I am following an interesting discussion (please also read the comments thread) on the question: is intellectual property itself unethical? Having worked in the media space for years, I have always been on the side - and I am still standing on this ground - that interlectual property needs to be protected in order to ensure artists' or inventors' creations. In my view this is an economical and not moral issue.

In the video below, David Koepsell makes an ethical case against intellectual property. It is a quite lengthy clip, it starts out slow and is somewhat dry. But it gave me some new insights and is really worthwhile to watch:

I try to summarize it in just a few sentences: He argues that if intellectual property is causing actual harm, then the laws of intellectual property by themselves are immoral. That means if by taking away intellectual property no direct harm is caused, then there is no moral issue. But if leaving them in place does cause harm, then that creates a moral issue. 

He then talks about the concept of "the commons", such as highway systems, and elaborates on different kinds. In some situations, allocation of resources is inefficient without a legal regulation. For example, individuals would claim land possession if a law would not institute such land as a national park. An another example is the highway system. This is what he calls "commons by choice", so scarce resources are better allocated by letting everyone share them.

But Koepsell argues that there is another type of commons, that cannot be enclosed and possessed outside of the law, such as your genes. He refers to this as "commons by necessity". He makes the point that the same logic cannot be applied here. For example, by making a choice to limit your rights to your own genes, you are creating harm which in itself is immoral.

In summary, I think it is worthwhile discussing what the net impact of intellectual property is: does it help to advance innovation or does it get in the way of innovation?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Today I would like to post some resources that are very useful for entrepreneurs. If you have any recommendations on other resources, please send me your comments:

INC: The magazine INC offers a comprehensive collection of articles and useful links to a whole range of start-up topics such as writing a business plan, how to incorporate or how to finance a small business.

Gary's Guide: This is a collection of useful links to a number of web resources such as job listings, freelancers and service providers, co-working spaces, angel investors, and useful tools.

How to split an atom: This comprehensive collection contains an assortment of resources for startup and small business entrepreneurs. It is a good mix of articles, blogs, templates, and software that will make the task of starting a business just a little bit easier.

99designs: This is the #1 marketplace for crowdsourced graphic design, connecting over 70,000 designers from around the globe with start-ups and small businesses who need design projects completed. The prices per project are fixed for each design category.

Term sheet generator: The law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati offers a free term sheet generator on their website. Such a generated venture financing term sheet is based on responses to an online questionnaire supported by basic tutorials and annotations on financing terms. This tool takes into account a number of options and is fairly expansive.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Today is soccer day! Therefore, just a little Apple video today on the new iPhone 4 and its iOS4 both in terms of hardware and software. Can't wait to get my hands on the new software (although not all of the features will work on my 3GS).

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I just read a study on the future of cloud computing, that was published by the Pew Research Center's  Internet & American Life Project and Elon University’s Imagining the Internet Center. The survey was conducted through online questionnaires in which 895 people participated, including technology experts. 

Here is a summary of their findings:

A solid majority of technology experts and stakeholders participating in the fourth Future of the Internet survey expect that by 2020 most people will access software applications online and share and access information through the use of remote server networks, rather than depending primarily on tools and information housed on their individual, personal computers. They say that cloud computing will become more dominant than the desktop in the next decade. In other words, most users will perform most computing and communicating activities through connections to servers operated by outside firms.

I also fully expect the inevitable rise of cloud computing. It is more convenient, offers better collaboration opportunities, reduces maintenance work and resolves the backup problem (I already lost many family photos because I was too lazy to backup them properly). 

On the other hand it poses the big question: which cloud service can I really trust and what do they do with my personal data? The Facebook discussion has brought this topic to the agenda in the recent weeks. Generally it seems that US consumers are less concerned about data security than Europeans but the Facebook discussion was also big over there. So how will companies in the future make sure that consumers get a necessary level of comfort?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Recently I looked for wireframe and prototyping tools. Apparently is a pretty crowded space. I personally prefer web-based services and I do not need too sophisticated features. So I took ProtoShare which is a cloud service and is easy-to-use. Here is an overview, maybe it helps you to choose the most useful tool for you (no specific order):

1. ProtoShare

- Cloud service, excellent multi-user support
- Informative video tutorials
- Pricing: starting at $29 per month

2. Mockflow

- Very simple editor to create wireframes
- Hybrid model (cloud service and desktop application)
- Pricing: basic service is free, premium package at $59 per year 

3. Smartdraw

- Download necessary
- Pricing: $197 (discount price)

