Is it time Tadpole morphed?

I've had a very difficult few weeks myself recently having been ill and various other 'life' stuff.....phew! It has meant I didn't have either the time or heart to blog for a bit, but it has given me time to have a good think about the latest Tadpole situation.

Yet again, Tadpole dropped a bombshell on the shareholders just when they thought it was safe to go back in the water.....lol.....but through the Geospatial Division for the second time instead of the Streaming side which we are so used to.

Could this spell the end of the line for the name Tadpole and indeed is this the best opportunity for a long time for it to really metamorphosise and shake off the bad news, bad news, bad news, expectations of the British Press. Why do I say this?

Well since GSD haven't produced any new business this year other than the Ordnance Survey contract that they just announced is ending already - on top of the original price dropping news of the OS review on the Phoenix Project - halving the GSD revenue for this financial year, where can they go now. I think the next we will hear of them will be either asking for shareholder approval for a sale of the division to perhaps ESRI if they will have them for their GoSync product which they promote or to another suitor for the Iplan product or for a Management Buyout at a knock down price.

Either of the above would leave Tadpole with one division, Endeavors Technologies Inc, Which in reality the name would bear no relationship to Tadpole, so why have any confusion with 2 names for a one division company and why not use this as the best presented opportunity for years to drop the name that the press expect to announce bad news from and get a big brush out and sweep clean the floor for the latest darling product of the technology world - Streaming.

I would find it hard not to still think of myself as a Tadder....lol..it's like an illness in itself, but I would like to see what seems to be a company with new life breathing through it have the best chance ever and attack the press as Endeavors Technologies PLC, effectually making it a new story to the press.

Some people have been calling for a name change for several years now, but I personally couldn't see the point previously as what would you have called it, what with having 2 divisions that the Directors kept telling us had no synergy, and yet still represent them both. If there is only one company though, then there is no question of what to call it is there, so I'd support a name change at the same time as a disposal of the GSD side, if that's the route they go down with this latest set back.

In an email to a shareholder recently, Peter Bondar expressed that Endeavors Technologies have been receiving some good leads through the Stream24-7 site that is powered by AppExpress, which means that people must be trying the product and liking what they are seeing, and using. It is the singular most simple method of trying out a product that I've ever experienced and I'm no techie, so if people in the know are trying it out from that site, then their understanding of the simplicity of the experience must be exciting for them especially if they are an IT person running around updating products on PC's whenever there is a product update.

My hopes are that this latest setback in Tadpole hasn't caused problems and a setback in the streaming division, as after all, a company signing up for a new product doesn't particularly want to be hearing that the said company is short of funding as we keep getting told via the RNS's.

Presumably if GSD is sold/disposed of then assuming that Endeavors have business in the pipelines ready to be signed or close to it, then the funds created from the sale should give them the stability to progress for the moment and to get past the funding issue to the point where their own revenue streams should start to support them.

A name change just now might also be just what is needed to get institutional investors aboard as they may have a better understanding of what they are investing in if they only have one company to focus on.

Of course GSD might not be disposed of - that is purely speculation on my part, but the next few weeks will be interesting to say the least.

Stream24-7 - 91,000 hit's in week one!

Stream24-7, launched last week, powered by Endeavors Technologies, Appexpress has had a great first week by just relying on 'Viral Marketing'

A note from their site:

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Wow! What a week!
21/08/2007

Hi Well the site has been up and running for a week now and what a week it has been!

This week we have had people from as far afield as Brazil and Australia comment on the usefulness of the site and mentions on many blogs and online articles. Just to give you some idea of the success of the site, some stats for the first week are:

Over 91,000 hits to the site!!!
Over 1,300 registered users!!!
Over 20 full days worth of streaming activity!!!

Thanks so much to everybody who has used the site so far and spread the word.The Stream24-7.Com Team.

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The objectives of the site are

• Legitimizing streaming by showing anybody can create and use stream applications
• Encouraging software developers to look at streaming vs zip type downloads
• Creating visibility of streaming and its practicality in the eyes of analysts and press
• Doing something that the other guys are not doing therefore creating new opportunities
• Creating pressure on corporate by creating a ground swell of opinion from techies who take these ideas to their bosses
  

Viral Marketing lets the users spread the word, through people like myself who have tried it out and are now blogging about it. Others will email their friends and tell them to give it a go and others will post on forums about it and so on it goes.

The Streaming experience is so different from the download experience that it's difficult to see how this can't be taken up in large volumes by consumers as much as the Enterprise markets.

