Episode 30 – The State of the IT Industry Part 2

This week we are going to talk with a computer consultant in Oregon, discuss how the current economic situation has affected his company and ask him where he thinks his business is headed. Part 2 of a 4 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard :34

News and Comment segment 5:19
IBM announced production of a new ThinkPad notebook by Lenovo with dual LCD displays.

Enter the Technibble contest and Win! We are giving away The Computer Business Kit from Technibble (a $49 value) FREE. Listen to this episode of The Force Field for your chance to win!

Microsoft announced December 22 that it would extend sales of Windows XP until May 30 2009. This is good news for system builders. It is bad news for Vista.

Commercial Break 1:00
Get Great Web Hosting at GoDaddy.com and save 10%! Listen for the discount code in the show. GoDaddy.com 1:00

Intro to Interview 1:39
In our last episode we talked with Pat Palmer, heard how his business is doing well in spite of the economy and how he expects this trend to continue in the months and years to come. This week we will talk with Kris Crispell, a computer consultant in Oregon and ask him where he thinks his business is headed. Will he agree with Pat or will he have in a different story with a different point of view? Part 2 of a four part series.

Kris Crispell Interview 18:28

Part 3 Teaser :19

Wrap up and Close :46

Comments, questions or suggestions? Send them in to comments@theforcefield.net. Feedback on this topic will be read by the host and included in future episodes of the show.

©2008 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

 

http://media.techpodcasts.com/theforcefield/media.libsyn.com/media/theforcefield/The_Force_Field_30.mp3  

Episode 30 – The State of the IT Industry Part 2

This week we are going to talk with a computer consultant in Oregon, discuss how the current economic situation has affected his company and ask him where he thinks his business is headed. Part 2 of a 4 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:17
Billboard :34

News and Comment segment 5:19
IBM announced production of a new ThinkPad notebook by Lenovo with dual LCD displays.

Enter the Technibble contest and Win! We are giving away The Computer Business Kit from Technibble (a $49 value) FREE. Listen to this episode of The Force Field for your chance to win!

Microsoft announced December 22 that it would extend sales of Windows XP until May 30 2009. This is good news for system builders. It is bad news for Vista.

Commercial Break 1:00
Get Great Web Hosting at GoDaddy.com and save 10%! Listen for the discount code in the show. GoDaddy.com 1:00

Intro to Interview 1:39
In our last episode we talked with Pat Palmer, heard how his business is doing well in spite of the economy and how he expects this trend to continue in the months and years to come. This week we will talk with Kris Crispell, a computer consultant in Oregon and ask him where he thinks his business is headed. Will he agree with Pat or will he have in a different story with a different point of view? Part 2 of a four part series.

Kris Crispell Interview 18:28

Part 3 Teaser :19

Wrap up and Close :46

Comments, questions or suggestions? Send them in to comments@theforcefield.net. Feedback on this topic will be read by the host and included in future episodes of the show.

©2008 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

Episode 29 – The State of the IT Industry Part 1

This week we are going to talk with an IT professional and discuss how the current state of the economy will effect his business and the industry in the year ahead. Part 1 of a 4 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:15
Billboard 2:15

News and Comment segment 5:40
The Force Field was part of the second annual 24 hour Podcast Marathon hosted by Geek News Central December 20 to raise money for charity.

Enter the Technibble contest and Win! We are giving away The Computer Business Kit from Technibble (a $49 value) FREE. Listen to this episode of The Force Field for your chance to win!

Microsoft released another emergency security patch for Internet Explorer December 17. The patch, considered by Microsoft as “critical”, resolves a known security vulnerability that allows allows remote code execution if a user views on a web page with malicious code.

Commercial Break 1:00
Get Great Web Hosting at GoDaddy.com and save 10%! Listen for the discount code in the show. GoDaddy.com 1:00

Intro to Interview 2:08
In the next few episodes we will talk with resellers, service providers and other professionals in the industry and find out how their business are doing now, where they think the IT marketplace will be in the next year and what, if anything we can do to prepare ourselves for the difficult times ahead. This week we will talk with Pat Palmer and find out what he thinks. Part 1 of a four part series.

Pat Palmer Interview 22:40

Part 2 Teaser :23

Wrap up and Close :46

Comments, questions or suggestions? Send them in to comments@theforcefield.net. Feedback on this topic will be read by the host and included in future episodes of the show.

©2008 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

Episode 29 – The State of the IT Industry Part 1

This week we are going to talk with an IT professional and discuss how the current state of the economy will effect his business and the industry in the year ahead. Part 1 of a 4 part series.

TechPodcasts Promo Tag :10
Intro 1:15
Billboard 2:15

News and Comment segment 5:40
The Force Field was part of the second annual 24 hour Podcast Marathon hosted by Geek News Central December 20 to raise money for charity.

Enter the Technibble contest and Win! We are giving away The Computer Business Kit from Technibble (a $49 value) FREE. Listen to this episode of The Force Field for your chance to win!

Microsoft released another emergency security patch for Internet Explorer December 17. The patch, considered by Microsoft as “critical”, resolves a known security vulnerability that allows allows remote code execution if a user views on a web page with malicious code.

Commercial Break 1:00
Get Great Web Hosting at GoDaddy.com and save 10%! Listen for the discount code in the show. GoDaddy.com 1:00

Intro to Interview 2:08
In the next few episodes we will talk with resellers, service providers and other professionals in the industry and find out how their business are doing now, where they think the IT marketplace will be in the next year and what, if anything we can do to prepare ourselves for the difficult times ahead. This week we will talk with Pat Palmer and find out what he thinks. Part 1 of a four part series.

Pat Palmer Interview 22:40

Part 2 Teaser :23

Wrap up and Close :46

Comments, questions or suggestions? Send them in to comments@theforcefield.net. Feedback on this topic will be read by the host and included in future episodes of the show.

©2008 Savoia Computer. All rights reserved.

 

http://media.techpodcasts.com/theforcefield/media.libsyn.com/media/theforcefield/The_Force_Field_29.mp3 

The Force Field Premium Edition now available

Ever since the first episode was released in the summer of 1996, the Force Field has been a labor of love for me. A lot of time and effort goes into the production of each show and almost as much time and effort goes into the promotion and distribution of it. Although it has been over two years since the initial launch of the show, the topics discussed in the early episodes are still discussed among IT service providers in forums and news groups today and are still relevant to current issues and trends in the industry. Even the very first shows are still downloaded and listened to frequently.

Of course, all of this costs money. I have been producing the show on an advertising model and although it does help, it really isn’t enough to justify the long hours that take me away from my family and provide for them. Realizing this, I decided to do two things.

 First, I am going to revise the format and distribution method of the show. Second, I am going to re-release the older shows to follow this new format.

Beginning February 2009 the show will be released in two versions. The first version will be as you know it now, with news, views, reviews and interviews in the same format as before. It will also remain FREE, supported by advertising.

The second version will be a premium edition with added content, longer segments and NO commercial advertising. It will be available in MP3 and higher quality audio formats for download at .99 cents per episode.

During the last two months I have been working on a project that launches today. Two months of  planning and six weeks in production and deployment have culminated in the release of The Force Field Podcast Premium Edition Volume 1 , a collection of the first six episodes of The Force Field podcast.

This premium edition includes:

 

  • Original archived News and Comment segment

 

  • three to six minutes of additional content in each episode

 

  • A brand new segment produced specifically for each episode

 

  • Remastered audio

 

  • No ads

 

The Premium Edition is available in mp3, Ogg Vorbis and WMA formats your listening pleasure. This episode is also available for purchase on CD mastered from the original show master (not compiled from mp3 release recordings).

There were some recorded phone calls and interviews in these first episodes that were not the best quality due to poor connections and limited resources for recording some telephony transmissions. However, the audio on these recordings were edited and remastered for acceptable quality under the circumstances.

One particular remastering that worked out well was with Episode 3 in which I talked with Dave in Alaska. I had a lot of trouble with the interview in post production due to the poor connection and when the show was originally released had to be pulled and re-released again because the  audio levels were so weak listeners simply couldn’t hear Dave. Even after several reworks it was still very weak. This always bothered me.

I now have tools to “fix it in the mix” somewhat and when I was working on the Premium Edition used the technology now at my disposal to give it another try. You can only do so much with bad audio but the call is much more audible and cleaner than it was before. You can now hear Dave without fiddling with the volume throughout the show. I was impressed with results.

To launch and distribute the new compilation we also launched The Force Field e-Store . The e-store was part of the original concept for the portal and a very basic version of the store was tied to CafePress for The Force Field Official T-Shirt, mugs and other gear but the full shop was never actually implemented. While it is still in beta and isn’t fully branded (I simply haven’t had the time) it is functional. I will tweak it in time.

