SharePoint Overview
May 6, 2009
Barb Mosher wrote “SharePoint Online (SaaS) Review – What It Is and Isn’t.” You can find the full write up published by CMS Wire here. Ms. Mosher has done a very good job of explaining the Software as a Service implementation of SharePoint. She walks through the basics and provides some screenshots. She has done what she could to make these screenshots easy to follow, but I find the steps for some basic tasks convoluted. Addled geese are not good candidates for SharePoint wisdom, I suspect. The most useful part of the article is her description and lists of what is included and what is not included. With regards to search, it seemed that only the bare bones of queries within a site are supported. I have questions about the stability of SharePoint from the cloud, which she did not address. Latency also triggers questions in my mind. Useful information to download and keep close at hand.
Stephen Arnold, May 6, 2009
Scholarly Research Shocker
May 5, 2009
Short honk: Don’t read this post if you are offended by strong language. The authors are answering the question “What Is The Best Search Engine For Scientific Journals?” The winner is Google Scholar. The loser. Ebsco. In between some names that are familiar. In my opinion the days of the commercial database are likely with a whimper or a bang.
Stephen Arnold, May 4, 2009
Ebook Wariness
May 5, 2009
Short honk: Technews World ran an interesting article about books that are not available in digital form. You can find “The E-Book Library’s Conspicuously Absent Volumes” here. Hillel Italie included a number of examples of authors, publishers, and estates wary of jumping into the digital zeros and ones.
Stephen Arnold, May 3, 2009
Microsoft Enterprise Site
May 5, 2009
Short honk: A happy quack to the reader who sent me a short email stating, “Microsoft introduced a new Enterprise Search website that does not have a search.” I navigated to the link the reader provided. Try it yourself at http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/en/us/default.aspx. No search box. Hmmm.
Stephen Arnold, May 5, 2009
Microsoft and Two Rip Tides
May 4, 2009
Jason Hiner’s “The Two Trends That Are Conspiring against Microsoft” here is a so-so title for a pretty good analysis of the rip tides sucking at Microsoft’s revenue. The two points are browser-based applications which blur the distinction between the desktop and the cloud, and mobile devices, which make the traditional desktop computer a boat anchor. The essay is hard hitting, and I think it makes some excellent points.
Stephen Arnold, May 4, 2009
Big Screen Kindle: Back Pack Snap and Crack
May 4, 2009
I have been involved in electronic books for a number of years. The form factors pose several challenges:
First, there is the issue of screen contrast. Although contrast is improving, white on black is more like light gray on dark gray. Great for young eyes. Not so hot for those in their mid 60s.
Second, there is the issue of user interface. The early devices were clunky. Today’s devices are – well – still clunky. But on a long trip, would I tote a bag of dead tree books or a Kindle? I go for the Kindle One because I like the extra capacity the secure digital storage card affords. Still early days on form factors.
Third, durability. In the late 1990s, I interacted with a development shop with a flexible screen. Very interesting. But with repeated flexing, there was some image degradation. Today’s devices require careful handling. My early Sony reader got a screen crack just passing it around. Sony’s support was impossible, so I disassembled the gizmo, kept the screws, and tossed the device.
I am on my second or third Kindle. These devices are not sufficiently study to deal amicably with airport security checks. The “holder” a sort of faux book cover seems to eject the device when a TSA inspector takes a closer look. Am I the only person to travel with one of these devices? TSA is surprised routinely by my having a device which seems to have sharp edges.
As a result, I am curious about a large format Kindle. I agree with MG Siegler in TechCrunch. The article “The Big Screen Kindle Hail Mary to Newspapers Will Fall Incomplete” here. News papers may look at the Kindle as a way to save their business. I think most of the traditional publishing companies will have to pull a rabbit from a hat.
The most interesting comment in my opinion was MG Siegler’s observation about textbooks:
In fact, I’d argue that it’s the much less sexy textbook business that could be the real key to this big Kindle. Textbooks are an absolute rip-off in print form, with many costing over $100 a book. If Amazon was able to offer textbooks on this large Kindle at a discount the same way it offers a discount on regular books on the regular Kindle, that would be worth the price of admission for just about every college student in the country right there. And a Kindle textbook reader makes sense because it would make bookmarking, taking notes and syncing all of those things up to the cloud, a snap.
I think this is a valid point. With regard to student use, I think the durability will be the key. Textbook publishers are as fragile – maybe more fragile – than newspaper publishers. If a student snags a big Kindle with an expensive textbook, how long will the Kindle last in a back pack? My instinct is that the device will have to stand up to harsh treatment. Smash a couple a semester and the student may have to take out another student loan.