4. Mockupscreens

- Download necessary
- Pricing: $99.95 per license, renewal at $29.95

5. HotGloo

- Cloud service
- Pricing: $7 - $14 per month 

6. Axure

- Professional software suite
- Download necessary
- Pricing: $589 per license 

7. JustInMind

- Professional software suite
- Download necessary
- Pricing: $495 per license 

8. Pidoco

- Cloud service
- Pricing: starting at €7 per month

9. ForeUI

- Download necessary
- Pricing: starting at $99 per license 

10. iPlotz

- Download necessary
- Pricing: Basis service free, single license starting at $15 per month 

11. Flairbuilder

- Download necessary
- Pricing: starting at $29 per month 

12. JustProto

- Download necessary
- Pricing: starting at €14 per month 

13. WireframeSketcher

- Download necessary
- Pricing: $75 per license

14. Gliffy

- Cloud service
- Pricing: Basic service free, Premium service starting at $5 per month 

15. JumpStart

- Cloud service
- Pricing: Basic service free, Premium service starting at $5 per month 

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I read a very interesting analysis by Matthew Buckland who claims that Apple's iPhone is in trouble. He suggests that Apple's business model is at risk because the company is getting more and more a closed shop. 

"It's a growing paradox: the very brand that barely needs to spend a cent on formal marketing is developing an image problem as a result of its ruthless, walled-garden approach to business. It threatens to reach bizarre proportions: Apple is making Microsoft look like the good guys."

He compares the situation with the 1980s when Apple had created a far superior product, the Apple Macintosh with its OS, but lost the war against Microsoft. As prime reason for this he suggests Apple's wallet-garden approach. Matthew Buckland claims that history is repeating itself. Today Apple follows again its traditional approach and created with the iPad the most propitiatory product in the last decade. In contrast to this, Google emulates Microsoft's successful strategy of the 1980s and proliferates Android as open platform. So he concludes that Apple's mobile platform is in trouble.

Tom Foremski makes the interesting observation that Apple's enthusiatic early adopter fanbase consists of people who are big supporters of open standards and open platforms. They should thus be also early adopters of Android. He wonders if the fans will rebel at some stage?

I would like to add some observations which make the situation today in my view less comparable to the 1980s.

Pricing: Apple lost the war against Microsoft not only because of its walled-garden approach but also because of Apple's change in pricing strategy as they replaced the inexpensive Apple II ($650) with the much pricier Macintosh ($2495). The DOS computers at that time were less expensive and thus the perceived relative price gap was big. This resulted in a decline in market share from 1985 (pre-Macintosh) to 1990 by five percentage points. Today, Apple still charges higher prices for its mobile devices compared to its competition. But as in most countries the iPhone is subsidized by the telco operators due to contractual agreements with Apple, consumer perceive the relative pricing difference between an iPhone 3GS and an alternative device such as the HTC Desire to be much less.

Product and proliferation: The iPhone today is much more a main stream product than the Macintosh was in the 1980s. Apple has managed to sell 50m iPhones and 35m iPod Touch and thus established a big enough user base to sustain in spite of its walled-garden (the garden is just pretty big!). 

Applications: Apple currently offers over 200,000 iPhone apps. Although I don't believe that the sheer number of apps will ultimately decide the mobile war, I still believe that the established developers' community is big enough compared to the open source Android community. In the end, there is probably a big overlap between the two groups anyway.

In closing, I agree that the walled-garden approach has its issues but the setting is very different today. In my view the ultimate risk with Apple's business model remains to be their ability to continuously create consumer products that are perceived to be cool and trendy (and this is a big operational risk!). In the end, Apple is much more a successful marketing company than a tech company.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I really like Apple's marketing, on their new iPhone 4 homepage they claim:

This changes everything. Again.

And again the enthusiasm about the new iPhone and its new features is amazing, as you can see in the twitter reaction. 

The new features of the device include:

- Video chatting
- New high res display
- HD video recording

But also for the 3G/3GS users, which includes me, the upcoming OS4 will deliver new features. Apparently, Apple listened to what the crowd has really wanted for a long time:

- Multitasking: Yes, it is now possible to run more than just one third-party app. Amazing isn't it. So great news for services like spotify or Pandora, as music typically runs in the background.

- Folders: Now you can create folders that contain apps. This is really necessary to keep apps organized. I never understood why this basic functionality was missing.

- Home screen wallpaper: So you can customize your iPhone the way you want it. Nice feature, not so important to me as the overall screen size is still limited.

