Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Facebook's Hello Just Might Have Killed Brewster

I don't get the impression Facebook was even gunning for it, it was just trying to get a more meaningful presence on your phone, but Brewster now might be dead. (I gave it a try, multiple times, but it sent me one email too many.)

Hello is a great app. An app I have been needing but was not out there. Not only do people make less phone calls these days, but you also want to receive fewer phone calls. And so, for that small time quota you have for phone calls, it is amazingly offensive that that time might get taken by phone calls that are strictly in the unwelcome category. This app solves that huge problem. If Facebook does not know who you are, you are suspect. That is a fair assessment. Much of the world does not have ID, no Social Security number, no credit history, nothing. A Facebook ID is a good start.

Knowing who is calling you is much welcome information. You can run from Facebook, but you can not hide.

Hello is an awesome app. I read about it in the news and installed it not long after. Heck, that is how I signed up for LinkedIn. I read about it in the news. And then I did not use it much for almost a decade. But Hello I am using.


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Musk Wisdom




Elon Musk: Internet Satellites




This is what $100 billion of the 2009 stimulus should have gone to. It is still not too late. If the US government were to buy a 33% stake in Musk's Internet Satellite Network company to speed this work up, once we have gigabit internet for every man, woman and child, that would make room for major shavings in the US defense budget. Democracy would spread on its own. The ISIS would look like clowns, because they will get drowned in the hundreds of millions of Muslims sharing cat videos, so much good would happen. And that $100 billion would grow enough that the US government will be able to actually pay off some of its debt. Who says governments can not angel invest? Break the rules.


Fundraising For Tech Entrepreneurs: Various Styles


Breakfast Time

Times Square


Tuesday, April 07, 2015

One World

Logo of Comcast Latina: Insigne Comcast
Logo of Comcast Latina: Insigne Comcast (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bill Gates went on record a few weeks back saying, he is doing good work with his foundation, but the scales of the problems are so enormous, what you truly need is a world government. That is the only way you can tackle the biggest problems of poverty and disease. And I agree.

There is poverty, there is disease, and then there is that number one invention of the new millennium: your smartphone. Why can't you pay your monthly phone bill and have the phone work no matter where you go in the world? To most people who might be in a position to give a push to the idea of a world government, poverty and disease might be abstract concepts, but the phone is not, it is in your hand, it knows you better than your family.

Comcast has come out saying it will roll out a 2 GBPS internet service across the US. That was the kind of result Google wanted to see with its own roll out. But I think the ball moved only after Google threatened to do to TV ads what it had done to classifieds.

Google might now be taking the lead on the global phone plan. You pay one place and go anywhere.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

What Could Be A New Product Line For Tesla?





Elon Musk created nearly $1B in value today with a single tweet



What could it be? My first reaction is, it will be something 100% electric. Something green and clean. What?


















Nobody seems to be saying trucks!

Saturday, March 21, 2015

The TV Industry's Deadtree Newspapers Moment?



If Google Fiber is going to be so profoundly profitable for Google, why is the roll out not much faster?
Google is about to make the sale of TV ads much more like ads on the web ..... "If you're a local business in Kansas City, just as with digital ads, you'll only pay for ads that have been shown, and can limit the number of times an ad is shown to a given TV" ...... Google clearly wants to turn the shotgun approach of broadcast advertising into a sniper's bullet. Which is good for advertisers, but less great for the networks selling airtime. ..... Google's new program will no doubt drive the cost of ads way down.