According to the software giant, the revenue earned by the Windows division fell to $4.7 billion during the last three months of 2011 – a 6 percent decline from where the figure stood a year ago during the same quarter.

Source: http://www.itproportal.com/2012/01/20/microsoft-6-decline-revenue-windows-division/#ixzz1k2mQl7vI

The ITPortal also reports:

The primary reasons behind this rather disappointing performance by the Windows division have been attributed to; stiff competition coming from new-generation products such as tablet computers and smartphones, as well as the devastating floods in Thailand that affected many of its suppliers’ facilities.

But wait! The Microsoft Advocates who infest the newsgroups, who engage in personal attacks and vile insults claim that the desktop is still alive and well! They claim that the tablet form factor is not what the mainstream consumer is wanting! – The reality though outside the wibbly wobbly world of Microsoft Advocacy is very different and I think the trend away from the desktop form factor by the mainstream consumer will continue.  As for Windows and the latest “great” version (8), I think by the time it finally flops onto the market, people will have already settled on the plethora of more mature alternatives leaving Microsoft languishing in a Windows Phone 7 market share hell.

You do though have to “admire” Steve Ballmer, who can say:

We delivered solid financial results, even as we prepare for a launch year that will accelerate many of our key products and services

Source: http://www.itproportal.com/2012/01/20/microsoft-6-decline-revenue-windows-division/#ixzz1k2nk6LyA

Message to Microsoft employee’s: Screw down the chairs, 2012 is going to be a tough year and to Steve – Roll that deodorant on extra thick, its going to get hot under the collar with your “results”.

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

Over on ZDnet it’s being reported that Symantec is coming under fire after a series of incidents which are alleged to be misleading to consumers.  ZDnet reports:

Security firm Symantec is being taken to court over claims that the company’s flagship anti-malware and performance software suites mislead consumers into buying full versions of its products.

The suit, which seeks class action status, was brought by Washington state resident. It was filed in the District Court of San Jose, California on Tuesday on behalf of his lawyers, according to Reuters.

The complaint alleges that misleading ’scare’ tactics are being used by Symantec in its Norton Utilities, PC Tools Registry Mechanic, and PC Tools Performance Toolkit products. The claims also suggest the software range always report harmful errors, privacy risks and other issues that exist, regardless of whether they actually exist.

Source: ZDnet

Now whilst this in itself is not breaking news, I bring it up at a time when coincidently I recieved an email along similar lines.

Those who follow my dulcet tones on TechBytes or read my musings on the various social networks I maintain will know that recently (after years of being let down) I changed my ISP.  With this change brought the expected, a shiny new router, a nice welcome letter and, shovelled into the box was also a free trial of McAfee Anti virus.  Of course there was no way of them knowing that the troubles Windows users may get with malware, virus’s and spyware don’t really have any relevance to a Linux user, but nevertheless their “kind” and “free” trial was put in the same place as probably many a Windows machine when it had been brought to a halt by malicious code and the user (through their own lack of knowledge) merely thought the machine itself was broken.

Ironically in the last few days I was spammed by unwanted email from Mcaffee, presumably because my ISP had given them my details and Mcaffee were at a loss to explain why anyone would turn down their “great” offer.  Here’s the contents of the email (details personal to me have been omitted):

                 As a part of your Broadband package, you’re entitled to a free 12 month trial of McAfee anti-virus software – and we’re contacting you because yours does not appear to have been activated. Without anti-virus protection in place, you run the risk of being the victim of identity theft, phishing attacks or suffering serious damage to your computer. You could lose digital content, such as files, photos, or music in the process. So please, if you do not already have anti-virus protection in place, take a few moments to download and install your FREE trial of McAfee Internet Security Suite. Then you can get back to surfing the Internet, with a little more peace of mind.

It did make me remember that as a Windows user at home in the distant past, peace of mind was something rather lacking when surfing the net.  Whilst all these issues which Mcaffe suggest can be experienced by Windows users, to have the nerve to send this to a user who may already be adequately protected (or not even a Windows user at all) looks a little bad.  Notice the way it targets your personal documents/files as its method of sale?  See how it mentions identity theft and other subjects which I assume Windows users will worry about and are certainly “hot potatoes” in the news?

Linux doesn’t have such issues.  I challenge you to find a home user of Linux who’s had that annoying malware that requires your PC to return to the shop.  I don’t have a firewall, I don’t have anti-virus.  My Linux desktop runs as quickly now as it did the day I installed it.  Run a Windows PC on the net for a day without protection and see what happens.

So what could this show?

I digress. That email was thrown in more out of coincidence.  Moving back to the rest of the ZDnet article, I would like to suggest that maybe more aggressive marketing of anti-virus products is because of the dwindling revenue in them.  After all, the sales figures for Xmas seem to back up what I said around November 2011 which was that the mainstream consumer is moving to smaller form factors and away from the desktop – worse still (as far as Mcaffe et al are concerned) these form factors are not running Windows.

Maybe more aggressive marketing is going to be seen now where these companies fight for your custom in a market dwindling in the home due to other more popular (and non-Windows) products coming to the fore?  Examples from complainants reported on ZDnet say things like:

The software is falsely informing the consumer that errors are high priority and in addition it is falsely informing the consumer that their overall system health and privacy health is low… The truth, however, is that the scareware does not actually perform any meaningful evaluation of the user’s computer system, or of the supposed ‘errors’ detected by the software

I can’t exactly call McAfee “aggressive” and since its the first time in many years I’ve changed ISP I cannot say if this practice has always been common-place, but maybe the actions which Symantec are accused of are a sign the Windows platform (which is a cashcow to many indirectly) is slowly eroding forcing companies to fight more for your custom?

Maybe this article is one about nothing, but consider for a moment that as we see Microsoft’s stranglehold on tech diminish in multiple area’s, there’s many 3rd parties who have a great deal at stake in keeping them alive.

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

The solar panel for the Kindle - Image source: http://www.solarmio.com/

I finally succomed to an ebook reader this Xmas.  After having spent years of standing by the traditional “dead tree” format, I made the jump after reading over the shoulder of a fellow passenger on the train recently.  I instantly took to e-ink and found its far more comfortable for long drawn out reading sessions than wrestling with a book.

Despite what I consider as rather high prices for the new ebook titles (when you compare them to the “physical” paperback versions) I still think its a great method of reading and whilst I opted for Amazon’s product, there are a slew of alternatives out there, to which I believe most, if not all are Linux powered.

This year at the CES, Solarfocus revealed its Solar Power case for the Kindle.  A device which slips over your Kindle and provides a renewable powersource (with the feature of a built in reading light too).  Solar panels on the case will charge up its battery and from pictures I’ve seen, it seems to only increase the length of your Kindle by about 1 inch.

It is reported by the creators that 1 hour of charging time can get you three days of reading.  It has an LED for reading in darker conditions (reported to last up to 50 hours) with its reserve battery keeping your Kindle on full power.

The Solar case is due to be released on the 15th January for the princely sum of $79.

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

Intro music: “I fought the troll” by Tom Smith.  You can find more of his work here.

Hosts: Tim (OpenBytes) Roy (Techrights) Rusty (The Show that Sux)

TechBytes is back for 2012, Rusty is here and with the whole crew ready to go, we bring to 50 minutes or so of auditory lovelyness.

Since this is a pre-Year 2 show, we are mostly taking a look back at 2011, its tech and news.  In the show we look at:

Xbox 360 – If you don’t live in the states, the reality of its “popularity”  is a very different picture.  We take a look in particular at Australia where the sales figures show that 360 is being left behind by PS3.  Great news for Sony, another chair going the journey for Microsoft.

Android, Iphone and source code – We discuss and I ask the question, since when has the mainstream consumer ever cared about source code, or even knows what the term means? Now that Android is established, are “geek advocates” really needed?

Unfair comparisons between Android and iPhone?

Linux on devices – A mention made of Raspberry Pi and its apparent beta success on ebay!

All this and more crammed into around 50 minutes!

We took the opportunity to listen to your views about what you would like in the show.  The main points that stood out as far as I was concerned:

1. No music

2. Under 1hour in length

3. More diversity in the subjects with a focus on patent issues but a more general consideration given to tech also.

You can download the episode over on TechRights and as always, if you have any suggestions, want to be a guest or merely want to abuse us, feel free to email, comment, rant or shake fist at sky.

http://techrights.org/2012/01/07/techbytes-episode-66/

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

Today, as you can imagine is a very busy one in the Goblin household where I am wrapping presents with the kids, keeping track of the Xmas food and trying to work out where we will put all the gifts after today.

