the Dynamist

Cloud Computing a boon for the heartland

In this article in AlwaysOn, Greg Ness writes about how cloud computing may be further freeing IT workers from having to live near big cities and, along with telecommuting, bringing good jobs to rural America.  Not unlike how electricity and the automobile freed industrial plants from needing to be concentrated in big cities or near rivers.  The strategic resource for rural areas to attract cloud computing "factories": access to cheap power.

McKinsey on Energy Productivity

Technology Watch:  As the CleanTech Blog brought to my attention, the McKinsey Global Institute has released a study suggesting that if the world invested $170BN a year in increasing "energy productivity" between now and 2020, the world could cut greenhouse emissions in half AND enjoy a 17% IRR on its investment, achieving savings of $900BN annually by the end of the period.  Interestingly, none of the investment needs to be in "alternative energy", but instead in energy efficiency, which it dubs "energy productivity" to cast it in a more positive, capitalist-appealing light.

Half of the capital ($80Bn / year) would go to global industrial sectors, a quarter ($40BN/yr) would go to residential and about an eighth would go to commercial and transportation.  Two-thirds of the investment would need to go to developing countries, with China alone requiring 16% of the total.  McKinsey points out the near-universal policy of providing fuel subsidies in developing markets is a particularly egregious market distortion that holds back efficiency gains.

This suggests that a good portion of the VC dollars being thrown at cleantech is barking up the wrong tree by focusing on alternative energy and that the real money (and earth-saving improvements) are to be made in the "energy productivity" sector.

Sprint and Clearwire near a WiMax deal

Technology Watch:  It looks like Sprint and Clearwire are again near a deal to form a WiMax joint venture that would involve a $2BN injection from Sprint and potentially other companies such as Intel and Motorola.

I personally believe that the activist investors that are giving Sprint a hard time for its potential WiMax investment are being short-sighted.  As this BusinessWeek article attests, mobile penetration is hitting the mature level of 80% this year, which means the industry can expect slower growth and more price competition going forward.  Sprint itself may even throw down the guantlet with a rumored all-you-can-eat plan.

Meanwhile, yesterday Comcast ruled out buying Sprint (or Yahoo) in the near term.  Sprint has attractive assets and is trading at a fraction of book value, but is at a clear operational disadvantage vs. AT&T and Verizon on the mobile wireless side, and if it hives off its WiMax business does not have a strategy to move back into a competitive position with them.  The eventual natural acquirors are Comcast or Time Warner Cable, but such an acquisition is likely years away and Sprint becomes less strategic to the cable cos without the wireless broadband assets.  Frankly, now Clearwire would be the more attractive (and affordable) target for the cable companies, particularly if it completes its JV with Sprint.

[FULL DISCLOSURE: My firm Catalyst Investors was an early investor in Clearwire and still owns a stake.  May family also (unfortunately) owns stock in Comcast and Sprint.]

The Catalist - Tech Tidbits

Today's linkfest to media and technology news and articles:

Consumer tech and media:

Silicon Alley Insider - Online ad spending less robust than you think

TechDirt - Your Website Shouldn't Be Just An Electronic Version Of Your Print Publication

SiliconAlleyInsider - Digital music growth slowing

Telecom:

SiliconAlleyInsider - Strong wireless growth at AT&T

ClickZ - Agencies describe hurdles facing mobile ad market

Green Tech / Other:

GreenTechMedia - What will a recession mean for greentech VCs and startups?

The Catalist - Weekly Tech Roundup

Below is a list of interesting links covering technology and media (click on first link of paragraph for article):

Consumer Media and Tech:

AlwaysOn - Google is like a Giant Parasite - "Google is like a gigantic parasite that hollows-out existing (media) businesses," says Jason Pontin, editor and chief and publisher of Technology Review and New York Times business columnist.

AlwaysOn - Google + Facebook = New Media Math - Five Years ago: I watched TV,  Read books,  Went to the movies,  talked on the phone, did some email, listened to CD's and I bought things at stores. Today: I read blogs,  post to social networks (Facebook and twitter, AO and Huffpo),  watch video on the Web,  screen  DVDs,   Text Msg on my phone,   talk on Skype (with IM),  Listen to music on iTunes and buy things on Amazon and other e-commerce sites.

Alarm:Clock - Automattic (publisher of WordPress blog software) snags $29.5MM from NYT

Alarm:Clock - Financial Bigs back Slide (widget maker) with $500MM+ Valuation

Silicon Valley Insider - Federated Media Looking for Funding?

ClickZ - Political Web Ad Spending Could Hit $110 Million in 2008

FierceWireless - Fiercemarkets acquired by Questex

Telecom:

Engadget - Southwest to test WiFi via Satellite

Engadget - 700MHz Auction to begin tomorrow

Wired - More on 700MHz Auction

FierceWireless - iPhone selling well

Enterprise:

TechWorldNews - EMC offers Enterprise Storage in the Cloud

ZDNet - How to make money with Web 2.0

GreenTech / Other:

TechCrunch - Virgin Galactic Unveils Design for SpaceShipTwo

CleanTech - U.S wind power in 2007 blows away expectations

GreenTechMedia - Why residential energy techs don't get adopted

AlwaysOn - Cleaning Up in Cleantech

David Byrne on the Music Industry

Technology Watch:  David Byrne, of Talking Heads fame, writes an interesting article in Wired on the current and future states of the evolving business models in the music industry.  It also includes an interview with Thom Yorke of Radiohead.

Newspaper Value Vaporized

Technology Watch:  Silicon Valley Insider on how newspapers have lost $23Bn in market value over the past 3 years, with $11Bn of those losses in 2007.  There is more to come...

ZD Net - 8 reasons Software as a Service will surge in 2008

Technology Watch:  The SaaS train rolls on. 

Plaxo for Sale

Technology Watch:  Plaxo is for sale.  I think they should merge with LinkedIn to create the ultimate business-related social networking service.

Convergence Rolls On...LG-Netflix Device

Technology Watch:  Netflix and LG have partnered to develop devices that will download movies directly from the Internet to TV.  Adds to the Amazon Unbox service/player that is compatible with TiVo and Media Center PCs.