Paranoid, Perverted or Pragmatic: Why IE 8 is Good for Business (unless your name is Google).

First, let’s remember that this is a business technology blog. What you do in the (relative) privacy of your own home, on your own time, is your business. Sort of.

Let’s really talk about the business of browsing at work or on behalf of work-related interests. In general, we at Nextrio have favored using Firefox for all your Windows surfing needs wherever possible (there are many web-based applications that require Microsoft’s Internet Explorer). Our major concern has been the security features, or lack thereof. Microsoft’s impending release of Internet Explorer 8 is the closest we’ve come to recommending their browser. It looks like they are finally catching up to the competition (including Opera and Safari) and spackling over those known security deficiencies.

The feature garnering the most press is the InPrivate functionality (nicknamed “porn mode”, wink, wink). InPrivate really has two parts:

1. InPrivate Browsing which allows users to surf websites without leaving a trace. No browser history, no cookies, no cached files, no saved passwords from forms, nada. Unless you are a criminal investigator by trade, your secrets are safe with IE.
2. In Private Blocking which prevents users from being “tracked” across websites. In the past, although a website may not know exactly who you are (your address, phone or SSN#), it could tell if you were the same visitor that has been there 22 times before. Frequently, the site could tell what other sites you went to just prior to or just after visiting there. That tracking information turns into Internet gold when you are attempting to make money by placing targeted ads, based on browsing patterns, in front of users.

Clearly this is a huge win for those trying to buy a surprise gift or trying to make a secret rendezvous using their spouse’s computer, however I don’t believe Microsoft would have put this much effort into protecting the art of gift-giving or ensuring marital harmony. This is a chess move intended to put Google on the defensive, timed around the announcement of Google’s new browser, Chrome, to take some of the wind out of their sails. With the largest ad revenue business in the world, Google (DoubleClick) is the company most often “tracking” users’ surfing patterns. Feature #2 effectively shuts them out, at least for now.

So what does all this mean for business?

Sorry, but if you are surfing at one of the larger businesses that has any sort of web content filtering solution which watches users’ activities – you still should not be surfing inappropriate sites at work. They will know and you will be fired.

If you’re using Google Analytics to track visitors to your own website, you will likely see a change in data trends. Google will not be able to track them in quite the same way as before. On the bright side, if you are researching a competitor, you can dig through their website without the competitor catching on.

Also a plus, you can more freely and confidently surf and/or retrieve web information while at Internet cafes or other public kiosks. However, I still would not conduct my online backing on any machine that I didn’t own and could not physically secure.

IE 8 is not yet released for the general public, and in the end, any small advantage it may have established will likely be quickly attacked by thousands of hackers and panned by many more critics.

The browser wars continue, dear colleagues, but at least now you can hide which side you’re on.

Trying Twitter

So, I’ll admit that when it comes to social networking tools, I am a fuddy-duddy. Just saying fuddy-duddy gives you an idea of how old-fashioned I am in my relationship skills. I like the part where you get to look people in the eye, shake their hands, give them a hug, read their body language. I’ve found online social networking tools to be devoid of some of the interpersonal feedback that I believe, quite frankly, separate us from the apes.

And yet, I’m now the reluctant owner of a Twitter account.

After months of hearing about its swell to fame among junior high students and college kids – I’ve built a fairly solid resistance to the concept, essentially on principle. I’ve been searching for the business use for our company and I’ve yet to find a really compelling reason to regularly twitter. Of course, like any new, bright shiny gadget, gizmo or tech toy, Twitter has captured the attention of my technology-addicted spouse. And so I have gone kicking and screaming into the abyss.

Here’s my professional and personal analysis:

What is Twitter?
Twitter is basically the online publishing tool for perpetually answering the question, “What are you doing?” at ridiculously frequent intervals. As the mother of a toddler, I’m pretty familiar with this idea of repeatedly answering the same question over and over. I’m just not sure that anyone other than a toddler would be interested in knowing exactly what I’m up to, what’s just crossed my mind, or what I just saw every other minute of the day.

Twitter is a voyeuristic, hyper-connected community, separated into categories: those you are Following or those who are Followers of you. What unites you as the Following or the Followers can be an individual (friend or colleague), a shared interest (hobby, sport, club), a location (your town, your neighborhood, your school) or an event (concert, election, conference).

Updates (e.g. responses to “What are you doing”), limited to 140 characters max, are posted by users as often as they like and made available to each group of Followers via SMS text message, email, IM and/or the website. You can make your updates private – meaning that Followers must be invited and approved by you – or public – meaning anybody with time on their hands is potentially your new friend.

How Twitter might actually be useful:

So after much deliberation and consultation with my expert staff, I think Twitter could come in handy in a few select scenarios:

• You’ve been wrongfully imprisoned in an Egyptian jail. Seriously – read this: http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/04/25/twitter.buck/
• You’re being held hostage by a bad blind date or in a boring meeting and you need a friend to “interrupt” you with a phone call
• There’s a hungry mountain lion loose in your neighborhood and you should not open your front door.
• The President is in town and the intersection at the Starbucks you’re trying to get to is completely closed off.
• You want to notify a team of people that you are going to be late to a meeting, missed your flight, won a big deal or are quitting your day job.
• You need to publish delivery room progress reports on your new baby or give surprise party attendees updates about the proximity of the guest-of-honor.
• Or any other “public service” announcement, team “e-blast” or mass instant messaging communication.

So depending on your content and your audience, this is probably not worth your small business’ time right now. With several other more effective outlets of expression at my disposal, Twitter will remain on my back burner for awhile yet. Just let them figure out how to make money at it – and I’m sure I’ll be singing a new tune.

Follow our escapades at Nextrio: http://www.twitter.com/nextrio