E-Commerce News: Opinions

The Iran Lesson: Technology Can Set You Free

Friday - June 26, 2009

After two weeks of news from Iran, it wasn't a tweet from Tehran that came to symbolize the horror in a potential revolution and the real-time, cinema verite nature of its storytelling. True, it was a moment brought to you by digital technology and the Internet, but it wasn't Twitter that made the leader of the free world search for the right words during this week's presidential press conference. It was video -- Neda Agha-Soltan's death at the hands of an Iranian militiaman's bullet, a forty-second snippet of camera-phone video. [More...]

The Flawed Focus of Universal Broadband

Friday - June 26, 2009

This month, the Federal Communications Commission begins drafting a national broadband plan as part of the 2009 stimulus package. This is not the first government attempt at broadband ubiquity, so the FCC can learn from past failures. The commissioners have less than eight months to "ensure that all people of the United States have access to broadband capability." [More...]

Socializing the Revolution

Wednesday - June 24, 2009

Events taking place on the streets of Tehran may have an important effect on how social networking rolls out across the rest of the world, and that includes the CRM world. Last week, the media began carrying stories about a "cyber revolution" that may be happening in the Islamic Republic, but those stories fail to account for the whole story -- the yin and yang of social media. [More...]

Iran, Technology and Truth: Do You Care If Your Information Is False?

Monday - June 22, 2009

If you look at how people flock to Web sites that are obviously on the extreme right or left of an issue, or if you watch debates on abortion or gay marriage -- or even whether the sitting president has a clue -- don't you often get the sense that for many, believing they are right and putting down those who disagree is more important than actually being right? [More...]

Can SaaS and Cloud Computing Be Location-Independent?

Friday - June 12, 2009

I'm increasingly convinced that today's technology is making it possible to make cloud computing and SaaS solutions location-independent. The idea of private clouds, as well as deploying "hybrid" SaaS solutions behind the firewall, has become controversial among many cloud computing and SaaS zealots who believe that this approach compromises the fundamental value of today's cloud computing and SaaS capabilities. [More...]

The TV Studio in Your Hand: The Future of News Gathering

Friday - June 12, 2009

The soundtrack for today's column is provided by the Dex Romweber Duo and their new CD, "Ruins of Berlin." It's a choice slice of rockabilly heaven with several tunes that would fit right in streaming from a jukebox in some blood-soaked Quentin Tarantino epic. Yet for all the retro goodness in the sound, my vision was filled with newfangled digital technology the night I saw the band in a smoky East Atlanta bar. [More...]

Natal Drops Jaws, Nvidia Shines, Pre Sets New Bar

Monday - June 8, 2009

Last week, Microsoft stole E3 with what may be the closest thing to a "Star Trek" holodeck yet: Project Natal, which turns a gamer's whole body into a controller. Computex was all about battles between smartbooks and netbooks; Intel and AMD; and Windows and Android. Also last week, the Palm Pre actually showed up on my doorstep, and I got a first look. I wasn't disappointed. [More...]

Will ICANN Drop Its Most Revolutionary Idea?

Thursday - June 4, 2009

ICANN, the Internet naming authority, is up against the wall. It may simply drop its greatest revolutionary idea of offering a brand new type of designer domain name to accommodate the cyberrealities of the widely expanded Internet of tomorrow. This new proposed platform would surely revolutionize marketing and branding for big and small businesses around the world. [More...]

EMC World 2009 - Traveling the Cloud's Byways

Tuesday - June 2, 2009

The recession's effects on technology budgets, corporate belt-tightening and simple business survival have been well-documented, but less attention has been paid to how IT industry client and developer conferences can help end customers stabilize or even improve their situations. Make no mistake -- the economy is affecting attendance and participation at 2009 events. [More...]

Microsoft Goes Bing, Palm's Pwned

Monday - June 1, 2009

Last week, Microsoft announced its new search push at Google -- and unlike Live Search, which was a joke, Bing looks to have the right stuff. The question is, can Microsoft get people to move? Palm initially looked as though it was going to get iPhone users to move, but that hope started to sputter last week. [More...]

It's Time to Push Back Against Twitter Backlash

Friday - May 29, 2009

It's a love-hate relationship right up there with dysfunctional parents du jour Jon and Kate; the media has a middle-school crush on Twitter, and the media is the first to say nasty things about Twitter while Twitter is in study hall. Some of its members are using a helluva lot more than 140 characters to do their damage. [More...]

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