nancyrawles.net

GPS
As the iPhone Atlas reports, the 2.0 software update also brings GPS tracking. We tested both while walking in downtown San Francisco and riding in a taxi. Considering that the tracking is relying solely on cellular towers and Wi-Fi hot spots, it was pleasantly accurate. When walking we could see the little bull’s-eye moving along with us. Not surprisingly, the tracking was a bit off when we were in a
car. The bull’s-eye jumped block by block as we came to stoplights. On the whole it works well, but it’s no replacement for a standalone GPS system. Also, remember that while you can get directions through Google Maps, the iPhone does not support real-time turn-by-turn directions.

iWork documents and PowerPoint
We haven’t tried iWork documents just yet, but we were able to view PowerPoint e-mail attachments. The attachment was rather large (1.3MB) but it didn’t take very long to download.

The iPhone Apps Store

Language support
The software update will brings language support and typing keyboards in French, Canadian French, UK English, German, Japanese (QWERTY and Kana), Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Polish. You can select as many languages you want by opening the “International” selection under the General tab of the main Settings menu. For Chinese you choose from Pinyin or a graffiti-style application for writing characters. As you enter characters, suggestions will appear to the right. To change between menus, choose from the small globe icon next to the space bar.

Scientific calculator
As Steve Jobs said in his WWDC keynote, you’ll now get a scientific calculator when you turn the phone on its side. You’ll see a lot more buttons that will set a mathematician’s heart aflutter. Jobs said a lot of people asked for this but again, I’d like to know who they are.

Ready for your work e-mail.

Click here for CNET News’ complete iPhone 3G coverage.

Third-party applications
Once the software update installed, an icon for the App Store appeared on our iPhone’s home screen. When selected, you’re taken to the Apps Store main menu, which somewhat resembles the mobile iTunes store in design. You search applications by name and category and you can browse through the lists of Featured applications or the Top 25. There also is a feature for seeing if your purchased applications have any updates.

What’s most remarkable about the online applications store is the sheer breadth of titles available. As of this writing, there are 27 pages available in a staggering range of categories. If there is one thing about the software update that changes the original iPhone for the better, it’s the Apps Store–even if not all the applications are keepers. Of course, before you get carried away, remember that some apps are free but others will cost you.

The whole process took about 10 minutes from start to finish. Since the iPhone treats the update as a system restore, it will erase any saved information. Fortunately, iTunes creates a one-time media backup of your files. Although some users have reported that iTunes failed to create a backup file for them, we didn’t have any problems.

By and large, those updates were quick, but there was at least one instance where it took a couple of minutes. In fact, it was so long that we thought that the phone had frozen. We also noticed that if the iPhone loses its Wi-Fi connection, the syncing is interrupted. But even with these caveats, the experience was satisfactory. Syncing via EDGE took a few seconds longer, but it wasn’t too bothersome.

(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

When using Wi-Fi, the syncing was very quick most of the time. As new messages came in, the iPhone registered them almost immediately. It seemed to get bogged down when we received a large clump of messages at one time. In those cases, we had to update the phone manually.

Your choice of keyboards

Parental controls
You now will find a “Restrictions” selection under the General tab of the main Settings menu. There you can restrict access to the
Safari browser, explicit songs, YouTube, and the iTunes and iTunes Apps stores. You can select as many restrictions as you like.

What we didn’t get
As we’ve told you already, the software update didn’t give us a lot of things we were hoping for. But if you’d like to see the list again, Nicole Lee has the details.

The new scientific calculator

Download process
At the moment, the downloading process is a bit convoluted, though that experience will change, once Apple releases the software update officially. But once we started the process of installing it on our iPhone, it proceeded successfully without any hiccups.

Once you’re ready to go, it will sync your Outlook e-mail, contacts, and calendar. Be advised that the iPhone can sync only with one calendar or contacts list at a time. If you have a separate personal calendar, your work calendar will replace it, once you start the sync (you’ll be notified before it happens).

Though according to AT&T, using Exchange server support on the iPhone 3G will require the business data plan (the one that costs $45 per month), we received no notice on the original iPhone advising us of any data plan issues (not that we would). It will be interesting to see how AT&T enforces this policy on the iPhone 3G.

We also purchased applications through the online iTunes (7.7) store. Though you could access the applications store only through a back-door method this morning, it’s now prominently featured in the store. We downloaded Super Monkey Ball and then synced it to our phone–a new applications tab appears under the iPhone menu. The process was quick and painless. What’s more, navigation through the online apps store is easy.

As we reported during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference last month, the 2.0 software update adds a number of important features to the original iPhone, including Microsoft Exchange server support and access to the App Store. After installing the new iTunes 7.7 (available for Windows and Mac) update on our PC, we downloaded the update and installed it on our phone. Here’s what we found.

It gets updated.

With the iPhone 2.0 software update, the first
iPhone is getting another day in the sun, and it’s a nice toasty sunshine at that. Although Apple has yet to release the update officially–it should happen Friday as well–the software became available on Thursday through the magic of the Internet.

The authentication process took just a couple of minutes, and we were up and running fairly quickly. Installing CNET’s security certificate posed a bit of a challenge–we ended up mailing it to ourselves through Yahoo–but we installed it eventually.

That’s it for now, but check back tomorrow as we divulge into more details on the software update and delve into our full review of the iPhone 3G.

Although Friday’s launch of the iPhone 3G is grabbing all the headlines, there’s no need to put the original iPhone out to pasture just yet.

Contacts search
A search bar now appears above your contacts list. Typing in any portion of the same will take you immediately to that person. The software update also added a special Contacts to the home screen, which is something we weren’t expecting.

We purchased two applications from the iPhone: AP Mobile News and a currency rates application. Downloads over Wi-Fi were pretty quick; it took just about 10 seconds total. Though wireless iTunes song downloads are available only through a Wi-Fi connection, you can purchase applications over EDGE. Just keep in mind that downloads will take a lot longer.

Once you’ve chosen to add a new e-mail account in the main Settings menu, you’ll be taken to the standard list of available e-mail systems. “Microsoft Exchange” and “MobileMe” (we’ll try that later) will appear at the top of the list just above the choice for Gmail. You’ll then be prompted to enter the applicable e-mail address, domain/username, server, and password.

As an alternative, though, you can sync e-mail without syncing your contacts and calendar. Also, you can keep work and personal e-mail accounts open at the same time. You’ll just have to switch between the two.

Exchange server support
One of the most coveted additions is the full support for Microsoft Exchange server. Adding an account was ridiculously easy, once we had the correct settings from our IT department.

You can access all folders in your in-box and move messages from your in-box to a specific folder. You can’t search for messages, but you can call a contact if they include their phone number in their e-mail. Opening attachments worked as promised, and we like how the software update now lets you save attached images directly to your photo gallery simply by tapping the image. To e-mail photos, you will need to do so in the traditional manner by opening the photo, selecting the e-mail option, and choosing which account you’d like to send from.

Bulk delete and move
This works in your e-mail boxes only. In your in-box you’ll see a small “edit” button at the top right-hand corner. When you press the button a small circle will appear next to each e-mail. Touch the circle to highlight as many messages as you like and then select the “delete” or “move” options.

When we deleted a message on our phone, the same e-mail vanished on our PC just a couple of seconds later. Messages deleted on the PC took longer to disappear from the phone; typically, we had to do a manual update to see them gone. Messages deleted on the phone will show up in your PC’s Recycle Bin and vice versa.

Why does this matter? Consider:

It’s partly of concern because it’s only a matter of time before the power is expanded to monitor all domestic networks. After all (and as the article points out), much of the most dangerous Internet activity would be against private enterprises. Bringing down or stealing data from Visa, American Express, and other such companies could do much more damage than launching a denial of service attack against the Environmental Protection Agency.

All we have right now is the fact that the authority has yet to be granted to monitor such networks. Again, I’m not a privacy freak but I’m a wee bit concerned once the government starts to spend an inordinate amount of time looking inward rather than outward.

Allowing a spy agency to monitor domestic networks is worrisome, said James X. Dempsey, policy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. “We’re concerned that the NSA is claiming such a large role over the security of unclassified systems,” he said. “They are a spy agency as well as a communications security agency. They operate in total secrecy. That’s not necessary and not the most effective way to protect unclassified systems.”

