I always liked those guys (though we
never got around to having lunch... damn, and
now, between their supermodel dates and rockstar parties, I doubt
they'll return
my emails. I shoulda made friends with them when I had the chance...
Then again, it's useful now that we're sworn enemies that we were
never friends...)
Here's to the web world continuing to heat up with new and
interesting things brought to more people!
A couple of weeks ago I got a heads-up that this deal had been
consumated and would be announced shortly. Little did I imagine then
that they would pick a Friday evening to make the announcement,
but that's the way it goes. It's
a big one.
Oddpost turned the idea of what you could do with a browser
upside down, by producing a clone of Microsoft Outlook in JavaScript
and DHTML running in MSIE. Since then, they have labored in relative
obscurity, growing a customer base, raising VC money, adding people,
and staying out of the way. Then Google launches Gmail, with a
very Oddpostish interface, and someone at Yahoo says "Hmmm, I've seen
that somewhere," calls up Ethan and Iain and their new VCs and asks
"Are you for sale?" and the rest is history. Now Google has
competition on elegance of user interface. Sorry the announcement
comes at such an awkard time, everyone in the tech press must be
getting in their cars and driving to the beach or the mountains.
Congrats to the Oddpost guys, and their users and investors, and
congrats to Google for getting some new worthwhile competition. Now
who is Microsoft going to buy?
So, we actually heard about this a couple weeks ago, when someone
(who knew) passed
on the fact that Yahoo had bought Oddpost in an attempt to fight back
against the Gmail craze. Now, though, the deal is official, so it's
okay to talk about it (though it had been hinte
d at earlier this week). It's really not that surprising, after
all. Yahoo knew
they needed to upgrade their email, and Oddpost has a great reputation
for their
interface. You can be sure that Yahoo wasn't the only company sniffing
around
and debating whether or not to buy up Oddpost. While it's probably not
going to
be the lead in most stories, it is quite interesting that one of
Oddpost's nicer
features is an integrated RSS reader. Yahoo keeps talking up the power
of RSS,
and perhaps this will allow them to make a bigger commitment. However,
in all
likelihood, it was just the mail interface that fascinated them. It
seems like a
good move by Yahoo who needed to do something.
OK - here's where my opinion starts......
This story is much more than Yahoo buying ODDpost to compete with
GMail. Sure - that's part of it - and I'm sure that's what Terry
Semel et al have in thier heads, but it's this sort of viral infusion
into Yahoo that was needed.
This is much bigger than the search engine battles or even Yahoo
versus Google.
This is about RIAs (rich internet apps), integrated web services
and open standards being fused with productivity software,
micro-content and social networking and offered as hosted
experiences.
Does this sound like anything familiar?
Yahoo has defined what portals have been - since day one - but
their UI just plain sucked! Even the valiant attempts at providing
"customization" features in MyYahoo - were tolerable at best.
Yahoo supports RSS and has over 120M active end-users. Yahoo is
showing how portals and ISPs can work together by providing software
bundled with services - to the masses.
But ODDpost makes it a whole new ball game.
Now Yahoo can step up to teh front on "end-user" experience. That
holey grail that's been eluding them since day one. HTML was never
desigend and will never fulfill the end-user quotient. The human
factor.
The essence of compelling experiences.
HTML will also suck. But once you can truly integrate rich
interactive experienecs in teh browser, and tie it into services and
functionality - you got a winnign formula for digital lifestyle
aggregation!
Why Yahoo! bought Oddpost07/12/2004 12:38 PM Adding a new twist to my mention of Oddpost in last Wednesday's item,
More on rich clients, Yahoo! just bought the ...
congrats: oddpost goes to yahoo
congrats: oddpost goes to yahoo07/10/2004 01:10 AM a great app and good people deserve the recognition and the dollars.
well done.
The fact that Yahoo! has bought a browser-based Outlook
clone illustrates how big the threat really is to Microsoft's most
lucrative products. These rich-client technologies significantly
narrow the gap between browser-based applications and their
desktop-based rivals. By simultaneously taking advantage of the unique
advantages of being net-native — such as efficiencies of scale for
information aggregation and analysis — they can combine a
good-enough user experience with capabilities that simply aren't
available (except at second-hand) within a traditional desktop
environment. That opens the way towards Windows-based Outlook becoming
an unloved, legacy application — and provides an opening for other
good-enough alternatives to Word, Excel and Powerpoint to muscle their
way in.
So Microsoft now faces a crucial decision. Does the company do
likewise and bring out a rich-client interface for Hotmail so that its
web-based email service begins to rival Gmail, Oddpost and, by
implication, Outlook in functionality? Or does it continue to bury its
head in the sand and put all its efforts into ensuring it delivers an
all-new Windows architecture to a declining pool of desktop loyalists?
