2006 October | Mark Evans

Google Jumps On Jot

October 31st, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in Google, M&A, Main Page, Web 2.0

Google's shopping trip through the Web 2.0 start-up market continued with the purchase of Wiki maker Jot.com. In the scheme of things, it's chump change for Google but it does put the spotlight back on Google's online application suite, which will come as little surprise to anyone when it's eventually launched one day. Jot.com is a nice addition because it brings a collaboration tool into the mix. The purchase got me thinking about what people are currently doing to cobble together an online office suite. Since I started working from home (and I can't be too effusive about not having to commute anymore!), I've really got into Web-based tools. This includes Skype, Google Talk, Writely, Yahoo Mail, PBWiki, along with Flock and Firefox. I'd be curious to see what other tools are people are using. Tags: Google, M&A

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It's Good to be Ted (Rogers)

October 31st, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in ILEC News, Analysis, Main Page

Talk about letting the good times roll for the cable industry. Today, Rogers Communications posted better-than-expected third-quarter results that provide more evidence how the cablecos are thriving while many carriers are struggling to find any kind of growth. Rogers' operating profits jumped to $784-million, compared with estimates of $727-million, while wireless operating profits were $563-million, compared with UBS Securities' estimate of $511-million. For people looking for insight into the growth of cable telephony, Rogers added 106,000 customers, while losing 24,000 traditional circuit customers (part of Call-Net's operations). In terms of guidance for 2006 as a whole, Rogers is now looking for a $90-million bump in operating profits to $1.9-billion and 300,000 net cable telephone subscribers adds (a 50K bump from the second-quarter). Tags: cable, rogers, VoIP

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Paris, Anyone?

October 31st, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in Blog Services, Main Page, Web 2.0

Paris: the city of light….and now the conference for bloggers. I just took a quick look at Les Blog 3's schedule, and it makes you want to book a flight right now. Some of the highlights include Index Ventures' Danny Rimer, one of Skype's early investors, Netvibes' Tariq Kim, and FON's Martin Varsavsky. Some guy named Michael Arrington is giving the opening keynote.

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Where Are Newspaper Readers Going?

October 31st, 2006 | 3 Comments | Posted in Main Page

Newspaper circulation continues to decline in the U.S., according to a story in the New York Times. In the six-month period ended Sept. 30, average daily circulation for 770 newspapers fell 2.8%, while circulation for Sunday papers was down 3.4%. So where are all these newspaper subscribers going? Is it the Web that's capturing their attention or DVDs or iPods or their PVRs? An optimist will suggest many (some?) readers are going to newspaper Web sites rather than having the paper delivered. In theory, this means newspapers could generate more advertising revenue online. A pessimist will suggest newspaper readers are moving online (but perhaps not to newpaper sites) and dying off. Before anyone hits the panic button that newspapers are doomed (other than tree-loving environmentalists), the reality is newspapers are just being squeezed by a new medium - much like radio suffered but didn't disappear when TV appeared on the scene. The challenge for newspapers is adjusting their operating and economic models to account for more competition for the attention of advertisers and readers.
Update: Circulation among Canadian newspapers is also down, highlighted by major declines at the National Post.

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Firefox 2.0 - Not Quite Yet For Me

October 30th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in Browsers, Browsers/Firefox, Main Page, Uncategorized

There's a lot of excitement about Firefox 2.0 (although it seems muted compared with 1.5) but I have no plans to jump on the bandwagon quite yet despite the new version's better security and better speed. Why not? It mostly has to do with the compatibility of extensions. Why would I want to jump to 2.0 if some of my 1.5 extensions won't work? It would be like buying a new car with a better motor but the headlights and speedometer don't work. For now, I'll stick with 1.5. Who knows, I may even try IE7.
Update: Hardware 2.0's Adrian Kingley-Hughes has a post looking at 2.0's shortcomings, including memory leaks, weak anti-phishing features and incompatible extensions. He still believes 1.5 users should upgrade: “If you stick with 1.5.x then you're going to
be at risk from unpatched vulnerabilities. The only way to go is up to
2.0 and keep downloading updates as they become available.”

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What Does Darren Entwistle Do Next?

