Mark Evans

Let’s mesh!

At last, we’re finally ready to unveil some details about mesh ‘07! First, we’d like to thank everyone for being so patient - and for all the suggestions, ideas and feedback. You can register and buy tickets here.
Needless to say, we’re very excited about our keynotes. Here’s the line-up:
Michael Arrington, founder/editor of TechCrunch, speaking about new media and journalism in the age of the Web; Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist, talking about how the Web is disrupting traditional business models; Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman, on the tension between the openness of the Web and traditional marketing; and Tom Williams, founder of GiveMeaning.com, and Austin Hill, founder of Gifter.org, talking about the Web as a tool for charity.

For more on mesh, check out Mathew Ingram, Rob Hyndman, Michael Macderment and Stuart MacDonald. To stay in the loop about other mesh news, check out the mesh blog, subscribe to the mesh feed or our e-mail alerts.

Technorati Tags: mesh

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Can Macs Crack the Corporate Market?

For all the chatter about how the Mac has suddenly emerged as more than just a well-design niche product as more people jump off the Windows bandwagon, an interesting issue is whether the Mac will be embraced by the corporate market. Some analysts suggest the Mac’s stability, elegant design and Intel architecture are making the Mac an easier choice for CIOs, who have used the “No one’s been fired for buying Microsoft (and, for that matter, HP, IBM and Dell)” for many years.

As much as consumers love the Mac because it’s cool, its chances of taking significant market share in the corporate marketplace are, at best, slim. For one, Macs are more expensive to buy at a time when Windows-powered desktops are going for $400 a pop and laptops can be had for as little as $600. Using a Mac is like learning a different language in many ways to the cost for many companies (retraining, short-term productivity loss) can be a deterent. Then, there’s the software issue as Microsoft pushes its Windows-powered products first.

In some ways, the Mac’s biggest advantage and perhaps most appealing sales tool for business and consumers is Vista’s lack of sizzle. Other than looking prettier (and some better, but annoying security features) Vista doesn’t scream “You need to upgrade now!”. For many people Vista is a non-event, and this lack of excitement choudl provide Mac and Linux with a window of opportunity in places where they have yet to have much traction yet.

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Networking About Blog Networks

If you heading down to SXSW next month and interested in talking about blog networks, b5media (Jeremy Wright and Aaron Brazell) will be hosting an unofficial gathering (venue to be determined but suggestions welcome). Check out Jeremy’s blog for more details.
Update: The venue has been determined for the meet-up: Opal Divine’s Freehouse at 700 W. 6th St and Rio Grande St.

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The Silence About WNP in Canada is Deafening

Wireless number portability (WNP) is coming to Canada in just over two weeks but judging by the lack of media coverage and non-existent advertising by the major carriers (Telus, Bell and Rogers), you’d think it wasn’t a big deal. Truth be told, WNP was hoisted upon the carriers who argued there was no demand for it by consumers. Of course, the carriers hate the idea of WNP because it means they’ll have to treat customers better and - heaven forbid - offer them deals to stick around. In other words, WNP could encourage competition in Canada - and none of the carriers really want to see that monster emerge.

This explains why the carriers have been so quiet about WNP. I mean, why advertise when WNP looks like zero-sum game: you may attract some customers from other carriers but chances are you’ll lose some of your own customers. That said, Rogers looks like it has the most to gain from WNP because as Canada’s only GSM carrier, it has the coolest phones, roaming out of the country is a snap, and you can move to another phone by simply putting your SIM card in. I expect Virgin Canada will also do well with some aggressive marketing.

That said, do not be surprised if the carriers somehow make it difficult for consumers to take their business and telephone numbers to a rival carrier. Perhaps they will charge a “transfer fee” to cost the administrative costs of moving a customer, or maybe the process will take several weeks to happen rather than a few days. Call me a conspiracy theorist but the carriers never wanted WNP and will likely to do their best to downplay its existence.

For other thoughts, check out the David Rotor.

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Who Reads Blog? Apparently, “Almost No One”

I’ve been writing about or working within the Internet since 1995 so I’ve got a pretty good handle on the key trends. That said, it’s amazing how much new information and insight you get from listening to Jeff Cole, the director of the Center for the Digital Future, which has been conducting a comprehensive study on Internet usage since 1999. I’ll write a more complete post tomorrow but one thing that resonated with me was Cole’s take on blogs.

“Almost no one reads blogs,” he said today during a lunch-time presentation in Toronto put together by eBay Canada. “The audience for most blogs is tiny….We think most bloggers have achieved the anonymity they rich deserve.”

For someone working for a blog networking company and passionate about blogging, that’s troubling to hear. But Cole is right - most of the 55 million blogs (and counting) out there don’t get many readers but that’s okay because people write blogs for all kinds of reasons beyond being popular. Still, it does make you realize the enthusiasm for blogging overshadows blog readership - at least for now. My take is bloggers are ahead of the curve as many people seeking information on the Web are still dabbling with the blogosphere. However, that will start to change as more people get comfortable about blogs, spend more time reading blogs, and start to realize there is a rich world of insight, comment and information available at no cost.

I think Cole is making a valid point about an industry/community that tends to filter or brush aside criticism or suggestions it’s not as important or popular. As much as the blogosphere likes to think about itself as an emerging medium, it has a long way to go before it enters the mainstream. Hopefully, future studies will start to suggest blog readership is gaining momentum, which will good news for bloggers, and selfish-speaking, blog networks.

Technorati Tags: Jeff Cole

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When Blogs Get Out Front of a Story

I try not to cross-promote my blogs but will make an exception about a story that appeared on my Nortel blog last week because it illustrates how blogs can get ahead of the media and a corporate PR team.

Last Thursday, I saw a Google Alert about a Nortel executive, Joel Hackney, who admitted to being guilty of assault on a female, false imprisonment and communicating threats after a road rage incident in a parking lot following a basketball game in North Carolina. Initially, I wasn’t sure whether to blog about it because although it involved a Nortel executive, it wasn’t really related to Nortel’s business. But it did involve a senior executive who is a member of the company’s new and improved management team so it seemed newsworthy. (and the story had been picked up by a North Carolina newspaper. the News Observer). So, I wrote a post asking whether Nortel CEO Mike Zafirovski should keep Hackney.

The number of page views (more than 10,000) and comments (80 and counting) have blown away any blog post I’ve ever written. How come? For one, it is a bizarre story featuring an executive who works for a high-profile company with more than 25,000 employees but I think the real reason is there’s an information void. Other than a handful of local outlets covering the story, there has been no media coverage, including none in Canada where Nortel has its headquarters. Meanwhile, Nortel has been silent.

With little information available, many people have turned to my blog as a way to find out what’s happening and what other people are thinking, including many Nortel employees. The most striking comment was a person who said: “One of the more depressing aspects of this affair is Nortel employees having to communicate with each other through an external blog like this, in full gaze of the world.”

For someone who spent a long time as a business reporter, including five years covering Nortel, this “story” is interesting because it’s another example of how blogs are increasingly becoming places where people get their information. I will be curious to see whether the mainstream media picks up on it, and whether Nortel issues a public response.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Nortel

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If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Join ‘em

In what appears to be a deal with the devil, Hollywood (20th Century Fox, Paramount and Warner Brothers) has decided to join forces with the popular peer-to-peer technology maker, BitTorrent, to create an online store will offer thousands of classic movies and television shows, as well as a large library of PC games and music videos.

It an important development from a number of different angles but one thing resonated with me is how the movie/video industry has addressed the P2P issue in a much different way than the music industry. Rather than try to bludgeon the video world legally, Hollywood has decided to play ball and create win-win situations. These deals don’t mean free video downloads will evaporate but at least Hollywood is trying to address the P2P in a pro-active way rather than following the music industry’s nasty legal agenda.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the music industry has co-oped Napster, which was a wonderful discovery tool (see my earlier post today on the need for discovery tools), instead of treating it like the devil? Napster’s emasculation was a sad development for a service with so much potential. Who knows, maybe Napster could have been a bigger and better iTunes if it was nurtured rather than neutered. Who knows whether the alliance between Bit Torrent and Hollywood will be successful but at least they’re trying.

For more, check out Mathew Ingram, who believes the Bit Torrent-Hollywood deal is doomed to fail, and IP Democracy, which points to the fact DRM issues could stop consumers from using the new service.

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The Discovery Opportunity

I’m a huge StumbleUpon fan, and not just because it was started in Calgary before - sniff, sniff - leaving home to seek its fame and fortune in Silicon Valley. StumbleUpon rocks because its mandate is all about discovery - the ability to offer up new Web sites that take you out of your comfort zone (aka the sites/blogs in a particular area that you check out every day).

The way I see it, discovery is - or be should be - one of the most exciting new trends on the Web that will spawn the next wave of hot start-ups. Let me explain. Right now, we’re in the midst of a user-generated content revolution with the creation of millions of blogs, podcasts and vlogs. At the same time, it’s easier and cheaper than ever to produce high-quality videos and music that you can quickly distribute on the Web.

The problem - and the opportunity - is discovering all his new content because search engines - including Google - aren’t to do the trick. So how do you discover new and interesting blogs, music, videos, etc. given most people don’t stray too far their main area of interest. For example, given my interest in technology, there are a handful of Web sites (Techmeme, Tailrank, CNet) and a 50 to 75 blogs that I visit regularly but few of them are non-tech (CBSsportline.com, CBC.com, The Guardian, New York Times). I suspect my online habits are pretty typical.

