Cuil - a work in progress
Google has brushed off many a challenger (where art thou Lycos?). as it rose to become King of The Web. Others have taken themselves out of the running to become the next search engine giant (have you straightened your books out yet Fast Search & Transfer)?
Even the mighty Microsoft hasn’t been able to slow down the Google juggernaut.
But Cuil, a search engine founded and introduced today by a gaggle of ex-Googlers has Webheads hopeful the upstart will soon be able to challenge its former parent for search supremacy.
Cuil is a viable search engine for reasons other its cool pedigree, so say its boosters.
Cuil, an Irish word for knowledge according to the company, says it has indexed 120-billion Web pages or three times what Google has apparently has managed to sort.
Heady stuff considering only Cuil opened its virtual doors to the public today - right?
But if early returns are any indication Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google’s co-founders/chief brainiacs, can breathe easy for the meantime.
Cuil’s first day in business was nothing short of a disaster. The site, which received a barrage of media attention leading up to today, denied users its requests as often as it returned results.
This is akin to Amazon.com being inoperable in the days leading up to the holidays. For an online business, it’s simply unacceptable.
The site’s layout is somewhat unique; it delivers a small number of results with graphics embedded. Interestingly, the site uses a black background which one Google imitator claims is a more power-efficient method to deliver search results. The option to choose between a two-column and a three-column layout is a nice touch too.
Semantics are one thing, relevance is another. Why use it over Google? The answer isn’t clear. Maybe it does index more pages but most people can’t be bothered to sift through more than 5 to 10 pages of results anyway.
Cuil’s got a long way to go before it can even be considered a contender to Microsoft’s Live.com or Ask.com, the No. 3 and No. 4 Web search players.
Its initial foray, though not without its hiccups, means there will likely be significant development in the field of search sometime in the near future. They just may not be found on Cuil.
Technorati Tags: Cuil, Google, search engines
Social network development in the ‘me too’ phase
Think you’ve got the social network scene covered off now that you’ve signed up for Twitter and Facebook?
Think again. Waves of social networks, designed to connect the masses with each other, are sprouting up by the week, making the array of network choices dizzying for even the savviest of Web users.
The latest notable additions to the social network pile on are Plurk and identi.ca, Twitter-like services that allow people to “microblog” (e.g. leave messages that are less than 140 characters)
The growing enthusiasm for social network development is easily understood when the tremendous popularity of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is considered. These companies have been valued in the billions despite in some cases the apparent lack of a business model. So it’s no wonder there’s a rush to create the next Great Social Network.
There are no less than 200 ‘well known’ social networks (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn) on the Web if one doesn’t count the vertical networks that are made accessible by Ning for example.
There’s even a subset of networks with names like FriendFeed, known as “lifestreaming” services, created ostensibly to help simplify matters for users of multiple social networks.
But it’s still far too time consuming of a task for any one person - as enthusiastic as that person may be about social networks - to maintain active profiles on social networks even with the help of Ping.fm.
This creates a number of unique problems even for the most popular of social network operators - social network fatigue chief among them.
Social networks are useful tools for friends and business people to communicate and exchange information. They may even prove to be viable standalone businesses at one point in time.
But frustration or fatigue is bound to set in for some users if they are forced to keep up with friends or contacts on multiple networks, leading to the demise of the network.
This makes the network’s reason for being paramount. There’s got to be a reason to visit a new network on a regular basis.
If the new wave of social networks of the ‘one to many’ variety are to thrive, innovation (as cliche as it may sound) must be the first and foremost consideration for network operators. Wedding the network’s features to revenue generation is of course key.
Unfortunately, there’s little to suggest social network providers keep these factors in mind when business cases and network development is considered.
Here are least two basic considerations for social networks to keep in mind throughout the business development process:
1) Distinguish the network. This means building in functionality that distinguishes the network from the get go. If it’s a ‘me too’ initiative, it will come off as such.
2) partner with Web application providers. Embedding a social application into a rich internet application created by say Adobe or Microsoft would help give an emerging social network a leg up on the competition and increases chances for longevity.
Technorati Tags: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, social network, identi.ca, Plurk, web 2.0
Rumoured Rogers-Apple tiff
Rogers, and for that matter all cell phone service providers, are on every consumer’s ‘most hated’ company list.
Yet people can’t seem to put their cell phones down, which gives the carriers no end of pricing power (for now) which of course only serves to frustrate consumers further. (Customer service is another story but I digress).
Rogers fanned the flames of carrier hatred two weeks ago when it told prospective iPhone users they’ll have to take a three-year contract and oh by the way, no unlimited data plan for you.
Apple, apparently, isn’t amused either. The company, according to one blogger, is now going to limit iPhone shipments to Canada as some sort of retribution for the expensive data plans.
I am dubious of this rumour for a number of reasons.
1) Apple may very well be upset with Rogers. Carriers and handset manufacturers enjoy a contentious relationship at best. It is also true that Apple doesn’t often play well with others but limiting shipments to a rich country like Canada where iPhone demand is latent would be a downright stupid and self-limiting move.
It’s akin to cutting one’s nose off to spite his or her face. Apple is a large, publicly-traded company focused on top-line growth. It is also locked in a battle with Research in Motion, Nokia and others for dominance of the nascent smartphone market. It’s also a company full of very bright people. The bright minds at work at Apple HQ in Cupertino were no doubt painfully aware of the cartel run by the wireless providers in Canada before striking a deal with Rogers. It doesn’t mean Apple is now willing to sabotage the relationship.
