Time to Move On…

Posted on 12. Feb, 2011 by Zahid Lilani. 0

I have iPhone 3G and have it since it was first released. Once I learned how to use it to its full potential without jail breaking, its been a pleasure ride. “There is an App for that” was a term I used with friends and family every time I was asked if iPhone can __________ [fill in the blank].

Almost 2 years and now I am sick of iPhone. There are number of reasons and none of them involve AT&T.

After upgrading to the latest version 4.2.1 of iOS, I have been having issues like frozen screen, lagging performance, slow GPS, app crash, and unresponsive touchscreen. The upgrade is not to be blamed entirely; I noticed similar performance issues even before I upgraded. I have 21 songs, 0 videos, 17 photos and 21 apps with 6.3 GB of free space.

There are 2 iPhones in my household both 3G; one jail broken (wife) and one intact. The jail broken one makes me jealous sometimes with vibrant themes and the ability to reply to texts on the go. I upgraded to 4.2.1 version very late because my wife upgraded her iPhone after jail breaking it and experienced slow performance. I thought maybe it’s that way because her iPhone is jail broken. I was wrong; it’s the iOS.

iOS 4.2.1 wasn’t made for iPhone 3G because even after you upgrade, your phone can’t do many things that iPhone 3GS can do after the upgrade. Maybe that’s why they say that “one size fits all” approach is usually not the best way to go.

So what’s next?

AT&T is releasing Motorola Atrix next month; the best smartphone at CES 2011. I have never been a fan of Motorola (despised those slim razr flip phones) but this one will change my view. Not because it has an award under its belt but because its running Android 2.2 and has the performance of a PC. I need a phone that is powerful, fast and lets me customize the phone without jailbreaking.

Now that Verizon has iPhone, it makes even more sense to stick with AT&T and get Motorola Atrix which will be a 4G phone unlike iPhone 4 that will run on 3G network on both Verizon and AT&T.

I will change the category “iPhone” on this blog to “Smartphones.”

Social Media: Bubble in the Making

Posted on 11. Jan, 2011 by Zahid Lilani. 4

Most people are now speculating that there is a social media bubble. First, no one really cared because tech giants with tons of cash where buying tiny start-ups with no revenue in anticipation of future success. Now that Goldman Sachs is stepping up its game and betting that Facebook is worth $50 Billion by investing $450 Million, it gets little serious.

You might not know this but Goldman Sachs has been behind every bubble since 1920s. It’s made a lot of money from the recent wall street bailout and has been dubbed “too big to fail.” Goldman Sachs will never pay a price for all the bad decisions it makes because the government can always bail it out.

Back to the bubble…

So Goldman Sachs decided that since social media is all the range, its about time they jumped in and made some dough. It went around SEC regulations, created a trust fund that designates Goldman Sachs as one investor and then started selling little pieces of that trust to its wealthy clients. Facebook can only have 500 shareholders because it is a private company but because of this trust, it can have 1000s of investors underneath one giant Goldman Sachs umbrella.

There are two things you need to understand.

By investing in Facebook, Goldman Sachs is legitimizing it as an investment that others should also look into and thus creating a gold rush a.k.a bubble and to prove it, here is a quote:

“Maybe it’s just envy talking—we would have killed to be in this deal—but part of me wonders if Goldman is pulling a fast one on Facebook,”

- An executive at a rival Wall Street firm. CNBC

Another proof was announced recently; potential LinkedIn IPO this year. Reason: Get in before Facebook IPO and rake in a decent price. LinkedIn is just being smart and the company that will take LinkedIn public is J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs rival.

Second, Goldman Sachs is not using its own money to invest in Facebook; it’s the market.

Goldman Sachs has a free “get out of debt” card that it can use any time without any repercussions. If someone gave you $100 and asked you to gamble and if you win, money is yours and if you don’t, no worries then would you think before you leap?

By investing $450 Million, Goldman Sachs can now sell upwards of $1.5 Billion in shares to its wealthy clients. It is not a venture capital firm but bank-holding company that borrows through the capital markets all the money that it invests.

Some numbers…

Goldman Sachs invested $450 Million to buy less than 1% stake in Facebook.

$50 Billion X 1% = $500 Million (less than 1% stake)

Goldman Sachs evaluated Facebook at 25 times more than its 2010 revenue, now leaked, around $2 Billion with profit of around $400 Million.

$2 Billion X 25 = $50 Billion

Google is considered one of the robust companies and its current value of $196 Billion is only 7 times its annual revenue. Compare that to Facebook’s value worth 25 times its annual revenue…

Behind every successful man there is a woman; behind every bubble there is Goldman Sachs.

5 Major Social Media Successes of 2010

Posted on 03. Jan, 2011 by Zahid Lilani. 1

I already blogged about 5 Major Social Media Fails of 2010 and now it’s time to talk about some major successes. Like FAILS, there were many success stories and I have tried to narrow it down to 5 major ones in my opinion.

1) Show me the money

Groupon was a surprise for many, no one saw it coming. Google was willing to pay $6 Billion for a company that uses the power of collective buying to deliver local deals to you. Google has been trying to acheive what Groupon did in merely 2 years for quite a few years now. Groupon is a surprise success but it once again proves that if you have an idea that revolves around people and what they really want, you will not go wrong.

Groupon recently received a lot more funding and it seems like they are going to run the show for quite some time before going public. It is currently the most successful start-up ever… and they have every right to say “show me the money.”

