Is AP Run By Idiots?

Sometimes you see a business move so stupid, so clearly self-damaging that you have to wonder whether someone inside the corporation is trying to torpedo it. And that's exactly what is happening at the Associated Press, as it gears up to wage war on every single web site and person that dares use any of its content. The only problems with what and how it is doing so are that it will quickly alienate everyone it needs to work with, find that it's in direct opposition to U.S. law and custom, and probably see just how easily activists on the web could tie it into knots.

• Jul 24, 2009

Verizon CEO Learns About Phone Security First Hand

I came across this via InformationWeek: Zug.com decided to pull a prank on Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg and teach a lesson about wireless security at the same time. The lesson was that there is virtually no security for wireless handsets, largely because of the carriers themselves. Phone records are apparently so easily available that even Seidenberg's mobile number and somewhat more permanent address were available after a free three-minute search. So Zug's Jon Hargrave drove over to the home, set up across the street with a megaphone, and began blasting his concerns over privacy, including asking "Can you hear me now?" when Seidenberg failed to show.

• Jul 24, 2009

Amazon Kicks Q2 Rear; More Shift Away From Media Sales

Amazon released its Q2 results, and the numbers are very impressive. On a year-over-year basis, net sales increased by 14 percent -- not too shabby, given the general economic climate, and even more impressive when you realize that taking exchange rate shifts into account, it would have represented 20 percent growth. A number of headlines I've seen focus on the 27 percent, or $58 million, decrease in operating income, but I think that's a bit of a red herring because of some unusual financial considerations.

• Jul 23, 2009

SpinVox, or Someone Like It, Keeps Spinning

Shortly after my piece earlier today suggesting that SpinVox needed a spin doctor, it seems that the company decided to take the title seriously. Someone posted a comment pointing to a SpinVox blog post as proof that the BBC article was flawed. And the vendor's blog is going to be the accurate and f...

• Jul 23, 2009

SpinVox Needs Spin Doctor

Often, one of the selling points of tech companies, especially Web-based businesses, is the cool factor of their technology. Not only can this help bring in the early adopters, but it gives investors the sense that scaling a business and leveraging money put in should be possible. But woe unto those...

• Jul 23, 2009

SAP Claims 'Security Breaches At Salesforce.com'

Incredibly, SAP would still rather talk trash about software-as-a-service (SaaS) than bring its own innovative products to market. During an interview on SAP TV (approximately 57 seconds into the video), SAP's CTO, Vishal Sikka, tried to portray SaaS as the "cheap" and unreliable bastard child of...

• Jul 23, 2009

Apple Allegedly Covers Up Battery Problems

I've reported before about a long-term problem that Apple iPhones have seemed to have with iPhones overheating, though the company hasn't publicly acknowledge the extent of the issue. According to some, the major cause is likely a battery issue. Well, a Seattle reporter is claiming that Apple has been preventing her and others from getting information to document reports of iPod batteries catching fire.

• Jul 23, 2009

Bartz's Big Weakness: Hubris

Earlier I posted about what might be Yahoo's big mistake: putting itself before its customers. But news brings a matched observation for company CEO Carol Bartz: hubris.

• Jul 22, 2009

Yahoo's Big Mistake: Putting Itself First

You know things are bad at a company when the earnings release crows about exceeding the "midpoint of revenue outlook range." And given the recent history of Yahoo, there's no question that things have been bad. But has the departure of Jerry Wang and installation of Carol Bartz as CEO changed the company enough? I'm not so sure.

• Jul 22, 2009

Google Wave: 'Like Real-Time E-Mail. On Crack.'

Developers are finally getting their hands on the developer preview of Google's Wave, which means we can finally get some first-hand accounts of what it's really like to use, unfiltered by Google's own programmers. Wave, demonstrated by Google at its I/O developer conference in May of this year, ...

• Jul 23, 2009

Moore's Law Reaching Statute Of Limitations

It turns out that Gordon Moore never predicted that processing power would continue to double every two years. What former Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel co-founder Moore wrote for Electronics Magazine in 1965 was that the costs of electronic components will be sufficiently depressed by demand...

• Jul 22, 2009

Web 2.0 Internet Bubbles: Form Without Substance

Earlier today, my colleague Michael Hickins discussed concerns about a new tech bubble involving Web 2.0. His take was that those who see the expanding iridescent form simply don't "understand the value proposition of Web 2.0," and that a person who raises such doubts "confuses enthusiasm engendered by the potential of the likes of Facebook and Twitter with the 'irrational exuberance' over the likes of Pets.com." I'll disagree. The question is not a simple good versus bad argument, and many in the new round of "enthusiasm" have shown a disturbing number of traits in common with the 2001 dot bomb fiasco.

• Jul 21, 2009

Apple Mac Units Up, But At What Cost?

Apple has announced its 2009 Q3 results, and of course the iPhone continues its relentless drive toward dominating its market. And on the personal computer side, there was unit growth again. But the cost seems to be the continuation and escalation of the potential profit margin that the company can ...

• Jul 21, 2009

Amazon and Who Owns Data

The recent dustup over Amazon.com removing unauthorized copies of George Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of people who had bought the title seems to have settled with muddled excuses from Amazon and righteous anger from many in blogging and the press. But what many seem to be missing is that for the industry, this brings up far bigger questions than what Amazon will and won't do and how consumers might feel about it. Some of what came up goes right to the heart of problems about media and even data ownership that are only going to get more complex and divisive.

• Jul 21, 2009

Sybase Mobilizes Enterprise Cloud Computing

The wheel of fortune is spinning in the right direction for Sybase these days, making CEO John Chen's decision to move the company into the mobile platform business seem positively prescient as enterprises move towards adoption of mobility and cloud computing. Sybase's results also demonstrate th...

• Jul 21, 2009

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