2) Apple’s manufacturers have finite capacity. Remember when Apple first rolled out the iPhone to Americans last year? Supply was limited to 10 or 20 units per AT&T store. Anyone who’s ever bought a product from Apple soon after its initial release knows it nearly impossible to get your hands anytime soon launch date.
It is entirely possible supply may be limited for the short term as Apple’s manufacturing partner(s) ramp up manufacturing of the 3G iPhone. Canadians will get the short end of this stick if true. Remember Apple will be rolling out the same models to a number of countries simultaneously. Many of these nations are far more densely populated than wee l’il Canada. It is therefore smart business sense to divert more shipments to other rich countries where demand is also latent. This rumour may very well be a case of broken telephone or information taken out of context.
Finally, this rumour says more about the demand and fascination with the iPhone than it does about the Apple and Rogers relationship. Canadians and for that matter tech followers worldwide will pounce on any morsel of iPhone news whatever the source or level of credibility.
I am done.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, Rogers
Jim Shaw makeover?
Anyone else see Jim Shaw’s appearance on Business News Network last week to discuss third-quarter results?
It was odd for a number of reasons. The younger leader of Western Canada’s largest cable operator was downright docile - softspoken even - during the 5-minute spot.
Mr. Shaw, though always respectful, has not been one to deliver a soliloquy on any one topic in a dull fashion. He’s more apt to deliver one of his infamous thunderbolts from on high with a lot of personality behind it.
This is unusual for those that have never seen the CEO of Shaw Communications deliver a speech of any length.
Also notable was his face or what seemed to be less of it. The (formerly?) rotund Mr. Shaw, of course, is a heavy set fellow for those that followed the telecom services scene for any length of time.
If a camera puts an extra 10 pounds on a guy, it would’ve taken two cameras to equal the weight of Mr. Shaw the last time I saw him speak live on television.
Didn’t seem that way last week.
He’s no Calista Flockhart but the guy looks like he’s shed a pound or 20.
Someone could’ve put two cameras on him and he still wouldn’t have weighed as much as he has in recent memory.
This of course has never been an issue for longtime Shaw shareholders, whose shares had doubled from from Jan 2004 to Jan 2006. (This dismal investing year doesn’t count).
So why the makeover then, if indeed there has been focus on his image? Perhaps it has something to do with the company’s ambitions? Save for its StarChoice satellite TV operation, Shaw hasn’t been known as a national provider.
With reserved spectrum presumably in the bag and mandated roaming on the way thanks to the generosity of the Canadian federal government, Shaw may one day soon end up as a national wireless provider.
Or maybe this is just one sign the company is reading itself for greater competition in Western Canada? A leaner, meaner Jim Shaw could be a sign the company is girding itself for a new and more intense round of battles with a slew of companies, including Telus, in the West.
Shaw, of course, has until recently lived off the avails of its cable TV offering. Greater competition on the TV front has forced the provider to diversify in recent years. It now sells a variety of services, including a home telephone offering, to consumers in the West.
We’re reading tea leaves now but the timing of Jim Shaw 2.0 may well be the unofficial start of a new era of telecom services competition in Western Canada.
Technorati Tags: Shaw Communications, Jim Shaw
Rogers iPhone backlash - why bother?
The rising price of crude oil has officially caught up with Canadians.
The evidence? The anti-iPhone petition, launched last week in earnest after Rogers announced the terms of the contracts required for Canadians to operate the device on the Rogers networks.
Judging by the 22,000 signatures the petition organizers have accumulated to date, it’s clear people can’t afford the trip to a cottage with gas prices floating around $1.30 a litre at the pumps in Canada.
Instead, we poor bored Canadians have decided to fill our spare time signing a useless that’s bound to go nowhere.
Canadian gadget geeks are upset with Rogers because of what many perceive to be onerous iPhone contract demands. Rogers, which will start selling the coveted device on July 11, will require iPhone users to sign a three-year contract with the company.
Unlike carriers in other developed nations, Rogers will not offer an unlimited data plan, which is another source of frustration to put it mildly, for prospective users of the sleek, multimedia device.
The iPhone plans from Rogers will cost between $60 and $115 ($114) a month.
Heavy users are understandably frustrated with Rogers because of the low data usage ceilings attached to the plans. The petition, presumably, is a pressure tactic users hope will force Rogers to change the terms and conditions upon which the iPhone is purchased.
Good luck with that as they say.
Petition signers should keep in mind this is the Canadian wireless scene - Rogers is the only GSM network operator.
This means Rogers isn’t inclined to respond to irate consumers. A petition isn’t likely to change much of anything.
If Canadians are truly offended or outraged by the iPhone terms and conditions Rogers is demanding, they should probably do what Jack Kapica of the Globe and Mail suggested in a column posted yesterday.
“Don’t buy the iPhone. Do what you, as sensible Canadians, will do when confronted by prices you can’t stand: Leave the iPhone on the shelf.”
This action, or lack thereof, is more likely to prompt some sort of response from Rogers.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, Rogers
-
KR In Your Reader
-
My LinkedIn Profile
