Our Avid Partnership Expands -- Now with a Full "Sorenson 360" Workflow Solution

Today, our long-time partner, digital media technology leader Avid, introduces new versions of its premier video editing solutions -- Media Composer 4.0, Symphony 4.0, and NewsCutter 8.0. And, I am very pleased to be one of the first to announce that our award-winning solutions are bundled with Avid's new products (the full press release is below).

Not only is "Sorenson Squeeze" -- our best-in-class video encoding application application -- bundled. But now, for the first time, Avid is bundling our full "Sorenson 360" video publishing solution (which Dan Rayburn of StreamingMedia calls "A Winner"). So, for the first time, Avid users now have a full all-in-one high quality workflow solution -- editing, encoding, publishing, hosting, streaming, metrics/analytics.

Avid/Sorenson Media together -- making it easy and possible with the highest quality, so that the video professional can get back to what matters most ... making their videos ... and building their businesses ...

Sorenson Squeeze 5 Now Shipping with Avid Media Composer, NewsCutter and Symphony Video Editing Software Applications Enabling First Seamless Editing, Encoding and Publishing Workflow

Latest Version of Sorenson Squeeze Provides Users Ability to Easily Publish to Sorenson 360 Online Video Platform, Giving Avid Customers All-in-One Editing-to-Publishing Solution

SAN DIEGO (September 30, 2009) – Sorenson Media today announced that the latest versions of Avid® video editing solutions – Media Composer® (4.0), Symphony™ (4.0) and NewsCutter® (8.0) – integrate Sorenson Squeeze 5, providing users a seamless process for editing and encoding the highest quality video content in the most popular formats. Through Sorenson Squeeze’s unique integration with the Sorenson 360 online video platform, Avid customers may further benefit from a workflow solution that enables users to seamlessly edit, encode and publish the highest quality video online.

This most recent product offering is the latest in a six-year relationship Sorenson Media has maintained as the encoding tool integrated with Avid software. As the gold-standard video encoding application, Sorenson Squeeze enables editors, producers and filmmakers who use Avid video editing software to easily deliver video in all of the most popular video formats, with advanced encoding options and superior results.

“Avid is dedicated to providing customers the highest quality video solutions that help them achieve their creative vision. By integrating our industry-leading editing software with the newest versions of third-party applications like Sorenson Squeeze, we help deliver the ultimate creative toolset.” said Mark Overington, vice president of product management at Avid. “Our customers have asked for a seamless all-in-one workflow and we continue to work with industry partners to extend the existing capabilities of our editor solutions for added functionality throughout the post-production process.”

Through the Avid software interface, video editors are able to send their video files directly to Sorenson Squeeze for encoding without adding any additional steps. Using Sorenson Squeeze’s simple workflow, users can output content in a wide variety of formats, including Flash, QuickTime, Windows Media, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, for online, DVD or mobile delivery. The software also encodes in HD for MPEG-2, Flash, VC-1, and H.264 formats. Video professionals can compress and encode multiple files simultaneously and apply advanced pre-processing filters to produce higher quality video.

Additionally, the latest version of Sorenson Squeeze integrates seamlessly with the Sorenson 360 online video platform. This unique process creates an all-in-one editing-to-publishing solution for Avid customers, enabling them to efficiently publish videos of the highest-quality to the Web without adding any additional steps to their workflow. Once uploaded to Sorenson 360, users can easily deliver their video content to any Web site by cutting and pasting an automatically generated embed code and gain access to powerful analytics and other video management tools.

“We are thrilled that Sorenson Media continues to enjoy a strong relationship with Avid as the encoding tool of choice for their exceptional editing applications,” said Peter Csathy, CEO of Sorenson Media. “With the integration of Sorenson Squeeze – and, in turn, the additional Sorenson 360 platform – Avid customers are able to edit, encode and publish their videos efficiently on the Web or prepare the best quality videos for mobile media playback, DVD and other uses.”

Pricing and Availability

Avid will bundle Sorenson Squeeze 5 in its latest versions of Avid Media Composer, Symphony and NewsCutter software, the newest versions of which were released today. Pricing for the Avid software is available online at www.avid.com.

