Garmin, Not So Charmin
GPS is great, don’t get me wrong. A few weeks ago when a friend and I, both recent transplants to New York from San Francisco, had to get to Tarrytown, NY, GPS was our savior. But this weekend, it became painfully obvious to me what these GPS systems are lacking…
On the way back from Coney Island on Saturday, my cab driver got us stuck in severe Manhattan traffic due to the closure of a few roads for a street fair. While I did enjoy (sort of) hearing about how my cab driver hates when people block intersections, I missed my train to Washington DC and my cab fare went through the roof.
Fast forward to Sunday, Washington DC. 350,000 Harley bikers participate in Rolling Thunder to raise awareness and honor POWs and MIAs left behind in battle, and closing half of the streets in our nation’s capital. Unaware of this massive parade, a friend and I sat in traffic for 2 hours to go about 10 miles.
Sitting in traffic is kind of like taking a shower — you have a lot of time to think. So I got to thinking: what if there was a central database of all road closures that GPS systems could tap into and inform the driver accordingly to avoid them? It really doesn’t seem like a hard thing to do, since all of these closures are known about far ahead of time, and would be simple for satellite-connected GPS systems to tap into.
Since I was still in traffic after that thought, I had more time to think… GPS is a great technology, but is only as good as the data that it has access to. Getting you from one place to another is a good core competency, but why not extend it by adding other features and services. Once you’ve got a network connection, access to all kinds of data is simple.
LaunchSquad client TimeBridge is a good example of doing one thing really well and adding on features and services to extend that central functionality. TimeBridge is a wizard when it comes to scheduling meetings and sharing availability, but then you can add a conference call line, get a map and directions to the meeting, set up a reservation on OpenTable and more. There’s another pretty successful company that had a similar model centered around search. Anyone?
Maybe some other GPS systems have moved in this direction (traffic data is being used by some of them, but generally not within cities), but it seems like a natural progression AND can make these companies money in addition to revenue from selling the GPS units (many of these services pay affiliates for usage).
Until then, I’ll just have to remember to avoid the Memorial Bridge in Washington next Memorial Day — or buy a Harley and join in.
Running 2.0
While running Bay to Breakers last weekend as part of the Asics Aggies Centipede, (If you don’t know what a centipede is in this context, click here) I came to the realization that there is truly no better time to be a runner than the present. Discounting scientific advances that have bettered our understanding of human physiology and training techniques, the fact that my best time for the mile would have had me ranked number 1 in the world as recently as the 1910’s and that (some) modern professional runners can make millions of dollars doing it, Web 2.0 has had a profound, positive impact on the running community.
I use a Web site called running2win to keep track of my training. My college teammates are on the same site and it allows us to follow each other’s progress, offer comments and encouragement and plan group runs and other activities. Our coach was able to log-in and view graphs and charts that tracked total distance run, the average pace of runs and overall improvement.
Even a mere decade ago, track fans were forced to wait days or even weeks for race results to be published and distributed. This was true even of the most prestigious events – let alone your local 5k or half-marathon. Now, it’s nearly unheard of for race results not to be immediately available online. But it gets better. A friend of mine ran this year’s Boston Marathon and plugged my email address into the marathon’s site so that I would receive automatic updates with his times at the 10 kilometer, half-marathon and 30 kilometer points.
RSS-style updates don’t satisfy you? Companies like MediaZone allow you to watch the race in live, streaming video while companies like Flotrack have taken advantage of the ease with which it is possible to upload and share videos and travel around the country and world filming races and interviewing athletes. Whereas previously it was impossible to watch anything longer than a sprint on television without being interrupted for commercial breaks (if the track meet was even televised to begin with), enthusiasts can watch even the longest distance events wholly uninterrupted.
After the race you can go to the message boards on a site like LetsRun.com – that boasts over 200,000 monthly visits – to discuss the latest results, our predictions for races, training techniques, how to prevent/heal injuries and all forms of running-related gossip.
These topics are boring to most people. They don’t care that shoe X weighs 1.3 ounces less than shoe Y, whether you should warm-up on a track running clockwise or counterclockwise or how an obscure Kenyan name is truly supposed to be pronounced. But we do.
