Brynovation.com

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 22:07:00 +0000

Status

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:06:00 +0000

Welcome to Brynovation.com. The blog that once lived here is no longer active. One day I may write a proper blog but for now you can see random sporadic posts here.

Any active feeds will be published here with by far the most active being Twitter

I do not have a Facebook account but I am on Linkedin

< Look left if you were looking for the blog that once was here.

If you are lucky enough to have a Brynovation.com account, log in to Apps here and Email here.

If you haven't found a link to follow yet then maybe this will interest you?

Visualisation of your LinkedIn contacts

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:22:00 +0000

More interesting and useful than you may have thought..... - quite a powerful algorithm to get people grouped so well - shows what they know about us...! Key didn't copy across - original here

Yes, IT is changing, so get on with it....

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:10:00 +0000

I listened to a well-known figure speak this week who said “anyone who signs up to a career in technology signs up to a career of change” I would agree with that statement wholeheartedly, not only for individuals but also for businesses. Many are touting the current tech market as in one of its greatest phases of change ever and yes, I do agree with this but I also find it hard to think back to any point in my career and involvement in tech where the landscape couldn’t be described as “changeable”, it’s like when someone says that “the weather is changing” eventually it will happen. We are in a low period in terms of the overall economy, every day we hear about double dip recessions, negative growth and overall bad performance across all sectors which again is fairly obvious and hard to disagree with but if you are in technology and looking to progress, look at the IT market more closely, I would say the graphs are still on the + side of the scale and realistically, technology should be one of the last industries that stops growing, especially in the innovative and entrepreneurial side of things.

So:-

• Keep innovating – that’s what we are here for, don’t get caught out watching the dollars roll in as someone will eventually do it cheaper, better and simpler.

• Think of the end users – create products and solutions with the user in mind, those getting the most tractions these days are those who are simplified, let’s get away from this “oh you wouldn’t understand it anyway” mentality, yes these things are complex on the inside, but there is no need to profess that on the outside.

• All play together – there is plenty of room for many companies in many tech sectors, stop worrying about the competition and get back to doing what you do best!

• Be prepared to turn – If you are a tanker or a dinghy, don’t forget where the wheel is, you may need to make a sharp turn at a moment’s notice.

• Offset the current economic difficulties with smart systems – If you can save a client money by being innovative then you product will fly off the shelves.

And finally:-

stop worrying about what’s bad in the tech world – concentrate on what’s good, the ever changing landscape should deal with anything bad soon enough…….

“Searching” for the end game…

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:53:00 +0000

Stats have been released that show Android powered devices have outsold those powered by Apple OS in the first half of 2010. Of course, with Apple being the only hardware manufacturer running the iPhone OS, these figures are not really telling a like for like story and only hold limited value in terms of comparing the two products. The interesting part however is in the respective end games of Apple and Google.

I think with Apple, this is fairly simple. They make the devices, they make the OS, they even make some of the components within the device so their end game must be, to stay at the top of the pile in terms of design, desirability and of course, usability. With Google however we see a very different story, the hardware they provide is telling a very different story and the focus on the Nexus One phone itself has long since diminished.

Things feel very reminiscent of the PC vs Mac war of the 80’s. Back then, Bill Gates had predicted that the value of these new personal computers would lie within the OS and applications, not necessarily the Hardware, Steve Jobs however had different ideas and when the Windows OS became a tool to allow other companies to gain ground in a growing market, Apple lost share. Now I am not predicting or comparing this as the same kind of market but one has to ask where the mobile market will be in say 3 years time?

I think it is fairly evident that Google made a very smart move acquiring Android and allowing others to build on it as the end game for them must surely be mobile search volumes but how will things pan out in the long run? Will Apple have to re-think their strategy or is their business model so far away from the likes of Google that they will continue to drive forward and lead this market with Brand and usability at its heart?

Apple's - They don't "just work"

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:13:00 +0000

Error messages really can be the bane of anyone’s technical life. The desire for it to “just work” is pretty much the Nirvana of any user but unfortunately I would say that so far, this is not something which has ever been achieved. “What!” I hear all the Mac fans shouting, “My Mac just works as does my iPhone”, well I disagree, one both counts. Admittedly, Apple Mac’s do work very nicely but to say they never error is a bit idealistic and probably more akin to the brilliant brand image that is delivered in every box with that famous part eaten Apple on it.

“So what about the iPhone, that never errors “ I hear you cry. Well yes, you are right, it doesn’t, but then does no error mean it doesn’t break, definitely not. I have been running an iPhone for about 6 months now and yes it is great. I have a few ‘techie’ criticisms but none that I feel inclined to talk about in depth and certainly none that haven’t been widely reported all over the place. So what about this no error situation? Well I think this is brilliant piece of subliminal tech marketing by Apple. When tech equipment unusually crashes we are treated to a totally meaningless error message which for most users, is simply rubbing salt into the wounds, “I know it is broken, don’t give me some crazy ass code to prove this to me, all I am going to do is start again anyway” .

What I am trying to imply here is that as well as Apple, more technology is becoming friendly to the ‘average user’. Gone are the days of the hobbyist where we needed to know everything that was going on and more and more, we just need to know something has gone wrong. Take Twitter’s error messages for example. “Something has gone technically wrong” is such a great way to make the user feel like you are taking responsibility for your failings as an app and not make them feel like they have spooked it themselves.

So my conclusion is, Apple’s don’t just work, they just #fail in a much more respectable manner which as ever, makes the die hard Mac fans very happy (if not a little smug : ).

The Crowd

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:18:00 +0000

Please click to see full size

I am here, but do you know why?

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:43:00 +0000

#IPad - Will it blend....

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:10:00 +0000

Been waiting for this and boy they are quick off the blocks.

But will it blend?

10 Reasons we know we are in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:21:00 +0000

The Internet talks to you rather than shouts at you

My Dad uses a touch screen mobile and loves it

Microsoft has some real competition

Everything 2D is slowly becoming 3D

Email is so last year

Everyone thinks they are a geek

We spend Billions on a tunnel that goes….. well, in a circle

Video phone watches are reality

You can now pass power through thin air (on purpose)

My computer says 2010 in the bottom right corner so it must be true

The @ sign - Suddenly it all became clear

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:52:00 +0000

Stop trying to be cool and cool will come....

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:45:00 +0000

Twitter is a place where ones personality can really show through. It is a bit like the big brother house in some respects where people can put up a front to begin with but after a time, this façade will fall and the real person will shine through. Now we all want to be thought as somewhat cool. What I mean by this is that we all want to be respected in some way or another (whether this is for our work, our play or really just for our all round nice guy appeal).

One thing however which can become very clear on the Twitter platform is people trying to increase their “coolness” by doing what the cool guys do. Now I am all for people being influenced and susceptible to advertising but blatant mimicking really makes you hit the uncoolometer big style.

What I am trying to say here in short is BE YOURSELF and even if you want be like someone then don’t mimic them, engage them…..

Mandlebrot Set

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:45:00 +0000

Been chatting this morning for the first time in ages about Mandlebrot Sets.....

Really lovely on the eye but also taxing on the brain - take a look at the def inition here from wikipedia.

If however you just want to see what one is, simply click play below - Enjoy!

Mandelbrot Fractal Set Trip To e214 HD from teamfresh on Vimeo.

Not what the software does....

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:04:00 +0000

Stick to the subject

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:26:00 +0000

The great thing about Twitter is that it gives everyone a voice. It has the ability for people to say something and if deemed important or newsworthy enough, it gets re-said as it were. Today it seems like the whole world is blogging which in my opinion is fine, there is no such thing as too much content and providing Twitter and other sources continue to filter my reading, the system works well for me.

So where is the problem? With citizen journalist in the driving seat, it can often be tempting for them to “mix projects”. By mix projects I mean that they can use their new found journopower to criticise something while at the same time promoting something else.... Like a bar for example:- “look at the terrible behaviour of this bar, why not stop going there and try the place across the road”. I would even go so far as people potentially creating articles just to promote their stuff.....

My advice to anyone considering this is to stick to the subject as this #mixprojects approach just sucks credibility from the original article........

How the announcement could have gone

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:12:00 +0000

UK Snow Map - Now embedded

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:12:00 +0000

You can move the map and zoom in.

Very nice. Well done again @benmarsh

IT communication does not always have to be through wires

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:47:00 +0000

Reading a few things today about communication between IT departments and users of all levels led me to tweet the following tweets :-

There is a lot more to say on this which I will follow up on but wanted to point out that communication with IT departments and IT people does not have to be technical, just try having a normal conversation and you may be surprised by the results....

Is Retweet just a bad name for a good function...?

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:03:00 +0000

I have been involved in and seen a lot of conversations recently about Twitter and its new Retweet function (which at the time of this post is missing although I do expect it to be back). Now the conversations have been mixed. Some like it some hate it but as with anything relating to this ground breaking communications platform, it is causing a lot of conversations.

Now I totally understand peoples problem with the function as it restricts and “changes the game” relating to the way they have already been retweeting others for some time. However, where I think the real issue lies is with their branding of this function. Calling it Retweet has only caused confusion; it is not a Retweet in the traditional sense as created by “the crowd” some time ago.

So what is the answer? I think that if you have a problem with the function then change its name in your head to “Guest Tweet”. I have chatted to a few people about this and it has actually gone some way to change their perception of the function.

The way I view it is that it is a guest tweet in my stream to others. Something like, here is a tweet that I like from user x, this is the reason I follow this user and hey, if you like me for a similar reason that I like them then maybe you would like to follow them? It is almost a follow recommendation (traditionally #FollowFriday or #FF) function to subtly recommend other users to your followers.

Just my take on it anyway, It does prove how important Twitter is to people simply by the conversations it causes....... 

The Web 2.0 Experts

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:34:00 +0000

The quest to move away from "the user"

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:36:00 +0000

After working in IT for so long, it seem like the norm to call people who consume IT as "users". Although this is perfectly viable and workable it just does not sound very nice (due to the fact that it is heavily related to some other type of people who have nothing to do with computers).