The battle is over end-user expereinecs folks. That's why small
companies like Friendster and Technorati can come out of no where and
develop huge followings. If what you provide rocks - they will
come.
Having a hot UI front-end is
key to that end-user customer satisfaction.
Yahoo Acquires Web Startup Oddpost (AP)
Yahoo Acquires Web Startup Oddpost (AP)07/13/2004 05:06 PM AP - Yahoo Inc. girded itself for Google Inc.'s e-mail invasion by
acquiring Oddpost Inc., a startup that has gained a reputation for
making it easier and more enticing to communicate on the Web.
Yahoo Oddpost Link Roundup07/12/2004 08:58 PM A few folks have asked me about this, and since they don't really tell
us anything around here, I'll point you to some of the blog
speculation, news, and whatnot. Not So Oddpost (Ross Mayfield) Yahoo
has acquired Oddpost (Dave Winer) Why Yahoo buying ODDpost is so
important (Marc Canter) Oddpost and Yahoo! (Evan Williams) Yahoo Buys
Oddpost In A Gmail-Inspired Moment (Techdirt) Yahoo moves into new
space (Red Herring Blog, with a title that makes one think we're
moving...
Yahoo Buys Email Startup Oddpost
Yahoo Buys Email Startup Oddpost07/12/2004 09:11 AM "Oddpost's $30-a-year e-mail service focuses on an e-mail interface
with functionality that is similar to that of desktop applications
such as Microsoft Outlook..."
Yahoo acquires Oddpost to bolster e-mail
Yahoo acquires Oddpost to bolster e-mail07/12/2004 02:06 PM Massive portal buys small vendor that sells low-priced Web mail
accounts and news aggregation services.
Yahoo Buys Oddpost In A Gmail-Inspired Moment07/09/2004 08:29 PM So, we actually heard about this a couple weeks ago, when someone (who
knew) passed on the fact that Yahoo had bought Oddpost in an attempt
to fight back against the Gmail craze. Now, though, the deal is official, so it's
okay to talk about it (though it had been hinte
d at earlier this week). It's really not that surprising, after
all. Yahoo knew they needed to upgrade their email, and Oddpost has a
great reputation for their interface. You can be sure that Yahoo
wasn't the only company sniffing around and debating whether or not to
buy up Oddpost. While it's probably not going to be the lead in most
stories, it is quite interesting that one of Oddpost's nicer features
is an integrated RSS reader. Yahoo keeps talking up the power of RSS,
and perhaps this will allow them to make a bigger commitment.
However, in all likelihood, it was just the mail interface that
fascinated them. It seems like a good move by Yahoo who needed to do
something.
The most important thing Yahoo!'s done this year?
The most important thing Yahoo!'s done this year?09/13/2004 04:17 PM Source: Yahoo! Search Blog - We want a variety of opinions,
alternatives we can consider. When Yahoo! unveiled its own search
technology earlier this year, the company regained its unique search
voice, and the web as a whole benefited from...
Rich Get Richer - Why Yahoo, DMOZ, Google and PageRank are Important
Yahoo buying Inktomi12/23/2002 11:55 AM Well, I suspected this would happen sooner or later. The funny thing
is that I used to work with a guy named James. He was in Yahoo Finance
when I was. He got laid off and went to Inktomi. Now...
Yahoo Buying Musicmatch for $160 Million (AP)09/14/2004 01:01 PM AP - Yahoo Inc. is buying online jukebox provider Musicmatch Inc. for
$160 million in a deal designed to broaden the Internet giant's
appeal with the growing audience of consumers who buy songs off the
Web.
Yahoo Buying Photo-Sharing Service Flickr (AP)03/23/2005 07:32 AM AP - Yahoo Inc. is acquiring a Canadian photo-sharing company that
lets people share digital images with select groups or the whole
world, expanding its portfolio of self-publishing and "social
networking" services.
Rumor Mill: NY Post Floats Story of Yahoo Buying Espotting
Not So Oddpost07/09/2004 07:57 PM The Oddpost acquisition by Yahoo (at pretty handsome terms) has been
announced. Oddpost provides web-based email and RSS aggregation,
funded by Venture Strategy Partners and Draper Associates just months
before. Dave has a decent rationale for the acquisition: Oddpost
turned...
