Tuesday 2 April 2013
Top CEOs need to learn to use better tools
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/apr/01/what-time-ceos-start-day
A less than surprising and mildly disappointing set of survey results at the Guardian on the working lives on some CEO’s.
The less than surprising bit was the obvious nature of most of it ( get organised, early to bed early to rise, the blurring of work and family life because in fact it is your life that we are talking about here ) .These areas have alway been the mainstay of success and getting things done and are no less important now than for the past 100 years ( although email was less of an issue then of course )
The most disappointing part was the slavish addiction to email and the use of old fashioned tools like the Blackberry. One CEO claimed 500 email’s a day. Assuming a 10 hour working day thats 50 an hour, not including meetings, loo breaks, watercooler moments etc- that’s some some habit!
Its surprising that the AOL, CEO, Tim Armstrong, needs advice on email. Frankly he should know better. The others may not know so much.
So here, for free, advice. No thanks required.
Contrary to popular belief email can be a useful tool. Its not bust or lacking in power. But its like any other tool. If its not the right tool for the job or is used in the wrong way its less than useful, like to trying to bake a cake with pair of pliers.
Email is great for exceptional person to person messaging . ‘Just met with Google CEO. Really useful discussion on acquisition we spoke about. More when I see you’ AH
or ‘Tim, Just fucked up big time on deal with Disney’ LOL ;-) AH
Email is not designed to run your routine business communications on. Or to run a project. Or to manage customer services functions. It’s not meant as way of collaborating on a strategic business decision.
The day to day work of people working together across time and space cannot be efficiently done using the wrong tools commonly provided by enterprise IT eg email ( for most that means Outlook and then Office and a copy of Internet explorer
Far better to use modern tools . There are whole number around. Google Apps perhaps. Or Asana or one of my personal favorites the 37Signals suite.
All these tools have one key advantage. They integrate communications and business functions ( calendar , comms, chat, scheduling, GTD, projects, CRM etc ) into one space and free email up to do what is does, best exceptional messaging.
From 500 emails a day to 20 or 30? Can be done.
It Is worth getting the right smartphone or tablet too. The traditional blackberry experience just makes matters worse as it email’s only. Hole and digging come to mind. To be fair Blackberry have realized this and have launched two new products that move the game on somewhat. Combining this choice with a device from Android or Apple or a even a Windows phone and you can have a great tool that integrates into your chosen productivity platform.
Its worth reminding ourselves than an email addiction is a disease . It can be treated and recovery is possible.
@julianfifield
Thursday 30 June 2011
Clean Tech- a no brainer for business
Google just published a blog. Its important. Green Tech is a business no brainer.
Over at Google.org in a post by Bill Weihl, , Google 's Green Energy Czar http://goo.gl/yhqN4 , full report at http://www.google.org/energyinnovation/, Google compares and contrasts business as usual thinking versus a business minded clean tech investment future.
In a nutshell the US economy would massively benefit from GDP growth , job creation and reduced emissions.
Grow GDP by over $155 billion/year ($244 billion in our Clean Policy scenario)
Create over 1.1 million new full-time jobs/year (1.9 million with Clean Policy)
Reduce household energy costs by over $942/year ($995 with Clean Policy)
Reduce U.S. oil consumption by over 1.1 billion barrels/year
Reduce U.S. total carbon emissions by 13% in 2030 (21% with Clean Policy
Dig a bit deeper?
One ,speed matters. simply waiting and arguing could cost trillions. The Google model found a five year delay (2010-2015) in accelerating technology innovation led to $2.3-3.2 trillion in unrealized GDP, an aggregate 1.2-1.4 million net unrealized jobs and 8-28 more gigatons of potential GHG emissions by 2050.
Two, Google highlights that it is the interplay of policy and business that will make the difference. That's shorthand for Big government and BIG business working together , respecting the role that each has to play if the US is going to play any part at all in a low carbon future.
How will that play out in US political scene ,seemly more divided than ever across party lines , with BIG government seen as the problem and not part of the solution? The signs are not good
Writing in the Washington Post ,Stephen Stromberg suggests http://goo.gl/JAT5N that a series of offsets between business and government, between taxing old polluting businesses and at the same time rewarding clean tech business growth via fiscal and tax incentives might help.
Its a long shot as the Washington Post itself suggests.
Which frankly is a tragedy for the commons. What might it take for everyone to see the business benefits of green tech ,to move us away from yah boo sucks political infighting?
Google's report helps a lot,and should be essential reading for business and policy makers world wide.
Julian Fifield is innovating in an energy management business in the UK
Over at Google.org in a post by Bill Weihl, , Google 's Green Energy Czar http://goo.gl/yhqN4 , full report at http://www.google.org/energyinnovation/, Google compares and contrasts business as usual thinking versus a business minded clean tech investment future.
In a nutshell the US economy would massively benefit from GDP growth , job creation and reduced emissions.
Grow GDP by over $155 billion/year ($244 billion in our Clean Policy scenario)
Create over 1.1 million new full-time jobs/year (1.9 million with Clean Policy)
Reduce household energy costs by over $942/year ($995 with Clean Policy)
Reduce U.S. oil consumption by over 1.1 billion barrels/year
Reduce U.S. total carbon emissions by 13% in 2030 (21% with Clean Policy
Dig a bit deeper?
One ,speed matters. simply waiting and arguing could cost trillions. The Google model found a five year delay (2010-2015) in accelerating technology innovation led to $2.3-3.2 trillion in unrealized GDP, an aggregate 1.2-1.4 million net unrealized jobs and 8-28 more gigatons of potential GHG emissions by 2050.
Two, Google highlights that it is the interplay of policy and business that will make the difference. That's shorthand for Big government and BIG business working together , respecting the role that each has to play if the US is going to play any part at all in a low carbon future.
How will that play out in US political scene ,seemly more divided than ever across party lines , with BIG government seen as the problem and not part of the solution? The signs are not good
Writing in the Washington Post ,Stephen Stromberg suggests http://goo.gl/JAT5N that a series of offsets between business and government, between taxing old polluting businesses and at the same time rewarding clean tech business growth via fiscal and tax incentives might help.
Its a long shot as the Washington Post itself suggests.
Which frankly is a tragedy for the commons. What might it take for everyone to see the business benefits of green tech ,to move us away from yah boo sucks political infighting?
Google's report helps a lot,and should be essential reading for business and policy makers world wide.
Julian Fifield is innovating in an energy management business in the UK
Saturday 19 February 2011
The long slow death of IT as we know it. Why we need the Zucherberg and where is Michael Arrington when you need him?
Lets be clear. IT is dead. I have killed it. It was desperately in need of killing and I was fed up as to why no one has. So I have today stepped up to the plate and done it. It's ok no thanks required, you are very welcome. But don't worry I have a new set of initials ( ZT ) that will help. Its called Zucherberg Tech. Or just "Zucherberg" for short .
All will become clear.
I visited one of the world's leading charities just 72 hours ago. Global name and reputation. £56 million turn over . Unbelievable mess IT wise. Spaghetti junction in the server room. Outages, email in box restrictions, moans and groans from staff , inability to find anything. You name it. IT's response.? Give me more money and more staff please so we can fix it. So since I was being paid to advise I advised. Why not lose the lot? Excuse me? Yup. Look what do you need to do ? Share. Collaborate . Send some email. Archive things, find things?
Surprise me I said. Just tell me what you need to do now.
So I ran a demo live. There and then .We did email. File sharing. Collaborative documentation production. Spread sheets and a presentation. Video.IM/chat.Shared calendar. CRM service. Task management. Contacts. Discussions. Project management.
No spam. No viruses.
Also no up grades, no down time. No access problems, always on, easy migration . Oh and a foot print calculation of £200k saving PA. Recurring. In fact everything they needed to do now I could show them . From a browser,on a lap top. And the icing on the cake ? My iPhone too.
I am a genius? No, I wish. The solution? Google Apps and the 37 Signals suite. Oh yes and Twitter.
Result?
No. Instead literally petrified IT lead. Shaking in her heels. Her CIO role? Protect the machine from assault. Internally and externally. " where's the business case for this she asked? My reply? where is the business case for what you are doing now? All the waste and the productivity problem?
It was not personal. I am a nice guy. I threaten no one.
Fact is that the trip and that scenario could readily play out virtually anyway in the private or public sector. Anywhere in the world.
I am a Google user? Yup. I am selling Google ? No. There are other examples I could just as well have used but since Google Apps just works as does 37 Signals why not use them?
What does all this mean?
The fact is that in the real world, people are fed up with IT and traditional systems and thinking.
For many IT sucks. IT is a passion killer and a stealer of souls, of lives, of money and time. IT has given us email, a pale imitation of a piece of paper, Office, a pale imitation of productivity and Dell, a pale imitation of a technology company. It has also given us IT departments , enterprise architecture, anti virus paranoia, and vested interest's ( heh I am Windows guy. heh I am Lotus Notes guy ). It has also given us the Blackberry a device for enterprise serfdom that masquerades as innovation. All pale simulacra of real life and real work
It is IT that is now the problem . A curse on the enterprise, a productivity destroyer, an electronic set of manacles for staff and customers alike. IT creates fear in the work place. You can smell it on peoples clothes. Don't do this it is dangerous .Don't do that it will cause us a problem.
