The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

Image
Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki
Reply

3 Reasons Why Free is NOT Free

By /
I am still surprised by those that are experienced and knee-deep within 'the cloud"* asking me why a company would pay for the Google Apps Enterprise when they can use the free one.

The obvious answer is that you get more ... dur!
Everyone with Google Apps gets 25 users with access to:
  • Email
  • Calendar
  • Docs (words, numbers and presos)
  • Sites ("wiki" + gadgets)
With Google Apps Enterprise (which costs) you have the above PLUS:
  • Email security and archival/retrieval
  • Voice and video chat
  • Video (think in-house YouTube)
  • Single sign on using your in-house authorisation (SAML)
  • As many users as you'd care to pay for (around NZ$100/user/year)
Oh, and don't forget about the Google Apps Education Edition which is "free" excluding Postini and Video but talk to your local reseller ASAP ;-)

But remember, the "free" verson is NOT free.
This is a comment I left on Ben's Diversity.net.nz sometime ago that explains what I mean:
... When I take SME's through Google Apps (a "free" service) I am very honest that it's NOT "free". It's paid for by advertising (as you mention) which in turn they contribute to by paying for it with their "data" and "attention". TV3 is "free" to the consumer but it's not really is it? Same deal. And those that "give away" their s/w (Silverstripe for example) are using the software to generate an audience for their service offerings. "Free" isn't "free" there either.

Another example - I give "free" preso/speeches at conferences, put up free IP on my websites but it's all designed to generate the same for me, a demand for my services.

I think "free" is different to how software/computer stuff has normally been moved around (as a product, like shoes, cars and other physical stuff) but the alternative ways of making $$$ are also occurring. It's not one or the other, it's a world of every which way :-) The trick is to be very clear HOW the money is coming and not be sucked into some sort of hippy concept of "free".


And finally there is a payment for everything in "the cloud"* - your attention.

Everything you do is recorded, aggregated and used. Every click, every tag added, every email marked as spam ... it al goes into the great big pot and helps that company (be it Google or whoever) create better products, more relevant information and ultimately more coins in their pocket.

Nothing is free ... but somethings are worth paying for.


Other articles related to this:

* SaaS, grid, Web 2.0 - whatever your favourite yet soon to sound old hat moniker is

Comments

  1. Ben Kepes22 April 2009 at 13:11

    Nice post Mike - and spurred on by your motivating words I just upgraded my skinflint "free" google apps account to GAPE.

    I hope you get a commission from the 'plex!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike Riversdale22 April 2009 at 14:05

    Heh, without us putting it through, no ;-)

    On ya

    ReplyDelete
  3. nzlemming22 April 2009 at 16:01

    Nice post, Mike. TANSTAFFL

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous22 April 2009 at 17:23

    I agree with you...nothing is free but the notion that it's free makes offers appealing though!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Mike Riversdale23 April 2009 at 07:54

    Thanks @nzlemming, I had to look it up ;-)

    @Christine - oh yeah, but I get a tad annoyed when appealing is played upon to sell lies :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. don24 April 2009 at 12:01

    Umm, the free in 'free software' is to do with what users can do with said software, not how much it costs. but you know that. Google apps are certainly not free software.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mike Riversdale24 April 2009 at 15:00

    @don - I know what you're saying and the complimentary article (chance, not planning), "Open Source: What It's Not" is with ya.

    This time though I was most definitely talking about $0 cost software vs $1+ software

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular articles

The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

Image
Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki

Knowing good info from bad - how do we?

This posting inspired by the latest Gerry McGovern newsletter - read it for his views We vote. As an example, that's the power of Google search - it uses the concept that web pages with the highest 'vote' get put at the top of page 1. The 'vote' is a weighted one using the number of pages that reference it multiplied by a lot of clever algorithmic type activity - highly technical insight from Google themselves . In essence you voted me top of the "mike riversdale" Google list by linking to me. However, voting is spreading through the web in many more ways than simply linking to pages and I believe the driver is that people are starting to use the tools to group themselves into communities. In the good ol' days before " Web 2.0" (say before mid-2005) there were many informal methods of finding the 'best* content' - we would send emails to our mates pointing out cool sites, read about it from dedicated "Best of the Web ..."

Which Laptop Should I Buy?

MiramarMike.co.nz is very nearly wired up with equipment and needs one last thing - the laptop. And for those that have given advice, thanks and please bear with me just a little longer :-) Everyone tells me to get an Apple MacBook Pro but it's a darned expensive beastie. Having said that I am willing to pay a little premium for the ease of use over and above Windows Vista and Ubuntu. Also I have a mate currently traveling the US who's willing to pick up a laptop over there but I'm sure how much cheaper they actually are. And so, three questions I'd love some help with: Should I go for an Apple MacBook Pro no matter what (and why?) Should I get my mate to buy the laptop (any make) in the US? If not buy in US where in NZ/Wellington would you recommend? What do you think - leave a comment My calcs. You can edit this spreadsheet with more options at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pmxKow-YfvkpQWjvBfAcpVw

How To Facilitate A Barcamp/Unconference

Image
I have been privileged to help create a number of successful barcamps ( Wikipedia ) alongside an ever growing number of committee members here in Wellington over the past few years both public and internally at client sites. I've also attended others around the country which have been mostly awesome but sometimes missing a certain "something". During this time I've managed to crystalise what I believe helps create and facilitate (NOT "run) a successful barcamp - here it is, by all means share it around. Oh, one more thing - barcamps are traditionally held within the realm of the geeks but there's NOTHING about a barcamp that limits it to such an industry and, much like you can hold a traditional conference on any subject under the sun, so you can with a barcamp. What do you need for a barcamp? I've always said you only need the following to get have a barcamp A venue A date A logo People On reflection I should also add, "a need" - dur. The date

3 Actions For Those Being Made Redundant

Image
It sucks out there in Wellington and around the country at the moment as the Government, tech, and media industries cull roles in wide ranging and sweeping actions. No-one except you know how this feels, and only those close to you can understand the impact, but know this, you will survive. 1: Understand, YOU are not redundant. Your role is being made redundant, you are not. For whatever reason the role you've been filling is deemed no longer viable within the organisation you used to work within.  You are not redundant, your role is. This is isn't about you, don't take it personally, this is not a reflection of you. Of course the impact on your life and those you hold close is very personal, but the reason it has happened is not about you. (as a side note, you are not merely your role anyway, you are way more than whatever work thing you were doing) 2: Do not panic! If you can, take time to re-evaluate what you do before shotgunning your CV out to every recruitment agency