I’ve got the added problem of how on earth all this food will be consumed.  The answer of course will probably be cryogenics by way of the freezer and if Roy is down this way in the new year, his menu is set.  The same can be said for Gordon (Thistleweb) if I can persuade him to visit the Goblin household for a holiday.

Over the last month Openbytes, TechBytes and related projects have seen little attention.  This is due to a multitude of distractions from family, work and also a reliably unreliable internet service from O2.  The latter I’ve sorted with a move to Sky.

So now I will get back to Xmas day.  Wishing you all the very best.

Tim.

Facebook and its fall from grace?

It’s no secret that Facebook has had its fair share of scandal and unhappy users voicing their opinions on the global forum that is the net.  Ironically in many cases the social network set up to provide a communication service has been used to voice the issues users have with it.  A testament to its success? I’ll let you decide.

Looking at how new features are received and the general feeling about FB, I think its fair to say that the honeymoon period of FB is over.  I have always remarked that mainstream consumer loyalty is transient and history shows (MySpace for example) that if you offer a few “new” features, wrap it up in a pretty front end the mainstream will come a running.   Throw a few personality deficient celebrities on there and your rise to the top will be even quicker.

Google plus is already showing that it takes very little to attract the mainstream user on nothing more than a few extra features and a shiny new interface.

We’ve been here before?

Whilst Microsoft struggles to get interest in WP7, its often forgot that the ailing firm from Redmond have already been here before courtesy of the doomed Kin, even proclamations by Microsoft MVPs as it being the “greatest social networking phone ever” didn’t save it from failure, with the lifespan of the device lasting only 60 or so days.  I would like the Microsoft advocates who came to Openbytes when I predicted the failure of the Kin to maybe retract their protestations that they voiced at my views at the time.   That won’t happen, there’s a new Microsoft phone to make claims about and sell, I would think they have forgotten all about the Kin which not only serves as an uncomfortable reminder of failure but maybe also a reminder in  general about Microsoft’s doomed mobile strategy.

Facebook phone a fail?

If anyone is silly enough to take this past a rumour/concept stage then yes, a total failure.  I think the mainstream user (and let’s face it, the only person who would even entertain the notion of buying a phone like this) is rapidly falling out of love with Facebook.  I think the hold Facebook has now is not so much on its feature set but rather more due to mainstream users being reticent to be the first in their social group to make the jump elsewhere.

What is also interesting is that Microsoft is rumoured to be trying it on with another “me too” product by way of its social network Socl, which when you consider that they are still trying to sell WP7 and have an impending release of 8 introducing an interesting new variable especially when you consider that Microsoft invested in Facebook.

On the subject of investments the Inquirer writes an interesting article here, where its suggested that Facebook’s IPO could raise as high as 10 billion dollars.  Am I the only person who is skeptical on tech trends which can drop as quickly as they gained momentum?  Can anyone see Facebook going strong 2 or 3 years from now, or, is it more likely that there will be a new service having the mainstream proclaiming “its the greatest” (whilst the novelty lasts).

I don’t believe a mass simultaneous exodus from Facebook will occur, I think we will see a drip, drip effect over the next year and ergo, a Facebook phone is doomed to failure.  Nice idea, if it could have come out in the honeymoon period where Facebook could do no wrong.  Besides, isn’t a more open, less locked in phone what everyone wants today? – certainly Android sales would suggest that.

And on the subject of phones, this article was written entirely with a HTC Desire running Android!

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

Its all updated! Faster & better looking! - Its also moving away from the stats and number crunching of traditional RPG's and moving into Arcade game territory.

Morrowind on the PC, a game that required a Skynet of specs but one which I hadn’t had so much enjoyment from since I played Elite 2 – Frontier.  Years later, I bought Morrowind for the Xbox and the expansion packs – it was a great “open world” experience.  Then came Oblivion, even bigger, even prettier and my PS3 had to stay up pretty late as I explored every dark corner, prodded everything with a stick and make a fortune in gold by both honorable and dubious means (thanks Dark Brotherhood!).  The expansions were great and its the only game I’ve kept  playing for years on end.

Now Skyrim is here and whilst I jumped on board a few days late, I had mixed feelings about getting the game, yes it would be a great graphical leap forward, yes there would be new wonders and missions, but maybe it’s because I’ve played Oblivion (and before that Morrowind) for so long, that the formula and genre is now wearing a little thin?

