Author Archives: Steve Mays

Apple taking over mobile?

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The first iOS gadget shipped in 2007 and just a whole bunch of folks scoffed at the notion anyone would pay $400 for a mobile phone. What’s happened since then?

  • Nokia’s smartphone handstet market share dropped from 24% to 16% in one year.
  • 97% of all tablet traffic in the United States comes from iPads. The number is 100% in Japan and 99% in the UK. (The global average is 89%.)
  • last year Google earned about $102 million from apps sales, while Apple raked in $1.7 billion.
  • Apple has ordered two manufacturers to build enough iPhone 5 handsets to sell 15 million in the first month of sales (August or September).
  • 40% of all smartphone buyers in Europe say they intend to buy an iPhone next time they buy a phone.
  • There are 910 million mobile phone subscribers in China (where the iPhone is very popular)
  • Apple has sold 25 million iPads to date and one analyst believes Apple will sell a billion of them.

James Arness

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When I heard that James Arness had died my first thought was, “How could he still be alive?!” It’s just that Gunsmoke was so long ago.

So I dug out this photo taken when Craig Watson and I “interviewed” the popular TV actor when he appeared at the Sikeston Bootheel Rodeo. KBOA news guys John Reeder did the recording and Craig (on the right) and I asked some questions. Marshall Dillon signed my Fanner 50 holster.

The end of radio coverage maps?

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A radio station coverage map is just what it sounds like: a cirle showing how far your station’s signal reaches. The bigger the circle the better. Now a new BMW option might make coverage maps less important (obsolete?)

Yes, I know, not everyone can afford a BMW but is there any doubt this technology will find its way into every vehicle? Not for moi.

Mark Ramsey sees the car as “a digital lifestyle accessory” and wonders how broadcasters fit into the consumer’s mobile digital lifestyle?

“Maybe it’s with unique and exclusive content. Maybe it’s with digital bells and whistles that make your content sing. It’s not with the same old same old. And no number of debates about FM on mobile phones will solve this problem for you.”

On more than one occasion I’ve wondered what would I do to stay fresh and relevant if I were running a radio station. How might I insure that my station was on that BMW dashboard/iPhone? And I don’t have a good answer. But smarter folks than I are figuring this out.

Bruce Sterling on mobile phones and revolution

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“… we’re in the midst of a massive global reinvention. Not just a shift from analog to digital, but a shift from centralized control to distributed systems. From isolated single user experiences to a global social fabric. These mobile devices are the of Gutenberg presses of our generation. This is not a bubble, this is a revolution.” – Blog post

Present. Silent. Paperless.

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Every year Chris Brogan comes up with three words as his “guiding pillars” for what to focus on in the coming year.

“Instead of resolutions, which don’t usually help me very much, I work hard on using these words as a lighthouse for my actions and efforts.”

I like that. I’ve never been one for resolutions because… well, because I lack resolve. But his post prompted me to pick three words to guide me in the coming year.

Presence. To be fully present, “in the now” as the new-agers say. I’ve been working on this for a while and it’s easily the most challenging thing I have undertaken.

Silence. Somewhere there’s a post in which I fantasize about going 24 hours without speaking. No, I have not accomplished that. Yet. Frequent reviews of Scott Adams’ Wiki Ignorance Test is helping. This is a tough one because it has much to do with ego and the need to be noticed.

Paperless. This one is actually within striking distance. I have a couple of junk-filled drawers at work the contents of which I plan to scan/discard. Eliminating paper is part of a larger –less tangible goal– of having few ‘things’ in my life.

UPDATE: I spent a couple of hours at the office getting rid of paper. Hauled 2 or 3 boxes to the dumpster. All that’s left are some archival docs and I’ll get those scanned and up on Google Docs tomorrow. I’ll keep a pad of post-it notes but the beloved yellow legal pads went back to the supply closet.

While tossing, I found a quaint list of  “silent interrupters” (from Entrepreneur Magazine – August 1989):

  1. Multiple calendars – keep all activities recorded in one calendar system
  2. Open fils are a distraction. Keep them closed.
  3. Phone messages and reminders – scraps of paper strewn on a desk are easily lost. Use a “To Do” list.
  4. Business cards should be alphabetized and filed
  5. “Someday” files should not be in sight
  6. Reading matter should be filed in one place and read at a specific time.
  7. In-box material should be reviewed daily and the contents thrown out, delegated, filed or acted upon. Keep the box out of sight.
  8. Reference books should be organized and out of sight.
  9. Multiple card files should be consolidated into one file. Input frequently called numbers into memory phones or a reference book/box.
  10. Pens, staplers, and tape dispensers should be in a drawer and out of sight.

Once I’ve convinced myself I can eliminate paper from my work office, I’ll tackle the files at home.

