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Google: How One Wedding Video Shows YouTube's Potential

I am not fully convinced about the writer's thesis. Based on the argument, the more attention catching (or use your own adjective here) the content, the more Youtube is going to be popular....so let's try to replicate this from a B2B standpoint -- what a PR nightmare. There are only so many good viral videos (the Budweiser swearing video comes to mind) that I have seen. Anyone seen any more viral videos from AB since then? Not me.

Making content to tastefully standout - universally is extremely hard...but certainly somewhat easier if you micro target the audience.

I think Youtube has something unique going for it...but I am not sure it is fully developed. Where is the ecosystem of complementary products? Where are its competitors? I think FB, TT, YT are all deep pocket experiments looking for a profit model. As long as the profitability picture is not certain, the number of competitive plays is going to be limited.

Palm Pre Expected to Be Cheaper to Operate than the iPhone

Your comparison data for a family with 2-iphone lines is not fair...while you can get 2-iphones and share 700 minutes with AT&T....on the Sprint plan you get more like 1400 minutes to share....a far more reasonable number. In addition, on the Sprint plan, the IM's are unlimited....on AT&T they are not included!!!!

Apple: A Verizon Deal Could Double iPhone Sales

Two things are pretty clear:

The iPhone product line needs to expand - Apple cannot continue too long as a single-trick wireless pony. Eventually other mobile hardware providers will catch-up. I for one don't underestimate the Palm Pre (talk about brains and pedigree - these guys invented the smartphone business) and the Blackberry products (the Curve outsold the iphone in Q1 - wow!)

A big fish in a bowl can only get so much bigger - so the option is to play in a bigger bowl or be content (and act like a mature player). For many years Apple had the latter personality in Mr. Softie's shadow. I somehow don't think that is Steve's personality.

So, I think Apple will do both - introduce new iphone hardware and start working with V or PCS. I wonder if they would just do T-Mobile instead...hmmm. Now that would be interesting, and perhaps a little more palatable to T

Palm's Pre: Likely to Break

Which company has the most smartphone experience from a hardware perspective?

Which company has the most smartphone experience from a software perspective?

Yes carrier has the most smartphone experience with a particular brand?

Answers> Palm, Palm, Sprint. If anyone can pull it....this is the right combination.

Enterprise IT at a Crossroad

Amen to that.

It's the agile and smart corporations that will innovate first and adopt cloud computing. I couldn't agree more with David's comments mentioned earlier. If Business Unit Managers are not supported, they will attempt to eject the CIO or the IT department.

Marketing the Value of Multi-Tenant SaaS

Salesforce.com is being smart by going on the offensive against LISVs (I like this acronym with the "L" at the front)....it is a better form of defense. What is clearly a shortcoming of the SaaS offers has been turned into an advantage by CRM using the "Green Crystal" marketing theory. So far so good.

CRM - just don't fumble the ball !!!!

Can Telcos Dominate the Cloud Computing Industry?

Your last paragraph's last sentence sums it really well....

'As my friend Joe Weinman correctly states, the telcos are in a perfect position to dominate the enterprise cloud computing market. They have the technical resources, channels to market and brand equity. But, can they overcome their history, culture and other internal barriers to success?"

Inertia is the fundamental enemy of change. Ask Microsoft, ask Oracle, ask HP, ask BP. Last month, on two separate occasions, I was told by AT&T technical field services staff that copper-wire DSL was faster than optical fiber!!

Hint -- if telcos really want to offer data-center dialtone, they should acquire and / or invest in companies like Rackspace - and let them operate independently.

Paychex: SaaS Roll-Up, Please

An SaaS roll up would comprise of a portfolio of acquisitions in the Payroll/HR/Financial Management space for Paychex. For example, companies such as SuccessFactors provide talent management software as a service; NetSuite provides the Financial Management as well as Customer Management; Concur provides Expense Management.

I mentioned these players since they are large and public. However, these are not the only companies in the SaaS space....there are several much smaller players that PayChex could consider aggregating and provide additional services, besides payroll.

How iPhone Use Differs from Other Smartphones

iPhone is a mass market device. You can call it a smartphone, if you like....but what really separates the iPhone from other smartphones is what I refer to as "Completeness of Concept". iPhone delivers iTunes, numerous applications, a large real estate (screen) - and a simple, easy to use interface.

Most other smartphones have failed due one or another reason:

Windows Mobile - meant for programmers. Nobody craves the Start button.
Blackberry - Good for Email, primarily. Multimedia features either lacking or ineffective (yes, I have seen the new Blackberry devices....they are better, they still do not have a completeness of concept)
Palm/Treo - This is the only smartphone that could have taken on the iPhone -- but again you have to be a scientist to load media onto the Treo. Watchout for Pre (could they not come up with a better name? Pre / Pro? What the....)
Nokia/Symbian - Too European - no phone subsidies.....never made it stateside.
Android -- all's quiet on this front...I guess everyone is out building a store to download apps....or HTC is being harassed by the folks in Seattle.
Pre - it better be right the first time...or else Palm is history.

iPhone users like to watch their TV shows, read books, play music, surf the Internet, and oh yeah....also make calls without needing tech support.

Other smartphone users are still editing their MP3 tags; are trying to re-encode the stored video on their Archos device to work on their smartphone, are discussing how many pixels their 2 x 3" screen can hold and reaching for the reset button that is behind the battery compartment!!!

'nuff said.

My Phones - Nokia 8000>Sony Ericsson 800>Treo 600/650> Blackberry 7xxx > Blackberry Curve > iPhone (on order)

Bringing Cloud Computing Down to Planet Earth

You make a good case for increased automation. The returns on any kind of virtualiztion effort in a data center are going to be very limited unless and until there is a solid automated management (configuration, provisioning, reporting and monitoring) capability

SaaS Summit: Cloud Computing Is Here to Stay

Cloud Computing is here to stay. Will there be hiccups along the way - sure. Will there be security breaches in the cloud - possibly. Will there ever be a loss of connectivity between a business and its data - you bet. But..

As an IT Manager/CIO, you have to manage risks. Are you going to have data security breaches within your infrastructure - yes. Are you going to loose data some day and not have back-ups - possibly. Do you have enough IT budget and resources allocated to meet current and future IT demands - quite unlikely.
Do you make build-versus-buy decisions - yes; So

Cloud computing can provide a company with a key short to medium term strategic advantage...and it comes with its own risks.