Broadcasting Will Never Die
When the Internet became popular people said it would kill television. "The Broadcasting Model is Dead!" When Web 2.0 became popular people said it would kill television. "The Broadcasting Model is Even More Dead!"
So here we are a few years later an the broadacasting model not only is still alive, but it is the basis of Web 2.0.
After Q1 2007, Google is sitting on a mountain of cash 12 Billion high. This is primarily based on a broadcast / advertising revenue model.
Previously, we've been interested in, but able to discount, Google's product line because the UI was so thin.
Google's Desktop Apps seem to buck this trend. Google understands the inherent limitations of current browser based apps. But Picassa is very powerful and now Google has jumped on the train for Marratech.
Marratech created some very interesting collaboration software (video, audio, desktop and text conferencing). And Google starts to encroach more on the desktop software realm.
Given the previous Google model, I'd imagine this will also be "free" - which means supported by advertising revenue. Picassa doesn't pipe ads to your desktop and I would assume that this software won't either.
Like Picassa or other desktop Google apps, it will naturally drive you toward search and other tools that will have advertising. Just like television doesn't (or didn't before product placement) have ads during the shows, but encourages you to be there for the commercials.
Meanwhile, the Google game is still to build something and hope they notice and eat you. As the Google Blog said:
We look forward to learning from the extraordinary ingenuity of Marratech's engineers as they focus on desktop conferencing research and development in Sweden, where they will continue to be located.
Something to consider for the weekend...
Blogged at Gray Hill Harbor Offices in Seattle using Windows Live Writer
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