- Tap to focus video: Very useful feature as very often this has been a real issue when shooting videos in the past.

- 5x digital zoom: Also a long awaited feature that makes other apps, that offered digital zoom, no longer necessary.

The iPhone 4 will be available in Germany by June 24th exclusively at Telekom.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

So today is another "Apple day". Everybody is awaiting what Apple has to reveal to its fans at WWDC today. I think it is interesting to observe that Apple is a company that has been very successful over three decades but neither the company nor the press is focusing on past achievements. Instead people are curious to learn what the "next big thing" will be.

In the same category fall companies such as Nike, Intel, Thompson Reuters and I would argue IBM. IBM is an interesting case as they had a near death experience but finally jolted from complacency and successfully reinvented themselves. Now IBM talks about cloud computing, open source and outsourcing instead of proprietary systems.

These companies have adapted themselves to changing environments and were able to sustain innovation. Now there has been a lot of research, discussions and presentations on innovation. But to be honest, I think that a lot of these efforts are either centered around "using" innovation as a tool (as you can see here or here) or are based on high-level, theoretical models that are very hard to implement.

In my experience innovation is a state-of-mind and cannot be simply "used" as a tool. But what creates such a state-of-mind? I think a great example for this is Tom Glocer, CEO of Thompson Reuters, who stated at DLD in January:

"You have to be constantly playful, you can't become complacent and believe that your particular combination of content and distribtuion technology is gonna be there for a long time."

But what can you do if the organization is not ready for this? How can you change yourself as IBM did? Irving Wladawsky-Berger, whom I had the privilege to meet at a conference at IESE two years ago, wrote:

"I know that IBM's insular, proprietary culture had to be ditched before we were able to move ahead into the future."

I am sure there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to this fundamental issue. Still, I believe that there are commonalities, but which are most important to implement innovation long-term? Is it a certain leadership style to influence the existing culture like in IBM's case? Do you need a CEO who is playful and "lives change" like Tom Glocer does? Or is it just the right combination between external pressure and lucky timing?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Just found this nice "Dilbert on Twitter". This is a smart way to use Twitter don't you think?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

There are a lot of online storage services in the cloud: free services, freemium models and pay services. When I started to get interested in this space two years ago, I found that it is pretty hard to differentiate between them based on clearcut criteria. Good services integrate fully with your desktop and allow you to easily upload and download files via drag-and-drop. It should be able to use them like a regular drive. In addition, they should also provide you with both an online space and mobile apps to access files and folders from any device while you are on-the-go. Finally, the service should be dependable and provide sufficient (whatever that means) security.

I personally liked dropbox due to its ease-of-use and UX design and it was also quickly adopted by my friends. So I have been a loyal user ever since. But let's take a look at the landscape to date with some information on the various features that might differentiate the products. I don't want to suggest that this is a comprehensive list, so please let me know if I missed out some services:

1.  Box.net 
- Freemium (1GB is free)
- In-folder collaboration
- File widgets
- Mobile: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, mobile browser

2. Backblaze
- Pay ($5 per month and computer for unlimited space)
- Backup solution 

3. Broolz 
- Freemium (unlimited data is free, colloboration is not free)
- Windows only 

4. Dropbox 
- Freemium (2GB are free)
- In-folder collaboration
- Mobile: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android

5. ElephantDrive 
- Pay ($4.95 per month and per computer for unlimited storage)

6. Egnyte 
- Pay (starting at $9.99 per month for 2 computers and 20 GB)

7. Filobite 
- Is in beta, so far the service is free

8. Huddle
- Pay (starting at €6 per month for 1GB storage)
- Online collaboration tool
- Mobile: iPhone

9. JungleDisk 
- Pay (starting at $2 per month for backup only, $3 for desktop application, 5GB incl.) 

10. LiveMesh 
- Microsoft's service, 5GB is free
- Mobile: mobile browser

11. MobileMe- Apple's service, pricing: $99 per year
- Native integration into Apple software
- Mobile: iPhone, iPad 

12. Mozy 
- Freemium (2GB are free)

13. Nomadesk
- Pay (starting at $40 per year, unlimited storage)
- In-folder collaboration
- File widgets
- Mobile: mobile browser

14. OpenDrive 
- Freemium model (5GB is free)
- In-folder collaboration
- Mobile: iPhone, Blackberry, mobile browser

15. S3 (amazon) 
- Pay ($0.15 USD per GB)
- Separate app necessary, no direct desktop integration 

16. SpiderOak
- Freemium (2GB are free, unlimited computers)

17. SugarSync
- Pay (starting at $4.99 per month)
- In-folder collaboration
- Mobile: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android, mobile browser

