Randy Weber » google

Technology and Me – A Day in the Life of

Randy Weber — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:16:40 +0000

This is the third post of three about technology changes over the last decade. First I covered what I was using in 2001 and what I’m using in 2010. Second I covered what I consider to be the biggest changes for me over the last decade. Today I’m covering how these changes have affected me on a day-to-day basis.

A typical day for me begins with the following before getting out of bed:

1) turning off my alarm (iPhone 3GS)

2) start download of the day’s WSJ This Morning podcast (iPhone 3GS)

3) checking the temperature (iPhone 3GS)

Once I get out of bed:

1) I get dressed to take my dog for a walk while listening to the WSJ podcast that has finished downloading.

2) I feed myself and my dog while continuing to listen to the WSJ broadcast.

3) I connect my iPhone to some powered speakers and finish the WSJ podcast as I shower and get dressed for

work.

As I leave the house to go to work:

1) I listen to music on my iPhone as I walk to bus stop.

2) While waiting for the bus I check my personal and work e-mail.

3) After checking e-mail, I play games and listen to music on my iPhone until I reach work.

It’s amazing how fast time seems to pass when you have so many productivity and entertainment options

available.

Depending on what I’m doing that day at work, I might listen to music, Pandora, or local sports talk from

Dallas (the ESPN Radio iPhone app is great) as I work.

At work I’m always connected to the Internet and most of my collegues are located remotely or at another

office. Work is done primarily via e-mail and chat. I’m on the phone no more than once or twice a day.

Prior to heading home from the office, I start the downloads for a few ESPN podcasts which keep me company

until I get home and walk the dog.

Once, I walk my dog and feed the two of us. Then I catch up on TV shows waiting for me on my DVR. I’ll

typically surf the web and read the days news and tech blogs on my laptop as I watch TV.

When I crawl into bed at night I set my alarm, plug in the charger, and turn on some relaxing tunes on my

iPhone 3GS.

As you can see, the iPhone has been deeply integrated into my daily activities. I have a hard time seeing

how I’d get by without it.

A typical day for me begins with the following before getting out of bed:

1) Turning off my alarm (iPhone 3GS).

2) Starting the download for the WSJ This Morning podcast (iPhone 3GS).

3) Checking the temperature (iPhone 3GS).

Once I get out of bed:

1) I get dressed to take my dog for a walk while listening to the WSJ podcast on my iPhone that has finished downloading.

2) I feed myself and my dog while continuing to listen to the WSJ podcast.

3) I connect my iPhone to some powered speakers and finish the WSJ podcast as I shower and get dressed for work.

As I leave the house to go to work:

1) I listen to music on my iPhone as I walk to bus stop.

2) While waiting for the bus I check my personal and work e-mail.

3) After checking e-mail, I play games and listen to music on my iPhone until I reach work.

It’s amazing how fast time seems to pass when you have so many productivity and entertainment options available.

Depending on what I’m doing that day at work, I might listen to music, Pandora, or local sports talk from Dallas (the ESPN Radio iPhone app is great) as I work.

At work I’m always connected to the Internet. Most of my collegues are located remotely or at another office. Work is done primarily via e-mail and chat. I’m on the phone no more than once or twice a day. I used the phone far more when I was doing Business Development.

My primary applications include Outlook, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Excel on a 10″ Dell laptop running Windows XP docked with dual 20 inch LCD monitors. I use Word and PowerPoint far less in product management than I did in Business Development.

I also keep Meebo’s web-based chat application open all day on a small USB monitor to access AIM, Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger. I keep up with industry news using Google Reader and Techmeme.

Prior to heading home from the office, I start the downloads for a few ESPN podcasts which keep me company until I get home and walk the dog.

After I walk my dog and feed the two of us, I catch up on TV shows waiting for me on my DirecTV DVR or stream some music using my Apple TV.

I’ll typically surf the web and read the days news and tech blogs on my laptop as I watch TV or listen to music. I have a 17″ Dell laptop running Windows 7. I primarily use Google Chrome to browse the web at home.

I actually have print subscription to Business Week (it was free).

When I crawl into bed at night I set my alarm, plug in the charger, and turn on some relaxing tunes on my iPhone 3GS.

As you can see, the iPhone has been deeply integrated into my daily activities. I have a hard time seeing how I’d get by without it.

I Received My Google Profiles Business Cards

Randy Weber — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:29:02 +0000

These look pretty good, but I think the URL is too small. Never-the-less, not bad for free.

