{"id":25958,"date":"2011-06-03T04:57:43","date_gmt":"2011-06-03T03:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=25958"},"modified":"2011-06-04T14:39:17","modified_gmt":"2011-06-04T13:39:17","slug":"a-bad-idea-isn%e2%80%99t-a-strategy-just-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/a-bad-idea-isn%e2%80%99t-a-strategy-just-a-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"A Bad Idea Isn\u2019t a Strategy, Just a Bad Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The following is by G. A . “Andy” Marken, President of Marken Communications<\/span><\/a> Inc. He has kindly given us permission to republish his thought-provoking article. As with everything that we publish at AlienBabelTech, the opinions expressed are solely those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and the opinions of the rest of the ABT staff.<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/span> \u2013Mark Poppin,<\/span> ABT Senior Editor<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

You have to admire Google.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re masters at giving stuff away free and making it up on the backend \u2026 selling your click, interest, movements to others.<\/p>\n

O.K., that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n

Their other strategies have taken the gleam off their golden touch:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Nexus was an empty mine<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So few folks download Android\/Honeycomb apps that developers focus on the Apple mines that have action<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Google convinced a lot of companies to throw money into their wet, musty TV mine; they just forgot the content owners<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Google music mine was empty at first and \u2026 yep, pretty much still is<\/p>\n

Still, they have a few things going for them:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of your click information \u2013 stationary, mobile<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of people buying that information<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of money<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of \u201cfriends\u201d who don\u2019t like Apple, don\u2019t like Microsoft, don\u2019t like each other<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lots of money<\/p>\n

Wait! There\u2019s a mine that hasn\u2019t been explored!<\/p>\n

Netbooks \u2013 a good but underpowered notebook option \u2013 were overhyped a few years ago.<\/p>\n

Tess Finnegan looked at the idea and said, \u201c<\/em>Your uselessness is epic.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It was going to be great until those so-n-sos at One Infinity Circle came out with their iPad.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2nd<\/sup> Time Around \u2013 <\/strong>While the mobile device segment was stable for a long time, innovations and updates, new wrinkles and new hopes in recent years have changed the market and usage dynamics.\u00a0 Netbooks were forecast to replace notebooks but tablets and smartphones got in the way so we renamed, reintroduced them and producers will try again.\u00a0 Source – Forrester<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You\u2019d think Apple and their fanboys\/girls would be satisfied with their Macs (oh yeah, they\u2019ve sold so many that people are designing malware just for them), their music players, their phones!<\/p>\n

Refreshingly New \u2026 Name<\/strong><\/p>\n

This new Google mining venture is really new because they put a whole new name on it.<\/p>\n

Moe Fitch was just impatient to get something going when he said, \u201c<\/em>Come on, I’m getting old. Let’s find some gold!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh sure, you may remember it as \u201cThe Dumb Terminal Mine,\u201d then \u201cThe Thin Client Mine,\u201d then \u201cThe Netbook Mine\u201d (which is still delivering profits).<\/p>\n

But this is new, different, better because it\u2019s \u201cThe Chromebook Mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t buy it, you rent it \u2013 sure, for more than a netbook \u2013 and we save you a ton of money for the privilege of working in the occasionally darkened clouds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cloudy Forecast \u2013 <\/strong>Obviously, t<\/strong>he solution if you\u2019re Google is to put all the stuff in the cloud.\u00a0 Sounds really great if \u2026 if the cloud is fast enough to handle everything (it isn\u2019t) and if it\u2019s safe enough (it isn\u2019t).\u00a0 Hackers, grabbers are getting better and bolder.\u00a0 They\u2019re challenging even the most sensitive security locations, so Google is going to protect you?\u00a0\u00a0 Doubtful!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019re a business, you can save 70 percent by eliminating little problems like security, software patches, anti-malware, OS\/software deployment.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an individual, you pretty much eliminate the same things because their cloud services will instantly<\/em><\/strong> handle all those things plus<\/strong> you\u2019ll get Gmail, Google calendar, Google docs, limited storage options (whoopee!).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Open Note\/Net\/Chromebook — <\/strong>Sundar Pichai, Google\u2019s Senior Vice President of Chrome, extolled the many benefits, features of the new devices and highlighted the first units that will be out \u201dshortly\u201d from Samsung and Acer.\u00a0 They\u2019re only \u201ca little more expensive\u201d than netbooks currently available, but they offer so much more.\u00a0\u00a0 Source – CNet<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

O.K., so you have to buy the Chromebook that costs \u201ca little more\u201d than most netbooks out there.<\/p>\n

Look on the bright side as Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat did, “the Chromebook is a twist on the thin-client model, except everything goes to Google.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Got a problem, issue?<\/p>\n

Call Google\u2019s 24×7 service\/support desk at ###-###-####.<\/p>\n

Note – your number may vary but you know they\u2019ve always been \u00a0\u2026 responsive.<\/p>\n

End of Worries<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry about the fact that companies are moving to private clouds as opposed to the public cloud.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry about those \u201coverblown\u201d stories of people hacking\/whacking every cloud around.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s got your back and your front \u2026 pocket.<\/p>\n

