Last blog

...this will, indeed, be the last entry for this blog.

Pepper and OLPC

Engadget reports that Pepper has ported (does this sounds like a tongue-twister?) their OS to the One Laptop Per Child XO machines:

The OLPC kids seem pretty set on their "Sugar" GUI, with its complete disregard for traditional UI forms in search of a new, kid-friendly OS experience. However, there's a new game in town, in the form of Pepper Computer, which has ported its Pepper Pad OS over to those brightly colored XO machines. The port makes plenty of sense, since Pepper's own computers run on similar AMD Geode procs, and both OSes are similarly based on Linux. Pepper Pad was also initially built with younger users in mind, and given the fact that Pepper's OS is quite a bit more mature than OLPC's current offering, it's hard not get attached to the idea. Of course, the absence of a touch screen on the XO might put a bit of a damper on things, but it seems the trackpad can take over just fine in its absence. It doesn't seem like this new development will have much effect on the OLPC project as it relates to those millions of laptops NickNeg is hoping to ship to kiddies in developing countries, but it's nice to know we'll have such an OS option when we snag our own XO off eBay.

Pepper is one of the Connector Group's friends and we're really glad to see this bold, new OS make it's way onto these machines - they do good, and Pepper makes it better. Wow...I should be in marketing...

...does anything kill a party faster than a safety czar?

If you say what Peter Hartlaub said in the Chronicle today about YouTube, you're likely to be crucified. But at the same time, did no one else see this coming? Here's a sampling:

"...there's a definite vibe that the wild fun times will soon be coming to an end. It's like your parents are coming up the driveway, and you've broken the crystal egg and are going to be grounded for the next eight months -- leaving you with nothing except the crazy memories of that brothel you ran out of their house over the weekend.

The circle of life on the Internet is very cruel: When giant corporations take interest in online cultural phenomena, they instantly become exponentially less cool. From Napster to MySpace to "Snakes on a Plane" -- all stopped being a good thing once the Man showed up in the room.

In the wake of Google's acquisition of YouTube, parents groups are already calling for a safety czar to regulate the user-built video library, much like the one that MySpace appointed when News Corp. purchased that site. And is there anything that kills a party faster than a safety czar? In a sense, Google's purchase of YouTube will almost certainly kill YouTube. "

imeem IS social networking

Lifehacker has a great review of imeem, and they are absolutely correct when they say, "Imeem is one of the Web's better-kept secrets."

Read more...

Stop wasting my time, Web 2.0...

When BusinessWeek and Forbes start publishing "Web 2.0" and "hot" in the same sentence, you're bound to find Katie Couric doing the nightly news. Hmmm?

SF Chronicle covers the real Web 2.0 companies that aren't getting the respect they deserve. One of the companies listed is Vyew, a Connector Group friend. When I think about the impact of Web 2.0, there's no comparison - Vyew is inherently worth more than the poster-child for Web 2.0, MySpace. I know I'm not that fancy investment banker that your sister's best friend thinks is "sooo hot", but I know a thing or two about value. But the value I'm talking about is true, life-giving value. Here's how my brain's working on this: coffee is more valuable than Coke. Coffee comes from trees (or plants, not sure)...it's natural, and many agree that it has natural properties that are not bad (and might even be good). Coke is made in a factory and is devoid of anything nutritional. Coffee makes people's brains work better (some will dispute that, but those people are hateful, mean people who abuse children), while Coke rots your teeth. So, in PatWorld, I rest my case - coffee is inherently more valuable than Coke.

So, using that same logic, here's a comparison of MySpace and Vyew in terms of effect on US GDP:

MySpace = ($4 billion) [the parenthesis means "negative"...I add that for the liberal arts majors]...I mean, all you have to do is check out the "space" for Kristin from Laguna Beach (dude, I've never seen that show...I mean, maybe it was on in the background or something), and you're easily forgiven for giving the next seven hours of your life to MySpace. That waste of time is killing your productivity, driving down profits at your company, and ultimately robbing me of my rightful windfall of Social Security benefits.

Vyew = +$900M...honestly, you can collaborate with others with this thing after playing around with it for about 6 minutes. And once someone else sees it, they start using it, and since viral is as viral does, it just spawns for people who like efficiency. So you all have better meetings, don't have to travel to meetings, and don't need to download any lame software that Chip the IT guy has to upgrade for you. You've saved yourself time, your company money, and you get Web 2.0 cred.

So, Vyew wins, and ultimately, whatever Web 2.0 really is, it better have some real value, or people will just stop caring.

Other Connector Group friends listed:

• imeem (the BEST online community tool): ok, so I just nailed MySpace (and boy are they hurting), but I didn't nail the category. The difference is that MySpace is all about hoping you see a hot chick online and then you connect online with her and you masturbate. So, that was fun. With imeem, however, you're actually getting value by finding like-minded users. And the overall IQ of users on imeem is about 7,000 points higher than MySpace (that's just an average, my angry readers - I KNOW you have a space, and I think it's wonderful, just like you).
• meebo: saves time, easy to use, nothing to think about. Isn't that what this is all supposed to be about?

Insert me with your influence

In a very poorly worded description of a recent study, BIGresearch lays out what they found in terms of what/who influences buying decisions on a variety of consumer categories:

Electronics
1. Word of mouth
2. Read Article on product
3. TV/Broadcast
4. Newspaper Inserts
5. Internet Advertising

Groceries
1. Coupons
2. Newspaper inserts
3. Word of mouth
4. In-store promotions
5. TV/Broadcast

When I was working for a large Internet/media company (which rhymes with "Bay-Oh-El"), people talked about how we needed to find a way to replace the newspaper insert as a form of communicating about products. I used to blow this off as bullshit - who reads those dumb insersts anyway, right? Well, apparently a lot of people do. But word of mouth...now, there's an idea...

Cocoa Designs in SF Chronicle

Ariella Toeman, founder of Cocoa Designs, makes the most delicious chocolate concoctions - she was part of our first Showcase event and was a huge hit. Today, she's featured in an article in the SF Chronicle article about artisan chocolatiers:

San Franciscan Ariella Toeman's Cocoa Nuts marry her classic French training with her fondness for nuts in the form of dragees -- nuts roasted and caramelized, then dipped and coated in dark or milk chocolate.

Ariella has also developed a way to combat your chocoholic tendencies, which is also how she plans to eventually rule the world by luring you into her web of chocolate delights.

And, by the way, did you know that Americans spend almost $16 billion / year on chocolate? I'm responsible for about $3 billion of that, so who are these other chocolate freaks?

Snakes on an influencer plane...

From the MIT Technology Review - this is a great overview of how New Line did a great job of influencer and word-of-mouth marketing for "Snakes on a Plane"...it mentions a partnership they formed with Connector Group partner CafePress.com:

"Soon, there fans were creating parody videos, songs, and movie posters. New Line Cinema went so far as to partner with CafePress.com, a DIY merchandising store online, allowing fans to become officially licensed partners for the movie, and to sell merchandise they've created using New Line's creative."

Stick in in 'yer ear

Playaway is a Connector Group partner who was a huge hit at our first Showcase event. These guys have developed a self-contained audiobook...rather than download an MP3 or buy a book-on-CD, you just buy this little unit that's about the size of a Tic-Tac container and you press "Play". It's a great idea, and their selection of titles is impressive for a young company. They've gotten a lot of press, including a great Walt Mossberg review, and a piece in Forbes. Plus, Christopher Celeste and Blake Squires, the founders, are all-class and know how to make things happen.

Recently, the Miami-Herald had this to say:

What if you could listen to that hot-selling audio book without having to schlep along your CD or cassette player, or download it onto your MP3 player? Enter the Playaway, a battery-powered digital audio device about the size of a deck of cards that comes pre-loaded with an audio book. Buttons on the device control volume, reverse or advance the narration, adjust the speed of the narrator's voice and bookmark favorite passages. The content cannot be copied or added to. The unit comes with mini headphones (or use your own) and a lanyard, and runs on one included AAA battery. In addition to books, Playaways also are available with language lessons and city walking tours. Audio books range from six to 20 hours. The Playaway is pricey, but the convenience factor is seductive.