Business On Software

Photo by Anna_Greece via Flickr

Joel Spolsky mentions that developers who try and fill a hole in a particular vendors offering risk having their products being made obsolete by the vendor themselves.  He cites 15 iPhone apps that have been made obsolete by Apple with the latest release of the iPhone 3Gs.

As a developer who has been creating products that ‘piggy back’ onto another vendors major software offering, we have had first hand experience of this situation.  On a regular basis, we see the major vendor release software updates or features that either:

a) is exactly the same as a feature in our add on

b) breaks a particular feature in our add on

c) prevents us from proceeding with out own product roadmap for future enhancements

To be honest, I don’t believe that any of it is done be our vendor out of mean spiritness, or an intention to directly hurt us.  Because they are a large, lumbering company, they just plod along on their merry path, following their own product roadmap with scant regard for what us ‘little guys’ are doing.  Such is life, for a Remora software company such as ours.

Joel says that developers such as us are effectively trying to snatch pennies from the path of an oncoming steamroller, and he says that add-on developers would be lucky to get 1% of the total vendors market.  True, to a certain extent, but I think there are still ways that we can get a good outcome from such a situation.

I think that if we can differentiate our product offerings enough, people will still spend the money to buy ours because it is either easier to use, or has better features.  Note: I don’t say more features, just better features.

To go back to the iPhone for a while – I purchased the iTalk application by Griffin Software for my wife’s iPhone so she could record conversations with her mum for later possible publication in a book.  iTalk is a great tool, with easy syncing to her PC (without having to use iTunes) plus the ability to change the recording quality (and thus file sizes).  I don’t think that the built in voice recorder in the iPhone 3Gs can do this (please correct me if I am wrong).

To me, the two features that I highlighted above will still mean that I would be willing to pay for iTalk over the built in software.  Differentiation is still the key.  The vendor will always have to try and build their software according to their grand plan, i.e. in this case, Apple can only make their voice recorder sync using iTunes.  To do otherwise would be to risk a major cashcow of theirs.  Third party vendors like iTalk who can break this stranglehold can still win the battle.

Image by Valentinian via Flickr

I was cleaning out my car on the weekend, and I found an old PDC phone directory underneath the passenger seat, which prompted me to reflect and post about it.

You see, at one stage we used to request extra phone books from the providers just so that myself, and the rest of the team here at work, could carry a book in our vehicles in order to facilitate us finding customer addresses or phone numbers whilst on the road.  This phone book also contained a handy street map in the middle.

I smiled when I noticed that this directory was dated 2006.  I had completely forgotten about it, and it had laid unused under that seat for three years.  What had turned somthing that was a useful tool into a dormant relic?

The short answer is my Smartphone.  I just take it for granted now that I can access our CRM database from the road to get customer information (or White Pages for that fact).  I can also get Google Maps to find directions, or, if I remember to charge up my bluetooth GPS dongle, I can even get voice directions in real time via my Co-Pilot software on the device.

The book seems really quaint now, and I cannot actually remember the day when I decided to actually stop using it.  It seems that my Treo 750 (and 650 before that) slowly, and ubiquitously seeped into my everyday mode of doing things, and before long it just became second nature so that I took it for granted.

Anyhow, the book is in the bin now, and I am still looking for an excuse to get an iPhone so that I can do everything, with more style…

Image from SoulSense (Oscar Ordenes) via Flickr

It has only been a couple of days playing with the Windows 7 public beta, but I have tears in my eyes.  Tears of relief, that this debacle called Vista can finally be put down and out of its misery.  Microsoft has finally hit it out of the park with this one!

What is different?  Well, visually there is nothing really new to speak of, but I am finding the new taskbar style a lot better, and I like the thumbnail previews of open windows as you slide your mouse around the taskbar.  As someone who has worn out the [Windows Key-D] combination on his keyboard, I love the fact that when you move the mouse to the lower right corner of the screen, ALL your open windows are made transparent so you can see the desktop background and your little applets etc.

The biggest change I see is the speed.  Speed!  Things are finally positively snappy around here.  Click on anything and the windows blitz onto the screen.  No staring at an hourglass or an empty frame for 10 seconds or so as I do now with Vista.  Even opening My Network Places which used to take upwards of 20 seconds now happens near instantly.  This finally feels like a Formula 1 racer zipping around the track, instead of an overloaded WWII Bedford truck chugging around a mud track.

It used to be with Vista, I would get an idea or inspiration, but by the time I tried opening Notepad, or a new Outlook email or any other simple program, 30 seconds or more would go past, and I would rapidly lose my train of thought, as the operating system took up all my time and attention, instead of doing what operating systems should do, which is get the heck out of the way and let me get on with my job!

My biggest question is – Why could they not achieve this with Vista in the first place?  I mean, nothing has been taken out here.  It is still the same underlying OS, but it runs rings around ‘original’ Vista.  I tend to agree with Zoli Erdos that Microsoft should really be giving Windows7 to all current Vista owners and call it ‘Vista Final’.  The letter of apology to every user would also be a nice touch, but I think we have a snowflake’s chance in hell of either two scenarios happening!

Another fairly quiet, low key event today, is that Swedish company Ericsson has made a joint announcement with our local telecoms provider, Telstra which publicises the launch of their HSPA Evolution based wireless broadband service.  This technology has a theoretical maximum speed of 21MBps!

Given the wide spread of our population on this huge island, a fast, effective broadband network is going to be one of the best things we could have to facilitate communication, education, and business here.  I can’t wait for this new technology to be rolled out to the general public.  From what I can gather, it runs on top of the existing NextG infrastructure, but will require new modems and adapters for your PC’s to be able to utilise the service.

Glad to see last week also that the government is rolling out high speed fibre optic internet connectivity to outlying regions of Australia, with residents of Nhulunbuy in Gove enjoying some of the fastest internet speeds in the country.

It looks like Australia has gone from being one of the laggards of the internet age, to a market leader…We certainly live in exciting times!

Image via Panorama Paul

For many business people, being able to take some of your everyday work technology on the road is invaluable.  For example, making phone calls (only where legal of course!) via a hands free system, finding client sites using GPS, driving safely with reversing cameras etc.

Fellow blogger, Vinnie Merchandani has compiled a list of things you can do to upgrade your old car with spiffy new car features.  The site is US specific, and all dollar amounts are quoted in US dollars, but most of these solutions will work just as well here in Australia, and are available from local distributors.

Vinnie cites that you only need to spend around US$500 or so to turn your car into something less than the USS Enterprise, and when you understand that a new car dealer will charge you around $5000 extra for these ‘features’ then you will appreciate it.

Gotta go – I have an 8 year old Honda CRV that needs urgent upgrading…

Photo by lonely soul

I came across this interesting site recently, which details how you can extend the life of your inkjet or laser printer by up to 100%.

This can be a huge boost to most businesses, which can spend a significant amount each year on consumables.

Please be warned though, that some of these hacks, whilst legitimate, can void the warranty on your new printer.

Check out the site at: www.fixyourownprinter.com