I would like to know if anyone else has anything else that they call them? Yes we can simply say people or as suggested by @ogerrard maybe "end-users" is more to the fact and removes some of the bad connotations but is there anything else?

The original computer people were operators, but then that was when computers were "operated" to achieve a task.... We also had the naming "number crunchers" so maybe a reuse of something like this would work.

Crunchers?

Tappers?

Qwerters?

isumers?

iusers?

IT Support, please tell me your experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:09:00 +0000

In a world where most things in daily life at least have a connection to technology, it is difficult to get away from it. It is undeniable that that when all of the systems and devices work, productivity can be increased, however, it seems that more and more, inadequate and “wrongly delivered” support of these systems actually causes many to think “what is the point?”

It is also true that in recent times that peoples home and personal experiences are actually rivalling that of their work and in some (and probably most) instances, becoming entirely better and less painful to use. To put it simply, the advancement of easy to use web applications along with the ability to log into almost anything you use from multiple locations can make “work” systems seem clunky and not built for the user.

Now, what is ideal for work and what is ideal for home is a much longer article than this one but what I would like to find out is what people see as the issues with their works systems and more specifically, the way they are supported.

Questions

• Do you feel that your IT supplier understands your business, goals and motivations?

• Do you feel that the support is delivered half heartedly?

• Do you think some simple changes could be made to make things infinitely better for you and your employees?

• Do you think that you relationship with your IT company should be one of client and supplier or more partnership based.

You possibly know that by reading this blog I am someone who works directly in this field. We provide support for SME companies in and around London and the UK. I wanted to make it clear that this is not simply a selling exercise. Yes, if I can find people to talk to then I will of course be interested in talking about the Virtual IT solution but my real goal here is to gather enough information from real people around this subject and use it to create a real view of where things are right now.

Please feel free to add to this topic in any way listed below and in advance, I thank you for your time.

Mail – bryn@virtualit.biz

Twitter - @brynmorgan

Here – Leave a comment on this blog

Ten Green Bottles...

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:13:00 +0000

Today, it seems that everything and anything (human or not) is social networking and broadcasting to the world. Lets take a look at this age old rhyme in a new light...

If there were ten green bottle hanging on the wall.................... and if one green bottle should accidentally fall....

Then..............................

1 would update LinkedIn Status "Looking for a new Green bottle to fill essential role, Location - On a Wall, remuneration - having kids worldwide singing about you"

1 would update Facebook page "Really sad at losing a friend but now I am 1 friend down on my count so anyone looking to be part of the Green Bottle brigade, speak to me"

1 would tweet " hey man - we just had a jumper"

1 would decide enough is enough and leave the wall, using all social networking tools to promote the change in work and lifestyle, hopefully getting enough of a "Value" business case and eventually land that book deal.

1 would get straight into their Wall web page and amend their SEO to make sure that anyone looking for 10 green bottles also knew that they were now a team of 9 (as well as leaving the people looking for 10 to enter their website unknowingly)

1 would update their blog with the news and increase traffic by having a new "fall" story to cover every day. (Unless they are next of course)

1 would post a video on YouTube entitled "The wall jump that went horribly wrong" (and get loads of sick comments to reply to)

1 would get onto the conference circuit to talk all about their experiences with the wall

1 would decide to leave the digital age once and for all with a permanent out of office reply saying that they no longer work on the wall and for all enquiries, please come to the wall in person to see if there are any bottles left.

and finally, the last one would have the bottle to simply stay on the wall and do what they do best trying to avoid any falls and hopefully living happily ever after.....

Wel, I was just saying............. Social Media does seem to be absolutely everywhere. Will it ever end?

Have they got the fear?

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:01:00 +0000

I think that the bigger IT companies are fearing the upstarts more and more. With the web delivering on the high user count apps the companies with the older business models are definately concerned. The cost of entry is low, the initial requirement for funds is low and the most of all, the flexibility levels of these companies could be described as "very bendy". What this means is that anyone entering the market right now, could be the next big thing a lot quicker than 10 years ago. There is also the chance that any one of these new companies could end up "changing the game" again..........

Come on the underdogs!

Maybe this is why there are so many great IT start ups around right now......?

My #140conf

noreply@blogger.com (Bryn Morgan) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:44:00 +0000

I attended the State of now #140 conference this week in the London O2 indigo.

The wide range areas up for discussion were very interesting and really opened up my mind to the innovative ways that people use and see Twitter as a medium.

A lot of real writers have already blogged and written stories about this so I will not try to detail in its entirety my experience but thought some short words on specific areas would be a good way to give my take.

Everyone - Human Shaped

Big Businesses - Protective

Small Businesses - Promotion via innovation

Police - Understanding

Education - Embracing

Apps - Innovative and inventive

Broadcast Media - Enhanced

Print Media - No Comment

Celebrity - Direct

Agencies - Advancing

Buildings / Vehicles / ANO - Vocal

Me - Looking Forward