Remember, they\u2019re experts at privacy and security!<\/p>\n

Apple responded to the Chromebook in typical fashion\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yeah But \u2013 <\/strong>Apple isn\u2019t bashful about telling Google what they think of their attempts to \u201cborrow\u201d Apple ideas like the tablet (iPad) and cool netbooks (Apple Air).\u00a0 Source – Michelangelo<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

IT folks, and those people who are always one step (at least) behind the bad guys, said working online won\u2019t be too tough on you.<\/p>\n

Norton\u2019s global cybercrime report of online users reports:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 51 percent said they\u2019ve had viruses, malware<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 10 percent responded to online scams<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9 percent responded to phishing messages<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7 percent said someone had hacked them<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7 percent had experienced online credit card fraud<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 4 percent had identity theft<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 28 percent said it was a real hassle getting things resolved<\/p>\n

Google co-founder Sergei Brin said, \u201cThe complexity of managing your computers is torturing users out there. All of us. That\u2019s a flawed model fundamentally. Chromebooks are a new model.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Chrome Gold <\/strong>\u2013 Sergey Brin, Google co-founder, sees a lot of reasons for people to wildly accept (and use) Chromebooks for all of their work and play \u2026 millions, billions of reasons.\u00a0 Source \u2013 stunmedia.com<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, you will need unlimited bandwidth and everything will have to be in the cloud; but if you can\u2019t get through quickly, you probably didn\u2019t need to.\u00a0 And if your stuff isn\u2019t in the cloud you probably don\u2019t need it anyway.<\/p>\n

Tess took it calmly and said, \u201cIt’s not here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft Freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sure, Google\u2019s move is a whack at Microsoft; but it would be beneath them to acknowledge that or the fact that Bill has quietly slipped back into the Redmond offices through the back door to \u201cjuice things up a little.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then they also don\u2019t like Apple very much either.<\/p>\n

iOS runs on both tablets and smartphones \u2026 on Google? Nope!<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s \u201cLion\u201d Mac OS will have many of the best iPad\/iPhone features and it saves your stuff locally all the time.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s working on their \u201cIce Cream Sandwich\u201d that will eventually run on their mobile devices and store stuff \u201cup there\u201d in the cloud.\u00a0 They really want all their stuff to look like Apple!<\/p>\n

Of course, Ben looked the situation over and said, \u201cHey, boats sink! No one knows why!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Think Different \u2013 <\/strong>Don\u2019t know about you, but we\u2019re getting a little tired of the new, different, better ideas that look, feel a whole like those from the fruit company that is prone to black mock turtlenecks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Google\u2019s strategy \u2013 for all of its hundreds of thousands of probably very talented engineers \u2013 is to start digging in the mine just behind someone else because obviously they must<\/strong> know something.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve gotta\u2019 quit reading the headlines and delve into the body text, writers\u2019 research.<\/p>\n

They might find out that PCs are still huge \u2026 tablets are really strong\/fun \u2026 netbooks are O.K.<\/p>\n

Key Tablet and PC Projections<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PC Beaters \u2013 <\/strong>If you\u2019re interested in playing games, watching videos, surfing the web and not creating stuff, nothing beats the tablet; but the only traction here, after nearly six months, is the iPad so the only answer is go after a different solution like netbooks we\u2019ll call Chromebooks or even Ultrabooks.\u00a0 You\u2019ll never know the difference, well maybe.\u00a0 Source \u2013 Morgan Stanley, IDC<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Governments around the globe have pretty much given up on chasing Microsoft as the bad guy.<\/p>\n

Getting the posse off their back has enabled Microsoft to refresh Windows, develop a family of cloud service options, refresh\/revitalize, totally refreshed their phone platform, focused their attention on what\u2019s important \u2013 business, not attacking everyone.<\/p>\n

Here Come \u2018Da Judge<\/strong><\/p>\n

They\u2019ve turned their attention on Google as the real claim-jumper of just about everything, everyone.<\/p>\n

In fact, they\u2019re spending so much on litigation they may have to dig even harder and deeper in their click mine to pay off their hordes of lawyers because it doesn\u2019t look as though their actions and the reactions are going to get Eric (below) a government post.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead of working so hard at dodging taxes and trying to figure out how they can dig in everyone else\u2019s mine, they should realize that software and clicks are very, very profitable.<\/p>\n

They may look small when they come up one bit at a time, but it\u2019s all profit!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Diving for Profits \u2013 <\/strong>There are a lot of things out there that don\u2019t look like gold or, for that matter, even chrome; but when you pile up a bunch of them \u2013 like your search clicks and social media movements \u2013 it suddenly adds up to big bucks.\u00a0 Finding riches is easy if you know where to look.\u00a0 Source \u2013 Warner Brothers<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Tess said, \u201cWell, just because you refuse to believe something doesn’t make it true. Or false. Or… whatever\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Schmidt may have been more right than he thought when he said, \u201cThe Internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn’t understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

by: G.A. “Andy” Marken<\/strong><\/p>\n

President<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marken Communications Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>\u201c<\/em>It’s difficult to maintain enthusiasm for your leadership when you keep getting beat up by that old man.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Alfanz, Fool\u2019s Gold, Warner Brothers (2008)<\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n