Farewell, GoEverywhere ...

GoEverywhere was a Beta project at Symantec that researched the viability of a Webtop as a single sign-on personal portal. I used it on and off and thought it was pretty neat, but it just was not a killer application. I found that just having the few online services I used regularly open in browser tabs was just as productive.

Where this technology would be useful is perhaps on thin-client systems that access corporate in house web applications. Unfortunately this is not a ubiquitous occurrance at this point in the IT world. Most companies and individuals are still primarily dependent on a few stand alone or networked client-server applications.

Cloud computing is a nifty idea, but the infrastructure, security, and products are just not feature-rich enough to replace the prevalent IT landscape. Additionally, corporate customers are reluctant to place all their eggs in the "Cloud" basket for any number of reasons. Until there is truly instant, secure "Internet Everywhere", I see Cloud Computing remaining merely an interesting sidenote in corporate IT.

One niche where I see it being useful in the short run is for individuals that have light to moderate productivity needs, or that just want access to a few documents from anywhere. Though the later requirement could be easily achieved by editing documents on the local computer and uploading them to an online storage account, or even just emailing the to yourself, it may still be useful to create them online.

I always hate to see applications fading into the twilight, but perhaps Symantec will make the code available under a community license. That would allow small groups, or maybe educational institutions to at least put what was done to good use.

Goodbye, GoEverywhere!

Dear Beta Tester,

Thank you for participating in the beta program for Symantec GoEverywhere. This innovative project in cloud computing was very successful and provided a number of insights on technical features and usage patterns derived from substantial user feedback. However, the beta program for GoEverywhere will come to a close on June 30, 2009. At that time, the service will no longer be accessible and available for use.

Symantec continues to develop innovative technologies and remains focused on its vision to become the leading provider of cloud-based offerings that secure and manage the world's information. However, at this time we do not plan to release Symantec GoEverywhere as a standalone service.

Account information, including log-in information for accounts you have connected to through GoEverywhere, will be securely deleted, and no personal information will be retained.

We thank you for your active participation and support. If you have any questions about Symantec GoEverywhere, please contact us at support@goeverywhere.com

Thank you,

The GoEverywhere Team
*Sorry if you have received this email more then once.

Why Twitter is Great

I have seen numerous articles about whether or not Twitter is going to make it. I am thinking, "How can it not make it?" Unless they do something incredibly stupid and alienating, they cannot help but succeed. Let me tell you why.

Look at this Blog ... Kinda sparse, huh? Postings a bit irregular and not very consistent. It takes a lot more time and effort to maintain and keep a full fledged blog up than I have. Micro-blogging on the other hand is quick and easy. Most people, especially anyone with a spouse and kids, do not have the cycles to spend writing lengthy tomes on their blog.

Twitter on the other hand, allows anyone to make a quick observation about something they read, learn, hear, or do. It can enable a large segment of the population to express themselves and their opinions about anything that matters to them. It could especially appeal to all the SMS text users, who are used to constant, shorthand, streaming communications. Twitter is your life in motion.

I also love the fact that I can post on Twitter, and have that information automatically cross-posted to one or more of several social media sites. I want to duplicate effort as little as possible. My spouse complains that I already spend too much time in front of the computer.

The only real problem Twitter has is that they have not figured out a way to fully monetize the service. This is a slippery slope and they have to tread lightly. Something I would consider is maybe partnering with Google and taking advantage of the AdWords/AdSense programs they have. Google is definitely the master of non-invasive advertising.

Another possible route is to create premium services that can be added on. Fortunately or unfortunately, some of the areas where this could be profitable are being filled by 3rd party developers. For example using Twitter for job searches, or for sharing pictures.

Maybe they can market Twitter to corporations for internal use. All the employees in a department or group could follow each other and always know where each member is on various projects. This is another niche that some other companies have already started to jump into.

Finally, perhaps they can charge corporations on Twitter a fee. I think this is very fair, and should not disenfranchise current individual contributors. The beauty of this is that companies will be followed by people that are already interested in them. It is like consumer driven product marketing and placement, unlike TV where the entertainment companies try to target advertising to a demographic based on who they think will be watching the movie of the week.

I do hope Twitter is able to find that right balance between making money and keeping it's users happy. It is a terrific service that allows people to express themselves and keep up with friends, associates, and family. It allows you to show your life in motion, and to answer that constant question: "I wonder what so-and-so is doing right now".

Linpus Linux Lite for Netbooks

Linpus Linux Lite is not for everyone, but it does provide a very fast booting responsive operating system that works well on my Netbook. It boots to the desktop in 15 seconds, and is on wifi in like 20 seconds. It is based on Fedora 8, so you can add additional software to it if desired. For quick web connectivity, it's hard to beat.

http://www.linpus.com/products_1.php?gid=1

Google Communications and Media Convergence

By way of introduction to this article, here is an email that I sent to Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt:

Hello,

I am writing an blog article that I have titled "Google Communications and Media Convergence". The basic premise is that Google is poised to become the center of "everyman's" media and communications experience. I envision AdWords/AdSense making the jump to cell phones, television, and home phones using the entertainment and communications as a service model.

