Treo650: In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king
Thursday - May 26, 2005 Filed in: Mobile
| Consumer
Technology
As a fervent Macintosh user (I
have never bought a Windows PC in my life, but
been "forced" to use one), the Treo650 is
about the only game in town to get your office
with you on the road. The success of the Palm
in 1997 started with a simple concept, provide
business users with four simple buttons that
gives them access to everything they need. No
more, no less. Since then the Palm platform
has grown in all directions, except the one I
need; better support for the business user. I
like access to e-mail and a decent browser, I
don't like the fact that many of the phone
software capabilities are not truly integrated
with the original Palm software capabilities.
Bluetooth performance of the Treo is below
par, calls sometimes do not get sent to the
Treo headset, regardless of the button you
press (the headset works fine with my
Powerbook and Skype). Categories don't work
with the Mac. Call log can't be scrolled
through using navigation keys. No keystroke
consistency between applications. No global
hot button consistency. Inconsistent user
interface behavior between applications.
Should I go on?Opinion: I wish Apple made a phone, using a proprietary device that serves the needs of a business user very well (a key target considering its $500 price point) , instead of trying to appeal to a broad software market. In the same way the iPod did that for music players. Proprietary platforms competing with "open-source" will yield better customer value, Apple please bring it on.
Seismic changes in Digital Entertainment
Friday - May 06, 2005 Filed in: Media | Consumer
Technology
Attended the Churchill Club
seminar under the same name. Interesting
speakers were Chuck D (Public Enemy), Roger
McNamee (Integral Capital Partners, Silver
Lake Partners, Elevation Partners) and Blake
Ross (Firefox creator). It is becoming clear
that the old rules of how to create or tap
into large media markets have changed. To own
these markets one must provide a large
selection. MP3 music sharing has given
listeners a taste of virtually unlimited
supply they are not willing to give up on. The
Long Tail roars its head yet again. Tivo1,
Mike Ramsay added that 50% of programs
recorded on Tivo are non-popular programs.
Roger quoted the Death of the Pareto
principle. The Palo Alto library has known
this for many years, more than 75% of its
purchasing budget is for non-popular
selection. Mobility and locality were
mentioned as important side effects of Long
Tail markets. The ability to serve up that
wide selection on a wide variety of devices is
crucial. Arbitration of content (the way
record companies enforce The Pareto principle)
is no longer accepted by buyers. Buyers want
to find any creative material they are
interested in, and in some cases, want to have
the ability to get in touch with the artist
directly. New search capabilities become
important to weed through large selections,
Google capabilities were considered
insufficient. Scanning type search, "I know it
when I see it", provides interesting new
browse capabilities for buyers. Blake added
that as a technology industry we have the
responsibility to make things easier to use
before we move on to another golden
opportunity. We agree with Roger that media
should become the new Consumer Packaged
Goods.