To get a better understanding of why Microsoft wants so badly to control the cloud, the case of Encarta speaks volumes.

According to the Encarta FAQ page, Microsoft is killing off the encyclopaedia–the 2009 versions, it would seem, will be the last. The MSN Encarta websites will, with the exception of the one serving the Japanese market, all be taken down on 31 October 2009 (the Japanese version will come down on 31 December 2009). Microsoft Student and Encarta Premium will cease to be sold by June 2009. Customers with subscriptions to online content will be reimbursed. (Neowin)

This could explain the MS obsession with assimilating Yahoo same months back. You could argue that many of Yahoo’s properties are every bit as pooly executed as some of MSN’s best.  The important difference is that Yahoo is much more effective at monetizing them even though it trails Google - badly. Microsoft management only seems to effectively monetize on the paid subscription or seat or upgrade models.  Product quality matters, but it’s been proven repeatedly that the paid model does not sell on the Internet no matter how good your app is. That spells big trouble for MS as apps move from the local disk to the cloud.

As a 25+ year veteran of the IT industry I’ve mostly learned one thing to be constant under all circumstances. It’s the same old GIGO (garbage in = garbage out) rules you may have learning in a programming class. Automating a good process badly can erase any potential productivity gain. Automating a bad or ill conceived process well sets it on a collision course with disaster.  Such is the stuff of the mortgage melt down. Not a believer? Let the creator of the program that enabled the conversion of mortgages into bonds enlighten you:

Because of the news, you probably know more about this than you ever wanted to. The packaging of heterogeneous home mortgages into uniform securities that can be accurately priced and exchanged has been singled out by many critics as one of the root causes of the mess we’re in. I don’t completely disagree. But in my view, and of course I’m inescapably biased, there’s nothing inherently flawed about securitization. Done correctly and conservatively, it increases the efficiency with which banks can loan money and tailor risks to the needs of investors. Once upon a time, this seemed like a very good idea, and it might well again, provided banks don’t resume writing mortgages to people who can’t afford them. Here’s one thing that’s definitely true: The software proved to be more sophisticated than the people who used it, and that has caused the whole world a lot of problems. (more on New York Magazine)

Now our first self proclaimed IT savvy president wants to fix the nations health care system by automating its deeply flawed record keeping, accounting and payment systems.  In this case it’s assuming that you can predict a good outcome from automating a bad process just because you know how to use a blackberry  - something akin to how we got the mortgage meltdown.

Then there’s the multitudes of unexpected uses for data that are always “discovered” after the data is collected and indexed. Most often these uses are  far from beneficial to the individuals on whom the data has been collected. I’m a big proponent of automation and the freeing of information, but the risks of misuse are incredibly high even in the hands of competent people.

The Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the Chicago Sun-Times and numerous suburban newspapers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday morning, just a few months after rival newspaper titan Tribune Company did the same thing.

As CBS 2’s Joanie Lum reports, the filing didn’t come as a surprise for many employees at the paper. The only surprise was that the Sun-Times filed for bankruptcy after the Tribune.

On Tuesday morning, the staff of the Sun-Times met in a meeting with the bosses in the Holiday Inn located above their headquarters at 354 N. Orleans St., to learn how bankruptcy protection will affect the newspaper and its readers.

In a letter to readers, Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Halbreich emphasized that the paper is not going out of business. The news, features and sports will continue to be delivered, he wrote.

But the bankruptcy is bad news for employees. In a separate letter to Sun-Times employees that was published on the Tribune’s Web site, Halbreich wrote that employees would no longer receive severance or COBRA benefits when to staff whose jobs are terminated.

Yet another pulp publication now hits the skids. Employees who are severed will receive no recompense on years of service separation pay.

We have indicated previously that the Sun-Times was in discussions with bankruptcy lawyers about a possible filing some weeks back. So this was not unexpected. Whether the company will go into dissolution will be dependent on management’s ability to restructure. Bond holders and creditors will have a stong bearing on Sun-Time’s future.

