Internet 3.0 etc.

2001-12-12T03:40:00.000-08:00

Get personal to market on the Web

Another review of Gonzo Marketing in USA Today : "Instead of conventional advertising, such as buying banner ads on sites (pretty useless, he says), Locke urges companies to get into underwriting sites.It is more subtle and cost-effective, he predicts, and more tasteful than bombarding audiences with your message. Underwriting must be tasteful and not too intrusive. He cites the Medici banking empire during the Renaissance, bankrolling the likes of Michelangelo and other artists whom we revere to this day. Subtlety is key. Picture, he says, underwriters insisting that the Sistine Chapel blare Bank With Medici!"

2001-12-11T05:22:00.000-08:00

Methodology and mediocrity

Joel on Software : "Mystery: why is it that some of the biggest IT consulting companies in the world do the worst work? Why is it that the cool upstart consulting companies start out with a string of spectacular successes, meteoric growth, and rapidly degenerate into mediocrity? [...] Beware of Methodologies. They are a great way to bring everyone up to a dismal, but passable, level of performance, but at the same time, they are aggravating to more talented people who chafe at the restrictions that are placed on them."
Joel uses the best method to "sell" his company and products : make us understand through fascinating articles and vivid examples why it is so unique.

2001-12-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

It's all about timing ...

In blogorama : "But the record of the internet generation underlines an old and depressing truth: business success, in the internet as much as in financial speculation, is down to timing as much as any other quality. In the go-go years of the new economy, commentators talked incessantly of the first-mover advantage that accrued to the entrepreneur first into a particular market. They forgot to mention that the virtue of being, not just first in, but first out." (thru bBlog)

2001-12-11T05:12:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday

I hope next year will be as full of surprises as this one : I lost my job and got married !

2001-12-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

Two new book reviews...

... on Saltire : The War for Talent and Net Attitude: What It Is, How to Get It, and Why Your Company Can't Survive Without It. I hope my future employers will have read the War for Talent. Once again, thanks to Steve for making such nice reviews.

2001-12-03T10:28:00.000-08:00

What Makes Google Good

Seven reasons according to E commerce news : Brainpower, Does One Thing Well, No Intrusive Ads, Innovation, The Google Tool Bar, Humor and Style, Language Support. Story of a success : "Google.com has grown from 5.7 million visitors in September 2000 to 18 million visitors last month, says research firm Jupiter Media Metrix. It powers the searches of such giants as Yahoo, Palm and Netscape, owned by America Online"

2001-11-30T03:46:00.000-08:00

E-marketing terminology explained

A new dictionary of Internet marketing. Very well done. Here is the definition of Blog :

"Definition

A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.

Information

A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person's life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people.
People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com. Thousands of people use services such as Blogger to simplify and accelerate the publishing process.
Blogs are alternatively called web logs or weblogs. However, "blog" seems less likely to cause confusion, as "web log" can also mean a server's log files."

Very relevant, don't you think ? (thru bBlog)

2001-11-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

Slumping the Shark

David Weinberger on the new JOHO blog (one I highly recommend) :

"The problem is that most companies don't get fresh, relevant, creative or silly when they get desperate. They get mean and conservative. They retreat to what they perceive as safe ground. [...] Blue Mountain Arts moving from a funky and personal site to a typical Browsable Taxonomy of Sentiment. Ford backing off its pledge to provide every employee with a free computer and an almost-free Net connection. ThirdVoice reinventing itself a supplier of third-party links (and then completely de-inventing itself in April of this year). Zaplet moving from providing way cool mail applets to the public to becoming a boring "enterprise software and services company." Gator moving from helpful sidekick to obnoxious, rude betrayer. Just about every company when it hits the 150-employee mark, and again when it nears $100M in revenues.
Sitcoms become outlandish when they're frightened because entertainment depends upon grabbing our attention. Businesses become boring when they're frightened because they prefer the risks they know over the unpredictable risk of being original. Different phenomena. Same tedious, self-defeating outcome." (thru Doc Searls)

2001-11-28T06:32:00.000-08:00

Seven Rules for Leading in a Recession

A gift by Tom Peters : "Everybody asks: HOW DO YOU "LEAD" IN THESE ODD TIMES? "GAK" is my usual answer. God Alone Knows. But in this brief treatise I’ll go a little further … and offer seven "rules." " Thanks Tom !

2001-11-27T04:32:00.000-08:00

The People's company

In Business Week : "But the real secret of eBay's unlikely success is this: It's a master at harnessing the awesome communications power of the Net--not just to let its customers sound off directly in the ears of the big brass, but to track their every movement so new products and services are tailored to just what customers want. Remember that famous tagline, "When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen"? At eBay, it's the other way around: When people speak, eBay listens.". It's oh so true ...

2001-11-26T04:34:00.000-08:00

The PayPal phenomenon

On CommerceNet : "In a brief two years, PayPal has emerged as the most successful new payment service provider on the Internet. Growing at a rate of 18,000 new accounts per day atop a base of 10 million registered users, PayPal, more than any other service, is shaping how the online community thinks about consumer payments. While the traditional financial services industry looks on--partly in contempt, partly in awe--PayPal continues to bear down: focusing on customer needs, methodically expanding its service, and steering toward profitability. [...]

