle, as well as Brainware’s own workflow and exception handling module.
What strikes the addled goose as interesting is that the Brainware trigram method and more traditional content processing have been blended for this niche solution. Brainware, like other search and content processing companies, are working to find market solutions that need a problem solved, not a basic search solution. Does this mean search is dead? If revenues flow, nope. Brainware’s angle seems more creative than search vendors who content themselves with providing a snap in solution to SharePoint in my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, August 8, 2010
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Lucene/Solr Information
August 7, 2010
If you couldn’t find the time to jet over to Prague for the Lucene EuroCon Conference in May, you are not alone. Fortunately, in the spirit of open source availability, over 30 presentations from presenters like IBM, Nokia and the Swedish Armed Forces are available to the public. Marketwire showcased this opportunity in, “Presentations Now Available from Apache Lucene EuroCon Conference,” (). Conference presentations, available here, include “From Publisher to Platform: How The Guardian Used Content, Search, and Open Source To Build a Powerful New Business Model,” “Solr in the Cloud” and many others. So even if you couldn’t jet off to Europe, you can still benefit from this deep well of learning with Lucene technologies.
Pat Roland, August 7, 2010
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Online Advertising Wheezes
August 7, 2010
If you don’t realize advertisers are watching, you really should wake up. At least that’s the message a recent WordYard article, “You Are Not an Eyeball: Why Tracking Is the Ad Biz’s Last Gasp”.
Basing this stance on an overblown Wall Street Journal article [link may be dead when you click. Complain to Rupert Murdoch, not me, please] about online tracking, WordYard’s most interesting point was almost as an afterthought: “the Web is all about making inefficient advertising more efficient, when it’s really about eliminating advertising.” Claiming, “we know ourselves and our needs better than any third party’s guesswork,” the article pointed out that in the near future, “we can have a direct conversation with vendors of the things we are thinking about purchasing.”
That’s a scary perspective for advertisers and businesses that depend on advertisers, like newspapers. But with the increased sophistication of social media and search, it’s a great opportunity for someone to create an advertising alternative.
Pat Roland, August 7, 2010
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Tuenti: Survivor or Sushi?
August 7, 2010
In the fluid social media world the competition is get fierce. As some companies continue to grow and gain more members others fall behind and unable to catch up are forced to undergo major changes.
Tuenti, which is also known as the Spanish Facebook has enjoyed a successful rise. It is an invitation only based social network that provides consumers with many different options. The telecommunications group Telefonica had attempted to get its social media network off the ground has brokered a deal to buy Tuenti. Telefonica wants to become a household name in the social world so with the help of Tuenti hopes to become a household name.
The UK’s social giant, Bebo, was supposed to be a premier social networking. Bebo started out at the top and gained a loyal group of followers. However after losing many of its members to more popular social sites, and with new ownership, it now faces a long road back to the top.
Social networks are now becoming search and content publishing ecosystems. Can Tuenti bring luster to European social networking? Will Tuenti be a survivor or sushi? Pass the wasabi, please.
Stephen E Arnold, August 7, 2010
Leak or Plant: The New Ecology of Information
August 6, 2010
Where is the line between freedom of online speech and national security? One Web site is testing this border and creating quite a storm. The Washington Post recently ran a scathing editorial, “WikiLeaks Must be Stopped,” discussing the legality of the aforementioned WikiLeaks (www.wikileaks.org), which claims to have leaked over 70,000 classified documents. The article pulls no punches, beginning with: “Let’s be clear: WikiLeaks is not a news organization; it is a criminal enterprise.” The article basically calls the site terroristic, though it is not affiliated with terror organizations. The Post actually encourages the United States to use military force, if necessary, to close down the site. Now, there’s no question this is a concerning site, but the internet is a place where voices can be heard, maybe the government should work harder on preventing leaks instead of crushing Web sites.
Beyond Search has some different thoughts. First, much of the information is recycled from open sources. Convenient. Second, is the information disinformation? The “value” of the content may not be the information itself but the notional impact of having these data floating around. Who loses? Who wins? Is this a new form of publishing?
Pat Roland, August 6, 2010
IBM and System Quality
August 6, 2010
I just read “Global CIO: IBM’s Bank Outage: Anatomy Of A Disaster“. Assume the inforamtion is spot on. The magnitude of the failure for IBM and its financial services customer underscores the complexity of large-scale systems. Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
According to ChannelNewsAsia.com’s coverage of the press conference, IBM regional general manager Cordelia Chung said that “the personnel directly involved with this incident have been removed from direct customer support activity and disciplined” and that “IBM has taken steps to enhance the training of all related personnel on the most current procedures.” And the BusinessTimes.com.sg article quoted Chung as saying, “We have also taken steps to review installations of the same storage system at other financial institutions in Singapore for whom we provide maintenance services.”
