Perspectives

Get a Perspective on Important Tech Topics

CES 2008

Details: Written by Brad Pransky, Editor

CES 2008

So Many Venues, So Little Time

I recently returned from the annual pilgrimage to the ultimate geek fest and toy show, CES. For those of you who are unfamiliar, CES stands for the Consumer Electronics Show. This is an annual event put on by the Consumer Electronics Association and is the showcase for everything from memory sticks to refrigerators. Literally.

SunRocket, Teleblend and Gizmos…oh my!

Details: Written by Brad Pransky, Editor

The Facts Between the Lines

As of August 5th, SunRocket officially, finally and without recourse to the numerous customers left in a lurch, shut down its operations. Probably… Maybe… OK, there are still some people reporting dial tones on what should be dead lines as of Friday, August 10th. My last article made my perspective on the way the shutdown was handled very clear. There are, however, a few items still smoldering that are causing the occasional ‘flame’ in the forums, blogs and chat rooms. Most particularly are the issues of the Gizmo phone adapter, use of subscriber lists, and a questionable network outage posting by Teleblend.

SwapTree - Shop Free (plus S&H)

Details: Written by Stan Coplan, Contributing Editor

If you are like our family you have at least one shelf full of CD's another shelf of DVD's and many shelves of books. With two teenagers in the house you might expect that there are a few video games scattered about too, and you are right.

So what can you do with all the disks and books that you no longer need or want? You could:
    A. try selling them on line
    B: have a yard sale
    C: donate them to some worthy charity (if they can use them), or,
    D: you might trade them with your neighbors for something different.

If you answered 'D' at any point in your spring cleaning, then rejoice! Your street now runs from coast-to-coast and border-to-border.

SunRocket Hangs Up

Details: Written by Brad Pransky, Editor

Corporate Arrogance & Customer Contempt

The Basics

For those of you who might not have caught the news feed, SunRocket, the 4th largest voice over IP (VOIP) phone service provider, ceased operations Monday, July 16th. In itself, this is not a monumental event. Companies close their doors all the time. Sometimes it’s the competition, sometimes poor management and sometimes it’s just the right time to retire from the corporate battlefield, thank your customers and say goodbye. But sometimes, just sometimes you get to see a company miss the mark completely. If you couple that with a complete lack of respect for the marketplace and its customers, you’ve got SunRocket.

SaaS and the SMB Market

Details: Written by Amy Wohl, Contributing Analyst

Part of our small business focus

Software as a Service is coming of age. Nine years ago, when we asked SMBs if they'd be interested in using on-line software (instead of traditional, on your desktop or server packages), no one knew what we were talking about. Today, 70% of organizations are using or plan to use some SaaS within the next 12 months.

The industry analysts who make quantitative predictions believe that by 2010 25% or more of all new software will be purchased as a service. We think that might be an underestimate, especially for the SMB market.