Category Archives: Web

Why HP Bought Tabblo

The New York Times ran an article today about how HP’s printing group is working on making it easier to print from the web.

I’ve had many friends ask me about the details of HP buying Tabblo.  I’ve given a number of different cagey, redacted responses because I didn’t know how much was public and how much was confidential.  I’ll say it now: most of what I know is in that NYT article.  If you want to know why Tabblo got bought, just read it online.

It’s been interesting to see the reaction to the article.  We’ve had several emails come into the customer service queue that say “I saw in the Times that you make it easy to print pages on the web.  Can you help me do that?”  The answer we give is “Not today.  But just wait.”

Web 2.0 Goes Jock

Co-worker Matt pointed me to BallHype, found via TechCrunch.

I do my share of sports watching. But I don’t read/watch much sports reporting. I find it too repetitive. I mean, how many times can one person hear about Terrel Owen’s latest meltdown? Once is plenty. Even sports writers that I enjoy, like Bill Simmons, are a bit hit-or-miss.

BallHype looks like it will help me filter. I’m going to let it show me what is interesting and what isn’t. I get to help shape what is seen as important and what isn’t. Neat twist: I can pick games and get to have my record tracked and matched against others.

I think Web 2.0 mavens look at this and say “boring, it’s been done, look at Digg.” I think everyone else will be a bit confused at first. But this is one of those websites that can jump from the first 50,000 users up to 500,000 and maybe even 50,000,000. They’re combining some of the social website dynamics that have flowered in the last couple years with an audience that has been proven to be loyal and lucrative in other areas. I think it could take off.

If you register, search for ‘dunster‘ and add me as a friend.

Would You Want This Scrutiny?

This guy in San Francisco is wearing a camera 24×7 as a sort of publicity stunt.  I’m reminded of JenniCam – except this is even closer scrutiny with a mobile camera and has audio. And it’s a guy.  See for yourself right now.  I just watched him get kicked out of the Gap.
You could pay me to do this, but it wouldn’t be cheap.

Via Jason.

Indexing Links to Indexed

Story 1: Tabblo got mentions in USA Today and the Boston Globe in the same week. (Niiiiiice!)

Story 2: A few days ago a friend of mine sent links to a few funny images in an instant message. I smiled at them, didn’t think anything of it. Then I saw a link in a blog. Then I saw a link in another blog. And the links are all pointing to Indexed.

The analysis: With (I assume) zero dollars spent, she’s gotten Indexed on my browser three times in a week. Tabblo gets two print links, and I assure you that our PR agency isn’t free, not to mention the development cost of the website. (Of course the audience of our press hits were bigger, but don’t distract me with facts. I’m on a roll.)

It’s amazing and inspiring and frustrating at the same time. I’m continually doing what every Web 2.0 startup employee does, thinking about new ways to get my website noticed. And this blog pops up and just keeps popping up, all over. What is she doing right? What can I learn from her? What can I do to make her website spread like mine?

I Can Spend Hours On This

The web provides such powerful ways to display data, and I’m delighted when people take advantage of this.  It looks like this one came out almost a year ago, but it’s new to me – and maybe new to you.

Gapminder let’s you look at various statistics about countries.  It’s incredibly rich.  Press play and you are simultaneously looking at how each country fares in two statistical measurements, the relative population size, the geographical region – as they vary over time!  Make sure you click on the axes and see the different statistics you can see, click a couple countries for highlighting, and more – the 1-minute demo you get from the help link shows a number of features.

And once you get over the data display, you can even learn from the data.

US Senate Bill 1: Registering Bloggers

There’s a bill moving through the Senate updating the requirements and restrictions for lobbyists. The update includes a section that affects certain bloggers. I have contacted my senators asking them to join the oppostion to the blogger section, and I encourage you to do the same.

The change is aimed at bloggers that receive money in order to encourage “grassroots” movements. Slashdot is talking about it, so is DownsizeDC, the Center for Competitive Politics, and a number of others. When you read the discussion about this bill, the debate seems to go like this:

Jane: They’re requiring bloggers to register as lobbyists! That’s crazy talk!
Joe: Don’t worry, it’s only bloggers that receive money. Most bloggers are unaffected.

I think this dialogue misses the point. To me, a lobbyist is someone who reaches out to politicians and office holders and tries to change what they think. If someone asks voters to contact their representatives, that’s not lobbying. When (if) the voter makes the call, that’s not lobbying either – that’s a voter expressing an opinion. This isn’t activity that should be regulated.

You can see the actual language of the bill here; click on Section 220. Check out the section about “registrants” in particular.

By the way: I wasn’t paid to make this post.

Windows 386 Saves The Day

A friend from work sent this one along. You’ll need Google’s video client to view it.

As the poster put it, “Microsoft sent this tape to retailers to explain the benefits of Windows 386. Boring until the 7 minute mark when the production is taken over by crack-smoking monkeys.” It’s easy to fast forward to the key point.