Earlier this month President Bush signed a directive that gives the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies to monitor Internet traffic to protect all government computer systems. As the Washington Post reports, this is causing particular concern because the NSA’s focus has traditionally been on overseas activity, not domestic.

commentary

I’m not paranoid but I’m with Nick Carr on this one: we’ll never know just what is being monitored, or how, or why.

That’s a bit worrisome.

The MacBook Air focused global attention–for the first time with prolonged intensity–on a small, thin notebook. Until now, this kind of design simply wasn’t on many users’ shopping lists. (Particularly Americans who choose performance over portability.) Here’s a brief look at this notebook category, both past and present.

Sharp Actius MM20P in dock

(Credit:
Sharp)

A few prefatory notes: Because I use a MacBook Air, the topic of ultraportables has taken on more importance for me. But the impact of this category of notebooks goes much further than personal interest. Ultraportables now contain fast Core 2 Duo processors, snappy solid state drives (SSDs), and better screens, which makes them more usable and mainstream than ever before. Price is still the limiting factor. This will change, however, as SSD prices fall and more ultraportable competition creeps in at the low end from the likes of Asus and Everex.

NOTE: This is not an official CNET review. Official CNET product reviews are here.

At the top of the blast-from-the-past utrathin notebook list is the Sharp Actius MM20P. This model is listed with a height of 0.62-inch. That’s thin–though it doesn’t taper to 0.16-inch like the Air. It comes with the Transmeta Efficeon TM8600 (Intel-compatible) 1GHz processor, a 10.4-inch screen, a 20GB hard disk drive (no solid state drive option), and 512MB of memory.

The problem–as the specifications indicate–is that it’s dated (and discontinued). Sharp did show, however, that thin notebook designs were viable long before the Air. A progenitor of the Actius is the Sharp Muramasa. This measured 0.54 inches thick. Here’s the CNET review of the Actius MM20P.

Mitsubishi Pedion

(Credit:
Mitsubishi)

The Mitsubishi Pedion, announced in 1997 (reincarnated as the Hewlett-Packard OmniBook Sojourn), is even more dated–and a milestone design too. It was 0.7 inches thick, 3.1 pounds (about the same as the Air) had a 12.1-inch screen, and came with a 233-MHz Pentium MMX processor. It retailed for a whopping $6,000. But the notebook never seemed to be a finished product and was plagued by user complaints. One of the biggest problems–with the initial version–was the Chiclet keyboard.

Digital Equipment HiNote Ultra CS475, announced 1994

(Credit:
ume-y)

Next up: the HP 2510p. Unbeknownst to many, Compaq (which HP purchased in 2001) has a long history of delivering excellent ultraportables. These designs emerged after Compaq bought Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC) in 1998. At that time, DEC was shipping the HiNote Ultra line, which was a sensation when hit the market in 1994. The HiNote didn’t hit with the impact of the MacBook Air, but it was close. Only one-inch thick (again, this is 1994) and weighing four pounds, it seemed absolutely razor thin at that time. The CS475 model also came with a cutting-edge floppy-drive slice–that snapped on the bottom–and a multimedia docking station. Back in my early days at CNET, I wrote about the HiNote.

HP 2510p

(Credit:
Hewlett-Packard)

The current HP 2510p comes from this bloodline. It’s slightly thicker (at 0.97 inches) than some of the others but there’s a reason for the extra plastic: an integrated optical drive. It also packs an Intel “Santa Rosa” GM965 chipset with X3100 graphics. (The Toshiba R500–see below–uses an older 945GMS chipset and 950 graphics.) The 2510p weighs 2.8 pounds, more than the R500 but less than the Air. Otherwise, it outclasses the Air in almost exactly the same areas as the R500. More ports, an integrated 10/100/1000 gigabit network adapter, and built-in DVD rewritable drive. The 2510p starts at $1,499. CNET review here.

