Web Analyst » Web, present and future

Waiting for ebooks

Gaston — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:44:32 +0000

Let’s count the ways we have to wait for a better tomorrow on ebooks:
1. First the iPad, of course. But the wait is almost over, they tell us.
2. Then there’s Blio Reader (software), which went into radio silence after CES. They’ve been “coming soon” since then… we’re still waiting.
3. Barnes & Noble, not to be outdone, let us and their investors know that they wouldn’t miss the iPad train and would launch their app. Soon.
4. Finally, Amazon pre-announced their Kindle for Tablet, any tablet as long as you can touch it. Very soon.

B&N, Blio and Amazon have found themselves forced to react to the iPad ebook business model, and demonstrate how their own business model would survive the iPad onslaught. But for the moment, all these announcements feel a lot like vaporware – or is it ebookware?

Plunge into history – online

Gaston — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:46:18 +0000

Microsoft has released a technical preview of streetside photos, a Bing service which will overlay Flickr photos into Bing Streetview – including historical photos.

For all lovers of history, this means that you’ll soon be able to enter 3D renditions of historical landscapes, and walk through them – like a Star Trek holodeck without the characters (yet).

Try it: visit Seattle’s Pioneer Square

Think of the possibilities: Stroll through the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris; visit Dresden before the bombing; follow Allied troops landing on Omaha Beach. This will be yet another way to make history relevant.

The other way ebooks prices are changing

Gaston — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:17:49 +0000

Amazon’s troubles with publishers have focused mostly on how the publishers want Amazon to charge more for ebooks. But what about when the $9.99 price is too high?

Take a recent bestseller for instance: The Da Vinci Code. Based on the seeming endless availability of used and new copies, the Kindle price is already adjusted to balance the reader’s wish to get an immediate copy with the abundance of supply.

I foresee Amazon increasingly tweaking prices in this way – in the meantime it’s you can find other $9.99 Kindle versions competing with a cheap used copy, and look for more used book price arbitrage opportunities.

Demonstrating brand decline with Google Insights for Search – Treo Example

Gaston — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:31:32 +0000

Google’s Insight for Search is going to be my favorite research tool. Take, for example, a search for the word “Treo”: http://google.com/insights/search/#cat=&q=treo&geo=US&date=&clp=&cmpt=q

The Treo peaked in 2005, and is currently experiencing a small revival.

You can also demonstrate cycles, such as this search for “christmas Cookies recipe”: http://google.com/insights/search/#cat=&q=Christmas%20cookies%20recipe&geo=US&date=&clp=&cmpt=q

I just found a huge analyst cookie jar…

Gmail predictions 2009

Gaston — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:10:18 +0000

Here’s what Gmail will gain in 2009 – these fall mostly in the duh category:

Image search – returning results just like Web Images search (although with the added challenge of limited context for search)
Image gallery – show all image in your gmail account as a gallery
Image slide show – show image attachments as a Picasa-style slide show

Google Maps’ modernist take on downtown Seattle

Gaston — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:24:30 +0000

I really like this picture of the Bank of America building, and how Google maps can’t quite decide which way the buildings should lean:

Amazon’s amazing remodel

Gaston — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:01:30 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/gp/events/gno/002-8547268-6055232

Sweet, sweet UI from the UI gnomes at Amazon

With new player, Real adopts software model of company it had threatened 7 years earlier (Streambox)

Gaston — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:48:25 +0000

New RealPlayer Instantly Downloads Online Video — www.RealPlayer.com

The new RealPlayer has sparked all kinds of deep copyright discussions, but the irony I note in this launch is the similarity of this new capability with that of the StreamBox Ripper. StreamBox Ripper was a product that allowed for the saving of – among others – RealAudio streams. Real threatened Streambox and Streambox backed down, in an early application of DMCA.

That said, RealPlayer was due for an overhaul.

Safari 3 for Windows opens .Mac (dotmac) to Windows

Gaston — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 21:49:33 +0000

Safari 3 for Windows – Engadget

Apple has decided to take allow Windows user to join the Safari, but this also opens .Mac (dotmac) to Windows users, complete with 60-day trial. It doesn’t, however, make .Mac more compelling (you can get it all, without the eye candy, from Google for free). This was already guessed at earlier this year.

Apple iTunes Plus still missing international purchases

Gaston — Thu, 31 May 2007 17:21:24 +0000

Apple Launches iTunes Plus

Apple’s iTunes launch of DRM-free purchases has bee rightly heralded as a happy jingle. However, Apple still misses the mark and a golden opportunity with international purchases.

As the holder of a US-based iTunes account, I can visit, but not purchase from, the iTunes store in France. I understand that, with different prices and agreements across the ocean, Apple wants to prevent cross-country arbitrage, but it’s beyond me why I can’t buy a tune from iTunes France when it’s not offered at all in the US.

Apple, give us an “Export” option! Make money in the process.