Monthly Archives: July 2012

July 23, 2012 · 11:27 am

The DC-6 Of Digital

I had a long conversation with someone oer the weekend about the Internet and how an entire economy has grown up around it.

English: A Douglas DC-6B of Balair at Basle Ai...

English: A Douglas DC-6B of Balair at Basle Airport (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Think about all of the jobs and businesses that didn’t exist in 1995.  SEO manager (or firm)?  Social Media Expert (or software)?  Web designers – it’s a long list.  Many of the companies with the highest valuations owe much of that value either directly or indirectly to the Internet.  If this was a blog about politics I could go off here on a tangent about government investment (the digital economy owes a lot to the government both in terms of the space program and DARPA) but I’ll leave that for another time.  Instead, I want to take the rest of today’s screed to remind about the Wright Brothers.

In the early days of flight there were lots of crashes and air travel was not for everyone. It took roughly 25 years before the DC-3 made it a broad business and until after World War II and the introduction of several airplanes based on bombers that flying was for the masses.  That brought about changes in tourism and other businesses.  The world became a much smaller place. The early crashes were not forgotten but they were seen as key learning opportunities, not just failures.

The DC-6 was disruptive. It affected steamship and rail travel and both businesses took a hit from which they really haven’t recovered (do you know anyone who’s used a cruise ship to take a business trip?).  I’ve been asking myself what is the DC-6 of digital? We’ve gone from an environment of text to graphics to rich media to video to social. It’s become more mainstream for consumers and it’s getting there for businesses.  Devices are becoming smaller, more personal (even wearable).  I still think we’ve yet to see the thing that changes it all.

Businesses – and marketing of those businesses in particular – don’t like to take massive chances.  In hindsight, it seems hedging your bet when it comes to new technology is not really “playing it safe.”   When the digital DC-6 takes off, we all want to be on it.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media

Tagged as , , , , , ,

July 20, 2012 · 10:35 am

Chopped

I went to make dinner the other night and was scouring the refrigerator for inspiration.

Chopped (TV series)

Chopped (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Eggplant, chicken thighs, some leftover San Marzano tomatoes were what greeted me. What would you have made? I did a chicken/eggplant curry – it took all of 25 minutes and was delicious. I thought about that as a topic for our Foodie Friday Fun and was reminded again about it as I watched “Chopped” on the Food Network. That show is a cooking competition where the chefs are given a basket of ingredients and told to make something using all the ingredients in the basket, generally in 30 minutes or less. The twist is that there’s always something in the basket that doesn’t go with everything else – flounder, lemons, capers, and olive loaf, for example. Perfect for business thinking, right?

The key to being successful in this sort of improvisational cooking is to step back and think more broadly – and very differently – about the ingredients.  Olive loaf as a seasoning, for example, and not as a protein.  It’s how successful companies think about their businesses.   The iPhone wasn’t thought about as a phone per se but as a communication device with the Internet as an important form of communication.  I suspect it was thought of in an even more broadly way – a handheld computer with voice connectivity, perhaps.

We live in a non-linear world these days.  Thinking in straight lines may move us forward but it may mean we’re missing some fantastic opportunities.  You might think of your company as being in the tech business.  Maybe you need to focus on being in a solutions business.  How does that change how your technology performs or is designed?  The folks in sports realize they’re in the entertainment business – that opens up many new challenges but a ton of new opportunities.

I like Chopped.  Improvising solutions under pressure with seemingly incompatible ingredients is what business today is all about.  It’s inspirational to me.  You?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , , ,

July 19, 2012 · 10:43 am

Old Goats And New Technology

My birthday is coming up in a few weeks.

English: Custom made birthday cake

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I think I’m officially what would be classified as an Older American (seems like that’s anyone over 25 these days), so I read the press release from the folks at Perion with some interest.  They’re “a developer of software tailored for 40+ Second Wave Adopters (SWAs) of technology”.   I’m not sure if that means all their products are in large type, but nevertheless the research they conducted concluded that:

Older Americans have a cautious approach to technology, but are still willing to embrace it depending on the practical impact it will have on their lives. The study shows that 88.5% of Americans over 45 surveyed consider themselves slow to adopt technology. However, 84.8% adopt a new technology when it fits their current lifestyle, 89% will use new technology if it’s better than what they use today, and 79.2% enjoy technology and new gadgets.

Only 50% of respondents felt that greater usage of technology has hurt social interactions, and 89% said that they were good at keeping in touch with friends.  Key to understanding the segment is the recognition that SWAs over 45 do not fear technology, but they need to be a little more convinced to use it than others. Surprisingly, 76% said that technology was fun; not a term usually associated with technology amongst SWAs.

Add to that this nugget:

A new study by Euro RSCG says people are tired of having to act and look younger than they are and live up to some sort of unattainable youth ideal.  Just about three-quarters of those who surveyed expressed the belief that society has grown much too youth-obsessed — an opinion shared not just by the older set but also by 6 in 10 Millennials.

In other words, if you’re thinking that we oldsters don’t “get” what you’re doing you’re insulting not only a potentially lucrative business segment but maybe angering our kids as well (most of them do love us, after all).  Ever use the phrase “you’re not the demo” when receiving business commentary from an older person?  Maybe we really are.

The real underlying message is that older folks will use whatever means they can to stay in touch and make our lives easier.   We’re pragmatists, balancing the discomfort of the learning with the desire to make use of every minute we have.  Birthdays are great incentives!

Enhanced by Zemanta

1 Comment

Filed under Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , , ,