As publisher of SmallBizTechnology.com, Ramon Ray is one of the leading voices in small business technology. And if you want to know what's going on in the world of small biz tech, read whatever he writes, follow him on Twitter, hear him speak, attend one of his great technology events... and listen to him right here!
Ramon is a good friend of mine, and recently I had a chance to grab about ten minutes of his time to get his take on a few developments - and what they mean to the small business community. You can check out the short podcast here. But here are a few things we touched on:
Ramon's Thoughts on Impact of Microsoft buying Skype:
Some people in the media booed it and said they shouldn't have done it. Some people said it was great.
Point 1: Microsoft has the money - they are not a little start up throwing money away that they don't have. I think with that in mind, there are a lot of things that they can do, that their competitors can't.
Point 2: Skype has a huge brand. It's like Clorox - we really mean bleach, but we all say Clorox. I think with that alone, people can just say Skype it and they are using Microsoft technology.
Point 3: Microsoft is pretty smart. I would be interested to see how they can integrate this amongst their myriad of products and devices with presence, instant communication, etc.
Microsoft has a number of telecommunication products, but my opinion - and I love Microsoft things - (but) some of them are pretty complicated to use. You have probably used Lync and etcetera... But Skype, you just use.
Ramon's First Impressions of Google Chromebook:
I think a big impact for small business, probably not in the near future. It is still a tech product, many people in our world, as far as the small business, do not know about it. However, I think it has the potential to be one product of several that people could choose from now that Samsung and Acer are going to be launching these products. You have the tablet, you have the phone, you have a Chromebook. So is it going to be a game changer, no.
Personally, how do I like it? I love it Brent, for a few things. it has a six or seven hour battery life, which is longer than any battery life I have had on any notebook. It is only a web browser, so that is kind of a downside, but if you buy with your eyes open, I know it's only a web browser, so I don't expect to run office or video games on it.
I like it. Its light, it's very MACish and that's what I like about it. When you close the lid, sometimes, I don't know if you have experienced it, the computer doesn't shut off. In this case, it does. So simple things like that... There is only one USB port, yes. Again, that is what it is for - very light computing.
For me, it's my iPad. Meaning I'm all cloud based, as many of us are getting into. You can't store things on the notebook itself. It is a web browser with plastic around it. If you know that and you can work in the cloud based world only I find it the ideal tool. It also has built in Verizon wireless broadband, which I like.
But I can work totally 100% in the cloud. So for me, I love Apple's iPad, but I need a keyboard. So Brent, for me, with this keyboard, now being on the cloud, light weight, still has Chrome apps, it works for me. I have been carrying it around a lot. I still have my nice Dell Vostro, but the battery life and the lightness. I love it.
What is SmallBizInfluencer.com?
One last thing I had to ask Ramon about is the project he's doing with Anita Campbell of SmallBizTrends.com to identify the top 100 influencers on the small business market. Ramon says:
SmallBizInfuencer.com is an initiative that Anita and I have to really find who are the top 100 influencers of the small business market. Again, this is not for small business owners per-se and there are millions of you out there. These are those of you who influence the market. Are you a marketer? Are you an author? Are you a speaker? Are you a consultant that has a large following? We want to know who you are, nominate yourself at SmallBizInfluencer.com.
I think our judges panel is pretty cool too. Of course, Brent you are on there, John Warrilow, who wrote Built To Sell is on there. Jim Blasingame just came on, so we have a great pool of judges to help us narrow down that several hundred list to 100.
During the podcast we covered some other things - how will Skype play with Windows Phone 7 and Office 365, how quickly can Microsoft integreate Skype with Lync,will Microsoft buy Nokia, etc - so check it out the conversation with the player below.