Mobile, indestructible dwelling with armoured shell

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“Huge change is no longer in the past or future but in the present. Our society as we know it and have known to be safe is fast-changing. Value systems of yesterday are no longer relevant. A new civilization is ahead of us. This ideological society offers choice; are we able to find alternate ways of living, another model or are our days counted? The changing climate, growing poverty, wars and more are only expanding. This movable nomadic dwelling unit provides shelter from this disconcerting situation.”

More photos

Notational Velocity

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I’m always searching for a better app. These days –for me– “better” means simple. Take word processors for example.

On one end of the spectrum is MS Word. The undisputed king of word processors for PC’s. Some people don’t even know they’re using Word. They just take it for granted that this is how you write something on a computer.

I haven’t used Word for years but just looking at the “ribbon” menu, it looks terribly complicated, but that could just be my lack of familiarity. And my guess is it does a LOT of things.

But I only need to do one thing: write. I don’t need any formatting or layout options. Just a few sentences. The fewer the better. I don’t want anything to get in the way of the ideas I struggle to put into words.

Google Docs works great for this. So does Simplenote. Both cloud-based tools. But some folks might want to keep their notes on their computer.

My new favorite tool for this is Notational Velocity, a free, open source application that stores and retrieves notes: “an attempt to loosen the mental blockages to recording information and to scrape away the tartar of convention that handicaps its retrieval.”

When you begin composing a note in Notational Velocity, the app automatically saves and date/time stamps your work. I’m a big fan of tagging and NV does this cleanly and simply.

I used to be a big fan of putting everything in folders. Within folders. Within folders. NV doesn’t do folders but you really don’t need them.

Each note is indexed in a database and search is lightening fast. So you just create your note and forget about it until you need.

I mentioned Simplenote, the cloud-based note-taking service (with iPhone and iPad apps). Notational Velocity syncs with my Simpenote account so I can create a note in NV and it will automatically be available on all my mobile devices.

If it’s important your writing be “pretty,” Notational Velocity isn’t for you. But if the idea of dropping notes into one “box” and knowing you’ll be able to quickly find them when you need them, it’s a great solution.

20 Dying Technologies

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George points us to a list of technologies that are in various stages of dying. If you’re skeptical, you can get a little of the reasoning in this slideshow at Businessweek. Or is it Bloomberg? Whatever.

  • Combustion engines
  • Consumer video cameras—MiniDV, Flip cameras, camcorders
  • Credit cards
  • Desktop (tower) PCs
  • DVDs and Blu-ray
  • Digital music players
  • E-readers
  • Fax machines
  • Game consoles
  • Pagers
  • Dash-mounted GPS systems
  • Keys
  • Landline telephones
  • 3D television with glasses
  • Metronomes and tuners
  • PDAs
  • Point-and-shoot digital cameras
  • Power cords
  • Remote controls
  • USB memory sticks

I’ve already said goodbye to some of these and can easily live without most of the rest.

Google Goggles

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While browsing Barnes & Noble today, I spotted a book written by Nicole Richie. (Nichole Richie writes books?)

I decided this would be a good test for Google Goggles so I snapped a photo of the cover and within seconds had all the info, including links to stories about the book. And, yes, I could have ordered on the spot.

This is still “white-man-make-fire-from-stick” magic for me but I’ll get over that quickly.

Business Communication in the 21st Century

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Spoke with Business Communication class (20 students?) last night. I was channeling Jack Black (School of Rock) with a splash of Robin Williams (the English/Vietnamese class in Good Morning Vietnam). Which is to say I knew I’d never be invited back. I almost always learn more from these little talks than the people I’m speaking to. And I’m usually surprised.

  • only a couple of smartphones in the class, although everyone had a mobile
  • very little engagement with social media. Maybe half the class had Facebook account; a few had heard of Twitter but weren’t sure what it was; only experience with YouTube was watching a video forwarded by email; no bloggers
  • Only one hand went up when I asked who had read a book in the past year. This set me off on a short rant about reading and vocabulary and the obvious –to me– relationship to communication (business or otherwise)

I’m pretty sure this was their first encounter with the idea that social media might be an important part of business communication. When the subject of the iPad came up, the first question was “Can I run Word on the iPad?” followed by “How do we print?”

I was reminded how ingrained MS Word has become in our business culture. Most folks don’t know there are other word processors.

I responded to the print question with, “What do you want to print?”
“Uh, a report for this class?”
“Why not save it as a PDF and email it to the instructor?”

It was clear from the look on the instructor’s face this might not be an option.I suspect college business communication courses still involve a lot of paper. Maybe even mail merge (shudder).

My final transgression was telling them to watch Office Space, any season of The Office, and to read Scott Adam’s The Dilbert Principal. And forget everything else.