May 3, 2006 | blog
RIMarkable has a post on the same Visto story I talked about earlier today. I still can’t figure it out, and have the same question as Robb Dunewood – who actually uses their technology to get mobile email? There are dozens of people that we all know that use BlackBerry’s, some that have Palm Treos, Nokia Series 60/S60 devices, and Windows Mobile Smartphones and Pocket PC Phones that use alternate methods like GoodLink, POP3, IMAP and Exchange 2003 solutions.
While I don’t agree with some that question the viability of patents today, I do lament the lack of integrity of patent filers/holders and in the disappointing performance of the US Patent Office itself regarding technology patents.
May 3, 2006 | blog
So here comes wave two of the patent suite against RIM. ZD Net is reporting about Visto suing RIM over their BlackBerry mobile email system. This is the same company that is engaged in a lawsuit against Microsoft – and the same one who did a cross-license agreement with NTP (who just settled with RIM themselves) on several of their patents.
Trying to paint RIM as some evil patent-stealing empire, Visto’s CEO Brian Bogosian says:
“Under the law, which protects consumers from products that contain infringing technology, RIM should not be able to sell the BlackBerry system.”
More crybabies who can’t compete fairly. I’m just curious where Visto’s and NTP’s lawsuites were when RIM was starting the mobile email productivity revolution 5+ years ago? Wouldn’t it have been prudent (for them) to stop the company then? I’m really getting tired of this kind of behavior that impacts progress and innovation.
Anyone who thinks mobile email is a breakthrough technology must have been born yesterday. My advice to Visto/NTP – develop a real, competitive, creative business plan and produce some real products that truly are breakthroughs in the mobile space.
Apr 28, 2006 | blog
In this post, Robert Scoble talks a bit about why scrum won’t work as a development/release strategy for OS’s… (also read Yo! Listen Up! by Rod Boothby) I believe that the scrum model could fit nicely with the software-subscription model; Microsoft is at a great point with Windows Vista in which they could target Windows Vista R2 as the base for all future scrum OS development. This would mean that it would be the last “shipping” traditional base OS, all new/enhanced bits would come over the wire from a customization panel at Windows Live. In fact, Vista R2 could be shipped as “Windows Live”, with ongoing bi-monthly updates, enhancements, patches, and new features shipped via Windows Live following the scrum methodology.
To get end users in line with this, Microsoft will need to promote the virtues of never needing to “upgrade” the OS in the traditional manner. That for an annual subscription price (call it $20 a PC for example), you get the base OS and all the fixing’s, add $10/yr for Media Center Edition, add $10/yr for the “Ultimate” version, whatever… Many Microsoft Windows users get tired of having to purchase, install, and troubleshoot new OS versions when they get little perceived new value from it.
Also, invest is answering the worries of non-broadband users – figure out how to get them on broadband to make the updating process work faster and easier. Sell the idea of never needing to upgrade in the traditional sense, but build the OS to accomplish that goal – you’re close, finish it in the next rev of Windows.
Windows Live and Office Live are, obviously, the method to deliver ‘Web 2.0’ based solutions, making Word, Excel & PowerPoint on line like ZoHo Office, or Writely. Yes, strip out the extra fancy stuff that only 1% of the user base needs. Get back to the simple word processing that 80-90% use and make it available on line. Outlook is already modeled on line in the form of Windows Live Mail – just add Windows Live Word, Windows Live Excel, etc…
Also, beat Google to the punch and get the “M Drive” or Windows Live Drive or whatever you call it out there asap. Set it up so it’s a drive letter from Windows boxes, set it up so its a folder on the desktop next to My Documents – don’t abandon the existing easy-to-understand methodology for the desktop that MILLIONS are using. Make it simple – “My Documents”, “My LiveDrive”, etc… the simpler you make it the more people will use it, the more people will tell their friends how easy it was to use. KISS applied to all aspects.
Completely erase the boundaries between local and remote, OS and Web. Change Windows so that ANY browser can snapped into the OS in place of IE. Follow every standard, adapt your plans and ideas to utilize standards, don’t try to make a standard out of Microsoft proprietary items for this. Use standardized AJAX methods on line and publish the APIs, .NET is great, others are porting it to Linux, help that effort where you can.
Embrace Linux & Mac, every computer user in the world should be able to have the same experience using any on line Microsoft property. Anything less is unacceptable. Of course owning a Windows License brings more features to the users of Windows Live, but make the basic experience of Windows Live identical for every OS and every browser – there should be no compromise on this, how else can you convince anyone that your world view computing is better if all they see is a flaky on line experience?
So, is Microsoft listening…
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Ranting…
OK, guess I went quite a bit off the original topic, but I believe that it all ties together. That it all is part of a whole. It really does boil down to whether we’ll see the next real breakthrough in OS design come from Microsoft or Linux. It could happen if Microsoft listens to customers, critics, and the like. I’ll get down off the soap box for a few minutes.
Thanks for stopping by!
Mar 22, 2006 | blog
If not at home, then most definitely at work. So I’ve got a lot going on at work, getting a VPN upgrade ready to move into pilot phase, participating on a revision to our project methodology, wrapping up 14 updates to our standard Windows Image, disaster recovery planning, documentatin, trying not to start on our BlackBerry project, and various other pieces of this and that. No wonder I can’t seem to find the time to keep up on the news, read my favorite blogs, and of course, blog on my own site. Never enough time, guess we’ll have to try and make some :).
Mar 14, 2006 | blog
RIM’s BlackBerry supposedly offers a BlackBerry Connect for Windows Mobile software component. What I need to figure out is where do you find this elusive software? Do you get the software along with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, a separate offering, free download, WalMart, at the bottom of my favorite cereal box – where?
The dissapointing thing for me on the BlackBerry front is that there are so few real sources of information and solutions on the Internet. For Windows Mobile, there are thousands. This is the difference between a closed system like BlackBerry, and an open environment like Windows Mobile.
I’m not going to debate the supiority of the BlackBerry push email system – that is obvious, but what I have trouble with is the lack of acceptance of customer choice. The company I work for is planning on rolling out BlackBerry services, for a number of reasons. But what I see is a true lack of choice for our users. What do you tell a senior exec when they come back with a spiffy new Windows Mobile device and you tell them that they cannot use it with our new push email system? With the rates charged for the support contracts, you would think they want to cover all the needs a corporate customer may need.
Come guys where is the customer choice?