Toshiba R500

(Credit:
Toshiba)

Another contemporary thin subnotebook is the Toshiba Portege R500, which boasts dimensions (WxDxH Front/H Rear) of 11.1″ x 8.5″ x .77″(front)/1.0″(rear) and comes with a 12.1-inch screen, an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.20GHz U7600 processor, a 64GB SSD, 2GB of memory, and a fixed DVD rewritable drive. The weight is 2.4 pounds, beating the Air (though with a smaller screen). It also trumps the Air with extra ports, including 3 USB, one 1394, and an Ethernet jack. It starts at $1,999. The CNET review (July 2007) is here.

Asus U1E

(Credit:
Asus)

The Lenovo X300 has received so much press already that it is almost redundant to mention it here. Suffice to say, it has a large 13.3-inch screen like the Air, is slightly thicker at 0.73 inches, packs Intel X3100 graphics, and uses a 64GB SSD. CNET review here.

Other notable entries in this category include the Asus (maker of the Eee PC) U1E which has an 11-inch screen and gets as slim as 0.7 inches and the LG X series with a 10.6-inch display.

Smart-grid outfit GridPoint on Tuesday, flush with an additional $120 million in equity funding, said it has acquired V2Green, a start-up with software to charge electric
cars en masse.

GridPoint said that it has raised $100 million mainly from existing investors, which include Goldman Sachs, New Enterprise Associates, Robeco, Susquehanna International Group, and Quercus Trust. An additional $20 million is expected later.

The company makes software for utilities to better integrate distributed generation units, such as solar panels, and home devices, such as Internet-connected thermostats, into the power grid. It also makes a home energy storage unit and software for consumers to track their energy usage.

By purchasing V2Green, GridPoint intends to add the capability for utilities to manage an anticipated wave of electric cars being plugged into the electricity grid.

Some researchers have estimated that plugging large numbers of electric cars to charge batteries during peak times, such as the early evening, would tax the grid, making it necessary to build more power plants. But bringing new power plants online is expensive and opposed in many areas because of environmental reasons.

V2Green’s software lets utilities manage the process so that charging can take place at night at off-peak times.

The company’s software also lets utilities draw power from many electric cars’ batteries–another potential method for easing the load on the grid during peak times. The Seattle-based company is staffed with some former Microsoft employees.

“Our combined capabilities will enable utilities to mitigate the impact of plug-in electric vehicles on the grid while reducing carbon emissions and providing their customers with reduced rates for off-peak charging,” said V2Green CEO John Clark in a statement.

GridPoint earlier this year started a “smart charging” trial with Duke Energy.

With the additional $120 million, GridPoint has raised over $200 million to date, making it one of the most capitalized private smart-grid companies.

Google won a bit of market share of U.S. Internet users from its top rivals in June, new statistics show.

(Credit:
Nielsen Online)

Google’s user tally increased from 127.6 million in May to 128 million in June, according to Nielsen Online. Meanwhile, Microsoft dipped a bit from 123.3 million to 123 million and Yahoo dropped from 115.6 million to 113.4 million.

Nielsen also measures time spent per user at each site, and there Google lags those two rivals, but by less. The time spent in May increased from 1 hour and 49 minutes to 1 hour and 50 minutes for Google; dropped from 3 hours and 13 minutes to 3 hours and 7 minutes for Yahoo; and dropped from 2 hours and 16 minutes to 2 hours and 12 minutes for Microsoft.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn kicked off the week with scathing questions for Yahoo, as his proxy fight heats up with roughly eight weeks to go before Yahoo’s annual shareholders meeting.

In the latest salvo, Icahn presses Yahoo to answer his previous questions as to why the Internet search pioneer opted to install an expensive employee severance plan as a retention method, while neglecting to mention to its workers that Microsoft had earmarked $1.5 billion to retain employees, should it have been successful in acquiring Yahoo.

Here is Icahn’s letter to Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock:

June 9, 2008

Roy Bostock
Chairman
Yahoo! Inc.
701 First Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94089

Dear Roy:

After reading Yahoo!’s press release put out on Friday in response to
my letter of that morning, I cannot help but wonder if you even read my letter.