Linky.

Nokia seems to be realizing that the future is not going to be that rosy in the wireless CPE market. They are cutting their losses in third party OEM suppliers –

That decision is, according to iSuppli, enough to make it reassess 2009 predictions for the sector; currently standing at a contraction of 9.9 per cent compared to 2008, when the industry turned over $300.7bn.

For Nokia, however, this means the company is effectively responding to economic realities and is a show of flexibility rather than something to be concerned about - at least until the cuts extend into its own production.

Here is the problem for Nokia and the rest of the legacy labels. Once an overseas OED/OEM firm understands the design and manafacturing process they can enter the market under their own label. They usually do so by selling by brand at 20-30% less than the majors. Once they have a base they slowly move upscale to compete directly with the majors, still at a discount from their product costs.

Its Toyota all over again.

Linky.

AUSTIN, Texas — Drummer Josh Freese’s musical skills have landed him gigs with major bands, but his marketing genius has generated a huge buzz about his coming solo release.

Freese, who’s recorded on hundred of albums and played with top acts like Nine Inch Nails, Devo and A Perfect Circle, roped in famous friends to offer extravagant, limited-edition packages to hawk alongside his new record, Since 1972, which will be released Tuesday.

For example, you can download a free song or buy the digital download of the whole record for $7. But $20,000 will get you a signed CD/DVD, plus you get to play miniature golf with Freese, singer Maynard James Keenan from Tool and Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo. After the outing, Freese promises to “drop you off on the side of the freeway (all filmed and posted on YouTube).”

At a time when the music biz is struggling to come up with special-edition collectibles to spur sales, Freese has cranked the “freemium” concept to 11 with a wacky and creative tiered pricing system that he maintains is “100 percent” serious. Wired.com caught up with the California drummer/marketing whiz during the South by Southwest music festival in Austin to discuss the genesis of the idea and what surprises might lurk inside his closet.

First of all why not? The man has a right to sell his wares as he sees fit so long as he is not breaking any laws. Go for it. Though one would have to wonder about the sanity of anybody willing to pay $20k for a miniature golf lesson.

But there is the issue of exposure. Too much of a good thing can damage brand labeling as well. Not only that but the issue of value comes to play. Does a miniature golf lesson with Freese have more value than one with Jagger? And does album sales have any bearing on the value of the lesson? Finally one gets to the question of are we trading overpaid guys in suits for similarly overpaid guys in tights and grease paint?

All sounds like great theater. But to paraphrase someone mildly famous — “its about the music.”

Linky

[Update] Dear Readers, you won’t believe this! Freese SOLD the $20k record/mini golf package. He’s just waiting for the check. Unbelievable. The power of capitalism. Linky.

I’m sure Time Warner wants to spin its activities as those of a great innovator. There’s the ridiculous bandwidth caps in select markets in Texas. Then there’s offering HBO online. It’s a great idea, but horribly executed.

Worried that the proliferation of free video on the Web, the distributors want to make available an online library of TV episodes, but only to customers who pay for a cable or satellite subscription. In Milwaukee, Time Warner Cable is already testing a similar service. Through the one-year-old HBO on Broadband product, cable customers who already pay for HBO are able to log in to a software program and select which TV shows and films they want to download. The Internet content mostly mirrors what HBO makes available through its cable video-on-demand platform; shows and films rotate in and out of availability, and they are automatically deleted from the computer when they expire. (New York Times)

Online programming is the future of television. The horizon for when it will overtake broadcast and cable will take the entire industry by surprise. Offering HBO online to subscribers in a limited fashion may help prop up the traditional cable business for now. When the TVoIP wave crests, look for HBO to go it alone. It will be yet another missed opportunity for the cable industry.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend! We’ve been keeping watch. Here’s what you missed:

The great broadband mapping distraction (Public Knowledge)

US 17th in broadband speed (Media Post)

US lags in broadband, leads in net attacks (VON.com)

US ranks highest inthe world for originating traffic (ZDnet)