IT has created a veneer of innovation , a techno smear on the face of the work place. Email is a case in point. For most email is a problem now. Overload, irrelevance, data loss.
IT is mostly unchallenged. IT has colonised the mind ,virus like , created a IT meme that propagates .Truck up to your Board , your CIO slaved to the server room Matrix style and say (" I need £1 Million for virtualization tech or we are stuffed ) and the Board will write the cheque there and then. This just happened in real life not so far from me.
Should I have waited for the silicon valley uber blog Techcrunch to kill it? Perhaps. Michael Arrington might do it for me. After all Search Sucks.See this. He is right . It does. Techcrunch has called death on so many issues too. Just search for death on there web site to see .So I must be on the right path yes? But no, Techcrunch has not called death on IT, so I must do it for them. Some one has too.
5 Short points and examples.
1. Mention IT in any typical office( I mean real offices not hard charging tech start up's ) and you get moans and groans from everyone lumbered with yet another Dell Box and an outdated copy of Office and IE 6.No really IE6 is still very much being handed out . Everywhere. Even the IT department moans although for different reasons- normally along the lines of why won't people simply do what we want? Why are they ( sic) not grateful for all the hard work we do? Why do they still keep on about downloading Chrome or Firefox? What's wrong with IE 6 anyway? We have lot's of IT policies you know just read them. Look at our virtualization tech. Whippee....
2. I just got emailed a job thing. I quote...
"And with previous design authority experience on large-scale network transformation projects, you'll be no stranger to mapping business needs on a global scale. You'll certainly know all about network technologies and techniques, such as OSPF, QoS, VoIP IPSec,IP Multicast and MPLS. And as well as your SSL and VPN's know-how, we'll expect you to have an excellent understanding of LAN and WAN. Not to mention a thorough knowledge network zoning principles and their relevance to security, IT management tools and a proven ability to develop policies, procedures and guidelines"
I am not making this up. This is a real role . No mention what so ever of the needs of staff to work together to collaborate, to create , to share ,to get things done, the joy of good work .You know real work needs, like project management and task management and searching and saving and storing and finding and tagging and sharing . No mention of the real biggy..the customer? Where are they? Gosh I know lets send them a WORD document...
3. IT productivity? A joke. Here is Office. Waste lots of time typing that up, email that around, CC sixteen others, lose that version, corrupt that file, what do you mean you have the old version of WORD?
4 IT creates it's own space and alleged business requirement . It has corrupted ROI for its own ends and has hijacked a proper review of risk. 37 people in your IT department all arguing for 10 more is not an objective business case. Its vested interest . Spending large amounts on enterprise IT only feels safe if no one gets fired spending large amounts of money. Which is the norm. Suggest spending nothing , using the cloud , doing more with less, getting stuff done and you will be drowned out.
5. Why? Are IT people unpleasant? Nope not especially, no more than any one else. No its because IT has its own imperative you cannot see the wood for the trees. You cannot see that work is social and that people just want to get stuff done. Bizarrely IT people know it too! When they step out and go home, the world changes then. They are off twittering, buzzing, being social, getting stuff done using the social web,the phone,the app, the device.
Why does the enterprise differ then?
Its called Institutionalisation .Its the same mad process and imperative that allows the NHS to allow old people to die of neglect on the hospital ward. In front of nice people. They are not evil. It results simply by being unable to see after a while. No one is immune.
Except children of course. Who ask " why? " so much it hurts sometimes. That's what we must do. Why ? Why? Why? that and do something better. The CEO must ask it . The CIO must ask it. After all if she or he does not no one else will. Its the chief role. To ask why you must step out. You cannot ask why from within- you cannot question yourself or your IT or anything else from within, from the boundary cast around you. Look up and look out. Get the vaccination that treats the meme.The world is not flat.
What next?
Apart from recognising we have problem that people want fixed? More soon on the pathway.
Meanwhile lets change the initials.That might help. No more IT . How about ET ( enabling tech ) No? Too resonant with an old film? How about LT ( liberating tech ) hmmm better..who can argue with liberation eh? Ask an Egyptian why not? How about business technology ( BT ) A few years back the then Forrester Research CEO George Colony, made the case that the term "business technology" would help. Nope. Dull Dull Dull.
So I have it- - let's call it Zucherberg Tech ( ZT ) from here on in. Or zucherberg for short ...
