Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

Article flurry

Wow, I didn’t think I could’ve missed so much on the ‘net. Tons of catching up to do.

• Apparently Japan has a NYT newbie in Norimitsu Onishi making the journal circuit – or at least someone woefully out of touch with Japanese culture. Please, how about some news instead of the detritus in this most recent article on Channel 2.
• The need to sweat it out – so true, yet so lost on many. It’s the passion, folks; though the people are equally as important.
• Tom Watson is right and saying what I’ve said before – iTunes is a platform; witness the HP licensing. Apple won first mover advantage and they’re lean enough to keep it from Sony. The challenge will be harnessing the shifting value of music as seemingly irrelevant players like Coca-Cola and Walmart flourish in this space.
• Get your tax dollars back as a means other than just a check from Uncle Sam with the Government Benefits filter!
• Due diligence strategies – just an excerpt, but interesting reading. My reading list is definitely growing non-linearly. Ugh.
• JiWire – find a free hotspot near you! Wish I had this last week while in the Marina.
• I don’t get it. Oracle better have a damn good strategy as it insists on it’s pursuit of PeopleSoft. Otherwise, what’s to keep resistant key players from jumping ship if the takeover goes through.
• Cute – HP and BMW putting out a few expensive toys.
• Books for Soldiers – because they need all the support they can get.
• Last but definitely not least, a take on the Google IPO. In short, a summary of the Buffet-inspired letter – and I quote:

1. We don’t need to do this for the money
2. We have no plans to run our business to satisfy Wall Street’s need for smooth earnings predictability
3. We plan to give no earnings guidance, not at least as it’s understood on Wall St.
4. Don’t ask us to do so, we’ll simply decline the request
5. We’ll do odd things that you won’ t understand
6. We will make big bets on things that may not work out
7. We run the company as a triumvirate, so there will not be clear leadership from one person like most other companies
8. We bridge the media and tech industries (interesting), which are in flux, so we’ve chosen a two-class stock structure similar to the NYT, WashPost, and WSJ that helps us avoid being taken over by those forces
9. We plan using an auction model, as it feels fairer and we understand auctions from AdWords
10. Don’t invest in us if this scares you at all, or the price feels too high
11. Don’t even think about asking us to cut expenses with regard to our employees
12. We believe in the idea of Don’t Be Evil
13. It’s evil to pay for placement or inclusion (a swipe at Yahoo)
14. We hope to bridge the digital divide through Gmail type free services and a foundation with at least 1% of profits and equity to help make the world a better place
15. Betting on Google is a bet on Sergey and Larry (this was said multiple times, making me wonder if there wasn’t some odd future blame being assigned here by the VCs or bankers)
16. This letter is our way of answering the questions we can’t answer in the coming months due to the IPO quiet period.

By the way, I just realized May marks the one-year anniversary of M@Blog – that’s longer than any journal I’ve ever tried keeping. Thanks to you visitors for simulating an audience :)