Sunday, September 28, 2008
Watching the polls
I've been regularly following fivethirtyeight.com to look at the trends of all of the political polls put together, rather than focusing on the poll of the day. Another good poll analysis site is the Princeton Election Consortium - and not just because they place Minnesota as having a very high voter influence, and so we're in a state where it is especially important to go out and vote in November.
Labels: mnpolitics, politics
Sunday, September 21, 2008
I'm a PC
I think this article has an interesting argument about why the new Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ads do more for Apple.
I'm not sure -- I think they're more effective than that article argues. I think they do point out one of the downsides of the Apple campaign -- everyone knows that PC is the real star of those advertisements. He's the more sympathetic character, and John Hodgman is the person that I look at positively.
But I think the computer age is radically changing -- especially now that we're in the network era. I'm a strong software-as-a-service believer, and from games like World of Warcraft to the business software platform set up by Salesforce.com, you've got an environment where the very nature of what is provided changes.
Really, most of the kinds of things that people use computers for -- financial management, simple document management, e-mail, web searching, and so on -- can be increasingly done in the cloud. Because you want your calendar to be accessible at home, at work, and on your mobile phone. And so many of those, the PC operating system isn't relevant?
So what are the things where it is? Connecting to your music and video library, especially synchronizing your music player... which, most of the time, was designed at Apple.
And then, you've got the things that cloud computing isn't good for -- and that's the artistic things, like graphic design, or music, or movies. And well, we know what computers have always been more popular amongst the "creative types"...
I mean, Windows isn't going anywhere -- the business world has a heavy investment in it. And it's really still "the default choice" for an OS platform...
But I think the new ad shows that while the Mac is still the minority platform -- and may continue to be -- the computing world is going to be very, very different in five years.
I'm not sure -- I think they're more effective than that article argues. I think they do point out one of the downsides of the Apple campaign -- everyone knows that PC is the real star of those advertisements. He's the more sympathetic character, and John Hodgman is the person that I look at positively.
But I think the computer age is radically changing -- especially now that we're in the network era. I'm a strong software-as-a-service believer, and from games like World of Warcraft to the business software platform set up by Salesforce.com, you've got an environment where the very nature of what is provided changes.
Really, most of the kinds of things that people use computers for -- financial management, simple document management, e-mail, web searching, and so on -- can be increasingly done in the cloud. Because you want your calendar to be accessible at home, at work, and on your mobile phone. And so many of those, the PC operating system isn't relevant?
So what are the things where it is? Connecting to your music and video library, especially synchronizing your music player... which, most of the time, was designed at Apple.
And then, you've got the things that cloud computing isn't good for -- and that's the artistic things, like graphic design, or music, or movies. And well, we know what computers have always been more popular amongst the "creative types"...
I mean, Windows isn't going anywhere -- the business world has a heavy investment in it. And it's really still "the default choice" for an OS platform...
But I think the new ad shows that while the Mac is still the minority platform -- and may continue to be -- the computing world is going to be very, very different in five years.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Palin for President
Saturday, September 06, 2008
More Political Thoughts
Love this clip from Joe Biden talking about the RNC.
One thought -- McCain said that he was going to "make those people famous" who were putting through earmarks or special interest pork projects, including those from his own party. He doesn't need to be president to do that -- he can do that now, as part of the campaign. It's one thing to say that you're going to do something like that -- we've heard it before from politicians, especially Republican politicians. And I'm certainly not against cutting wasteful spending -- though what programs are actually wasteful is sometimes something to debate.
I started to read Sen. Obama's Audacity of Hope
. One of the sad parts of getting into this part of the campaign is that it you get all worked up in the us-vs-them part of politics. I know that I find myself going there as well, especially when it gets into the more red meat divisive political elements. And some of it is satisfying, especially when you have a side that you think it is very important that they win.