We runners are clearly a weird bunch when compared to the general population. When I said at the top of my post that Web 2.0 has had a profound positive impact on the running community, it would actually be more truthful to say that Web 2.0 enabled there to BE a running community. The interactive Web has provided a forum for uniting the global diaspora of runners where previous communities were limited to small and scattered groups of fanatics.
Not only have these developments allowed runners to dive into all aspects of the sport in unprecedented depth, but they’ve made the sport more accessible to the general population as well. It has never been easier for a wannabe-marathoner to find a community of like-minded (and like-bodied) people to train with. As it does with many things, Web 2.0 has expanded the depth and breadth of participation.
Ultimately, it’s pretty amazing to see how the world’s latest technological advances are applied to to its oldest and most basic form of competition.
So next time you see someone running and feel the urge to yell, “Run, Forrest, run!” or harass him/her in any other way, remember: there are a lot of us out there. Now we know it, and we mean business.
SF MusicTech Conference Showcases What’s Coming
I recently attended the SF MusicTech conference, a really inspiring event that featured a number of interesting music technology companies. Some of the panel topics included social networking platforms and music, mobile strategies, and record labels and new technologies. The conference provided the opportunity to hear about a lot of cool upcoming companies and to see first-hand how the music industry is evolving and what the future will look like — it was a day well spent.
One of the panels that was particularly interesting was the mobile strategies discussion, which featured panelists from Kadoink, Mozes, Thumbplay, Mplay, Tonethis, and XLR8 Mobile add links to these companies. As with all forms of media, music features for mobile devices are expanding in an amazing range of directions and this panel made it clear that as these devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated and better handling bandwidth, the possibilities for streaming, sharing and discovering music on your phone are exploding. Goodbye iPods?
Another panel that we enjoyed, though it had very little to do with music, was an interview with Tim Ferris, author of “The 4-Hour Workweek.” CD Baby founder Derek Sivers interviewed Tim about his incredibly successful book, thoughts on productivity in the Web 2.0 age, and how he became an Argentinian national dance champion for the Tango. Tim’s thoughts on “experiments in lifestyle design,” which pretty much translates to “just getting things done better, faster,” were often enlightening — for example, he recommended not reading your email first thing in the morning, as it will only put you in “reactive” mode for the rest of the day. You can get a feel for his style on this video interview of Tim conducted at the conference by Mashable CEO and LaunchSquad friend Pete Cashmore.
The MusicTech conference included way too many ideas and companies to sum up in a single blog post, but clearly it got me very excited about where the music industry is headed. From Pandora to Songza to the next awesome music application being created in someone’s apartment somewhere, music and technology are developing a fascinating relationship and we’re happy to indulge.
SonicLiving Sounds Good to Me
I’ve oft complained about the excessive steps involved in being a loyal music fan. After discovering a band, one must find a tour schedule, gather friends to see the show, and then log on to purchase tickets. Too many steps for lazy ol’ me.
For years I’ve talked about how brilliant it would be if one website could somehow absorb all of my music preferences, then feed me a list of upcoming shows that I want to see and invite my friends to join.
Well, brilliance has come in the form of SonicLiving, a relatively new company based in the Bay Area. Since I just discovered the site today, I can’t attest to functionality, but I am keen on the concept.
Here’s how it works: SonicLiving scans your iTunes library, Pandora and Last.fm favorites to create a list of your favorite bands, then instantly tells you when your favorite bands are coming to town, and automatically uploads the information into a personal music calendar where artists can be easily added or removed.
Since this is 2008, there is a social network involved. So, if you choose to go to a show on your calendar, friends will automatically be alerted – and you can sneak a peak at what shows your friends are attending.
Seems like SonicLiving is the one-stop music shop I’ve been hoping to find. It will be interesting to see how it helps me wrangle up friends to see the Flight of the Conchords show next week.
Free Speech and Terrorism – Is There A Line?
Sen. Joe Lieberman waded into tough political, social and moral waters today by sending a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt, demanding that YouTube take down all videos that he claimed al Qaeda was using to encourage violence and spread propaganda. On the surface – and, actually many layers beyond that – it’s a very reasonable request. Terrorist groups have turned to the Web as their main recruiting and propaganda arm, and there are, no doubt, propaganda films of some sort on YouTube.