The problem, therefore, is one of those pesky humans. In the rush to replace people, organizations may lack the expertise to make software and deliver on the promises the azurini (that is, self appointed experts) and marketing mavens flippantly assert are “no problem.”
Well, problem. The notion that giant systems will work as advertised is one that needs scrutiny. In monoculture-centric methods, a single point of failure can have significant consequences.
The azurini and the mavens will write a nice case study but it seems to me more is needed. Talking about a problem is not the same as preventing a problem. So many experts are in a hurry today. Golf and fiddling with an iPad must be more important.
Little wonder that many search and content processing systems disappoint their users.
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2010
Lucid Imagination Officially Cool
August 6, 2010
The goose was fascinated to learn that in a very hot Harrod’s Creek summer, Lucid Imagination – the open source search giant – is not perspiring. Lucid is cool.
Online tech site CRN recently announced the coolest emerging vendors and Lucid Imagination’s appearance comes as no surprise. MarketWire reported these findings in its recent article, “Lucid Imagination Selected by CRN as one of the 25 Coolest Emerging Vendors.” Lucid, the commercial company for Lucene and Solr, was chosen from nearly 200 other vendors for this honor. “I see this as an indication that companies are clamoring for better options in search technology,” said Eric Gries, CEO of Lucid Imagination.
The article reported that “the frictionless access to open source Lucene/Solr search technology creates a fertile ecosystem for integrators, resellers and channel partners to connect with customers and innovate,” as a reason for CRN’s honor. Hopefully this award will clue others into something we’ve known for a long time: Lucid is not only fast, easy and effective, but also cool.
Pat Roland, August 6, 2010
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How Googley Is AOL?
August 6, 2010
One aspect of the question, “How Googley is AOL?” boils down to money. AOL loses it. Google makes it. Now a Xoogler runs Google and the financial performance of AOL makes clear that whatever it takes to get a job at Google does not instantly translate into a King Midas touch at AOL.
Furthermore, it’s nothing new to see struggling companies emulate Google online. Tech Crunch reports in, “AOL Sublets Huge Building from Google, Wants Startups to Move In” that AOL, is infusing its geriatric body with Google-esque youth. Besides bringing on Googlers to the AOL staff, renting out some of the search giant’s unused offices seems like an makeover. The move puts Stanford University and its collection of hotshot computer geeks a short walk away, while offering cheap rent to other businesses. “We’re all about fostering a culture around creativity and new ideas,” an AOL exec said, “which is why we plan to sublease our space to entrepreneurs and start-ups in the valley.” Desperate times, perhaps, but AOL should be applauded for trying everything possible to regain its crown.
There is, however, that pesky fact that a Googler cannot transmute lead into gold. Googlers seem to give alchemy the old college try.
Pat Roland, August 6, 2010
Google Verizon Thrashing
August 6, 2010
I was surprised that my method of creating content is triggering some interest. I have described the approach as “weaponized information” in some of my briefings. I Madrid I described the method to some interested listeners from a government agency. The idea is simple. Certain open source documents contain information that is the digital equivalent of depleted uranium projectiles. The specifics are boring, but the phrase surfaced in a call from a reporter who wanted the addled goose to comment about the alleged “discussions” between the Google and the Baby Bell without the iPhone. I was asked, “What’s the significance of these alleged discussions?”
My answer, “Apple.” The reporter wanted some color. I said, “Verizon doesn’t have an iPhone. Google doesn’t have an iTunes. Team up. Who else is available for these two commercial enterprises to marry?”
The reporter was not thrilled with my response. Too bad.
I have read a number of the analyses of these alleged discussions. I enjoyed the Twitter comment allegedly from Google’s Public Policy Blog.
@NYTimes is wrong. We’ve not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open internet.
I liked even more the write up “Verizon, Google to Propose Net Neutrality Rules.”
What’s going on is one of those depleted uranium plays. Heavy payload projectiles are being fired. The target is money. Who is punching the fire button? There has been quite a bit of information about learning from failures, the Android’s blasting past the Apple turtle, and now this Google Verizon thing. My hunch is that the big boys got caught and are now blasting away. Maybe these folks will hit something? William Tell nailed an apple. Can Google and Verizon?
Weaponized information? I think disinformation is more likely.
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2010
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