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  • 2 min read

“We make it up in volume”

There's a new meme floating around, "Freemium ", a cute/clever word for a kind of business model. Giving it away free. Say what? You may know that I am associated with a software product which is given away free. BlogBridge is a substantial, useful, real product, which for some crazy reason, we give away free. Everyone wants to know, "What's your business model"? So now I have a cool/web2.0 response: "Freemium." Many people have written about this new term, even though as far as I can tell it was coined a few days ago! Aint the blogosphere great? Anyway Davd Beisel wrote a good summary of the basic concept and then builds on it, perhaps explaining why it is an appealing model:

"With the abundant number of technology-enabled services and content available today, customers want to mitigate risk in the usage and purchasing of them. By apportioning the clear payment associated with the value away from its initial transmission, business which do so address this need, fostering viral spreading, usage, and loyalty of their service." (from "Musing on Freemium and Ad-Supported")

My question is though, who is mitigating the risk for the author? I've written about this, and have spoken many times about it: Why do we all expect great software to be free? Why do people turn their noses up when they are asked for a measly $29.95 for a work that took hundreds if not thousands of person days to create? In my opinion it is because of that expectation that we are stuck with monopolies and hegemonies that are so totally locked in. No-one can afford to compete!

  • 1 min read

Amazing(ly unpleasant) story about a car

My friend Francois posts a horrifying real-life story about him and his Mercedes Benz. It makes a compelling read, kind of like watching a train wreck is compelling.

"My final analysis? No wonder Mercedes has tumbled to 21st in the most recent JD Power Satisfaction Survey. It is mind boggling (instructive too) to witness and experience how such a prestigious brand has fallen so far so fast. And while I've learned something, believe me that it's been no fun being on the receiving end of this knowledge." (from "Mercedes - a case study on how to squander a great brand")

Could it be that buying Chrysler was not such a good idea after all? Read the whole post! Oh, and being the consummate marketer , Francois can't resist a plug for his upcoming "Innovative Marketing Conference CMO Summit":

"Oh one more thing: Mr McNabb, if you happen to stumble upon this post, I would like to extend you a complimentary invitation to our upcoming Innovative Marketing Conference's CMO Summit - a $1,500 value. Not only would it be fun to have you there to discuss Mercedes as a case study, but you might actually walk away from the event with some valuable lessons on how to do the right thing for your customers." (from "Mercedes - a case study on how to squander a great brand")

Technorati Tags: mercedesbenz

  • 1 min read

RSS Alley Geek Dinner II – A great time was had by all!

Last night's event was a lot of fun. A ton of energy in the room, people huddling around comparing notes, even doing some demos. The place was nice and loud (good) and packed (also good!) Thanks again to the co-organizers, Bela Labovitch, Adam Green. Also to the folks at Top Ten Sources and RSS Labs for sharing their wonderful space with us. If you missed this one, don 't fret. We'll be organizing the next one soon, somewhere around the beginning of June. Technorati Tags: geekdinner, RSSAlley

  • 1 min read

[GEEK] Interesting OS X article

Ever wonder how Mac's OS X program launch and execution works? No? Hmm. Anyway, here's a fascinating article telling you more than you ever thought you wanted to know!

"As you can see, executing a process in OS X is a complex affair, and I have tried to cover as much as is necessary for a useful debugging session." (from "How OS X Executes Applications")

🙂 Technorati Tags: osx

  • 1 min read

Open Source: the space between Corporation and Commune?

In The Economist, there's an interesting overview of Open Source, what it is, strengths, weaknesses, and what's in store for it. It introduces the catchy metaphor (or is it simile) "… occupying the space between a Corporation and a Commune:

"Even if the cracks in the management of open source can be plugged by some fairly straightforward organisational controls, might it nevertheless remain only a niche activity--occupying, essentially, the space between a corporation and a commune?" (from "The Economist")

Read the whole thing, it's interesting. Technorati Tags: opensource

  • 1 min read

Britannica vs. Wikipedia

I'm a big fan of Wikipedia, and of course traditionally (like anyone) have been an admirer of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Recently the highly respected magazine Nature published an article describing a study in which they compared the two and found only slightly fewer inaccuracies in Wikipedia than in Britannica. "The exercise revealed numerous errors in both encyclopaedias, but among 42 entries tested, the difference in accuracy was not particularly great: the average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three." (from "Internet Encyclopedias go head to head") Of course, Britannica is not about to take this sitting down. This is from their web site: "Recently, the science journal Nature published a study of online encyclopedias. It was misleading and wrong from top to bottom, and in a thorough analysis of the evidence by our editors and their outside advisors we explain why the study was invalid and should be retracted." (from Britannica Web Site) All this was covered in the Boston Globe this morning. Interesting. Additional References: Detailed Britannica Article, Supplementary information from Nature on how they collected the information Technorati Tags: science, wikipedia

  • 1 min read

Office Live: Why am I not surprised?

Have you heard how Microsoft is shipping Windows Live and Office Live and this-live and that-live? I've seen this movie before and I have to say that I am skeptical. A competitor starts getting successful with a line that Microsoft doesn't own and out comes the "me-too-FUD" based on smoke and mirrors. After all, Office has had ActiveX controls forever , and I would just not be too surprised if Office Live is just a re-assembly of some cool parts that they had lying around with a really great marketing push. Color me skeptical. Or cynical. Anyway, this bit seems to be more or less consistent with that fear:

"The power of Microsoft's branding is so great that slapping the labels 'Live' and 'Office' on a piecemeal bundle of rehashed services seems to have the whole world agog. The evidence doesn 't justify the excitement." (from "Whatever Office Live is, it ain't the Web Office")

Technorati Tags: microsoft, fud

  • 1 min read

If you love words you’ll love this

All the words of the english language, ordered by frequency, coupled with some really nifty graphic design and ajaxian coding. Enjoy! This is the work of Jonathan Harris. Here are some of his other projects. Quite cool! Correction: In fact as several readers have said, this site is not Ajax, it's Flash! Which again proves why everyone's obsession with Ajax is almost as bad as their our obsession with Web 2.0 <!-

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//->