Tag Archives: PodTech.net

Computers/Technology, Web/Internet

Watching the ScobleShow

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Over the past couple of days I’ve been watching the first fruits of Robert Scoble’s much publicised move to PodTech. I have to say that I’ve not watched any of his Channel9 stuff, partly because all of that was (not surprisingly) in the somewhat less Mac friendly Windows Media format. However with the ScobleShow I was just able to plug it straight in alongside the other pod-casts I have set up in iTunes.

I kicked off with a look at the Photowalking items, where Scoble goes out and about with Thomas Hawk, someone who could probably be described as one of the stars of Flickr. Above is one of the shots that Thomas took during the walk that Scoble filmed. In terms of content, the Photowalking items were great, the main annoyance was the camera work. Whereas Thomas is able to sort out his images after the event to compensate for the lighting effects, Scoble was having real problems with the video camera as the automatics struggled to cope with the dusk lighting conditions, there are also times in the item when it really would have helped to have two cameras, since as Thomas spotted something interesting, the camera would swing round to try and catch it on video. I guess it’s the limitation of the one man and camera set up that Scoble is using, and also the fact that he is trying something new here. As Scoble says himself on his blog he’s fully expecting the show to suck for the first couple of months as he plays around and learns things. Having said that, it’s worth saying that from what I’ve seen so far it doesn’t really suck in my opinion – but it will certainly be a better viewing experience when Robert has found out a bit more what works and what doesn’t!

Anyway, the item I’ve found most interesting so far has been the visit to Printing For Less who run an internet based print operation from an office in rural Montana. The item is a great example of why in these days of high-speed internet connections and reliable courier services someone can run a successful and profitable business from what is effectively the middle of nowhere. From what we saw on the tour the staff are happy, the location is fantastic, and they are making money without having to cut corners on equipment – everybody had at least a dual screen set up, most had three screens. I can’t speak for the actual quality of the output as however cheap their prices, the fact I’d have to pay international shipping charges, plus the fact that being a US company their standard paper sizes are totally non-standard for the rest of the world resulting in anything I would want printing being a special order, I doubt it would be that cheap from here! However as an example of a successful internet business, and an interesting tour for someone who know little about commercial printing it was a great item.

So as a start, the ScobleShow is definitely an entertaining watch, and I’ll look forward to more to come in the future.

Computers/Technology

Scoble Leaves Microsoft

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Scoble Arrives

So the big geek news of the weekend was the shock announcement that both Robert Scoble and his wife Maryam have both resigned from Microsoft, and are heading off to a Silicon Valley startup called PodTech.net. The news was significant enough to register a front page listing on BBC News Online for most of the day, somewhat of an indication of the reputation that Robert has built for himself in the industry. As always, the Scoble effect came in to play, and PodTech.net found their site crashing under the weight of interested geeks checking out his new employer!

But is it really all that much of a surprise? True, Robert Scoble is synonymous with Microsoft, but remember that Robert’s blog, isn’t a Microsoft blog at all, it his personal blog which he had before he joined Microsoft. I have to say that when Scoble posted his ‘I’m going to Google‘, the reason it worked is because it was so believable. Whilst reading on through the posting you could tell it was a joke, as a headline, it seemed perfectly possible. The impression you always get from what Robert writes is that he is primarily a technology fan who happens to work for Microsoft – he doesn’t have some sort of evangelical tie to the company.

Amusingly, it wasn’t actually Robert himself who broke the news, it leaked out and was subsequently confirmed by Scoble primarily to deny all the rumours flying around as to why he had left. In reality it seems one of the big drivers has been wanting to spend more time with his son – who lives near Silicon Valley – Scoble mentions that in this posting. The other, is wanting a new challenge. In this posting he recounts how he was hired by Microsoft after standing up in a conference and telling Ballmer that Microsoft needed a more human face. He has largely achieved that. In much the same way he told the guys at PodTech.net that their stuff is too commercial and not interesting enough – indeed he goes as far as saying that he wouldn’t subscribe to it if he weren’t joining the company. After having given them 21 points on how to improve, team Scoble are now both going to work for them.

So how are things going to change. Sure Scoble won’t have the same inside knowledge that got a lot of people interested in his blog, but at the same time he has a lot of contacts, and his name is such that he will probably still be considered one of the major voices in the industry, and of course he is still the same person, with the same interests, so certainly it will be worthwhile keeping an eye out over at PodTech.net for what he and Maryam are doing. Lastly I’d like to wish them both good luck in their new roles. It is always a big step to change jobs, and I’ll look forward to seeing and hearing what they produce. I just hope the PodTech.net expenses budget will extend to flying them both over to the UK once in a while!