This gets tough, however, in two ways: First, determining what exactly is propaganda; and second, figuring out just how much power Google – a non-governmental body – should have over constitutionally guaranteed speech. Free speech battles are never pretty – two landmark modern cases were decided around Hustler Magazine and the raunchy Miami rap group 2 Live Crew – but this one could be the first volley in what is certain to be a long series of battles over free speech on the Internet.
The main problem in this case is determining what is true content from terrorists and what is some idiot spouting off about nothing. I could record a scathing 10-minute indictment of America that supported terrorist groups – but not violence – and post it on YouTube. Now, I can’t recruit terrorists or incite hatred of this country, nor would I ever want to, and since my message didn’t call for violence, it wouldn’t break Google’s usage rules. But, is it terrorist propaganda?
That would be up to Google to decide, and that’s a pretty dangerous thing. Ultimately, YouTube is a private service and can decide what content it makes available. The rub here is how far the government can push it to regulate that content.
In the interest of maintaining a free, open society, free speech is perhaps the most important right granted in the Constitution, and, as I said before, it’s never easy. Properly defending free speech has united the ACLU and the Ku Klux Klan, and it will make more strange bedfellows in the future.
Lieberman is no doubt sincere in his request today, and Google, no doubt, wants nothing to do with propagating terrorism, but none of that can get in the way of everyone involved carefully mediating the interests of free speech – especially on a medium as important as the Internet – into whatever decision is made. The future of our country truly does hang in the balance.
MySpace Spam Money: What About the Users?
Ever seen the face of a spammer?
Exactly what you expected, right? This guy and his spam-buddy were busted by MySpace a few years ago for stealing users’ passwords, then posting spam messages on other profiles from the hijacked user account — more than 700,000 to be exact. This same guy is responsible for running a company that was sending 30 million spam messages PER DAY back in the 1990s. Classy. If this were medieval times, this man would definitely be getting the ax.
But instead, while many blog commenters have been asking for the death penalty, he and his buddy have to pay MySpace a whopping $230 million. Most bloggers and reporters on this topic seem to think there’s no way for MySpace to collect any money, but let’s say for a minute they receive every penny of what the federal judge awarded them… Where does that money go?
From what it sounds like, MySpace collects that money and can do whatever they want with it. But, aren’t MySpace users affected the most here? Shouldn’t they be assured a cut of the award?
In fact, it could be argued that MySpace built a platform that enabled the spamming and didn’t have the proper safeguards to prevent it. If these settlements become more common and are actually paid, what’s to stop companies from relaxing their spam prevention efforts and making a little side cash at the expense of their users?
Ok, that might be a little overblown, but if MySpace sees even a fraction of the settlement, I seriously hope the affected users who make MySpace the success that it is see a good chunk of that money.
Just So You Know, John Mayer Prefers Rolex
Ok, so you probably (I hope) have absolutely no interest in dressing like Miley Cyrus. But on the off chance you are curious about her latest Hannah Montana ensemble, there’s a new site that’s making it possible for celebrity news addicts to identify the exact products the celebs themselves are wearing in the photos we all love to stalk.
Launched last week, Coolspotters aims to link celebrities with the products they wear, use and hawk. The site has individual pages for the products themselves, as well as the celebrities, various television shows and movies, cars, pets and events. Each item then connects back to the celebrities associated with it.
What is most interesting about Coolspotters, and what differentiates it from other similar sites, is that it relies on users making the connections between celebrities and their “stuff”. Sure, it’s possible to be a casual user and just browse the site for Lindsay Lohan’s latest pair of leggings, but Coolspotters depends on loyal devotees to connect the dots between celebrities and products and ultimately, take the crucial step to actually buy the stuff.
It’s certainly an interesting idea, and one that capitalizes on the fact that, plain and simple, people love celebrities. I’ll be curious to see how well the crowd-sourcing model works in this scenario and whether it creates a database of real value, but I can’t imagine Coolspotters will have a hard time recruiting users anxious to dress more like their favorite star.
Now if only the site could find a way to offer a lower-priced alternative to Ashlee Simpson’s latest Alexander McQueen…then I’d be sold.
Big Chance for Big Media: AP Tries to Jump on the iPhone Craze
The Associated Press, that symbol of all that is old media, has made a surprisingly tech-savvy move. As Forbes’ Brian Caulfield reported May 7, the global news service is hoping to gain a prime spot on a screen that is viewed regularly by some of the most plugged in folks on the planet – the Apple iPhone home page.
