Versatile Amphibian

Intriguing story in the Sunday Times business section this weekend about BSkyB buying The Cloud . Sky is already a major player in UK broadband through its LLU-supplied double play, but the addition of The Cloud's national urban network of Wi-Fi hotspots gives it an intriguing mobile play. Two thoughts come to mind: 1. This is a simple hedge against future charges levied by mobile operators for streaming mobile video 2. This is Sky testing the waters for a future move into mobile telephony. Digital Dividend spectrum will be auctioned in the UK in 2012 and Wi-Fi networks play an increasingly important role in the economics of MNOs Sky announce their results on Thursday, so confirmation of the deal will probably occur then - if it does then this marks the first major move of what promises to be a fascinating year for TMT in the UK.

I know it isn't machine learning in any real sense, but I'm very much looking forward to IBM's Watson taking on the human masters of Jeopardy! next month. Semi-smart machines like Watson will revolutionise call centre systems over the next decade, improving front line customer service across all platforms and reducing the Developed world's dependence on outsourcing... not to mention being a whizz at punning!

There's alot of press about the $50B value that private trading has put on Facebook. I have a couple of thoughts on it, which are begining to crystalise in a view that the valuation is inflated by 2000-esque dotcom hype. Firstly, the small portions of Facebook being sold off to Goldman Sachs et al are not based on efficient market prices - instead, they are based on the buyers' desire to own the in-thing before they miss out. Now, I can understand entirely that no one wants to miss out on the next Google (market cap currently hovering just under $200B), but I can't help but think that Facebook is an entirely different animal. The great thing about Google is that it appeals to everyone. At its heart it's very simple - a clean, simple and accurate search engine. So consumers love it and use it in huge volumes, increasingly as a landing page into the web (a significant proportion of queries are now web addresses, sans "www."). Therefore advertisers love it and Go...

I've been trying to get my head around the news that HMV are struggling - closing 10% of their stores in order to avoid breaking their debt covenants. It's not news that the shift to digital and increasing popularity of Play and Amazon hurt the traditional retail model, however I can't really understand how it can drive a retailer like HMV - a near-monopoly player on the highstreet to the verge of bankrupcy. I think the fundamental issue is that the core HMV stores provide a commodity retail experience - pile-em high and sell-em... not cheap enough. I don't buy CDs and games from HMV anymore, because the experience is so horrible - I'd rather get them from Amazon in bulk. Contrast this with Waterstones (also owned by HMV). Much to my surprise, I've started buying my books there again after nearly a decade of Amazon. Why? Because Waterstones stores provide a personal recommendation service instore, whether through the little cards they place on the shelf-ends or ...