Facebook is not only on course to go bust, but will take the rest of the ad-supported Web with it. Given its vast cash reserves and the glacial pace of business reckonings, that will sound hyperbolic. But that doesn't mean it isn't true. At the heart of the Internet business is one of the great business fallacies of our time: that the Web, with all its targeting abilities, can be a more efficient, and hence more profitable, advertising medium than traditional media. Facebook, with its 900 million users, valuation of around $100 billion, and the bulk of its business in traditional display advertising, is now at the heart of the heart of the fallacy. The daily and stubborn reality for everybody building businesses on the ... Continue reading →

Business Are Smart Phones Spreading Faster than Any Technology in Human History? Mobile computers are on track to saturate markets in the U.S. and the developing world in record time. Wednesday, May 9, 2012 By Michael DeGusta Today's technology scene seems overheated to some. Apple is the most valuable company on earth. Software apps are reaching tens of millions of users within weeks. Major technology names like Research in Motion and Nokia are being undone by rapid changes to their markets. Underlying these developments: the unprecedented speed at which mobile computers are spreading. Presented below is the U.S. market penetration achieved by nine technologies since 1876, the year Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. Penetration rates have been organized to show three phases of a ... Continue reading →

Galbraith's wonderful little book (Only 110 pages) is a quick guided tour -- with pithy analysis interspersed throughout -- of get-rich-quick movements, and, more importantly, the foolish thinking BEHIND such phenomena. Galbraith takes the reader on brief tours of some of the more notorious financial booms-gone-bad, such as the "Tulip Craze" in Holland and the Banque Royale bust in France in the 1600's, the South Seas "Bubble" of the 1700's, and, more importantly, the numerous episodes throughout American financial history, from Colonial times through the busts of 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1907, 1929 -- and 1987 (Galbraith's book was first published in 1990 -- ten years before the dot-com bust....). The source of these rush-to-riches-gone-sour, argues Galbraith, rests on several ever-consistent, historically re-occurring causes: First, ... Continue reading →

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Google is in discussions to acquire Meebo for as much as $100 million, sources have told the often-reliable AllThingsD. Meebo was founded in 2005 as a messaging app for the browser, a product that still exists as Meebo Messenger. The Mountain View, Calif.-based startup has since developed an expanding suite of social and mobile apps for consumers as well as publishers, each designed to enable online communication. Meebo raised $25 million in its last round of financing in 2010. The round was led by Khosla Ventures with participation from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Sequoia Capital. The company has raised $62.5 million to date. Neither Google nor Meebo could be reached for comment. Topics to follow Follow Follow For more Business coverage Continue reading →

Tell me if this makes sense to you: Apple’s preparing to launch a significantly smaller version of its already not-exactly-huge iPad and keep everything exactly the same — including the 2048 x 1536 screen resolution — except for storage, which it’ll drop from the entry-level iPad’s 16GB to 8GB. Oh, and it’ll cost between $200 and $250 instead of $500. That’s the latest rumor tossed around by tech blog iMore, anyway. Who knows if it’s true — it’s one of those rumors that, whatever Apple does or doesn’t do, will live on in one form or another — but let’s say it is true. I’m trying to imagine this thing (beyond the amusing Photoshop iPad image shrinks some sites seem to think we need as ... Continue reading →

By AppleInsider Staff Published: 10:49 PM EST (07:49 PM PST) Adobe on Friday launched Creative Cloud, a service that allows users subscription-based access to the company's media creation and editing tools, as well as two "touch apps" for iOS and the Muse HTML5 web tool. The release comes less than a week after Adobe rolled out its Creative Suite 6 software lineup which includes new versions of Photoshop, InDesign, lllustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash Professional and other products. Officially announced alongside CS6 in April, Creative Cloud is a more affordable alternative to the expensive design, Web, video and digital imaging bundles offered to professionals. With a one-year $49.99 per month contract, customers have access to download and install all CS6 software as well ... Continue reading →

Pearltrees is a social library. It lets you cultivate your interests. Collect, organize and share everything you like. Popular pearltrees Continue reading →