Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog : Texas Internet, Information Technology, eCommerce & E-Discovery Lawyer & Attorney Peter S. Vogel : Gardere Wynne Sewell Law Firm : Dallas TX

On June 8th I attended Mashable and CNN’s conference about the intersection of digital media, news, and entertainment. Among other notable presentations was CNN’s medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Guptap’s (renowned neurosurgeon) interview of Mashable’s founder Pete Cashmore and CNN.com’s general manager KC Estenson. You can watch the video of the interview about the how CNN collects citizen journalist news from Social Media in addition to its world-wide news professionals, and the merger of Social Media with 24/7 TV. Another fascinating presentation about the “Science of Social Media” was given by Duncan Watts (Yahoo!’s Principal Research Scientist). Clearly the merger of Social Media, TV, and news has happened, but predicting the future is the next challenge.

NEAT BADGE FROM THE EVENT!

Former eBay and HP’s CEOs Win Primaries

Also on June 8th Meg Whitman (former eBay CEO) and Carly Fiorina (former HP CEO) won primary elections for the fall’s election for California governor and US Senator. Of course having high-tech leaders in the US Congress is not entirely new since New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg founded ADP (the payroll processing giant) and was first elected in 1982. But with the advent and growth to Social Media these primary wins are not a surprise.

High-Tech Politics

OpenSecrets.org reported that individuals and political action committees in high-tech businesses increased their donations “43% between election cycles in the last decade” to $41.4 million in 2008. Last year Google increased its lobby expenditures to $4 million. One can only expect more Social Media leaders to pursue elected offices since clearly President Obama proved that Social Media is the most powerful communications tool available today. Be assured that Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and other major Internet and IT companies are involved in future of politics!

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Google demonstrated its new entertainment hub for TV with a browser which includes a joint effort with Sony, Intel and Logitech. As part of the announcement Google explained that “Google TV is a new experience made for television that combines the TV you know and love with the freedom and power of the Internet.” No surprise since it seemed inevitable that the Internet and television would merge a some point and it’s little wonder that Google a first mover!

IT Teams Up with Dairy Farmers

A recent report indicated that manure “from 10,000 cows could provide the power for a small computing center at a bank,” so Google, Microsoft, and HP are building more data centers in more rural areas to capitalize on dairy farmers’ use of cattle waste. “Information technology and manure have a symbiotic relationship,” said Chandrakant D. Patel, the director of H.P.’s sustainable information technology laboratory. How refreshing to see that IT can really be GREEN!

Google’s Woes Continue in the EU About WiFi Data

Things seem to be getting worse in the EU as Spain, France, and the Czech Republic announced plans to investigate collection of WiFi network data which raise the likelihood of EU sanctions. Of course Google takes the position that unsecure WiFi network data is not private and that other companies collect this data in the EU including Skyhook and organizations like the German Fraunhofer Institute. This will be interesting to follow and may have world-wide implications!

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Is HP’s purchase of Palm for $1.2 billion seems too little too late for HP to compete in the smart phone market? As the largest manufacturer of computers in the world it does seem like HP should be in the smart phone market, and yet few people realize that HP already sells the iPaq which isn’t even in the top 20 in the smart phone market and falling rapidly. The iPaq is primarily sold to businesses and relies on the Microsoft operating system. Which is not where the market appears headed. So HP’s purchase of Palm may have saved the brand for a while, but the odds are not great for success against the power of Apple and RIM (iPhone and BlackBerry) to name a few. However, it’s definitely worth watching given HP’s market power. Remember HP acquired Compaq and EDS  and Dell acquired Perot Systems to grow hardware and services markets, and the smart phone is critical.

Apple Purchases Fast Chip Manufacturer

While HP purchased Palm, Apple announced its purchase of Intrinsity “known for making zippy versions of a computer chip often found in mobile devices.” Surely this gives Apple more power for its future while making HP’s seem even later to this dance.

No Surprise – Now a Degree in Video Game Design

George Mason University now offers a video game design. Given the size of this market it’s no wonder that such a degree is now offered. It’s a marvel that video game design degrees are just getting started and surely more schools will offers degrees in this space. No doubt HP and Apple will have a role in the video game future, and between smart phones, iPads, and computers this evolution is interesting to observe.

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On the heels of Dell’s purchase of Perot Systems, Xerox announced that it was purchasing Affiliated Computer Systems (ACS) for $6.4B. Dell just agreed to buy Perot Systems for $3.9B. Now that 3 major hardware companies have purchased outsourcing vendors the outsourcing/sale of hardware market will get more interesting. ACS claims it is the “world's largest diversified business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, ACS is a $6.5 billion company with revenue growth of 6 percent and new business signings of $1 billion in annual recurring revenue during its fiscal 2009.”

Other Developments with Perot Systems

Apparently not everyone at Perot Systems thinks the purchase by Dell is so wonderful as some Perot Systems’ shareholders filed suit to stop the sale. In the meantime Perot Systems announced that it will acquire BearingPoint China Consulting and made the following statement:

BearingPoint China Consulting has earned numerous industry awards. In 2008, the China Software Association and ERP world.net ranked the firm among the "Top 10 IT Consulting Firms" in China, and named CEO Machan among the "Top 10 People of the Year in the IT Industry" in China. The firm also was chosen as "Most Trusted Consulting Firm" in 2007 by the China Enterprise Confederation.

Of course this acquisition is subject to U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval as well as that of the Chinese government. It seems that Perot Systems is not sitting idle while the Dell acquisition is taking place.

Where are We Going? Proprietary Systems?

What’s going on in the outsourcing world with these major acquisitions? One answer might be that outsourcing vendors will now try to tie their customers to them more closely by creating special hardware/software systems that make leaving more difficult and expensive. Remember a year ago that Oracle and HP announced that specialized hardware systems for Oracle databases. Sounds a lot like the old minicomputer days when every hardware manufacturer had a proprietary operating system and as a result customers found it cost prohibitive to change vendors…hard to image in today’s world of Windows Servers and Linux. Time will tell.
 

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