18. Syncplicity
- Freemium (2GB are free for 2 computers)
- In-folder collaboration
- Mobile: mobile browser

19. Wuala
- Freemium (1GB is free)

20. Zumodrive
- Freemium model (1GB is free)
- Mobile: iPhone

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

This is a TED video of behavioral economist Dan Ariely. He is the author of Predictably Irrational, a book that I read recently and thought that there must be a lot of business ideas out there for which you can take advantage from his findings on irrational behavior ;-) Ariely uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions. Enjoy!

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_ow...

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Yesterday AllTingsD announced Google's acquisition of InviteMedia, a demand side platform provider (so-called DSP). A DSP is a platform that connects to multiple ad exchanges and other inventory suppliers, accessed through one user interface. It offers campaign management and reporting tools, automated bid management capabilities, most of them real-time bidding, and tools for advanced data analysis. The advertiser can thus control the ad budgets and rates across all media sources. Players in this space include MediaMath, Turn, X+1, DataXu or AppNexus.

Here are some useful resources on DSP:

1. What the rise of demand side advertising networks means for publishers

2. What Demand-Side Platforms Can Mean for a Media Plan

3. The Demand-Side, Buying Platform Trend

4. Pre-Bought Vs. Demand-Side Platforms - Know The Difference

5. A quick guide to demand-side platforms"

6. European And UK Demand Side Platforms Looking To Bring Order To The Buy-Side

7. Demand-side platforms and why they evolved

8. Demand Side Platform’s (DSP) And Why You Should Care!

9. A 10-Step Guide to Evaluating Demand-Side Platforms

10. Demand Side Platforms -- urgh

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Just stumbled across a press announcement that RubiconProject is opening an office in Germany. There are couple of such companies out there that offer technology platforms in order to help large web publishers to optimize their ad inventory. In addition, the technology is also focused on improving brand control for online publishers. In essence, such platforms match every impression with the highest paying demand source. Here are three companies in this space that are all US-based (I am wondering if there a any European companies in this space as well):

RubiconProject

Rubicon claims "The ad server is dead, and there is a better choice."

PubMatic

PubMatic's claim is: "To provide publishers with the greatest control of their ad revenue and brand."

AdMeld

AdMeld's claim is: "AdMeld helps the world's top publishers maximize their ad revenues and sell inventory smarter, safer, and more efficiently."

So has anyone used such services to optimize the ad portfolio? What are your experiences?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Usability testing is painful, time-consuming process and frequently companies underestimate its value to improve the performance of a website. In addition, very often such a service is very expensive and thus not affordable for smaller web companies. Here are five usability testing services you should consider:

UserTesting.com

UserTesting.com wants to bridge the gap between no user testing and expensive user testing. Based on a crowdsourcing approach the service gives you on-demand access to a panel of users. You get to "look over the shoulder" of these users while they perform common tasks on your website. This decreases the cost and hassle of usability testing. One tester costs $39 for which you get a 15 minutes flash video of a user speaking their thoughts as they browse your website and a written summary where that same user tells you what he liked, disliked, and what would have caused them to leave the site.

Loop11

Loop11 is a self-serve, hosted solution for usability testing, allowing companies to conduct online, unmoderated user testing. Loop11 provides the ability to gain detailed insights and understandings of user behaviour. These insights are obtained via a live, interactive environment where users are asked to complete a series of tasks and questions on the website or interface. Interactions are captured, processed and made available in real-time reports. The company offers a flat fee pricing of $350 each time you run a project with up to 1,000 participants.

ClickTale

With ClickTale also offers tools to optimize website performance, improve usability and increase conversion rates. ClickTale tracks every mouse move, click and scroll, creating playable videos of customers’ entire browsing sessions as well as visual heatmaps and behavioral reports. As a fully hosted subscription service, ClickTale is quick to set up. Pricing is based on a subscription fee between $99 and $990 per month.

UserZoom 

UserZoom is an international online market research company, specializing in web customer experience and usability testing. They offer a much more comprehensive service which is also reflected in their pricing. For an on-demand web-based study the pricing is at $3000. They have an interesting webinar on How to conduct Web Customer Experience Benchmarking that you might want to check out.

