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Mark Evans

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Archive for August, 2008

What’s the Big Deal About Jaiku?

For months, there’s been this subtle but persistent buzz about Jaiku, the microblogging service that Google acquired last October, and then took into stealth mode.
Having not used Jaiku before Google swooped in, I didn’t have a feel for what Jaiku did or how it was any different from Twitter or Pownce. But I was curious [...]

Five Questions with…BackType Co-Founder Chris Golda

Once in awhile, you come across a startup that jumps out because it’s such an interesting concept.
BackType falls into this category. Dubbed the “Twitter of Comments”, BackType lets you follow people who leave comments on blogs, as well as search for comments about people, trends, companies, etc.
The reason it’s so intriguing is I’m trying to [...]

Rogers Spinning its iPhone Story

One of the most interesting things about how badly Rogers handled the introduction of the iPhone in Canada is how it was totally mauled from a public relations perspective.
While Rogers was assailed for its ridiculous data plans, the company essentially did nothing to respond. Only when the assault turned into a hailstorm did Rogers finally [...]

It’s Going to a Wireless Bonanza…Maybe

Back in the heady days of the dot-com boom, Forrester was among the most notorious when it came to issuing bullish forecasts when it came to e-commerce.
It was a great marketing move by because it fed into the frenzy among start-ups, VCs and investors who believed e-commerce was going to destroy their bricks and mortar [...]

Canadian Duo Unveils Comment Tool

Within the blogosphere, comments are a strange animal.
Comments welcomed by blog writers, they’re often far more interesting and insightful as blog posts, and, of course, they’re a favorite tool of spammers.
The other reality is comments are seen as the ugly cousins to blog posts. Blog posts get top ranking as the stars of the blogosphere [...]

TechCrunch Redesign A Sign of Things to Come

Big news! TechCrunch has gone through a pretty extensive redesign.
In post, Mark Hendrickson explained that:
“Our overarching goal was to clean things up, both on the surface and under the hood. TechCrunch had become bloated in many ways, with the homepage taking way too long to load and the scroll bar going on forever and ever.”

You [...]

What Does Mozilla Do With Its Dough?

I went to a Microsoft event last night, and one of the things we talked about during drinks afterwards was what Mozilla does with all of the money it makes from driving search traffic to Google. The little search box in the upper right-hand side of Firefox is Mozilla’s cash-cow because Google pays Mozilla a [...]

Buzz About Data but Voice Still Rules

For all the talk about the iPhone, ringtones, the wireless Web and mobile e-mail, here’s the reality few people want to admit: the vast majority of wireless revenue comes from voice services because the vast majority of wireless subscribers mostly use their devices to talk.
Talking on your cell phone is no where near as sexy [...]

The iPod Touch is Sublime But…

After pining for an iPod Touch for months, I finally pulled the trigger recently - and now wonder why I waited so long.
In short, the Touch is sublime. It is a wonderfully designed and multi-functional product that probably doesn’t get the attention it deserves because of the obsession with the iPhone. Sure, it doesn’t have [...]

Buying Quality vs. Buying Crap

Yesterday, I spent far more money than I could ever imagine on a new vacuum cleaner.
The purchase of a German-made Miele came after years of buying $100 at big-box stores that promised “Hurricane Suction” only to lose most of performance after a year or so. So while buying a Miele put a quick end to [...]

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