The lessons learned from PayPal can be distilled into six simple rules for developing new payment services:

1) Focus on the customer. Understand the market; be responsive to real-world needs; act with an obsessive customer orientation.
2) Keep it simple. Keep it understandable; make it easy to use; let simplicity itself be the key competitive edge.
3) Exploit the Internet. Play by Internet rules; develop new features that leverage the Internet; use the Internet as the dominant go-to-market channel.
4) Design for adoption. Eliminate as many adoption dependencies as possible; make it easy for target customers to become registered users; keep providing compelling reasons for registered users to increase their use of the service.
5) Think incrementally. Start small, get market feedback, and then incrementally make it a little better. Remember that big things grow from lots of little things.
6) Costs matter. Price the service to reach critical mass first; adjust the pricing for profitability later; obsessively drive down internal costs at every opportunity."
(thru elanceur)

2001-11-23T04:29:00.000-08:00

Consuming gets complicated

Slate / Michael Kinsley : "Is the disappearance of standard prices a bad thing? Not necessarily. Most of these examples are the result of information technology. Classical free-market theory assumes that all players have "perfect information." Information technology is bringing reality closer to this implausible theory, and thus making the economy more efficient. Varying prices may well average out to be lower than the standard ones they replace. And poorer people may well benefit disproportionately, since the opportunity to endure hassles for a bargain is a better deal if you're poor than if you're rich." When I was in marketing class, we were always talking of "the value" of goods (i.e. the value people attach to these goods) and never of the price. That's because a marketer's dream is to sell each good for its "value". And thanks to IT, we are almost there !

2001-11-23T02:31:00.000-08:00

I've had it with being called a visionary

Nick Denton : "I have had it with being called a visionary. A visionary may have the idea for a company, but cannot hire the management team, motivate the staff, close a sale, drive product development, or even organize the office Christmas party. As far as I’m concerned, visionary is an insult."

2001-11-22T06:22:00.000-08:00

Consultant language

In Darwin : "Every culture manufactures its own language. Drug dealers, seventh-graders, physicians, they all have their secret handshakes and codes, intended in most cases to let others know that they are members of the club. But few cultures have poured it on thicker than have the enlightened business consultants and managers working in the age of innovation, agility, change agents, paradigm shifts and lots of other words whose recently innovated meaning has never been clear to me.[...] Today it seems that those who have no real work strategize, so it’s no wonder that buanguage has spread through corporate management faster than Napster through a middle-school. [...] It is also an unguent for these hard times, painting over the dings of an unfriendly market and giving people lots of words to say when there is nothing to be said."

2001-11-22T06:16:00.000-08:00

10 signs that mean you should be weblogging

In "theOtherBlog" :

1. You have something to say.

2. Even when you don't have anything to say your willing to spend 5 minutes saying something. It's one of those "being there" moments. It's often not your BIG ideas that starts the ball rolling, it's those nagging doubts and minor irritations that people can relate to.

3. You have at least 5 minutes to spare most days. Some people don't.

4. Your organisations web site is too slow moving for you, often wrong or dull. If you have an idea you want to try it out this afternoon not next quarter.

5. You genuinely want to talk to (and not at) your peers, customers, friends.

6. Your bookmarks are such a mess that you only add web pages to your favorites out of habit. Weblogs are a MUCH more sane way of storing your bookmarks.

7. You are slightly uncomfortable with most kinds of formality. Market-speak makes your eyes glaze over and you want to do something a bit more spontaneous, a bit more you.

8. You sometimes get laughed at. You don't mind. You really are willing to put your neck on the line or reveal personal thoughts and opinions.

9. Your community forum site didn't really take off, did it?

10. You realy appreciate simplicity. Sure it'd be cool if you had a site where people who'd registered could...

11. You're willing to put time in and get nothing out. Just because you add stuff to your weblog, doesn't mean anyone is going to read it, does it... ah well.

2001-11-20T08:05:00.000-08:00

Ten Tips for Building a Bionic Weblog

How to make your weblog sexier and slimmier ;-)) by metascene : "Quality, not quantity is job one. (Unless you're an auto maker and you can find a way to cut some corners on manufacturing tires.) Sometimes, if you post a billion links, some of the good ones that maybe you worked hard to find, will get lost in the clutter. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by burying the link. (Unless its out of spite, in which case you're on your trip and don't need any of this advice anyway.) If you want people to click on the links, you have to do a little selling. I'm lazy so I use a lot of pull-quotes but I try to mix it up some. Also, posting good entries is more important than posting every friggin day. This is not to say you shouldn't post every day, just that you don't have to. That being said, if you know you will be taking an extended leave of absence, its nice to let your readers know".

2001-11-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

Why Offices Suck

Gee I would love to work at home... except that you don't meet people face to face everyday. I would miss that part. But not all the rest ! (thru Scobleizer)

2001-11-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

21 Ways to Bring In the Business

Entrepreneur.com : "Despite your desperate hopes and prayers, business isn't just going to wander into your business. You need to get out there and hustle, and we've got the tips to help you do it." (thru bBlog)

2001-11-19T09:17:00.000-08:00

The "desktop" is dead ?

In Techreview : ""The desktop is dead," declares David Gelernter. Gelernter is referring to the "desktop metaphor"—the term frequently used for the hierarchical system of files, folders and icons that we use to manage information stored on our home or office computers. [...] That's why many researchers—at universities and startups like Gelernter's Mirror Worlds as well as giants like Microsoft and IBM—are searching for alternatives. They're examining metaphors taken from other media, such as books or diaries or film; 3-D schemes that use our sense of spatial orientation to create the illusion of depth on-screen, so that documents look closer or farther away depending on their importance to us; alternatives that borrow from video games the notion of having an intelligent guide, or avatar, to help us find what we're looking for; or even theories that radically change the notion of what a "computer" is, so that we no longer think of devices as computers at all and are therefore open to new ways of interacting with them. [...] It will take a Herculean effort to overthrow the desktop metaphor—many observers believe it will prove impossible—chiefly because the three-decade-old interface, popularized by the Mac and quickly made nearly ubiquitous by Microsoft's Windows, has become integral to our very notion of personal computing. With this in mind, looking over the landscape of alternatives, one comes away wondering if the desktop metaphor has become a part of basic cultural literacy, like language itself, and that getting people to try any of the suggested improvements is like getting them to learn an international language like Esperanto—a good idea in theory, but for most people not worth the trouble. Even its biggest critics today acknowledge that the desktop metaphor was an extraordinary breakthrough that tapped into the way people actually work and think, a vast improvement over typing in text commands alongside a blinking cursor. Still, people like Gelernter remain undaunted in their belief that its moment has passed". What do you think ?

