It’s considered high-minded right now to come out railing against patents. Everyone is doing it, from Mark Cuban to Fred Wilson to Twitter.
It seems to me that the picture is not quite as black and white as one might think. Cuban talks (albeit a bit tongue in cheek) about a janitor being sued for a how they mop the floor. However, are we to believe that if Cuban had come up with some special HD sauce while starting HDNet and patented it that he would not have defended it against potential infringement?
The issue, I think, is not with the use of patents but rather with the granting of them by the USPTO. The people granting patents, I would imagine in most cases, have no real idea about the impact of the grant on the marketplace or whether or not it’s truly a unique idea. With software patents in particular, there are so very few truly unique ideas that the granting of them should come almost never.
I was involved in a patent dispute back when I worked for Bandwidth.com. We had a competitor file a patent for how they were selling business Internet services online. As a result of the filing, we had to file our own patent application as a defensive counter-measure. It cost us a lot of money and a lot of time and ultimately meant nothing for either party. There was nothing intrinsically unique about what either we or they were doing.
To me, these are the kinds of patents that we should throw into the “frivolous” bucket, and I think they are the patents everyone is most concerned about. They are an extension of our bent toward litigation as a way to resolve disputes or gain advantage.
There are, however, legitimate patents that deserve protection. Real money is invested, real innovation is discovered, and it should be protected. I am not sure, however, that a better way to check out on an e-commerce website is something worthy of protection (as an example).
There is a big difference in the question of “what if” vs. “so what if.”
They are two completely different ways of looking at every decision or circumstance one is faced with.
More “so what if.”
This is my 300th post on this blog.
I have been at best inconsistent and at worst negligent. I used to pay attention to all of those “10 steps to a Million Readers” kinds of articles. I have tried doing the thing where you end every post with a question because that’s how you engage readers (supposedly). However it never felt like me.
What’s been true over the last few years as I have written is that I have my best responses when I write about the things I care about as if we were sitting around talking about them. It’s what makes it worth doing, regardless of the number of subscribers I have.
Thanks to all of you who are the faithful few that read almost everything I write and even post responses from time to time.
I am reading a fascinating book right now called The Master Switch : The Rise and Fall of Information Empires by Tim Wu. The premise of the book is that information empires (the telephone, film, and TV) all undergo a very similar lifecycle as they mature.
They start out as open platforms with the introduction of the new disruptive medium. Gradually, corporate giants move into the space and take control of the space, reducing innovation and establishing monopolies. These corporations take virtual land in the name of the best interests of the consumer and knowing what is best, while working with the government to establish laws that help to protect their positions.
Wu makes a really good case for the Internet as just another in the long line of information revolutions following the same pattern.
I read two articles in the past week that lead me to believe he is absolutely right about where the Internet is heading. The first is Facebook’s support for the latest US government bill regarding internet privacy. With hundreds of millions of users, Facebook is in a position of tremendous influence. Note the language used by Facebook’s lead counsel in defending their position:
Importantly, HR 3523 would impose no new obligations on us to share data with anyone –- and ensures that if we do share data about specific cyber threats, we are able to continue to safeguard our users’ private information, just as we do today.”
Loosely translated, we are looking out for our users. Can’t you see? Facebook’s support of this bill is, in most people’s opinion, an affront to the what the Internet stands for.
The second article was an interview with Sergey Brin of Google. In it Brin warns of the growing storm clouds surrounding the Internet as an open platform. While Brin no doubt has an axe to grind against Facebook and Apple, I like that he is speaking out about what he is seeing. One could argue that Google belongs in the list of companies that are a threat to the open Internet, but I don’t see Tim Cook or Mark Zuckerberg taking public positions like Brin does here.
I highly recommend that you get Wu’s book and use it as a lens through which to view what’s happening right now with the Internet giants.
I heard this quote last night while watching a TED talk. Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Man in the Arena.” This should be posted somewhere where you have to walk by it every day.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself on a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who is at worst, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat.”
Amen.
On last week’s 350 Third podcast, Anders and I talked a lot about the evils of Captcha (shameless plug). It’s a technology idea whose time has come and gone. I hate it, as does most of the civilized world. It’s remarkable that we put up with inferior, outdated ideas as long as we do.
Anyway, we talked about using better technology to solve this problem, and also talked about ways to turn the problem into a business that advertisers could use for real engagement with potential customers.
