My 3 Words For 2010

I like Chris Brogan. I tend to agree with most of what he writes. I like that he's authentic, and tries new things. So this year, I want to try a few things that are new to me.

First are three words that will help guide my efforts for the coming year. My words are Write, Engage, and Streamline.

1. Write
I have said this the past few years, but I want to write more; more blog posts, more articles, more ebooks, and more fiction. I love to write. The act of writing is thrilling. I have hundreds of stories in my head (and in my stories to write file). My work tends to get in the way of writing. This year I want to write more. Here is what I want to write more about:

• Science Fiction. I have a bunch of stories that I need to be written. I want to take one story and actually finish the entire thing.


• I want to more about SaaS (Software as a Service). Services include backing up to an off site server. Running your corporate applications on an off site server that you lease or share. And I want to discover more services that improve mobile devices, like better streaming of you video and audio.


• I want to write more about Podcasting. I know a lot of people think Podcasting is a washed up technology. And I've even doubted Podcasting in the past. But I would like to discover other ways of using digital media (audio and video) to improve education, improve sales and marketing, and service.

2. Engage
I want to engage with my family more. I want to spend more face to face time with them. Having older children gives us the opportunity to do things that we all enjoy. I'd love to travel with them more, even if it's weekend getaways.

I want to engage people about my business more. I will spend more time building a more visible brand through event sponsorship, speaking engagements, and writing books that relate to my business.

3. Streamline
This year I want to streamline my life more. When you run a small business, especially a tech business, you tend to become the jack of all trades. Meaning, I try and take on all sorts of projects. That was a goal last year, to try learn new skills, and take on more complex projects that required me to stretch.

This year however, I'm going to back off on that goal, and streamline. I'm going to focus more on the two or three things I know I best. I'm going to write more about those topics, and focus my business in those directions.

I also want to spend less time working. People in the technology field are on 24/7. If someone tells you otherwise they aren't very truthful. We all take on extra projects, moonlight for extra cash or improve skill set. I have yet to find a better way to improve a technical skill set without actually building stuff.

But I want to do less of that. I want to be able to turn it off. I want to lose weight. I've let my professional life distract me long enough. This is the year I want to change the way I live my life.

OK, so now I've written the New Years Post. It gives me some things to look at, and gives me some sort of measuring tool for the future. Love to hear your thoughts, encouragements, and ideas.

Sorry, the previous video was broken on YouTube. I had to upload a new version. Hope this works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X5jbPQwNoY

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My Take On 2010 Technology Predictions OS Wars

In my first post I talked about the platform wars, today I want to talk about the Operating Systems (OS) Wars.

There are really only three operation systems on the market people will generally know; Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Linux. There are a couple of operating systems that are getting some buzz, but most people don't know they are using them, or don't recognize the fact they are operating systems. These are mobile or light weight OS's, like Google's Chrome OS, Android, Windows Mobile, iPhone, and Palm Pre.

Desktop Operating Systems
Hands down the winner will remain the Windows, specifically, Windows 7. Personally I've been using Windows 7 for a few months now, written several blog posts on it, and can say it's just as stable as Windows XP. Sorry non-windows fan boys, but it is.

Next up will continue to be Apple's Mc OS X. The real issue most people have with the Mac OS is that it will only run on Apple hardware. Many have tried, some have succeeded, but most fail to run the Mac OS on anything other than an Apple computer. The cost for Apple computers typically keeps the average user from purchasing, and so never get an opportunity to use Mac OS X. Snow Leopard, the latest version, 1.6, is a fantastic operating system. It has all the bells and whistles you could want. But at least in 2010, it will stay behind Windows, and I don't think Apple cares one bit.

Finally we have Linux. A real geek operating system. This system isn't for the faint at heart. While distros (that's what a version of Linux is called, a distro, or distribution package) from Ubuntu and Red Hat slip in consumer features such as a graphical user interface, pre loaded applications, and the ability to manage various hardware features, you still have to have some technical understand of computers, and how to use command line tools.

Personally, I like Linux. I think it's a solid operating system that stands up to the most rigorous user. But in the coming year for desktop operating systems, Windows 7 will take even a wider market share.

Mobile Operating Systems
As I stated above, several new mobile operating systems will make some waves. I know a lot of geeky friends will want the Google phone to take over the world, it just won't. There needs to be a lot of baking before that phone will make a huge dent. You will see lot's of hype, but just as the iPhone hasn't succeeded in world domination, neither will the Google phone. But it will be cool to see what happens. What I'm hoping Nexus One does, with it's unlocked phone (meaning it's not keyed to any service provider) is to push the major manufactures to lower their prices for unlocked phones. People want choices, which is what Nexus One will give them. That will be fun to watch.

