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Category: Podcasts
November 20th, 2008
EIC podcast: Jerry Yang; BlackBerry Storm; Gadgets
On this week’s EIC squared Dan and I talk Yahoo’s new CEO, Verizon Wireless and the BlackBerry Storm, CES and pushing gadgets in a down economy.
First, the big news of the week was Jerry Yang and his move to step down as CEO of Yahoo. A lot of speculation revolves around who will become CEO. I said that the pick will reveal a lot about Yahoo’s intentions. We both agreed that it’s highly likely that Yahoo’s search unit will be sold to Microsoft. After all, Microsoft is already poaching Yahoo talent.
The other item of note is the BlackBerry Storm. Both of us played with it a little and generally liked it. The reviews (ZDNet, CNET, Techmeme) are everywhere.
And finally we talked about a few new gadgets Dan scoped out this week ahead of CES in January. The big question is what will the pitch look like and will consumers bite.
November 12th, 2008
EIC podcast: Best Buy’s fall; Obama’s CTO, Microhoo; Search wars
On this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I talk about the tech economy, Obama’s CTO, Yahoo and Microsoft’s potential deal with Verizon Wireless.
On the economy, Dan and I talk about the downward spiral that’s going on with consumer spending. Best Buy is the latest company to say October was a bad month. When will it end? And what does this gloom and doom mean for a tradeshow like CES?
We also spent some time talking about President-elect Obama’s plan to create a CTO cabinet position. The challenges for this new CTO–who is yet to be named–are immense.
And finally we talk about Yahoo and whether it should do a search deal with Microsoft. Both of us noted that such a deal makes sense despite the miscues on both sides. On a related front, Microsoft is looking to be the default search provider for Verizon Wireless at the expense of Google. I noted that there’s also an operating system play with this potential deal. Google wants Android in Verizon Wireless devices and Microsoft wants Windows Mobile in more places.
October 24th, 2008
EIC podcast: Tech demand murky
In this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I devote our time to the technology economy.
The market is mired in a funk and companies just can’t seem to figure out what demand looks like. Dan and I talk netbooks, Microsoft and Apple. As for Apple the big question is what will the company do with all those billions in the bank.
We also talk a little bit about next week when the Microsoft Professional Developers Forum (and Windows 7 and cloud computing) will dominate the news.
October 9th, 2008
Churchill Club podcast: Irrational decisions and the rational people who make them
Renowned organizational thinker Ori Brafman and his brother, psychologist Rom Brafman, say that anyone–under the right set of circumstances–is capable of irrational action. But irrational behavior is not random.
In conversation with Guy Kawasaki–one of the Club’s most popular moderators–the authors of, Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior will reveal proven strategies to counteract the forces that lead to bad decisions, including our tendency to go to great lengths to avoid perceived losses, our inability to reevaluate our initial diagnosis of a person or situation, and our tendency to take on characteristics that have been arbitrarily assigned to us.
October 3rd, 2008
Churchill Club podcast: From Cell Phones to Software & Services: One-on-One with Nokia’s CEO
Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes, sat down with Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo to discuss the mobile market. Kallasvuo has led the company for the past two years, but has held a variety of positions in his 28-year Nokia career, including heading its North American unit in the late 1990s.
Kallasvuo talks about how Nokia is launching services and applications and doing battle against RIM, Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Does Nokia’s customer base of more than 1 billion people give it an advantage as it spreads smartphone-like services and applications further down into its product lineup around the world? What is the impact of Nokia’s success in the booming cell phone markets of the world, such as China, India and Africa? And what is the company’s plan for the U.S.?
October 3rd, 2008
EIC podcast: Tech economy turmoil; Cloud computing; Citizen journalism fails
On this week’s EIC squared podcast, Dan and I talk about the economy’s impact on the tech sector, cloud computing and citizen journalism following the fake Steve Jobs heart attack story.
On the economy Dan and I covered a lot of waterfront. We talked about technology spending and how the earnings barrage that comes later this month will be a key indicator. The House had just passed a big bailout bill. I said that the financing arms of technology companies should be closely watched. We also touched on software as a service in a downturn and Sun’s prospects.
Regarding cloud computing, Dan’s hunch is the often abused buzzword would benefit from a slowing economy. Why build a data center when you can merely subscribe to one? We also touch on Microsoft’s cloud computing plans that CEO Steve Ballmer has been talking about this week in Europe. Amazon has already fired back.
And we ended on that fake story about Apple CEO Steve Jobs having a heart attack. Someone made out nicely on that Apple trade. As for citizen journalism it got a black eye.
September 19th, 2008
EIC Podcast: Wall Street; Sarah Palin’s email; Web 2.0
On this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I talk Wall Street, Sarah Palin’s email being hacked and the state of Web 2.0.
