iPad… Netbook killer or keyboard killer?

The launch of Apple’s iPad has already come under scrutiny for everything from it’s name to lack of certain features. Steve Jobs said in his keynote (below) that netbooks don’t do anything better than a laptop or smartphone, but the iPad does and fills the gap between the two.

I will go one step further. I will say this fills the gap between keyboards and Minority Report, the sci-fi flick that employed futurists to imagine how people will interact with computers. So between keyboards of today, and fully interactive heads up motion displays of tomorrow, I see the iPad. The iWork portion of the iPad keynote (below) was the coolest part for me… intuitive creation of simple content for sharing with others. That covers the needs of 90%+ of the computer users out there. And it looked COOL. and FUN. and SIMPLE.

And that last bit made me realize… Had the iPad been around a year ago, my sister, mom, and nephew would all have them instead of their Acer Aspires (mom, sister) and Eee PC (nephew). That is why I think the iPad is creating a bridge in interface technology… it could easily become the entry level option of choice among first time computer owners. What will they demand when going to college or doing some computing heavy lifting? Why would they revert to the rigid nature of keyboard and mouse? I don’t think they will have to; I can’t wait for the iPadPro that will surely be called for (and bought by) the masses in a few years…

Social Media Marketing Webinars

I just wanted to reference two webinars I led while working at Rapleaf.  They both discuss marketing applications of consumer social data; in other words, how does a marketer change their message when they know how many friends a person has, or what pages on Facebook a person is a fan of?  In short, a lot- we are all moving towards one to one communication and understanding the social components of your audience is a key ingredient.

The first is aimed squarely at automotive marketing:

The second covers Facebook Fan Pages, both the ones you own and the ones you don’t, and includes details from my study comparing fans of BMW and Audi.  More on that study was posted to Razorfish’s Headlight Blog.

My long overdue blog about starting my new job…

So, I GOT A JOB!  I had my first meeting on August 14th while my first day was the 17th…  Rapleaf (www.rapleaf.com) is an SF-based technology startup that focuses on social media research.

Since starting my gig, I have been trying to figure out my whole work/life balance thing.  It turns out, my pendulum had swung very far to the life side during the six months between gigs (and man was it a fun ride). So, fittingly enough, the pendulum hit a hard down swing and the momentum carried me through the first (almost) two months of work. The balance certainly tilted toward work (but really, I have been having a fun ride).

Here I am, figuring it out as usual, trying to keep the balance in check. I think being in the office from 8am to 6pm is about right, hopefully limiting the couch sessions of email/ upkeep to only a couple nights a week.  Eating at my desk is out moving forward; it just doesn’t set my afternoon up with the right attitude/ vibe.  Coming in early is in… the east coast needs me too.  And, odd as it may sound, I am the old guy on the team in many respects…

The team is great, all really smart and excited to be there. Rapleaf is about 2/3 software engineers (wicked, crazy smart software engineers) and the aim is to keep that balance and focus as we grow.  The shop is still small enough that all eyes can be on you in a hurry, helping correct a course or congratulate a win.  At the same time, our company is big enough that we are getting noticed and revered by big companies across many industries. It was crazy to walk in and talk to some of the holy grail clients of the auto industry within the first few weeks.

As for now, I am having fun and hoping you are too.
~N

Are you the Family IT Department, too?

If you are like me, you serve not only as a son, brother, and uncle to your family (or the female counterparts), but also as the family IT department. This quick post is about a recent breakthrough in department productivity: do it yourself.

My buddy Ben (same guy from the Iceland trip), also the family IT dept, turned me onto Log Me In. Its a free software that allows you to connect and control VPN style to any computer added to your account.

Log Me In- Saving time and family.

In 10 minutes, I had talked my Mom through the download and install process for Log Me In. Then in the next 10, she watched as I set up Skype and some firewall settings that had eluded us for well over an hour late last week.  I am going to repeat this process a few more times, then I will have the whole family wired to my single account.

Thank you Log Me In, for saving my cell phone bills, my time, and my entire family’s computer related sanity. Oh, and Ben, I owe you a beer.  Now I get to video conference with the family any time of the… wait a minute, Ben… maybe you owe me a beer…

Alternative Wind Energy, cool video.

One of the first amazing sights when driving to Yosemite from SF is not a natural beauty at all… for me, it is the wind farm just about 30 minutes past the bay bridge, just over the first rolling hills that separate the Bay Area from “inland” California.

Karenne took this shot out the window while heading toward Yosemite.

While not the best shot, it does show a few of the amazing turbines spinning away on the hill sides.  To take in the view really is pretty (dorky &) amazing.

So today I Stumbled Upon something similar, but so very, very different: an alternative wind energy source on a very small scale.  Remember those educational films on the Tacoma Narrows bridge?  This guy used them as motivation to design a new type of wind energy… watch the video here. Amazingly nerdy and awesome.

Tacoma Narrows Bridge: It went all wobbly in the wind before shattering.

So, if you are like me… you thought the video was great… and applications for low cost, small scale energy sources in the third world are amazing.

Have fun out there…

Great Graph: Information Age(s)

So I Stumbled Upon a great graph and related blog post on the evolution of media. The graph is shown right here for your math induced dorky delight:

Where do you get your news?

I really liked both the write up on the site and the presentation of news sources, even though the timeline is abbreviated… you still get the right idea.  I love graphs and images that take a big concept and shrink it to a single, coherent image that just makes sense.

This also spawned a great, quick email conversation with some friends on whether the recent and upcoming years were right: is social going to dominate media?  Short answer, yes, content will be coming from a million different places in the next few years and we all have the ability to produce content.  I thre in that targeting has to be a bigger piece of the puzzle because all that content will just get crowded.  I view social media more as context than content… what is the slant or the framework put around an article more than what is in it.  Targeting that social media will make every browsing experience a positive one, rather than wading through endless content.

At any rate… It’s a great graph and great topic of conversation.  So, where do you get your news?

Oh, and I highly recommend trying Stumble Upon… it’s a great way to browse the web with your own parameters loosely guiding the way… you set up topics of interest, click a button, and stumble your way through the endless content that other stumblers tagged as things that may interest you.  Worth an audition…