The AP is hardly the only news organization that wants to be in on the mega iCraze, but with its new “Mobile News Network” the AP has a shot at being placed as the first “News” button on the home screen of that ubiquitous toy of techno-yuppies known as the iPhone. At this point, only a handful of widgets are on that often used screen, and most are provided by new media giants like Google and Yahoo, or by Apple itself – such as weather, maps and stock quotes. (All this will soon change, but that’s another story.)
Caulfield describes old media companies’ desire to get on these phones their “best shot at digital relevance,” and I couldn’t have put it better myself. (Full disclosure, Brian was my editor at one time, and he still ranks among my favorite biz tech journalists.)
Like so many other news services, the AP chose not to carve out its own online destination, instead choosing to let Google, Yahoo and various news outlets aggregate and distribute its content. Now, with old media looking down the barrel of a gun, this kind of move could be too little too late. But it’s at least a sign that someone over there is thinking outside the box.
Caulfield reports that so far at least, Apple hasn’t announced that it’s taking up the AP’s offer. Could this be a case of closing ranks? For my part, I hope Apple decides to play ball on this one. To me, the AP is a little bit like the older aunt you invite to your party, knowing that even though she might not understand any of the talk about Twitter tweets or whether Robert Scoble’s going to show up, she’s intelligent and reliable – and she’s been around long enough to bring some experience to her observations of the world.
Mobile TV, Are You Watching?
The range of tools and technological innovations that at first glance seemed completely obsolete (Twitter, anyone?) and now play a significant role in many peoples’ lives is staggering. If you get down to it, humanity is a great collection of skeptics—why watch moving pictures when you’ve got the radio?
In an age when online advertisers are increasingly claiming that TV is dead and online video is the new way of consuming entertainment, mobile devices are emerging from the backseat and trying to make their claim for the new age of entertainment. The New York Times recently had an article in its Media & Advertising section about an up and coming European sensation for watching TV on the phone that seems to be coming to the U.S. (as most great things do!).
According to the article, consumers in Italy, Switzerland and Japan are already hooked on watching a bevy of channels available for streaming on mobile devices and U.S. mobile providers seem to be eager to follow. Naturally, not everyone is sold on the idea of watching long-form content on a small screen, but the future remains to be seen. AT&T Wireless just announced AT&T Mobile TV in the United States, offering a 10-channel service which will sell for $15 per month and, according to the article, includes a Sony Pictures movie channel called Pix.
To watch? Consumers will have to purchase a cellphone made by LG Electronics and Samsung that streams the broadcasts. All of this innovation begs the question—are you willing to pay and watch? Yankee Group analyst Linda Barrabee suggests that adoption is likely to be slow. But, the rise of devices like the iPhone and increased mobility among consumers seem to suggest that watching TV on your phone may not be in the distant future. Perhaps one day, fifty years down the road, generations of mobile TV watchers will be asking: Why do I need to sit on my couch to watch something?
You Down With IDG? Yeah You Know Me
Steve Lohr of The New York Times writes today about publisher IDG and the state of its business. Like many magazine and newspaper publishers these days, IDG has been one that seemingly was struggling. Infoworld went online-only and Computerworld is now a fraction of its size and thickness from a few years ago.
But don’t let these print issues fool you, the Times reports that all is well with IDG who is raking in more revenue from online advertising (52%) than print advertising (48%) and is growing its revenue by 10% per year (70% of their revenue is from publications). Layoffs and killing print issues seem to just have been smart business decisions and not acts of desperation.
This article puts some debates to rest — whether online ads can replace lost print revenue, or, if there’s any hope for struggling companies publishing print publications. IDG is a niche publisher, which helps since they do have a loyal tech audience, and PC World and MacWorld are mainstays that will always do well, but it’s nice to see that there is hope for an online transition for many of the traditional tech publications we love here at LaunchSquad.
What’s become clear is that it’s not an online-offline thing — just because a publisher was never in print doesn’t mean it’s immune to the issues facing the publishing industry (see, CNET). And, on the flipside, there is hope and opportunity for formerly traditional print publishers like IDG.
I guess it’s easy to confuse struggle with change.