November 25th, 2009

The Big Question podcast: Will News Corp. really pull its content from Google?

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 4:00 am

Categories: General, Google, Microsoft, Podcasts

Tags: Google Inc., News Corp., Big Question, Podcasts, Microsoft Windows 7, Digital Music, Digital Media, RSS, Internet, Operating Systems

What exactly is Rupert Murdoch up to with his Google saber rattling? Jason Hiner and I handicap the week’s big question and figure out whether News Corp. would really pull its content from Google completely.

The Big Question is a joint production from ZDNet and TechRepublic.

You can play this 19-minute episode from the Flash-based player at the top of the page or:

• Subscribe via iTunes
• Subscribe via RSS
• Download the MP3 file

If you like this podcast, go to to our iTunes page to rate it and leave a short review.

Stories discussed in this episode:

• A Microsoft and News Corp. search pact? It adds up (ZDNet)
• Analyst: News Corp.’s Google saber rattling really about MySpace (ZDNet)
• Microsoft tries toppling Google with a bribe (ZDNet)
• Rupert Murdoch’s grand subscription plan: Much ado over minimal revenue? (ZDNet)
• Cranky Geeks examine Windows 7, AT&T network, and whether Google steals (TechRepublic)

October 21st, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: An Evening with Michael Dell

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 2:01 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: Podcasts, Microsoft Windows 7, Netbooks, Nettops & MIDs, Internet, Hardware, Larry Dignan

In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series, Dell CEO Michael Dell riffs on netbooks, the spending environment and Windows 7.

September 30th, 2009

Podcast: Is $99 the new $199 for smartphones?

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 3:13 am

Categories: Android, Apple, Microsoft, Mobile, Motorola, Palm, Podcasts, Smartphones, iPhone

Tags: Smart Phone, Podcasts, RSS, Internet, Larry Dignan

Here’s our first installment of a joint ZDNet-TechRepublic podcast called the Big Question. In it, we—Jason Hiner, Bill Detwiler and I—pick apart the following:

• RIM’s prospects in a price war;
• Palm as an acquisition target;
• And how the smartphone-feature phone lines are blurring so every phone is “smart.”

You can play this 21-minute episode from the Flash-based player at the top of the page or you can download the MP3 or grab it via RSS:

• Download the podcast as an MP3
• Subscribe to the RSS feed

In October we’ll also be launching the podcast in iTunes and the Zune Marketplace.

September 24th, 2009

Churchill Club audio: Larry Ellison, in Conversation with Ed Zander

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 2:02 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Oracle, Podcasts

Tags:

At a Churchhill Club event, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison talked to former Sun Microsystems President Ed Zander about Oracle’s recent acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Ellison covered a wide range of topics ranging from the economy to IBM and IT demand. Here’s the full audio.

August 5th, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: An Evening with Aneesh Chopra, Chief Technology Officer of the United States

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 4:51 pm

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags:

In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series, Aneesh Chopra, CTO of the U.S., talks technology. He was appointed by President Barack Obama as the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer in April 2009, with the mandate to promote technological innovation to help the country meet its most urgent priorities - from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure.

Chopra spoke at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.

July 27th, 2009

Churchill Club: The Free Economy: How Companies Make Money From Giving Things Away

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 2:07 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: Leader, CEO, Podcasts, Leadership, Internet, Management, Larry Dignan

The concept of loss leader products has been around since the 20th century, but today, free has become a business strategy that could be essential to a company’s survival. In the latest episode of the Churchill Club podcast series, a top-flight panel moderated by Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief, Wired Magazine, and author of new book, “FREE: the Future of a Radical Price”, talks through the business models.

The panel included:

• Gina Bianchini, CEO, Ning
• Joe Kennedy, CEO & President, Pandora
• Ranjith Kumaran, Founder & CTO, YouSendIt
• Joe Sipher, Co-Founder & Chief Product / Marketing Officer, Pinger
• Neil Young, CEO, Ngmoco

July 15th, 2009

Churchill Club: Breakfast with California State Controller John Chiang, in conversation with Michael Moritz

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 11:09 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Economy, Podcasts

Tags: Conversation, Breakfast, masaokad

In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series, California State Controller John Chiang talks with legendary venture capitalist Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital about the state’s financial crisis and the implications for venture capital, business and technology in Silicon Valley.

June 29th, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: The Cybersecurity Challenge

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 2:20 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts, Security

Tags: Cybersecurity, Podcasts, Internet, Security, Larry Dignan

In this installment of the Churchill Club podcast series a panel of experts examine the cybersecurity conundrum and whether the U.S. can herd enough private—and public sector—cats to secure the Internet.

With the world increasingly going “cyber,” how is cybersecurity keeping up? Exponentially more data is stored in the cloud and a plethora of devices, from phones to game consoles to cars, are connecting to the Internet, taking the needs of security far beyond the PC. Are we doing enough or do we need a new approach to security? What needs to happen to protect America’s digital infrastructure, the backbone that underpins our economy, military and government?