Zucherberg tech is deeply impressive. Social and sociable - just as we are. Cool eh? bloody obvious eh? In T shirt and jeans. Universal too, global, encompassing, everyone gets it. Even Obama gets it.
We have more zucherberg then ever. It works.No training work shop required. Lets just get stuff done.
Zucherberg is like a vaccination. It can liberate us from the IT disease. Just say No to IT
All will become clear.
I visited one of the world's leading charities just 72 hours ago. Global name and reputation. £56 million turn over . Unbelievable mess IT wise. Spaghetti junction in the server room. Outages, email in box restrictions, moans and groans from staff , inability to find anything. You name it. IT's response.? Give me more money and more staff please so we can fix it. So since I was being paid to advise I advised. Why not lose the lot? Excuse me? Yup. Look what do you need to do ? Share. Collaborate . Send some email. Archive things, find things?
Surprise me I said. Just tell me what you need to do now.
So I ran a demo live. There and then .We did email. File sharing. Collaborative documentation production. Spread sheets and a presentation. Video.IM/chat.Shared calendar. CRM service. Task management. Contacts. Discussions. Project management.
No spam. No viruses.
Also no up grades, no down time. No access problems, always on, easy migration . Oh and a foot print calculation of £200k saving PA. Recurring. In fact everything they needed to do now I could show them . From a browser,on a lap top. And the icing on the cake ? My iPhone too.
I am a genius? No, I wish. The solution? Google Apps and the 37 Signals suite. Oh yes and Twitter.
Result?
No. Instead literally petrified IT lead. Shaking in her heels. Her CIO role? Protect the machine from assault. Internally and externally. " where's the business case for this she asked? My reply? where is the business case for what you are doing now? All the waste and the productivity problem?
It was not personal. I am a nice guy. I threaten no one.
Fact is that the trip and that scenario could readily play out virtually anyway in the private or public sector. Anywhere in the world.
I am a Google user? Yup. I am selling Google ? No. There are other examples I could just as well have used but since Google Apps just works as does 37 Signals why not use them?
What does all this mean?
The fact is that in the real world, people are fed up with IT and traditional systems and thinking.
For many IT sucks. IT is a passion killer and a stealer of souls, of lives, of money and time. IT has given us email, a pale imitation of a piece of paper, Office, a pale imitation of productivity and Dell, a pale imitation of a technology company. It has also given us IT departments , enterprise architecture, anti virus paranoia, and vested interest's ( heh I am Windows guy. heh I am Lotus Notes guy ). It has also given us the Blackberry a device for enterprise serfdom that masquerades as innovation. All pale simulacra of real life and real work
It is IT that is now the problem . A curse on the enterprise, a productivity destroyer, an electronic set of manacles for staff and customers alike. IT creates fear in the work place. You can smell it on peoples clothes. Don't do this it is dangerous .Don't do that it will cause us a problem.
IT has created a veneer of innovation , a techno smear on the face of the work place. Email is a case in point. For most email is a problem now. Overload, irrelevance, data loss.
IT is mostly unchallenged. IT has colonised the mind ,virus like , created a IT meme that propagates .Truck up to your Board , your CIO slaved to the server room Matrix style and say (" I need £1 Million for virtualization tech or we are stuffed ) and the Board will write the cheque there and then. This just happened in real life not so far from me.
Should I have waited for the silicon valley uber blog Techcrunch to kill it? Perhaps. Michael Arrington might do it for me. After all Search Sucks.See this. He is right . It does. Techcrunch has called death on so many issues too. Just search for death on there web site to see .So I must be on the right path yes? But no, Techcrunch has not called death on IT, so I must do it for them. Some one has too.
5 Short points and examples.
1. Mention IT in any typical office( I mean real offices not hard charging tech start up's ) and you get moans and groans from everyone lumbered with yet another Dell Box and an outdated copy of Office and IE 6.No really IE6 is still very much being handed out . Everywhere. Even the IT department moans although for different reasons- normally along the lines of why won't people simply do what we want? Why are they ( sic) not grateful for all the hard work we do? Why do they still keep on about downloading Chrome or Firefox? What's wrong with IE 6 anyway? We have lot's of IT policies you know just read them. Look at our virtualization tech. Whippee....
2. I just got emailed a job thing. I quote...
"And with previous design authority experience on large-scale network transformation projects, you'll be no stranger to mapping business needs on a global scale. You'll certainly know all about network technologies and techniques, such as OSPF, QoS, VoIP IPSec,IP Multicast and MPLS. And as well as your SSL and VPN's know-how, we'll expect you to have an excellent understanding of LAN and WAN. Not to mention a thorough knowledge network zoning principles and their relevance to security, IT management tools and a proven ability to develop policies, procedures and guidelines"
I am not making this up. This is a real role . No mention what so ever of the needs of staff to work together to collaborate, to create , to share ,to get things done, the joy of good work .You know real work needs, like project management and task management and searching and saving and storing and finding and tagging and sharing . No mention of the real biggy..the customer? Where are they? Gosh I know lets send them a WORD document...
