Rafe's Blog

The perfect question?

I am a believer in the power of online communities. But I'm bugged that most of them are islands. They don't connect to each other. And it's more than inconvenience -- it's getting in the way of business. Here's why: Right now, online content companies share a lot of content, and a lot of business revolves around that. They all have communities, too, but they can't share them, for a variety of reasons. I sat across from Marc Canter at Kevin Werbach's pre-pre-Supernova party the other night and I asked him this question: "How will communities connect?" Mark was the right guy to ask. His post on this topic talks about initiatives (his and others') that are attacking this problem.

Home networking software needs something more

I covered both Pure Networks' Network Magic and SingleClick Solutions' HomeNet Manager in my latest Rafe's Radar column, Bringing the Network Home (free registration required).

I like these products (especially Network Magic), and readers of this blog do too, judging from the comment posts. However, I'm not sure I see this software category making a whole ton of money, unless the vendors manage to tie these products into services that can create recurring revenue.

Home network management: There is another

I wrote previously about Network Magic, a tool that this blog's readers seem to like, judging by the feedback posts. There's a similar product coming to market soon: an improved version of HomeNet Manager, by SingleClick Systems.  I just talked with the CEO of the company and will be covering the home network management market in my next Rafe's Radar column on Release 1.0.

A mix of crap

"Consumers are always going to have a mix of crap," Tim Dowling, CEO of Pure Networks said to me during a lunch meeting a few weeks ago. His company is making a product called Network Magic. It's network management software for the home. It's supposed to make it easy for a consumer to manage a home router and all the "crap" attached to it -- computers, printers, shared storage, and so on.  It should make sharing files among computers easier, for one thing.

I'm thinking about covering this company's prospects in an upcoming column. But while this is one of those products that I think I could really use myself, I've talked to several people about it and I just can't get them interested in it. I fear the product is either too geeky for consumers who are afraid of networking; or too simple for geeks who already have their networks under control.