Zero Gravity

Netflix Cut Off The Gangrene Limb

Image via CrunchBaseDVDs are so yesterday. Streaming is the way to go. Streaming is Android, streaming is the iPhone. DVDs are RIM. DVDs will die faster than you realize. If Netflix had not completely distanced itself from the DVD that would have created room for another streaming only startup. Now Netflix will have better luck.

This breakup is a smart move on the part of Netflix.

Related articles

• Netflix: 'Qwikster' Name First Used By Fan of Pot-Smoking Elmo (blogs.wsj.com)
• Netflix CEO Says 'I Messed Up,' Announces Qwikster (laist.com)
• Netflix Doesn?t Own the Qwikster Twitter Feed. This Foulmouthed Pothead Does. (wired.com)
• Netflix creates disk-only Qwikster thanks to streaming apps (intomobile.com)
• Netflix Splitting Into Two Companies, Netflix For Streaming, Qwikster For DVDs & Games (geekologie.com)
• Qwikster fiasco proves Netflix still doesn't know how to talk to customers (venturebeat.com)
• Netflix to shed DVD all together: Step 1 Raise price & Step 2 split the DVD-by-mail business away. Call new venture Qwikster (saintel.wordpress.com)
• Netflix Customers: Sorry Doesn't Cut It, Pal (blogs.wsj.com)
• Netflix To Split DVD & Streaming Services, Rebranding DVD As Qwikster (reelseo.com)
• New Netflix Mailing Service Is Called "Qwikster," Mascot Is A Pot Smoking Elmo (buzzfeed.com)

HTML5 And F8

Image via CrunchBaseI hope HTML5 is the biggest thing coming out of the impending Facebook conference. Facebook Messages was not the Gmail killer it was touted to be. And maybe Facebook's HTML5 push might be yet another whimper, but I hope not.

HTML5 done right could turn Facebook into a platform, it could get an operating system like reach. It already has a huge audience.

But then it is not just Facebook, the entire industry is moving full speed towards HTML5, not just Facebook. Adobe too. And pretty much everyone else. Apple. Google.

When the internet became mainstream every company wanted a website. Today every tech company wants HTML5.

The PC Was A Category And Could Not Have Been Patented

Image via WikipediaApple going after Samsung because, well, Samsung is also bringing smartphones and tablets into the market, is such hogwash. Henry Ford was not allowed to patent cars as a category. Steve Jobs himself was not allowed to patent the PC when it first came about.

The PC was/is a category. The smartphone is a category. The tablet is a category. Already Samsung smartphones are better than the Apple smartphone. If Samsung is merely copying why is it producing better devices?

There were digital music players before the iPod came along. But Steve Jobs might have laughed if he had been sued for bringing the iPod into the market.

Apple's envy is not the Samsung hardware. It is going after Android, the operating system, any which way it can.

Events: Week Of September 19

Monday, September 19
07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Feedback Forum: Campbell McKellar & Anna Thomas of Loosecubes.com
New Work City, 412 Broadway , 2nd Floor

Tuesday, September 20
08:00 AM - 10:00 AM New York Telepresence Open House sponsored by AT&T and Cisco
AT&T, 630 Fifth Avenue (btw 50th & 51st St)

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Skillshare Presents Creative Arts: a party, art show & lesson!
Gallery Bar, 120 Orchard St
F to Delancey

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Post BUILD: Metro, Windows 8 and the future of .NET
Microsoft 1290 6th Avenue
B/D/F/M Rockefeller Center

Wednesday, September 21
5:30-7:30pm Technology You Can Touch
AOL Headquarters
770 Broadway

Thursday, September 22
06:00 PM - 08:00 PM Network and drink with Time, CNN and Turner executives
Time Life building, 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 8th floor
B/D/F/M Rockefeller Center

06:00 PM - 11:00 PM OBLITERATI sponsored by: Google Places
Sweet and Vicious
5 Spring St

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Bain Capital Ventures Cocktail Hour
General Assembly
902 Broadway, 4th Floor

07:00 PM - 09:00 PM New York Tech Karaoke
Karaoke Cave
9 East 13th Street

Friday, September 23

08:30 AM - 10:00 AM DUMBO Tech Breakfast Meetup
The Gallery
108 Jay Street

Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Prime Minister of Nepal
1245 PM to 245 PM Theresa Lang Center, The New School, 55 W 13 St

San Gennaro Festival (Saturday)
Dumbo Arts Festival (Sunday)

Samosa Chat

Spotted in Jackson Heights

The Wombats: Techno Fan

THE WOMBATS - TECHNO FAN - from The Found Collective on Vimeo.

Finally Facebook Lets Me Reach Out To Non Friends

Image via CrunchBaseI have never, never, never have had any kind of a privacy issue with Facebook, like never, never, never. I have photo albums that I have shared with only a few people. That's my idea of privacy. Other than that I have long wanted a way to share with anyone and everyone, anyone who might be interested. And now looks like I can. Finally.

It is opt in. That is important. It is not by default. Or that might freak people out. Most people might not even get the news on this. Many might simply pass. This is not for everyone. But it works for me.

Facebook has such a beautiful interface. Twitter does not have it. Google Plus does not have it. I have a thing for the Facebook design.

Facebook: Introducing the Subscribe Button
ReadWriteWeb: Does Facebook's Subscribe Button Betray What the Company Was Built On?
TechCrunch: Facebook Launches Twitter-Like ‘Subscriptions’, Lets You Share With Unlimited Users
Mashable: Facebook Launches Subscribe Button for Following Anyone’s Public Updates

A Facebook For Strangers

Image via WikipediaFred Wilson: Turntable
The Color Social Graph Might Work Better For Books, Movies, Music

My current Facebook is my second Facebook account. They booted me out the first time because I was oh so busy saying hello to strangers.

I like Twitter a lot, because on Twitter everyone has a phone number. And if someone is not on Twitter, that person is not relevant, at least not relevant to the world of tech. And the transparency and the 140 character limit makes managing communication easy. It is scalable.

The first phase of web social has been about connecting with people you already know. The far phase has to be about strangers. Utter, complete strangers, people you have absolutely no hopes of meeting in person.

Talking Across Time Zones

When your engineers are in India, and you are Indian, getting on Skype is Homecoming. My name gives it away to them. By now there is what I call a global class in every country. The team leader of the top team that is part of my tech consulting network is currently on vacation in Florida.

Teri Meri