Minnov8

Showcasing Minnesota Technology Innovation

Minnesota Apple Watchers React to Steve Jobs’ Rant

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So, if you haven’t seen the news Wired broke late Saturday (updated Sunday afternoon) about Steve Jobs going off on Google and Adobe at the Apple all-employee meeting, here it is:  Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra is ‘Bullshit,’ Adobe Is Lazy: Apple’s Steve Jobs.

Here’s an excerpt:

“After a big public announcement of the sort Apple had this week for the iPad, CEO Steve Jobs often takes time in the day or two afterwards to have a Town Hall at One Infinite Loop, making himself available for questions from employees bold enough to stand up and take one right between the eyes.

This time, the big topics included Google and Adobe — no surprises there… And the absence of Adobe Flash support on the iPhone for three years and counting, and now on the iPad, is either celebrated by users as a poke in the eye of one of the web’s most dextrous tools, or the most over-rated and overused crutch for decent design.

Jobs, characteristically, did not mince words as he spoke to the assembled, according to a person who was there who could not be named because this person is not authorized by Apple to speak with the press.

On Google: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them, he says. Someone else asks something on a different topic, but there’s no getting Jobs off this rant. I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing, he says. This don’t be evil mantra: “It’s bullshit.” Audience roars.

About Adobe: They are lazy, Jobs says. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it. They don’t do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.”

I decided to ask three local observers with a special perspective on Apple for their reaction. Two of them are former Apple employees, the other a 26-year user of both Apple and Adobe technologies. …  [Read More…]

The FTC Talks Guides

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Engle Recently I had a chance to join local IP Attorney Ernest Grumbles for an edition of his BP/G Radio Intellectual Property Podcast. Along with his co-host Joe Bennett-Paris we had the chance to talk with Mary K. Engle, Associate Director, FTC Division of Advertising Practices about the infamous Guides for the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising as they apply to bloggers.

As we’ve talked about on past Minnov8 podcasts and as I pointed out in a post on my own blog, these guides are nothing new in the broadcast world, but seem to have a few bloggers and online marketers a bit twitchy. How do you feel about them?

It was good to have the chance to talk with Ms. Engle and get a very clear explanation of the guides straight from the source. Thanks to Ernest for allowing me to join in.

Be sure and keep Ernest’s blog and podcast on your radar. He is a great local and national resource and offers plenty of great info on IP law on a regular basis.

Zipnosis: Healthcare On-the-Go

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Zipnosis is a 2008 Minnesota Cup winner (Student category) and a pre-launch healthcare startup in Minneapolis that is zeroing in on the always-on and always-connected generation with a very interesting and potentially disruptive healthcare business model.

I sat down this week with founder Jon Pearce to discuss Zipnosis and what they were trying to accomplish. “When you’re sick and need to go to a doctor or visit a clinic, you have to take time off work, pay a co-pay, sit in the waiting room, and then just get seen by a nurse,” says Pearce. This occurs even for fairly routine and minor issues such as bacterial infections (e.g., strep throat) or viral ones like the flu, and Pearce has data-backed opinions about the percentages of office visits that are routine like these.

Those are the types of visits that require a considerable time investment for the patient and are low value ones for a clinician, and speeding up that process virtually and online (called a “zip”) is what Zipnosis is making more efficient for both the patient and clinician (minutes for a Doctor to turn around a diagnosis vs. 15-20 minutes of time for that same thing in-office, and undoubtedly 2 hours or so of time for the patient). What if instead you could use your computer or cell phone, answer a series of very structured questions about your symptoms, get fast clinician or doctor feedback and, if needed, a prescription sent to the pharmacy of your choice? …  [Read More…]

Look Mom, We’re On the iPad

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The multi-talented tech giant Julio Ojeda-Zapata was on hand for the debut of the iPad in San Francisco on Wednesday…then he got his hands on one. We can’t help but feel a bit giddy that he loaded up Minnov8 on the “magical” device.

See a recap of Julio’s Twitter coverage and photos here.


Startup Roundtable to Convene, Huzzah!

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Thomas Knoll is gathering the Knights of Tech Entrepreneurship for a meeting at the MN Startup Culture Roundtable, scheduled for February 5th.

Thomas, currently residing in the sunny climes of San Francisco, is familiar to most in the Minnesota tech and social media world through his time working as a web designer here. He made the move west in 2008 to work with Seesmic and has since since gone freelance, working with the likes of Swordfish.

Though this would appear to be a result of the recent discussion surrounding Paul DeBettignies’ article on less talk and more walk when it comes to our own start up community, it had it roots well before it. “I was motivated by the startup atmosphere in San Francisco and wanted to get more of that vibe back to Minnesota.” He goes on to note, “There are so many people that are working on startups here. In fact, I know two baristas that have real, viable projects going on the side.”

The timing isn’t lost on Thomas. “I originally wanted to talk culture but it morphed into a call to action in response to the current local startup discussions. Paul outlined what he would do to help and I felt I should to the same.”

The roundtable discussions will highlight the differences between here and ‘the valley’. What type of differences for example? “Here we are so secretive. We keep everything quiet, rather than share it with the community. In San Francisco you are constantly putting out ideas. So many that you hope someone will pick it up and run.”

If you plan on attending the event there is some homework. Follow the links on the Eventbrite registration page to become familiar with the discussion so far and most importantly the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach Thomas is planning on including to move ideas into action.