Stephen Arnold, May 4, 2009
Google: Thunder, Babies, and Controlled Chaos
May 4, 2009
Short honk: My Overflight system kicked out a link to an article called “Thinking about Thunder” here. The author is Googler Matt Cutts. As I read the article, Google does not want to spit out negative electronics to neutralize others’ positive electrons. Thus, Wolfram Alpha versus Google in the news neutralization dust up was an unhappy coincidence. You may not believe me, but I believe Mr. Cutts. Google’s controlled chaos is too uncontrolled and chaotic to make probable consistent neutralization of competitors’ search efforts. Just chance. Just chance the item appeared in a personal Web log. Just chance.
Stephen Arnold, May 3, 2009
Google News in Transition
May 4, 2009
There are some gossip swirls roiling the leaves around the goose pond this afternoon (April 30, 2009). I read in The Wrap here the headline and story “Eric Schmidt on Google’s New Plan for the News”. I scanned the article, and I learned that at a Hollywood party Eric Schmidt was the “most popular guy in the room”. Heady stuff for Sun Microsystems’ former chief technology officer. Dr. Schmidt was popular at Sun for his technical acumen. I am not sure if technical acumen or power is the catnip for the Hollywood glitterati.
The news, according to The Wrap, is that Mr. Schmidt is “aware of the newsprint meltdown.” Here is what The Wrap said:
But Google does have plans for a solution. In about six months, the company will roll out a system that will bring high-quality news content to users without them actively looking for it. Under this latest iteration of advanced search, users will be automatically served the kind of news that interests them just by calling up Google’s page. The latest algorithms apply ever more sophisticated filtering – based on search words, user choices, purchases, a whole host of cues – to determine what the reader is looking for without knowing they’re looking for it. And on this basis, Google believes it will be able to sell premium ads against premium content. The first two news organizations to get this treatment, Schmidt said, will be the New York Times and the Washington Post.
I find this quite interesting, if it is indeed true. My research suggested that the Google was going to allow partners to use the Google platform to generate revenue. You can see where I obtained this idea by reading US2008/0275763.
Maybe the GOOG will do several things simultaneous a method with which the company is quite familiar.
Stephen Arnold, May 1, 2009
Encarta: The Price Curve of Death
May 4, 2009
I found Randall Stross’s “Encyclopedic Knowledge, Then vs. Now” in the New York Times here interesting. The article provides a useful supplement to my comments about online pricing in my “Mysteries of Online” series here. What struck me as I read the essay was the need for what I call “the curve of death”. The idea is that researchers probe the “market”, determine a price range, and then over the life of the product adjust the prices to covert the idea into a gusher of cash. As Mr. Stross pointed out, Encarta was unable to make headway, first, against the $129 Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia and, second, against the Wikipedia. The numbers he provided, when converted to a simple line chart, provide a textbook example of what I call the “curve of death”. In today’s online marketplace, one “can’t make up the investment on volume when the price is forced ever lower.” Here’s what the curve looked like when I toyed with Mr. Stross’s data:
Once the curve starts to nosedive, in this particular instance, Microsoft killed the product a quarter century after Encarta started through its lifecycle. What I concluded was that once a product fails to generate traction, further price cuts do not mean the product will become successful. I recall a lecture by an ivory tower type who explained economies of scale and the wisdom of cutting prices as the manufacturer moved “up the experience curve”. Didn’t seem to work for Encarta. My experience suggests that the ongoing cost of information products is a killer. Automation offers one way out of the box. Shifting production to volunteers may be another. The traditional approach and the traditional wisdom, in the case of Encarta, did not work even with the marketing muscle of Microsoft behind the product. Persistence is often an excellent characteristic. I wonder if the curve suggested an earlier exit from the Encarta business?
Stephen Arnold, May 3, 2009
Container Vessel Vertical Search
May 3, 2009
Short honk: MarketWatch here reported here that a free vertical search system for ocean going container vessels has been launched. The story “Linescape Launches a Free and Independent Ocean Container Schedule Search Engine” pointed to http://www.linescape.com. For me the most interesting comment in the description of this vertical search engine was:
Linescape has introduced several advanced features unique to its search engine, including an innovative “Route Planner” that presents users with a matrix of all the possible port combinations between two geographical areas and which carriers serve those routes. This very powerful and easy to use feature will simplify one of the most difficult tasks of a user — trying to choose the best possible origin and destination ports. A unique aspect of the website is the visibility of the number of transhipments in a journey, allowing a user to balance journey times with numbers of tranships to keep risks of delay to a minimum. Another advanced feature is the innovative “Multiple Lines” feature, whereby users are able to automatically build routes via transhipments, even between two unrelated shipping lines.
Linescape is a leading online provider of comprehensive ocean container shipping schedules for shippers and freight forwarders worldwide. Headquartered in Burlingame, California, Linescape was created in 2008 by a team of professionals who have spent many years in industries that require the shipping of goods to customers all over the world.
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