The technology sector took a back seat to Wall Street this week. That’s where the drama was. We had meltdowns and bailouts and a lot of volatility only to remain roughly flat. Go figure.
Here’s a look at the Dow, which roughly mirrored the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.
So what does this mean for the tech sector? For starters, consolidation in the financial services sector will have an impact on IT demand and tech workers. But so far it’s unclear how big that impact will be. For instance, Oracle said it wasn’t enduring any big pain in a solid fiscal first quarter report. Other wild-cards include IT spending, venture capital and whether technology buyers will just be more cautious following this week’s volatility.
Dan also riffed on Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, and how her email was hacked. The Feds are looking into the matter, but the larger question is whether you should conduct business on a personal Webmail account, which is easy to hack? Looks like the answer would be no (even though we’ve all intermingled work and personal emails).
And finally we talked about the maturity of Web 2.0. I attended the Web 2.0 Expo in New York and things seemed very business-like. Dan and I noted that by time we get bored with Web 2.0–right about now by the way–the business case and the mainstreaming of the technology will occur.
September 19th, 2008
Churchill Club podcast: A Second Strike of Light-Ning? Marc Andreessen speaks
Marc Andreessen is famous for giving birth to the Web browser - in the 1990s. He’d like to be famous for some newer stuff, too - like Ning, which is getting attention as one of the more interesting ideas in social networking. (It helped 50 Cent to build his fan site.) He’s also become kind of a de facto brainiac commentator on Silicon Valley, mostly through his blog. Most recently, he’s joined Facebook’s board of directors. In a conversation with Condé Nast Portfolio’s Kevin Maney Andreessen talks social networking.
September 4th, 2008
EIC Podcast: Google Chrome; Apple; Dell and Salesforce.com
On this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I talk Google’s Chrome browser, Apple’s iPod event next week and my theory that Dell and Salesforce.com should merge.
On Google’s Chrome browser we riffed on the importance of the launch, how it’s really a battle over cookie files and how Mozilla’s Firefox browser may take a hit. You can find all the Chrome coverage you can digest on ZDNet and News.com.
The other main event coming up is Apple’s iPod event. Apple sent out the invite for its Sept. 9 event where it’s widely expected that new iPods are on the way. The sideshow, however, will be on Apple CEO Steve Jobs and his appearance following neverending rumors about his health.
And finally we kick around my theory that Dell and Salesforce.com could merge. I make my case, which admittedly could be a stretch, but stranger things have happened. A potential combination won’t happen today, but could be possible down the line.
As for next week, we’re on the road at Demo, TechCrunch 50, SAP TechEd, CTIA and Apple’s powwow.
August 27th, 2008
EIC Podcast: Apple-Psystar; Cisco vs. Microsoft; DNC; Dell
On this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I talk about that ongoing Apple-Psystar legal showdown, Cisco and Microsoft’s collision course, the Democratic National Convention and Dell’s plans for the cloud.
On Wednesday Psystar–that little Mac clone maker in Florida–sued Apple for antitrust violations. The big question: Does Psystar have a case?
Meanwhile, Cisco acquired PostPath for $215 million, a small sum for a deal with big implications. PostPath competes with Microsoft Exchange and Dan and I discuss how Microsoft and Cisco appear to be on a collision course–especially on the collaboration front. Would Zoho be a nice acquisition for Cisco?
Dan also riffs on the Democrat powwow in Denver, the experience and Joe Biden’s tech record and closes with a chat about Dell’s cloud computing plans and partnership with Salesforce.com.
August 15th, 2008
Podcast: CIO tells how he reduced impact of Olympics video streaming
Being able to watch most of the 2008 Summer Olympics streaming over the Internet has been exciting for users, but not so much for businesses and IT departments. Hear Howard County, Maryland CIO Ira Levy explain how his organization used a two-pronged approach of education and technology to limit the effect of Olympic video streaming from its 30,000 users.
This is an episode of the Tech Sanity Check podcast from TechRepublic. You can subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
August 13th, 2008
EIC podcast: Kindle; iPhone; Dell; IDF
On this week’s EIC squared podcast, Dan and I talk about Amazon’s Kindle and its prospects, iPhone’s distribution and Dell’s new laptops.
The never-ending guessing game that is Amazon Kindle sales picked up again. Citi analyst Mark Mahaney doubled his sales projection for the Kindle and noted that the Kindle is the next iPhone. Dan is skeptical: If Amazon was really moving Kindles it would have disclosed a sales figure already.