3. IT productivity? A joke. Here is Office. Waste lots of time typing that up, email that around, CC sixteen others, lose that version, corrupt that file, what do you mean you have the old version of WORD?
4 IT creates it's own space and alleged business requirement . It has corrupted ROI for its own ends and has hijacked a proper review of risk. 37 people in your IT department all arguing for 10 more is not an objective business case. Its vested interest . Spending large amounts on enterprise IT only feels safe if no one gets fired spending large amounts of money. Which is the norm. Suggest spending nothing , using the cloud , doing more with less, getting stuff done and you will be drowned out.
5. Why? Are IT people unpleasant? Nope not especially, no more than any one else. No its because IT has its own imperative you cannot see the wood for the trees. You cannot see that work is social and that people just want to get stuff done. Bizarrely IT people know it too! When they step out and go home, the world changes then. They are off twittering, buzzing, being social, getting stuff done using the social web,the phone,the app, the device.
Why does the enterprise differ then?
Its called Institutionalisation .Its the same mad process and imperative that allows the NHS to allow old people to die of neglect on the hospital ward. In front of nice people. They are not evil. It results simply by being unable to see after a while. No one is immune.
Except children of course. Who ask " why? " so much it hurts sometimes. That's what we must do. Why ? Why? Why? that and do something better. The CEO must ask it . The CIO must ask it. After all if she or he does not no one else will. Its the chief role. To ask why you must step out. You cannot ask why from within- you cannot question yourself or your IT or anything else from within, from the boundary cast around you. Look up and look out. Get the vaccination that treats the meme.The world is not flat.
What next?
Apart from recognising we have problem that people want fixed? More soon on the pathway.
Meanwhile lets change the initials.That might help. No more IT . How about ET ( enabling tech ) No? Too resonant with an old film? How about LT ( liberating tech ) hmmm better..who can argue with liberation eh? Ask an Egyptian why not? How about business technology ( BT ) A few years back the then Forrester Research CEO George Colony, made the case that the term "business technology" would help. Nope. Dull Dull Dull.
So I have it- - let's call it Zucherberg Tech ( ZT ) from here on in. Or zucherberg for short ...
Zucherberg tech is deeply impressive. Social and sociable - just as we are. Cool eh? bloody obvious eh? In T shirt and jeans. Universal too, global, encompassing, everyone gets it. Even Obama gets it.
We have more zucherberg then ever. It works.No training work shop required. Lets just get stuff done.
Zucherberg is like a vaccination. It can liberate us from the IT disease. Just say No to IT
Thursday 22 July 2010
The Google Tablet - what does Google need to do now?
Its time now for Google stand up and be counted tablet wise
Hats off to Apple having proved demand for device that at 3 Million sales and counting is effectively a new generation of device. Its a game changer. No more struggling with awful heavy lap tops.No more key boards. No more artificial separation of work rest and and play (I mean how quaint is that ?) No more very dull discussions about the OS- who cares about the OS? Anyone? Thought not....Its significant that the Apple play ( the intersection of liberal arts and technology ) is just such an important characteristic of these devices. Most people most of the time just want to Get. Stuff. Done. We want to do that easily and in a nice shiny package too. I want to do email,web browsing, watch movies, TV ,store and stream and listen music
I want one obviously but there a number of issues that stop me leaping Apple wise just now upon which Google can capitalise.
Impressive though it is the iPad is still too heavy, too restrictive on browser access content wise ( try using Google Docs just now ),to difficult to work on without shelling out for Mobile Me and content is filtered through iTunes only. No doubt the second generation iPad due in 2011 sometime will move the game on really well (imagine a much lighter glass enclosure a la iPhone 4,a front and rear camera, a face time account, a 10 inch retina display, and Google Chrome ( oops that wont happen will it ;-) All this is coming no doubt but content and access will still be locked down for all the curated reasons Apple espouse.
Why Google though? Frankly who else can do it?
What are Dell doing? The Streak? Too big for a phone and too small for a tablet and no content. HTC? Trying very hard indeed and innovating quickly but no expertise in liberal arts at all. Samsung,LG,Sony, Motorola. Palm? No where thus far.
