Google has been touting its "Gone Google" stories for a while now. Going Google means that a business or education enterprise has chosen to use Google's productivity software. Google has been winning over a wide range of businesses and universities but recently landed Brown University with Google Apps for Education. Brown put together a short YouTube video about its transition.
I'm honestly surprised at the speed that different businesses and schools have been adopting Google Apps. Microsoft has the largest productivity software market-share, with its Office program. For Microsoft this is big money and Google is essentially giving away a program that is almost as full featured as Microsoft's offering. Microsoft finally ceded ground by offering lightweight versions of its most popular Office programs online, but it is far behind Google on the web-based offerings. I can only assume this trend will continue; more companies and schools will switch to Google's free and cloud-based services due to price and ease of use. Microsoft will lose its near monopolistic grip on productivity software and competition will flush out new and exciting features for consumers at competitive prices.
I don't believe Google can give away its software forever and, in some instances, it doesn't. Some of its business offerings come with a price tag but this is usually far below what Microsoft charges for its software. Microsoft never created a consistent web platform for consumers to use, Google has. And unless Microsoft can coordinate its online efforts into a full featured, easy to use, web platform, it will continue to fall behind Google.
Microsoft Web Apps.
Google Docs.
Brown goes Google.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday Afternoon
So I'm going to challenge myself to get back into posting on a regular basis. Life has been a little hectic for me recently but hopefully it will be slowing down soon.
Today I want to talk about magazines. I currently subscribe to two, Fortune and Motor Trend. This runs me about $30-$35 a year, depending on the renewal rates. I receive 32 in total each year and I enjoy every last word of each one. And as much as I enjoy them, I'm still not certain the medium can continue as is.
Now, I'm a tech junkie. I love new gadgets with interesting new media platforms and I'm especially intrigued by the new tablet computer segment. Mostly I'm interested in what media companies are going to be able to do with a product like the tablet computer. I've seen some very basic ideas presented that range from a wall of text to just an article with an embedded flash video. This concept works well for blogs and news article hosted on web pages, but it doesn't quite capture the idea of a magazine.
I enjoy reading my magazine on the go. It easy to find the article I want, read the editorial, see the pictures as they relate to the material, and easily flip from story to story. The magazine itself isn't a very complicated media format. The tablet could render websites just fine. Media companies could charge people for content, as the Wall Street Journal does, and just call it a day. Just let the magazine fall to the wayside of media formats. But with this new computer segment comes a new opportunity to look at content packaging and allows media companies to present the magazine in an entirely new way.
Take a look at this concept from the Sports Illustrated staff. This, in my mind, is a great starting point for the "magazine of the future". The media format will need to evolve with technology and, if Sports Illustrated's example is any indication of the evolutionary path, we are in for a rich future of the magazine.
Today I want to talk about magazines. I currently subscribe to two, Fortune and Motor Trend. This runs me about $30-$35 a year, depending on the renewal rates. I receive 32 in total each year and I enjoy every last word of each one. And as much as I enjoy them, I'm still not certain the medium can continue as is.
Now, I'm a tech junkie. I love new gadgets with interesting new media platforms and I'm especially intrigued by the new tablet computer segment. Mostly I'm interested in what media companies are going to be able to do with a product like the tablet computer. I've seen some very basic ideas presented that range from a wall of text to just an article with an embedded flash video. This concept works well for blogs and news article hosted on web pages, but it doesn't quite capture the idea of a magazine.
I enjoy reading my magazine on the go. It easy to find the article I want, read the editorial, see the pictures as they relate to the material, and easily flip from story to story. The magazine itself isn't a very complicated media format. The tablet could render websites just fine. Media companies could charge people for content, as the Wall Street Journal does, and just call it a day. Just let the magazine fall to the wayside of media formats. But with this new computer segment comes a new opportunity to look at content packaging and allows media companies to present the magazine in an entirely new way.
Take a look at this concept from the Sports Illustrated staff. This, in my mind, is a great starting point for the "magazine of the future". The media format will need to evolve with technology and, if Sports Illustrated's example is any indication of the evolutionary path, we are in for a rich future of the magazine.
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