Teach Technology

Apple’s Announcement and the FIght In the Livingroom

Ken Baldauf — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:14:36 +0000

This week Apple rolled out its next generation iPods including an iPod Touch with cameras to support Facetime, which you may recall is Apple’s video phone software for WiFi networks. The new iPod Nano is half the size of the old Nano and features a touchscreen and an FM radio. An upgrade to iTunes includes a music-centered social network called Ping that lets iTunes users connect with friends to share their musical tastes, and follow artists for news, videos, and information. Besides new iTunes and iPods, Apple also unveiled a new Apple TV which is half the price and a quarter of the size of the previous model. For $99 the new Apple TV provides users with streamed movies from computer or a NetFlix account and on demand television programs and movies.

Apple isn’t the only company working to bring Internet TV to your living room. Google is reportedly engaged in talks with major Hollywood studios to bring rental movies to YouTube. Google is also working with music labels to open its own online music store to compete with Apple’s iTunes. Amazon is in the race as well. The company is reportedly in talks with several major media companies including NBC Universal, Time Warner, and Viacom to open a video subscription service similar to NetFlix. Clearly the next major tech battle field is the livingroom.

Apple Unveils New iPods, iOS, Ping Social Network [NewsFactor]
Apple TV takes aim at Web-connected living room [Reuters]
From Apple, a Step Into Social Media for Music [NYTimes]
New Apple TV is iPod Touch in sheep’s clothing [Computerworld]
Google Readies Pay-Per-View Movies on YouTube [NewsFactor]
Apple and Google to clash in music space by Christmas [Reuters]
Amazon trying to create Web-based TV service: report [Reuters]

FTC Cracks Down on Astroturfing

Ken Baldauf — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:10:27 +0000

If you are like many online consumers, you probably assume that some of the positive product reviews posted by consumers on sites like Amazon.com are actually posted by agents of the manufacturer. But did you know that it is illegal for a business to post positive reviews of its own products anonymously? The practice is called “astroturfing,” referring to phony grassroots efforts to promote products. Last year the Federal Trade Commission developed a new guidelines for Internet endorsements that require bloggers and others that publish their opinions online to reveal their connections to the products that they review. The guidelines are similar to truth-in-advertising principles that have existed for print and television for decades. This week, public relations agency Reverb Communications was fined $16,000 by the FTC and has agreed to stop posting fake game reviews for its clients on ecommerce sites like iTunes. This is the first move by the FTC to enforce its new guidelines, and it is expected that more such cases will follow.

FTC Moves To Enforce Rules Against False Online Ads [NewsFactor]
Charges Settled Over Fake Reviews on iTunes [NYTimes]

Adobe Flash on the Ropes

Ken Baldauf — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:06:04 +0000

Steve Jobs has posted his thoughts on Adobe Flash explaining why the iPad, iPhone, and iPod do not support Flash Web content. His reasons include that Flash is proprietary and doesn’t utilize open standards. Flash was created for Windows and a Mouse, not Apple and touch screens, using Flash greatly reduces battery life, and Flash is unreliable and suffers from security vulnerabilities. Somewhat surprisingly, Microsoft’s General Manager for Internet Explorer echoed many of these concerns proclaiming that HTML5, not Flash, is the future of the Web. Adobe has struck back at Apple saying that the company’s stand against Flash is strictly business and all criticisms are untrue.

Steve Jobs – Thoughts on Flash [Apple News]
Microsoft weighs in: ‘the future of the web is HTML5′ [Engadget]
Microsoft echoes Apple view on Adobe’s Flash [Reuters]
Steve Jobs Says ‘Closed’ Adobe Flash Is a Threat [NewsFactor]
Adobe Strikes Back at Flash Bashers [Ecommerce Times]
Pot, meet kettle: a response to Steve Jobs’ letter on Flash [Ars Technica]

Facebook “Like”

