on Gov’t Shutdowns
Here are the last 11 government shutdowns. The average closing is just 5 days – and excluding in the December 1995 closing, the average is only 3.2 The Government will be open again next week. [table id=8 /]
On Privacy
I’ve written about Xobni for Outlook in the past, but a recent experience illustrated the role data will play in the future and ultimate implications for privacy. When it first launched I tried freecycle and several months ago I signed-up again to see how the service had evolved and was progressing. Because I knew this […]
The Future of Postal Service 2020
Last week I had an extended conversation on the future of postal service and wanted to share some of my thoughts on potential scenarios 10 years from today. These are clearly quick sketches. The future – as is often the case – will likely be an amalgamation of these scenarios. Scenario 1: Traditional Mail Ceases to Exist, Small […]
Making the Social Graph Linear
John Battelle writes about Color, a new social photo app. Color creates a visual (user-generated photos) public (anyone sharing photos through Color) timeline of any given location (using a proximity algorithm). (It is worth noting Dave Winer suggested the need of a “social camera” four years ago.) Battelle suggests color matters because of location (“colors has the opportunity to be the first breakout application […]
Why Excluding Drunk Driver Apps Might be a Bad Idea…
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and fellow Senators Chuck Schumer, Frank Lautenberg and Tom Udall recently wrote to Apple, Google, and RIMM asking them to exclude apps which allow users to identify, among other things, drunk driving checkpoints. In the request, the Senators write, “we appreciate the technology that has allowed millions of Americans to have information at […]
Super Bowl Commercials as a Leading Indicator?
Can super bowl commercials predict bubbles? I don’t know. Here are the commercials from the past 13 years: http://superbowl-ads.com if you want to find out. We did seem to have a myrid of dot.com related commercials prior to that implosion. Signs of bubbles from this year? Perhaps deal-of-the-day sites.
What Market Share Matters?
Both Lessien and John Gruber take on the topic of market share and I think they miss some of the nuances. Lessien applies the basic business school approach: Large market share attracted developers who built software exclusively for the dominant platform. That software, in turn, created further lock-in as users grew accustomed to the workflows and proprietary data formats […]
State of the Union Analysis
This year’s State of the Union was about 400 words shorter than last year’s State of the Union address. Likely due the changes in Congress, this year’s address also had nearly 30 fewer applauses (77 compared to 106 in 2010) and about a third of the laughter (4 compared to 12 in 2010). The word clouds below illustrate some of the key themes of the two speeches. […]
2011 CES Tablets
In October I said I expected 80+ tablet launches at 2011 CES. AS CES approached it was clear 2011 was going to be the year of the tablet and a few days before the show I said that my 80+ estimate was looking conservative. I updated my expectations and said I wouldn’t be surprised by 100+ tablet launches […]
The Future of 3DTV without Glasses
for those of you waiting for 3DTV without glasses, here you go:
