2007 was the Inflection Point for News

This is what you call an inflection point: a dramatic surge in people using the Internet as their primary source of news happened in 2007.

By late 2008 and early 2009, the dominoes started to fall and major U.S. newspapers began to disappear. 

Remote Work Might Pay Off During H1N1 Threat

Yankee Group survey results from April show workers to be highly receptive to a mobile lifestyle:  Fewer than 50 percent of respondents believe their work needs to be completed at their primary workplace.

And 58 percent of workers strongly agree that "allowing employees to work from home benefits companies." Employees who work from headquarters locations are just as likely to think that teleworking is a good idea as those who already are teleworkers.

With the H1N1 virus threat reaching global pandemic status and growing talk of the need to avoid large public gatherings where possible, the value of organized remote work capabilities is obvious.

Not every job can be done as effectively on a remote basis as in a physically co-located mode. But many more jobs can. As it turns out, remote work is not just an employee satisfaction enhancer, a cost reducer and in some cases a productivity-boosting measure, it also provides protection from pandemics and other potential disruptions of civil life.

Disney Joins Hulu: More Pressure for Linear Video

Disney and Hulu announced a new partnership and content distribution deal, under which The Walt Disney Company will join News Corp and NBC Universal as an equity partner in Hulu, an ad-supported online content distributor. The deal means content from ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel, and SOAPnet, as well as some classic ABC TV content now will be made available on Hulu.

Hulu also has overtaken Yahoo! and become the third-most-used Internet video site, even as Time Warner plans a test later this year of its own distributor-friendly online distribution. As envisioned, the "TV Everywhere" plan will make online content available to paid subscribers to a qualifying cable, satellite or telco linear programming package.

With Apple, YouTube, NetFlix and others looking to grow their streaming operations, distributors might welcome the Time Warner approach, even though Hulu has undeniable traction at the moment.

And therein lies the distributor's problem. If Hulu is able to keep growing, with an obvious ad support mechanism, it necessarily will devalue linear video subscriptions. That isn't to say Hulu will completely replace linear TV offerings, simply that it becomes incrementally more attractive for at least some users.

But content companies aren't dumb. They know with great precision how much value they derive from their distributor partners.  That doesn't mean they will ignore new "direct to end user" venues that essentially disintermediate the middle man. But they aren't going to disrupt profitable arrangements with distributors, either. 

Consumers Wary of Trying New Brands, Are Businesses?

Consumers around the world are more wary of trying new consumer goods products in the midst of a recession, say researchers at Ipsos Marketing. The global survey of consumer attitudes and behavior in 18 countries suggests that more than half of global consumers shy away from new grocery, personal and household products during an economic downturn.

One wonders if that same pattern extends to the business market as well, and explains the lower churn some service providers are reporting. There is anecdotal evidence that business customers, for example, are showing more hesitation about switching communications service providers, even as more seem to be receptive to pitches about "saving money."

Indeed, it would seem that many consumer attitudes also have a parallel in the small and medium-sized business markets. Some 70 percent of global consumers say they are not likely to try a new beauty product, for example. So new products and unfamiliar brands face an uphill battle. That might apply to hosted communications services or even, in some cases, uptake of new IP-based phone systems.

On the other hand, some 80 percent of global consumers say they are "very" or "somewhat likely" to switch from their usual brands to lower-priced brands or brands that are on sale during an economic downturn. That suggests a heightened sense of insecurity is likely in the background whenver a new provider or offer is weighed.

Communications is more a relationship than a one-off purchase, so consumer trends do not translate neatly to the world of communication services. Some 72 percent of consumers say they would switch to "store" or "generic" brands. The analogy would be switching from a recognizable communications "brand" and a company "they haven't heard of before."

“It is discouraging to think that new product introductions and carefully planned brand strategies might suffer from bad timing,” says Sunando Das, Ipsos Marketing VP. But one bit of advice clearly does apply to most communication services.

