Is Zuckerberg Smart or Lucky?

Eight years ago, we haven’t heard anything called Facebook but now, it is the largest social network people ever known. We know that Facebook is not a one man work, but we should admit that Zuckerberg has done some wonders for the company. With the success of Facebook and its IPO later this week, the only question on my mind is whether Facebook came purely from Zuckerberg’s skill or from him being in the right place at the right time.

Zuckerberg created Facebook from his college dorm in 2004, when people haven’t thought about social media concept. He was a college student with a big vision to make the world more open and connected. In the last eight years, he has completed his vision by connection 900 million active Facebook users.

Actually, there are some rumors about Facebook in acquisition, but it remains a pure rumor. Later this week, Facebook has gone public with an estimated value of just under $100 billion, recording the largest in the history of tech industry.

Facebook has a high profile founder. No wonder people think about Mark Zuckerberg when hearing the word “Facebook.” Do you think he is a genius or just a lucky man? Sound off in the comment box.

Women on Tech Companies are Declining

This is the second year we found that the number of women in senior positions on tech companies is decreasing, according to the latest survey. The survey from the British based company Harvey Nash Group and the data center provider TelecityGroup claims that 9% of companies Chief Information Officers (CIO) are female. Last year, there are 11%, while in 2010 there are 12%.

A report from Reuters said that 30% of the poll said that there was no female representation on the management section of the IT organization. However, half the respondents said women can’t be excluded in the IT Department. This report was involving 450 American technology leaders. On the other hand, White House said that the state of women’s employment in the U.S. on April was only 25% of all STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers.

However, we still can’t say that women can’t reach senior level at several top tech companies. For example, Facebook has Sheryl Sandberg as their Chief Operating Officer. But still, Facebook has no lady on their executive board.

Will the S III Screen Become its Heel?

Samsung Galaxy S III Will arrives in the U.S. later this summer as the latest Android phone at the moment. People have been anticipated the device for months. The latest model in Samsung’s Galaxy line will bring some impressive features such as the Siri-like feature. However, people are highlighting its display. Samsung decided to us 4.8 inch PenTile display on Galaxy S II, something they called as the HD Super AMOLED.

This new display technology works differently with another screen type, using individual pixels to improve its resolution. In normal display, the individual pixels are made of three sub-pixels (RGB display). Those sub-pixels are switching on and off depend on what the pixel need to display.

On PenTile screen, there are only two sub-pixels. It doesn’t need the third color as it can effectively borrow it from nearby pixel to render the proper color. In theory, the display will do more with less.

It is a good improvement from Samsung. They’ve been very good at the Galaxy line, providing a large range of devices. Their high-end smartphones are better than Apple’s since the Galaxy S. Apple can only defeat Samsung on Display. With this display technology, we’ll see a better war from the two giants. So let’s wait the war to begin.

Instagram Won’t Be The Last Billion App

Mobile realm is now entering a big phase for humanity. Last year smartphones outcame PC sales for the first time in history. In 2015, it is estimated that mobile devices will be used for 80% of Internet usage. We can also see that the new generation of mobile users thinks that PC is a bulky and antiquated thing. We can see Draw Something which hit one million users in nine days, or Instagram which was acquired by Facebook for $1 billion.

However, we’ve seen things like this before which only became an anomaly that will die after the industry change shapes. Or is it a fundamental shift in which ideas and businesses can grow?

Maybe it is a fundamental shift. Mobile devices now have a bigger role in our live than PC. App developers see this fact and are tapping into the customer behavior which is specific to mobile.

People hate to spend their money on the web. In fact, web app developers only manage to sell one out of every 100 users. In the other hand, most smartphone users are willing to pay for the content on their device. This change of behavior will only lead the market to find another “billion apps” in the future.

Will YouTube Kill Viral Video Stars?

YouTube is currently ramp up original programming and push the partner channels. Viral video stars starting to feel the threat. Matt Harding, Judson Laipply, DeShawn Ray, and Liam Sullivan are discussing about it at the web culture conference ROFLcon. They’re talking about how the change of the platform affected them for better or worse. All of them created their videos before YouTube launched in 2005.

Before Google acquire YouTube in 2006, they only use brand sponsorship to monetized their video. Now, creative ad agencies and social media departments in most companies can easily make videos themselves. YouTube’s partner program has a revenue sharing platform which will pay users for ad clicks. These channels create something called consistency, which Laipply noted about YouTube’s advantage for marketers.

“They don’t want one video to get a million views, they want somebody to put a video each week for 40 weeks with million views per episode,” said Laipply. According to the co-founder of Maker Studio Lisa Nova, the company founded because they believe that YouTube will be the future of entertainment, mostly because of the advance technologies.