The Force Field Premium Edition Volume 1 is now available. individual episode tracks can be purchased for .99 each per format and the complete six episode volume in mp3 format should be available within the next day or so for $4.99. You buy five and get one free in that deal.

The CDs should be available shortly and will be sold both individually and as a full 3 CD set. Each CD contains two episodes. The CDs are $4.99 each and the complete volume is only $9.95 plus $2 shipping within the continental US.

While the Premium Edition is not free, it will have value added content that is not present in the free, ad supported version. The Premium Edition is also commercial free. Did I remember to say that The Force Field Premium Edition has no ads? Yes, I did. So before I get lynched by my listeners let me tell everyone that The Force Field podcast is still free and it will be free. All I am doing is offering another version with extra toppings for just a little extra. Ninety nine cents isn’t much but it could help keep the lights on.

You can visit The Force Field Official e-Store here .

The Force Field to Participate in 24 Hour Live Podcast Today

Charlotte, NC (TheForceField.net ) December 20, 2008 — The Force Field will be part of a 24 hour podcast hosted by Geek News Central this weekend to raise money for charity. Rick Savoia, host of The Force Field podcast, signed on as a guest for half an hour today at 3:00 PM EST. Other podcasters will participate throughout the the 24 hour podcast as well.

 On December 20, 2008 at 6am Hawaiian Standard Time and 11am EST, Todd Cochrane, CEO of RawVoice, owner of The TechPodcast Network and the host of the Geek News Central Podcast , will start a live and Interactive event that will last 24 hours. The purpose of the event is to bring awareness to podcasting and raise money for Disabled American Veterans. This year's goal is $3000 and all proceeds will the donated to www.dav.com .

The 24 Hour Podcast Marathon will also feature such notable guests as Scobleizer tech blogger Robert Scoble, Microsoft Zune Marketplace Manager Rob Greenlee, Sun Microsystem's Chief Open Source Officer Simon Phipps, Computer America co-host Carey Holzman and others. Listeners are invited to call in and participate in live, interactive discussions with the host and guests.

This is the second annual event held by Geek News Central. The Force Field also participated in the first marathon held last year to raise money for the One Laptop Per Child program.

Listeners and Viewers can watch the event live on Ustream.TV and dial in to listen and talk on the TalkShoe TalkCast channel below.

Video:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/geek-news-central-24hr-podcast-marathon#

Interactive Audio:

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/10832

 

 

Free video chat by Ustream

 

IT Marketing icon finally discovers Twitter

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Robin Robins with some exciting news. She just discovered a new form of marketing in the world of web 2.0 that is surely to become big. Really big. So big, in fact, it could be THE next big thing in internet marketing.

Robin Robins discovered Twitter.

Now, if you don’t know who Robin Robins is, she is what some VARs and others in the IT Managed Services and consulting business would call “an IT marketing guru”. Robin is president of Technology Marketing Toolkit, Inc., which sells, of all things, The Technology Marketing Toolkit , a nicely structured and pricey system to help IT service providers market their IT businesses.

In the world of marketing for IT, Robin Robins has become a familiar name. Google her name up and you’ll find links for Robin and her company all over the page. Mention her name in a professional IT forum or newsgroup and most respondents will at least have heard the name, which is a good thing, since it proves she does know something about marketing. After all, if you can’t market yourself successfully with your own system, how can you sell it to anyone else?

Okay, now, that just made me go “hmm”.

I met Robin at an ASCII conference a few years ago. The day long event was an introduction to Managed Services and Robin conducted a seminar on, of course, marketing Managed Services. After the seminar I spoke to her about marketing for IT service providers and invited her on The Force Field to discuss the topic with listeners. (It was just after I launched the show and I wanted to expand on the topic covered in Episode 5 – Marketing Your Business ). She was very gracious but I never heard back from her after that so it is likely she probably forgot all about me and The Force Field as soon as we finished talking at the ASCII event.

She and her staff do bombard me with e-mails about her latest seminars and other events. I have responded to these e-mails on occasion at what is supposed to be the official e-mail address for responses, but they are never acknowledged. She may be a guru at marketing but she needs to work on those responses if she wants to market with Twitter.