Again, Yahoo! keeps repeating misstatements in the hope it will
convince its shareholders that these misstatements are valid. I cannot
understand why the Yahoo! board feels so strongly about its “poison pill”
severance plans and why it continues to refuse to rescind it. How can you
continue to repeat that your severance plan is in the best interests of
shareholders and employees? Indeed, Yahoo!’s own compensation advisor
called the severance plan “nuts.” Is it not true, as the shareholder
complaint stated, that Microsoft’s CEO earmarked $1.5 billion for employee
retention (a benefit you neglected to tell your employees about)? Is it not
better to incentivize employees to stay in their jobs than to quit? Instead
of just continuing to repeat the mantra that we have made an inaccurate
interpretation of your severance plan, why do you refuse to go into detail
as to why our interpretation is incorrect? Additionally, a New York paper
reported this weekend that “sources close to Microsoft said the severance
plan was a ‘big issue’ when deciding what price they could pay for Yahoo!”

In your press release from Friday, you stated again that I do not have
a credible plan for Yahoo! Did you even bother to read my letter, which
went into great detail on what measures I would ask the new board to take?
Ironically, while you keep inquiring about my plans, it is interesting to
note that Yahoo!’s board has been busy reaping great compensation benefits.
Indeed, you made approximately $10,000 per week last year — not bad for a
board member. I believe most of your shareholders would be interested in
seeing your time sheets — especially in light of the fact that, in my
estimation, most of your so-called “plans” over the last few years have
been failures. Remember the old adage — those who live in glass houses
should not throw stones. Perhaps most importantly, under my plan, I would
ask the Board to bring in a talented and experienced CEO to replace Jerry
Yang and return Jerry to his role as “Chief Yahoo!” It is extremely
important to note that Google hired a great operator as a CEO who helped to
transform the Company into a giant at the expense of Yahoo! According to
publicly available financial information, while Google’s income from
operations grew 59% per year over the last two years, Yahoo!’s income from
operations shrank 21%. What was the board doing over this period? Where was
their great “plan”? I believe a new CEO with operating experience might
well have had and might still have a very salutary impact on Yahoo! I ask
again what your great “plan” has been over the last few years. Why did you
permit Google to leave you in the dust?

I outlined a number of questions in Friday’s letter. Why don’t you do
me the courtesy of answering my questions as I have answered yours?

Sincerely yours,

CARL C. ICAHN

While it’s not clear to what degree Yahoo will address Icahn’s letter, one thing is likely certain: Yahoo will send its own salvo in response. It can’t afford not to; the stakes are too high. Yahoo is hoping to woo investors to re-elect its current slate at the August 1 shareholders meeting, rather than vote in Icahn’s dissident slate of directors.

A lot of people appear to be bent out of shape about Apple using its auto-update service to distribute the
Safari Web browser on Windows. The CEO of Mozilla, which makes the rival
Firefox browser, calls it bad business.

In a blog on Friday, Mozilla CEO John Lilly criticized Apple’s practice, uncovered this week, of offering iTunes and QuickTime users Safari 3.1 on Windows through the Apple Software Update pop-up.

Lilly says that automatic updates are a good way to ensure people have the most recent and secure versions of software. It’s a practice that Mozilla uses with the Firefox browser.

What’s different in what Apple is doing is that it is adding a product to the auto-update list that users never requested. That means they could very easily install software unintentionally, he argued:

Apple has made it incredibly easy–the default, even–for users to install ride along software that they didn’t ask for, and maybe didn’t want. This is wrong, and borders on malware distribution practices.

It’s wrong because it undermines the trust that we’re all trying to build with users. Because it means that an update isn’t just an update, but is maybe something more. Because it ultimately undermines the safety of users on the Web by eroding that relationship. It’s a bad practice and should stop.

Easy for users or a breach of trust?

(Credit:
CNET Networks)

An Apple representative issued an e-mailed statement on the matter to Information Week: “We are using Software Update to make it easy and convenient for both
Mac and Windows users to get the latest Safari update from Apple.”

Meanwhile, my colleague, Tom Krazit, in a post on Friday argues that people should become more aware of the software on their systems and think before they install.

commentary

It’s easy to notice when an open-source project is rocking. Downloads go up, web chatter blazes brightly, and the media swoons.