I did some poking around this week and found this company working on alternative. Are You a Human is doing some interesting things. They are working on many of the ideas we discussed. I am going to start using them everywhere that I might have previously used Captcha and see how it goes.
The question that trumps all other questions when starting out with a new idea:
“What is the question you are answering?”
If you can’t articulate a concise response in less than 15 seconds, I would submit that it’s time to pause and consider seriously whether to continue.
It’s a discipline that flies in the face of the romance of a new idea, and it’s a constant struggle. It is, however, a necessary internal war.
There are times when it’s appropriate to take on new things. Opportunities present themselves that seem like they will lead somewhere, and so time and energy is committed and spent.
Opportunity cost is one of the least-valued costs, and yet is probably the most important factor in any decision. Doing one thing means, in most cases, that something else will be left undone. Or it can mean not having the time to see other opportunities emerging, or simply not giving one’s brain the opportunity to think and ponder freely. Time is the most precious of all the finite resources.
Spring is a time when animals shed their winter coat and get leaner / lighter for the summer. It’s instinctive for animals, but not humans.
Take this spring as an opportunity to shed things that don’t matter, aren’t successful, or aren’t helping you get where you want to go. I am. It’s painful because it often means putting things on the shelf where real financial and intellectual capital has been spent. It’s not, however, more painful than spending MORE on it and looking back six months from now and saying “I should have done this sooner.”
After a couple of months away due to laziness, the monthly Books to Read list is back. There are some good ones in this month’s list. I hope you enjoy them.
Stop Stealing Dreams by Seth Godin
Sorry, no picture for this one. If you have read this blog regularly, you know that I am a Seth Godin fan. He thinks about the world in ways that are truly unique and inspire me to be better. Stop Stealing Dreams is Seth’s poke at how to re-engineer education in the United States. This is a favorite topic of mine, and Seth as usual does a great job of laying out the problem domain. As with a lot of Seth’s books, this is a collection of “blog post” kind of chapters. It’s meant to ask a lot of questions but not necessarily provide the answers. This book is full of rich content, and it’s free to boot. No excuse not to read it, and then share it with someone else. This book is April’s must-read.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
I am noticeably late to this book series. This book was first published back in the early 90’s. Ender is a young boy recruited by the government to fight off the next attack of the Buggers, an alien race hostile to humans. Ender is the product of years of genetic and social engineering. In a world where only two offspring are allowed, Ender is a “Third”. He is the chosen one, the commander that is the last hope to defeat the Buggers. Together with his brother and sister, they chart a course to remake the world, though they are doing it in very different ways. As with many books, I will read through this one again at some point. Everyone in my family has read it as well. It’s a challenging and thought-provoking piece.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
This was another recommendation by a friend, and again is a book that I am really late to the party on. For those of you that enjoy the struggle of finding meaning in a disposable world, or enjoy reading about personal journey, this is a great book. A classic father-son tale, this book explores life philosophy in the context of driving and fixing / understanding a machine, as well as the understanding of how things work. This book appealed to my inner tug that there is a deeper current to pay attention to in the vicissitudes of life.
Mindfire by Scott Berkun
Scott Berkun is one of my favorite writer / bloggers. Scott worked at Microsoft in the heyday of the company and has since punched out and written a few books in addition to his blog. Mindfire is a collection of his best essays on a number of topics. I find his writing insightful and provocative, and this book is meant to be read in small chunks.
That’s it for this month. It’s good to be back. Let me know what you think of this month’s selections.
I write a lot on this blog about stupid things that businesses do, not so much to be critical of them but to remind all of us that every single interaction counts.
We got a dog a few weeks back and are looking to install an electric fence. There are really only a couple of players in this space: Invisible Fence and DogWatch (at least in our area).
We visited Invisible Fence’s website and filled out the information request. Within a few hours we had a call from a representative with a few options for a time to visit our house. She came out on time, was very helpful, and gave us a few options for how to fence in the yard, as well as letting us know when they could schedule the install if we were so inclined.
We then went to DogWatch’s website and did the same. That is where the similarities end. The DogWatch rep sent us an email saying “Call our office to schedule an appointment.” Um, what? When last I checked we were the prospective customer. We don’t do the leg work. I was really quite surprised at the impersonal, uninterested response.
Given that Invisible Fence is the standard-bearer in this business, I would think their competition would be going above and beyond to earn new business. It seems, at least in the case of DogWatch, that they have all the business they need. What a great position to be in these days.