Versatile Amphibian

I’m of the belief that participants in the TMT industry need to read widely in order to understand the present and future dynamics of the market. To that end, this post is a collection of the articles that have caught my eye. This week: All bad news for Zuck, Penguin in self publishing hedge, Sky in Sun wrap & network vendors feel pinch Digital media The number of Facebook accounts in the US fell 1.1% in the last 6 months. Their share price is commensurately down. Unfortunately, this is likely to put a cloud over tech stocks and IPOs for the foreseeable future. Such a shame, since many of us saw it coming from a mile off. Banks to blame, I’m afraid. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/18/facebook_user_growth_declines_stock_tanks/ It’s all bad news for Zuck right now – here the BBC demonstrates how worthless “likes” are. Their fake bagel product managed to get 1,600 likes despite representing a totally fictitious brand. How much are those likes worth? Nada. http://www.bbc.c...

I’m of the belief that participants in the TMT industry need to read widely in order to understand the present and future dynamics of the market. To that end, this post is a collection of the articles that have caught my eye. This week: Moneybull transforms milk production, Kim jams GPS, Apple Targets Amazon and the World’s longest infographic charts the apocalypse Digital media Comscore report a sixth successive quarter of US e-commerce growth. The size of that market is now about $44Bn a quarter or roughly 3% of total consumer spending (versus 11% for the UK). What’s most interesting is that kiosk-based DVD and Blu-Ray rental and media streaming services are one of the prime drivers of this increase and of general consumer spending growth (which is c.0.3%). That’s despite falling spending average salaries (down 0.3%). www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2012/5/comScore_Reports_44.3_Billion_in_Q1_2012_U.S._Retail_E-Commerce_Spending This article is about how Japanese ...

I’m of the belief that participants in the TMT industry need to read widely in order to understand the present and future dynamics of the market. To that end, this post is a collection of the articles that have caught my eye. This week: 300Mn reasons to be nicer to my clients, Apple go at gaming, lots of Chinese tech and Akira’s bike rides again Business models Fascinating – a “modest” improvement in customer experience versus your peers is worth about $300Mn in annual revenue, according to this study. I need to be nicer to my clients! http://www.temkingroup.com/news/report-the-roi-of-customer-experience The UK coalition government is putting a cap of £100Mn on IT contracts and projects. A brilliant idea in my view as my experience suggests that any project that is too large for one person to direct is doomed to failure. http://www.guardian.co.uk/government-computing-network/2012/mar/30/100m-it-project-cap As if things aren’t bad enough for RIM, a big marketing event in the UK ended wi...

I think that participants in the TMT industry need to read widely in order to understand the present and future dynamics of the market. To that end, this post is a collection of the articles that have caught my eye. This week: Nintendo, RIM under siege, cyber crimes cost Huawei, Amazon gains ground online and in India and why we should be more like Han Solo. New business models A brilliant blog on the continuing travails of Nintendo. Wii took them on a different path to Microsoft and Sony, but have only temporarily halted long term inability to compete in hardware. http://www.asymco.com/2012/03/26/staying-satiated-and-smart/ And as if things weren’t bad enough, Sony’s next generation PS3, codenamed “Orbis” is rumoured to be coming next year. http://kotaku.com/5896996/the-next-playstation-is-called-orbis-sources-say-here-are-the-details Housing prices in tech hotspots are rising fast. We see the same thing in the trendier areas of London, where tech companies are landing , buying office...