Good morning, All,
Our next ERA + SOS Startup Breakfast is April 12th at SOS Headquarters, in a lovely backyard on the UWS. Breakfast will include famous Fairway bagels, our own fat-free muffins, coffee, tea, juice – and good conversation and hopefully some help, if that’s what you need. $15 in advance and $20 at the door. To register: http://bit.ly/GRXHrA and hope to see you there, bright and early.
Larry and Sergei were just out of Stanford when they launched Google. Zuck left Harvard to focus on Facebook. Let’s face it: we’ve never seen a generation who’ve achieved this level of fame/wealth/power when they were barely old enough to shave. And who have managed to wield a great deal power before they’ve had a chance to develop an understanding of the long-term repercussions of their technologies/actions. We really have no idea what consequences this will have down the road, either for them personally, or for the world at large. Although it is interesting to see what’s happening to Google now that the founders are no longer twentysomethings, and FB is poised to be one of the largest IPOs in history. Which may help to explain why GOOG is chasing Apple on the smartphone front, and FB on social – and seemingly losing their direction (Forget Evil. When’s The Last Time Google Blew You Away? http://read.bi/GVDPUb). That has to be one of the pitfalls of so much success so fast/young: the frustration/desperation that comes with not having experienced not being #1, and believing that you can crush the competition because you’re, well, you. Being knocked out of the top spot at Apple, and returning later, older and more seasoned, certainly didn’t hurt Steve Jobs. Youth has its place, but so does experience outside of the little bubble in which you’ve been secluded, probably literally since birth. With FB cataloguing our lives and Google tracking our every move, we the people are surrendering a great deal of personal information – willingly – to these kids which, had the government required that we do so, we’d have been up in arms. And what is Google’s next move? Google wants to serve you ads based on the background noise of your phone calls: http://tnw.co/GDvAIV). Weren’t they slapped down not too long ago on geolocation issues? The Google response: We file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications. Guys, you’re not above the law; you’re not kids anymore and the idea is to live and learn, and – heaven forfend – develop a moral code, not to try to figure out some other way around law in the pursuit of more profits. Grow up: it’s certainly not endearing you to us and frankly, well, like you, your shenanigans are getting old fast, too. Onward and forward. Read More...
