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Kindle 2 arrives

 Amazon.com beat expectations again, as they often do, and delivered my Kindle 2 a day early.  I love my original Kindle, but my first impression is that the Kindle 2 is a big improvement.  It is true that I can share content between the two devices, so everything I bought before can be moved to the new Kindle 2.  I don't know yet if I can have a book on both devices at the same time, but I think I can.

I had breakfast this morning with a friend who used to work in the publishing business, and we both are scratching our heads about why people get hung up on physical books.  For me, it's about reading, not the actual physical books.  I'll aways own certain books - my grandfather's and my father's books, or books that have really meant a lot to me will stay on my shelf, but soon I'm going to start getting rid of the books that I've already read (or never will read) using bookcrossing.com.    Let me know if you find one of my books in the wild.  And you can be sure that the book below will remain on my shelf.

Everything’s amazing, nobody’s happy

 

My good friend Marty sent me a link to a video clip of comedian Louis C.K. doing a bit on Conan O'Brian where he talks about how amazing things are now.  I sometimes have to keep my optimism in check a bit, because I know people are hurting and worried about the economy, but this is good for a laugh, and it’s a reminder of how much things have improved in just the last 50 or 100 years.  As a phone geek, I got a laugh out of the reminder of how phones worked not that long ago.

I would imbed the video, but the comments are interesting, to a point, where it just turns into a flame-fest.  I will say this though – the more I learn to appreciate what I’ve already got, the happier I become and the less stress I feel about the things that aren’t going the way I want them to go.  I still want still want a new guitar and the next cool gadget, but I now know that happiness is NOT defined by or provided by – stuff.  It’s often a choice and it’s about actions and relationships.  Seriously.

Click here to see the video.

Have a happy weekend!

Technorati Tags: Louis C.K.,Conan O'Brian,Comedy,Technology

Ask the VC live in Boulder

Jason Mendelson, Managing Director for the Foundry Group, will be speaking at a public event in Boulder, Colorado on February 24th.  This is a great chance to hear about how VC funding works from somebody who's investing in new companies and who is very open and honest about how it really works.  If you have any interest in raising money for your startup, you should also be reading Jason and Brad Feld's blog,  Ask the VC.  Here's a link to the event.

Update on the Network World podcast about UC

Mitchell Ashley just did an update post on his Network World blog about the Microsoft Office Communications Server R2 release and what this means for the enterprise.  This one is a text post and covers some of the ground we covered in the podcast, particularly around the cost savings I’m experiencing in my own business by eliminating voice conferencing costs.  He also touches on the costs I expect to save when all of my communications channels are via the Internet.

In the early days of Gold Systems, Jim and I would agonize about adding the expense of each new phone line.  When we bought our first real phone system, we thought we were finally a “real business” even though we cheaped out and wrote our own voicemail system.  (That’s harder than it looks by the way.  The guy who did it still works with us and I’m always amazed when I think back on what he accomplished.  We used it for many years before buying a commercial voicemail system.)

When we started buying phone lines by the T1, the expenses really started racking up.  I’m going to see the day very soon I think where we have no phone lines, and our communications expenses will be less than it was our first few years in business.  Amazing.  I may not see the day of “electricity too cheap to meter” but we’re getting pretty close in the world of communications.

 

Technorati Tags: unified communications,Office Communications Server,Gold Systems

Microsoft OCS 2007 R2 Virtual Launch event today

Microsoft is officially launching Office Communications Server 2007 R2 today.  If you want to attend the virtual launch, go here and register.  Be sure and stop by the Gold Systems booth.  We won't be able to give you the chocolate gold coins that we usually have at trade shows, but hey, you didn't have to fly half-way across the country either, right?  With travel budgets being slashed, I'm really curious to see how a virtual launch works for people.  While I was writing this, the launch officially opened.

A big part of the OCS experience is in communicating better with people when you can't just sit down face to face.  I'm getting more done with less hassles, and the company is saving money.

I wrote about the savings that we're actually experiencing with the new release on the Gold Systems blog - it's over $3,000 a month, and I expect that to go to maybe $6,000 a month once we disconnect our old voice T1s and POTs lines.  And we're a small company - our customers will save a lot more.

I see the press releases are starting to hit - our good partner Polycom just mentioned us in one of their press releases.

Update #1:  I just heard that Gold Systems was mentioned in the keynote address.  Like most trade shows, I was unable to attend the keynote, but with this show, I'll be able to go back and watch it later.

Update #2:  Here's the link to the post I wrote on the Gold Systems blog about our actual cost savings.

Update #3:  Here's our own press release in the wild.

Update #4:  Mitchell Ashley just did an update post on his Network World blog about the R2 release and what this means for the enterprise.