About Sorenson Media

Sorenson Media (www.sorensonmedia.com) offers comprehensive, award-winning solutions that empower businesses and video professionals to easily and affordably deploy the highest-quality digital video to the Internet and other media. Included among its products and services are the Sorenson 360 Video Delivery Network (VDN); Sorenson Squeeze, the gold-standard for video encoding applications; Sorenson Squish and SquishNet, which together create an easy-to-use browser-based video publishing platform for user-generated content; and Sorenson Spark, the industry’s most widely used video codec, which enables mobile devices and other consumer products to playback the largest selection of video on the Internet today. Since its inception in 1995, Sorenson Media has been instrumental in bringing Internet video to mainstream applications and is committed to dramatically improving the online video experience for both content creators and consumers.

About Avid

Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world - from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, television shows, live concert tours and news broadcasts, to music and movies made at home. Some of Avid's most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer, Pro Tools®, Avid Unity™, Interplay®, Oxygen 8, Sibelius® and Pinnacle Studio™. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit http://www.avid.com/, del.icio.us, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube; connect with Avid on Facebook; or subscribe to Avid Industry Buzz.

Avid, Avid Unity, Interplay, Media Composer, NewsCutter, Pro Tools, Pinnacle Studio, Sibelius and Symphony are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. The Interplay name is used with the permission of the Interplay Entertainment Corp. which bears no responsibility for Avid products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Brett Favre's Lesson to All Entrepreneurs -- Passion & Love of the Game

Forgive me -- I'm a long time Minnesota Vikings fan -- so today's post has to do with yesterday's unbelievable victory over the 49er. But, it also has to do with so much more.

The Vikes were down by 4, at their own 20 yard line, 80 yards to go, needing a TD, and no time-outs. Who was at the helm? Brett Favre -- #4 wearing purple (of all things). There was a hush in the Metrodome. He was too old to march the team down to victory, right? (Most sports writers seemed to write him off before the year began -- he became a running joke.)

But there he was -- doinking the ball down field. 7 yards here -- 12 yards there. Down to the 33 yard line -- but only 13 seconds left (and 3rd down WITH NO TIMEOUTS!) Then, the old man steps back, scrambles a bit, and throws an improbable and impossible rope to the back of the end zone -- and is caught with literally a millimeter between the receiver's foot and the back of the goal line. THE VIKES WIN (in one of the most thrilling games I have ever seen - and I have watched a lot over the years).

So, Csathy, once again, what does this have to do with digital media and technology?

Quite simply -- the game is a remarkable study of what it takes to win and succeed -- and Brett Favre exemplifies the single most important ingredient. And, that is passion. Love of the game. Dedication. Plain old tenacity and hard work. Ultimately, a "never say die" attitude (I have written about this several times before.)

I love watching Favre play -- I must admit, I loved watching him play all those years when he was wearing green and playing my purple team. He is everything good in sport. He's a little kid out there. He has fun. He loves the game. (That's why he retired -- then unretired -- then retired again -- and then retired again; he simply can't leave the game he loves ... and who can blame him?)

Favre's "ingredients" are the ingredients that make for a successful team.

They don't guarantee victory. But, they give you a helluva much better chance to succeed ...

(As a post-script -- can't wait for next Monday night's game when Favre and his purple team play the Packers for the first time. The kid will be out in full force again .... )

Twitter's New $1 Billion Valuation -- All Hype? Or, a Veritable Bargain?

Twitter just announced a new round of funding -- $100 million of fresh cash at a $1 billion valuation. This, of course, despite the fact that Twitter has to date nary a peep in the revenue department.

So, have Twitter's new investors been duped by the Twitter-azzi's hype machine? Here's one interesting perspective from TechCrunch.

And, here's another from Robert Scoble, who likely believes this new valuation is a veritable bargain for new investors since he earlier threw out numbers ranging from $5-10 BILLION (yes, that is not a typo).

One thing is certain -- as I point out in my earlier post on the subject -- Twitter is in no hurry to drive revenues, since any such efforts would give pencil-pushing valuation experts a base on which to hang their hats (and likely bring those valuations closer down to the ground).

Remember, Twitter now has $130 million in the bank. And, it has an intriguingly mysterious theoretical business model, much like its early cousin YouTube. You simply can't pin it down.

And that worked out pretty well for all involved at YouTube ...

Internet TV Gets All the Hype -- But e-Commerce Video Everywhere Is the Real Online Video Story

Online video. We hear and read about its ascendance everywhere.

YET, most of the attention gets focused on Internet TV -- i.e., so-called "premier" video content (TV shows, etc.) that is now available via Hulu and other web sites (even YouTube, of course, is trying to get into that game in order to monetize its services through real advertising). Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published another piece about this very subject -- i.e., "TV Shapes Up as Web Battleground."

