Pictures from the new job.

I’m actually quite happy right now: sensible people who have solid experience putting together an advertising system that is well understood, with plenty of time to do it in. And while it won’t have the same “cachet” as working for a Google, the biggest win of working for AT&T Interactive is the ability to challenge Google by connecting customers with local businesses and making it as easy as possible for advertisers to get the word out.

I have always strongly believed if you want to conquer the world, make difficult things easy. That’s why the iPhone is taking over the world: Apple no more invented smart mobile phones as they did the MP3 player. But Apple made it easy, and when you realize the millions of cumulative hours spent in frustration by users who wanted something cool and got hacker crap, it’s easy to understand why people were willing to pay hundreds of dollars on an Apple iPhone when they weren’t willing to spend $50 on a Windows Mobile device.

And that’s my goal at AT&T Interactive: make it as easy as humanly possible for advertisers to reach customers. A large part of this involves designing the system so that it makes sense, and it gives people the power to run the ads they want while giving the restaurant owner, the local carpet cleaner and the clothing store owner the easiest tools possible.

You shouldn’t have to be a gear-head geek to use a cell phone, and you shouldn’t have to be a graduate of MIT (or as bright as a Googler) to place local ads.