I am not dissing Robin at all. There is value to what she has to offer, although what she charges for it is way out of my budget. She also recognizes the marketing potential of something when she sees it, as she said in her e-mail to me below:

 

“Hey Rick,

Have you heard of Twitter?

This is going to be BIG in the online web 2.0 marketing world. If you want to see what this is all about, check out my “tweet”:

http://twitter.com/home

To find me, type in my name…

“robinrobins”

While you’re there, set up a free account and join me!

Robin”

 

Now that Robin  has discovered this new form of communication and its potential as a marketing tool, Twitter has officially arrived.

Okay, I’m kidding.The truth is, it’s been here for awhile. A lot of companies use it already.   Small businesses like mine know it. Even a few large corporations that are normally slow on the uptake know it. The odd thing is that some of the marketing experts whose services people pay a lot of money for and who are supposed to stay on top of all this stuff are just now starting to figure it out. For a marketing guru that’s not good karma. 

Robin, where have you been? “This is going to be BIG”? It’s already big. I’ve considered you a bit of an IT marketing guru but as far as recognizing Twitter as a tool to market your business and network with clients, you’re late to the party.

Poor Microsoft, no soup for you

I have to stop reading ComputerWorld. I used to get some relevant information from the articles. Sometimes they still make me go Hmm. But more and more they just make me frustrated with the whole business and, particularly, some of the players in it.

Take Microsoft, for instance. Please.

I ran across Shane O’Neill’s article tonight entitled Microsoft to handle managing three operating systems in ’09 . While he was essentially discussing the challenges Redmond faces in the next year trying to recoup market share with Windows 7 that was lost due to the problems with Windows Vista while at the same time trying to sweep Vista under the rug, Launch Vista and phase out Windows XP, all he really did was annoy me. Perhaps I took it the wrong way. It just came across as an attempt to make me feel sorry for Microsoft.

The title sounds like “managing” three operating systems is some big deal for Microsoft. Are we supposed to feel sympathy towards Microsoft here or something? So what? They “managed” multiple operating systems at one time before. Remember Win 95, Win 98 and NT4? 98, 2000 and XP? Hey, they just released 2008 Server. This is their business model. This is what they do. Where’s the beef?

It’s really only two operating systems anyway, if you want be technical. XP and Vista/Windows 7. Let’s cut the hype and be honest, Windows 7 IS Vista. You think Mojave was just an “experiment”? It was a marketing test.

If Microsoft can redress Vista and fool a survey group, then it shouldn’t be difficult to sell it to the public.

Windows 7 will be nothing more than Vista in a new outfit. Sure, they’ll tweak it a little here and there, but it will be just as bloated, just as clunky and just as expensive as Vista (and maybe more so). It may have a new face and new name but will still be Vista under the hood.

What Redmond really needs to do is completely rebuild Windows from the kernel up. They need to cut the fat, streamline processes and improve overall performance.

Just because computers today have the resources to run a huge piece of code doesn’t mean the resources should all be consumed by the operating system. On the contrary, the OS should have the smallest footprint possible in order to reserve those resources for all the applications and data.

Remember DOS? It was there because it had to be there to run the programs. It wasn’t THE reason for owning the computer. That was the first and only OS that Microsoft got right, because it was there to perform a function, not BE the whole show.

Years ago a computer purchase was made based on the customer’s requirements for applications needed to perform duties and the duties they needed to perform.

Today, forget the jobs and applications. Now we purchase a computer based on the needs of the operating system. There’s the problem.

So, if Microsoft is “managing” three operating systems in 2009, they get no sympathy from me. They’ve done it before, they can do it again. Poor Microsoft, no soup for you.

Zip Express Installation

Zip Express Installation is a national service company that focuses on the installation of home theater and computer installation.

Contact:

Address: 3033 excelsior blvd
                  suite 470
                  minneapolis, mn 55416

Phone: 800-778-0530
Fax: 612-677-3551
email: info@zipinstalls.com

Web Site: http://www.zipinstallation.com

Technician Signup: http://sharepoint.zipinstallation.com/TechSignup/default.aspx

Install It Today

Install It Today is an Internet-based marketplace similar to OnForce and Field Nation. The company boasts over 14,000 technicians.

Contact:

3033 Excelsior Blvd, Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN
55416
Heidi@installittoday.com
612-455-7218 – Office
612-874-7400 – Fax

http://www.installittoday.com

Tech Registration: http://www.installittoday.com/tech_reg/reg_form1.php