There is no doubt that THAT -- i.e., Internet TV -- is an exciting story and is shaping up to be a battleground with tremendous implications. I have written about that topic several times. It will reshape companies. It will reshape business models. It will reshape how we consume our media.

But, the REAL Internet video story in the business world -- the story that is far more significant in scope and overall impact (but is perhaps not as "sexy" as the Internet TV story and, therefore, does not get nearly as much ink) -- is the absolute dominance and impact online video will have in the world of e-commerce. We are visual creatures -- and nothing showcases, sells, or markets more effectively than video. Nothing.

And, although some businesses already "get" that and feature video front and center on their web sites right now, most are still in the dark. But, this is changing fast, as businesses of all size begin to realize this unique power of video (either by being ahead of the curve, or by being behind it -- seeing their competitors fly past them because those competitors recognized video's unique power first).

Fast-forward two years, and virtually every business online will feature video front and center.

In his recent "the company is not for sale" interview (by the way, do we really believe that?), Brightcove's CEO Jeremy Allaire drives this point home vividly, saying:

"Every organization that uses the web is going to be investing in video, as a fundamental part of how they market, how they educate, provide information ... I don't think it's necessarily dependent on internet video to the living room -- the more exciting trend is the overall ascendance of video as a medium -- there's a next wave of e-commerce that is focused on video ... the way companies communicate internally and externally, that's a great opportunity."

I couldn't agree more. In my far less eloquent words, we are only in the second inning of a nine inning game. In other words, we ain't seen nothin' yet.

Yes, in some ways Jeremy's and my company are competitors. But, there is plenty of room for both companies -- and others -- to fulfill this soon-to-be massive (yet not-yet-nearly-fully-appreciated-or-understood) need. And, consequently, there is plenty of opportunity to build massively successful businesses to serve this e-commerce-related market by empowering business owners to harness video's unique power to drive massively successful businesses of their own ...

And, THAT is the real Internet video story ... business style ...

Sorenson Media? We Do VIDEO! Watch It!

Why use text -- when you can use video ...

(By the way -- this is the small player so that it "fits" in my blog -- you should see what the larger sized players look like ... check it out at http://www.sorensonmedia.com/video-delivery-network/ )

So Long SightSpeed -- Thanks for the Memories!

My former company, SightSpeed, was acquired by Logitech last November -- we had a great team, and we are proud to have developed the best reviewed video and voice over IP service (by the same name). The SightSpeed team was known as being innovators -- and, with 25 employees, we took on Skype and others who dwarfed us in terms of resources, and we held our own (and then some, in my humble opinion).

But, alas, as my friend and colleague Andy Abramson writes, SightSpeed (consumer edition, at least) is no more. However, its spirit lives on -- and very successfully -- in Logitech's new "Vid" service.

Read more from Andy, VoIP expert extraordinaire. And, SightSpeed, thanks for the memories ....

eBay Jolted by Joltid, As Skype's Founders Hang Up Company's Sale to Private Investors

Talk about biting the hand that feeds!

Skype's founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom -- via their company, Joltid -- yesterday filed a copyright suit against Skype and its core peer-to-peer technology. Needless to say, this "complicates" eBay's recent announced sale of a majority interest in Skype to a group of private investors including Marc Andreessen for $2 billion. And, to add insult to injury, the lawsuit names individual investors as defendants, contending that these investors had knowledge of Skype's copyright infringements when they negotiated their deal.

Wow, talk about audacity! Let's not forget that Skype's founders pocketed a few bills when they sold their company to eBay a few years back for more than $3 billion. And, for eBay, talk about naivete if they spent that much money to buy Skype from its founders and somehow "forgot" to firmly secure the basic IP rights they needed to run the company! Where are those eBay lawyers now?

Look, I haven't had a chance to review the lawsuit. But, it seems to me that when someone sells something for $3 billion+, they should really be selling it ... (and, on the flip-side, when someone is buying something, they should make sure they are really buying it).

Hey, we sold my last company, IP calling service SightSpeed, to Logitech last November for $30 million. And, we really sold it -- everything -- all IP (including better P2P technology than Skype's). Imagine that?

Bottom line -- as my clever colleague Eric Quanstrom said to me this morning -- eBay just got jolted by Joltid!

Why Did the Bills & Raiders Lose Last Night? Because They Didn't Really BELIEVE They Could Win

Last night's two football games were classics -- classic examples of how two teams (the Bills and Raiders) ultimately gave their victories away in the waning minutes of those games.

