February 16th, 2010
Chris Botting
Skunkworks Creative Group
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A long time ago (early 2000′s) before Google was a powerhouse and Apple was a mass market media darling there were two major players in smartphones – Microsoft and Blackberry (Ok, maybe Palm to a certain degree as well). They had the marketplace covered and produced solid smartphones which had quite a few of the features of the modern day devices (cameras, calendars, apps, contacts, instant messaging) although the experience was a little mundane and uninspiring (and non-touch).
Fast forward to the year 2007 when Apple crashed the party and upended all that was peaceful in the staid smartphone market with their touch-enabled device, the iPhone. Now, Apple weren’t the first to the smartphone party, nor were they the first to introduce touch, but they did meld their usual user-friendliness and marketing savvy to upend the entire market and introduce a more consumer-friendly device. The iPhone, and the whole touch phenomenon changed the landscape for smartphones. Out with the old and in with the new!
Fast forward once more to 2009 when Google bust down the door of the smartphone party with their introduction of an touch-enabled open-source OS called Android. Not the sexiest interface, nor was it the most user-friendly but what it lacked in pizazz it made up for with the promise if being open to the people and having Google’s backing, which would ensure it would become bigger and better as time went on. So far, the flagship android device seems to be Google’s Nexus One.
Also in 2009 Palm came back fighting by introducing the much-hyped Pre smartphone. Unfortunately for palm it’s quite a bit smaller than any of the other companies and it’ll be tough to move the numbers that the other big players can. Have to give Palm props though as they’ve developed a beautiful phone with a very slick interface utilizing touch capabilities and a slide-out keyboard.
Since the introduction of the iPhone and all the other touch devices the Blackberry brand has held it’s own, even introducing it’s own touch device which never really caught on with the mass market. Microsoft, however has taken a severe beating in market share and as of yesterday has essentially pulled the plug on it’s old smartphone operating system. Microsoft haven’t given up however, the new Windows Mobile 7 series looks to be a complete departure from anything they’ve ever introduced before and my hunch is it’ll be a gamble that will pay off.
It seems every few months someone introduces a phone/OS combo that makes me really want to trade in my trusty Blackberry. What stops me? Well, I know that in another 3 or 4 months there will be another phone that will make me glad I waited. And now, with the unveiling of the new Microsoft mobile OS I think I’ll hold off a bit longer just to see how things play out. The battle for our mobile dollars is heating up and there’s never been the amount of competition we have today.
My blackberry does all that I need for now, but the grass is always greener on the other side in tech land.
Posted in Apple, BlackBerry, Google, Mobile, Technology, microsoft | 1 Comment »
November 18th, 2009
Marni MacLeod
Skunkworks Creative Group
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We don’t have a fax machine. Most of our communications take place on the phone, face-to-face or over email. However, there are still occasions when people … ok, it’s usually just government offices, want you to send them stuff via fax machine. Yeah…I know (sigh). Our Technical Director and Agency Sommelier, Mark Hicken, found himself in just such a situation this morning and…better yet, found a handy solution. It’s eFax.com, an online service that lets you fax from where ever you have Internet access…and lets you receive faxes via email. It’s so nice when a company makes it easy for a change. When you sign up you get a local fax number and you can then send and receive faxes as email attachments. If you want to check it out they currently have a free 30 day trial and the cost per month after that is $12.50 CDN + taxes. And, no… I do not have shares (although maybe I should)…I just think it’s a great way to save time and paper without having to alter your normal routine. Hats off to J2 Global Communications (eFax’s “Mommy”) for providing another tool in support of the paperless office.
Tags: faxing, paperless office
Posted in Technology, Things we like | Add a Comment »
October 13th, 2009
Cintia Stela
Skunkworks Creative Group
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When it comes to Google’s pioneer ideas and solutions, you can never have enough. Every couple weeks you hear of a new speculation or a beta version of a new service they are preparing to launch. Well, the most recent promise I have come across is Google Wave, a new service that combines e-mail, instant messaging, blogging, document sharing, wikis, and multimedia content to provide a seamless communications platform.
As of yet, only 100,000 people were invited to play with the new toy, but Macworld lists 5 reasons why we should be looking forward to this new creation:
- Single point of access
- Next-generation communication
- Real-time sharing and collaboration
- A life of its own
- It’s in the cloud
Do you think this is going to change how people communicate, or this is just another parallel universe which only a few of the tech-savvy people will be actually using?
Personally, I will give it a try for sure, but I wonder if this will become the default internet messaging tool of the majority in the long-term future.
Tags: communication, e-mail, Google, internet, wave
Posted in Google, Technology, We are amused, social media | Add a Comment »
October 6th, 2009
Marni MacLeod
Skunkworks Creative Group
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If you weren’t able to attend the conference you can still get the materials for $149 + tax (free shipping).
Want to find out why you should care about Web 2.0 and social media? Concerned about privacy, security and professional responsibility in a wired world? Interested in practice management software, the latest on e-Discovery and e-Prep of litigation files or how to make Word actually earn its keep? It’s all in the papers that were prepared as part of the conference and burned to disk for participants. The full slate of sessions is available on the Pacific Legal Technology Conference website.