Akamai Data: broadband still growing and growing (GigaOM)

Sprint’s WiMAX plans include gadgets (Information Week)

Don’t overloof the WiMax / Cable connection (IT Business Edge)

ARRL comments on the FCC’s proposed establishment of a rural broadband plan (ARRL)

Cox making 3G moves (Fierce broadband wirless)

Do you have the occasional need for wireless data? Actually most potential wireless users don’t have a big enough need to justify a monthly plan. Then there’s the multi-year contracts.  When available, daily plans have been prohibitively expensive for most. T-Mobile in the UK may have seen the light. Pay per use could be a huge untapped market if priced correctly.

According to Warmsley, T-Mobile will shift into pay-per-day/week/month options for new customers. “This will give the mass market a chance to try mobile broadband. They can purchase their dongle and pay for usage as and when they need it. If we bundle things together then the bill is clear.”

He said that T-Mobile wanted to focus on customers’ “real needs and how they want to use mobile broadband”–and so will be sticking with cost per day or month based tariffs rather than costing by the amount of data customers use. Warmsley pointed towards the example of choosing mobile broadband and a high-end phone such as a G1-Internet phone. “The consumer would get an appropriate package to include ‘internet on the phone’ minutes,” he said. (Fierce Wireless)

Richard Woods

In years to come, when mutated humans are born with mobile phones wired into their brains, it may be perfectly normal to converse with two people at once while texting a friend, checking your Facebook status and surfing the web.

For the moment, however, mobile multi-tasking is the plague of the day. You know the score: you are talking to a colleague and their eyes constantly flicker towards the BlackBerry for incoming e-mails. You are holding a meeting and half the staff are texting under the table. You are hoping for a hot date - as Jennifer Aniston, the American actress, was recently - and your boyfriend is hitting on Twitter, not you.

These are symptoms of OMD, obsessive mobile disorder, and the dread disease CPA, continuous partial attention, in which victims come to believe that life via mobile might be more interesting than life right in front of them.

Is this you? If it is conclude your conversation then turn IT off. Life is too short not to take advantage of those person to person contacts that present themselves. That ‘other’ took time to meet you. Whether it was next door, down the street, or across the planet they are there to see YOU. Give them 100%, they have already done the same for you by being there.

Full article here.
TimesOnline is to be commended for this article.

Yes. Warner Brothers is now releasing its older films under a publish on demand DVD release. Earth shaking? Only in that it took them this long to figure it out. –

Warner Bros on Monday became the first studio to open its film vault to “made-to-order” DVDs, as it sought new revenues in a slumping DVD market by making it possible for fans to buy decades-old films.

Warner Bros, owned by Time Warner Inc, made an initial batch of 150 titles available for purchase online at www.WarnerArchive.com , including 1943 comedy-romance “Mr. Lucky” starring Cary Grant and the 1962 release “All Fall Down” with Warren Beatty and Eva Marie Saint.

Sales are not expected to approach those of new releases on DVD, but the service gives Warner Bros another way to make money from a film archive it already exploits by selling titles for broadcast in the United States and internationally.

The on-demand service allows Warner Bros. to avoid the risk of manufacturing too many copies of old or obscure titles and shipping them to retailers because customers directly order only the titles they want to buy.

“This way you’ve completely eliminated the risk of not selling them. You’re not going to make them until they’re sold,” said Tom Adams, president and senior analyst with Adams Media Research.

Warner Bros. said that each month it will make about 20 films and television programs from its archive available for purchase through this DVD-on-demand program.

Alright now Warner cracks the POD barrier. Presuming that this is a mild success it can’t be long before they figure that a NetFlix tie-in for on-demand TVoIP is around the corner. Even given Feld’s excellent analysis, the old rule ‘He holds the Gold, Rules’ applies. The Gold in this case being that film vault the major studios own. Sadly for Warner, TWC owns them so they aren’t the model. But what about Sony?

Linky

And yes, if the name sounds familiar it ought to. He’s this guy.