The Newest Computer Battleground: Backup

If you had told me five years ago that within an hour I would see two commercials on TV for two different online backup systems, I would have laughed heartily, yet that's just what I saw last week, as backup as become the newest (and one of the biggest) turf wars in computing today.

Carbonite and Mozy both took their pitches to TV, which comes as a bit of a surprise given the relatively small size of both companies, although that might also speak to the low price of TV ads right now. This growing market even has a relatively consistent $50-60/year price point. With so many companies in this space right now, (iDrive, Apple's MobileMe, SOS on PC,  and Dropbox to mention a few more) look for some sort of consolidation. With the pricing for most of these services already in the same ballpark, online backup is already headed towards commodity status.

Kudos to both Mozy and Carbonite for their aggressive plans to attract more users. This market could practically disappear overnight if Apple and Microsoft decided to integrate large, online backup as part of the OS. If Apple were to make MobileMe free, and beef up the backup tools, would there be any need for another service? Time Machine already gives them a decent backup mechanism that could have an online component added to it.

In the meantime, sit back and enjoy the biggest computer turf war since the great browser wars of the 90's. Oh, and don't be surprised if this one has a similar outcome. Then again, 15 years later, the new browser war probably takes the cake as the second biggest battleground.

ABC Has Online Video Figured Out

Last week Nielsen released the first look at the Top Ten Most Watched Network TV Shows Online. It looks quite clear that ABC is the runaway champ in online viewing, taking seven of the top 10 spots. NBC's two marks on the chart are #2 with Saturday Night Live and Heroes at #5. The top-ranked show, Lost, had 1.425 million online viewers. CBS had one show on the chart, Survivor at #9.

What is it about ABC that makes them so dominant in online viewing? Well, first a note about the numbers. As reported by TV Week, the figures do not include views from hulu.com, arguably the most popular network-sanctioned video website. If hulu was included, it would be safe to assume NBC's numbers would increase, although I doubt it would change the number of NBC shows on the list: Heroes and SNL would probably simply rank higher. 

ABC's dominance is especially noteworthy since their slick web player requires an additional plugin download. Common belief today is requiring a download is the kiss of death for any video-related website, but ABC shows that if the video and audio quality is there, people will do it. And admittedly, ABC is in a better position to require a plugin than say, The Digital Lifestyle.

It also doesn't hurt that ABC is home to Lost. For fans, if you miss an episode it's imperative that you get caught up before next week, and there's only one place to do that in lovely HD online: ABC.

Will Election Day Ever Be Online?

As we lineup across the U.S. to cast our votes (you are voting, aren't you?) the archaic nature of it all starts to sink in. In an age in which we can order pizza online, or pay taxes, we have to (for the most part) stand in line to wait to cast our ballots through a variety of methods. Why not cut out the middle man? Could we see voting from home anytime soon? There's several issues to consider: there would be no way to know whether the person was casting their vote under pressure, or with a watchful eye in the room. But given the perceived or real fraud/hack possibilities with today's methods, would internet voting really be any worse?
There are a few hundred people who will actually be voting via the internet this year. But this method utilizes "hardened" PCs on military bases, and isn't a practical way for millions to cast their votes. (As an aside, here's an interesting article on how astronauts in orbit will vote this year.)

Maybe this isn't a problem that requires technology. We could simply go to a mail-in ballot as Oregon has done. In theory, the same issues of intimidation are possible, but overall, Oregonians seem happy with the painless, line-free voting method. Technology, as much as we love it here at TDL, isn't always the answer.