Why did this happen? Quite simply, attitude. Because they really didn't believe they could win, even though each team dominated those games until the very end. (And, on the flip side, the Pats and Chargers ultimately won because they believed they would win -- and they made it happen.)

This "never say die" and "we will make it happen and win" attitude applies equally to any organization (including companies small and large). I have seen it time and time again.

Attitude is a central ingredient of success in all things -- including business. In fact, I agree with Seth Godin that attitude is THE most important ingredient for success. His blog in this regard is worthy of a read.

Spotify -- What Am I Missing? And, What About Li'l Old Rhapsody?

In its September 17th issue, Rolling Stone magazine writes a feature piece about Spotify, an online music subscription service that it calls a "European streaming sensation." In the article, writer Steve Knopper lusciously praises Spotify as virtually being the second coming for the beleaguered music industry -- "it could represent the strongest challenge yet to iTunes' dominance in the digital music market."

What does Rolling Stone cite as the benchmarks for such exalted praise?

First, unlimited access to over 6 million tracks on demand for a mere $14/month -- in "CD quality" no less!

And, second -- and more importantly in the writer's mind -- portability! The ability to have all 6 million tracks available on demand on the iPhone via the Spotify app available at the iPhone app store.

Now, THAT most assuredly is cool.

But, how about little old domestically based Rhapsody? Remember Rhapsody? Rob Glaser's oft-overlooked baby that has been in the game for years and years -- and which is now a joint venture between MTV and Real -- and which also has its own app for the iPhone (as I just recently wrote) and does the same thing for about the same price!

So, what am I missing here? Why is Spotify so cool, when Rhapsody is so NOT cool in the eyes of many (although I am -- and have been -- a believer in Rhapsody and other on demand subscription services for years).

Let me know because -- at this moment in time -- I believe that the writer's myopic focus on Spotify is NOT spot on. Seems to me that he was pitched a PR story and neglected to spend 10 minutes exploring the overall digital music landscape ...

On Demand Music Streaming Finally Poised for Greatness? iPhone to the Rescue

Big news for music fans and those, like me, who are long-time users of -- and believers in -- the power of on demand music subscription services such as Rhapsody or Best Buy's Napster. I recently wrote about flagging demand for Rhapsody. But, this all may change now because Apple has finally approved the first on demand music streaming app for the iPhone and iTouch -- and that would be Rhapsody's.

Why is this a big deal? Because now, Rhapsody subscribers can stream -- on demand -- any of over 6 million songs directly from their iPhone. No more downloads needed. No more need to transfer any tracks to your iPhone or iTouch anymore. And, no more need to buy tracks from iTunes.

And, THERE's the rub for Apple. Yes, so far, music subscription services have not taken any bite out of iTunes' dominance in the online music game. But, this development reinvigorates the hopes of on demand music subscription services -- and could be a game changer ...

Steve Jobs Goes "All In" on Internet Video (in a Small Way -- the Nano)

Yesterday marked Steve Jobs' return as the public face of Apple -- and, it was a welcome one -- a nearly two minute standing ovation that virtually eclipsed everything else in the show.

The big news of the day apart from Jobs himself? Not the Beatles. Not a new tablet. Rather, it was video. Specifically, Steve Jobs -- and Apple -- want to take a big bite out of the accelerating Internet video market. In Jobs' words at the event, "video has exploded in the last few years ... we want to get in on this." And, he wasn't too shy about who is in his sites in particular to make that happen -- that would be Cisco and their newly acquired Flip cam product. Apple is taking them head on (something rare for the company to do so publicly, which itself is a compliment to Flip). It is clear that Jobs and Apple see video capture (recording) and personal video publishing to the Internet as the next frontier.

What is Jobs' bet on its secret weapon to make this happen? It is the iPod nano initially, which now has a camera and microphone on its back. Jobs is betting that the iPod's multi-purpose functionality and smaller form factor will carry the day. But, the single purpose Flip cam is drop dead easy to use and features HD video among other things (the nano does not) -- and, Flip users are as passionate as the Apple faithful.

In any event, Jobs' emphasis on immersing Apple into the Internet video game (just like Cisco's acquisition of Pure Digital/Flip a few months back) should be a wake-up call to many -- get into the Internet video game now (or you may be left in the dust -- watching the video of others capturing that multi-billion dollar opportunity).