Google appear to be only people in place to be able move the game on in open and accessible way . Here is what we need-
Android or Chrome OS Lets get the confusing bit over with first. Android is for the phone and smart devices. Chrome OS is for netbook type devices. Which to use? Android is out and pumping well for Google and the App store is growing rapidly although it do could with a light touch of curation though as some apps are still too flaky for normal use.Maybe the Android thing and the Chrome OS could merge at a some point. Right now with Chrome OS not even in release 1 the first generation of Google Tablet should be Android 3 ,AKA Gingerbread. It would be fantastic if the UX and UI could be breathed on though. The metaphor for Android and indeed still for Apple devices is the the old application/computing model- we need a nice Social access model eg swipe access to social media, Music, Video and data. Imagine a nice mash up of HTC wildfire interface combined with the Sony Xperia fluidity combined with Palms Web OS.
Thereafter we need-
Thin and light. Apple have shown the way and there is no reason why we cannot now have a thin and light enclosure
Display can we have a 10 inch bench mark super AMOLED display please ?
Battery life - 10 hours is the benchmark
Camera Facetime is open source- hint ;-) so front and rear please
Wifi obviously but also 3G option too.
Web Apps-
HTML 5 offline and online access
Movies- streamed through You Tube will be fine thanks, plus click to buy and store in cloud
Google cloud print
Google Books Store and reader
Google Picassa
Google Music access store with a partner; try Amazon perhaps?
Google Apps
Google Chrome
Full access to Android store
Google can do this and in such a way that moves the game on fully into the cloud- a cloud where music and TV and movies live and can be streamed and consumed more easily than ever before and purchased if I want too. Where my pictures and home movies can be securely looked after and my social life is accessed easily too. A device where I can work using all the modern productivity web apps now available.
Its Time for a direct store purchase too. The Nexus One store may have been a struggle and is now effectively closed but direct access and purchase here now is a good model for this type of tech.
Any chance guys?
Hats off to Apple having proved demand for device that at 3 Million sales and counting is effectively a new generation of device. Its a game changer. No more struggling with awful heavy lap tops.No more key boards. No more artificial separation of work rest and and play (I mean how quaint is that ?) No more very dull discussions about the OS- who cares about the OS? Anyone? Thought not....Its significant that the Apple play ( the intersection of liberal arts and technology ) is just such an important characteristic of these devices. Most people most of the time just want to Get. Stuff. Done. We want to do that easily and in a nice shiny package too. I want to do email,web browsing, watch movies, TV ,store and stream and listen music
I want one obviously but there a number of issues that stop me leaping Apple wise just now upon which Google can capitalise.
Impressive though it is the iPad is still too heavy, too restrictive on browser access content wise ( try using Google Docs just now ),to difficult to work on without shelling out for Mobile Me and content is filtered through iTunes only. No doubt the second generation iPad due in 2011 sometime will move the game on really well (imagine a much lighter glass enclosure a la iPhone 4,a front and rear camera, a face time account, a 10 inch retina display, and Google Chrome ( oops that wont happen will it ;-) All this is coming no doubt but content and access will still be locked down for all the curated reasons Apple espouse.
Why Google though? Frankly who else can do it?
What are Dell doing? The Streak? Too big for a phone and too small for a tablet and no content. HTC? Trying very hard indeed and innovating quickly but no expertise in liberal arts at all. Samsung,LG,Sony, Motorola. Palm? No where thus far.
Google appear to be only people in place to be able move the game on in open and accessible way . Here is what we need-
Android or Chrome OS Lets get the confusing bit over with first. Android is for the phone and smart devices. Chrome OS is for netbook type devices. Which to use? Android is out and pumping well for Google and the App store is growing rapidly although it do could with a light touch of curation though as some apps are still too flaky for normal use.Maybe the Android thing and the Chrome OS could merge at a some point. Right now with Chrome OS not even in release 1 the first generation of Google Tablet should be Android 3 ,AKA Gingerbread. It would be fantastic if the UX and UI could be breathed on though. The metaphor for Android and indeed still for Apple devices is the the old application/computing model- we need a nice Social access model eg swipe access to social media, Music, Video and data. Imagine a nice mash up of HTC wildfire interface combined with the Sony Xperia fluidity combined with Palms Web OS.
Thereafter we need-
Thin and light. Apple have shown the way and there is no reason why we cannot now have a thin and light enclosure
Display can we have a 10 inch bench mark super AMOLED display please ?
Battery life - 10 hours is the benchmark
Camera Facetime is open source- hint ;-) so front and rear please
Wifi obviously but also 3G option too.
Web Apps-
HTML 5 offline and online access
Movies- streamed through You Tube will be fine thanks, plus click to buy and store in cloud
Google cloud print
Google Books Store and reader
Google Picassa
Google Music access store with a partner; try Amazon perhaps?