2001-11-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

15 lessons for success

In Wired : "Donna Dubinsky has put the Midas touch on just about every place she's worked, including Claris, Palm and Handspring, where she's currently the CEO. During a recent speech at the University of California at Berkeley, she discussed "15 lessons" that led her to corporate success" (thru bBlog). One of the lessons : "Treat people with respect. "Even if a (business) relationship doesn't work out ... feel like you gave everyone a fair shot". Amen !

2001-11-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

Senseboard

A keyboard with keys and without board. Funny ! I wonder if it really is usable (Jakob, why don't you try it ?)

2001-11-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

On-line trust

In McKinsey Quarterly : "A funny thing happens when you survey consumers about on-line privacy. Typically, their biggest concern isn't that information about them will be captured by marketers but that marketers will give nothing in return." Let that be a lesson ! Consumers don't want fancy functionalities on your site, they just want free goodies.

2001-11-13T04:54:00.000-08:00

Take his advice, Bill

Robert Scoble is giving pretty good advice to Microsoft on his blog. Two of the best ones :

"10) Bill and Jim: start a Weblog. Write it yourselves (see my first rule: don't let the PR folks run things anymore, they are screwing with you -- we don't want to be "handled" we want to have a conversation with you). Tell us what you're thinking. Have a conversation with us. Tell us how you'll improve your software. Give us a preview of new features, and let us give you feedback about them before they get implemented (especially things like SmartTags).

Most of my frustration with Microsoft in the past 18 months is the lack of a conversation. They are trying to get a conversation started again (Jim Allchin has had two chats now with the MVPs) but it takes a lot to overcome years of neglect and it'll take years to overcome that problem.

11) Open up your strategy meetings. Does it really matter if Oracle, AOL, or Sun knows your strategy? Come on now, are you so naive to think that they don't have moles who are leaking information to them? I learned about .NET four months before it was printed in the mass media (and I didn't have the money to pay off informants, or have private investigators dig through your trash, like Oracle or Sun does -- Larry Ellison actually did have someone dig through the trash of Jonathan Zuck's lobbying firm). So, let's get off of the secrecy. Lay out your cards, then listen to your customers. Focus 100% of your attention on pleasing customers. Don't give us crud like Passport, SmartTags, or Product Activation, without showing them to your customers before implementing them."

2001-11-13T02:31:00.000-08:00

The End of the Net

Q&A with Lawrence Lessig on MSNBC : "The innovation of the Internet was originally tied to its architecture of neutrality. Anybody had the right to develop for it, and the network itself couldn’t discriminate against new innovators. But every major change that’s going on right now around the Internet is a change to undermine that neutrality, so those who control the legal system or control the physical network are able to veto innovations they don’t like. So you get the right to innovate depending on whether AOL or AT&T or the music industry likes your innovation."

2001-11-13T02:28:00.000-08:00

Networking

In inc.com :
"THE PROBLEM: Acquiring clients and finding employees on a limited budget
THE PRACTICE: Relentless networking and community involvement
THE PAYOFF: Referrals aplenty"
The power of networking is the same everywhere. Speak in a conference and you will get at least one customer.

2001-11-09T03:22:00.000-08:00

I am looking for a job

... and it does take a lot of time so excuse me in advance for posting less !

2001-11-09T03:21:00.000-08:00

Interesting use of weblogs

The first article of a two-part series about weblogs by Chris Ashley, IST—Interactive University "Examples of group blogs are more rare but not without potential. The IU staff weblog is used for team communications, planning, and brief discussions, and for sharing news, ideas, links, and files. Regular posting of IU activity has made the team better informed about the work of other team members. The archiving feature provides content management, and creates a record of work over time. The IU weblog is for team members only, and cannot be accessed without login privileges". That's interesting actually, because the first example of weblog for me is actually one of a group weblog called ...Slashdot.

2001-11-09T03:11:00.000-08:00

Are you a blogaholic ?

I am not. Are you ? (through JY)

2001-11-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

Blog vacation

... for the Talking Moose ! Good vacation Moose.

2001-11-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

ReplayTV, ads, etc.

Excellent point / couterpoint by Steve on Saltire, based on what Doc said : "Quick recap: The TV Networks are suing SONICblue Inc. because their ReplayTV 4000 "personal video recorder can automatically strip out commercials." Doc's argument is that the TV Networks fail to understand that people don't want ads in the first place, and they should instead offer an a la carte system for viewers to buy the content they want."
Some excerpts of what Steve replies : "It's not that people don't want ads. People just don't want ads that have no relevance to their lives. When ads have no relevance they become an annoying interruption. When ads have relevance we can make a judgment about the product/service. [...] If you remove the ads, then you stifle innovation and competition. I know that everyone has seen at least one commercial during their lives where they said, "Huh, that's a good idea" or "Huh, that looks like a good show." Remove the ads and you remove people's tele-liquidity. [...] Revenue from advertising pays for everything from The Today Show, to The Cosby Show, to The Post-Game Show, to The Daily Show, to The Late Late Show. It pays for the news anchors, the actors, the cameramen, the producers, the writers, the Web team, the janitor, the carpenter, the parking lot attendant, and everyone in-between" He is right, of course. We don't like ads but they are necessary !

