For me, reading the insights and thought provoking writings of Seth Godin are among the insatiable good things in marketing information today.

Enjoy .. repeatedly!

Gizmo Project’s -  Gizmo5 -  is NO MORE.

The former Gizmo Project – renamed Gizmo5 in early 2009, the only real competitor to Skype worth looking into, was gobbled up by Google on November 12, 2009 (formal announcement).

Before gobbling up Gizmo, Google purchased another really good idea:  GrandCentral; the first centrally located one-number, one-contact, effort online – that really worked.

Gizmo5 was combined with the former GrandCentral and is now .. Google Voice.

So what you read in my original post will actually be reading a bit of  past-history.  And for my money,  sad, bad-past-history.

I had both GrandCentral and Gizmo5 accounts.  I used both regularly.  I really enjoyed the benefits and functions of these contact-communication tools.  However,  I’ve not be nearly as inspired by Google Voice.

In fact, though I have several Google Voice accounts, I’ve rarely .. if ever again! .. used them.

As the song told us years ago, “… you don’t know what you got, ’til it’s gone.”[1] I’m also hearing an endless loop of this R’n'R legend, “You can’t always get what you want.”[2]

I know, I know.  I might be pulling the trigger too fast here.  Google might just turn around and hit a home run with Google Voice.  But right now, all I see is a miserable pop-up to center field.

I don’t hope for it to be a failure.  I truly want this effort to be a real winner.  Sure it’s FREE.  But there is an old adage that warns about such illegitimate opportunity as well, “… you get what you pay for”.   This is a plague found deep withing the core of the Internet mentality.  It will change.  But that change will be very painful.  So we don’t need anyone adding to the future extraction excruciation.

Google does a lot of things very good.   I really like that about Google.

But no one, not even Google, does everything better.  That Google has not realized this,  I really DON’T like about them.

The main reason isn’t only the demise of something I’d grown used to; accustomed to; and enjoyed.

It’s more about their arrogance.  And most of all it’s the fact that their arrogance will lead to their downfall.  That ruination will REALLY piss-me-off.  I really like using their good stuff.  A lot!

Change is good.   But, extinction SUCKS.  And arrogance leads right straight to extinction.

—-

References

[1] Joni Mitchel’s 1970 hit, Big Yellow Taxi
[2] Rolling Stones 1969 hit, You Can’t Always Get What You Want

For  an idea of how NET500.CG is using the Roohit,  take a look in the right directory for our listing or visit our Roohit Page.  We have an active demo there and links to other installations among our clients and other pages we produce.

A bit late in re-posting to this post, but Gizmo is NO MORE.  Read my belated post  and clod-kicker here.

Yes, that’s right! Just log in to your Gizmo account (What? Don’t have one! Then get one, NOW!) and make a telephone call to any landline, computer-2-computer, and SIP phones right from this browser. Or any browser with the Gizmo FLASH 9.0 embed tool on it!

Amazing, VOIP service worldwide – You can call any other GizmoCall, Gizmo5 users, 800 numbers, or SIP address for no charge – right from a browser on any computer, any platform (non OS specific) – even the new Netbooks!

This is sort of like Skype’s ‘embedded call’ link. But even that has to pull up the computer-based program. This is stand alone. Make a call from ANY computer by simply going to GizmoCall.com. Log in and make your call. Couldn’t be simpler!

So, go ahead, get your FREE Gizmo account. Buy a few minutes of extremely reasonable air time and call some folks – right from the comfort of your own browser.

I’d suggest a good headset w/mic (Plantronics is a good start) so that your conversations are ‘private’ – that is if you don’t ‘talk loud’ (please DON’T!). Great for on-the-road work from the computer. I use it all the time whether on-the-road or in the ‘SoHo’.

So, enjoy and get connected!

Stay tuned and keep watching.  The virtual water will begin to flow real soon!

net500cg

With over 70% penetration, computers-in-the-home, are now a ubiquitos part of our daily environment. Add to this the nearly 40% broadband usage – in private homes alone, in the U.S., the use of high-bandwidth media such as audio and video, are now primed for distribution. In light of the massive promotion of ‘video online’ by such sites as YouTube, YahooVideo, AOL Video, Google Video, SoapBox, Grouper, Photobucket, Webshots, Ning, iFilm, MetaCafe, DailyMotion, GoFish, Dave.tv and many more [1] trying to cash-in on the market, there is no end to the marketing possibilities.

The wave is rolling. Will you be there to catch it? Or, will you stand in ‘first-wave-shock’ as it rolls right over you, crushing you and your market opportunity? The choice … is YOURS.

Catch the Wave!

Background: This houe in this video belonged to my wife’s, now deceased, Uncle James Burton; of Lexington, KY. The house will go on Estate Auction on Saturday May 26, in Lexington, KY. The house has been completely restored and renovated. James’ son Terry and daughter Vicki had the work done. It’s a nice property on the edge of an older neighborhood that is now being sought for redevelopment. It will make someone a very nice residence.

The Online Market: This video produced by, or for, Gooch Realestate, in Lexington, KY; the handler of the estate sale; is indicative of the new use of Internet video to present products and services to a wider range of audience and market. It is obvious when viewing the video that is it both amateurish and ‘homegrown’, but it is none-the-less effective. And that is the point. If the production brings a sale or increases the profit element of a product, then it was produced ‘well’.

Update: The house sold, before the day of the auction, for nearly $10K more than expected!  The quick move on the sale was due, in part, to the interest generated by the online video.

NET500.CG is working on over 30 projects at the same time.  That’s our style.  Our areas of expertise are quite varied and our interests exceed even those boundaries!  So, we are working, though it seems at a snail’s pace to get to a point of ‘ready for Prime Time’.

You will begin noticing the SIDEBAR filling up with information. More BLOGROLL links will begin to appear.  And you will begin to see other snippets of information appear in new categories and Pages.

We are looking forward to our new release and getting up-to-speed with out productions.

Thanks for watching and checking back.

NET500.CG

NET500.CG