The net result of the OS War in 2010 will be negligible. Operating systems have become boring. As long as it's stable, doesn't require continual reboots, market shares will remain the same. Companies who produce operating systems make a huge capitol investment, and it takes several years, if ever, to recoup their costs. The average consumer is also averse to change. Updates are considered to be an annoyance, imagine having to upgrade the entire OS every couple of weeks.

I think the next big thing for operating systems will be slimmed down versions built specifically for an application. Linux does this, Chrome could do this. This will be the disruptive play; targeting hardware and applications. It's happening now I understand, but it will get even more specific over the next year or two.

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My Take On 2010 Technology Predictions Part 1

My good friend Kip Meacham asked his fellow propeller heads what they thought about Mark Anderson predictions he gave for 2010 in this video interview with BusinessWeek. Some the predictions I agree with, and others I don’t. I’m breaking this up into a 5 part series, giving my take on Marks 10 predictions for 2010. Here are my thoughts:

Platform Wars
There are more technology options for consumers today than ever before. I really think the three big ones to watch next year will Netbooks, Smart Mobile devices (phones like Android and iPhone), and eBook readers (like the Amazon Kindle).

• Netbooks are so cheap, you can almost look at them as disposable computers. With sizes around 10 inches, they almost fit in your pocket. Enough memory and storage to perform basic computing tasks, you can almost get away with using nothing but a Netbook. There are plenty of hacks out there to help you find all the online services you could need, for free, or very cheap.


• Smart Mobile Devices, the one device people are never more than a few feet away from these days, will really start to change the mobile computing landscape this next year. Retailers and web site that sell products, really need to step up to the plate and offer mobile versions of their site, with complete e-commerce. This technology is available now, it just needs to be implemented. Don’t miss this huge opportunity.


• eBook Readers like the Kindle have come on the market very strong. The Kindle isn’t the only player, in fact I don’t care for the physical device, but I am very excited about their iPhone and PC software versions. Other players in this market will need to catch up.

While smaller devices should increase their market share in the coming year, there is a lot of infrastructure that needs to catch up. One of those is e-commerce and micro payments which I’ll cover in another part of this series.

Another issue is always on Internet access. Today you can get 3G wireless Internet access on Smart Mobile devices, PC or phone, but at a hefty cost. More and more places are offering free or cheap Internet access, like the local coffee shop or library.

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Amazon Adds Media Streaming, Spot Instances, and VPC Cloud Services

Amazon AWS just keeps getting better and better. Today the company announced three new services to it’s AWS product line.

Amazon CloudFront Streaming
This new services gives you a world class media server in the cloud. You can now stream media files, audio and video, from a server using Adobe Flash Media Server. As with all Amazon AWS services, this is a pay for what you use, no upfront costs to start and no minimums.

CloudFront puts your files on the networks edge, delivering your content quicker, which is a great benefit when streaming audio or video files. No need to spend thousands on hardware and software.

Amazon EC2 Spot Instances
This is an interesting concept, your basically given the opportunity to bid on unused EC2 capacity. Minimum prices are set for the unused capacity, called a Spot Price, and as long as your bid doesn’t exceed that Spot Price, you can continue to use the service. I’m probably not doing it justice here, so read more about it.

Because this service may not be available for an extended period of time, suggested uses for this option would be video processing and conversion, processing research data, or modeling or analyzing data. There is some risk for data loss when using EC2 servers in this manner. You will need to make sure your price is high enough that your instance isn’t turned off in the middle of processing data.

Amazon VPC Unlimited Public Beta
This is probably the most exciting feature of the three. VPC stands for Virtual Private Cloud (similar to Virtual Private Network or VPN). It’s a standard used by companies allowing users and networks to connect with each other securely. Now the cool part. You can extend your current companies IT infrastructure into isolated Amazon compute resources via VPC, instantly adding secure private capacity to your existing infrastructure. You can also use your existing management tools to safeguard the server while on your network.

This is a hot new feature. It’s worth taking some time to review the options. If your organization often meets or exceeds existing resources, this could be an incredibly cost effective option to increase capacity, and maintain total control as if the servers were on your own network.

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Welcome DigitalThom Subscribers

Welcome to those of you who had been subscribed to my digitalthom site. Lot’s of nifty stuff going on here, more to come.

I really wanted to write more on this post, but it just isn’t going to happen.

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