As always, Seth Godin is onto something. Check out his latest blog, entitled "Getting Meta". The basic premise is that information is valuable, but information about information may be more valuable. The prefix "meta" means "about", so the word "metadata" literally translates to "about data". It really refers to "data about data".
So what the heck is metadata? Well just about anything that provides information about something else is metadata. For instance, your address is metadata about you. So is your SSN, your bloodtype, your height, weight, etc. As you can see, there is actually a TON of metadata about you. Now, consider all the other things that have descriptive or otherwise informative information regarding them available. Product specs are metadata about those products. Regarding my own experience, the EXIF 2.1 spec details a whole bunch of metadata regarding images that can be extremely useful to people who deal with such data.
What about marketing data? Sales data? You bet.
Bottom line: whoever has access to and controls the most relevant and accurate metadata can affect serious inroads in the business of their choice. Seth knows this. You should to.
20091130
CrunchPad is dead
Today, with little fanfare, and more than a few whimpers, the CrunchPad, the brainchild of Michael Arrington, was officially cancelled.
Too bad, cause it was a cool idea. Create a drop-dead simple tablet PC for surfing, music, reading, video...you know, all the stuff that we do with our electronic gadgets to pass the time between actually doing work!
Mike Arrington had a great vision, but unfortunately a little thing called reality crept in and caused some problems. It's too bad that when that happens, people automatically start looking for scapegoats.
Technically, the only problem with the CrunchPad was it's cost. Even with so-called "free" software [which is never totally free unless you think these folks don't need to eat], the component costs alone drove up the cost of the CrunchPad to over $400 in low quantities. Sure, if you buy a million of them you get a deal. I don't need a million; I only want one.
In time, I'm sure we'll get something close to what Arrington has described. Perhaps the rumored iTablet will be the winner of the tablet race. If so, I guarantee you it won't sell for $199, or even $299. Not this year or next.
Will we ever see a $99 tablet? Sure. But we'll all have to pay the ongoing development costs to drive the component costs down, especially the touchscreen display. For a normal hardware business model, you'll need the cost of ALL the components to be less than $50 to even get close to a model which drives the appropriate gross margin to make it attractive. That assumes, of course, that there are no subsidies like cell phones currently enjoy.
So hang in there, Mike. I'm sure someone will crack this business. Bottom line: it can't simply be a good idea. If that's all it took, tablets would abound. In the real world, companies have to think they have a shot at making money somewhere in the process. Great leaders know this.
Too bad, cause it was a cool idea. Create a drop-dead simple tablet PC for surfing, music, reading, video...you know, all the stuff that we do with our electronic gadgets to pass the time between actually doing work!
Mike Arrington had a great vision, but unfortunately a little thing called reality crept in and caused some problems. It's too bad that when that happens, people automatically start looking for scapegoats.
Technically, the only problem with the CrunchPad was it's cost. Even with so-called "free" software [which is never totally free unless you think these folks don't need to eat], the component costs alone drove up the cost of the CrunchPad to over $400 in low quantities. Sure, if you buy a million of them you get a deal. I don't need a million; I only want one.
In time, I'm sure we'll get something close to what Arrington has described. Perhaps the rumored iTablet will be the winner of the tablet race. If so, I guarantee you it won't sell for $199, or even $299. Not this year or next.
Will we ever see a $99 tablet? Sure. But we'll all have to pay the ongoing development costs to drive the component costs down, especially the touchscreen display. For a normal hardware business model, you'll need the cost of ALL the components to be less than $50 to even get close to a model which drives the appropriate gross margin to make it attractive. That assumes, of course, that there are no subsidies like cell phones currently enjoy.
So hang in there, Mike. I'm sure someone will crack this business. Bottom line: it can't simply be a good idea. If that's all it took, tablets would abound. In the real world, companies have to think they have a shot at making money somewhere in the process. Great leaders know this.
20091125
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope everybody out there in tech land can take the time away from their computers to stop and think about how good we all have it. No matter how hard things get, I bet each and every one of us can still think of many, many other folks who have it worse off. So please count your blessings...rest up...and then go get those Black Friday deals!
tom
tom
20091112
Don't pay for the full version of Win7
Check out this post from Woody Leonard over at Windows Secrets. In it, Woody talks about using the Windows 7 "upgrade" disc from Microsoft to perform a clean install. Most people think that, they MUST have a fully authenticated, valid copy of Windows running on their target PC in order to use the upgrade disc. If not, they feel they must purchase the more expensive "full version" of the operating system to get Windows 7 on their machine.
As Woody correctly points out, that is not the case. Turns out the Windows installer does not verify if the version of Windows you are starting from is valid or not. Just the version you are going to.
What does this mean? In simple terms, it means anybody can install a pirated copy of Windows on their machine, purchase a legit upgrade version of Win7, and get a fully validated copy of Win7 running on their machine for the price of the upgrade!
Why would MS leave so many "holes" in their process to allow folks to "steal" the upgrade version of Win7? Simple. They don't care. Really.
Think about it. All those pirates out there running stolen versions of Windows. That must irk the guys in Redmond to no end. Then they all chuckle when they "get a deal" by using the upgrade disc instead of the full version.
My guess is MS knows exactly what they are doing and could give a rip if the pirates do this. First, believe it or not, pirated copies of Windows are a small percentage of the total. Secondly, these guys were sliding by, perhaps for years, for FREE. Now they will be PAYING for a legit copy of Windows. This is the best way to bring them into the fold. And MS makes money to boot. It's a great deal for everybody.
There are actually a few different ways to get your version of Win7 authenticated without paying the full version price. See Woody's column for all the gory details. You should also check out Paul Thurott's excellent Windows pages.
Have fun...and get Win7...this time MS is for real. And it's worth it!
As Woody correctly points out, that is not the case. Turns out the Windows installer does not verify if the version of Windows you are starting from is valid or not. Just the version you are going to.
What does this mean? In simple terms, it means anybody can install a pirated copy of Windows on their machine, purchase a legit upgrade version of Win7, and get a fully validated copy of Win7 running on their machine for the price of the upgrade!
Why would MS leave so many "holes" in their process to allow folks to "steal" the upgrade version of Win7? Simple. They don't care. Really.
Think about it. All those pirates out there running stolen versions of Windows. That must irk the guys in Redmond to no end. Then they all chuckle when they "get a deal" by using the upgrade disc instead of the full version.
My guess is MS knows exactly what they are doing and could give a rip if the pirates do this. First, believe it or not, pirated copies of Windows are a small percentage of the total. Secondly, these guys were sliding by, perhaps for years, for FREE. Now they will be PAYING for a legit copy of Windows. This is the best way to bring them into the fold. And MS makes money to boot. It's a great deal for everybody.
There are actually a few different ways to get your version of Win7 authenticated without paying the full version price. See Woody's column for all the gory details. You should also check out Paul Thurott's excellent Windows pages.
Have fun...and get Win7...this time MS is for real. And it's worth it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
