I love video chat, but I’m currently stuck with my dad where we can see his video but he can’t see ours (using Skype). We know it works on our end. My dad can’t figure out why it doesn’t work any more, and (debugging remotely) I can’t figure it out either.
I loved Skype when it first came out: it was simple, punched through firewalls reliably, and had great audio quality. Now, I feel like it’s devolved to the iChat / old Net Meeting experiences, where each session begins with 15 minutes of debugging (can’t connect, no audio/video, etc.)
I want a video chat client that “just works”, and works especially well when one of the participants isn’t that computer saavy:
- Rock-solid firewall traversal (e.g. no iChat “communcation errors”)
- Simple setup and config; eliminate all “advanced” options
- Remote debug of problems. With permission, let me poke around the other computer’s chat configuration (e.g which USB device, audio settings, etc.). If soemthing doesn’t work, give very specific and detailed error messages. Bonus: include screen sharing or at least screen snapshots.
- Great echo cancellation (modern PCs have the signal-processing horsepower) so nobody needs
microphones headphones
- Dynamic quality settings for video and audio based on bandwidth.
- Pre-configuration option: a way for me to configure a link, send to a friend for them to download and install, in a way that it’s intially configured to chat back to me.
- A test call that checks everything (like Skype’s echo123, but for video too).
- Launch and chat. Support for individual desktop icons that initiate a video chat to a specific recipient.
I’m half-tempted to start an open/collaborative effort to build this.
I thought Matt Burns’s article about Apple’s relatively simple product line struck a chord:
Garmin makes 82 GPS units that can be mounted in a car or carried in your hand. 82!?! That’s a lot and includes 27 designed specifically for the car. If Apple made a GPS, there would be two models available – maybe only one. Apple would shove everything they could into this one GPS and sell it at a profit instead of making similar different models that feature slightly different specs.
I can relate, because I recently bought a Garmin GPS, but first had to wade through model-feature-comparison-hell.
There’s a lesson here that many product managers miss: fewer choices is frequently the better design.
- Does Garmin really need two models, identical in all respects except Bluetooth support?
- Does every Windows install really need to ask what directory to use for installation?
- Does my PC wireless configuration really need to ask me a bunch of questions about what network to use? Why doesn’t it just find the strongest, test for openness, and use that one? (but let me change it later if I want)
If you’re a product manager: SIMPLIFY!
I was surprised at Microsoft’s recent layoff news: (a) this is their first major layoff, and (b) they’re only laying off 5%. The financial analysts are calling this the indicator of general technology/software woes.
The technology sector is definitely challenged, but Microsoft’s problems are quite unique. They’re an old-line software company with a market structure and core business changing out from under them:
- Most high-volume, general purpose software components (e.g. OS, productivity, etc.) will be free or pseudo-free (ad supported). Key exceptions: games, and small apps (e.g. $1 iPhone apps).
- Most apps will be delivered as on-line services, with subscription or ad-based revenue models. Exceptions: apps needing heavy client-side interactivity, computation or data manipulation (e.g. PhotoShop).
- Many software companies won’t sell software at all, they’ll sell the value the software generates (e.g. Google, Kayak.com, etc.)
Microsoft has cash and a huge installed base, so they’re not going away anytime soon. But market structure changes are the toughest transitions for any company to navigate, and Microsoft hasn’t yet done a great job showing they’re up to the task. Witness: botched discussions with Yahoo, and I’m still amazed that Microsoft hasn’t jumped on a app store for Windows that makes it ridiculously easy to find, buy and install small-dollar applets.
My bet: without bold moves, they gradually fade to an “inertia existence” (e.g. IBM, Sun), without the margins typically enjoyed by the gorilla.
I just read a blog post about a developer with a #1 iPhone app that quit his day job.
The “indie developer” market seems alive and well (and not just for iPhone apps). If you have talent and an SDK, you can give it a shot. If you’re lucky, you can make a good living. Software applications have become an expressive art like novels, paintings, music, and screen plays.
The downside is it’s getting very crowded because there aren’t barriers: the only capital required is time. There’s the joke about every waiter in LA being an asipiring actor; I feel like every developer I know is writing an iPhone/Android app.
Finally, a hit app does not make a sustainable business. Very few writers are able to break out and build a sustainable franchise (e.g. Tom Clancy, JK Rowling).
I think the same will be true for indie developers.
I’ve written before about how the future of TV is IP-delivered. As more video comes on-line, cable packages will get unplugged just like analog phone lines. It’s no longer “if”, but “when”, and 2009 is looking like a good year.
A few weeks ago, I finally set up a “real” computer for our main TV: a dedicated Mac Mini, wireless keyboard & mouse, and video camera, all hooked into a large LCD flat panel. It’s great for family video conferences, viewing photos and videos, and watching Internet content (e.g. Hulu, TV networks, Comedy Central, etc.)
The missing component is software: a classic desktop UI with a mouse and keyboard works, but isn’t ideal for a living room. On the Mac, for example, the screen fonts are too small and the only way to make them larger (I can find) is to lower the screen resolution, which defeats the purpose of a high resolution display.
I really want a UI optimized for “living room apps” instead of “desktop apps”. I want to use a single Wiimote-like pointing device to navigate, with optional use of a keyboard and mouse.
Apple’s FrontRow has a clean design, but is too limited and isn’t 3rd party expandable. I’m testing Boxee, which comes very close to ideal but still has rough edges.
It’s all coming together!
This morning, a friend reported that Stowe, VT real estate is doing OK, in part because if you’re on the East coast, and you downgrade your Aspen aspirations a notch — you end up at Stowe. (I also learned that Stowe is a big AIG project, which was interesting).
Similarly, McDonald’s is doing OK while Starbucks gets creamed.
In tough & uncertain economic times, we all tend to downgrade in a sort of musical chairs: “A class” buyers downgrade to “B”, “B” to “C”, etc. (Recession or not, I still don’t understand people paying $4 for coffee.) It’s gotten so bad, we’ve got hedge fund guys flying first class instead of charter. OMG!
For entrepreneurs, this suggests a model for thinking about opportunities.
New ventures can look for existing premium products and services where you can be the more efficient, cost-effective downgrade offering. The premium incumbent has already “taught” the market — can you find a better/cheaper way?
Existing ventures should ask: “What are we the downgrade for?” and “What do our customers want to downgrade to?”
Recessions: never boring.