In life, it's far more common that action precedes thought. We learn by doing, and doing changes how we think about something. This implies that changed perceptions are often a result of changed behavior.
categories// Advertising, Branding, Community, Design, Interactive, Social Media, Technology
I pre-ordered a Kindle Fire and I have been using it since it arrived a few weeks ago. I like it, but I can understand why others might not find it as easy to use.
Click through to learn what I think about what others might think.
Move over 40 Under 40 recipients...(myself, included)!
These up and comers are making waves as Forbes’ 30 Under 30. From advertising to journalism, these young bucks are shaking up their perspective industries while challenging the status quo.
http://www.forbes.com/special-report/2011/30-under30-12/30-under-30-12_m...
Mobile usage is continuing to grow at lightning speeds, and with that, our connectivity to the digital world is becoming merely an extension of our daily lives and routines. It is estimated that 788 million people will access the web solely through their mobile device by 2015 and many will use it for activities other than talking. Our digital footprints or data, along with geographic location-based services, will only allow more companies and applications to tap into our mobile device's capabilities and serve up deals that "reward" us for our behaviors with targeted, customized, and on the spot special offers.
Hotels will continue to reward loyal guests with free nights for more Foursquare check-ins. Living Social will drive traffic to certain businesses by offering us deals tailored to our location and time of day. And new apps like
LocoPing will track our history and give us the ability to connect with people/other users we may have encountered within the last 24 hours (at a convention, in an office building, or at the local coffee shop). And just yesterday, the introduction of Google Wallet. Wow.
And companies can work together to share this data to cross-sell and expand their customer base. Data and the technology used to process that data, can offer more relevant, personalized and rewarding service to all of us, which in theory improves our daily lives. But at what cost?
What's the trade off between exposing more personal interconnected information, and gaining more social currency (whether credits, points, badges, or connections from the past 24-hours)? Just maybe pulling out the good old pros & cons list will help:
Pros:
Cons:
Obviously there are pluses and minuses to having our lives increasingly interconnected with the mobile web, and much of it is based on personal preference. I for one am interested in striking a fine balance between human life, content sharing and technology. I'll adopt some of these tools, but with caution in so that I don't become interchangeable with my mobile device.
Since we are going to be around for at least another year (the rapture last weekend not having taken place, the one in October being a bunch of hooey, and the Mayans being a reasonably intelligent group), here’s what I see happening.
Everyone’s life is going to be wrapped up in one little box. I say little, because data can be compressed into surprisingly small areas. And when I say box, I mean a server. Or any data hardware in general. I’m not especially hardware savvy, so forgive the terminology.
Our lives are online! We socialize and have friends online. Meet people. Order food. Pay bills. Engage in entertainment of all kinds. Virtual realities, even. You barely have to leave your house to have a 'full life’. Many people don’t! If all this data is out there, it’s only a matter of time when we all just have our own little box with all of our information in it. (Or perhaps a card would be better so it fits in your wallet.) It’ll be tied to your SSN and phone number, I imagine. It’ll plan bus routes for you, create your shopping list, schedule meetings and more. It can do all these things because it knows everything about you. So you don’t have to think about it. So it’s automatic.
This is all starting to sound very Matrix-like, which isn’t what I intended but it was the natural thought progression. Interesting, isn’t it? Perhaps that really is where we are headed, even if we are arriving there naturally. In this case though, the Matrix would be voluntary, and it would be our real lives. Augmented reality? Hmmm.
What does this mean for our businesses? For humanity? Both are making a push towards being a fully integrated information society. For better or for worse, that is where the opportunities lie. But companies have a responsibility not to abuse it. It isn’t a power tool, it shouldn’t be treated that way. But it should be used to supplement our lives for the good.
Challenge: How can we create more integrated data tools that will augment our lives in a positive way?
And…. Go!
categories// Inspiration, Interactive, Randomness, Technology
This week Microsoft acquired Skype for $8.5b. Microsoft is sitting on some $50b in cash, and has been playing catch-up online, so spending big money for a loyal installed user base like Skype's makes sense.
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer, though, said something that resonated with me...
South by Southwest (or "South by" as the cool kids evidently call it, or "SXSW" as most people type it) Interactive "features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders, the incredible new SXSW Trade Show and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new digital works, video games and innovative ideas the international community has to offer."
It's so good that the official website has the longest sentence I've read this year explaining it. I was lucky enough to be in Austin, TX, for most of this year's SXSW Interactive, and I've got some thoughts and themes.
The recent Internet shutdown in Egypt has raised the question about whether Internet access is a human right or a privilege.
According to a 2009 BBC World Service survey, 79 percent of Egyptian residents do think the Internet is a fundamental right, and most Americans feel that it is as well.
There are varying views on the issue, all raising strong points. Some say restriction from the Internet is a violation of the right of free speech. And even in regimes where the government uses technologies to censor Internet communications, the power of having access to these vehicles is greater than the danger. Others argue that media should not be considered a human right, and that it does not fall in line with access to shelter, water, and food.
But has our ability to access the Internet become part of our core makeup? It has evolved to become the primary vehicle for more than individual communication. It provides us with a vital link to connect, to communicate and organize on a mass scale, and to access critical information impacting our lives and our world.
Check out an interesting video on The Huffington Post illustrating the minute-by-minute departure of Egypt's Internet service providers - the country fades to black in less than 30 minutes. And keep in mind these "holes" represented the voices of 80,000,000 people:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-cowie/egypt-hole-internet_b_817240.html
categories// Community, Interactive, Social Media, Technology
For our Transparency video, we decided to use a combination of flat art in a 3D space for a playful effect that takes cues from live theatre and those old fashioned paper dioramas that some of us made as kids. As simple as it sounds, it still requires a lot of technology - and a lot of thinking.
The Unabomber manifesto is nearly 35,000 words. Ted is cranky and long winded! We wanted to explain our perspective with more brevity—and fewer explosives (none, actually). So we created this two-minute motion graphics piece, which is currently featured on our homepage. In two minutes, it outlines how we're different and why we believe that difference matters to clients.
Short videos are exceptionally effective at communicating ideas in ways that print cannot. Rather than Kaczynski-grade blocks of text, these videos often tackle complex subjects in ways that feel easy and effortless. A minute or two of watching and listening feels very different than reading 1,000 words in black and white. Plus, they're easily shared, especially through social media. These are some of the big reasons we've been doing a lot more of them lately. We've done multiple pieces for clients such as BECU and Teo. And we've got several more in the works right now. You can check out our entire online repository at Vimeo here.
But first, check out the digital short for our toughest-to-work-with client: ourselves.
categories// Advertising, Branding, New Work, Social Media, Technology