So how do you get out of this echo chamber? That’s where discovery tools such as StumbleUpon, Pandora and LastFM come into the mix by forcing you out of your online comfort zone.

Since I started using StumbleUpon, for example, my bookmark list has expanded (Note: I’d like to see a StumbleUpon tool created just for blogs). I’ve also got 10 Pandora channels, which has gone a long way in solving my music discovery challenge (It’s like commercial radio is a place to discover new music, and venture capitalists/music afficianado Fred Wilson can only blog about so many hot, new bands).

If I was going to jump into a new start-up, it would be something focused on discovery - a service that makes it easy to find new Web sites and blogs, books (check out this book discovery tool), music, restaurants, travel destinations, podcasts, videos, movies, etc. The emergence of these tools could take us back to the Web’s early days (I’m talking when it hit the mainstream in the mid-90s) when it was pretty easy to be blown away by all the new things the Web had to offer, which prompted many people to spend hours just randomly surfing. Ah, those were the days!

For more thoughts on StumbleUpon, check out 10e20, which talks about to use StumbleUpon for your business; and Andy Beal, who provides some tips on how to make Web sites StumbleUpon-able.

Update: The New York Times has a story looking at the challenges facing people looking to search for video content.
Tags: StumbleUpon, Pandora, discovery

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Less Regulation in Canada; Less Competition

In today’s Globe & Mail, there is a small story with a big message on how the new chairman of Canada’s telecom and broadcasting regulator, Konrad von Finckenstein, wants to see more deregulation within the $30-billion telecom sector. This approach mirrors that of federal Industry Minister Maxime Bernier, who believes free market forces should play a key role in determining how the competitive landscape unfolds.

The fundamental problem, however, with deregulation in Canada is it comes after decades of micro-management by the CRTC, which has scrambled to achieve a balance of regulation (protect consumers from being gouged and competitiors from being blown to smithereens) and competitive. At the end of the day, however, there is little competition in Canada’s telecom sector. In many markets, you only have one or two choices for local telephone, high-speed Internet access and wireless service. And with service providers and investment analysts focused on average revenue per user (ARPU), prices are creeping up with nary a whimper from consumers who have little choice but to chew and swallow.

So what will deregulation mean in Canada? My guess is a less competitive environment because it will give the stronger players (carriers and cablecos) more flexibility than ever to prevent newcomers from establishing a foothold in the market. Look at Vonage Canada, which is seeing nowhere the kind of success it’s seen in the U.S. With deregulation of the local phone market, Bell Canada, Telus and other incumbent carriers will have more freedom to use price as a marketing tool. If you’re a major player and you can easily attack smaller competitors, don’t be surprised if the small competitors disappear.

Another competitive/regulatory issue is fair access to facilities. Take the high-speed Internet access market, for example. To encourage competition and choice, the CRTC has mandated the carriers and cablecos provide wholesale access to other service providers. While Bell has complied (although not too aggressively), the cabelcos have managed to put off the CRTC for nearly a decade. As a result, there’s little competition in high-speed. And if the CRTC and federal government really wanted competition in high-speed, they would have never approved the purchase of WiMax-based Inukshuk to Bell and Rogers. If you want competition without forcing new players to make major investments in new facilities/networks, you need to ensure fair access to existing networks.

In many ways, deregulation is something that, in theory, makes sense because it means a more competitive environment. In reality, however, deregulation in Canada and a focus on free market forces will see the stronger players get stronger, and the small players disappear or be marginalized. Going forward, keep in mind this adage: Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it”.

Update: For more thoughts on the competitiveness of Canada’s telecom landscape, check out Mark Goldberg and Balraj Dhillon’s Telecom Canada blog. Another telecom issue looming on the horizon is Net Neutrality, which the federal government appears NOT to support. See Michael Geist’s post for more.

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How Hot is FeedBurner?

Lost amid all the talk about how Google’s decision to report RSS feeds for Google Reader and Google Home jacked up many people’s subscriber numbers by 30% was how FeedBurner has emerged as the leading RSS player within the Web 2.0 and publishing markets. I wonder how well FeedBurner is doing as a business, and whether the business has anywhere near the momentum that the brand and subscription engine do.

Feedburner’s business model consists of fee-based premium publisher services (management, statistics, syndication, etc.), and ads within feeds and blog posts, which means revenue is coming from a variety of sources. (You can read more about the business model here). If we’re talking investment potential, who buys FeedBurner when the times comes? (unless, as Business 2.0 proclaimed recently, the tech IPO is back). FeedBurner’s investors, which include Portage, Mobius, DFJ, Sutter Hill and Union Square, are sitting on a pot of gold, I think.

Technorati Tags: FeedBurner, RSS

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