Speaking of the iPhone, Apple is landing some serious distribution via Best Buy. The retailer is likely to juice sales and get some extra foot traffic in its stores. It’s a win win for both parties. In the enterprise, Gartner gave the iPhone its blessing and HSBC is looking to deploy iPhones over the BlackBerry.
On Dell, Dan wondered what the company could do to really juice laptops. I noted that battery life–all 19 hours of it–and the ability to boot email, calendar and contact apps without the operating system could win over more than a few business customers. We were on the fence about the laptop color scheme in the enterprise, but agree cheaper flash drives would be a big feature.
And next week is Intel’s IDF powwow in San Francisco.
August 8th, 2008
EIC podcast: Olympics IT; LinuxWorld; Google
On this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I talk about the Olympic-sized IT effort behind NBC and Microsoft’s web site. We also talk about LinuxWorld and Google’s opt-out moves this week.
On the Olympics, it’s showtime for Microsoft’s Silverlight and the IT effort behind NBCOlympics.com. Will the Net hold up with all of that streaming video? How will Silverlight perform? There was plenty of testing ahead of the Olympics, but the scale will be immense. As Dan noted, it’ll be quite the case study a few months from now.
As for LinuxWorld, there was a collective yawn from folks this year. Why? Linux has gone mainstream, it’s a given that open source is popular in the enterprise and data centers just aren’t as much fun as the smash mouth approach of the software’s earlier days.
And I touch on Google’s opt-out policy now that it has merged the tracking efforts of its network with DoubleClick’s. Yahoo also bolstered its opt-out policy. Will people opt out in droves or proceed as usual?
August 6th, 2008
Podcast: Churchill Club women in technology
In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series, a panel of executives talk about the critical factors in their success and how they overcame the obstacles of the fast-paced tech industry that is often considered to be dominated by men.
Speakers include:
Gina Bianchini, CEO, Ning- Charlene Li, Vice President & Principal Analyst, Forrester Research
- Carol Mills, Board of Directors, Adobe
Moderator:
- Ann Winblad, Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
August 5th, 2008
Churchill Club video: Women tech leaders
At the Women Tech Executive Roundtable at the Churchill Club, moderator Ann Winblad of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners asks Charlene Li, formerly of Forrester Research, how she rose to such an influential role. Li explains how she gained confidence, got a few speaking tips, and gives her strategy for standing out in a crowd. Li also gives a technique she dubs “making the call”–taking your time about giving an answer and then not wavering from it.
July 30th, 2008
EIC podcast: Dell’s music plans; Microsoft’s Mojave; Broadband wars
On this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I assess Dell’s MP3 player trial balloon, Vista’s Mojave experiment and the broadband wars and whether any of the big players can actually win.
First up, Dell floated a trial balloon in the Wall Street Journal today and the general idea is this: Dell is going to try and launch a music player again–this time with software as its big selling point. The general idea is that Dell can be a hub of sorts where consumers can aggregate their music and movies. Both Dan and I were constructive on the idea given that DRM is basically dead. And Dell has improved its design chops so the idea isn’t a total stab in the dark. Will Dell threaten Apple? Nope. But hey it’s worth a shot.
We also talked about Microsoft’s Mojave experiment and how it illustrates Vista’s perception problems very well. It also means Microsoft is spending a bundle trying to rehab Vista’s reputation. The marketing ploy was one of the big takeaways from Microsoft’s financial analyst meeting this week.
And finally, I mull over the broadband wars as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast have all reported earnings. The upshot: No one is exactly winning. In fact, they are all likely to see margins fall as they strive to hold customers and out market rivals. In the end, that state of affairs is promising for consumers.
July 25th, 2008
EIC podcast: Microsoft’s analyst meeting; Icahn’s deal; Facebook
On this week’s EIC squared podcast, Dan is back and we talk about Microsoft’s analyst meeting, Kevin Johnson’s departure from the software giant, Carl Icahn’s deal with Yahoo and Facebook.
The big news this week was Microsoft’s financial meeting (see Mary Jo Foley and Ina Fried’s coverage) where CEO Steve Ballmer talked strategy and outlined the company’s plan for the year ahead. There was a healthy dose of enterprise and a lot of talk about search. I argue that Microsoft needs a little IBM-ish moment of clarity and that it should focus. Dan says that theory is nuts and Microsoft should be investing in multiple markets.
We briefly touch on Kevin Johnson’s departure from Microsoft. Johnson was the bigwig in charge of Microsoft’s platform and services division. He’s going to Juniper. We’re not sure what it all means, but it’s big.
In addition, Icahn blinked and called a truce with Yahoo. We both wondered how much power Icahn will really have. One thing is clear: Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang bought himself more time to turn things around.
And finally Dan recaps the Facebook developer conference and handicaps the company’s move to be a big portal.