2001-11-02T06:52:00.000-08:00

Weblogcentral

Thanks Christophe for this link : everything you ever wanted to know about weblogging !

2001-10-31T08:12:00.000-08:00

Never trust silent customers

Excellent article in MarketingProfs : "Do you have customers that leave suddenly? You've been doing this outstanding job for them, lavishing them with truckloads of service and yet they're gone without a word. The key operating factor here is 'without a word.' That's the scary part! The silent ones are always the most dangerous. If you would like to learn how to keep your customers, you've first got to keep them noisy." Once again : creat a real conversation with dissatisfied customers.

2001-10-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

The future of marketing

Steve predicts : "As part of the 90° turn I think you're going to see more of the following:
Product Placement - We might skip the commercials, but we still watch the shows. ("What kind of pen is Pres. Bartlett using?")
Caged Marketing - Advertisers get you where you can't dodge their messages (Elevator News Network, LMiV, etc.).
Target Bundling - Get birds of a feather to flock together (Lucasfilm screens trailers of Star Wars, Episode II before Pixar Animation's Monsters, Inc.)."
I totally agree with that but I don't think that's what the market is waiting for. As you say, Steve, the market is waiting for a conversation, a real one, and this includes for example : informing, not advertising, advising, not blind selling, listening and answering, not repeating the same commercial speech forever.

2001-10-30T09:20:00.000-08:00

Interesting figures

... on SherpaBlog : "At 72%, shipping prices are the #1 shopping cart abandonment rate reason. Which means if you aren't running a free shipping offer, maybe you should test one; and, if you are running a free shipping offer, maybe you should make a bigger stink about it in your check-out process. 61% of shoppers surveyed abandoned carts because they were comparison shopping or browsing" The first figure really amazed me. I just figured out that's why Amazon France was trying so hard to do free delivering (which is kind of illegal in France).

2001-10-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

Robert Scoble almost died...

... and tells his NDE here. Happy to hear you are alive, Bob !

2001-10-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

Crisis management

In Business 2.0 : "When the airlines wanted to communicate with customers following the attacks of Sept. 11, they found their e-mail lists a direct and immediate way to reach millions.[...] "Millions of Americans communicated patriotic and emotional messages to a wide group of people. That's important to me as a marketer because it begins to establish e-mail as capable of carrying emotional, powerful messages. I think e-mail had one of its brightest days so far." says Bob Wientzen, president and CEO of the Direct Marketing Assn. Within a week of the tragedy, airlines and online travel services such as CheapTickets and Orbitz sent customers e-mail messages aimed at addressing and assuaging their travel fears". That's really funny, what this Bob guy says. E-mail has always been emotional, that's why it was adopted so quickly by everyone. In the heart of most people, e-mail is first a personal way of communication (to write one's friends and family) and then a business one.

2001-10-29T08:48:00.000-08:00

It's just a web site...

A few reasons why : "What's wrong with us all? Why do we over complicate our lives to the point at which we're unhappy? Why are we happiest re-inventing wheels as people are rolling past us waving and laughing? Why do we actively hunt down marketing spiel that we know for a fact is false? Why do make products that nobody can use? Why do we upgrade for features we don't want?". Funny and true.

2001-10-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Marek is back

... and proposing an interesting debate (especially interesting for non-Americans, of course) : "The short lived dialog begins with a quick, typically american, conclusion. So Americans don't speak other languages, so what's the big deal? huh? Who gives a shit? At this point you probably wanted to get some answers and maybe see the point I was trying to make. OK, here it is... Markets Are Conversations in English".

2001-10-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

A new book review on Saltire

Excellent as usual. The reviewed book is : Business @ the Speed of Stupid: Building Smart Companies After the Technology Shakeout. Two sentences of the review I especially like : "The authors quip, “it is amazing how often executives hire experts and then completely ignore their advice” instead of remembering to “hire smart people and listen to them.” and "Morrison and Burke get that point across in a less subtle way: “There is a generation of lemming managers who actually believe that telling people ‘Just do it!’ is the right way to manage because that’s the way they’ve read it in a book or magazine.” I will definitely buy this book.

2001-10-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

Replay

When is ReplayTV or Tivo coming to France ? Please ... Look at that : "iChannels* : Now that your ReplayTV 4000 has broadband connectivity, we can send you unique programs that you can't get anywhere else. Just set up an iChannel* in ReplayZones and we'll send you what you want!"

2001-10-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

People and technology

An excerpt from Peopleware : Productive Projects and Teams : "If you find yourself concentrating on the technology rather than the sociology, you're like the vaudeville character who loses his keys on a dark street and looks for them on the adjacent street because, as he explains, 'The light is better there.'" (thru kottke.org)

2001-10-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Altavista is dying

In Infoworld : "ALTAVISTA's search engine is dishing up months-old results to queries. Its search index hasn't been updated since July, so changes made to indexed pages since then aren't recorded and new pages linked to indexed pages aren't reported. Users have been abandoning AltaVista in droves. [...] In September last year AltaVista.com had 14.6 million U.S. home and at work users. That number shrunk to 7.5 million in September this year". Actually, I just realised I haven't used Altavista since I discovered Google. Easier to use, more accurate. Too bad for them though.

