But the area Chrome would revolutionize is the TV, and this is where Google opted for the Android-based Google TV. A mistake.

The TV and the Web are made to each other, and a ChromeTV would have much more impact in the TV industry than what Google TV might have. Why?
- A Web browser is something that any TV-set manufacturer would integrate without the legal issues of a platform like GoogleTV, owned by Google and tied to potential content rights and other patent issues.
- HTML5 and CSS3 provide a superb framework to develop compelling apps for big screens like TVs.
- The TV-set is “fixed” by nature. If it is connected, it will always be connected, unlike a laptop or tablet. Therefore you can live with just a browser on it. No need for a proper proprietary OS.
- The Web also on the TV? What else can Google dream that would better fit their search and ads business model?

Happy 3rd anniversary Google Chrome!!!

The chart via Business Insider seems conclusive on the Google versus Facebook war of who is more relevant for online advertisers.

When people want to buy something they go first to Google. Full stop.

If I want to buy a bycicle to go to work I will go first to Google or Amazon and research. But what if I discover in Facebook that my friend just got an ebike from China, and I did not even know electric bikes existed? What if Facebook shows a banner on a brand of eBikes close to my friend’s post?

The chart neglects the value of discovery. How important is for marketers how people discover their products?

Google is king on search, but social media is king to discover new things. That is gold for advertisers too. Not sure if $50bn worth of it though… At the end I might still search the ebike on Google and check the reviews in Amazon.

Comparing Chrome and IE9, I can only wonder whether Google engineers are genius, or Microsoft has lost its edge.

I fell in love with Chrome since it launched in 2008. It was so much faster, with a minimalist design, the single box for search and URLs, the start page with the most visited pages, the sandbox concept…

IE9 is the confirmation that Google’s vision of the browser was bright. So bright that Microsoft simply copied it… 2.5 years later.  Only it is not yet there. See IE vs Firefox vs Chrome.

Chrome software updates are almost invisible to the user. The first installation is also pretty fast. I wonder how Google is able to do all those installs/updates without ever asking to restart the computer.

I just installed IE9 at home. During install IE9 lists all running programs and services that may conflict, and asks to close them all to avoid restarting the PC.  I agree to close them all, but surprise surprise, after installation is done I am asked to restart the computer because IE8 had some component still running!! How come I had to re-start Windows7 when I install IE9 and no re-start with Chrome? What is the trick? Are Googlers so much smarter than Microsofters?

This chart from WSJ might give a hint of where the brightest talent choose to go.

Kindle books have now overtaken paperback books as the most popular format on Amazon.com, according to the quarterly results just released.

• For every 100 paperback sold, Amazon sold 115 Kindle books
• For every 100 hardcover sold, Amazon sold 300 Kindle books
• The Kindle store has over 810,000 ebooks
• 670,000 ebooks are priced at $9.99 or less

In just 3 years, Amazon has taken the eBook from nothing to mainstream. Amazon has managed to take the book transition to digital without suffering the pain the music labels went through with mp3. How did they do it? First, with a great device, the iPod of the ebooks. Second, no fear to cannibalize their own business. Third, force publishers to accept the $9.99 price policy. Same recipe as the iTunes ”take it or leave it” $0.99 a song.

Amazon and Apple set the example of companies taking advantage of technology to drive new business models that are changing industries. The Netflix $7.99 a month all-you-can-stream is another bold proposition for consumers, that is shaking the Pay-TV industry.

The right offer for digital content at the right price is not only changing industries in US. It is also driving piracy down. Meantime countries like France, UK and Spain struggle with nonsense laws that not only are useless against piracy, but that are also stopping the development of a legal digital content market.

Legislators in Europe should stop making laws to preserve the status quo. Else US companies will have total domination of digital media by the time old Europe reacts.

W3C’s HTML5 FAQ page might give some clues (see screenshot) about why Google buys Widevine, a DRM vendor that powers Netflix among others. What if Google adds DRM to HTML5 video?

Google did something similar when they bought On2 and open-sourced VP8 as part of WebM. This move pushed MPEGLA to make h.264 royalty-free for Web video. The iPad did the rest to accelerate adoption of HTML5/h.264 video in the web.

HTML5 video with DRM is what Youtube needs to convince content owners, movie studios in particular, that their content will be protected. Furthermore, HTML5 video with DRM, combined with cool HTML5 UIs, makes the Web Browser an ideal front-end for video on any screen. Where there is a browser, Google will make money with ads.

Adding open source DRM to HTML5 is consistent with Google’s web centric vision. Chrome OS is a perfect example of that vision, illustrated in this recent post on Google’s blog (with Eric Schmidt’s talk on the Chrome event this week).

I tend to think Google sees this acquisition more strategic than just adding DRM to GoogleTV.

HTML5 brings to the table, the freedom to create rich, dynamic and interactive experiences for any platform with a web browser. In fact, we’re also using HTML5 to create the user experience for our iPhone, iPad and Android applications as well

[...] HTML5 [...] is delivered from Netflix servers every time you launch our application. This means we can constantly update, test and improve the experience we offer. [...] Our customers don’t have to go through a manual process to install new software every time we make a change, it “just happens.”

[...] our world class UI engineers can seamlessly move between working on our website, our mobile experience, and our television-based applications.

This clip shows a sample of how that HTML5-based UI looks on a PS3.

Combine this chart with how Roku, AppleTV, GoogleTV will sell this Xmas, and you have a nightmare after Xmas for Pay-TV and cable operators in US.

Comcast knows well. It is easy to see why they had some peering issues with Level 3 over Netflix traffic increase, and why they want to acquire NBC.

If Apple would strike a deal for live premium sports, the nightmare of cord-cutters would become a reality for Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon and AT&T. Netflix for films, Hulu/iTunes for TV shows, plus live sports. What else do you want for your TV?

Only premium live sports is keeping early adopters to cut the cord. If gone, it would be only a matter of time before the tornado. No wonder TV rights for sport events are so well paid.

Chart via CHART OF THE DAY: Netflix’s Growth Should Scare HBO

Google should worry about this: More people are discovering content through social networks than through search.

Anyone that had a website a few years ago knows well that most traffic use to come via Google. This has changed. As the chart shows, more traffic is being referred by social networks than by search engines.

People trust recommendations from people they know more than any machine search algorithm. As this becomes the way people finds new stuff, advertisers are going to be more and more interested in Social Networks.

Search will not disappear nor Facebook will kill Google. However in “organizing the World’s information”, in particular the one that matters to you, the people you trust are a big part of the story. Facebook seems to be organizing that better than Google.

Chart via CHART OF THE DAY: How Facebook (And Social Media) Is Eroding Google’s Influence

The clip shows how close HTML5 performance is to that of a native iOS iPad app. Can you believe this is running on a browser?

Disruption is not only about technology, it is also about business models. If the App Store revolutionized mobile apps, the just released Chrome 8 will support Chrome OS Store, that could take the App model to the browser.

To get up to speed on HTML5:
http://diveintohtml5.org/ by Mark Pilgrim
http://www.html5rocks.com/ by Google

A nice HTML5 app: http://everytimezone.com/

Clip seen here: HTML5: not ready for primetime, but getting very close

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, predicts that “social” will rethink industries such as TV, news, music and film.

The clip is a bit long.This is my summary of his key points:

Facebook started their photo product after big names like Flickr were established. Facebook first photo-sharing service was very simple and lacked features like high resolution or sorting, that were available elsewhere. However, you upload a photo and all your friends get it. That is powerful and engaging.

Facebook realized that ”the social feature was most important that all the other features put together.” [...] ”Social rethinks the whole space.”

That is why Facebook makes the platform open for others to build on. Zynga, Playfish and Playdom are examples of gaming companies built entirely on Facebook. Surprisingly, Zynga’s market value is larger than EA’s!

In Zuckerberg’s words, “gaming is just the first vertical to tip” as it happened in many platforms before. Game apps on iPhone and iPads are the most popular. Even for the early PC, one of the things that got PCs to homes were games.

What are the next verticals to come? TV, music, news, movies. Zuckerberg predicts “In 5 years some of these verticals will be completely rethought and their business rebuilt.”

Zuckerberg did not mention Telecom, but hasn’t Facebook already changed the way we communicate? Will “social” transform telecoms even further?

Video found via the Silicon Alley insider.
It is a one hour clip. See minute 16:50 for the topic in this post.