Let the discussion…and action continue!

Emmy Award Winner Brian Stemmler

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Totally out of the blue I came across the video below tonight, a producer reel done by Brian Stemmler (@bstemmler). I had no idea he’d won an Emmy for his video work.

For those of you who don’t know Brian, he’s a videographer and photographer who has shot many interview videos for Minnov8 — and covered events like the UnSummit — for us and other organizations in town (here is a fun one he did with Minnov8’s Phil Wilson). He’s a great and generous guy that you should know if you need professional level video or photography.

Here’s why this is relevant to a Minnesota ‘net and web innovation story: Brian has thrown himself in to the social media sphere, is leveraging YouTube, and has planted himself all over the ‘net wherever it’s relevant. He’s volunteering for video shoots simply to get himself integrated in to this community (he came here from California) and is doing so effectively. Active on Twitter, Brian has connected himself very well. Great lessons in hustle for all of us.

Take a peek at his producer reel to get a sense of what he does:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYHyrD3aEcQ

Will the Apple Tablet be called the “iJulio”?

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It’s unlikely that Apple will name the rumored tablet being announced tomorrow the “iJulio”, but it’s about the only name that hasn’t been floated up as a possibility! There is so much anticipation about what it will be — even though the McGraw-Hill CEO sticking his foot in his mouth and chewing soundly pretty much confirmed the tablet is a reality this afternoon — it will be fun to observe the announcement.

But alas, none of us will see it in real time. Unless, of course, you write for a news daily that sends you to the Apple event!

Julio Ojeda-Zapata is the Pioneer Press’ consumer-tech reporter and he will be live tweeting and posting photos which you’ll see on this page (http://minnov8.com/tablet/) throughout tomorrow’s event beginning at 12pm CST on Wednesday, January 27th.

As you probably already know, Julio writes a Tech Test Drive column about gadgets, apps and social media (among other things). He is the author of Twitter Means Business, one of the first books about Twitter.

He is also a sometime co-host of the Minnov8 Gang podcast (and will join us this Saturday to discuss this Apple event in more detail) and focuses his commentary on tech trends. See his Posterous geekstream. Contact him by e-mail or on  Twitter.

Swarmcast to Lay Off Half the Company

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Minneapolis-based Swarmcast has been in the business video streaming since 2002, but according to Dan Rayburn at BusinessofVideo.com, they’re laying off half the company:

Last week, rumors started circulating that Swarmcast was going out of business and had laid off all of their employees. While the company is not out of business yet, they did make some major layoffs and have changed their focus. I had a call with Christian Wilhelm over the weekend who is the chairman of the company and now runs their day-to-day operations. Christian said that at the end of December, more than 50% of the employees were let go and that about ten people still remain with the company, mostly engineers who work remotely. In addition, all of the executives are now gone, including the founder Justin Chapweske who left over a year ago, although some of the execs are still consulting to the company on a limited basis.

Sad to see a promising company and technology go by the wayside just as video online is becoming so mission-critical for virtually every company and individual.

‘The New Industrial Revolution’ and Minnesota

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I absolutely love it when my new WIRED magazine shows up in the mail.  Hey, I read as much as the next guy online (on my little 13″ Macbook screen, or my iPhone), but I still love excellence in print — good ol’ ink on dead trees. And WIRED continues to stand out in this category. (Bonus: having a print subscription means I can read the latest issue before others can online.)  The February 2010 edition has another hard-hitting cover story, as only this publication can do, declaring with bold artwork: “The New Industrial Revolution.”  These guys know how to sell magazines!  I especially liked the title of the article, which I saw as I quickly flipped to the table of contents: “Atoms Are the New Bits.” And it’s by none other than editor-in-chief Chris Anderson. This has been a favorite discussion topic of mine with some of my colleagues. Yes, there’s quite a bit more to life, and innovation, than just digital stuff.

In the article, Anderson chronicles the age of “open source, custom-fabricated, DIY product design.” He profiles a fascinating startup called Local Motors of Wareham, Mass., and another one called TechShop of Menlo Park, Calif. (which I first heard of when I met the founder at a DEMO Alumni Reception in Palo Alto in August 2007).

…  [Read More…]

Minnesota Startup Community: The Time Has Come For Less Talk and More Walk

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“I wonder what the conversations will be like a year from now.” This is a paraphrase of a statement Doug Pollei made at the recent MinneBar hosted by Best Buy, which he said to me at the end of a startup session led by Luke Francl.

I heard some folks say how they look forward to a year from now to look back and see what has been accomplished within our startup community. I did not take the comment that way.

Most days and in most ways I am an optimist — my glass is half full and usually running over. Want proof? I have been attending Gopher football games for 28 years. (Or, hmm…maybe that makes me something other than an optimist?)

During this particular session at MinneBar there were many thoughts on what could be done to support, make better, and grow our startup community.

I hate to be one the one to rain on the parade, but almost all of those things were suggested in May of 2008 at the last MinneBar, and very few if any have been acted upon, nor have any noticeable results been achieved.

Hence the title of this post: we need to stop talking and start walking.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: We welcome guest blogger Paul DeBettignies for this post.  Please tweet your questions to @Minnov8 now so we can answer them on our Minnov8 Gang podcast tomorrow,  on which Paul will be our guest.  Please add the hashtag #MNwalkthetalk.)…  [Read More…]