Panelists included:

• Gail Coury, Vice President, Risk Management, ORACLE Global IT
• Dave DeWalt, CEO & President, McAfee
• John Mitchell, Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University

Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst, IT-Harvest, was the moderator.

June 10th, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: Microsoft Ray Ozzie talks cloud computing

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 5:50 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: Cloud Computing, Virtualization, Hardware, masaokad

In the latest episode of the Churchill Club podcast series, Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie talks about the evolution of cloud computing.

Steven Levy, senior writer at Wired Magazine, was the moderator.

Here’s the report from Sam Diaz on the Ozzie talk.

May 21st, 2009

Churchill Club: 11th annual top 10 tech trends

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 6:20 pm

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: Event, Tech, masaokad

In this episode of the Churchill Club podcast series a panel of experts debate the top technology trends.

This members only event included the following speakers:

• Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson 
• Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures 
• Joe Schoendorf, Partner, Accel Partners 
• Ram Shriram, Managing Partner, Sherpalo Ventures, LLC 
• Ann Winblad, Partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

May 13th, 2009

CIO Agenda 2010: What the customer wants

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 3:15 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: CIO, masaokad

In the latest episode of the Churchill Club podcast series, a panel of CIOs talk about what customers want and where innovations like Web 2.0, social networking and cloud computing fit. 

The speakers include:

• Matt Carey, EVP & CIO, Home Depot; former SVP & CTO, eBay; former SVP & CTO, Wal-Mart;
• Lars Rabbe, consulting CIO; former CIO, Intuit; former SVP Engineering & CIO, Yahoo;
• Karenann Terrell, Corporate VP & CIO, Baxter; former VP & CIO, Chrysler Group & Mercedes Benz North America.

The panel was moderated by Peter Solvik, Managing Director, Sigma Partners; former SVP & CIO, Cisco Systems.

April 28th, 2009

Women Tech Executive Roundtable: What’s Top of Mind in 2009

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 9:53 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags:

In this episode of the Churchill Club podcast series, tech leaders talk about the current trends and the business environment for female technology executives.

Ann Winblad, partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, moderated a panel with the following speakers:

• Janaki Akella, Principal, McKinsey & Company 
• Barbara Carbone, Partner, KPMG LLP 
• Nancy Duarte, CEO, Duarte, Inc. 
• Gerri Martin-Flickinger, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Adobe Systems

April 10th, 2009

Churchill Club: Uber Entrepreneur: An Evening with Elon Musk

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 12:55 pm

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags:

In this episode of the Churchill Club podcast series, Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors; CEO & CTO, SpaceX; Chairman, SolarCity, talks entrepreneurship. 

By the age of 12 Elon Musk had sold his first commercial software, a space game called Blaster. Sixteen years later he sold his first company, Zip2, to Compaq’s Alta Vista division for $341 million in cash and stock. His next act was as co-founder of PayPal, which was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in stock in 2002. Musk then turned his energy toward two notable new ventures: SpaceX, developer and manufacturer of space launch vehicles, and Tesla Motors, developer of high-end electric automobiles – both of which were started in a downturn.

What makes this visionary entrepreneur tick? 

March 27th, 2009

Not Enough Time in the Day to ... Watch TV.

Posted by Tom Steinert-Threlkeld @ 1:57 pm

Categories: Digital Media, Entertainment, General, Hollywood on Demand, Podcasts

Tags: Hour, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment, Tom Steinert-Threlkeld

There is not enough time in the day to work, sleep, eat … and watch TV.

This has bothered me for a long time.

But you can’t live and consume media — digital or otherwise.

So now comes the latest study from the wizards at Ball State University (make of that rubric what you will).

This outcropping of still-reputable U.S. academia found that the 45-54 age group spends 9.5 hours a day watching TV on one or more screens (TV set, computer or cell phone).

All other age groups, in this study, spent 8.5 hours with TV.

So: How can this really happen?

I like to believe most people are responsible … and human.

So:

On the responsible end, a wage-earning employee or professional has to spend at least (repeat: at least) eight hours a day on the job. That is, performing profit-producing activities for a profit-seeking organization.

After that, the person has to spend — supposedly — another eight (8) hours sleeping, to remain a functional human. Or performance declines.

So, if another 8.5 hours or 9.5 hour is spent watching TV — on one or more screens — how is there any time left for any other normal human pursuit?

Such as;

* Talking to a spouse. This can be time-consumptive.
* Hugging or kissing a spouse. Less time-consumptive.
* Consorting in any other fashion with a spouse. You name it.

Let’s get real and just acknowledge that no individual really spends 8 or 9 or more hours truly watching a TV.

The TV may be on. But so is the fireplace, so is the air conditioning (at the same time), and a lot of other homestead and personal activities,

The screen does not have an unbridled hold on anyone’s time, most of the time.

