Curious Voyager - Live like you mean it!

Social Networking & Google Chrome

This has been a great week for reading. The current issue of Information Week has some great articles beginning with the Global CIO by Bob Evans and that followed by The Right Place For Social Networking? By John Soat. The latter is part of an ongoing series dealing with internet evolution.

My thoughts are that in order for a wiki or blog to work within the corporate environment you must have a team that can get something out of reading and responding beyond email. You need people that are involved, committed, and working in the present. The old gung ho team greatness. You also need leaders to implement, guide, develop and show the way - and they have to understand and know.

Uniquely this is not a managers position as this is not something you manage. This could be difficult for the current CIO's since most have a manage outlook. Most managers (not all) like the status quo and change requires learning, which, unfortunately, a great number of people are not into. There are more people opposed to evolution of any kind than the church.

One thought that I think is important is that for some, sharing the foundation of collaboration, is difficult due in part to fear. They feel their knowledge is their ticket and they are not always willing to put it to the team in the form of a blog or wiki.

There is also an article on Chrome the Google browser and soon to be OS by Andrew Conry-Murray.

Chrome as an OS - one promise that is interesting is Instant On. We go from the computer is a fad to wanting instant on. We surely have come a long way in almost 30 years. A few years ago there was discussion about ubiquitous computing and it is almost upon us and net books are leading the way.

I have said previously that if Chrome as on OS cannot run standard windows applications then it will not be anymore than an occasional toy used my a minority, a niche market item, but not a power application. This is brought out in a sidebar - What We Know About Chrome OS. "People won't be able to install client-server apps on Chrome OS, so users will have to depend on Web tools such as Google Docs and online versions of Microsoft Office." Chrome will be just another also ran unless this changes.

One quote from the article that I take issue with is: "Meantime, Windows will have another year to build it's lead on netbooks, more than 90% of which were sold with Windows in the first half of this year, …". Before that can happen Microsoft will have to recognize the fact that netbooks are a viable market arena.

I do think that Microsoft has misjudged the net book. I have been using one for the last 4 to 5 weeks and I find it fantastic for most all my daily communication. I am using Word and Excel (Office 2007) as well as OneNote and Windows Live Writer (with which I am posting this).

I am online everyday with either my Verizon EVDO card, AT&T Wi-Fi at Starbucks or the wireless network that I have at home (and even with the office wireless). I find it easy to read, easy to type on (and I can use all of my fingers and not just my thumbs). It is lightweight and can be easily carried in the "man purse" (thanks to Leo Laporte) purchased by my wife.

I leave you with a question; is it netbooks or net books? I see it so many ways.

Microsoft’s Coming After YOU GOOGLE!

OK with today’s preview of Microsoft Office 2010 I started to look around at Microsoft and found this wonderful page regarding Microsoft Online Business. Now I know that this has been around for awhile but when I looked at it this time and I began to realize what Microsoft is laying out there; the Online Business pricing and the Office 2010 with online capabilities I am beginning to see a formidable force coming at the free online connections.

Now FREE has it’s place and Microsoft cannot be all things to all office needs. There are plenty of times when Google hits a home-run however I do think the Google attack on the Office Suite is going to come up short. At the start price may be a factor however in the long run it will be the tools that will count. At present the difference is in the are of $130 per user ($50/year at Google, $180/year at Microsoft) but the tools at Microsoft are superior.

Businesses that need the power of the Microsoft Office suite, Outlook for mail (Exchange) and SharePoint should look into this. SharePoint has many features that are only cobbled together at Google where it is all one package at Microsoft.

It would appear that Microsoft is returning the fire and bringing out the big guns.

I Am Tired Of Blame!

Everywhere you turn today you hear that the Newspaper’s problems can be blamed on craigslist. I am sorry if the newspaper’s and their leaders would do some real soul searching, they might find that the real problem was themselves.

The newspapers were in trouble before craigslist just like the airlines were in trouble before 9-11 and the car companies before the recent financial downturn. Management and investors in the newspapers, the car companies and the airlines believed that nothing out there could stop them. They will last forever and be a constant great return on investment. They were only reading historical (hysterical?) information.

I can hear; “we don’t understand this new thing however it will take years before it amounts to much so maintain the status quo”. Surprise and now they are in trouble and have to blame someone else. “It could not have been my lack of foresight, I’m too bright!”

These icon’s of wealth have (or had) no clue to what was happening and those around them were not helping (we called the “brown nose's”). I would have to say that they were not blinded by the light - they could not even see it. These changes are not new. We have been headed this way since the 80’s and the handwriting was on the wall but you have to be able to read something outside of the last years report.

Here is a concept; people can self publish. Wow, so now why not use this new medium to reach those people and maybe be on the leading edge? “We didn’t know.” Better said would be, “we weren’t listening”, be honest about it. “We screwed up!” It’s not the fault of craigslist – he took advantage of your reticence, your lack of due diligence, your inability to “see”.

One thing that I think is really sad is that your newspapers were reporting on all this while it was happening but you didn’t read it. Talk about being blind.

One thing that should be a part of all management/leadership policies is to “LISTEN”. Someone in your organization knows what’s happening on the inside and on the outside. However it may not be the next in line who cannot afford to rattle your boat. You know the drill; Life is short and I need that promotion. Really big corporations have too much in-breeding, too much stay the course, to understand the future – they live in the past.

It would appear that no one realizes there is an issue until last quarters reports are bad and by then you cannot act  to resolve the issue. In some cases it takes a number of last quarter bad reports before we get it. We can always blame last quarter on a financial downturn, 9-11, or whoever, even craigslist.

Google OS and Microsoft Office

There has been a great deal of discussion the last two days since Google announced that they are going to produce an operating system by the end of 2010. I would like to state that unless Microsoft Office will operate within that OS it will not go very far.

Google Doc’s are good for the “techie in-crowd” but are not much value to the Admin of today or the power Word,Excel, or PowerPoint user. There is not the power needed to operate within today’s office environment with Google Doc’s. In order to do any “real” data control or layout one must learn HTML, I do not see that going very far.

I do admit that their spreadsheet functionality is very good as is their presentation software however Microsoft Office is too well ingrained and very superior in it’s capabilities.