Anyone who works with SAAS products probably saw this coming:

Microsoft sees end of Windows era
Midori aims to uncouple its software from the hardware it runs on
Microsoft has kicked off a research project to create software that will take over when it retires Windows.

Called Midori, the cut-down operating system is radically different to Microsoft’s older programs.
It is centred on the internet and does away with the dependencies that tie Windows to a single PC.
It is seen as Microsoft’s answer to rivals’ use of “virtualisation” as a way to solve many of the problems of modern-day computing.
Read the story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7540282.stm

This past week, I was in the Bay Area on Business. Watching the local news, within the same broadcast, they were talking about Virgin Megastores closing in San Francisco, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper struggling to stay alive. I couldn’t help but think about these are signs of not only a recession, but the final death throes of the old media.

We have reached the end of the Industrial Era and are well into the Information Era. In the Industrial Era, information didn’t happen in real time. In fact, it didn’t need to. There were no computers, email, Twitter, or Youtube. People hand prepared documents, mailed them, spent time reading the newspaper, and did things that were generally done over the period of hours, days, and weeks. Things were much slower then, but the culture did not demand the urgency of information that it does today.

Today, we get our news online, as we want, when we want it. We no longer prepare documents, we send PDFs via email. We instant message our peers for information who happen to be on the other side of the nation or even the world.

I always drive home the point that in Enterprise Software, it is an imperative that you must drive data to the source. In other words, you must put the origination of data right at the source. In a business sense, this means that you must put the key strokes or data collection right at the point in the process where the entry originates, such as at a quality check point on the shop floor, or with the employee for HR information.

In the bigger world, this is already happening with the coined term of “On-Demand”. Virgin is suffering due to iTunes. The consumers are directly sourcing the media. If you look at CNN’s iReport, you will see that news events are being reported by those closest to the news; usually people directly involved. People are Twittering about the airline crash that they are actually in! Talk about driving data to the source! And all of this information is being consumed by people who have a direct interest from anywhere in the world in real-time.

On the newscast, there was a pundit speaking about the death of the newspapers and how this is going to put traditional investigative reporters out of work. This is probably true, but many of these reporters are turning to new media reporting. I’m not in the journalistic world, but I would imagine that blogging, and independent reporting is becoming more the standard.

I work from home and “telecommute” (although this is a inaccurate word). I work with clients directly all over the world via web conferences, setting up systems and training them how to use these new tools. I imagine that the traditional workforce is slowly moving away from a centralized office and instead to independent teams of people who work independently from wherever they happen to be. No longer are we bound to the concepts of an Industrial model, rather we are free to explore our independent contributions to our “companies”, “teams” or other organizational system. We are moving to a world where the data is at the source.

I welcome your comments on this.

Okay, I have an older personal laptop. I have my work laptop. So why do I need a new netbook? ‘Cause its light fast and mobile. The Netbook I am drooling over right now is a ASUS Eee PC 1000HA 10-Inch Netbook. Netbooks seem to be the way of the future. They have a solid-state drive, so it is not going to wear out like an old style hard drive. Additionally, the price on these is really inexpensive. They are about the same price as a fancy mobile phone. I would still keep my iPhone, but this would be useful for all those web apps, like Salesforce.com that I use.

Here are the key features that I like:

1. All day power. One of the most frustrating things is having to plug in after a little while of useage (usually a couple of hours). Or, when I used it the day before and didn’t charge over night. Having 7 hours of battery is very nice. This is especially true on my flights to Asia.
2. 3.2 lbs. Wow, I could carry this around all day with ease.
3. 160 GB Hard Drive, with 10 GB cloud storage. This is twice what I have on my current notebook.
4. Comes with XP. Now I am a Linux fan, but I would gladly use this XP netbook. I would probably make it dual boot though. Besides 160 GB would hold a very large iTunes library (which mine is becoming).
5. Built in Wifi. This means that you can pretty much connect anywhere there is an open wifi. This is becoming so convenient these days.

So I have added it to my Amazon wish list and will be saving my pennies! Let you know when I actually get it.

Do you use Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari? Get ready to meet the new web browser, Google Chrome. It is supposed to be released today, launching Google deeper into the web applications race.

This browser from what I can tell is very efficient in terms of memory management and is designed for what else… Google Apps. Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Home page, and others will run very effectively with Chrome. The significant thing about Chrome is that it is a multi-threaded, multi-process browser. This means that if something freezes, you only loose the tab you are in, rather thant the entire browser. It is like a virtual operating system. hmm….

I tried to download it from http://www.google.com/chrome, but got a 404 error. Apparently it will be available at 1pm EST or 11am Pacific time. I will be checking back.

People know about Web 2.0 or at least have heard about it.  Well welcome to Web 3.0.  What is this?  Well, according to Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce.com, they are:

Web 1.0 – Anyone can transact
Web 2.0 – Anyone can participate
Web 3.0 – Anyone can Innovate

These are phases in the development of the internet, but they are not distinct, seperate periods of time, they are like waves overlapping each other.  In fact, we are still transacting (Checking your checking balance online), we are participating (such as in forums or commenting on Itunes), and if you use Google Docs or a similar application then you are Innovating online.

The entire article is here  I am sure you will find this a fascinating read.

Here is a cute video touting linux…

I found this video and I am blogging it as much for my own reference as for yours. It is worth watching a few times.

Essentially, Seth Godin is speaking to a group of Google people. He is talking about how to be the next cool thing. Very interesting perspective!

A while back I posted “The Machine is us!”

Last year I went to the Salesforce.com event in San Francisco and they debuted a video “The Platform is the Service”. It is here:

I just found a new plugin for WordPress. It is wp-slimstat-ex. It is an ajax based plugin that fits nicely into your wordpress install. You can read more at the developer’s page.

Okay, here is a new idea, a social networking site that pays you.

Imagine getting paid to do the same stuff you would do on myspace? Well there now is Yuwie.com where you can invite friends. hang out. get paid.

This is a innovative approach to both networking and social communication!

So far I have tried it out and even setup a new group. Seems to be pretty organized and easy to use. Here is a good description:

Yuwie A NEW web 2.0 Viral Social Networking Site
More Powerfull than Face Book 0r myspace
Yuwie is 100% FREE. Yuwie is like any other “connect with friends” or social networking site. When you use Yuwie you will get Paid to blog, upload pictures, refer friends, chat, hang out, etc.

And its Viral you will Get paid 10 Levels Deep so why not join with me in
Yuwie When you get paid you will shout Yuwie

Give it a try! Be sure to watch the informative videos at the intro page.