Google Hire Me

Remember the guy who ran the “google hire me” site and got hired? Well, I’m thowing my hat (resume) into the Google (hire) ring. Why? Because they clearly need sombody who can help them sell software to the SMB - their ad-supported model, while hotter than a Sony laptop battery in the press, is just as bound for self-immolation in the SMB market.

We have nothing but admiration for Google’s technology and their success, but ad supported is not an appropriate business model for business software — for the ad model to succeed, people have to click on the ads, and nobody wants to do that at work. If Google wants to be a player in SMB software, they’re going to have to pull their heads ouf of the consumer mindset and start charging customers for the valuable software or service that they deliver. If that’s evil, then call my cobbler, because I’m going to need some cloven loafers.

A month of SNMP Days?

Today at one of our monthly sprint meetings (as detailed on The Daily Network Monitor) during an open discussion, somebody challenged a sacred cow of software marketing, and it’s really making me think. Very nearly every software company offers trial versions of its products, typically either in a limited-time or limited-features version, to get prospects interested in the product and to get them to buy it when the time is up or when they outgrow the limited feature set. The challenger said, “a 30-day trial is of no value to me.” I pushed back, noting that thousands of people download 30-day trial versions of Ipswitch software every week, and many of them buy when the 30 days are up, some even sooner.

Finn Wins Phone Fling Fest

Admit it, at least once you’ve contemplated heaving your cell phone (or someone else’s) as far as you can throw it, right? Wouldn’t that feel good… at least once? Well now there’s a world event for just this sort of thing. According to this Reuters piece, it’s called the Mobile Phone Throwing World Championship, Finland’s latest contribution to offbeat athleticism. Sound like fun? Well, if you decide to enter next time, you should know it is pretty compeitive: This year’s gold medal went to Finland’s Lassi Etelatalo, who flung a scrapped Nokia unit a forceful 89.00 metres. “I prepared by javelin throwing, I haven’t really practised throwing mobile phones,” Etelatalo told Reuters.