2001-10-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

Pen vs PC.

Which one is easier to use ?? Not so obvious says Robert:
"A pen can not be compared to software, and even if you try it's a poor metaphor for "easy to use." Why? Well, for starters, it took God, or fate, or evolution, millions of years to get the human race to the point where we can use a pen. My son is in second grade. A good part of his first three years of educational life is simply to get him to use a pen properly. If you were a cave man and were alive 50,000 years ago, would you know what to do with a pen? I doubt it.
A pen is a single-use machined object. Once you build a pen, it can not become something else, say, a pencil. It also has a very limited set of interfaces (mine has only one button to push the tip out, and a rubber grip to hold it between your fingers). Now let's look at software. My IBM ThinkPad holds software that can host and let you build an infinite number of pens. All sorts of weird ones (there are no rules on screen). Some that draw lines. Some that put down blotches. Some that draw with white ink. Etc."

2001-10-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Lessons from an entrepreneur

Dan Bricklin in HBS review : "The final and most important lesson every entrepreneur must learn is this: You are not your business. On those darkest days when things aren't going so well—and trust me, you will have them—try to remember that your company's failures don't make you an awful person. Likewise, your company's successes don't make you a genius or superhuman. To avoid this ego trap, first you should consider the difference between pushing a tidal wave and riding one, and second, you should accept that every business faces challenges beyond its control. Obviously, these are difficult points to remember when you're heading for a rough patch, but I tell you from experience, business failure is not the end of the world". It's so true. If only my boss could understand this...

2001-10-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

How Tech goes Pop

An article in Wired News about PopTech : "The house of the future will look more like the house of the past than the house of today," she said. "The objects that surround us we know and love and have lived with for hundreds of years. It's probable that in the future, the technology will just quietly disappear back into those objects."

2001-10-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

E-mail dead in 2013 ?

That's what MessageLabs asserts : "The Internet could become unusable as a means of communication if the rate of email virus outbreaks continues to escalate. The volume of infected mail circulating could become so great that people without sufficient protection will simply stop using email, Mark Sunner, Chief Technology Officer at MessageLabs, the email security company, warned today. Overall current virus/email ratios are currently running at one in every three hundred, up from one in seven hundred in October last year. The rapid growth and sophistication of current viruses means that, on these trends, one in ten emails transmitted via the Internet would contain a virus by 2007/8, and as many as one in two by 2013.". Scary ! (thru E-lanceur)

2001-10-22T02:42:00.000-07:00

Is the Talking Moose dead ?

He hasn't blogged a thing in two weeks...

2001-10-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

PopTech

Robert Scoble is blogging live from PopTech. Interesting notes about the conferences by Andy Moore.

2001-10-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

Micropayments will never work

Interesting article in Fast Company about why micropayments will never work : "If you get inside the consumer's mind," Guadagno says, "I think there are three factors at work. First, there's an intense belief that the Web is a free medium. Even a 25-cent charge pushes against an unconscious belief that it should all be free. Second, customers often didn't think that the content was worth as much as the providers did. And finally, people don't want to deal with the hassles of microtransactions every time they want something. They would rather take out one subscription and be done with it."

2001-10-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

Corporate "I"

On Adbusters : "Corporations are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the land we walk on. They are in the food, the clothes, the cars, the speed, the news, the music, the cool, the hype, the sex.But who are these legal fictions that we ourselves created? How did they get to be omnipotent? Do corporations serve us, or do we serve them? In these heady, post-WTO days, as corporations and civil society square off against each other and the world hovers precariously between anarchy and servitude, it's time to examine the history of the Corporate "I" and create a strategic blueprint for bringing corporations back under civil control". A bit too easy but some interesting thoughts.

2001-10-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Gonzo engaged

A new blog which delivers interesting thoughts related to Chris Locke's book (Gonzo Marketing). Excerpt : "Doing the wrong thing at the right time. Like the lady at the World Trade Center who took the elevator to the ground floor after the plane hit the tower she worked in. Smoke and fire poured into her office, and although she knew you don't take the elevator in a fire, she got on and pressed the button that would take her to the ground floor. The result? She made it out of the building, while many of her colleagues are dead. I heard her on the news. She said something like, "I did exactly what you are not supposed to do, and because of that, I made it out alive." Today's organizations need to take these risks to make it out alive". Reminder : Chris Locke's other book, the Cluetrain Manifesto, is downloadable for free here.

2001-10-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks Christophe...

... for animating the Froglog user group with such an energy! Sorry I can't help... for now (not enough time). Maybe later ? Tell me...

2001-10-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Take the BS test !

BS meaning Behavioral Style, not Bull Shit ! Fun and interesting to evaluate yourself. I am "a Driver". Too bad I don't know what it means (they should have a part explaining each BS)

2001-10-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I want to try ...

... one of these. I wonder what their "usability" is. Did Jakob try one ? The last attempt of such a device was so lame...

2001-10-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

New MSN explorer

Evhead tried the new Explorer (picture here). Mmm, sounds nice : "Notice how, super-imposed on the top-left logo, is a graphic representing the current weather in your area. Nice touch. Also, it speaks: Good morning/afternoon when you fire it up, and goodbye when you leave.". But still some features missing apparently. Try harder, Bill !

