Welcome to the seventh episode of “The Mediatwits,” the new revamped longer form weekly audio podcast from MediaShift. The co-hosts are MediaShift’s Mark Glaser along with PaidContent founder Rafat Ali. This week’s show looks at Microsoft’s massive payout, $8.5 billion, for Skype, a popular communication service that still loses money.
Our guest this week is Laura Rich, the co-founder of the new Street Fight site covering the business of hyper-local and geo-location. She responds to our earlier criticism of the site on a past episode. Plus, Google announces its new Chromebook netbook computers that don’t have any software beyond a web browser, and will be out next month.
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Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Here are some highlighted topics from the show:
Rafat’s allergies and Mark’s allergic to cable
1:20: Mark decides to cut the cord to cable TV
3:30: Rafat cut the cord when he moved to New York
4:50: Rundown of stories on the podcast
Microsoft bets big on Skype
6:45: Don’t ruin it, Microsoft
8:40: Could it upset the cell carriers?
10:50: Rafat pays to use Skype when traveling
Interview with Laura Rich of Street Fight
13:10: $150 billion in local advertising market
15:40: Street Fight will have events and do original research
17:45: AOL uses Patch as wire service to cover Bin Laden news
20:55: Rafat says PaidContent succeeded by being a must-read daily
22:50: No deja-vu for Internet bubble
Google unveils Chromebooks
23:40: Basics on the Chromebook
25:30: Rafat says netbooks have their place, but being replaced by tablets
28:30: Long-lasting battery-charge miracles
More Reading
Microsoft’s gamble: A big phone bill at The Economist
Will Microsoft Inject Trademark Mediocrity Into Promise Of Skype? at Forbes
Microsoft Will Screw Up Skype at Daily Beast
The Future of Skype by David Pogue at NY Times
Skype Deal Is Unlikely to Pay Off for Microsoft at Reuters Breakingviews
Skype’s long history of owners and also-rans: At an end? at Fortune
HuffPo Harnesses Patch Hyperlocals for Bin Laden News at Street Fight
Google Chromebook Could Struggle Against Windows, iPad at eWeek
Three Big Questions for the Samsung Chromebook at PC Mag
Hands On With Samsung’s Chrome OS-Powered Series S at Huffington Post
Hands On With Google’s Chromebook: Nice, but Unnecessary at The Atlantic
Google tries to remake the laptop at CNET
Weekly Poll
Don’t forget to vote in our weekly poll, this time about Microsoft buying Skype:
Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.