"Marketers can, and must, focus is value," says Das. Value obviously is a higher priority for consumers during an economic downturn. That doesn't necessarily mean pricing has to change, he says.

But consumer perceptions about benefits compared to cost should be explored to make sure consumers think there is a fair trade-off, he says.

http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/pressrelease.cfm?id=4337&wt.mc_id=1110011&ce=garykim.denver@gmail.com&link=4337&top=

Does it Matter Whether VoIP is Dead or Not?

It's typically pretty easy to get a robust conversation going about whether VoIP is dead or not, and what each of us means when taking a position either way. Interesting viewpoints exist on either "side" of the debate, relevant for technology enthusiasts and developers but rarely of interest to the mass market that will use the technology.

One might as well say, in advance, that now that Twitter seems to be reaching some sort of inflection point or critical mass, lead technology adopters and developers will move onto the next big thing. Technology rarely is interesting to technologists when it is simply "there."

I remember the same thoughts expressed about session initiation protocol. The disenchantment isn't worrisome. Technology enthusiasts simply have different values than mainstream users, who just want value they understand, easy to use, acquire and support, at fair prices.

Technologists love technology. Most people don't care, so most large, successful businesses are built in ways that hide technology from end users. It makes about as much sense to argue about whether "electricity is dead, or not," as it does to worry about whether VoIP is, or is not.

Technology always is most successful, and most ubiquitous, when it is just furniture. VoIP isn't yet "just furniture." But that is where we inevitably will go.

http://blog.radvision.com/voipsurvivor/2009/04/30/it’s-about-time-we-kill-voip/

58% Local Search Growth in 2008

Local search, using online search tools to find local businesses, products, or services, grew 58 percent in 2008, reaching an annual total of 15.7 billion searches, says comScore. By comparison, overall core U.S. Web searches grew 21 percent year-over-year, nearing 137 billion searches by the end of 2008.

About 75 percent of the top 100 keywords searched on Internet Yellow Pages sites were non-branded, indicating that a majority of consumers have not decided on a specific company or product brand when they begin their search, comScore says.

Nearly half (45 percent) of Internet Yellow Pages and local online directory searchers made an online purchase in the fourth quarter of 2008.

One wonders whether Google Maps and mobile Web access have at least something to do with the growth. Local search makes much more sense when one is out of the home or office, and Google Maps, with or without global positioning satellite support, makes it really easy to search for something one needs, where one is at the moment.

The other angle is that small businesses, which operate locally, now are investing more heavily in Web sites, which would allow them to be found more easily.

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/local-search-grows-58-outpaces-overall-online-search-8929/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink

http://www.marketingcharts.com/interactive/smbs-poised-to-triple-website-spending-8894/

Satellite Broadband: What Will Reviewers Do?

There is little doubt but that satellite broadband providers will try to secure broadband stimulus funds to subsidize the cost of customer premises equipment, a move that Hughes Network Systems SVP Mike Cook believes could increase its subscriber base by an order of magnitude.

WildBlue presumably also would see customer lift if such subsidies were possible.

There also is some speculation that funds could be sought for new satellite construction to offer customers much-higher access speeds.

Anything is possible, of course. But if I were reviewing grant applications, I'd be looking for projects that get broadband services to people as fast as possible, to as many people as possible, creating new jobs now, are sustainable after grant funds are gone and can get services to the most-isolated locations, across the United States, now.

Anything is possible. But looking at funding for new satellites that might not be launched for years, and consuming lots of program cash, compared to spending lots less and serving lots of rural customers now, would rank a lot higher.

Politically, I'd also (for better or worse) be looking in advance for evidence to justify why I made my decision. Enabling new broadband services to rural residents in all 50 states, within months, is safer than defending a relatively signficant capital investment that won't result in new services for some years.

Also, as a reviewer, I would be looking to get the biggest bang for the buck, spreading the money as widely as possible. On that score, subsidizing CPE would seem a more defensible choice that building satellites.