Collaborative Strategy Guild » pbokelly

Official Google Blog: A new kind of computer: Chromebook

pbokelly — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:51:00 +0000

An excerpt from the Google Chromebook intro; see the post link below for more details and a couple videos

A little less than two years ago we set out to make computers much better. Today, we’re announcing the first Chromebooks from our partners, Samsung and Acer. These are not typical notebooks. With a Chromebook you won’t wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start. You’ll be reading your email in seconds. Thanks to automatic updates the software on your Chromebook will get faster over time. Your apps, games, photos, music, movies and documents will be accessible wherever you are and you won't need to worry about losing your computer or forgetting to back up files. Chromebooks will last a day of use on a single charge, so you don’t need to carry a power cord everywhere. And with optional 3G, just like your phone, you’ll have the web when you need it. Chromebooks have many layers of security built in so there is no anti-virus software to buy and maintain. Even more importantly, you won't spend hours fighting your computer to set it up and keep it up to date.

Official Google Blog: A new kind of computer: Chromebook

Facebook Busted in Clumsy Smear Attempt on Google – The Daily Beast

pbokelly — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:33:00 +0000

An awkward experience for Facebook – see the article link below for details by Dan Lyons

For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy. Burson even offered to help an influential blogger write a Google-bashing op-ed, which it promised it could place in outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.

The plot backfired when the blogger turned down Burson’s offer and posted the emails that Burson had sent him. It got worse when USA Today broke a story accusing Burson of spreading a “whisper campaign” about Google “on behalf of an unnamed client.”

Facebook Busted in Clumsy Smear Attempt on Google - The Daily Beast

Google’s Chrome Laptops to Go on Sale in June – NYTimes.com

pbokelly — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:14:00 +0000

More Chromebook details

Google also said that many apps would operate offline, including Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar and, when workers need a break from all that productivity, the game Angry Birds.

Working with manufacturers to make computers and providing businesses with technical support may seem a long way from Google’s mission to organize information through search. But the more Web users there are, the more people use Google’s products, Mr. Pichai said.

“It makes business sense because I think people are willing to spend money to save time,” Mr. Brin said.

Google's Chrome Laptops to Go on Sale in June - NYTimes.com

Google to Launch the Chromebook in June | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

pbokelly — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:08:00 +0000

Check the article link below for more details on a device that will likely be at least as popular as the Bubble 1.0 Network Computer

The first devices will come from Samsung ($429 with Wi-Fi, $499 with 3G) and from Acer ($349). Come June 15, the devices can be ordered directly from Google and both will be available at Best Buy and on Amazon. Also available, a $28-per-user monthly subscription for business and a $20-a-month deal for students and teachers. And when the hardware is upgraded, users automatically get a replacement.

All the storage is in the cloud and all the updates are automatic. Google’s pitch is that the devices improve in real time.

Google to Launch the Chromebook in June | John Paczkowski | Digital Daily | AllThingsD

Services keep your tunes in the cloud – The Boston Globe

pbokelly — Thu, 12 May 2011 11:02:00 +0000

Concluding paragraphs of a Hiawatha Bray review of the new Amazon and Google music streaming services

Still, there’s a lot to like about both these services. I’d have liked them just as much in 1997, when Michael Robertson pioneered the idea of a service to stream your own music. But the music companies hated the idea and sued MP3.com into a coma.

Looming over Amazon and Google is the specter of online music store pioneer Apple Inc., which is almost certainly working on a similar service of its own.

With the power of its iTunes store, Apple could instantly leapfrog both companies, and lock in its position as the dominant force in online music. Something to consider before you spend hours uploading your Conway Twitty albums to Amazon or Google.

Services keep your tunes in the cloud - The Boston Globe

Traction Software, Inc. | Blog1014: Explaining Twitter – One of Three Places for People

pbokelly — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 18:20:06 +0000

An excellent social networking snapshot from Traction Software co-founder Greg Lloyd – read the full post for more insights, if you’re pondering social software dynamics

For me, the most interesting use of Twitter is as host of the world’s largest stream of personal broadcast channels: you can find, follow or reply to people adept at the 160 character tweet. For example, I enjoy David Pogue (pogue) and Steven Fry (stephenfry) for their ability to mix notes, quips and links. I also follow a sampling of folk interested in hypertext, social software and technology – at least those who don’t just repeat what I scan in more detail from their RSS feeds. I’ll occasionally reply or rebroadcast a tweet ("retweet"), but I also don’t feel bad about un-following folk whose posts I’d rather read in RSS, or tune out as the only way to keep the signal-to-noise ratio of what I read under control. If you attempt to follow a very large number of people, you’ll end up reading a random sample or facing a signal to noise problem:

Venkatesh Rao (vgr): 9:44AM Mar 21: Twitter needs a ‘more like this’/'less like this’ reinforcement learning to lower my SNR . Fave tweet types, not people.

My reply (roundtrip) about 12 hours later: @vgr agree. There’s a great difference between following friends & family where everything counts & topics you care about x everyone.

I’ll call this use of Twitter the world’s largest floating cocktail party, coffee break, and trade show happy hour, where you’re free to tune in to what anyone is saying to the world – and talk back if you wish. Just like any party the roof is an introduction, but you can also just step back and enjoy the flow. It’s a fragmented, freewheeling and noisy place – but you choose the channels you want to listen to follow and can change channels any time.

Traction Software, Inc. | Blog1014: Explaining Twitter – One of Three Places for People

Get Shareaholic