Google Apps
Google Chrome
Full access to Android store
Google can do this and in such a way that moves the game on fully into the cloud- a cloud where music and TV and movies live and can be streamed and consumed more easily than ever before and purchased if I want too. Where my pictures and home movies can be securely looked after and my social life is accessed easily too. A device where I can work using all the modern productivity web apps now available.
Its Time for a direct store purchase too. The Nexus One store may have been a struggle and is now effectively closed but direct access and purchase here now is a good model for this type of tech.
Any chance guys?
Tuesday 9 February 2010
The iPad and Google Apps
I love the look of the iPad, Apple's latest creation but perhaps not for the obvious reasons. It certainly looks smart, appears to have a nice screen, is light and fast with a 10 hour battery life...so far so good. But I recall when the first iPhone came out too..I wanted one that very first day of course who wouldn't , a game changer in every way you can think of.. however I did not get the first generation iPhone because, frankly at 2G, I just know it was not going to work for me..far too slow, no applications I could use as such on the fly...
That all changed with the 3G of course which meant not just the thing moved a lot quicker but by then the App Store was in full flow and it meant we could really make use of the power and the interface and the sheer usability of it all..simply managed though iTunes...Result..
But for me the killer app as it were, was the access via Google APP for the iPhone to all my favourite Google Apps which I use every day to work on Gmail, Docs, Calendar Reader, Talk, Search,Maps, and the partner apps that I use for pleasure too, News, Photo's, Translate, You Tube. In practice this meant I had no need for a lap top at all..on the move it was all in my hand ( vagaries of the O2 network notwithstanding ) and with all day battery life too. .. Result number 2.
When the 3GS came out with even more speed, video, better camera, I was tempted it must be said.. and then crushed by O2's upgrade costs ..( Hint to O2- make it easy for me and I will stick with you.. )
And then the iPad fell to earth after months of rumour and for many of the fan boys driven almost to distraction by the wait for Steve Jobs latest, a massive blog fuelled hangover. No camera, no video, no multi-tasking ,no flash. I admit I was a bit disappointed too at the time ( the No flash thing I can take or leave as it looks like it is on a downward spiral with HTML 5 growing up ) looking as I was and am, for a business case I can present to SWMBO ( sorry that means- She Who Must Be Obeyed ) But my biggest disappointment was No Google App for the iPad, a symptom perhaps of the two great innovators of our time now at war rather than in bed together. Which is a shame as a iPad version of Google APP could be great app and real Must Have ( along with Google Voice Pluuzeeee for the iPhone ) . Perhaps Google will announce something nearer the actual launch date , in which case my Business case may begin to look promising.
But I still may be an early adopter and there are there are three things I have been struck with which may make the iPad a consumer ( if not Pro) success. Firstly, multi tasking on single consumer device is overrated. Having my movie or song interrupted by twitter is not cool ( although I am sure Apple can make this easy at some point..lack of multi tasking is a large back office OS problem for Apple, I suspect they have not solved that yet ). The big promise however is the usability and the metaphor behind the device. Think , no more desk top watching of movies or using a boring old work device ( lap top ) in a strange position in bed, or on the sofa, or on a plane or bus. Secondly , the sight of Steve Jobs relaxing in a chair for the iPad demo was a game changer in itself, perhaps the most appealing to consumers- the whole Internet ( plus my movies, music, books, and the magazines and newspapers to come ) may just tip the device and the format into a whole new world . Finally, it might be an easy entry price in the UK in which case it may find an early fit twixt iPhone and Mac. Here's hoping.
That all changed with the 3G of course which meant not just the thing moved a lot quicker but by then the App Store was in full flow and it meant we could really make use of the power and the interface and the sheer usability of it all..simply managed though iTunes...Result..
But for me the killer app as it were, was the access via Google APP for the iPhone to all my favourite Google Apps which I use every day to work on Gmail, Docs, Calendar Reader, Talk, Search,Maps, and the partner apps that I use for pleasure too, News, Photo's, Translate, You Tube. In practice this meant I had no need for a lap top at all..on the move it was all in my hand ( vagaries of the O2 network notwithstanding ) and with all day battery life too. .. Result number 2.
