buzznovation

"Samplet vs. Craplet"

In a perfect world I would be thinner, younger and better looking. I would also be packaing my bags to head to All things Digital or D5, the excellent conference produced by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg.

I have nothing but the greatest respect for both of them. A while back Walt wrote a column about the “craplets” that come bundled on new computers.

In writing about the event,Kara has written about getting “surprising Walt with “Craplets!” T-shirts”. After I read the post, I made a comment, and it has spawned the beginnings of a conversation. The best comment is from my friend Phil Baker, and I would invite anyone who reads my blog to join in.

As I wrote the hardest things post building a product are finding a way to distribute it, and then finding a way to get people to adopt it.

Someone who breaks that code is a lot smarter than I am.

And, if you are reading this, head over there, and do me a huge favor. Join in the conversation, and help us learn, how in the world we might be able to articulate that ActiveWords is the kind of application that should come bundled with every computer that ships. My take is that anyone who buys a computer today, either knows or ought to know that the revenue sharing opportunity that comes with OEMs bundling applications like ours has the net result of subsidizing the cost of computer hardware that has such incredibly slim margins, that it is hard to imagine that anyone makes much profit today.

My take is real simple. It’s no longer about the cost of either hardware or ware, it’s about time!

Again, head over to Kara’s blog, and add your $.02 worth!

As my friend Dan Gillmor once wrote, “my readers are smarter than I am”, and as we realize daily at ActiveWords, our users are a lot smarter than we are, and have a lot better ideas as to what they want from us.

Emails that make your day/life...

When you evangelize an idea, a product, a company, there are days, that you wonder, have I truly lost my mind, what am I doing, where are we going, etc? And then, you get an E-Mail like the one I just got, and you say, you know what, it’s all worth while. If we, ActiveWords, can change people’s lives, make them better,help them, then all the hard work, and sacrifice are worth it.

So here’s the E-Mail that I just got, and it made my day, and further energized me to keep working for that day when ActiveWords ships on every computing device that ships.

Hello,

I am an assistive technology practitioner (ATP) and I work for Easter Seals MA. I am frequently looking for new programs to help the disabled clients I work with more easily use their computer systems. After downloading your program and installing several add-ins, I have some feedback for you.

 I honestly think your program is outstanding. It is very easy to understand, set-up , and use. Many of my clients have difficulty typing or using a mouse and this program will significantly help them be able to more easily type and control the Windows environment. This is a great product and I will be sharing it with the other 15 ATP’s at our next staff meeting. Thanks for creating an affordable, great product!!

(Name withheld) ATP

Assistive Technology Specialist

Easter Seals MA

People you know..or should know...

In last Sunday’s N.Y. Times magazine there is a great article about Jonathan Coulton, entitled..

Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog.

I have met Jonathan a number of times at Pop!Tech. The article is great, Jonathan is a star, and his music is a lot of fun. Very much worth checking out and listening too!

Jonathan is a crowd favorite, and writes very clever lyrics, some with a geek slant that are a highly entertaining. Fun stuff!

On the road again...

I have been working on a very interesting project unrelated to ActiveWords! I just spent 4 days in New York City working on the project and had four very interesting meetings.

Not quite sure when I can talk about the project, but the information that I have been working with is really intersting.

But what I was struck with as to NYC, is how mind-numbingly expensive the city is.

Everything seems to be 2.5 to 3 X as expensive as the rest of America. I am sure that wages are inflated to cope, but the real impact of this inflation is that goods and services that are either generated in or pass thorugh NYC have to factor in those costs.

New York is obviously a very intersting place, but both costs of doing business and the degree of difficulty of doing business are daunting. It never occured to me that I should ever live or work in NYC, and every trip there simply reconfirms my instictive and intuitive judgement.

Next stop is Camden, ME to meet with my pals at Pop!Tech, then to Boston, Richmond, DC, Baltimore and home.

On this leg, I have am flying Jet Blue, which has done a very nice job of providing free WiFi at JFK. I wonder when the other airlines/airports will get with the program! It makes you want to fly Jet Blue just to support their business model.