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I was reading an interesting story about how Netflix (one of my favorite services) is going to start downloading rentals directly to set-top devices hooked to your TV. Great idea, but what really caught my eye was the quote from Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO and founder:

“It (the set-top device) is going to be very slick and easy,” said Reed Hastings, Netflix’s chief executive officer. “We want the TV experience to be very relaxing and not like visiting a Web site.”

What struck me about Hasting’s quote is how he casually damned all of the web in one swift stroke. Apparently, the web is neither “slick and easy” nor relaxing. Is it really that bad?

Walt Mossberg of the WSJ sat down with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to discuss the future of computing, the “death” of the PC and life in a “post-PC” world. It’s interesting to hear their vision for where things are going. Hint: look for a lot of innovation in the small form factors (iPhone, tablets, etc.).

17-Dec-2007 UPDATE: The free serial number has expired, though you can still download a free 30-day trial. There is another free alternative; I’ll write about it later this week.

We all have our favorite tools, utilities and websites. One of mine is SnagIt, a great product from TechSmith that makes screenshots a snap. SnagIt isn’t free, but it’s one of those tools that I find indispensable.

Now TechSmith is offering free serial numbers for SnagIt 7.2.5! It’s not their latest version, but it’s not crippled or limited in any way. SnagIt gives you tremendous control over how you capture, save and print screenshots. My personal favorite feature? SnagIt can automatically capture long, scrolling web pages into a single image!

Why are they giving away serial numbers? It’s a great idea to introduce people their products, and hopefully convert a few into paying customers. Not only do you get SnagIt 7.2.5 for free, but you can upgrade to the latest version for half price. Not a bad idea.

To get SnagIt 7.2.5 and your free serial number, download one of these files:

• ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe - English
• ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/snagitde.exe - German
• ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/snagitfr.exe - French

Then visit the TechSmith website here and give them your name and email address. I got my key in my inbox less than one minute later.

Hats off to Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspirations for the tip!

Tech investor Yossi Vardi spoke recently at TechCrunch40. Vardi is perhaps best known for being the original investor in instant messaging pioneer ICQ. Michael Arrington describes Yossi as someone who invests in people, not business plans.

To help make his point and establish his philosophy for investment, Vardi quoted Theodore Roosevelt’s 1910 speech at the Sorbonne:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and business provocateurs.

Ars Technica has a great article on how Google dropped the ball with their 2005 acquisition of Urchin — a web analytics company based in San Diego. Urchin provides web site administrators with the ability to analyse their log files and understand how people use their web site. To Google’s credit, they took some of the Urchin technology and came out with Google Analytics, providing really nice (and free) web-based web analytics. I use Google Analytics on all my public-facing web sites, and highly recommend it.

But… there is still a valid need for local analytics, particularly at large organizations with intranets that cannot be served by Google Analytics. This is where Urchin fit the bill nicely. Urchin is a commercial product. You can still buy Urchin from Google, though you must work through one of their certified consultants. Unfortunately, since Google’s acquisition of Urchin back in 2005, there has been little or no progress on updates.

Personally, I would love to see the charting and data presentation of Google Analytics integrated into their standalone Urchin product, but it appears that Urchin, like so many other Google acquisitions (remember Dodgeball?) is withering on the vine.

I’ve been a fan of the band Radiohead since discovering their 1997 release OK Computer. Their music treads territory well off the beaten path. And while I don’t like all their music, I admire their spirit.

Now the band has done it again, but this time upending the music business. The band has bypassed not only the big record labels but even iTunes. Their latest release — In Rainbows — is available for download with a “name your own price” model. You can download it for free, or pay $10 or even $100 for the album. Pay what you want.

Of course Radiohead isn’t the first band to do this. But they are the first commercially successful band to do so, and may be paving the way for others.

This democratization is made possible by the cheap distribution afforded by the Internet. What will be interesting to see is how many people pay, and how much. Normally artists make a small portion of the actual sale price of a CD. In this model, the hard costs of distribution are minimal, so in theory the artist could end up with the largest portion of whatever revenue is generated. Will Radiohead fans put their money where their mouth is? Stay tuned.

For now, I’m off to try to download In Rainbows (the site has been slow and unresponsive as of this writing; no big suprise). And no, I won’t be paying initially, but if I like it, I’ll gladly return and send a few quid to the guys in the band.

Quick Update:I managed to download the release without too much trouble and just completed my first listen. In Rainbows still doesn’t equal OK Computer or Thom Yorke’s solo effot, Black Swan. Maybe it will grow on me.

Wall Street Journal’s tech video blogger Andy Jordan tests Virgin America’s new in-flight instant messaging service. No, you can’t IM your buddies back on the ground. This service only lets you chat with the other passengers on your flight. You enter a seat number to send a chat request.

The video is amusing.

Merlin Mann of 43folders presented a talk titled “Inbox Zero” at Google this past Monday. Inbox Zero echoes the bit literacy concepts promoted by Mark Hurst. The video is an hour long, but Merlin provides a compelling argument for proactively managing your inbox.

Source: 43folders

Sprint Nextel has come up with an innovative approach to customer service: fire the “bad” customers. While many people advocate that complaints are actually valuable, honest feedback that should be embraced, Sprint’s decided they would rather not deal with those problem customers. They sent out letters to 1,000 subscribers who complained just a little too much.

Gizmodo has a copy of the letter, in which Sprint explains that it’s apparent they “…are unable to meet your current wireless needs,” cancelling their outstanding balance and waiving any early termination fee. Customers will have until the end of July to find a new wireless carrier.

That’s one way to improve customer service — with a stick! I can just see the next review meeting. “Complaints have gone down 60%!” Duh.

For those of us for those of us comfortable with blogs, wikis and forums, the collaborative benefits of social software are clear. Why then do most businesses still rely on email more than anything? Social software expert Suw Charman has presented her views on why corporate adoption rates for social software tools still lag behind email in this great presentation.

Stephanie Booth has summarized the salient points on what keeps people from diving into the social software pool:

Low-level fear of social humiliation. How are they going to come across to their peers and bosses? Fear of making mistake. People don’t realise they’re afraid, they just feel a bit uncomfortable talking /publicly/ to their collegues. E-mail is different because it feels private, it’s 1-1 communication. You’re not exposing yourself as much. People become “shy” when you give them a very public place to work.

Also, some people aren’t comfortable in writing. Some are better talkers than writers, and are not comfortable writing in a semi-formal environment. E-mail is more informal. Blogs and wikis are perceived as requiring a higher level of writing skill. Again, people don’t admit to this.

This doesn’t happen in very open organisations, but often if permission isn’t explicitly given to use such tools, that will really get in the way. “Blogs as diaries”, etc — psychological mismatch. What the boss /thinks/ blogs are, and what they are used for in business.

Trust in the tool. “So you mean anybody can change my stuff?” for wikis. “Can I stop them?” Not comfortable trusting the content placed in such tools, and the tools themselves. “What if the tool loses everything?”

Will the tool still be around in one or two years? If we pour our data into this wiki, am I going to just lose everything if management pulls it down?

Many people just don’t see the point. See social software as something they need to do /in addition/ to what they’re already doing. Parallel with KM disasters.

As you can see, implementing a new work process is less about “the tool” (easy, free) and more about changing the culture of the organization. What’s the key to success? There is no single recipe for all organizations, but one of the most useful approaches is to make sure the leaders use these technologies themselves. People pay attention to what their leaders do. Of course, this implies that your organization has leaders, and not just managers.

Thanks to Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspirations for the tip on Suw’s presentation.