Facebook: Start Doing Business

While the now infamous social networking site, that would rather refer to themselves as "a personal online directory" is making a marginal amount of profit from advertising, the real value just isn't there on a CPM basis as the ads have a terrible click through rate. Users love the site for its program type of look and feel, and simplistic advertising but the new age of users have become very blind to banner ads on the internet. Facebook clearly realizes their need to figure out a way to monetize more effectively this great service while keeping in mind privacy concerns. Mark Zuckerberg tried flowing "social ads" into the mix as a sort of friend endorsement through partnerships with other ecommerce websites. The problem was, people hated it and sometimes the technology gave too much information about a users buying habits.

The real opportunity here is the very under developed Facebook Marketplace "app" that is used. If modified correctly, Facebook could give sites such as eBay, monster, and Craigslist a real run for their money. I also know that these types of improvements would land Facebook more juicy start pages - including my own by being a more physical media rich environment. Facebook has tried to realize some of the actual ecommerce potential with Facebook pages, but has geared those more towards an informational "card" for businesses rather than a store solution. How better to control the flow of information if you can keep your users posting pictures, comments, and pokes right along side buying the newest Apple Gadget, and paying the bill online? That is synergy of products, all inside of the Facebook architecture. This type of product mix would also allow for them to muddle in the world of online search and give google a real run for its money. As the statistics show, each 1% of search engine market share worth a solid 1 Billion dollars. And besides, who knows what other kind of new search ideas they could come up with? Real time friend responses based on their personal knowledge of you?

Behold the possibility of a Facebook dynasty.

It's Official: Macbook Air!

Apple finally announces the MUCH anticipated Macbook Air on the eager public! Steve said they looked at the Sony TZ series when they built the new Macbook, the thinnest laptop ever. It fits inside an envelope, .16" to .76"! That is friggin small! There is also that 13.3" display that Apple had been buing up. LED Backlight, iSight, AND an ambient light sensor - truely epic.
The thickest part of this laptop is THINNER than the Sony mentioned above.
Multi-Touch trackpad! -Woot.
1.8" Hard Drive
80gb Hard Drive Standard - 64gb SSD available
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6 or 1.8ghz

USB 3.0 - The Speed of the Future

The recently announced USB 3.0 standard has been announced and touts some pretty impressive features. Such as a staggering rated speed of 4.8 gb/s which should be a nice addition to the standard that seems to be more widely accepted than firewire. Additionally the spec leaves room for smart power control to effectively lower its juice draw as needed by the device. Should be a handy bit for those on the go and looking to conserve power.
So far it seems that this units only vice is that we won't be seeing it hit mainstream until 2010. Who knows what will be out by then, but this looks like a promising addition to the plethora of wired communication options.

5 Reasons Why You Want Bluray to Fail

Amongst the Internet there is a bunch of hype about how HD-DVD is on its way out, and that Sony has triumphantly rode in on their white horse for the umpteenth time on this business model and that "the superior technology has finally won".

Look a little deeper.

First of all, lets consider real sales figures and we will quickly see that HD-DVD's are actually OUTSELLING Bluray. A shocker I know, even Microsofts own Albert Penello said that the numbers do not add up. His thoughts on the situation are the real kicker on this one. HD-DVD markets to the consumer, whereas Bluray markets to the studios. This brings us to reason number one:

HD-DVD is making a product with YOU in mind, not the movie industry.

Secondly, even when Sony does make a good product they want you to pay extra just for the pleasure of doing business. Retail sales associates refer to this as the "Sony Tax". If you want it, be prepared to take a beating on your wallet for it.

Sony wants you to pay more just because it says Sony on the sticker.

Lets think about updates and transitional periods here as well. In the HD-DVD spec every player must have an Ethernet jack on it as to allow consumers to update firmware, access special features and have an overall better experience with their hardware.

Sony on the other hand has the idea that if a new firmware is required you have to either a) order it on disc, b)get if off of your computer, or the best one c) BUY A NEW PLAYER. Cha-ching.

Transitioning to the HD era.
Walking through almost any retail establishment worth its weight you will find DVD's are DVD's and Bluray's are Bluray's. But what if want only one player/can't afford to upgrade all of your players that you own just for a new format? A majority of HD-DVD's come as combo discs so that you can play the gorgeous HD content on your big screen where it really matters, but when you go on a trip and you want to watch your media without buying a new computer, you can just simply flip over the disc and you are good to go on most of their media.

One of the best points in this race of the formats is who stands to benefit from winning the most? On HD-DVD's side you have Toshiba, Microsoft, Intel and one that is harder to quanity: The Consumer. By having a standard backed by multiple companies you have shared yet diverse interest in what to do with the format. When you look at Bluray you pretty much just have Sony, and whatever companies supported it in the beginning; the discs will be more expensive for a longer period of time and your restrictions (such as being able to save to your computer) will be more limited as Sony is just as much in bed with DRM as Apple was when it first came out with legal downloadable music. Plus, has anyone forgotten the rootkits?

If you are curious about more details on the format delima, be sure to check out my other article that is more in depth and oriented around the consumer experience when shopping for next generation players/content.

Ultra-Portable Mac w/Multi-Touch [PIC]

This is a photograph posted over at MacRumors by a user which illustrates what the rumor mill has been busy buzzing about (going on for YEARS now). It does shoe a significantly thinner design sans an optical drive just as many are reporting. Take this picture like all other Apple rumor photographs - with a grain of salt. If this is a fake however, they did a good job of creating a realistic shadowing effect and at least didn't use the same screen as the MacBook Pro.

The item of most interest is the touch pad which is elongated - accounted for the easiest when seen in correlation with the multi-touch patents Apple has pushed through for their actual computer design and interface. With Macworld rushing towards us, it will be seen very soon as to whether or not Apple is actually introducing this little beauty to all the hungry fanboys.