For the last few months I’ve been helping Hookflash prepare for launch. We came out of stealth mode Tuesday, announcing Hookflash for iPad at the DEMO Fall 2011 conference (Booth D6, if you’re there). I also showed it yesterday at TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Alley. Preview signups are on the home page and following @hookflash on Twitter should keep you in the loop. I won’t go too much into the company or product here but you should check out Jim Courtney’s post, HookFlash: Elevating the Business Video Calling Experience? and Julie Klein’s Demo: Hookflash aims to make phone calls at work more productive.
I believe computing and communication can amplify collective power. Skype’s charter is helping the world to talk. Hookflash has a narrower mandate: to help people with common purpose work together to get things done. That’s exciting and meaningful and I’m glad to advance that vision.
I’ve been blogging here less often as Hookflash turned from vision to reality. My work at Hookflash can only keep Skype Journal editorially independent of Skype. For transparency’s sake, I’ll disclose my relationship with Hookflash with each post.
We’re starting to test. Here’s a form to get in on the fun. We’re starting soon.
 Migrating to WordPress this week and playing with a zillion choices. Sure to get a few things wrong as I tinker but all is well. Suggestions for your favorite plug-ins?
I’m heading up to Washington state for a family week, and at least one or two days in/around Vancouver, BC, to work on a writing project. Ping me if you’d like to grab a coffee and tell me what’s got you excited these days.
I’m thinking about: augmented reality, Zillow for Layar (augmented realty, virtual For Sale By Owner signs floating everywhere), how building ViPR for Skype desktops bootstraps Skype in the workplace, Meg Whitman’s campaign, accessibility to 3D TV and movies for people with one eye, how much SkypeRoulette.com might have been inspired by Jonathan Rosenberg’s presentation, The Cult Of Done Manifesto, twitter’s effect on stump speeches, revising management theory to incorporate wirearchy, @DigitalDeathDay unconference, Android usability tragedies, story structure for television and movie scripts, payment data portability, and dressing up for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby party in Ferndale.
For this trip +1-510-343-5664 will ring my mobiles and my Skype endpoints. @evanwolf as always.
Skype‘s growing fast and our beat even faster. Skype Journal, independent, insightful, irascible, covers Skype and Skype’s world.
We need bloggers who research, think and communicate effectively. Skype me and let’s chat about a few stories you’d like to tell. Take your pick from gadget porn, conference coverage, technology deep dives, public policy analysis, competitor watch, industry adoption, or whatever you think needs covering. English a must, other languages a big plus. Let’s tell the Skype story in words, pictures, and video.
 At VON Canada 2005 I first met Stuart Henshall, the founder of Skype Journal; this Canadian VON event attracted bloggers from across North America. It was the only North American opportunity to hear Skype founder Nicklas Zennstrom personally while he was in legal limbo in the U.S. Later that year I was asked to write a couple of posts for Skype Journal; effectively Stuart had seen my personal post about Skype’s newly launched email toolbar for which I had been a beta tester and asked if he could post it on Skype Journal.
The following April when VON Canada held its third (and last) show in Toronto, I had just completed a client business development assignment and was asked to blog on behalf of Skype Journal. Stefan Oberg, Skype’s current Vice-President for Business, spoke about Skype’s goal to be “Better than a phone…”. Today, with the SILK codec, Skype is much better than a phone; since its introduction I cringe politely when I have to go back to normal phone conversations.
But, more importantly, since then I have had a wonderful opportunity to meet many keen and passionate Skype employees, develop an understanding of what it takes to be a Skype Partner – especially with business applications — and participated with a network of great bloggers who all contribute to a better understanding of the business and technology issues of the emerging communications world.
Yes, there have been challenges; Skype has had to reorganize and restructure as a viable and growing business. Several players have attempted to get into the real time communications space; they need to find their niche and attract users and develop revenue streams. But, when I look at the outcome of the past three years in this space, Skype remains a strong player; it has become synonymous with disrupting barriers to communications around the world at little or no cost to the user.
New services have evolved; small businesses can enjoy the advantages of services that were previously only available to large enterprises.16 million users online concurrently every day around 2:00 p.m. EST (GMT-5) is half the population of Canada. And there are probably 30 to 40 million who use Skype daily with about 30% in business applications. Free video calling has become a reality.
But over the past eighteen months:
- Skype’s business application partners are looking for ways to have third party support marketing their leading edge services
- Other significant players have come into the real time emerging communications space offering a range of unique products and services
- Mobile phones have evolved into smartphones
- Social media keeps everyone informed in real time about news, personal activities and individual opinions
- It’s the year of the Voice 2.0 world.
- WordPress has become the most powerful platform for not only blogging but also complete websites.
- Search has become a key tool in developing a significant web presence
As a result today I am launching a new website Voice On The Web – facilitating personal and business communications across a Voice 2.0 world. Check out my initial post for more details about the goals and objectives I hope to achieve. Note that all my Skype Journal posts are archived there and readily searchable. There’s still lots of warts on the site but one has to start somewhere.
At the same time Phil Wolff will continue to blog on Skype Journal, continuing to bring his perspective on the technology and business opportunities in the Voice 2.0 world. I will be providing him link love frequently for posts I feel should be checked out.
Time to move on… see you at Voice On The Web. And, thanks to Phil for the opportunity to participate on Skype Journal over the past three years.
Technical stuff interfered with Skype Journal running properly this year. So we’re moving to a new host, upgrading our software, and using Blogger as our interim service.
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7 years and 12 days since Skype Journal launched as a stand-alone blog.
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