Ken Baldauf — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:04:24 +0000

Facebook has launched an online application intended to allow the company to take over the Web. Millions, perhaps more than a billion, Facebook “Like” icons are popping up on pages all over the Web allowing Facebook users to click to express their fondness for the page in their Facebook news stream. Sites like Levis.com have taken it to the extreme by providing lists of Facebook users along with profile photos of people that like particular products.
Facebook friends Web “likes,” Microsoft Docs.com, more [Ars Technica]
Zuckerberg: “We Are Building A Web Where The Default Is Social” [TechCrunch]
Facebook to Spread Its Tentacles Across the Web [Ecommerce Times]
Facebook: We’ll Serve 1 Billion Likes On The Web In Just 24 Hours [TechCrunch]

Google Cloud Print

Ken Baldauf — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:01:21 +0000

You’ve heard of cloud computing, where software and data are accessed from Internet servers. Google unveiled a plan to move printing to the cloud. Google Cloud Print would solve the growing problem of being unable to print from mobile devices like smart phones and tablets. With Google Cloud Print, the printer software and drivers are stored in the cloud to act as a link between all types of computers and all types of printers. The technology will require printers to become “cloud-aware,” acquiring the ability to connect to Internet servers to receive print jobs. Google Cloud Print would make it possible for a user on any Internet-connected device to print to any specified Internet-connected printer on which the user has an account. Imagine printing text messages from your cell phone, or email from your iPad, as well as spreadsheets from your notebook computer, or game scores from your xbox 360. With cloud printing, users would no longer have to bother with installing printers and drivers on their computers, and keeping them up to date. Google Cloud Print would maintain up-to-date software and drivers for all printers. Not coincidentally, Google Cloud Print would be an ideal solution for printing from Google’s Apps and the upcoming Google Chrome operating system.

Google Takes Printing to the Cloud [NYTimes]
Next Act for Google: Printing from Any Device to Any Printer [NewsFactor]
Google Cloud Print service aims for unified, universal web printing method [Engadget]
Google unveils plan to let Chrome OS users print from cloud [Computerworld]
Google Cloud Print: coming to a wireless device near you [Ars]

Twitter Finally Announces Business Plan

Ken Baldauf — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:59:15 +0000

At its developer conference, Twitter announced that it is rolling out an advertising feature it calls “promoted tweets.” You are probably aware that tweets are the short messages that Twitter users post on Twitter. Promoted tweets will be short messages posted by businesses adverting on Twitter. Like Google Adwords, promoted tweets will be displayed at the top of search results when Twitter users search for specific topics. Also, like Google Adwords, promoted tweets will be targeted to each individual user’s interests, based on the user’s past interactions on Twitter. Twitter hopes to eventually expand promoted tweets into the conversation streams of its users. Twitter also announced its acquisition of Atebits, makers of the Tweetie app, which it intends to rebrand as Twitter for iPhone. This is Twitter’s first move into application space, and has the makers of the dozens of Twitter Apps concerned over the future of their products.

Promoted Tweets: Ego Trip or Marketing Tool? [Computerworld]
Will Twitter’s Ad Strategy Work? [Technology Review]
Twitter Makes Itself More Useful [NYTimes]
Full Details On Twitter’s Long-Awaited Ad Platform: Promoted Tweets [TechCrunch]

HP Slate misses the point

Ken Baldauf — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:52:30 +0000

HP and other would-be iPad competitors miss the point when they compare the specs of Windows-based slates to Apple’s iPad as proof that their products are better (see engadget). The elegance, beauty and power of Apple products have less to do with hardware specs than with the user interface and the experience it provides. This is particularly true with the iPad. The iPhone OS 3.2, and now 4.0 feel like they were specifically designed for the iPad emphasizing the benefits of a multi-touch interface while minimizing drawbacks. Marrying OS to hardware is the key to Apple’s recent successes with the iPhone and iPad. Microsoft has failed to do this with Windows Mobile, and with versions of Windows designed for Tablet PCs. Past experience leave me pessimistic about Windows Phone 7, and while I like Windows 7, I wouldn’t want to use it on a slate – even with HP’s “touch-optimized UI.”