2) 500 Million Friends

Facebook reached a milestone this year when it hit 500 Million users. That’s half a billion users, that’s quarter of the entire population that uses the internet. 26 year old Harvard drop out takes dorm room success story to silicon valley and turns it in to a $50 Billion company in six short years. Forget about the never ending recession, high unemployment and soaring foreclosures… it’s business as usual at Facebook.

If it keeps growing at current rate, Facebook will hit 1 Billion mark in early 2012. My prediction, maybe little far fetched is that it will reach 1 Billion users in 2011. You think Zuckerberg went to China to see the Berlin wall or something?

3) Those Never Ending Cables

WikiLeaks has proved that it is no longer possible for Government, Politicians and other high ranking people to do their dirty deeds and assume it will never come out. It will only take one whistle blower or disgruntled employee to bring down the entire house. WikiLeaks makes it easier than ever for people who only wished they could do something about injustice or political secrecy.

Call it citizen journalism or simply the new era of transparency, it is here to stay.

4) Where you at?

Location based services like Foursquare and Gowalla were hit hard by Facebook’s launch of places but to my surprise, they seem to be hanging on. Foursquare has created its own niche and is now the king. If it keeps innovating and listening to its loyal users, I think it will survive 2011 and won’t be eaten up by a big fish. Gowalla is no longer growing but it’s still there, trying to differentiate itself from Foursquare.

Surviving 2010 was a big success for all location based social media services because most of us wrongly predicted, including me, their demise once Facebook Places was unleashed.

5) Bye Bye Super Bowl

Instead of paying whopping $2.5 Million for a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl 2010, Pepsi decided that it would avoid the whole scene and focus on social media. Pepsi’s switch from traditional TV advertising during Super Bowl 2010 to social media is indeed a step in the right direction. Pepsi will always be remembered as one of the first major companies to ditch the Super Bowl for social media.

Pepsi Refresh Project was the result of Pepsi diverting ad dollars towards something that can achieve greater good and at the same time reach its ideal demographic of young and social media savvy people.

What do you think about my picks? Did I miss something?

5 Major Social Media FAILS of 2010

Posted on 30. Dec, 2010 by Zahid Lilani. 11

There are ups and downs and then there are major fails. Social Media map changed this year for good and for bad. Mashable and Huffington Post have already posted some technology fails and I am sure others will soon follow. My list is not surprising but I have my opinion as to what is really fail and what is a lapse in judgment.

5 Major Social Media FAILS of 2010

1) Grave Digger

Digg used to be the “news junkie” heaven just 4 years ago but unfortunately they were not able to keep up with the changing dynamics of the social media evolution. This year they decided to introduce the newest version of Digg that failed miserably.

Instead of rolling out gradual changes, they dropped a bomb that blew up on their face. It remains to be seen if Digg will recover from their lack of foresight and regain their rank as a niche news leader. To come this far and not make a calculated decision is a FAIL in my view.

2) Buzz Fizz

Google thought that with the launch of Buzz it will gain access to the sphere currently owned by Twitter. It was a good idea and Buzz is not that bad. Problem: They didn’t do all the beta testing possible before launching it. Result: Private information of its users was revealed and the result was a lawsuit at a tune of $8.5 Million which Google lost.

Both Buzz and Wave fizzled in no time after launch. In my opinion, launching Buzz was a good idea though premature but assuming Gmail users don’t care about privacy was not. Fail.

3) ZuckNet

Mark Zuckerberg has been in spotlight all throughout 2010. There was the Movie, Facebook Privacy Controversy, $100 Million Pledge, and now TIME Person of the Year. I don’t blame Mark for the privacy mishaps of Facebook because the Venture Capitalists and Angels didn’t invest in Facebook so that they could hang a certificate on the wall saying “Facebook is worth $$ Billion.” They want to take Facebook public, become real Billionaires and move on. Mark is just trying to satisfy them, it happens all the time. The reason Facebook gets away with it and Google doesn’t is because Facebook is not public yet.

Major fail though is the fact that Mark thinks people who are on Facebook sharing every minute detail of their lives are “dumb fucks” and trust Facebook.

4) Bad Taste Tweet

There are some Tweets that don’t make sense and then there are some that make you wonder if a Tweet was necessary. One such Tweet was that of Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff.

I am all for death penalty but I think a lethal injection ought to do it. Calling in a firing squad and Tweeting about it is simply disgusting. No Tweet was necessary and if he had to Tweet, a somber one would have done the job. FAIL.

5) Avoid Holding it That Way!

This might be a major gadget FAIL instead of social media but the reason I am talking about it is because how iPhone has revolutionized social media. iPhone 4 was released this year and it wasn’t the best of launches; especially for Apple considering its PR reputation and innovative products.

A user over at MacRumors emailed Steve Jobs about the signal quality while holding the new iPhone 4 in a specific way. This is what Steve Jobs replied: “Non issue. Just avoid holding it in that way.”

A company has failed if it is telling you how to hold a device, period.

What do you think? Are you on the same page with me? What was the major social media FAIL according to you?

Academy of Art University’s Foursquare Special

Posted on 01. Dec, 2010 by Zahid Lilani. 2

There are different ways businesses are using Foursquare’s “Special Here” feature but I was surprised that a University would also engage in something very unorthodox but trendy. Here is Academy of Art University’s Foursquare Special which allows you to check in for extra credit.

Academy of Art University's Foursquare Special

Two classes in question are COM 202: Multimedia Formats & Trends 1 and COM 635: MS: Advanced Multimedia Broadcast Distribution.

Wish we had Foursquare when I was in school…