2001-10-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

The Electronic Paper Chase

In Scientific American : "There have been intermittent efforts to produce such electronic paper over the past three decades, but only recently has research gone into full swing. The day when Scientific American and other periodicals are routinely published in this medium may come before 2010, thanks to competition between two start-up firms. Both companies are offshoots of major research institutions: the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory. Both firms base their core technologies on tiny, electrically charged beads, with the imaging capability controlled electronically. And they are not only racing each other to commercialize their efforts but are also anticipating competition from the organic light-emitting diodes that are beginning to emerge from laboratories.". Whaoo, I would love to try this ! Imagine : electronic books that you can really read, not "kill your eyes" on, and newspaper you don't have to buy, just download! Cool...

2001-10-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Palestinians

In the blog of Glenn Fleishman : "Dr. Muqtedar Khan wrote a beautiful open letter to his fellow Muslims about the hypocrisy of justifying any part of the WTC/Pentagon actions. He picks apart several issues to address separately, rather then lumping them into the same pot. One point he raises that I have seen discussed almost nowhere else: "The Israeli occupation of Palestine is perhaps central to Muslim grievance against the West. While acknowledging that, I must remind you that Israel treats its one million Arab citizens with greater respect and dignity than most Arab nations treat their citizens. Today Palestinian refugees can settle and become citizens of the United States but in spite of all the tall rhetoric of the Arab world and Quranic injunctions (24:22) no Muslim country except Jordan extends this support to them." " I hope people like this one will get heard by the Muslims.

2001-10-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

Rethinking E-Leadership

"A review of several recent books suggests that many of the principles of eleadership still have merit, even if they could be made timelier...by the infusion of preInternet era wisdom" writes Melissa Raffoni in HBS review. I especially like this statement : " The notion that senior executives can't be bothered with the details of their business is crazy.". It is indeed crazy but was widely adopted in the last few years. In my company and in a lot of others.

2001-10-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Doc may be coming to the froglog dinner

What a perspective... Christophe, I really hope for you it happens !

2001-10-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

I hope he is right ....

Eric Norlin : " Prediction: the economy is rebounding faster than expected. What if everything goes right? What if there isn't another *major* attack by the New Year? Then, the economy screams by Q2.". If only ...

2001-10-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

What do consumers want from the mobile Internet?

Interesting prospective on mobile applications : "So what is the killer app? Mobile operators will probably make some money on m-commerce and location-based services, if only through the associated transport revenues. Access to free content, such as online banking and train timetables, will also enhance transport revenues. And the example of i-mode suggests that users may be prepared to pay a small amount to receive news, weather, sports scores, horoscopes and so on. But the subscription revenue associated with these services is tiny; again, the real money is in the transport. What can operators do to boost traffic and maximise transport revenues? The answer seems obvious: person-to-person communication. The success of text messaging relative to WAP shows that people like to use their phones to communicate with each other, rather than to download information from content providers. In the words of Andrew Odlyzko, a former AT&T researcher who is now at the University of Minnesota, “Content is not king—connectivity is more important.” Indeed, he argues that the killer app for 3G phones might turn out to be increased voice traffic."

2001-10-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

Using Humans as a Computer Model

A.I. is maybe bringing new ideas : an interesting article in the NY Times : "Mr. Horn's paper is intended partly as a call to action for researchers and the industry, but it also points toward a path for solving the problem. He calls it "autonomic computing." It is a biological metaphor suggesting a systemic approach to attaining a higher level of automation in computing. Just as a person's autonomic nervous system automatically handles all kinds basic functions — the heart rate, breathing and digestion, for example — in response to changing conditions, so, too, should computer systems, according to Mr. Horn. The human body "does all this without any conscious recognition or effort on your part," he writes. "This allows you to think about what you want to do and not how you'll do it: you can make a mad dash for the train without having to calculate how much faster to breathe and pump your heart."

2001-10-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

Book reviews

Two new book reviews on Steve McLaughlin 's Saltire : Gonzo Marketing: Winning through Worst Practices and The Agenda: What Every Business Must Do to Dominate the Decade . Very good summaries, as usual, useful if you don't feel like reading the books. But I still recommend you read Gonzo Marketing in full because it probably will have as much impact as the Cluetrain (no, I haven't been paid by Chris Locke to say that!)

2001-10-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

WiFi : a wireless dream...

Fortune : "I've been using wireless networks for about six months now and can report that WiFi deserves every bit of hype it has won. But this technology is not ready for prime time. And the bit of prime time that it is least ready for is the most exciting stuff, called public access wireless.". The future of wireless really sounds exciting, doesn't it ?

2001-10-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Technology Visionaries Scope the Future

in Computerworld. Nice but not so "visionary". "Video games that transcend Hollywood movies and play roles in education and literature, golf balls with embedded tracking systems, computers that understand spoken language with 100% accuracy. " Could have said all that myself. Come on guys, use your imagination !

2001-10-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

Look inside books

At least, that's what Amazon lets you do. Smart move although probably expensive for them!

2001-10-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

Listen to your grandmother

Marketingprofs.com gives us funny but wise advice by comparing typical reaction of companies to those of our grandmothers. I especially like this part : "Can you imagine grandma saying, "Yes, I've registered your complaint about the burnt cookies, but I see no reason why the cookies should have been burnt. Are you sure you ate them correctly? If that doesn't work call me back and I'll try connecting you to grandpa, who handles oven problems." More likely she would apologize, and promise a fresh batch as soon as they were ready. [...] Try to imagine this exchange: Child: "Grandma, where's my birthday present?" Grandma: "You don't qualify for a birthday present, only new grandchildren do." Mean, huh?"

2001-10-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

The French Weblog User Group ...

... now has a temporary name : Froglog. And is waiting for more users. So go and subscribe ! A meeting is already planned in Paris on the 22d of November. Christophe, by the way, my first name is Sophie :-)

2001-10-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

I agree...