You can purchase a disk by contacting Megan Ejack at the Trial Lawyers Association of BC by email megan@tlabc.org or by calling 604 682-5343 or toll free 1 888 558-5222. TLABC will accept cheques, VISA or MasterCard. The sessions I attended were all excellent and I’m looking forward to going back and reading the materials at my leisure.
Tags: law practice management, legal technology
Posted in Inspiration, Law, Technology, Things we like, social media | Add a Comment »
September 24th, 2009
Marni MacLeod
Skunkworks Creative Group
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I had the good fortune to attend an excellent panel presentation this morning hosted by Fasken Martineau and moderated by Faskens commercial litigation, technology and IP lawyer, David Wotherspoon on: “Socializing” Your Business: Legal and Business Considerations of Social Networking.
The Panel kicked off with an entertaining “Stats Vignette” that made it abundantly clear that social media matters to your brand and your corporate survival. As it happens, I recently finished re-watching the Terminator trilogy and as I listened to panel member after panel member talk about the exponential expansion and largely unregulated power of social media – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice and a memorable passage from T2: Judgement Day kept surfacing. That particular passage is:
The Terminator: The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.
In some regards, the social media phenomenon does seem a bit like an independent, “sentient” being and it’s interesting to contemplate whether it will develop a “mob” mentality (being that its life force is comprised of lots and lots and lots of people) and, if so, what will happen if someone figuratively yells “fire” in a crowded Internet (yeah, yeah I know I’m reaching but my point is that on some level you are dealing with a variant of mob mentality). So…how does one come to grips with this new, potentially unruly mob if you want to survive in the new wilderness? And further, if the attraction to social media is based on accessing an authentic voice as opposed to a sales pitch, how do you navigate the waters without sending the message you are trying to manipulate the masses – which can backfire. This panel had a lot of great suggestions.
Panel member David Vogt, CEO of CrowdTrust Technologies underscored the reach of the existing technology and the shift from passive data collection to the need to participate in an ongoing dialogue if you want to become a trusted thought leader. Those with something relevant to say and the willingness to participate in debate have a definite advantage. He also acknowledged (much to my relief) that no one really has a handle on how Web 2.0 and the current social media milieu is going to evolve or how to successfully monetize it (and here I was just thinking I was dumb).
Next up was Mat Wilcox, crisis management maven and CEO of local PR firm the Wilcox Group. Ms. Wilcox placed the importance of social media squarely in the context of brand and reputation management – at that point I sat up a little taller (and not just because my coffee had kicked in). Her presentation was peppered with recent examples of why businesses (and people) who ignore the social media phenomenon do so at their peril. The potential for brandjacking, damage to reputation and derailment of market strategy was the bit that really hit home for me. Which is both good and bad. Good because it motivated me to commit to taking more time to explore social media and sort out how to help our clients develop a social media strategy. Bad because I’ve been consciously (and successfully) ignoring Twitter up to now (all good things must come to an end I suppose).
Then Faskens litigation and dispute resolution lawyer Mark Fancourt-Smith walked us through some rights enforcement issues (how to stop cyber badmouthing 101) and the problems that can arise when you are trying to get offending material removed from the web. He also mentioned the trend among litigators toward reviewing social media as a means of gathering evidence. Just so you know…lawyers looooove Facebook.
David Ford, a securities and technology lawyer with Faskens, underscored the need for companies to develop and implement thoughtful (balanced) policies regarding employee use of social media. While he praised the exciting potential offered by social media from a business perspective, he also cautioned the crowd that harnessing social media for business purposes it was not without its risks. He stressed the point that if you are going to embrace the technology then balance is key. Social media policy needs to allow for an authentic voice but remain sensitive issues like client confidentiality, protection of corporate IP and the damage that can be caused by thoughtless posting. At the same time, David noted that if you micromanage the process and overregulate the medium you undermine its authenticity and remove the very reason people trust the information they find through social media.
Lorene Novakowski , a partner in the Faskens labour, employment and human rights group, capped off the presentation by reviewing recent activity relating to Social Media and privacy laws with particular reference to the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner‘s Review of Facebook which ultimately resulted in Facebook’s agreement to implement changes to its privacy settings. For a quick overview of that investigation and the results see:
“Facebook gets poked by Canada over privacy,” from The Star and “Facebook agrees to better protect privacy,” the National Post.
Ms. Novakowski also offered some useful best practices advice for employers regarding employee screening and monitoring. It made me wonder how many high school kids out there posting “party” photos stop to consider what a prospective employer will make of them down the road.
Over all, it was a thought provoking morning. However, what became abundantly clear was that each of the panelists only had enough time to scratch the surface of a fascinating topic – the perfect set up for a sequel I’m sure. I am hopeful Mr. Wotherspoon will see fit to share these excellent presentations further afield. HINT, HINT.
Posted in Inspiration, Professional Development, Technology, Things we like, social media | Add a Comment »
