Sep 28, 2007 | blog
It’s not because it’s Apple.
I’ve been reading and thinking about the iPhone a lot lately. I’m coming up on needing to upgrade my aging, failing, but fantastic T-Mobile MDA. I’ve been fascinated by the features and simplicity of the iPhone that has, of course, been the center of mobile tech hype for months now.
The reasons are simple and have little to do with the iPhone itself. Here they are.
- Not T-Mobile This is a big deal for me, I’m not going to change my number over – all my family and friends are on T-Mobile and my calls to them are all out of the unlimited "mobile to mobile" pool that doesn’t cost me a dime extra.
- No WMA support. Yep, 18 months ago I converted our entire library of tunes to WMA. I’m not going to do it again. I had to pick and there were upcoming WMA players at the time, my Pocket PCs were my player and new Nokia’s are compatible with the Windows Media Player sync tool.
- Software I have literally hundreds of dollars of software that is designed for Windows Mobile. I’m not going to through that away just for because I got a new mobile device. I am glad that I bought only Bluetooth hardware accessories though – that move has paid off big time.
- 3G Yeah, you who know will point out that T-Mobile doesn’t even have a 3G service for their customers (it’s in deployment/testing yet), so I shouldn’t bring up the lack of 3G in the iPhone. Fine I won’t. But other devices on the market have had long experience with 3G implementation, so I won’t loose sleep over that.
- Keyboard I’ve often scoffed at the keyboard on the face of the BlackBerry for a long time, but they are very handy to craft messages. My beloved MDA had a sliding keyboard, which I would buy again, but having one on the front of the device would be nice in several ways.
- Control I must have control of the device. From the selection of the firmware to software to the network settings. Traits from being a true techno geek. I know how the devices work and I can create a better configuration for my work/usage habits than anyone else can for me.
Well I can’t think of any other things at this point, and this is not to crap on the iPhone. I really do want one, compared to my initial reaction when it was released. The device is indeed an advance in design, engineering, interface and usability. It’s just not on my list this year when I go shopping for a new device.
What will I be looking for? Probably going to be another Windows Mobile device. Will need to support 3G HSDPA, all the usual wireless support, keyboard, good camera (3MP or better), video capabilities (record and playback), sync with WMP, more memory and a faster processor…
What’s your take – should a person switch carriers just for a hyped (albeit good) device?
Technorati tags: Apple iPhone, T-Mobile MDA, Mobile Device
Sep 13, 2007 | blog
I’ve been talking with a number of people in differing areas of companies while drumming up consulting or contract gigs, and something is becoming very apparent. While there is a huge amount of misunderstanding regarding social media, there is also a growing interest in online professional networking.
What intrigues me is how the growing interest in social networking can’t address the biggest problem facing these tools in corporate settings. That is, the need to provide a business case that is benefited by these tools and technologies. Fine, sure, yeah, I know that there are many business situations that simply do not require new ways to do their jobs, but there are many other situations that do.
Communication is one of the obvious ones, but I remember a number of individuals who could not look past the continuing arguments of “its a time waster” or “it’s a security hole”. Sure, they can be that – but no worse than email. This problem and these arguments are as old as technology itself. No matter what the new idea/tool/concept is, it requires a new generation to prove it’s worth.
What we need to do to help foster corporate uptake of social media is to provide learning opportunities. This might be by sending articles addressing the professional and productivity aspects to key decision makers. It may also be done by providing “brown bag” lunches with an agenda of exploring online and hosted social tools. One could also use themselves as an example of how to use social media to leverage their personal brand within an organization – I think many of us are already doing that.
At any rate, I’m going to continue to look for those opportunities for companies to leverage new media/social media tools to their advantage.
Have you discovered innovative uses for social media in your organization?
Aug 6, 2007 | blog
I really enjoy reading Robert Scoble. His blog, The Scoble Show over at PodTech, and of course, his Tweets (on Twitter). He usually has some good thoughts, and is usually on the money. Sometimes I really disagree with him and think he’s too close to Silicon Valley for his own good, but he is on top of everything.
So it was one of this tweets today that got me thinking on email more. I don’t disagree with him on this one, and I thought I’d expound a bit on some of the thoughts he was throwing out on.
It turned out to be an interesting thread on Twitter. Scoble started off with this tweet:
It’s amazing that in this age of Twitter that people still send email. I hate email. I hate direct Tweets. I hate Facebook messages.
Followed quickly (Twitter is great at fast follow-ups) with this Tweet:
PR people are the worst in the email regard. Speaker planners are close. I don’t answer a lot of my email anymore. If I did, I’d never do.
It’s interesting how the technorati are continually moving to an open communications model – where only their private communications are conducted through email. Private life requires a little bit of privacy after all.
But for communications where privacy doesn’t matter, and after all most communications fall into this category, why not use a fast, scaleable, mobile communications system? Who cares if everyone reads the message – most people ignore anything that is not of interest or of importance to them.
Robert answered one of his followers in this Tweet:
@dweezel: that’s the whole point. Most of my email does NOT need to be private. It’s far better to do most communication out in public.
This seems to sum up the growing perception in many people’s minds.
Chris Brogan asked this question in a Tweet:
@Scobleizer – agreed in the “get in contact” mode. What about the “more details” mode? What do you prefer for “payload?”
While Robert didn’t answer the question, I think that this question is being answered by many Twitter users themselves. Initially shortened URLs (using TinyURL or URLtea) helped link to blogs, news sites, YouTube, etc… In addition, creative users like Dave Winer come up with solutions like TwitterGram where you can upload an audio file, or call one in from your phone. This is where the payload of services like Twitter will be augmented.
Robert rounded out his perspectives in this Tweet:
Basically this is my gesture to the world: I am not answering my email and I’m not going to start. I’m overloaded. Tweet me.
The whole idea of not using email is possibly a bit extreme, but the reality is that we rely on email too much. We use it in place of face-to-face conversations, some use it in place of IM, some use it to spread viral marketing, some unwittingly help spammers and virus hacks by resending pictures and messages they find profound.
The fact of the matter is that email is abused and few messages are worth reading at all. Between the spam, poorly written lengthy messages, it’s a time-sink for many individuals and their employers.
I’d be curious how many hours any of you spend dealing with email – an old but still valid question.
I guess that I really don’t use email much myself, and through the use of instant communications services like Twitter/Pownce/Jaiku, I have gotten used to saying something in 140 characters, or being able to split it into two such posts. Being succinct is an art and an asset that many should practice.
Oh, and thanks to Robert for the post idea! 🙂
UPDATE: I guess that one of the things I wanted to point out though is that while email is abused and is a problem, it is going to be one of our “classic” communication methods. Like radio when television came out, there is still much value in it. There are many times you can absorb auditory information without a video stream and gain value from it. Also, newspapers – the morning ritual of reading the news with a cup of coffee, or on the commute to work is something that will never go away. The same for books – the more digital we get and how quickly we can send information, the more important the relaxing affect of getting lost in your favorite book is.
Email, like a good Whiskey, needs to be used in moderation.
Technorati tags: Email Abuse, spam, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, TwitterGram, TinyURL, URLtea
Jul 23, 2007 | blog
Are you a wireless communications carrier in the US? Then I have a very scary revelation to share with you.
You’re about to loose control. You will lose control of your network, its devices, and your customers.
Will you throw an infantile temper-tantrum like the RIAA and threaten/bully/sue your customers into compliance?
Or will you be a leader in the industry and embrace the concept of an open network and make it easy for your customers to come & go as they choose?
I admit it’s a frightening proposition to contemplate. However, accepting the notion of an open network will allow you to provide more innovative, better quality, and a larger number of interesting services.