It’s much harder to notice a void, but that is precisely what James Bellenger has done in his “The Decline Of Gentoo Linux” post. Gentoo used to be hot. Back in 2004 Gentoo’s developer base consisted of a small but vocal crowd that touted the distribution’s infinite customizability. Gentoo was the “real man’s” (or woman’s) Linux distribution.

A few years later, you rarely hear anyone talking about Gentoo, and developer attrition has been significant:

(Credit:
James Bellenger)

What happened? According to Bellenger, the departure of Gentoo’s project lead, Daniel Robbins, effectively killed the project:

The most interesting thing about the current state of gentoo is that it’s a very clear (and well documented) example of how the success of a large open source project, regardless of the personal devotion of its user base, is tightly coupled to the strength of its leadership. Interesting also that despite the projects strong attraction of “power users”, the community has been unable to convert these users into active developers.

Robbins has tried to make a come back, but to no avail.

Despite Bellenger’s thesis, it’s not clear that Gentoo would have had much of a chance against Ubuntu, anyway, which has consumed much of the Linux desktop attention in the past few years, as a review of Google Trends suggests:

Debian=blue; Fedora=green; Ubuntu=red; Debian=orange

(Credit:
Google Trends)

In other words, Ubuntu may be the culprit, not a lack of Gentoo leadership, though that exacerbates the matter. Looked at in that way, is Ubuntu good or bad for Linux?

If it’s consuming widespread attention, it may be a good thing for Linux as it concentrates developer resources on a common distribution, one that can perhaps take on the
Mac and Windows for the first time.

On the negative side, if all attention and development is focused on Ubuntu, doesn’t that undermine one of the basic value premises of open source? Would a mono-culture surrounding Ubuntu be good for Linux?

I’m not sure. Your thoughts?

commentary

Microsoft desperately needs some European friends. Fresh from its first defeat in Europe, the American software giant is under the gun again from the European Commission. The stakes are much higher this time around, and the focus much more pertinent to true Microsoft monopoly power.

Microsoft got hit by a $734 million fine the last time around for preventing interoperability with Sun’s computers and for bundling its media player. This time, Microsoft’s Office file formats and its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows are under fire. The EU’s favorite whipping boy is almost certain to end up coughing up a lot more cash this time:

The new probes focus on two areas that are dear to Microsoft: its Web browser, Internet Explorer; and its software suite, Office. The EU is examining whether Microsoft harms alternative browser vendors by packaging Internet Explorer with its ubiquitous Windows operating system and whether it harms other office-suite vendors by controlling the file format used to store office documents.

I’ve noted before that I’m not a big fan of competition by law or regulation. This is no different. I am glad, however, to see that the real sources of Microsoft’s dominance - IE and Office - are finally getting scrutiny. Whatever the fine the EU eventually levies against Microsoft won’t matter much to the cash-rich company. A financial setback is temporary.

But regulation? Ah, that is eternal. And unlike in the US where one can be convicted of abusing monopoly power and then let go scot-free, it’s more likely that the EU will tenaciously cling to Microsoft until the company at least pretends to change. We’ll see.

These Moo notecards are an example of the kinds of products being sold by companies whose users do all the creation and design of the things they buy.

(Credit:
Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

AUSTIN, Texas–Why invent the wheel by yourself if you can turn instead to a group of peers and solve it together?

That was the premise of a gathering here of executives from most of the leading companies in what might be called the “people-powered” industry.

These are companies like CafePress, Moo, Etsy, and 8020 Publishing whose business is manufacturing physical products designed by customers. CafePress, for example, makes T-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, and many other products emblazoned with logos and designs uploaded by users. Moo makes business and greeting cards adorned with users’ own photos and images, and 8020 publishes photo and travel magazines full of readers’ work.

But each of these outfits has until now had to solve a set of problems unique to this nascent industry–legal issues, community management processes, and even questions of nomenclature.

So as many of the people behind these companies prepared to go to Austin for this year’s South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) festival, Moo CEO Richard Moross decided that maybe this would be a good time and place to get everyone together and discuss whether a cooperative investigation and search for solutions to common problems would be a good thing for everyone involved.

After all, there’s strength in numbers, right?

