I used to write only about my opinions over the web industry, give some comments, advice and so on, well that’s about to change now. As I’ve been living for over a year now in Germany, Europe, therefore I’d like to spend more time talking about my experiences here. In other words, expect more posts about this. Photos of beer bottles will be included ! Tschüss und bis gleich !
Author Archives: Marc-Antoine
UBB, or how I learned to love tapping my neighbour’s WIFI
Earlier last week, the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commitee) dropped a bomb on the Canadian world of Internet: ISPs in Canada will soon be obligated to charge internet users according to their broadband usage, or commonly know as Usage-Based-Billing (UBB). Put simply, the more you download, the more you pay. It’s no surprise this decision raises lots of questions and anger from Internet surfers & programmers alike; everyone wonders if it’s really a good idea. Continue reading
Group Buying, The Renaissance of an Old Economic Concept
Because my latest professional article talks about digital economics, I thought it was relevant to post it on my personal website. Continue reading
“The Social Network”
I had the chance to see the movie “The Social Network” yesterday, I must say I enjoyed the experience. When the movie ended, I felt like it was too short, but when I looked at my watch, little did I know 2 hours had already passed. That’s usually a good sign that what I had just seen was very enjoyable. Here are my thoughts on the film. Continue reading
Working in the Web business: I can haz no IT diploma?
I am someone who did pretty good in University. During my Bachelor’s in economics, I didn’t have too many problems when it came to solving complex math problems, isolating 5-6 variables in an equation wasn’t that hard for me. Continue reading
8$ profit for every AdWords click?
Interesting video explaining the economic impact of Google in the US. I think the numbers are well-rounded (really), but interesting nevertheless. The problem with this data is that it includes the largest of well-known companies who can easily make large sums of revenues because of their brand-power. For smaller-businesses, most of the time it’s a lot tougher. Getting that 800% ROI takes time. So if you’re a SMB owner and just started using paid search, don’t get mad because you’re not getting that number right away.
Incredible adventures in Japan
OK so this does not really have anything to do with online business, but since I’ve had the chance to fly to probably the most tech-savvy country in the world, it does in some kind of way. I thought I may share my experiences, thoughts and observations from my two-week trip in Japan.
Special thanks to my cousin & his girlfriend who were very kind to show me around and help me navigate in this fascinating far-away land.
Why Social Media is super cool and not
Facebook, Twitter and (probably) soon FourSquare are so incredibly popular these days, it’s IMPOSSIBLE not to have heard about them. Where there’s hype, there’s smoke. ‘You have to jump on the wagon’ they say, ‘if you don’t have a fan page, you’re out’. Even if you don’t have a Facebook fan page, you’ll still be able to survive. Trust me. If you do want one, catching up will be easy as 1 2 3.
Some of my thoughts on social media. I’ve split personal and professional point of views because I think it should be this way. Continue reading
Supporting Wikipedia, perfect pricing!
Yup, I am among those who show their support to Wikipedia. Funny because it reminds me of a concept I got to learn in school: perfect price discrimination (ppd). PPD happens when the client chooses what price he will pay for a product in particular. Radiohead displayed a wonderful example of this concept with their release of their album “In Rainbows”, where fans could choose the price he or she would “donate” in exchange for the album online. Wikipedia’s fund-raising campaign is basically the same recipe.
I think PPD is an interesting economic model for the web; it’s quite possible the only place where it actually works well. Think about it, would grocery store owners rely on the goodwill of their clients and let them pay whatever price they would like to pay for food? It’s only natural to assume he would not. No, it’s only natural to assume it’s just crazy. Just like any business, he’s got tons of things he needs to pay & tons of things he needs to buy.
Web businesses on the other hand, do have employees, computers and such, but costs are most of the time less of a burden than those of a traditional brick & mortar company. I’m talking about the typical high-value software company where supplies cannot go sour or break (unless people are throwing computers around the office) and profit margins are usually higher. In this case, PPD may sound a lot less scary as you do not have numerous suppliers waiting for you to pay your bills. You rely on the goodwill of people because you somewhat can do that.
Of course there is a downside to that and you’ve probably guessed it already: no cookies for Santa. That’s right, having nobody paying can mean that you’re going to have to lock those doors and say goodbye to the company you’ve been wanting to build so badly. Like Santa, you’ve been working hard to provide something that is amazing, but no one is willing to give something back.
Like I mentioned so many times in my blog, part of the problem comes that divulging information is so cheap on the web. Protecting that information can somehow prevent free riders from getting away with the prize, but there is always a way to get this information for free legally or not.
Relying on the people who understand that businesses & organizations cannot survive without a little financial help is a great way to keep things going. If you use Wikipedia a lot, show some support. I think it’s one of the greatest inventions of the Web.
H1N1 & the fear of information
Certainly one of this year’s top talked-about subjects, the H1N1 virus is both a major concern and very questionable in the minds of many. Part of the reason for it being like this is well, there are simply so many sources of information available today. While this isn’t groundbreaking news you’re reading (of course if it is, you’ve probably been living under a rock for the past 15 years or so), part of the problem is because the cost of divulging information is so incredibly low. We’re all journalists now. We are all part of the hype; no matter what the subject is. The H1N1 flu virus is a remarkable example.
I have to admit, it scared me, still does and probably will forever. While I did get the flu shot, now people are telling me it might become obsolete because of its so-called ability to mutate, therefore making my trip to the infirmary pretty much useless. Now I’m reading about people getting super sick 2 weeks after having received the shot; the next day I read about people dying from the shot…Argh! Enough is enough!
As they say…ignorance is bliss.