A View on ViewThis blogs examines the world of online video from the hot companies and entrepreneurs to exciting new trends.Mark Evans has Left the Building!- December 14, 2006 I'm happy to announced the birth of the new and improved Mark Evans, which can be found at markevanstech.com. It was designed by the very talented Ben Bleikamp, who did a terrific job moving my blog to Wordpress. Thanks, Ben! Note: If you're an RSS subscriber, please switch the Feedburner URL to http:feeds.feedburner.comMarkEvans. (I've already made the change on FB so it should subscribe you automatically to the new blog) Note: By the way, the move to Wordpress from Blogware should not be...http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/14/2573541.html All-You-Can-Eat SkypeOut!- December 13, 2006 Skype - along with GMail, Ecto and the MacBook - is one of my favourite everyday technology tools. The ability to use talk and chat using such a ubiquitous tool is truly powerful and useful. What's been particularly nice is the ability to make free SkypeOut calls within North American for the past several months. Today, Skype unveiled a new SkypeOut calling plan that allows for unlimited calls within North America for $29.95 a year (anyone who signs up before Jan. 31, 2007 receives a 50%...http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/13/2571184.html Then (Dot-Com Boom) vs Now (Web 2.0)- December 13, 2006 This morning, I gave a keynote speech to the Toronto Venture Group about the differences between running a start-up during the dot-com boom and what's happening now. There was no earth-shattering advice but simply my contention that companies need to be smart about how they spend their money, and make sure they focus on doing things to grow the business as opposed to distractions such as swag and cool office space. A major theme of my talk was chairs. In fact, if I had to re-name the...http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/13/2570859.html Deep Thoughts About VoIP's Future in Canada- December 12, 2006 With the Canadian government intent on de-regulating the country's $10-billion local telephone market and giving the incumbent carriers the freedom to set their own prices, it will be interesting to see the impact this decision will have on Canada's VoIP marketplace. To be perfectly frank, VoIP hasn't been overly successful in Canada. By this, I mean Real VoIP with all the bells and whistles that a Web-based service can offer. What Videotron and Rogers are offering right now is VoIP-lite...http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/12/2568565.html Wordpress Anyone- December 12, 2006 I've been dabbling with Wordpress but I really need to take a course or sit down with someone (in Toronto) to get a running start. If anyone can help, let me.http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/12/2568259.html Can Anyone Say "Telephone Price War"- December 11, 2006 The deregulation of Canada's $10-billion local telephone market took a big-time move forward today when the federal government unveiled a new structure that will let incumbent carriers set prices however they wish to compete against new and fast-growing rivals such as the cablecos (Rogers, Shaw, Videotron, Cogeco, Eastlink, etc.) and independents such as Vonage. The decision overturns a CRTC ruling earlier this year that stipulated carriers couldn't have competitive freedom in a particular...http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/11/2565982.html Pre-Rolls Are Not Dead- December 11, 2006 Fred Wilson has come to the conclusion pre-rolls (ads before a video starts playing) are dead on arrival; while post-rolls (ads played after a video are promising because they're "well targeted and entertaining". He's wrong because its way to early arrive at this conclusion given we're arguably only 11 months into the online video revolution. To date, pre-rolls have failed to resonate because advertisers are approaching video clips in the same way they approach traditional television. This is.http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/11/2564856.html The Poor Prognosis for Portals- December 10, 2006 Edgeio has one of those blogs posts that forces you to take some time to digest it. It's a post based on the idea the gap between the giant portals (Yahoo, AOL, et al) and the rest of the world will shrinkhas been shrinking - and we're entering an era of de-portalization (a term coined by Fred Wilson). For bloggers and blog networks, it's a thought-provoking thesis because it suggests that people will consume information in different ways and go to different places to do it. The question is if.http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/10/2563602.html Is HD the New Bluetooth- December 10, 2006 I was talking to a friend last night at a Christmas party about how he had been approached by a start-up doing high-definition television but turned them down because he couldn't buy into their business prospects. In today's New York Times, there a short piece on why HD hasn't seen anywhere near the kind of pick up as large-screen TVs that have become all the rage as prices tumble. For all its benefits, HD continues to be a difficult sales proposition. For one, it is seen as a premium service..http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/10/2562782.html Can the MSFT Titantic Change Directions- December 9, 2006 Can a tiger change its stripes Can you turn water into wine Can Ray Ozzie and Steve Berkowitz transform Microsoft into an Internet company from its WindowsOffice roots This is a question highlighted by the New York Times, which looks at Microsoft efforts to beef up is online operations through initiatives such as Live. At the risk of under-playing the dominance of Internet Explorer and the popularity of MSN.com, Microsoft isn't an Internet company and, frankly, it will never be seen as...http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/12/9/2561134.html |