That’s not to say there aren’t competitive opportunities for Microsoft, Google and other OS designers. Apple’s increasingly tyrannous governance over software developers provides one opportunity for competitors to exploit. Secondly, Apple’s deals with big media companies favor businesses over consumers. Apple’s competitors could win over consumers with lower prices and a less expensive, more open architecture. The first step, however, is to offer a compelling OS and user experience that can compete with Apple’s platform. In my opinion, Apple has a big head start in providing users with a “magical” experience. The next step is to make that platform as open as possible without sacrificing quality or the user experience. Apple sacrifices openness for the sake of the user experience – or so they say. Many beleive that it goes way too far.

Consumers should take into account that hardware specs mean little unless the interface provides stability and fluidity. As Irving Mills wrote, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.” Right now Apple is swingin’ like Duke Ellington.

Save on printer ink

Ken Baldauf — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:55:41 +0000

google.cn > google.com.hk

Ken Baldauf — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:10:14 +0000

Google has closed the doors on its search engine in China, following through on its promise to leave unless it was allowed to provide uncensored search results. But, rather than eliminating its filters on google.cn, and risking the arrest of its China-based employees, Google has redirected requests for google.cn to its Hong Kong search engine, google.com.hk, where it maintains unfiltered Chinese-language search results. Shortly after the switch, China was quick to apply its own censoring filters to the Internet DNS servers that feed the country.

Google isn’t alone in its stand against China censorship. This week the popular Web hosting company GoDaddy stopped registering domain names for the .cn domain. The decision came after the Chinese government demanded personal information about people who had purchased domain names from GoDaddy. Both Google and GoDaddy addressed the Congressional-Executive Commission on China this week regarding their dealings with China.

China isn’t the only country where Google censors content based on government-imposed policies. In Thailand and Turkey it censors YouTube videos that mock the country’s leaders. In France and Germany, Google filters out hate speech produced by extremist groups. Google is continuously screening YouTube videos for copyright infringement. Increasingly, Technology companies like Google and Internet service providers are assuming responsibility for policing Internet content. Google’s stance against China’s censorship has shown that the company is clearly uncomfortable with its role as a censor, and causes some to wonder if it may not follow up with changes in policy elsewhere. Google’s chief legal officer wrote that the China issue “goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech.”

Google’s head of policy for Google Australia spoke out against Australian censorship saying that the “government should not have the right to block information which can inform debate on controversial issues,” even if the information is “unpleasant and unpalatable.”

Clearly the responsibility of companies like Google for filtering search results requires serious consideration. As does the company’s responsibility for content posted by users. Recall the Google employees that have been jailed in Italy for hate videos posted on YouTube. Making Internet companies responsible for content posted by users discourages any company from providing online services and will ultimately stifle innovation.

Internet companies are working to find a balance between staying true to share holders and staying true to conscience. If a company filters too strongly, it may be accused of infringing on human rights. If it doesn’t censor enough, it can be imprisoned for aiding criminals. Either way, there is a risk of appearing to behave unethically. Consider Apple’s recent decision to remove thousands of iPhone Apps that showed scantily clothed individuals. Certainly, no laws were being broken by those apps. But Apple felt it necessary to remove them in order to improve its corporate reputation in the eyes of a handful of users that had complained. In so doing it has marred its reputation with others that feel it is too controlling, and standing in the way of basic human rights.

Today’s Internet companies walk a fine line where it is impossible to please all users, so they must opt for satisfying a majority. As citizens of our countries and the Internet, it is up to us to guide our governments in balancing legal power and responsibility for online content between citizens, governments, and commercial enterprises.

Google stops censoring in China [Computerworld]
Go Daddy to stop registering .cn domain names [Computerworld]
China defends censorship, plays down Google harm on US ties [Computerworld]
Google and Censorship [Technology Review]
Google’s stand on China’s censorship a ‘brave move’ [Computerworld]
Wikipedia founder praises Google over China decision [Computerworld]
Google Lights a Candle, China Blows It Out [ECommerce Times]
After DNS problem, Chinese root server is shut down [Computerworld]
China state media accuses Google of political agenda [Reuters]

Addicted to Friends

Ken Baldauf — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:56:16 +0000

A study by Retrevo found that 48 percent of Internet users say they update Facebook or Twitter during the night or as soon as they wake up. The study is leading to references of social networking addiction.
Social networking addicts updating from bed, bathroom [Computerworld]