Licensing a product only for the time you want to use it instead of purchasing full complements of software to complete one specific project or task has amazing cost saving implications for the short term user of software.

Imagine that you are project managing your own build house and you need software to help you do that, you don't know which product would best suit your needs, or for how long you will need it, so what better than to pop into PCWorld, Tesco, Walmart or any other high street store OR visit a site like Stream24-7 and try out and assess which one will suit your needs best.....Try before you buy, and then just rent the product for the timescale you need it.

How many items of software do you currently have sitting on your PC unused for the majority of the time, but essential occasionally. Eg the Self employed chappie who once a month sits down for a day or two at the PC and gets his accounts up to date, VAT returns and TAX sorted out, then never looks near that software till the next month or Quarterly figures are due. Maybe He/She even pays someone else to do that for them just now because they don't know which products to buy to do it for them or think it's cheaper to pay someone else for a day or two's work.

I'm quite excited by the prospect of being able to 'try before I buy' software and more so in so much as if it is streamed to my PC, then it's not actually 'on' my PC, so if it's rubbish then it's gone as soon as I'm finished with it. No redundant software taking up space on my hard-drive. And no applications sitting conflicting with other Apps on my machine.

The benefits of Streaming as far as I can see, outweigh buying a CD or downloading software so much, that I can't wait for it to be the de facto way to buy software applications!

Application Streamed in 3..2..1..Go!

For years I have been a lazy sod and won't spend the 2 hours travelling to and from my nearest software shop to buy applications to use on my PC and have been irritated by the fact that if I want a game or video it streamed to my PC, but getting an application turned my hair grey waiting for download times and installation.

Hurrah - I tried out the new Stream24-7 website this morning powered by Endeavors Technologies, AppExpress and was literally astounded by the speed with which not only could I register but the Appexpress client downloaded to my PC but I was then using my first application.

As in the title to this blog (after registration and client download of about 3-4 minutes) it was 3 seconds from hitting activate to the product I chose operating on my system.

3 seconds!!!!!!

OK, I agree I chose a small application for the off; FreeRam Pro XP, but then I thought I'd try Open Office Suite 2.2 and it took 4 minutes from product selection to operating time. I didn't even get time to get fed up and go and make a coffee while it was at it.

When I used a CD to put MS Office Professional onto my PC it took hours and I had to keep doing things to activate the next section, blah blah blah and on it went for hours.

I also remember when I bought online and downloaded Norton's Professional to my PC a long while back and I actually went out for the day while it downloaded to my PC and then spent the evening waiting for the installation to complete so that I could try it out. Unfortunately just over a year later I had a hard-drive crash and lost the product and couldn't download it again free because it was 1 year past purchase date, so I didn't bother paying for it again I just relied on freeware.

My understanding of the AppExpress client is that I could take my PC beat it up with a sledgehammer and throw it in the bin and tomorrow I could go out and log into my Stream24-7 account anywhere in the world download the AppExpress client to the PC and off I would go again. Obviously the data stored on the beaten up PC would be a goner, but it is anyway with a hard-drive crash, but at least I could still use the product I'd paid for.

I lost about £300 worth of downloaded products with that crash what with applications and games I had paid for and downloaded, so if I was asked the question 'Would you pay for AppExpress if it meant you knew any product bought and downloaded would still be available after a crash?' my answer would have to be 'Oh aye' - I am after all a Scotswoman.......lol :o) spend a little to save a lot!

OK Stream24-7 is offering freeware just now, but I would imagine that this will change in the future and we would get the likes of my lost Nortons Professional offered for sale. So if I decided to purchase it again through the AppEx client then had a hard-drive failure, I could then replace my hard-drive and get going again with the product I have previously purchased.

I'm sure someone will correct me on that if I'm wrong.....lol

Mini Break

Just back from a mini break visiting friends both new and old......lurverly time I had :o)

Mid country first for a few days and brought the sun down there with me, so got out and about a bit when there with good company and then up to the Lakes for a couple of days.

In Keswick (Lake District) for the first time (wow) beautiful scenery climbed a mini hill in the evening to build up an appetite when I arrived (not allowed on the path) and then next morning climbed up my first waterfall....lol Yes I said up 'the waterfall'. That's the problem with visiting a local action man in the area, he reckons paths are for tourists and you have to experience the rock climb to get the best view........(sigh....yeh).....lol.....almost made it to the top too, but any further and i think i'd have been washed away and splattered on the rocks below.

Anyway, I came back to a friend in crisis and 200 emails, so, not had a chance to see whats going on, but will have a good read up and see what I can blether about later, tomorrow or the next day.