When the 3GS came out with even more speed, video, better camera, I was tempted it must be said.. and then crushed by O2's upgrade costs ..( Hint to O2- make it easy for me and I will stick with you.. )
And then the iPad fell to earth after months of rumour and for many of the fan boys driven almost to distraction by the wait for Steve Jobs latest, a massive blog fuelled hangover. No camera, no video, no multi-tasking ,no flash. I admit I was a bit disappointed too at the time ( the No flash thing I can take or leave as it looks like it is on a downward spiral with HTML 5 growing up ) looking as I was and am, for a business case I can present to SWMBO ( sorry that means- She Who Must Be Obeyed ) But my biggest disappointment was No Google App for the iPad, a symptom perhaps of the two great innovators of our time now at war rather than in bed together. Which is a shame as a iPad version of Google APP could be great app and real Must Have ( along with Google Voice Pluuzeeee for the iPhone ) . Perhaps Google will announce something nearer the actual launch date , in which case my Business case may begin to look promising.
But I still may be an early adopter and there are there are three things I have been struck with which may make the iPad a consumer ( if not Pro) success. Firstly, multi tasking on single consumer device is overrated. Having my movie or song interrupted by twitter is not cool ( although I am sure Apple can make this easy at some point..lack of multi tasking is a large back office OS problem for Apple, I suspect they have not solved that yet ). The big promise however is the usability and the metaphor behind the device. Think , no more desk top watching of movies or using a boring old work device ( lap top ) in a strange position in bed, or on the sofa, or on a plane or bus. Secondly , the sight of Steve Jobs relaxing in a chair for the iPad demo was a game changer in itself, perhaps the most appealing to consumers- the whole Internet ( plus my movies, music, books, and the magazines and newspapers to come ) may just tip the device and the format into a whole new world . Finally, it might be an easy entry price in the UK in which case it may find an early fit twixt iPhone and Mac. Here's hoping.
The kids are all right
I had the great opportunity just a few days ago to speak with a room full of 11-15 old kids as part of career service offered by my local secondary school. The idea here is that the school invites speakers from a range of backgrounds and professions to help give the kids some insight into the opportunities that lie ahead. I was guinea pig for a fuller programme in 2010. I like being a guniea pig . I was invited to speak about digital careers and futures. So with 23 kids in room where do you start?
So I thought I would ask them some questions . How many had mobile phones? 22 out of 23 and the 23 had just lost hers. How many were smart phones ? ( I held up a iphone as an example ) 7 out of 22 were some kind of smart device. Brand names? No iphones at all, mostly Samsung and LG , one Nokia.How many had heard of social sites? .We wrote a list Bebo, My space. Facebook, You Tube, Flickr , even Spotify were all mentioned and all had accounts on more than one. Also very popular was MSN ( for chat ) and Hotmail . No one mentioned or had an account with Twitter or GMail .What followed was fascinating QA session. Some samples...Do I need maths? My answer ? No but if you want to programme or do Comp Sci it will do no harm.Will you look my Business Case ( an 11 year old with a plan for a web hosting service . Yes. Which is the best games service? No idea.Coolest phone? Try iPhone or android device What was fascinating in all of this was the insight that the kids were no more or less technically proficient than any other age group. But they were keen on experimenting and had no technofear. Hand them a new device or game and they just go for it..Without instructions or a manual or indeed a corporate training programme . All in a sense got the idea that emergence, imagination , experimentation was a routine methodology. How different I thought to many adults and groups and companies overly obsessed by ROI and Business cases for anything new. All quite happy to waste tonnes of money and risk on the old ways and old tech though. Something not quite right there . What happens after 18 then!
So I thought I would ask them some questions . How many had mobile phones? 22 out of 23 and the 23 had just lost hers. How many were smart phones ? ( I held up a iphone as an example ) 7 out of 22 were some kind of smart device. Brand names? No iphones at all, mostly Samsung and LG , one Nokia.How many had heard of social sites? .We wrote a list Bebo, My space. Facebook, You Tube, Flickr , even Spotify were all mentioned and all had accounts on more than one. Also very popular was MSN ( for chat ) and Hotmail . No one mentioned or had an account with Twitter or GMail .What followed was fascinating QA session. Some samples...Do I need maths? My answer ? No but if you want to programme or do Comp Sci it will do no harm.Will you look my Business Case ( an 11 year old with a plan for a web hosting service . Yes. Which is the best games service? No idea.Coolest phone? Try iPhone or android device What was fascinating in all of this was the insight that the kids were no more or less technically proficient than any other age group. But they were keen on experimenting and had no technofear. Hand them a new device or game and they just go for it..Without instructions or a manual or indeed a corporate training programme . All in a sense got the idea that emergence, imagination , experimentation was a routine methodology. How different I thought to many adults and groups and companies overly obsessed by ROI and Business cases for anything new. All quite happy to waste tonnes of money and risk on the old ways and old tech though. Something not quite right there . What happens after 18 then!
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