by cameron | Sep 21, 2006 | Uncategorized
Mary Jane Watson… sorry, I mean MARY JO FOLEY… has announced she is no longer writing for Microsoft Watch and is now going to be writing a blog about Microsoft as her own business.
I’m interested in this for a few reasons.
- I had the opportunity to meet MJ last year at a flashy party in NYC and she was lovely. She even pretended to know who I was. I had been reading her stuff for many years and even though I suspected she was just doing a Clinton on me, it had the right effect – my ego was inflated.
- For a while now when I’m discussing the future of the media business with newspaper folks, they harp on and on and on and on and on and on and on (get the idea) about "why the world needs journalists". I am usually quick to agree (unless I’m just trying to annoy them, which can also be a lot of fun) but then I ask "but do those journalists need YOU?". We’ve started to see journalists break out on their own and I hope this is a trend which will continue. As I said on G’Day World last week – if Chris Masters, Australia’s #1 investigative journalist, wanted to go out on his own, I’m sure he could find enough corporate sponsorship to pay his annual salary and legal/travel expenses. He has his own brand. What does he need a publisher for these days? Dan Gillmor did it. Om Malik has done it. Now MJ is doing it.
- I’m wondering what MJ’s model is. She’s blogging, not under her own brand, but under ZDnet’s. I don’t get that model. I’ve asked her on her new blog how it works and I’ll try to get her on the show for an in-depth discussion.
by cameron | Sep 20, 2006 | Podcast
Check out our new sponsors Wardy IT and Direct TV!
Rich and Cam are back and we’ve decided it’s: NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY!!
Outro track: James Brown, “Gut Buster”
If you want to put money into the TPN paypal account, like many of our listeners already do, you can do it by setting up a deposit to thepodcastnetwork@gmail.com.
The G’Day World Theme Song: “Save Me†by The Napoleon Blown Aparts, America’s baddest rock n’ roll band!
by cameron | Sep 19, 2006 | Podcast, Uncategorized
WWT, host of one of TPN’s top rating podcasts, The Cranky Middle Manager Show, has been interviewed in depth by John C Havens on About.com’s podcasting page. It’s a terrific and revealing interview, even though he manages to take an in advertent dig at me for putting out longer shows! He has a lot of tips for podcasters who want to succeed over the long haul, something he can talk with credibility about, as WW has been going for over a year and has seen his audience slowly grow to a serious size. I like this quote from him:
I know why I do it. I’m building the brand, what Tom Peters calls Brand You and it seems to be working. My new e-book (shameless plug) , is the first thing I’ve put out attempting to make money at podcasting to see if the brand has legs. People seem to be responding. I may someday be able to build a real business out of this.
I was saying to Dave Gray (host of our Global Geek podcast) this morning on Skype that most start-up businesses take five years to get to a point where they are sustainable. Why should a podcast be any different? Sure – there are businesses that skyrocket overnight. But they are always the rare few. Most, the vast majority, of businesses grow over time, building a steady, loyal customer base. I’ve always had the same vision for podcasting and The Podcast Network. Too many people are fly-by-nighters. It they aren’t world famous and P. Diddy rich in a month, they suck their thumb and stomp their feet. I don’t tolerate that behaviour from my five years olds and I think it’s pathetic in an adult.
Anyway, enough ranting… good interview WW!
by cameron | Sep 19, 2006 | Podcast, Uncategorized
Nick Randolph has taken over hosting TPN’s Microsoft Developer podcast. In his first episode, he’s talking with a bunch of experienced user group co-ordinators about the different .Net user groups across Australia and New Zealand. Welcome to TPN Nick!
by cameron | Sep 19, 2006 | singularity, Uncategorized
From the Mprize press release today:
Peter A. Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of online payments system PayPal, Founder and Managing Member of Clarium Capital Management, a San Francisco-based hedge fund, and angel investor in social networking site Facebook, has announced his pledge of $3.5 Million to support scientific research into the alleviation and eventual reversal of the debilities caused by aging, to be conducted under the auspices of the Methuselah Foundation, a charity co-founded and Chaired by Dr. Aubrey de Grey.
If you don’t know who Aubrey de Grey is, listen to my interview with him: G’Day World #42 – Dr Aubrey de Grey
Very exciting to see more entrepreneurs getting behind life extension research. If Gates and Buffett threw some of their Gigantor cash at it, it could probably get knocked over in ten or twenty years. By the way, Thiel is the same guy who co-produced THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. According to Wikipedia, he has also made early-stage investments in several companies, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Friendster, Rapleaf, and Ironport. In May 2006 he spoke at the Singularity Summit. I’ve got to get this guy on the show. How long do you think it will take me to get an intro?
