Bob Caswell – Page 2 – Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and gamer

No Thank You, Radiohead, Please Sell Where I Shop

March 6, 2011 Bob Caswell 2 Comments

First, a quick recap on Radiohead’s place in the world of digital distribution experimentation:

In 2007, Radiohead decides to release their album “In Rainbows” exclusively on Radiohead.com with a unique “choose your own price” model. You pick how much you pay (free being an option), and you then can download the album. Next, comScore releases numbers from the Radiohead experiment, which suggest that most of us are cheapskates and freeloaders.

Amazon, Internet, Media, Music, Shopping

Blogging vs. Twitter/Facebook is Exercising vs. Walking

February 26, 2011February 26, 2011 Bob Caswell 3 Comments

About a week ago, a New York Times article titled “Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter” painted a bleak picture for blogging by making pronouncements like “blogs were once the outlet of choice for people who wanted to express themselves online.” The article then goes on to suggest that Twitter and Facebook are the culprits stealing blogs’ thunder.

While some prominent bloggers came to the defense and proved these pronouncements to be inaccurate or at least misleading, there were still some thoughts in this article that really resonated with me. For instance:

Internet, Just For Fun, Web 2.0

What’s MySpace?

August 15, 2010 Bob Caswell 3 Comments

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I were on a road trip through northern California when we decided to stop for lunch in a little town named Eureka. I couldn’t help but notice (and overhear) a few grandmas sitting in a booth across the way. They were very engaged in a lively conversation about sharing photos with daughters/grandkids.

One in particular was explaining how she preferred to use Facebook over MySpace because of her preference for how picture sharing works on Facebook. But then, one of the other grandmas interrupted and asked: “What’s MySpace?” Good question, I thought to myself, what is MySpace?

Microsoft: A Great Place to Work

July 25, 2010July 25, 2010 Bob Caswell 5 Comments

Full Disclosure: I work for Microsoft and enjoy my job. And this blog post is my opinion, not Microsoft’s.

This past week ended up being one of the most intense, yet rewarding, weeks of my career. For the past three weeks, I put my day job mostly on hold and took on the challenge of leading a team to put together a free virtual training event for Windows Phone 7 developers. We had developers in the thousands participating in four 3-hour sessions that covered the ins and outs of developing applications and games for Windows Phone 7.

Apple, Internet, Microsoft, Tech News, Web 2.0, Yahoo

Defining Success of [Tech] Companies

July 17, 2010July 18, 2010 Bob Caswell 3 Comments

Let’s face it: we all love making comparisons. It’s an easy way to simplify a point. The problem, though, lies in the implicit assumptions and interpretations that go along with a comparison. Meaning, as soon as you make your comparison, it’s as if you’re holding all else equal while at the same time elevating your comparison to a higher level of credibility as compared to any of the unspoken alternative comparisons involving the two things you’re comparing.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Internet, Microsoft, Tech News

Calling All Phone Developers: Free Training on Windows Phone 7

July 12, 2010July 12, 2010 Bob Caswell 1 Comment

Today the Windows Phone team announced the availability of the Windows Phone Developer Tools Beta. I wanted to highlight a portion of the announcement that I’ve been working on personally. Microsoft really wants to show you (Mr. Phone App Developer) why Windows Phone 7 is the hotness. So that’s why we’ve put together the following free training (see below).

I’m very excited about this; it’s one of the coolest things I’ve been involved in at Microsoft! If you have any questions or want more details, leave me a comment.

Get Trained for FREE – Windows Phone 7 Jump Start

Windows Phone 7 JumpStart is a FREE virtual live class for developers interested in developing applications and games for Windows Phone 7. The course is organized into four virtual instructor-led sessions that are of 3-hour duration. They will be presented by forthcoming MS Press authors and MVP’s, Andy Wigley and Rob Miles. It will provide developers a jump start for developing Windows Phone 7 applications. The labs will be completed offline with office hours access to the instructors.

Internet, Microsoft, Tech News

Why Is Savvy Media Still Forcing the Form Factor?

June 6, 2010June 6, 2010 Bob Caswell 2 Comments

This weekend I wanted to catch up on the D8 conference, which is basically a series of who’s who in the tech industry being interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. The D8 website has dozens of 5-minute clips but offers no convenient way to watch them in one sitting. Some of us, you know, can handle watching (dare I say, want to watch) certain things more than 5 minutes at a time.

Apple, Internet, Media, Netflix, Tech News, Web 2.0

Silicon Alley Insider Embellishes WSJ Headline In Attempt to Steal Page Views

May 24, 2010May 25, 2010 Bob Caswell 3 Comments

How do you like my title? It came from a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Microsoft Plans Shake Up” which Henry Blodget of Silicon Alley Insider linked to, added an intro that added nothing new, and then added quite the Google-bait headline of “Microsoft Shaking Up Entertainment Group In Desperate Attempt To Catch Apple And Google”.

Now, full disclosure, I work for Microsoft but not in this division. And I have nothing to do with whatever this story is about. It seems like an interesting scoop for the WSJ, but Blodget’s title is tricking Techmeme into thinking it should be the leader story. So as a fellow blogger, I thought I’d one up Mr. Blodget with an equally exciting title of my own and a piece of advice:

Apple, Google, Internet, Media, Microsoft, Tech News