Technorati tags: FCC 700MHz Auction, Open Network, Google Wireless Bid
Jul 20, 2007 | blog, leadership
In communication it is easy to “over-do” it. We all use email, voice, IM, RSS, and more. The trick is to manage your time, and other’s expectations at the same time. We’ve grown used to instant contact to nearly everyone in our address books over the last decade (or more) to the detriment of productivity.
While we have increased our productivity over the last 10+ years, I think we have hit a plateau as far as communicating with each other. It has become so easy to ask a person a question, to get an answer that we often forget the implications of doing so. The more we communicate, the more we interrupt and distract each other. Now I’m repeating a lot of what many are saying, but I’m also going to be following these methods to gain back what could amount to several hours in a week.
Email
Take the ubiquitous email for example. We all abuse it on a daily basis, hoping to steal attention from one another to perform some task or other. Most of the time, the answer is already available to use, but we seem to feel like pestering a coworker or friend is a better use of time than looking up the answer ourselves.
As recent Lifehacker post Limit your email messages to 5 sentences details, you can work towards brevity. An elegant explanation can be found at five.sentenc.es if you care to link to it. Going even further going back to setting expectations, you can train people to expect shorter messages.
Another technique that is becoming common lately is to process your email (and feeds for that matter) once a day. Again, when you set the expectation that you will respond within a day, you can pick the time that works best in your schedule to read/reply to email. Process later in the day to get a jump on the next day, or mid-morning to answer any critical questions for the day. Depending on your responsibilities, I’m betting you’ll find the right time.
Feeds
News & Blog feeds are a fantastic way to increase your information consumption. A good reader also makes a big difference here too. The amount of information that one can process through feeds as apposed to individual web pages is amazing. I literally increased my ability to consume information more than ten-fold with feeds (and Dave Winer’s “river of news” layout). Combine that with a an reader like Google Reader that is available anytime, anywhere and you have a powerful news appliance.
The problem, of course, is that you can easily become a news junkie – always hitting refresh and watching for new bits to come through. While entertaining, it’s a waste of time. The industry news doesn’t change from 9am to 3pm, so why watch it all day? Why not process your feeds once a day, similar to email? Later or earlier, it doesn’t matter – it’ll keep you up to date on your industry and help you gain back hours in the week.
IM
Instant Messaging is another essential business tool that we abuse. I’ll allow to some former coworkers that it is potentially HUGE time waster (Tom, Craig – ya listening?). BUT the flip side of that is that IM is one of the most important productivity tools that an individual or company can leverage. The trick is managing the tool to your advantage. Every IM tool allows you to set your presence as “Busy”, “Do Not Disturb”, “Offline” or some other status that indicates you are not available.
The biggest mistake is that, like email, we feel like we need to answer any request immediately. Start using your status to reflect your actual work status. Are you trying to get that report done? That presentation polished? That document formatted? For crying out loud – that means your “Busy” – set your status and revel in uninterrupted bliss.
Micro-Blogging
Now micro-blogging platforms like Twitter (and Jaiku, Pownce, and Hictu) are a different breed. They cross boundaries like covered by blogging, IM, and SMS (text messaging). The result is a literal fire-hose of status updates and thought streams from dozens, hundreds or thousands of individuals depending on how many “friends” you have. The concept can be hard to get your head around, but the beauty of these platforms is their brevity.
While not the case with some competing services, Twitter restricts each post (called a Tweet) to 140 characters. This will train you to be concise and descriptive. This is very good, because it helps you hone your communication skills by communicating only the information that is required.
Summary
So in explaining what I’ve been learning and thinking about for several months, I’ve written a verbose and wordy description about how not to be. I hope the hypocrisy of the post helps drive the point home. The basic thing to keep in mind no matter what communication tools you use is to leverage the tool to your benefit. Think about time as much as you think about what you communicate.
Brevity is essential
Technorati tags: Time Wasters, Personal Productivity, Communication