So last night I powered up Skyrim for the first time and since this is not a review, merely my thoughts so far, I’ll cut to the chase (there are so many reviews on the net anyway)

So what am I liking?

The combat is great, both graphically and its implementation, with camera movement, blood on the screen and cut scenes depicting death blows.   Spells look better, character models both in the creation section and the game itself look more real and the game engine seems to have been optimized since there’s no apparent drops in frame rate yet as you would often get on all platforms on Oblivion.  A great addition and really something that should have been included in Oblivion is dual wielding, the art of double chopping, its nicely done too.

Theres more (and seemingly less) interaction with scenery, you can burn spilt oil, manipulate objects, however its seems so far, that unlike Oblivion, you can’t knock over some random objects on tables.  In oblivion you could make a right old mess of someones table, sending cups, plates and food flying around the room in a foray of spitefulness merely by swinging your sword at it.  In Skyrim it seems I’ve found a few objects on tables which refuse to budge no matter what chopper I choose to bash them with.  With that in mind though, there are many new skills, most notably smithing in which you can create your own armor, however these do not make up for the fact (in my book anyway) that an integral part of a RPG is character diversity/development, and this as I explain seems a little lacking.

So now we move on to what I don’t like so far and I’ve touched on a “step backwards” above.  It seems that everywhere on the net Skyrim is getting very high scores.  Don’t get me wrong, this is a great game however the score reduces somewhat the more you have played the previous titles.  The main concern I have for the Elder Scrolls range is that after the last two releases it seems to be getting dumbed down for a mainstream audience.  Morrowind was a wealth of stats, choices, influences and decisions whereas Oblivion took away some of that complication and made more of an arcade feel to it.  I unfortunately don’t feel as much in control of my character with Skyrim and I think with todays consumer in the main, the likes of Morrowind days are long gone.

It may not be as grand, it may not look as pretty, but Morrowind offered an RPG experience thats sadly been dumbed down over the years.

Skyrim appears to take another step towards that goal.  The achievement point system is good, but leveling looks to offer very little variety and I get the feeling at this early stage that everyone will end up with roughly the same character at the end (with a few different perks).  The developers seem to think it great that if you get bored with a certain skill you can train another, but I am of the opinion that RPG’s are all about choices, choices which you have to live with (or start again).  Now it appears Merlin can become Man at arms and theres no character class to differentiate any of them.

I am enjoying Skyrim so far, its  a great story and nice to keep in with goings on in Tamriel I am sure I will discover more great features as I progress through the storyline,  however I find myself enjoying this more like Fable, rather than an entirely open, character choice critical RPG of the past.   Within 20 minutes of gameplay I find myself a criminal because in the first village a chicken accidently hit its head into my heavy hammer five times.   Surprisingly enough, I have to give credit to the chicken who had a damn good stab at taking on a blunt heavy battle weapon.

Graphically it looks nice, although I’m not really that impressed over Oblivion and I don’t think much of an improvement has been made with the in-game faces of human players.  For this seasoned Elder Scrolls player, I would give Skyrim (so far) 7/10 certainly not the silly 9 or 10 I’ve seen other sites dish out.  Maybe if Skyrim was my first outing into the world of Tamriel things would be different?

For the first timer to Elder Scrolls or indeed the RPG genre, Skyrim should pose no problems integrating them, the menu’s are intuitive (although “hand holding” for a grizzled old RPG’r like myself) but then it would be selfish (and wrong) to think that Bethesda wants to do anything but appeal to as many people as possible ergo sell more copies.

Enjoy Skyrim, I will, however for my true RPG experience I hold a torch for a new franchise that will cater for those who like things a little more in-depth.

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

For many this news isn’t new since there have been rumours and “leaks” for quite some time which to be fair, haven’t exactly been met with any sort of excitement or anticipation.  Whilst this is one of Microsoft’s “research” projects there seems quite a few suggestions that they will actually try to run with this latest “scheme”.

Entitled “Socl” it is being reported that Microsoft is hoping to compete with Google and Facebook – which in itself poses a couple of questions which I will consider later in the article.

From the Inquirer:

From the initial screenshots it seems that Socl is almost a ripoff of Google+, particularly in terms of its interface style and layout. While obviously it will share a lot in common with Google+ and Facebook, it leans far more towards the former than the latter, suggesting that Microsoft believes that Google will be the long-term winner in the battle between those two giants.

Source: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2125455/microsoft-sneak-preview-social-network-soclk

Which would make sense since Google has proved to be a rather difficult competitor for Microsoft with the “mighty” Microsoft’s Bing playing second fiddle to the more successful Google (and thats not even mentioning a comparison between the popular Android and the struggling WP7).  Whats ironic in the statement from the Inquirer  is that previously Microsoft was alleged to have been copying Google in its search results and now we see an independent source stating that their “new” service seems to more than slightly resemble Google+.  I suppose imitation is the best form of flattery.

I think the first question would be, if Socl is indeed Microsoft’s attempt to challenge Google+ or Facebook and be successful at something online, where does that leave Microsoft’s investment in Facebook?  Unless I am wrong, Microsoft is an investor in the longer serving social network.  How will this be affected?

Secondly one can be forgiven for being slightly dubious of any claims Microsoft makes of its social network service, we only have to cast our minds back a short while to remember Microsoft getting rid of its blogging service and making refugees out of its bloggers.  It was only lucky for Microsoft that WordPress was charitable enough to offer a simple migration for Microsoft refugees and allow then to continue online.   If Microsoft can’t make a blogging service work, how will it make a Social Network successful? and that’s in the face of the established Facebook and the growing Google+ (and of course it seems mainstream media forgets about Diaspora which in my view is the superior service/tech anyway)

It is little wonder why there is a hint of deja-vu here with the confirmation of “Socl”.  Bing is trying to catchup to Google, WP7 is trying to catch up to Android and Apple phones, the apparent tablet suitable Windows 8 is not even available on the tablet form factor for purchase, all the while Android and Apple are again capturing the hearts and minds of the consumer and it’s hardly insightful to note that when it is released it will probably find itself in the same position as WP7 is now.

Little wonder then that there were a few concerns raised recently at Microsoft’s annual shareholders meeting.

Microsoft is in my view, merely flinging mud at the wall in the hope something will stick, the only place where “success” seems to come easily is with their patent aggression (which now may be set to change after we finally get an idea of Microsoft claims).  Apple has a logo “Theres an app for that”, maybe the only logo Microsoft will have in the future will be “Theres a patent for that” as it moves further away from trying to compete with its own products and merely uses its patent portfolio to make a buck.

With Microsoft trying to catchup in so many areas, one has to wonder how far the rot has set in and when the once “mighty” Microsoft will roll over and admit defeat – I expect not in the near future, its got a war-chest of cash to try to make things work and on its journey out of tech relevance will be rather unpleasant for everyone.

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

First up  - MC Hammer, the singer who was so popular during my “youth” has made a rather unexpected comeback, not in the guise of a revival tour, not a new album but as a search engine.  You heard it right, MC Hammer is to launch his own search engine in probably a piece of tech news that nobody could ever have predicted.  https://joindiaspora.com/posts/666718

It is reported that Microsoft’s rather unpopular Windows Phone 7 costs more to make than the iPhone 4s, disproving the theory that “You get what you pay for”.  It’s no secret that Microsoft is allegedly making more money from Android “licenses” than it is from WP7 and it doesn’t seem like Mango has stirred any excitement – the one “fruit” product in the Tech world that’s truly gone rotten?

Ballmer has attempted to cheapen Android in the last few days:

Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, said today that “You don’t have to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone, but you do to use an Android phone”. He also stated that he just can’t get excited about an Android phone. Ouch.

http://gregstechblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/steve-ballmer-has-audacity-to-insult.html

But then again, this is Ballmer and remember what he had to say about the iPhone:

There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.

http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/04/30/ballmer.on.iphone/#ixzz1bhAPOe8J

When Ballmer finally gets the boot from Microsoft, I think its safe to say he won’t be turning up as a fortune-teller at your local fairground.

In related news though Microsoft has been up to its old tricks, this time with a company from China called Compal:

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Compal, one of the leaders in the original design manufacturing, or ODM, industry,” Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, Intellectual Property Group at Microsoft, said in a statement.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20124374-75/microsoft-signs-compal-to-android-chrome-licensing-deal/

I bet Microsoft are pleased, yet again making money off others successes.

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.

The beginnings of my "tree". Check out the links at the end to see the WIP or better yet, sign up yourself!

There are times when you are surprised by the most unlikely sources.  After spending years heckling BBCclick, they finally highlight a service which was not merely old news served up in traditional wishy-washy BBC style.

The service which I am going to be looking at for this article was PearlTrees.

Pearltrees is probably best described as a bookmarks/links sharing service where you can take the gems that you’ve discovered and expose them to other users interested in the same topics as you.

Currently still in beta, the service appears remarkably mature and with more than 200,000 active users, it appears that Pearltrees has made a good start having managed to raise around $5m from various sources/sponsors too.  Theres news of an iPad app coming soon and its going to be very interesting how this service develops on the desktop and translates to smart phones.

Quoted from their blog:

Pearltrees is a social curation tool. Its lets you organize, discover and share the stuff you like on the web. Use Pearltrees to keep at hand the contents you find everyday on the web, to discover new contents from people who share your interests and to drive them through your web.

The concept of Pearltrees was invented by Patrice Lamothe. François Rocaboy, Nicolas Cynober, Samuel Tissier, Alain Cohen and Julien Wallen joined him  to found Broceliand, the company responsible for designing, implementing and operating Pearltrees.

Source: http://goo.gl/sYRIA

BBCclick merely skimmed over the features, but there are many benefits to sharing your links in this way.  Firstly your links are displayed in a graphical tree courtesy of its Flash base, you can have subsections from your “root” and comprehensively organize your links into precise categories, this UI is clean and intuitive, giving a fluid experience as your actions and search results glide around the page - But Pearltrees doesn’t stop there:

The ability to search keywords, enables you to find other users who share the same interests as you and for example a search for “linux” had numerous users trees sliding into your screen all ready to be expanded and explored. Your links (or pearls) can be moved around your tree by drag and drop, with an additional holding area for the links you have not yet organized.

Adding one of your links gives statistics on that particular url, showing how many times its been visited on your profile, but maybe more importantly who else has that particular link in their tree.  This enables you to instantly find other users who will probably share the same interests as you and undoubtedly discovered relevant sites you have never heard of.

There are so many other features on offer – the potential to collaborate on “trees”, the ability to share within Facebook or Twitter (as well as present your tree as a “standalone” page for those who have no Pearltrees account)  You can also comment on others trees/pearls as well as provide your own commentary explaining your organization of sections on your particular tree.

Whilst Pearltrees seems to want to distance itself from being a social networking site (akin to Facebook et al) you do have features there for messaging/comment and maybe last (but certainly not least) you have the facility to export your data by way of an rdf file.

Pearltrees is certainly a service to recommend, I find myself exploring the web in a way that I haven’t done for many years when a search would reveal fewer, more relevant hits.  The main advantage comes from the fact that you are going to discover great sites which other users are recommending that would otherwise have probably been lost in the thousands of results that you get back from an average Google search – let’s be honest, how many people when searching Google would go past more than about 10 pages of hits? it’s these sites which may go unnoticed by many.

Pearltrees – the fly in the ointment?

The service (whilst the tech is still in beta) is very complete and Ive only had a handful of errors with the software which have been easily resolved with a quick refresh.  The take up of users is apparently very healthy and the amount/relevance of results gleamed from a search is very good and certainly manageable.

So what’s the fly in the ointment? The slightly concerning feature of Pearltrees is that you are free to post your favorite links and with that freedom comes links to BT Trackers, NZB indexers, filelockers et al.  You would have had to have been off the net completely not to notice the clamping down by both the private sector firms hitting these services with a campaign of lobbying and court actions.  How long before Pearltrees comes under the eyes of these “people” and radically alters its service in order to hold off a legal action?

I’m also sure that the question will be raised as to what is being done with all these profile in terms of their link preferences, but at least for the time being this seems to have been answered in their policies section:

As a media, Pearltrees wants to get as large an audience as possible. We have many appealing ideas to generate revenues but we are holding off on implementation until at least 2012.

Source: http://goo.gl/s58Y8

So that is Pearltrees, certainly an interesting and exciting service.  One can only hope that it continues in the same ethos that it started, the only other concern will be, if it is hit by mass adoption of mainstream user will its usefulness for discovering excellent little known sites be just as difficult as it is with say a Google search now?  Time will tell.

You can sign up for Pearltrees at: http://www.pearltrees.com

and if you are interested in seeing my WIP tree, you can keep an eye on it here: http://pear.ly/0RqT;

Tim (Goblin)

If you are new to this blog (or have not yet read it) please take time to view the OpenBytes statement, here.