... with what Pdt Bush declared : "I'm not gonna fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt." But then again, I am French :-) (thru Saltire)

2001-10-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

"Share the Love"

Sounds great, huh ? Well don't be disappointed it's just the new name of an Amazon marketing campaign. What is it ? Well, Anne from Sherpablog explains : "After Amazon.com buyers purchase something, instead of getting the regular Confirmation Page, they now get a page that asks them to enter the email addresses of their friends, who will be sent a 10% discount on the products the original buyers just purchased. So if you bought the new VHS of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's third season, you can send all your pals a 10% coupon to buy the same thing." I would love it if I got 10 % as well. What do you think ?

2001-10-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Why the New Economy had to End

Steve McLaughlin is making things clear about the New Economy. Some harsh statements (like "The people that had real talent, real skills, and real experience were vastly outnumbered by those who didn’t") but so many thruths as well. I especially love the conclusion : "The New Economy is dead. Long live the Old Economy. The New Economy was a lot like New Coke back in the 80s. A new formula, a new look, and a ton of hype. But as it turns out there’s no substitute for the real thing. That’s as true now as it was then. Here’s to a glass full of Adam Smith, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Carnegie, and Peter Drucker Old Economy." A glass full to you as well, Steve.

2001-10-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Bed Webbing

Doc is guilty of it too. Damn !

2001-10-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

A Wireless Neighborhood Freenet

In Byte : "Anyway, having read in a few web sites of the possibility to use wireless communications to build a kind of free Internet within the urban area, I set out two months ago to do just that. I started out by printing out a small manifesto about the intellectual, ideological and economic advantages of a free local Internet. Then, I walked around my neighborhood and glued the manifesto (with an ecological and botanically healthy glue, mind you) to many of the trees. In the manifesto, I asked interested people and offices to send me an e-mail describing how they would like to contribute and what features they would like to have. Soon, the e-mails started to flow into my mailbox.". Too bad it's forbidden in France...(thru Jemisa)

2001-10-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

Still thinking ...

...about WiFi. Thanks to all the people who sent me some info (didn't know I had so many readers). Keep doing it, it' very useful to me.

2001-10-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

E-Mail Celebrates Its 30th Birthday

... and so does spam I guess. In Yahoo News : "Ray Tomlinson, the American engineer considered the ``father of e-mail,'' can't quite recall when the first message was sent, what it said, or even who the recipient was. ``I have no idea what the first one was,'' he told Reuters.'' It might have been the first line from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address for all I know. The only thing I know was it was all in upper case.'' Now that's funny. I thought you would remember something like that. Like your first phone call or your first movie ? I don't remember my first phone call but I certainly do remember my first movie. I was 5, it was Bambi and I cried a lot!

2001-10-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Christophe from e-lanceur

1) because he answered me about Wifi. I will go and buy SVM tonight. Christophe, are you thinking about setting up a Wi Fi antenna at your place ? Because I am thinking about it but I am not a technical person so...

2) because he had an excellent initiative : creating a Froglog user group. But Christophe, I could not post a message. It doesn't seem to work ??

2001-10-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

Bed webbing

Scobleizer : "I admit, I weblog in bed.". We would love to do so if we had 802.11 b in France so don't worry ! About this, to the other frogloggers : did you hear about Wifi initiatives in France ? I would love to hear it's developping here...

2001-10-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

The Talking Moose

Here is what the Talking Moose learned by writing a weblog : "I've learned that if you want someone to link to you, you must link to them first about six times".
So here you go Talking Moose :
Talking Moose
Talking Moose
Talking Moose
Talking Moose
Talking Moose
Talking Moose

;-))

2001-10-02T06:18:00.000-07:00

The Biggest Myths of E-Tail

In E commerce Times : "At the same time, just because the Internet might not see many clicks for big-ticket items, like automobiles, does not mean that it is not a valuable channel in those categories. " Amazing some people have to be reminded of that... Would any of those e commerce guys buy a car online ? Obviously no, so why would anyone else do it ?

2001-10-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

We are saved...

Despite the Economy, Consumer Confidence Rises : "The Yahoo!/ACNielsen Internet Confidence Index projects that US consumers will spend a total of $16 billion online in Q4 2001. The Index also predicts that in Q4, online spending among light internet users and those consumers with a high school education or less will jump by 159% and 113%, respectively.". Who said a crisis was coming ?

2001-09-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

What is Gnod ?

"Gnod is my experiment in the field of artificial intelligence. Its a self-adapting system, living on this server and 'talking' to everyone who comes along. Gnods intention is to learn about the outer world and to learn 'understanding' its visitors. This enables gnod to share all it's wisdom with you in an intuitive and efficient way. You might call it a search-engine to find things you don't know about." Scary ! And funny (try "websites").

2001-09-28T06:55:00.000-07:00

Why Marketing Gets No Respect

in MarketingProfs.com : "Company history harbors a third reason why marketers don't get respect: Old marketing mishaps often become exaggerated in a company. People can often tell you about an infamous marketing mistake that occurred several years ago in the company. It could be a product that bombed, or a bad advertising campaign, but it usually happened several years ago and nobody can remember precisely who did it. Nonetheless, it is now a myth pinned on marketing. As a result, it often deeply influences non-marketers' views.". Hard to be a marketer in a technology company!

2001-09-28T06:43:00.000-07:00

Interesting number

... on SherpaBlog : "More than 45,000 marketers have used GoTo's search term auction to buy links to their Web sites. To put this into perspective, as of last November Yahoo which had more online ad accounts than anybody else at the time, had about 4,000 advertising clients on file."I don't get it. Where do all these people come from ??