One thought -- McCain said that he was going to "make those people famous" who were putting through earmarks or special interest pork projects, including those from his own party. He doesn't need to be president to do that -- he can do that now, as part of the campaign. It's one thing to say that you're going to do something like that -- we've heard it before from politicians, especially Republican politicians. And I'm certainly not against cutting wasteful spending -- though what programs are actually wasteful is sometimes something to debate.
I started to read Sen. Obama's Audacity of Hope
. One of the sad parts of getting into this part of the campaign is that it you get all worked up in the us-vs-them part of politics. I know that I find myself going there as well, especially when it gets into the more red meat divisive political elements. And some of it is satisfying, especially when you have a side that you think it is very important that they win.Labels: politics
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Yes We Can
Definitely one of the more positive videos that I've seen...
One of the things that has impressed me about the campaign is all of the little things they're doing -- websites like Vote For Change. Collecting contact information at rallies -- they did it at the St Paul rally back in June, they did it at Mile High Stadium last week. They're collecting cell phone numbers when you request to get the text announcements, or when you request the campaign to visit your town.
The Republicans may mock community organizing at their convention -- but from an organizational perspective, I can see what they're doing -- and if they're doing this everywhere, they'll have done community organizing at a scale that we haven't seen much before, and using every piece of modern technology available to them.
And if that can be done to get a candidate elected... what can be done with those resources after the election? Because Election Day isn't the end.
One of the things that has impressed me about the campaign is all of the little things they're doing -- websites like Vote For Change. Collecting contact information at rallies -- they did it at the St Paul rally back in June, they did it at Mile High Stadium last week. They're collecting cell phone numbers when you request to get the text announcements, or when you request the campaign to visit your town.
The Republicans may mock community organizing at their convention -- but from an organizational perspective, I can see what they're doing -- and if they're doing this everywhere, they'll have done community organizing at a scale that we haven't seen much before, and using every piece of modern technology available to them.
And if that can be done to get a candidate elected... what can be done with those resources after the election? Because Election Day isn't the end.
Labels: politics
Comparing the candidates
It is very interesting to compare each of the four major party candidates in google trends over the last 30 days. Unsurprisingly, there is a HUGE spike for the VP candidates when they are named, especially for the previously unknown Alaskan governor.
It'll be interesting to follow as we get past the conventions. The spike for Sarah Palin is already dropping -- but where will she level out in comparison to the other candidates.
Labels: politics
Monday, September 01, 2008
Conversion
For me, one of the sadder things about the long primary campaign this spring was that as I was getting more, and more enthused about the Obama campaign, I was getting more turned off by the 2008 Clinton campaign.
This wasn't something that made me very happy -- especially since the Obama 2008 campaign reminds me so much of the Clinton 1992 campaign, where a young candidate unheard of a few years previously talks about the hope for the future after the disaster of a Bush presidency. There were a lot of people that compared Obama to a Kennedy -- but for me, the personal reminder was always Bill Clinton.
So it is nice to see stories like this fromClinton supporter Howard Wolfson -- recognizing all of the history of this year, and the impressive ability of Sen. Obama to rally 75,000 people.
That said, it is a difficult week to be partisan, when we've got another reminder that the weather doesn't have a political party. So this is a good week not to give money to a political campaign or party, or a week to protest or celebrate, but to give to a charity like the Red Cross.
This wasn't something that made me very happy -- especially since the Obama 2008 campaign reminds me so much of the Clinton 1992 campaign, where a young candidate unheard of a few years previously talks about the hope for the future after the disaster of a Bush presidency. There were a lot of people that compared Obama to a Kennedy -- but for me, the personal reminder was always Bill Clinton.
So it is nice to see stories like this fromClinton supporter Howard Wolfson -- recognizing all of the history of this year, and the impressive ability of Sen. Obama to rally 75,000 people.
That said, it is a difficult week to be partisan, when we've got another reminder that the weather doesn't have a political party. So this is a good week not to give money to a political campaign or party, or a week to protest or celebrate, but to give to a charity like the Red Cross.
Labels: mnpolitics, politics
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