Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

There are a few non-academic books that have helped to bring context to the technology led changes that are taking place in Business - in Economics, Marketing, Finance, Innovation, Social Networking and BIS. 

Three must reads, then a few extra.

Google Wave RIP

Wave embodied the inherent value of cloud computing.
It was a tool developed with the ambitious aim of catalysing a shift from channels to platforms.
Channels such as email are inefficient, slow and reward scarcity.
Platforms prosper in abundance and provide an environment of collaboration and productivity.

Android takes over Blackberry and Iphone

No one is arguing the success and profitability of Apple and RIM, but I can't help but feel like the android tidal-wave is starting to roll in.

Phone makers (except Apple & RIM) are investing heavily in Android as they scrabble to keep up.

Phone carriers are fed up with the their profit margins being trimmed, and are keen to see open source succeed.

Customers will see the cost of impressive smartphone functionality dropping rapidly.

With android...everybody will be a winner. This will guarantee it momentum doesn't slow.

The meaning of OPEN according to Google.

I've taken a snippet out of an official Google Blog.

Apart from providing a little insight into Google strategy, it provides perspective to long-tail economics.

"Closed systems are well-defined and profitable, but only for those who control them. Open systems are chaotic and profitable, but only for those who understand them well and move faster than everyone else.

Closed systems grow quickly while open systems evolve more slowly, so placing your bets on open requires the optimism, will, and means to think long term.

Fortunately, at Google we have all three of these."

Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Product Management

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/meaning-of-open.html

Personalised Advertising...Do we want it?

The recent backlash against Facebook and the controversy around the Google trucks tapping into public wi-fi highlight the extremes corporations are going to to track our behaviour.

Why? …Personalised Advertising …But does it work? and is the gain worth the ethical soul searching that is going on at these internet giants.

I for one really don’t care for personalised advertising. I can honestly say I have never engaged in any sort of transaction from a web-side advertisement. Sure when I’m on Google search I will go onto paid advertising, but I see a difference.

When I buy something it will fall into one of the following four markets:

1. What you need and you know you need – Google search
2. What you don't need, but you think you do – still Google search, probably a bit of Ebay
3. What you need, but you don't know you do – Where Facebook wants to be
4. What you don't need, and you don't want it – Where Facebook is

Google Apps vs Microsoft Office...no comparison!

I regularly see commentary on the comparison of Microsoft Office to Google Apps.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/cloudservicesexperts/
http://googlewatch.eweek.com/content/google_vs_microsoft/microsofts_poaching_of_serena_from_google_apps_is_a_big_deal.html
If we cut through the rhetoric, the Microsoft cloud offerings are traditional offerings in the cloud. More importantly, they are products that are designed to integrate traditional and cloud.

Yeh, so what?
It is a product for customers who think they want cloud, but don't really know what they want. 

Really what cloud computing offers is something different...with one catch, it requires a commitment or desire to change. It is an unfamiliar environment, hosting multiple vendors and necessitating unique business processes.The upside of this shift is the promise of flexibility, scalability and most importantly innovation.

I think this is where Google Apps sits.
A half baked product, hard to control, with a vague risk profile. But for those that understand this chaos, there is a world of opportunity.

Mature Google Apps users, are running Cordys to develop workflow, Salesforce to facilitate CRM and finances, Zoho to drive database functionality, Avairy for graphic design, Youtube for employee training, Wave for BP collaboration & design...and so on.

Google Apps is a platform, no an application.

Microsoft Online is not competing in this space.
They have a controlled environment, single vendor, common recognisable process, and freature products for rich content creation (Office Suite).

I think commentators sometimes confuse Google Docs and Google Apps.
Microsoft Office Suite is a superior product to Google Docs.

Office essentially is the Microsoft offering, however Docs is only a minor part of the Google offering. Comparisons that attempt to predict a winner just doesn't add up.