Services including Android powered mobile and home phone (or possible VoIP phones using wifi and 3G), Android powered TV's or set top boxes and radios offering streaming media services, all free ad supported services. Enabled by Google's nationwide infrastructure, which will be enhanced by the administrations "Stimulus Package" with funds for broadband, and through your partnership with GE for revamping the power grid.

If you would like to read it, please visit my blog at:

http://technativity.blogspot.com

Thank you.

Jeffrey C. Johnson

I recon it's pretty presumptuous to think he or anyone at Google will ever read this post, but thought it would be a nice gesture none the less.

Google wants to be the center of your world by combining rich media and telephony into a giant advertising mashup. Picture this, you turn on your mobile or desktop phone and call Uncle Charlie. During the course of the conversation, uncle Charlie mentions that he is looking for a good price for a digital media center. Your phones then pop up several internet ads for media center packages and components. You click on a link or say, "looks like Big Buy has some good deals", and your touch screen home or mobile phone pulls up the Big Buy ad with a prompt saying "Would you like to be connected to this merchant after your call?" You or your uncle say "Yes" or press "OK" on the phone and when your call ends you are automatically routed to the stores website and the closest store to you has their phone number dialed, and the same ad you are looking at pulls up on store clerks terminal.

Add to this the possibility of GoogleTV. Internet based TV service that includes web enabled features that allow much more focused advertising to viewers. It seems like a logical progression from today's media-center integration. People like having all their various media types available from a central location, which for many is the living room television. Going back to the example above, if you are getting all your services (internet, home phone, mobile phone, video broadcast, etc.) from the same vendor, all the services could be tightly integrated. Instead of the Ad popping up on your phone, it could show up in a ticker at the top of your TV screen. Since your TV is web enabled, you could then pop up a PIP view of the Ad with your remote then connect to the site and buy immediately.

Sounds kind of far out, right? Well, maybe, but the technology already exists and is being used piecemeal right now. Look at some of Google's new products, acquisitions, and partnerships over the past couple of years and you see a pattern emerging. Many have speculated about a Google Desktop Operating System, but I think that completely misses the boat. That is a small vision that is destined to failure. However, a platform like Android, that is vendor, and hardware independent - That is grand, and extremely compelling.

Google has been consistently improving it's infrastructure over the past several years. We have seen stories about Google buying Dark Fiber, and about their work building "portable datacenters". With the Broadband money in Obama's "Stimulus Package", combined with Google's recent partnership with GE for overhauling the nations energy grid, that trend is sure to continue. "Hey, while we have the ground open working on the energy pipelines, how about we add some of this dark fibre we happen to have here ...".

This is just a very rough overview sketch of future possibilities, but like any good pundit, I am going to guess a timeframe for this type of convergence. We should see something like this by 2020. I do believe, however, that we will begin seeing fruition of some of these ideas and technologies sooner rather than later. As with any prediction, there are many factors involved - political, economic, social, and technological.

For example, I think a smart company like Google will go slow on this path, especially during the present "Big Business Hostile" administration. After all, no sooner than the current president has taken office, than his newly appointed "antitrust chief" has set her sights on Google.

Keeping this in mind, unless the newly elected president really messes something up, I think it's safe to assume he will be re-elected, which pushes us out to 2016 before this type of media, entertainment, communication consolidation has a chance. Anything done before then could run the risk of nationalization or at least huge antitrust battles.

This article is subject to editing and revision, as it is somewhat of a rough draft. I also hope to follow up with more details on some of the concepts mentioned in future blog posts.

A Plea to Software Companies in Troubled Times

In our currently troubled economy, there is more risk than ever that companies will go under. Those that don't are probably considering trimming the fat on their product portfolios and concentrating on their biggest money makers.

This presents the possibility that some software products may be discontinued or abandoned. My plea is this—that companies open–source their software under an approved license if they are no longer marketing it.

While open–source is not a panacea for every application out there, it does at least add to the wealth of code available to programmers. Why reinvent the wheel if there is already a servicable component to use? Some software is reinvigorated via the open–source model. Some may just benefit other programming projects.

Of course, there is the possibility that a vibrant community will develop around it and opportunities may arise for providing support contracts. An example of this might be NetManage ECCO Pro (though not open–source). Another scenario is that programmers who worked on the product might continue to do so in their spare time, perhaps even with encouragement from their company. This demonstrates good will and is appreciated by many developers and end users. An example here might be OpenOffice (if there is a better example, please post it in the comments). Really, I am surprised that more companies don't do this.

I think perhaps some of them are afraid that the open–source product might be competition for them. Lay your fears to rest. If the open–source revolution has demonstrated anything, it is that despite there being high-quality, free solutions available, most companies continue to purchase commercial software.

Perhaps they do so partly out of habit, but more often than not, they do so because they have a company to hold accountable and service contracts to help with bugs or other issues they encounter. In fact, it is rare indeed to find a company that relies exclusively on free software.

As for competition—I think most people agree that a little competition brings out the best in all parties. It could be argued that many commercial products owe at least some of their success to competing with eachother and with free solutions. Competition drives innovation.

Once again, please consider releasing code for products that are no longer in your portfolio, or to your software assets if you are unfortunately forced to close your doors.