Interesting Take on Life at (and after) Google

Randy Weber — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:53:24 +0000

Why do people go to work at Google? Why do they stay at Google? Why do they leave Google? Here’s an interesting take on this from former Google employees allegedly taken from a private Google Group set up by Google to understand why people leave. Posted on TechCrunch.

Here are the recurring themes:

excessively long hiring process
below market pay
poor management
decreasing benefits

But it wasn’t all bad. Many former Googlers chimed in about having a good experience.

I know both current and former Googlers that fall on both side – some love it, some hate it.
It’s long, but an interesting read.

Follow-up to Post on Which Google Products Make Money

Randy Weber — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:54:52 +0000

This little tidbit adds some color to my earlier comments on Google products that make money and how many of their products are “also-ran’s.” This comes from Search Engine Land:

Google’s announced they’re closing or ceasing development of a variety of products as part of an already continuing move to keep efforts focused on other products with greater usage. These include an end to video uploads to Google Video, closure of Google Catalog Search, Google Notebook, Dodgeball, the microblogging service Jaiku and the Google Mashup Editor.

Ouch! At least they know when it’s time to pull the plug.

“Performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea.”

Randy Weber — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:11:55 +0000

OK, I get it. Data centers use a lot of energy. Google has a lot of data centers. The energy they use is allocated across the searches performed. So what am I supposed to do about this? The Times Online which published this story was pretty short on answers. Thanks for nothing…and the guilt trip.

Yahoo! Search Advertiser Share Drops, This Can’t Be Good

Randy Weber — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:19:57 +0000

From Silicon Alley Insider:

After holding steady for most of 2008, Yahoo’s share of all search engine advertisers dropped like a rock in October, November and December — plummeting from 30.4% to 19.4% at the end of Q4, according to search marketing firm AdGooroo.

How do you explain this? Everyone else is gaining share and they’re losing it. This is very sad to see. I’ve always liked Yahoo!

Which Google Products Make Money?

Randy Weber — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:13:25 +0000

Google Blogoscoped has an elaborate chart of all the google products and how they are monetized. It’s very confusing. So lets make this simple:

Google has 10 products that are relevant – search, adwords/adsense, maps, gmail, toolbar, youtube, analytics, doubleclick, their affiliate network, and news. Everything else is an also-ran.
Of these 10 products, the only ones making any real money are search/adwords/adsense, doubleclick, and their affiliate network. You could also say the toolbar makes money since it drives revenue through search.
Perhaps chrome, apps, android, and reader will matter one day soon, though this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll make any money.

Now, wasn’t that easier?

Citysearch Mashup a Model for iPhone App?

Randy Weber — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:13:54 +0000

The Kelsey Group Blogs discusses a Citysearch Mashup that combines Citysearch data with Google Maps. It looks nice, but there’s no content. Try a search for pizza in north Dallas. There’s nothing there. Google Maps, Yahoo, and the IYP sites have more/better content. But the UI is nice.

Google’s Acquisitions: A Timeline

Randy Weber — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 16:05:23 +0000

From shmula » Google’s Acquisitions: A Timeline : Business, Technology, and Stuff in Between comes a review of Google’s acquisitions. It’s interesting to see how many aquisitions have accounted for new products at Google. I had forgotten most of these.

Will Someone Please Buy TiVo?

Randy Weber — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 16:00:26 +0000

PVR Wire wrote an interesting post on Who will buy TiVo? Google, Yahoo or Microsoft?

Let me start this with the fact that I LOVE TiVo. However, the lack of a viable HD product has led me to use the PVR in the set-top box from Time Warner. I hate it, but I have no choice. None-the-less, I still have my TiVo which I use as a music server to get my tunes from my PC to my entertainment system. It’s slicker than anything else out there, trust me, I’ve tried them.

Now, on with my point. I want TiVo to survive. I think it has major opportunities that it has not been able to capitalize on:

The set-top box that integrates audio, video, PCs, and the Internet in the living room.
It could change the way that audio and video is monetized by content owners and distributors.
It could change they way that audio and video is distributed by content owners – pay-per-view, video on demand, stored content that can be moved to various devices, etc.

I want this device BAD. PVR Wire has their arguments on who is most likely to buy TiVo – they believe it will be Yahoo or Google. I want it to be Yahoo or Apple. Yahoo seems to be able to integrate a variety of Internet content and could really use TiVo rather than screwing around with their own vaporware product. Apple would be great because they’d be able to avoid screwing up TiVo’s incredible UI (they might even be able to improve it) and they have done very well with integrating various types of content on various devices.

Whether it’s Yahoo or Apple, please let it happen.