Google Acquires JotSpot: Time to Move Back? October 31, 2006
Posted by atharkhan in : Review, Tech , add a commentI had signed up for JotSpot (http://atharkhan.jotspot.com) a while ago after hearing their CEO’s interview. I thought it would be a great place for my law outlines which could then be continually updated by others … you know… my version of a collaborative world where everyone gives and receives.
After a few days, JotSpot decided to start limiting access and wanted to charge for usage. So, I had to switch to the slightly less feature-rich (but definitely faster!) WikiSpaces (http://atharkhan.wikispaces.com).
Today, I found out that JotSpot has been acquired by Google. Based on the email that I received from JotSpot, it seems that Google will remove some of the inane restricts placed on JotSpot. I’m thinking its time to move back 
Here’s the email I received:
We’re writing to let you know that Google has acquired JotSpot. We believe this is great news for our users. More importantly, we want to reassure you that you’ll continue to have uninterrupted access to your account. Both Google and JotSpot are committed to supporting our customers, and we understand that users have invested a lot in our products. In the near-term, we’re focused on migrating JotSpot to Google’s systems and datacenters. We’ll work hard to make that move as seamless as possible so that customers won’t be inconvenienced.
Why is Google acquiring JotSpot?
Google shares JotSpot’s vision for helping people collaborate, share and work together online. JotSpot’s team and technology are a strong fit with existing Google products like Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Google Groups.
What does this mean for JotSpot customers?
We believe that joining Google will accelerate our team’s vision of offering users the best collaboration platform on the web. Google shares that vision and presents us with the world’s best environment for delivering on it. We’ll be taking advantage of Google’s world-class systems infrastructure and operations expertise to ensure that access to your JotSpot is fast and reliable. We can’t share any of our plans publicly just yet, but we can tell you that we’re incredibly excited about the possibilities. We can’t think of a better company to have been acquired by.
Will paying customers still be charged?
We will no longer be billing customers for the use of the service. Although you will still have use of the product at your current pricing plan, we won’t charge you anymore when your current billing cycle expires.
What about security and privacy?
Your data is yours — that doesn’t change at Google. We will continue to work to ensure the privacy and security of your data. Furthermore, Google is as committed to privacy and security as we are. Since the user information you provided to JotSpot will soon be transferred to Google as part of their acquisition of JotSpot, we want to provide you with the opportunity to retrieve your user information and cease usage of the JotSpot service before the transition. If you do not wish to continue using JotSpot, send an email to privacy [at] jot [dot] com in the next sixty days and we will reply with instructions for retrieving your user information.
Answers to more frequently asked questions are available at http://www.jot.com/. If you have any other questions, please email support [at] jot [dot] com.
In closing, we wanted to offer our sincere gratitude to you — our customers — for believing in us and helping us achieve success. We look forward to continuing that relationship at Google.
Best wishes,
The JotSpot Team
Do I Really Need Cable? October 26, 2006
Posted by atharkhan in : Law School, Personal , 5commentsWhen I started law school, in an effort to reduce my TV viewing to the absolute minimum, I whittled down my cable subscription to “Network Channels.” This is the “never advertised” option which usually runs about $12/month. It’s not HD.. heck, it’s not even digital! But it is better than rabbit ears.
Now that all major networks are offering their entire shows in HD quality over the Internet, do I really even need to have cable at all? Couldn’t I just stream video over the Internet and output it to my TV? Sure, I would have to put up with commercials but is that a bad proposition?
Let’s do the math, shall we?
An average show has about 15 to 20 minutes of commercials per hour which translates to 25% to 33% per hour. I watch Grey’s Anatomy, Boston Legal, Justice (at least for now) and … *sigh* … yes… Desperate Housewives. That means I would have to watch an hour of commercials over those 4 hours per week. And that means, I would have to watch 4 hours of commercials per month. Is that worth paying $12?
How about if I switch to paying for downloadable shows? iTunes charges $2/show. Let’s see… 4 shows a week… times $2/show… that comes out to $8/week or $32/month. Naah… that’s too close to what I would pay for cable. Although.. it would save me a lot of time.
I guess when balancing the amount of time saved by skipping commercials (on a DVR) versus saving $12, I should probably stick with cable. For now.
I really should skip TV entirely.
MacBook Backup Software October 16, 2006
Posted by atharkhan in : Tech , 1 comment so farI am trying to find Backup Software for the Macbook.
Apple’s Backup seems to require a subscription to a .Mac account. I remember using Retrospect for a Mac a long time ago but have not tried it recently.
If I could find the equivalent of Symantec LiveState, that would be great!