“For all of us to get in the same room as the others was hugely valuable,” said David ten Have, the CEO of Ponoko, a company that allows customers to design everything from chairs to lamps to
iPhone stands. It allows us “to learn from others’ mistakes….We all deal with communities (that) power us in one way or another. I’ve got this issue, and others are saying, ‘I’ve got the same problem.’ A problem that might take six or 12 months to solve might be solved (much faster) by getting together in a room and having a discussion with people who’ve done it (before).”

In addition to the companies named above, executives were also on hand from bag maker Timbuk2, shirt makers Spreadshirt and Threadless, custom framed art maker Imagekind and several others.

“We struggle every single day with the fact that it’s really challenging to get a community to make something together,” said 8020 Publishing CEO Paul Cloutier. “So the chance to talk to others having similar problems is not very common.

I was originally invited to attend the gathering, but some of the participants balked at the idea of a reporter being in the room, worrying that having someone taking notes might make people feel like they couldn’t open up and say everything they’d like to. As a compromise, I was allowed to show up just as the formal discussions were ending but before anyone left and to talk to any of the participants about anything I liked.

The copyright challenge
To Moross, the major issue that got tackled Sunday during the four-hour closed-door session was that of copyright.

He said that in an industry where each company is making products based on designs submitted by customers, it’s essential to be sure that nothing is produced to which those users don’t own copyright.

“A lot of us are pushing some serious (legal) boundaries,” said ten Have.

“One thing we agreed on as a next step,” Moross said, “was linking up all of our legal departments to just get synchronized on those issues.”

Another big issue was the simple problem of what to call this type of business. For now, the term is “people-powered,” but as Cloutier noted, other terms could be “community-created” or even the familiar “user-generated.”

Coming up with common terminology that each company–and newcomers to the industry–can use is crucial, the participants said, because it would go a long way towards building wider public awareness of what the industry is about. That would be a big step for the participating companies because that awareness could draw customers attracted by the very notion that such an industry exists.

One way to achieve that, several of the executives on hand argued, could be to create some sort of logo that could be placed on the Web sites and marketing of any participating company, much as the “Made for
iPod” logo designates products certified by Apple that work with iPods. The logo itself, in other words, could be an effective marketing tool.

“That’s the heart of the question,” Cloutier said. “Is there marketing promise in being community-created…in being people-created versus top-down” created.

The CafePress precedent
To many in the room, there is already one leading example of how to deal with some of the issues each company is facing: CafePress.

That company has been around since 1999, and so Moross invited CafePress vice president of business operations Abdul Popal to attend the gathering both to share in the group discussion and to be on hand as somewhat of a “grandfather” figure.

“The challenges that many of these companies are facing,” Popal said, “are things that we went through….As almost the grandfather of the industry, you’re seeing the children go through what you went through.”

But as the industry veteran, CafePress has definitely impressed upon the newcomers that it’s possible to build a successful business on the idea of letting customers do the design work.

“It’s flattering to see what was one company and one idea spawning all these micro-businesses and doing the same idea,” said Popal. “It was unimaginable at the time that this one business is going to spawn an industry.”

But on the heels of building a base of 6.5 million users that have created 170 million products, CafePress definitely has something to teach the Moos and 8020s of the world, Popal said.

“The takeaway is that this is a market,” he said, “and these businesses are starting to prove that.”

And that’s probably why the energy level in the room at the end of the discussion was so high and so buoyant. Many of the participants told me that the gathering would never have happened without Moross taking the time and energy to get them all together, and the gratitude towards him seemed palpable.

Regardless of who had done the organizing, there’s little doubt that most, if not all, of the participants on hand want to move forward. They’ve already created a private wiki that they’re using to keep things moving even when they can’t be together in person, and a blog is also likely.

But no matter how far these people and their companies take this and no matter how big their industry grows, the sense of the value of coming together and creating a set of standards and of working for a common purpose all started in a dark room in the bottom of a dingy club in Austin.

“To be able to say there’s almost a sense of movement, that there is something happening,” Cloutier said, “is an exciting thing. That is the greatest promise of this.”

See more stories in CNET News.com’s coverage of SXSWi (click here).