October 30th, 2006 | 3 Comments | Posted in ILEC News, Analysis, Main Page, Telecom Acquisitions, Financing

The Report on Business magazine has an interesting profile on Telus CEO Darren Entwistle, which offers some insight into arguably Canada's most dynamic telecom executive. It includes the surprising contention the 44-year-old may have plans to walk away from telecom in four or five years to teach strategy and leadership at a U.K. university - as opposed to moving on to bigger and better things such as CEO of a U.S. RBOC. The only thing I would quibble about in the story is the claim Entwistle “blew some of his regained credibility with a doomed $1.1-billion bid for Microcell” in 2004. Everyone knew Entwistle wanted Microcell out of the wireless game because its discounting tactics were hurting the industry's operating margins. By making the bid, Entwistle put Microcell in play and Telus in a win-win position. If the bid succeeded, Telus would become an even bigger wireless player in a fast-growing market. If the bid failed (which happened when Ted Rogers made a $1.4-billion bid), the market would be consolidated and market conditions would improve. Entwistle didn't blow his credibility; he made a brilliant strategic move that didn't cost Telus a dime.

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Using the Web to Rock the Vote

October 30th, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in Main Page

In Canada, the voter turnaround for municipal elections is appalling - usually less than 40% if you're lucky. There's been a lot of focus on whether online voting can convince more people to exercise their democratic right but the technology doesn't seem be ready for prime time. That said, there are a few signs the Web is becoming more of a political tool. One example is YouTube where a growing number of politicians are putting campaign videos to talk about their policy positions. The Toronto Star has a story how Mayor David Miller has posted a slickly-produced 95-second video to explain how he wants create more opportunities more young people “who face barriers caused by poverty, race and discrimination”. (His rivals - Jane Pitfield and Stephen LeDrew also have videos on YouTube.) The key questions are whether these videos raise the profile of elections to affect turnout, and whether these clips resonate with young people, who are showing less faith in politicians and little interest in voting. I would argue technology is just one piece of the puzzle. As much as political YouTube videos are steps in the right direction, I'd be more encouraged to see politicians who are more honest, less interested in their re-elections prospects and more inspiring about making Toronto a better place to live. It would also be nice to see a candidate knock on my door once in a blue moon but I guess that's not likely to happen any time soon if YouTube is taking over that job.

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The New Newspaper Business Model

October 29th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in M&A, Main Page, Media

There is no doubt the newspaper industry needs to change its ways as the Web becomes more popular with readers and advertisers. There has been a lot of talk about how newsrooms need to evolve (for example, my “5 Ws Post”) but little focus on the newspaper “business” so it was interesting to read a comment from a group interesting in buying Baltimore's The Sun newspaper from Tribune Co. In discussing how his group was approaching the potential puchase, Theodore Venetoulis told Reuters they understood it will “not be an investment that will provide the usual yield and return that some investors will be used to.” That's a pretty telling and blunt concession, although you could argue it's also a savvy negotiating tactic. That said, Venetoulis put the spotlight on the new economic realities of the newspaper industry, which needs to reduce its operating costs amid the loss of advertising revenue. For newspaper owners, this means maintaining operating margins and profits by becoming lean and mean (e.g. smaller, less expensive newsrooms) or accepting lower profit margins and profits compared with historical levels. While this is happening, newspapers such as the Toronto Star, Los Angeles Times and newspaper chains such as Tribune Co. and Dow Jones Inc. are under growing pressure from investors unhappy about slumping stock prices. Unless there are more investors such as Venetoulis willing to accept lower ROIs, newspapers are going to be much different creatures. My advice for newspaper owners: aggressively embrace the Web, and reposition your newsrooms to cover less news (the Web is increasingly taking over the job of covering breaking news), and focus on providing analysis, perspective, context. For many newsrooms, it may be having a smaller, smarter, more flexible group of reporters.

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Polaroid Cameras: Retro but Cool

October 29th, 2006 | No Comments | Posted in Main Page

At my mother's 70th birthday party yesterday, we created a “memory book” by taking photographs of the guests with a Polaroid camera. The reaction of my six-year-old daughter, who was annointed the “official” photographer, about how a Polaroid camera worked was priceless. She was totally blown away by the idea you could take a photograph and see it develop before your eyes in about 60 seconds. In an age of digital this and digital that, it was pretty eye-opening to see someone so impressed by such an “antique”.

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The End of YouTube (as we know it)?

October 28th, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in Google, Main Page

One of YouTube's most compelling features are clips of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Well, it looks like Comedy Central has asked YouTube to take them down, and YouTube has complied. Boing Boing reports that if you do a search for the Daily Show, you get this message: “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.” If all the good stuff on YouTube is being removed until the video sharing service gets a copyright license, does this mean there are fewer reasons to even visit YouTube? It could not be long before you may have to pay for all the good stuff on YouTube such as the Daily Show - or, perhaps, see a lot of advertising to support a “free” model.

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