Ready, Fire, Aim! - Mihail's Public Blog

Amazon's Search Inside the Book has been evolving over the couple of weeks since it launched the somewhat controversial new feature according to this New York Times story (registration required). And Amazon claims that "sales of books with Search Inside features have grown faster than sales of its other books." Makes sense. After all, most bookstores allow potential buyers to first browse thru the books. And that's considered a good tool to entice buyers into purchasing the book.

Until last week, users could print pages too, but Amazon shut off that feature so that a printout will now show a blank space where the book's text had been...Amazon has also said that it will limit any reader to viewing 20 percent of a book's pages in a given month, although it is not clear how the company would prevent people from logging in under multiple names or from different computers; Amazon declined to discuss security measures. "If a student just needs six to eight pages of a law book," Mr. Johnson of Creighton said, "I could see a student doing a screen capture and printing from that."

American Airlines CEO revealed that American is watching United and Delta closely in evaluating whether to start its own low-cost airline to take back some of the leisure travelers it is losing to airlines like Southwest and Jet Blue et al according to this New York Times story (registration required). Of course, such efforts have been totally unsuccessful previously since it requires a totally entrepreneurial organization to make a low-cost airline succeed and that's hard to do within an established company.

Gerard J. Arpey, the chief executive, said during a breakfast meeting with industry analysts in Manhattan that executives at American were monitoring the efforts by United Airlines and Delta Air Lines to emulate the success of Southwest Airlines. Last April, Delta started Song and is primarily using it to try to capture market share from JetBlue Airways on routes from the Northeast to Florida. United, a unit of the UAL Corporation, said it planned to start its own low-cost carrier - called Starfish for now - next year and would run it from some of its hubs.

Who needs a browser to use Google search, now almost an essential part of being online? Thanks to the latest release from Google Labs, the Google Deskbar allows you to do just that. Search the Web or Google News or what have you without requiring a browser. Hmm, I suppose there was a reason they turned down the supposed $10B offer from Microsoft. According to this AP story in the San Jose Mercury News:

Google Deskbar, released Thursday, appears as a search box in the Windows toolbar. After the search words are entered, a resizable mini-viewer pops up with the results. Users can jump to the site within the mini-viewer or launch their browser.

Unless a program is filling the screen or the user has set the taskbar to automatically hide, the search box is always visible. With a keyboard shortcut, the cursor can be moved to it without moving the mouse.

According to this New York Times story (registration required):

Fashion and cupcakes also collide at Joe, a new coffeehouse on Waverly Place, where the cupcakes are baked by Amy Sedaris, an actress who has appeared on "Sex and the City." (Sarah Jessica Parker persuaded the owner to carry them.)

Ms. Sedaris brings both craftsmanship and irony to her cupcakes, combing flea markets and eBay for vintage pokes, tiny decorative figurines she sticks on top. During the Jewish High Holy Days, Sedaris cupcakes were topped with tiny Israeli flags, and pink plastic ballerinas are a standby.

An interesting and sobering New York Times story on the current job market for, and the attitudes of, the GenX and GenY who're 30- and 20-something:

The current economy is putting the concept of free agency to the test. Unemployment is higher among younger workers than in the general population. As of September 2003, the national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, but it was 10.9 percent for those 20 to 24 and 6.3 percent for those 25 to 34, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Jeff Taylor, the chairman and founder of the Internet bulletin board Monster.com, said that "of the college class of 2003, 93 percent are still looking for full-time employment." Monster.com, which is aimed at workers of all ages, is popular with young people. On Oct. 21, an online poll of 4,570 visitors to the site revealed that when finding a job, 71 percent planned to stay put, 14 percent expected to move on within two months and 14 percent planned to leave within six months.

More and more airports are adding WiFi hotspots throughout their facilities rather than limiting them to certain private airline lounges according to this WSJ story (subscription required). Philly and Pittsburg just did this and Atlanta is going to spend $11M to outfit its whole airport in an attempt to attract business travelers.

Indeed, while nearly a quarter of the nation's 536 commercial airports have Wi-Fi in some form or another, "usage is very low," says William Clark, research director at Gartner Inc. in Charlottesville, Va. Many business travelers either don't know the Wi-Fi technology exists in airports, don't have a laptop equipped with the technology or simply don't want to pay the average $5 to $15 one-time use fee. An Intel study shows that while 80% of business travelers tote laptops on trips, only 13% of them have ever tried Wi-Fi.

End of an era. BN.com went public in 1999 in an attempt to take on Amazon.com. According to this WSJ story (subscription required):

Barnes & Noble Inc. offered to buy the remaining shares of online arm Barnes & Noble.com Inc. it doesn't already own in a deal valued at about $115 million in cash.

...Barnes & Noble has been buying shares of the online operation for more than a year. The move unwinds one of the more high-profile public offerings of the Internet era: Barnes & Noble.com's initial public offering in May 1999 was seen as a bold move as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers tried to position their online offerings to better compete with scrappy Internet upstarts. The IPO raised more than $400 million.

Churn has increased substantially now that many telephone companies are offering combined long-distance and local calling plans according to this WSJ story (subscription required). MCI loses up to 50% of its new customers within the first six months. Yikes...I'm wondering how this compares to other subscription models, such as the ones used by cable companies, or Netflix and newspapers etc.

"Churn has increased," says Wayne Huyard, president of mass markets for MCI. MCI started the race in April 2002 when it launched The Neighborhood, the first widely available flat-rate bundle. "We are entering an era of commoditization for local and long-distance. Anyone can see that."

The Neighborhood, which costs $50 to $60 a month in most areas, loses about half its new customers within the first six months, though turnover drops after that. AT&T says its churn is substantially lower, but declines to be specific. In fact, none of the carriers would say what their churn rates are or how much it costs them. Adam Quinton, a telecommunications analyst at Merrill Lynch, says turnover in bundled plans offered by Bell rivals is as high as 8% a month -- or nearly 100% in a year -- in some highly competitive areas

The proposed permanent ban on taxes on Intnernet access came to a sudden stop over disagreements over the definitions of Internet access according to this AP story in the WSJ:

A drive to permanently ban Internet-access taxes stopped dead in the Senate on Friday, stuck in a clash over whether the legislation would shear millions from the budgets of state and local governments.

The problem arose over the definition of "Internet access" -- services that connect consumers to the Internet. The strongest proponents for a permanent ban want to make sure that all access technologies -- from phone lines to DSL to cable modems -- get equal freedom from taxation.

About time that the largest WiFi hotspot providers are considering signing "roaming" agreements since it was getting to be quite frustrating not being able to tap into another provider's WiFi network even if you were signed up with a different provider.

And signing up for multiple services at $20-40 a pop just doesn't make sense. I was able to switch to T-mobile so I can use my laptop at Starbucks only because my Surf and Sip subscription was coming to an end. However, it is still not clear how most WiFi companies will make enough money. According to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):

Over the next few months, many of the nation's largest Wi-Fi providers are expected to begin signing "roaming" agreements that will give their customers access to other providers' "hot spots," much like the alliances that connect far-flung groups of automated teller machines and traditional mobile-phone networks.

Tony Perkins, founder of Red Herring and the new AlwaysOn Network (kind of like a Red Herring on blogs), who co-wrote the book, The Internet Bubble, announced today that he's writing a book on Google, ideally before the company goes public for an expected valuation of $18B (which is why they supposedly turned down a $10B offer from Microsoft recently), according to this AlwaysOn post (registration required):

It will also be fun to examine the forces behind Google’s IPO. Did you know that Andy Bechtolsheim (Sun Microsystems co-founder) gave the Google boys a $100,000 investment before they even named the company? Just think how much money he is going to make on the deal. Did you know that the company’s two primary investors, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital, still own 9% of the company? Each. It doesn’t take a person smart enough to work at Google to do the math on how much these stakes are going to be worth after an $18 billion IPO.

Perkins especially believes he's the right person to write this book because of the blogging phenomenon that has brought thousands to the AlwaysOn Network:

As the folks who have been following AlwaysOn know, we believe that our competitive advantage is you. While John Markoff of the New York Times and David Kirkpatrick of Fortune may have bigger Rolodexes, and while they may often have better access to sources, we have thousands of members we can turn to get the real inside track. And that’s who I’m counting on.

Even though Jay Leno continues to run away with his lead over the Late Show with David Letterman, Dave is still the person I'd rather watch each night. According to this New York Times story (registration required) CBS has made over $1B on the Letterman Show over the last decade, and the Late Show has continued to win multiple critical accolades such as the Emmies each year:

In the first five weeks of the television season, Jay Leno has opened up his biggest lead in five years. Mr. Leno draws 2 million more viewers than Mr. Letterman's "Late Show," 5.8 million to 3.8 million. And Mr. Leno enjoys his biggest edge ever in the rivalry for 18-to-49-year-old viewers, the ones NBC - and many advertisers - most covet.

Yeah, but who's funnier? Letterman. Who's the one America turned to after 9/11? Letterman. And who's the one they turned to for the California Recall Circus featuring Arnold? Leno!

Rob Burnett, one of Mr. Letterman's executive producers, offers the consistent CBS response to Mr. Leno's ratings lead: no matter what the ratings say, Mr. Letterman remains the more original, more worthy talent.

"There are two parts of the so-called late-night war," Mr. Burnett said. "One is: who's the best. That part of the war is over. Dave won."

Yep, it sure does feel like 1999. Tony Perkins first broke this story unofficially by joking about it at the MIT Lab sold-out event at Stanford where VCs and newly-degreed MBAs salivating were to be found everywhere. According to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):

Although still in its "beta," or testing, phase, the popular social-networking Web site has closed a $13 million financing round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital. Battery Ventures also participated in the funding, pushing the valuation of Friendster to around $53 million, say people familiar with the matter. Among those joining the Sunnyvale, Calif., company's board: Kleiner's John Doerr, Benchmark's Robert C. Kagle and Yahoo Inc.'s former chairman and chief executive, Tim Koogle.

..."Does it feel like 1999 again?" asks Andrew Anker, a general partner with August Capital in Menlo Park, Calif., and a backer of Emode. "In social networking, yes. I haven't seen anything like this in four years." Another venture capitalist who has steered clear of the sector cautions: "It's very bubblesque."

This Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) puts the cost of not negotiating for higher pay in perspective, especially when it comes to women who either don't ask for better pay or succumb to various arguments when they do ask but unsuccessfully:

In most workplaces, it still pays to be a man. Women often are less adroit at winning better salaries, assignments and jobs -- either because they don't ask or because they cave in when they do.

Skipping or bungling a single negotiation can inflict a huge penalty. A 22-year-old woman who fails to get her first job offer of $25,000 boosted by $5,000 stands to lose more than $568,000 by age 60, says Linda Babcock, a Carnegie Mellon University economics professor. Men are eight times as likely as women to bargain over starting pay. "It's the accumulation of disadvantage," she says.

With good news about the growth of online advertising, especially rich media pop-up advertising, coming from all sources according to a Wall Street Journal story, this New York Times story focused on what it calls AOL's stealth recovery thanks to its re-growth of online advertising. One especially interesting paragraph talked about how AOL plans to take advantage of user-generated content on blogs.

For example, America Online recently reached a deal with the car review company Edmunds.com to include its evaluations in America Online's autos channel. When Edmunds recommends a certain car, America Online sells the maker a chance to promote its car in tandem with the recommendation in a prominent spot. America Online also provides a listing of cars, and then offers each company or its competitor a chance to advertise next to each car. And America Online lets users find local dealers, then collects fees from the dealers for providing the names of potential customers.

...America Online executives said the company was also looking at ways to capitalize on the enthusiasm of its users. When a member posts an online diary entry or a photography display about a great new car, for example, America Online might sell the car company a chance to place the photos or diary prominently on its service, they said.

If they can figure it all out by then! Like many other customers, I can't wait to have cellphone number portability since I have a great phone number that ends in 1000 and can't think of ever wanting to change it, but simply awful service with Verizon, at least in the Bay Area. According to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):

"All the customers who know about it, ask 'when is it going to start? When is it going to roll over?' " says Mr. Tunk, the manager of a One Stop Wireless in New York's West Village, where clerks offer a choice of five major providers and a wide selection of phones. Mr. Tunk is referring to the impending Nov. 24 deadline for cellphone providers to ensure that customers can carry their numbers with them when switching services.

Problem is, Mr. Tunk knows about as much about providers' so-called number portability plans as the customers: not much. "We are waiting for something to happen. We haven't yet gotten full details," he says.

This optimistic New York Times story (registration required) illustrates how scores of companies in the Valley are alive and kicking, and either raising money or generating enough revenue to not just survive but thrive. There's been a definite turnaround in optimism. Now we'll have to see if success follows that optimism.

Are the good times back in Silicon Valley? After all, technology stocks are up sharply this year. A number of tech stalwarts, led by the computer chip giant Intel, have recently reported robust quarterly results. And scores of start-ups like Tellme Networks are thriving again.

But this is no bubble redux. Instead, Silicon Valley, the entrepreneurial hub of the nation's high-tech economy, is rebooting, just as a computer does after it crashes. And this time, the geeks are the ones with the upper hand.

Amazon has announced its latest services -- gourment foods and Search Inside the Book which allows visitors to search more than 33 million pages of some 120,000 books and counting according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) which also says that this may inspire a new kind of vanity search -- the search for your name in a book:

To produce its huge digital catalog, Amazon worked for months to get book publishers' consent to participate in the program. More than 190 publishers -- including Bertelsmann AG's Random House, Time Warner Inc.'s Time Warner Book Group and Viacom Inc.'s Simon & Schuster -- agreed to let Amazon post electronic copies of some of their books on their site.

Amazon executives believe the search capability will encourage more purchases of books, the same way an earlier Amazon feature called Look Inside the Book, which lets users browse a handful of pages of books, stimulated sales. "This is really about helping customers discover books in a way they could never before," said Steve Kessel, Amazon vice president of North American media products.

So I was on vacation for ten days but that doesn't provide any justification for the long break in posts on Ready Fire Aim. Blogging is hard work...much harder than it appears which is why some 66% of blogs in the blogosphere haven't been updated in over 2 months! And which is why so many of BN's regular writers are to be commended for blogging daily for months if not close to a year.

The satellite radio competition just got more interesting with the underdog, Sirius announced that it had signed an exclusive 3-year deal with the NHL to broadcast their games in a move that followed its earlier deal with the NBA, as it attempts to use sports to bring in new subscribers according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required). With the dearth of decent radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area the $12.95 per month price for quality radio stations sounds increasingly tempting...and should be starting to worry the existing radio conglomerates.

With the sports strategy, Sirius is aiming to replicate the success of satellite-TV broadcaster DirecTV in using sports to attract new subscribers. DirecTV's sports deals, especially a longstanding arrangement to air National Football League games, was considered important to the service's ability to attract customers in its early days.

...XM Satellite Radio Wednesday reported having more than 929,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter, and said it expects to reach 1.3 million by year end. Sirius says it had about 105,000 subscribers as of June 30, and expects to have 300,000 subscribers by Dec. 31.