When Google Runs your life OR maybe not
A recent Forbes article on Google is a very interesting read. Here is an extract:
Your day begins with a wake-up call from your Google Android phone. As you run to the shower, you hit Google News and check headlines, then Gmail. Your first appointment of the day has been moved to a new location; Google Maps will direct you there. Quickly update your expense report–including the printout of that sales presentation using, say, Google Template–and shoot them to the back office in India (in Hindi, if you prefer, with Google Translate). Your boss wants to discuss your group’s contributions to some marketing documents? Lean on Google Groups. You’re not even out the door yet. You have the rest of the day to search for work-critical information on the Web while you’re at the office–to say nothing of snatching a few moments to download a game, check stock prices, organize your medical records, share photos and pick a restaurant and movie for the evening. How convenient. And a little creepy, perhaps.
Here is the full Dec 10, 2009 Forbes article.
If you don’t like this then you can decide to opted-out of Google and go and live in the Google Opt-out Village. Sounds like fun 🙂
Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village
Read MoreThe network IS the computer!
Sun Computer’s vision is: “The Network is the Computer“, well I think this is finally starting to take shape in the form of cloud computing. Bandwidth, even at speeds approaching 30MBps, is still orders of magnitude slower than main memory. However, I love the netbook-type (or webbook) computer that a company called, Litl, recently launched. The machine is a thing of beauty and follows in Apple’s design footsteps. Simple UI, easy to use, and does what it’s made for very well! I think it looks a litl 🙂 like the OLPC laptop.
Here is a Youtube video by the CEO, John Chuang.
I think that litl has a head start on Google. Google’s own Web operating system is called, Google Chrome OS, and with GCO on a netbook the netbook will immediately launch the Google Chrome browser with all your data stored in the cloud. Very similar to the litl’s approach to software.
Here are some other write ups on litl: ABC Technology&Science, Engadget, and Wired.
Very interesting stuff. Would you buy a litl netbook? At $699, it’s a bit pricey for me.
10 Free (or Cheap) Tools for Start-ups
Inc. magazine recently published this list of 10 free or cheap tools for Start-ups. I use Skype, Zoho and Google Docs. I would add TaDaList from 37signals and Evernote. Easy to use free software.Did they miss any good ones?
Read MoreGoogle Voice invitation request
Sign up and get your Google Voice account soon. See my last post on why I like Google Voice. Please share your experience…
Hasso Plattner Ventures Africa’s portfolio of companies
Hasso Plattner’s African Venture fund was launched in early 2008. In February 2009 I attended the fund’s Emerging Market Africa conference in South Africa. HPVA has invested ZAR80mm of ZAR350mm in 5 companies to date and expect to invest in at least 5 more. HPVA doesn’t disclose investments and shareholding, although they did indicate that they only take minority shareholding.You can find Hasso Plattner Venture Europe’s investments here.Recently the African fund disclosed some of the investments it has made so far:
- Cibecs: Enterprise backup solutions. According to some articles, HPVA invested ZAR8mm for a 25% stake in the company (HPVA indicated that these numbers aren’t correct. They didn’t say what the correct numbers are.) Cibecs was formed in 2004 by Richard Dewing, and its software has been sold to more than 30,000 users in South Africa.
- Inala operates in the fields of telecommunications and broadcasting in South Africa.
- Global Vision specializes in marketing automation software.
- KnowledgeTree is an open source document management system. KnowledgeTree uses a number of social media technologies to promote its products, including Facebook, Twitter, and blogs…very progressive!
- Dabba Telecom: Low-cost telecoms in South Africa. Dabba’s CEO Real Lissoos was voted Social Entrepreneur of the year in 2008.
MXit launches iPhone app
MXit is a South African social networking company with 12 million subscribers around the world. According to MXit it is “a next generation Mobile Instant Messenger that connects you to a world of expression, using both instant messaging and social networking.”
MXit iPhone app
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