Or course, the analytics for apps that manage to get attention provide the upside: a diary of habits, aspirations, preferences, interests, activities, locations and times of day when things happen. In some cases, apps might even know what people spend, and where.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
"Not Enough Time" Could Limit App Growth
At some point in any day, there is only so much available time. That could start to become a problem for social networks and applications that have heavy social features. In many cases, you might well assume that people will go where their friends already are, which technology is easiest to use, or which provides some new value.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Beyong the "Information Age"
We're going to need a different way to understand the world we live in. It's a new "something," and "new information age" doesn't quite capture it.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tpad SIP Calls Using Nokia and Wi-Fi
Free and low-cost calls from a Nokia handset, using a Wi-Fi connection using Tpad.com . Create a free Tpad (SIP) account and get a Internet telephone number and make free calls to other Tpad users.
Calls to landline number cost as little as one cent a minute.
www.tpad.com
Calls to landline number cost as little as one cent a minute.
www.tpad.com
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Mobile Collaboration Value Might Be Different From "Unified Communications"
A recent survey of enterprise mobile unified communications attitudes, by researchers at the Yankee Group, might suggest some of the ways "unified communications" has changed over the last several years. Prominent among the changes is a dramatically enhanced role for mobile conferencing.
In fact, Cisco has for some time been talking about "collaboration," not "unified communications." Instructively, the importance of "single number" features or a convergence of fixed phone system features and mobile access to those features does not seem to be so important.
In fact, one might argue that mobile collaboration is more about conferencing, social media and video than it is the traditional "phone system" features.
In fact, Cisco has for some time been talking about "collaboration," not "unified communications." Instructively, the importance of "single number" features or a convergence of fixed phone system features and mobile access to those features does not seem to be so important.
In fact, one might argue that mobile collaboration is more about conferencing, social media and video than it is the traditional "phone system" features.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Is Amazon Entering the Display Ad Business?
In principle, there are few reasons Amazon might not want to become something more like an ad network than a shopping site. It has an enormous information technology infrastructure, including all of its cloud computing assets, and has not been shy in the past about developing retail businesses originally created to support its own internal operations.
Ben Schachter of Macquerie Research notes that Amazon is making investments to compete in the $30 billion online display advertising market, well beyond the existing business it runs by offering ads on its own site.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Amazon Mobile Payments Illustrates Another Business Model
Amazon now is said to be considering getting into near field communications and mobile payments, possibly creating a service that would let shoppers pay for purchases at stores using their mobile phones. The potential move could illustrate one more way mobile payments could create a revenue stream and business model. Some ventures, such as Isis, Intuit, Square and others, hope to profit from the transaction revenue, in large part. But Apple might be looking more at the loyalty angle, relying on mobile payments to create more stickiness and traction for its application business.
Google, as you might expect, is looking at additional ways to create a mobile-based advertising and promotion service revenue stream. Amazon might be looking for a way to create new opportunities to sell merchandise.
In one scenario, the mobile payment app also would allow a shopper to to find additional stock, including at Amazon if, for example, the store you’re in does not have your own size in stock. This would be done by tapping your phone against an item’s NFC tag to locate it on Amazon. That makes the mobile "payment" app more of a mobile "shopping" app.
Google, as you might expect, is looking at additional ways to create a mobile-based advertising and promotion service revenue stream. Amazon might be looking for a way to create new opportunities to sell merchandise.
In one scenario, the mobile payment app also would allow a shopper to to find additional stock, including at Amazon if, for example, the store you’re in does not have your own size in stock. This would be done by tapping your phone against an item’s NFC tag to locate it on Amazon. That makes the mobile "payment" app more of a mobile "shopping" app.
With the likes of Google, Amazon, PayPal, Apple, Intuit, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Starbucks, Visa, American Express Mastercard and major banks all circling around, you can be fairly certain something interesting will develop.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Social Shopping Raises New Tax, License, Fee Issues
It often isn't easy being a market disruptor. Incumbents--both in the marketplace and in the government and regulatory apparatus-- often can raise any number of obstacles to new ways of doing things. One of the perennial problems is simply how to apply existing law, developed in one context, to different practices in a new context.That sort of problem is common in telecommunications, where regulators have to figure out what a "telephone call" is when it can be completed in other ways, using Internet apps such as instant messaging or other clients, for example.
Competitors have obvious incentives to argue for a "level playing field." But regulators and taxation authorities also care. If cable TV revenues fall, so do the fees that cable operators pay municipalities, for example.
Amazon and other online retailers have been fighting state efforts to tax their operations, and it is no secret that large brick-and-mortar retailers find this in their own interest, even as taxation authorities try to maximize revenue under new circumstances that do not fit the old models well.
Groupon, for example, offers limited-time, limited-volume deals. A particular offer might offer $20 worth of merchandise for $10, for example. Groupon keeps half the revenue, the retailer gets the other half, without having spent any money up front, and the consumer gets a deal.
But regulators in Massachusetts argue that Groupon discount vouchers for alcohol violate liquor laws, and it is possible as many as 25 states will follow suit.
The legal issue is that regulators may decide that Groupon, which takes a cut of sales, has been selling alcohol without a license, fine it and perhaps force the company to get its own liquor license.
More likely--and as unappetizing for Groupon--its local business customers could face hefty fines or loss of their licenses. Groupon doesn't appear to be greatly concerned, insisting the laws don't apply to its business.
Another problem: who pays the sales tax, and in what amount? Is tax owed on the $10 a consumer paid, or on the $20 value?
read more about Groupon issues here
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
We have all repeatedly seen comparisons of equity value of hyperscale app providers compared to the value of connectivity providers, which s...
-
It really is surprising how often a Pareto distribution--the “80/20 rule--appears in business life, or in life, generally. Basically, the...
-
One recurring issue with forecasts of multi-access edge computing is that it is easier to make predictions about cost than revenue and infra...