Oddpost, DHTML, and off-line Web Applications
Oddpost, DHTML, and off-line Web Applications07/18/2004 12:30 AM As you may have guessed, I didn't know much about Oddpost until
recently. But since they're now part of the collective, I had the
opportunity to meet with a few of the Oddpost folks on Friday. Aside
from the getting an idea of how all their server-side stuff works
(it's a classic example of "do the simplest thing that could possibly
work" and I love that aspect of it), which was the real point of the
meeting, I got to...
Not Quite Oddpost, But Google Acquires Photo Sharing Company
Not Quite Oddpost, But Google Acquires Photo Sharing Company07/13/2004 12:13 PM Well, it's not quite as big a deal as Yahoo buying Oddpost, but Google
has now bought photo-sharing company
Picasa, which was already a Blogger partner. It's not a huge
surprise to see Google expanding their offerings in more of the portal
direction. The only question, of course, is how many spare Gmail gigs
are going to be offered for people storing photos. Also, will people
now complain that Google is scanning your personal photos in order to
put up relevant advertising?
It's MUCH more important than that!
It's MUCH more important than that!05/30/2004 05:00 AM USA soda/coke/pop stats by county .. Mapped, colorized and scrutinized
.. displayed on this map .. now i understand why .. What do you call
it? .. (new window) ..
re-work
popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html track this
site | 10 links
What's Really Important
What's Really Important03/19/2003 10:25 PM This VP wants a second laptop to use during the few hours a week she's
at the main office, because her regular laptop is too heavy to carry.
That'll bust our budget, says pilot fish -- can't we just install a
desktop PC to save money?
How Important is The Internet?01/25/2003 11:42 AM Googling' for information or googling other people is quite popular.".
"Google" - the name of just one of the Internet search engines, has
become a verb. ...
Small but important
Small but important01/22/2004 02:59 AM Had a small revelation today: If you position your hands under a hot
air dryer - the kind you find in toilets - in just the right
way, you can redirect the airflow into your sleeves, resulting in a
wonderfully warm and fuzzy feeling all over your upper body.
It's the kind of stuff you appreciate when it's -9C outside. :-)
How Do You Save Important Emails?
How Do You Save Important Emails?12/24/2003 02:36 PM You know all those books full of letters written by famous people?
Now that everything is email, will such things be possible in the
future? The first reaction is that it only makes it more likely,
since people are much more likely to write down their thoughts these
days and send them to people, but some folks are concerned about how such correspondences will be saved. They're
worried that there's no good way to save digital contents, and that
anything you do will be obsolete a decade from now. Many people even
recommend printing out and keeping a paper archive of important
emails. Of course, these days, it seems that most systems have a
pretty straight upgrade path from old formats to new. The only area
where a real problem may arise is if someone didn't upgrade their
email system for ages and all the standards changed and the digital
media storage eroded. I think a bigger problem may be in picking out
the valuable correspondences from all the spam and forwards and junk
and unimportant emails.
Martha: I'm too Important for Jail
Martha: I'm too Important for Jail05/11/2004 11:57 AM Stewart's lawyers try to pull heartstrings in latest bid to keep
Martha out of the slammer.
urgent/important request
urgent/important request11/29/2002 09:27 PM ------=_NextPart_000_0065_749315C7.D4B41CC0
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A federal judge has
ruled (960k PDF) that California's tougher new rules on
touch-screen video voting systems are valid. This is extremely good
news for everyone except the recalcitrant local voting officials
who've been trying to block Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's efforts
to clean up a process that invited voter distrust.
Computing Research Policy Blog: Court
Rules 3rd Party Garage Door Openers Don't Violate DMCA. In an
affirmation of fair use rights -- at least, as long as they don't
conflict with any other rights -- a federal court ruled yesterday that
a company that makes interoperable remotes for other companies' garage
door openers isn't violating federal copyright law.
We have all read about Jon Johansen’s PyMusique
application which allowed purchasing and downloading of music from
iTunes Music Store without the normal DRM attached. Since you still
have to pay for the songs, many folks have asked me why it’s so
important. Here’s why.
Apple plans on starting a subscription service to compete with
Napsters. But if they have no control over the songs downloaded from a
subscription service, they have no method of stopping the music after
you stop paying. Right now, Napster takes back your music when you
stop paying. Imagine subbing for one month and downloading thousands
of songs and then walking away with them. It will never happen. As
long as the DRM busting software is out there, you will never see a
subscription service from Apple.
Life's really important questions.......05/26/2004 03:21 PM Who really wants to know the meaning of life when the real questions
of life are............ If Hooters were to... Grok Description matches for Why Yahoo buying ODDpost is so important GrokA matches for Why Yahoo buying ODDpost is so important
Why Yahoo buying ODDpost is so important
The following phrases have been identified by the grok system as matching this entry:
