DigitalNext

Google Dashboard Changes Our Thinking About Privacy

It's About Managing Our Public Profiles, Not Doggedly Keeping Everything Private

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 11.10.09 @ 09:40 AM

Judy Shapiro

The launch of Google Dashboard last week was subdued by Google standards. The Googlerazzi didn't cover it with its usual breathlessness and the blogosphere remained mostly mum about it. Perhaps one reason? Lurking behind the convenience of Google Dashboard, which lets you control all your Google information and services in one place, is the basic, uncomfortable question: "What might Google do with all the information it has about me?" The Dashboard, despite its obvious convenience, raises the sensitive "Google knows too much about us" argument, again.

Google Wave Should Beware of the 'Communications and Collaboration' Pitch

It Shouldn't Be if It Wants Mainstream American to Care About It

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 10.16.09 @ 01:25 PM

Judy Shapiro

(Author's Disclaimer: I have not personally tried Google Wave. I have read plenty of reviews and I think I will wait to use it unless, of course, someone at Google wants a user who will unequivocally break it. I have even once been accused of breaking the internet, but that's never been confirmed.)

My curiosity about Google Wave was naturally piqued, given my AT&T creds, but frankly their "communications and collaboration" motto is what caught my attention. I wanted to see how a company whose DNA rests in "search/ad platform/digital" technologies would go about creating a communications and collaboration solution.

Judy Consumer Is Finally All A-Twitter

Once It Became Clear How It Could Improve Her Life

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 09.25.09 @ 12:00 PM

Judy Consumer tried to use Bing to find her three-day vacation getaway? It didn't help her much but she managed to use the internet to plan a trip to Niagara Falls. (She loved it, BTW. She met people from all over the world: Indonesia, Tunisia, Turkey and even Iran, and she was inspired as all were united in their awe of the majesty of Niagara Falls. She didn't even mind the inevitable long wait on lines because she got to communicate with so many people from different lands.)

How Straight Talk Became a Casualty of Mac vs. PC Wars

It's a Scenario Not Uncommon in Technology Marketing

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 09.02.09 @ 06:57 PM

Judy Shapiro

The holiday season is the time when all guns are blazing in the fight for precious consumer spending, and many savvy marketers are starting their holiday marketing programs now. One of the epic battles for holiday spending is between PC (aka Microsoft) and Mac (aka Apple) and each brand has drawn its battle lines with its respective "crush the competition" campaign to gain market advantage.

'Judy Consumer' Still Not Sold on Bing

'Decision Engine' Positioning Is Overpromising

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 08.03.09 @ 03:25 PM

I'm always eager to learn from constructive criticism, and the last time I did a comparison of Bing and Google, many of you were critical of my conclusion -- you said I lacked thoroughness in my "hypothetical" test on behalf of "Judy Consumer" (as opposed to "Judy the Digital Marketer").

But I've been seeing Bing's new commercial, similar to the one here, that explains the "decision engine" promise in more detail (sort of), so I decided to give it a whirl again. The spot, a froth of promises with a price chart thrown in, stirred my curiosity. This time, I actually had a decision to make -- I wanted to find a two- to three-day getaway within the tri-state area during the month of August.

Google, AT&T and the DOJ: How to Avoid History's Mistakes

Part Two of 'Why Google Voice Reminds Me of AT&T'

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 07.27.09 @ 03:45 PM

Can you spell DOJ?

Many of you will remember the July 7 DigitalNext post, "Why Google Voice Reminds Me of AT&T," where I broadly outlined how Google, like AT&T before it, can be undone by its ambition to dominate a key "infrastructure" sector, like the web. I contended in the article that, much like AT&T's quest to dominate information systems, Google's quest to dominate web services can divert precious resources from core businesses, leaving it weaker, not stronger.

The article generated, uh, considerable conversation; some polite, some not -- but most were incredulous that I could even dare to make such a comparison.

Now, a mere three weeks later, Wired's Fred Vogelstein chivalrously comes to my defense (however unwittingly on his part) with his article, "Keyword: Monopoly... Why is Obama's Top Antitrust Cop Gunning for Google." In it, he explores the Department of Justice's newly launched anti-trust investigation of Google (see where this is going?).

Not Every CEO Needs to Be a Social-Media Star

Not Every Communication Challenge Is a Nail to Be Hammered With Social Media

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 07.20.09 @ 09:30 AM

Pity the poor CEO in today's media world. UberCEO recently did a study with the headline "It's Official: Fortune 100 CEOs Are Social Media Slackers." It goes on to analyze the social-media habits of CEOs at large companies and concluded, shockingly, that they don't use social media much.

Aside from the vaguely self-serving nature of this study (a social-marketing company promoting use of social media), I, too, am shocked! I am shocked how quickly people assume that social media is something everyone should do. I am shocked at the lack of understanding of how impractical social media can be for the CEO of any large company.

Bing vs. Google: 'Judy Consumer' Can't Tell a Difference

All These Opinions Might Be too 'Expert' for Average Folks

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 07.09.09 @ 06:31 PM

We consumers seem to becoming pawns in the power struggle between internet behemoths Google and Microsoft. To Google, we are "products" to be sold to highest bidding advertiser and to Microsoft we have been reduced largely to a software license. The battle these two corporate superpowers are undergoing leaves me feeling awed, and puny.

So when I read the plethora of opinions the experts are spinning about whether Bing is better than Google, I wonder what "Judy Consumer" thinks. I suspect the subtleties of the technology are probably lost on her.

Why Google Voice Reminds Me of AT&T

And Not for the Reasons You May Think

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 07.07.09 @ 09:40 AM

I'm an ex-AT&T "Bell head," so anything telecom always gets my special attention. When I saw the Google Voice re-announcement recently, I couldn't help wondering, "Huh, what's up with that? How does this fit into Google's core business?" Mostly, though, I was interested in understanding why this and why now.

Social Media: Communities Based on Trust Are Stronger

A Lesson in Why Facebook Is Growing and MySpace Isn't

Posted by Judy Shapiro on 06.26.09 @ 03:30 PM

Reading about the brutal lay offs at MySpace last week sent chills down my spine. It comes only two months after a new CEO, a former Facebook exec, took over from MySpace's founding CEO. It sounds like fodder for those "tell-all" books about a business in crisis.