March 20th, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: VC trends and strategies for 2009

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 4:02 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: Venture Capital, Investment, Finance, Financing Startups, masaokad

In this edition of the Churchill Club podcast series, a panel of experts talk changing company valuations, and threats such as corporate bankruptcies and limited partners reneging on their investment commitments. Here’s the outlook for the year ahead.

Panelists include:

• Jay Hoag, Co-founder, Technology Crossover Ventures
• Reid Hoffman, Chairman and CEO, LinkedIn
• Matt Murphy, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

March 9th, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: The innovation economy, R&D and a crisis

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 3:13 pm

Categories: Churchill Club, Innovation, Podcasts

Tags: Innovation, R&D, Podcasts, Internet, Larry Dignan

In this episode of the Churchill Club podcast series, a panel of experts talk about innovation and the need for a technology breakthrough. 

Is there an innovation drought on the way or will the Valley cook up the next big thing?

Speakers on March 4 included:

• Josephine M. Cheng, IBM Fellow & Vice President, IBM Almaden Research Center
• Judy Estrin, CEO, JLABS
• Rick Rashid, Senior Vice President, Research, Microsoft
• Sue Siegel, Partner, Mohr Davidow Ventures

Michael Mandel, Chief Economist, BusinessWeek, moderated.

January 23rd, 2009

Churchill Club podcast: The state of the browser

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 11:36 am

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts

Tags: Web Browser, Web Browsers, Podcasts, Internet, masaokad

The latest installment of the Churchill Club podcast series zeroes in on browsers.

When the browser first came on the scene 17 years ago, it had a straightforward mission: display the content, mostly text, that was springing up on the newborn World Wide Web. Since then, browsers have been transformed into massive programs requiring speed, stability on multiple platforms, security, a great user interface, and the ability to manage an ever-growing array of plug-ins that are often complex programs in their own right. Competition among browsers has waxed and waned, but in 2008 it became red-hot again with the release of Mozilla’s Firefox 3, Apple’s Safari for Windows inclusion in iTunes and QuickTime updates, and, in September, Google’s beta release of Chrome.

A panel of experts ponder the next steps for browsing. The panel, moderated by Steve Wildstrom, Technology & You columnist for BusinessWeek, includes:

• Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager Internet Explorer, Microsoft
• Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera 
• Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management, Google 
• Mike Shaver, VP Engineering, Mozilla

December 19th, 2008

Churchill Club podcast: Around the world in 140 characters: Twitter, the Web, and survival

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 1:43 pm

Categories: Churchill Club, Podcasts, Social networking, Web Technology

Tags: Web, Twitter, Podcasts, Channel Management, Internet, Marketing, masaokad

Twitter was supposedly a toy and a fad – until it influenced a presidential election. Now everyone is wondering what it’s going to do to everything from personal communication to marketing, politics, and the Web as a whole. Conde Nast Portfolio Contributing Editor Kevin Maney interviews Twitter CEO Evan Williams at the Churchill Club about the company’s impact, where it’s heading, and the broader picture in technology during a dark economic time.

December 19th, 2008

Podcast: MIT CFO Symposium: Dealing with the unexpected

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 3:02 am

Categories: Podcasts

Tags: Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, CFO, Podcasts, Branding, Investment, Internet, Marketing, Finance, masaokad

Here’s a panel from the MIT CFO Symposium on managing business volatility. This panel of CFOs examined how to manage through the unexpected.

• Megan Gates, Partner, Mintz Levin (moderator)
• Jane Henderson, CFO, Panacos Pharmaceuticals
• John Hupalo, Former CFO, First Marblehead
• Joe Keane, CFO, Reebok
• Kate Lavelle, CFO, Dunkin’ Brands

December 4th, 2008

EIC podcast: Yahoo trial balloons; Mumbai and Twitter; E-commerce

Posted by Larry Dignan @ 3:00 am

Categories: EIC2, General, Podcasts

Tags: Mumbai, Yahoo! Inc., Twitter, Podcasts, Internet, Larry Dignan

In this week’s EIC squared podcast Dan and I talk about the Yahoo rumor mill, the holiday shopping season on tech land and the Mumbai terror attacks and Twitter.

First the Yahoo rumor mill. The latest is that former AOL CEO Jonathan Miller is trying to raise a few billion to take Yahoo private. Yeah right. Good luck with raising that scratch in this credit market.

We also touched on the economy and CES in January. While spending is a bit uncertain Dan noted that there is still innovation happening.

And finally we discussed the Mumbai terror attacks and how the Valley tried to turn the events into a Twitter case study. I noted that I was annoyed by the cliche stories about the coming of age of Twitter. Here’s the formula: Pick big event, note how everyone yaps on Twitter and then come up with a story on how the service has gone mainstream. Dan was a bit more diplomatic and added that filtering the good content from bad is critical.

And finally we previewed the rest of the month, which features two rare events: Holiday parties. Google and Facebook have shindigs for the press in the next couple of weeks. That’s good news since most media companies have canceled their parties. The tech press has to drink somewhere right?