"They're Here ..." -- 25% of U.S. Households Now Watch TV Online

I have written several times about the inevitable shift of "traditional" TV viewing to the Internet -- ultimately to the point where TV and the Internet will be synonymous ("Internet TV"). Essentially, search for your favorite "TV show" -- a la Google -- and view it where you want (on your flat screen, on your mobile) when you want it.

Not surprisingly, that sea change in viewing habits is happening at a rapid pace, although this shift is still early (we are in inning 2 of a 9 inning game). The Los Angeles Times reports today that 25% of US households now watch at least some "TV" online -- that is up from 20% same time last year. And, one of the biggest names helping to drive that trend, Hulu, quadrupled its usage in that same 12 month period.

Critically, this sea change also is generational -- a whole new generation of "TV viewers" are abandoning the traditional TV experience altogether and getting all the shows they want for "free" via the Internet. And, no one knows how this all will play out for the traditional business models that support the traditional TV business (although I am a believer that meaningful monetization will come from a combination of ad support, subscription services, and purchases).

International Demand for Online Video Accelerates -- Case in Point, Sorenson Media

Okay -- Labor Day is done -- summer is over -- kids are back in school -- everyone is back to work -- holidays are nigh ...

My company, Sorenson Media, saw this already beginning last week, experiencing significantly more traffic and sales than during the final weeks of August. This type of seasonality, of course, is not unusual for companies who sell services online -- I saw this at my former companies, SightSpeed and Musicmatch, as well.

We also are seeing accelerating demand and growth for our services outside the U.S., as businesses worldwide are focusing more and more attention on online video, recognizing the unique power of video to sell and market their products and services and to more effectively interact with their customers and prospective customers.

In fact, today we issued a press release that discusses the remarkable growth and demand for our services outside the U.S. Case in point -- London now tops overall sales and site visits by a significant margin, generating 32% more sales for my company's products and services and 26% more site traffic than our second most significant city, New York. And, international traffic to our website now surpasses domestic traffic.

What makes this especially compelling is that, to date, we have essentially focused no marketing resources outside the U.S.

That is the power of the Sorenson Media brand ... and that is our international opportunity.

I like our chances ...

YouTube -- Ditching the "You" More & More Each Day (and Acting More Like Coca Cola?)

YouTube -- who are you? Better question -- where are YOU?

YouTube is fast-changing its classic "broadcast yourself" formula -- instead, adopting the mantra more taste(ful) content, less filling (non monetizable content). In other words, featuring more and more "premium" and monetizable content -- including TV shows.

Now, of course, YouTube plans to distribute full-length motion pictures, in a bid to try to be all things to all people. Yes, YouTube still wants to feature your "dancing cat" videos; but, YouTube also wants to be just like Netflix, Hulu and others in terms of the online distribution of movies and other premium content. This move was announced yesterday -- but, certainly is not unexpected at all.

But, will this change in its classic formula work? Or, will YouTube suffer the same fate as Coca Cola a couple decades back when it tinkered with its formula in a bid to be more like Pepsi, which had started to gain ground on it at the time? Many of you may recall what happened there - shock and awe - and Coca Cola quickly re-introduced its original formula under the new moniker of "Coca Cola Classic."

By more and more ditching the "You" -- and by more and more broadcasting what THEY are broadcasting -- will YouTube's faithful start to go elsewhere because they feel the service has lost its grass-roots soul? In other words, that YouTube has become "just like the other guys?"

Ahh, "What to be, or not to be? That is the question!" This is the conundrum that confronts Google as it continues to shed hundreds of millions of dollars on the service.

Dan Rayburn -- Don't Believe the Hype About Adaptive Bitrate Streaming's Cost Savings

Dan Rayburn of Streaming Media is one of the most highly respected experts in the Internet video space -- I hear this time and time again. He is very much like E.F. Hutton -- when he talks, people listen. That's why his recent post about adaptive bitrate streaming and HTTP streaming is so instructive not only for those of us in the video publishing platform space, but even more importantly for those businesses and video professionals who are in need of a video publishing solution.

Let's face it, there are many players who provide video publishing solutions -- we are one of them (we offer our new highly-reviewed "Sorenson 360" solution). And, all of us in this space have our respective pitches of why our solutions are better than those of the others. (If you want to understand our points of differentiation -- which we believe are many -- click on this link.) For Sorenson 360, a critical differentiating ingredient in our "special sauce" is client-side encoding -- no one else has it. Some others, on the other hand, loudly preach the mantra of adaptive bitrate streaming -- and the purported associated cost savings that go with it.