2001-09-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

Intranets suck...

Christophe from elanceur becomes more and more cryptic, even for those of us who speak French. But Christophe links to gems such as this one : "Does your intranet suck?".

"I am incredulous that there are still companies out there who don't empower all their employees to publish for other employees. Consider what happens when you get your janitors to use the intranet. Let's say they notice that people are leaving their computers on at night. They might figure out that is costing the company hundreds of dollars per month. That might not sound like much, but in today's climate every bit helps (and, that hundred or so bucks a month would pay for your system in less than a year). Oh, this one company I know has folks who are getting paid $60,000 to $100,000 a year to HTML and put content up on the intranet (er, an Apache server). Think about that. You are making it harder for employees to publish AND you're spending large sums of money to do it! What a rip off! Instead, spend that employee time on improving your products. Think about it, your competitors are. Want to improve morale at your company? And keep your "A" employees? Give them good collaborative tools. Give them an intranet that doesn't fight them."

So thanks Christophe!

2001-09-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Talking Moose ...

... get back to your old self. It's not that we don't care but we are just tired of hearing only about "what-you-know-changed-America-forever". Life goes on, or Ben Laden wins.

2001-09-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

Just got infected...

... by Magister. Gee, I hate losing a whole afternoon trying to get rid of a virus...!

2001-09-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

A new blog

SherpaBlog, a very nice blog by Anne Holland, Publisher & Managing Editor of MarketingSherpa.com Go and read it !

2001-09-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

CIOs get a crash course in managing through hard times

eWeek's article: "It's a common reaction for management to lock themselves in their office and think problems through. That's the wrong approach," Libby said. "In bad times, you need to go out and talk to people because they understand how to make things better. Employees will buy into that." Oh, boy, I wish my management would react the same!! (thru bBlog)

2001-09-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

The Real Problem with Online Advertising

Sorry if you've already seen this article from the E commerce Times. I just saw it and it makes so much sense to me I just wanted to share it with you : "Bigger. Flashier. More intrusive. The advertising industry is willing to try anything and everything to get people to pay more attention to their Internet advertising. Here's another idea: Start with some interesting advertisements. [...] In other words, it's not about the size of the banner, it's about what's in it."

2001-09-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

What went wrong for on-line media ?

Mc Kinsey Quarterly : "Given the disparity between the large number of Internet sites and the relatively small amount of advertising for them, most on-line media properties were doomed from the start. Yet for those that survive, the future may turn out to be promising." God, do they really get paid to say that ? Mckinsey is a bit disappointing at the moment... However, a bad news for Salon : "pure-play Internet outlets have fought a losing battle against the consumer’s view of the Internet as a source of free information. The result? Only 22 percent of all on-line media revenue comes from subscriptions, user fees, or other nonadvertising sources—and most of that 22 percent goes to the Internet service providers.".

2001-09-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello

I'm back from my honeymoon, and ready to roll...

2001-08-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

I can't resist...

... one last post (for today, at least) : this Business 2.0 article : "To be Built to Last You'd Better be Built to Change. It used to be that rapid-fire change for its own sake was considered a virtue. Those days are long gone, but don't retreat to old bad habits". (thru bBlog)

2001-08-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

Preparing my wedding ...

... this week so not much time to blog, sorry! See you in three weeks

2001-08-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

High priced usability "Guru"

Good article from Taskz : "Often the usability Guru approach takes the form of a well-orchestrated exorcism. Beating the bad usability spirits out of the web site by a constant and highly negative critique of the current site and of course by association the development team. The ferocity of such exorcisms is sometimes directly related to the size of the consulting fee: the higher the fee the more aggressive the critique. However, this type of analysis can only be based on broad usability principles and constructs that can be readily applied to obvious usability problems". One bad point for Jakob! (thru Webword)

2001-08-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

12 Steps Back to the Old Economy.

Funny piece from Fast Company : " 1. Nothing says "Organization Man" like gray flannel suits. Don't forget the fedora. Do forget Casual Fridays. And try to forget that you ever looked cool. Remember: Business is no longer cool." Read the next eleven to be back in business! (thru P@t)

2001-08-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

Quarterly Report from Moose Industries CEO

Just discovered this fabulous Moose Poop I had missed : "Today I am sad to report that we had a really bad quarter. Emphasis on really bad. I am to blame. I didn't plan for it. I bought into the crap that those damn squirrel VCs were feeding me and I didn't help you serve real customers and keep them happy. Last quarter our sales fell by 50% and our profits dropped completely and we are now losing a damn lot of money. So, we're heading for http://www.fuckedcompany.com. I hate that and I know you do too". God, I wish my CEO would talk like that. I bet I wouldn't have resigned then (yes, I have resigned, I have to find a new job).

2001-08-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

Let's have some fun

You don't like Jakob Nielsen? Then go directly to this place ... and have fun!

2001-08-17T05:23:00.000-07:00

Good luck...

... to Rob Poel for his hernia surgery (today!). Take care, Rob!

2001-08-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

Testing the usability

ClickZ gives us some simple tips for testing the usability of your site before the "holiday season" ;-) "There is no substitute for third-party testing, and then learning from and applying the feedback. Testing does not have to be extensive or expensive or even professional. A few friends or family members and a couple of pizzas can get the job done."

2001-08-16T04:58:00.000-07:00

.net PassPort

The Talking Moose is experiencing Windows XP and delivers a few insights about Passport :
"For Visa it's death.
For the DOJ, it's another lawsuit.
For AOL it's war.
For privacy experts, it's hell.
But, for users, it's great."