Netizen

Sunday, October 07, 2012

How Is Google Different?

For one, it has stayed supremely innovative. Anthropologists need to look into Google's culture. There is something in that culture.

Google is my favorite tech company. I am a Google fanboy like some people are Apple fanboys. Hardware is afterthought to me. For me a laptop is something that takes me to the Chrome browser.

Robert Bork on antitrust: Google is no Microsoft

a case of competitors' sour grapes ..... Bork's mention of competitors is a not-so-veiled swipe at a lobbying group called FairSearch.org that's funded by Google competitors including Microsoft, Oracle, and Kayak. FairSearch claims that governments "must act now" against Google "to protect competition, transparency, and innovation in online search." ..... FTC action against Google "for its search practices would necessitate regulation of search algorithms and product improvements, which would retard the current pace of innovation in Internet search that has created enormous gains in consumer welfare."

Has Zynga Faced A Paradigm Shift?

Microsoft was a PC company and the web came along. Bill Gates fantasized about turning off the Internet, completely. It was a paradigm shift that was not going in his favor. In some ways Microsoft never came around to embracing the web. It is a big company, but it is still a Windows company.

Zynga of course is no Microsoft, but for a while it was the fastest growing company in history. That is a crown of sorts. But for now it feels like Zynga has not been able to climb the next big mountain.

Zynga, just like Facebook, has not cracked mobile.

Being data driven is good, but being too data driven can make you miss trends that are just around the corner. Because your reflexes have become too mechanical. I think Pincus might have become too data driven somewhere along the way.

But I am an optimist. I give companies like Zynga - trailblazers - the benefit of doubt. I think they retain the capacity to perhaps turn things around. The proof is in the pudding though.

Other than missing mobile, Zuck and Pincus also have something else in common. Both have dictatorial powers. That does not look like a good arrangement when things look to be going downhill.

Pincus strikes me as someone quirky. He just might be able to pull it off. In about a year or two. And a billion dollar valuation is not a bad floor to have. Just stop the f___g bleeding.

As Zynga Stock And Outlook Craters, Is It Time For Mark Pincus To Step Down As CEO?

Draw Something, a game that earlier this year was the hottest thing on the planet for about a month...... at the moment, like Zynga was a shooting star, driven by several viral hits, rather than a stable, enduring company. ..... like many recent Internet companies that went public, Zynga structured the stock ownership to give Pincus majority control. Pincus has 50.15 percent control of the voting shares. That means, ultimately, he is the decider, and not the board. ..... the valley’s prevailing conventional wisdom, which says the biggest, most successful companies are driven by strong-willed founders. Pincus has been that. And for a long time, it seemed he had the right vision in terms of gaming and social media.

Dorsey's Second Snub At Twitter?

I was slightly amused reading this. Maybe Dorsey is no Steve Jobs either. For one, Steve Jobs was not trying to be anybody. Dorsey is trying to be Steve Jobs. That is a no no. You have to try to be yourself.

Perhaps Dorsey is a visionary and an innovator who just does not have Jobs' CEO muscles.

NY Times: Jack Dorsey Role At Twitter Reduced Because He’s “Difficult” And Indecisive

Taken 2

Saturday, October 06, 2012

Dick Costolo Was A Standup Comedian

But you knew that.

A Master of Improv, Writing Twitter’s Script

Mr. Dorsey’s role has since been reduced after employees complained that he was difficult to work with and repeatedly changed his mind about product directions. He no longer has anyone directly reporting to him, although he is still involved in strategic decisions.

Mr. Dorsey declined to comment on how people feel about working with him. But, in a statement, he said he considered Mr. Costolo to be one of Twitter’s founders. “He’s had a dramatic impact on the company and the culture,” Mr. Dorsey said. “He’s questioned everything we started with and made it better.”

Mr. Costolo says he looks to Mr. Dorsey for ideas and sometimes has to pull them out of him. Although Mr. Dorsey is a regular on the media circuit, appearing on CNN, as well as “Charlie Rose” and other programs, he tends to be quiet in meetings.

Thursday, October 04, 2012

2400 Hits

Not bad for a day when I did not blog at all.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Samsung Hits Back

What Apple and Samsung are doing to each other is stupid.

Samsung makes good on threat of patent suit against iPhone 5

adding the iPhone 5 to a list of devices that includes the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 2, and the new iPad that Samsung accuses of infringing on several Samsung patents. .... the eight patents in question include six utility patents and two standard essential patents unrelated to its LTE patent portfolio