Keynote

Keynote is a long established player in the industry, founded already in 1995, and also offer a wide range of customer experience/UX products and competitive research. They claim to be the world's largest global test and measurement network. The suite of customer experience/UX products and services enables you to perform behavioral and attitudinal analysis, real-world user testing, online surveys, and competitive and market intelligence. I could not find anything specific on pricing on their website.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

After the launch of Buzz it has become quiet around Google's social
media initiative. While I was reading some blogs I realized that the
Buzz "reshare" button has been increasingly implemented on many sites.
Here is an example from Mashable.

Of course the twitter retweet button is still #1 and that won't change
anytime soon. Also Facebook gets a decent share. As Facebook requires
two way confirmation in order to become a friend the value of such
mentions should be higher compared to twitter.

Buzz has to be compared to twitter and not Facebook as you can follow
unilaterally. And in fact as you can see on the screenshot the
difference in retweet counts between Buzz and twitter is substantial
which indicates the overall relevance.

But on Google I/O the launch of the Buzz API was announced and thus
the developer community can come up with third-party apps, which
should ultimately increase the value of Buzz. This has been the
booster for many other services such as twitter, boxee and others. So
will it become a booster for Buzz too?

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Today I read that 24,000 copies of the new WIRED iPad app were sold in the first 24 hours compared to
Business Insider's estimate of only 3,000 copies.

I think that this is a good start for WIRED. I'm not sure though if
these early experiences can be taken as an indication for the whole
magazine industry. The WIRED audience is certainly more progressive
and thus more likely to try out new platforms than the average
magazine reader. We will get a clearer picture once the data is coming
in over the next few weeks.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

What makes FB so interesting is that - for some reason - it has grown
beyond this critical inflection point. I see FB today - similar to
Google or TV - as an infrastructure service which has reached the
"mainstream". It even can afford to lose some of its original users.

One explanation why FB has managed to reach this stage might be that
it has replaced personal email (and communication) among friends. Many
FB users that I personally know are very mainstream people above 30
who so far had no interest in social networks or social media. They
just use the service as a great tool to organize their personal
communication.

Of course these folks also complain about the privacy policy issues
and rightly so. Two comments on this:

(i) It is an inherent dilemma of FB that the service needs to attract
advertisers in order to generate revenues and therefore has a clear
incentive to share as much information as possible; on the other hand
if FB is not addressing the privacy concerns properly they might
destroy trust and lose users.

(ii) BUT: this discussion has been going on since the launch of FB.
And people tend to forget about it, esp. the mainstream users. Just
think about the number of people who complain about their telco or
cable TV operator.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

My most important requirements are mobility, performance, design and
ideally I should be able to play some PC games on the notebook. Here
are the options:

1. Macbook Pro

My natural choice would have been a 13'' Macbook Pro due to its high
mobility and great design. Unfortunately, the mid-2010 models only
offer Core i5 or Core i7 systems in the 15'' and 17'' Macbook Pro
versions. So the 15'' model is the next best choice for me. Here is an excellent review that highlights its good performance, long battery life,
and the high res display with WLED backlighting. With BootCamp it
should be easy to install Windows 7 as a second OS to run some games.

Pros:
- Still the best design out there
- Good performance and high res screen
- Two OS on one notebook

Cons:
- Pretty steep price, also for the accessory (like RAM upgrades and SSD drives)

2. Sony's VAIO Z-series

I always had the VAIO Z-series on the radar. The new model obviously
is very interesting, esp. since it is an unltraportable with a 13.1''
LED backlighting screen. The VPCZ1190X has an amazing design and also
offers Core i5 and Core i7 processors, hybrid graphics system and SSD
drive even in the basic version (I am wondering why Apple is not going
that path as well). Here
and here
you will find informative reviews.

Pros:
- Great mobility
- Samsung SSD in basic configuration
- Attractive Design

Cons:
- SSD are proprietary and cannot be upgraded to other company’s hard drives

3. Alienware m15x

Alienware is the high-end brand of Dell specifically aiming at gamers.
So you can expect top performance. And the m15x gives you extreme
performance, a full HD 1080p screen and lots of customization
possibilities. Here
and here
you find some reviews.

Pros:
- Top performance, esp. for gaming
- A lot of customization options (many of which are pricey though)

Cons:
- Weight is a bit of an irritation, so mobility is an issue
- Design is too bulky and too "outer space"
- I read a lot of negative user comments on Dell support?!

Any advice as to which notebook you would recommend? Any alternatives
that you might think of? Please send me your opinions.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »