Archives: April 2006

Judging McNealy: How do you grade his performance as CEO?

Posted by: Peter Burrows on April 28, Categories:

While satisfying investors is clearly Job One, to what extent do other accomplishments--say, providing a great, safe place to work, or doing innovation that helps the industry at large--factor into the equation when its time to try to grade a CEO's performance?

Marc Benioff's Burden: Outages

Posted by: Steve Hamm on April 27, Categories: software as service

It's like a pesky housefly circling Marc Benioff's head that just won't go away no matter how many times he swats at it. Since December, the Salesforce.com Web site has...

SL Vs. RL

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 26, Categories: virtual worlds

The one thing I heard from people who heard I was working on my recent story about virtual worlds was: Why would I do this when I have a real...

Fixing Wi-Fi Security Problems: Hire Wardrivers

Posted by: Olga Kharif on April 25, Categories: wireless

Westchester County in New York approved a law that will slap local businesses with warnings and fines for not securing their Wi-Fi networks. That's a good move; but this and other counties that follow suit don't have the resources to enforce such a law. One possible solution? Hire wardrivers.

My Ol' Virtual '53 Chevy

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 24, Categories: Power of Us, Social Media, games, gaming, virtual worlds

At the end of my cover story, Virtual World, Real Money, my avatar "Rob Cranes" had run into a "residents association" in this part of the online virtual world Second...

Sun Sets on McNealy's Reign as CEO

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 24, Categories: Sun Microsystems

So Scott McNealy is handing over the CEO job at Sun Microsystems to Sun President Jonathan Schwartz. I guess it's not too surprising given speculation last week. And I don't...

The Next Social Networks Won't Look Like MySpace

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 24, Categories: Facebook, MySpace, Power of Us, Social Media, Web 2.0, social networks

So says Marc Pincus, who knows something about social networks from his time at Tribe Networks. Marc wonders if the current online social networks will survive their members, well, growing...

SaaS...Enough Already!

Posted by: Sarah Lacy on April 24, Categories: software as service

I'm officially declaring software as a service the new security software. Back in 2001 or so, word got around that every new security company would make a boat load of...

CA's new M&A strategy revealed

Posted by: Steve Hamm on April 24, Categories: software

When Jeff Clarke left software maker CA last week to run Cendant’s travel businesses, the person who replaced him as chief operating officer brought with him a long resume of...

eBay Takes the Express Train

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 21, Categories: Google, e-commerce, eBay

During eBay's earnings call this week, CEO Meg Whitman said the company's new eBay Express site, which I wrote about a couple weeks ago, would launch next week. But...

My Second Life

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 20, Categories: Power of Us, Social Media, games, gaming, virtual worlds

I ran across the online virtual world Second Life at least a year and a half ago, when I heard that Omidyar Network, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife...

Amazon: More Cell Power

Posted by: Olga Kharif on April 20, Categories: wireless

Amazon.com has just made another step toward becoming the world's larest seller of wireless devices and plans. On April 20, the company announced an agreement to market offerings from InPhonic, the No. 1 online seller of cell phone plans, on its site. This agreement could go a long way in boosting Amazon's wireless sales.

Blogs Multiply. Our Heads Explode

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 18, Categories: Technorati, blogging, blogs

Just catching up to Dave Sifry's latest State of the Blogosphere report. The CEO of Technorati says the blog tracking firm now counts more than 35 million blogs, as the...

Need a Laugh? JibJab

Posted by: Olga Kharif on April 18, Categories: Web

JibJab, which created all those funny political cartoons, has just unveiled what it claims is the world's largest online depository of jokes. The cartoon studio is trying to turn into the Web's prime destination for funny content.

Backfence Buys Bayosphere

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 17, Categories: Social Media, Web 2.0, citizen journalism, citizen media

Dan Gillmor's Bayosphere citizen media project, the San Francisco Bay Area citizen media site that my colleague Heather Green wrote about a couple months ago, is being acquired by Backfence.com--which...

Sing Along With Jeff

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 14, Categories: Amazon.com

You know you're really famous when somebody writes a song about you. BoingBoing notes that a UK band, Neon Trees, has released a catchy ditty (click on the first track)...

Abolish Software Patents? Not So Simple

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 14, Categories: Innovation, copyright, patents, software

VC Brad Feld thinks software patents should be abolished because they stunt innovation: If we continue on the path we are on, patents will continue to increase in their overall...

Wireless Companies: Dabbling in Direct Mail

Posted by: Olga Kharif on April 11, Categories: wireless

Wireless companies seem to be sending out a lot more direct mail this year. That's telling me not everything is rosy in the wireless land.

The Right Stuff?

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on April 10, Categories: digital media

Could it be that a content provider is finally getting it right? Disney, which owns the ABC network, as well as the Soapnet, ABC Family and Disney Channel cable networks,...

The FDA To Look At Whether Cell Phones Cause Cancer

Posted by: Olga Kharif on April 06, Categories: wireless

Is there a link between cell phone usage and cancer? The FDA is looking to find out. In the meantime, I figure I'd err on the safe side and wear a headset.

Death to "User-Generated Content"?

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 05, Categories: Power of Us, Web 2.0, citizen media

Derek Powazek calls for a death sentence on the term "user-generated content," which I also think is an ugly term. As Derek puts it: They're words that creepy marketeers use....

One More Reason to Buy a Mac

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 05, Categories: Apple Computer, Microsoft, Personal Computers

Not that I needed another reason, since I've been intending to move to a Mac for my personal machine for months now. But I think today's release of Boot Camp,...

Daily Devotions... For Mobile Phones

Posted by: Olga Kharif on April 04, Categories: wireless

Until now, cell phone content has been mostly limited to ringtones and games. Now, Hands-On is about to introduce Daily Devotions, a daily inspirational message service. That's a sign that mobile content is about to get a lot more varied.

How Do You Shop Online?

Posted by: Rob Hof on April 03, Categories: Amazon.com, Microsoft, Search, e-commerce, eBay

I've been noticing how many new kinds of e-commerce venues are sprouting up lately, from the fledgling Google Base and classified-ad startups like Edgeio and Vast.com to upcoming offerings from...

Blu-ray versus HD-DVD

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on April 03, Categories: digital media

Another day, another delay in the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD. Samsung Electronics had been expected to be first out of the gate with players in the new Blu-ray high-definition...

Movie Downloads Cometh--or Not?

Posted by: Cliff Edwards on April 03, Categories: digital media

Slowly, oh so slowly, major Hollywood players seem to be warming to the idea of digital downloads. Universal, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount and Twentieth-Century Fox are finally allowing consumers...