But, despite all this noise regarding the purported cost savings related to adaptive bitrate streaming (which requires the encoding of a single video file in multiple bitrates), Dan Rayburn cautions pundits and potential customers to not believe the hype. In fact, not only does he underscore that no CDN "is charging any less for HTTP based [or adaptive bitrate] streaming", he concludes that the opposite actually may be true -- i.e., that multi-bitrate encoding and storage may cause "a content owners delivery and storage costs [to] actually go up, not down."

So, when choosing your video publishing platform, read the label carefully -- and look for ingredients that actually (and demonstrably) make your videos look the best and your work-flow the easiest ... cost-effectively of course ...

Tweet This! How Much is Owning the World's Collective Consciousness Worth? Scoble Says $5-10 Billion -- Perhaps, But Not for His Reasons

Yesterday, respected tech guru Robert Scoble wrote that Twitter is underhyped and undervalued and is worth between $5 and $10 BILLION. Never mind that Twitter makes no money and has found no way to monetize its services. Scoble believes that Twitter will eventually Tweet itself all the way to the bank by charging for "business services" (although he does not define what those business services may be).

After I tweeted Scoble's post, a good friend (who also is a top executive at a major Internet company) wrote a humorous direct message to me, saying that respected Scoble "is now a lot less respected."

Now, that's a bit harsh. But, Eric Quanstrom (Sorenson Media's VP Marketing & Strategy) and I discussed Scoble's post yesterday and ruminated on it. We considered Scoble's rationale and reached these conclusions:

First, if you are Evan Williams (CEO of Twitter), just sit back and enjoy the ride -- let Scoble and others inflate the value of your company. Don't even try to justify ways to monetize your services, because once you do, then the number crunchers will come in and quickly deflate the value of your company. Gone will be the hype of $5-10 billion -- now, critics will be able to poke holes in your monetization story. So, be patient -- and let Scoble and others speculate. Their speculation, in turn, will lead to real investor speculation and even more hype -- and that ultimately will benefit Twitter investors in a big way.

Second, while it sounds "nice" and "logical" that Twitter ultimately will be able to monetize its services in a big way by introducing "business services", let's take a closer look. Yes, it is absolutely true that virtually every company -- including my own, Sorenson Media -- is trying to harness the power of Twitter to build customer relationships and better market itself, that does not mean that Twitter itself necessarily will be the one to generate real cash from those efforts. Look at the plethora of Twitter-related services and apps out there right now? These aren't Twitter itself -- but they harness the power of Twitter and give businesses many of the services and tools they need right now. And, this Twitter eco-system will only grow and grow.

So, yes, Twitter is a phenomenon -- and its growth is beyond remarkable. As Scoble writes, the entire world (literally) is obsessed with Twitter and feels the need to tweet itself -- "I Tweet. Therefore, I am." And, yes, Twitter is unlike any other service out there, providing the world's collective consciousness at any given moment in time (something that even almighty Google and Facebook cannot do) (how can Google even effectively present real-time Tweets as part of its view of world domination to "search everything" -- how will it rank Tweet X v. Tweet Y?).

But, how much is owning the world's collective consciousness worth?

As a stand-alone business, certainly nothing close to $5-10 billion. Let's not forget that, apart from Twitter's unknown plan to monetize itself (I have doubts that Twitter will ever be able to monetize its services in any meaningful way), its operating expenses must be enormous -- and those will only grow and grow as more and more Tweets will include video and other rich media. (As I just recently wrote, Google's YouTube has precisely the same problem.)

But, whoa Csathy, not so fast! Let's get back to Google's mantra to "search everything." How can this be true when it cannot do what Twitter does -- i.e., search the world's collective consciousness right now? THAT is Google's Achilles Heel! And, that, ultimately, may be Twitter's path to billions and billions. Google needs Twitter (in the words of that classic disco song, "If I can't have you, I don't want nobody baby!). And other tech behemoths (Microsoft, anyone?) need to keep Twitter out of Google's hands.

So, it ain't "business services" that will lead to the salvation of Twitter investors. It will simply be an old-world auction -- supply and demand. And, direct monetization has little to do with it.

(But, Google -- tread cautiously here (I know that is a very bold statement for an individual like me to say to a tech titan). You already lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually running YouTube. If you add Twitter to the fold, you will need to deal with this same issue -- but now doubled.)