I’m doing a few media spots to talk about Google Chrome, the new web browser from Google.
You can catch me tonight (2 September) on CNN at 7.40pm UK time (2.40pm Eastern, 11.40am Pacific) where I’ll be discussing the new browser and the competitive implications for Microsoft, which has also recently released a public beta of IE8.
Tomorrow (3 September) I’ll be on the breakfast show on BBC Radio 5 Live at about 8.45am.
As always, these timings are subject to change.
I’ve just watched fledgling UK-based PC maker Very PC put in a cringe-worthy performance on Dragons’ Den.
This company is valuing itself at 50 times earnings and has a range of computers that contain no proprietary technology and offer energy-saving features that can be achieved by anyone looking to build a PC themselves.
Very PC’s machines do offer energy savings over some of the equivalent PCs on the market, and the company has won awards for its efforts. But at this point the products offer nothing unique, and nothing that can’t be replicated easily and cheaply.
I desperately want to see a British PC maker do well, and would love to see Very PC grow and thrive even more than it has. However, performances like the one on the show just make our once proud computer manufacturing (or more recently assembly) sector look like a joke. Peter Jones, a guy who does know his tech, was annoyed - and so am I.
Five million quid – for what! Please, tell me, where is the value? It isn’t in the size of the customer base (at just £300,000 turnover, the company was clearly not selling many machines at the time the show was recorded), it certainly isn’t in the brand (Time and Tiny still have more street cred than this start-up right now), and there is nothing special about the products. They don’t look good, and they are all made out of off-the-shelf bits.
If you want a eco-friendly PC, you can actually go down to a computer fair and buy the bits to make one. If you live in London, I encourage you to visit the British Computer Fair every Saturday in Cleveland Street at UCL. If you have a car, get along to the big fairs at Bracknell Sports Centre and Tolworth Rec. Both are on once or twice a month on a Sunday.
Really – building your own PC is a doddle, it’s like playing with Lego. You will save a fortune and almost certainly achieve the same, if not better, ‘green’ results.
Very PC – before undertaking such a publicity stunt you need to acknowledge a realistic view of the market and a realistic valuation for your company, a business that builds computers that are no more energy-efficient or recyclable than the ones I or anyone else can build at home. On the basis of the sales and profit figures disclosed on the show, I’d say the business was worth, at most, about £600,000 - that’s why the panel of dragons were so unimpressed.
Please spend some time and money developing some unique energy-saving BIOS or motherboard technology you can patent and that will allow you to move away from just relying on generic PC parts alone. Then you can really make a name for yourselves globally as well as make a positive and lasting difference to the PC industry.
Go on - it’ll be good for the environment, good for the company and good for Britain.
In case you missed it, the nice people at CNBC have put a streaming copy of this morning’s iPhone 3G discussion online.
It’s the perfect gift for birthdays, christenings, grduation, or just a good read if you are stoned or just miss the greatest decade since we all realised the world isn’t flat.
Written by members of the greatest generation (those of us who grew up in the 80s), and edited by my friend and colleague Simon Brew, this book is the definitive guide to all things 80s - TV shows, music, films and proper computer games (the ones that came on tapes).
You can buy Celebrate the 80s now from Amazon.co.uk.
And yes, I did write some of it.
Seriously, its a brilliant book and it will bring back some fantastic memories, and a few that will make you cringe as well. Find out what all your 80s big and small screen favourites are doing now (not all of them are flipping burgers for a living) and read some exclusive interviews with the people who pioneered 80s entertainment.
WARNING: This book does contain a picture of me, with a mullet!
Despite dying with a cold, I decided to take on one more media appearance before Christmas, seeing as I needed to head into the West End anyway to go to Neals Yard Dairy and my favourite Italian food store Lena’s.
Click the image above to have a look at the interview from this morning (not sure how long it takes before the video goes from free to subscription, but its free at the moment) - we covered a lot in a very short space of time:
Merry Christmas everyone!
OK, I know I said the next post on this blog was going to be my Skypephone opus, and that is coming next, but I just wanted to slip in a quick post about my latest purchase and how much fun I am having with it.
On Monday, in-between having a puncture fixed on the car and trying to install Leopard on the MacBook, I did a load of Christmas shopping, and treated myself to a little gift.
Having recently received a iPod Nano as a gift, I’m using it a hell of a lot (it is a lot lighter than my 60GB iPod Video, which I still think is great, but the Video Nano is nice for taking to work and on short trips where I don’t want a brick in my pocket). The trouble is that the video output cable for my 60GB iPod Video doesn’t work on either the Video Nano or the new iPod Classic. Apple has removed the video out from the headphone jack on the new models and instead only offers video output from the dock connector (and they’ve changed the pin outs so that older dock connector video connectors etc won’t work).
Anyway, I decided to cash in my Nectar points, and in Argos I picked up the new and improved composite video cable with dock connector. It wasn’t cheap - £35 before Nectar discount - but you get a fair amount for your money. It is a well made cable, with a dock connector at one end (push-pull type rather than with locking clips), and three metal phono connectors at the other. There is also a USB connector, allowing you to charge your iPod while playing through the cable, or even sync it. Also included in the box is the new-style USB power supply. Its the same one bundled with the iPhone, so it is half the size of the original USB Apple power supply. US buyers get just the US 2-pin head attachment, us Brits get both the UK plug attachment and the 2-pin European attachment.
As a result of buying the cable (which works with the Video iPod as well as with the new models) I’ve been watching a huge number of video podcasts on my big TV in the study, as well as watching a roaring fire, courtesy of Cali Lewis and iYule.tv. Even though I was only playing th iPod Nano version of the iYule video rather than the high-res one, it still looks and sounds great.
It’s extremely early, and I’m getting ready to head in to BBC Television Centre for a morning of radio appearances to talk about iPhone hacking:
The trick will be to sound like I’m actually awake, which I am not!
Microsoft and Google announce quarterly results tonight, and I’ll be doing the usual round of TV spots to discuss the figures:
BBC News 24: Tonight at 9.40pm (Live)
BBC World: Tomorrow 5.30am (Live)
CNBC: Tomorrow 10.40am (Live)
As always, these times are subject to change as other coverage may overrun.
Just a quick update to let you know that I’m doing a few media spots today and tomorrow to talk about the US launch of Apple’s iPhone:
BBC World Service (Radio): Overnight tonight
BBC Radio 5 Live (Radio): LIVE Tonight at about 11.30pm
CNBC (TV): LIVE Friday 10.20am UK time
It’s a Monday night, I’m sat on the couch in the study with a bottle of wine updating various blogs, installing apps on my Facebook page, setting up a second Twitter feed while updating my main one, installing the beta of Safari for Windows on one of the laptops, watching Current TV and stress testing a Sky Broadband DSL line.
I really am a geek.
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An annual horror film festival in London’s Leicester Suqare. This year’s event takes place from August 24-27 2007 at the Odeon West End cinema on the south side of the Square
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