Ultimate Wearable Computer

I’m Sorry

If you follow me on twitter or instagram you’ll see I share a lot of information pertaining to wearable computers. Specifically the Pebble watch and Google Glass – the first commercially popular examples of wearable computers.  I’m here to tell you that I’m sorry for distracting you with this hype – I can’t help myself – I love this stuff.

But, if I’ve given you the sense that this wearable computers chat is important, well for the vast majority of you – it’s not.  There are four main challenges to broader adoption of wearable computers: interoperability, stigma, etiquette and privacy.

Don’t Believe The Hype

Forbes, Wall Street Journal and NASDAQ all have stories hyping the technologies.

You may be familiar with Gartners Hype Cycle.  Wearable Computers is in the Peak of Inflated Expectations and over the next six months will head into The Trough of Disillusionment - where everyone says “Glass is Dead.” This post focuses on why wearable computers are going to head, quickly, downhill.

Four Factors Stunting The Growth In Wearable Computers

1. Interoperability

I use different apps for different exercise activities: Lose It, Strava, Runkeeper and Everytrail.  It seems like a lot of apps, but they all do specific things that I like. What dont’ they do? Share information.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have all of these devices and apps sharing information in a manner that is useful for the user?  Instead we have API (Application Programming Interface) driven integration system which cares more about profit than usability  The software and hardware manufacturers want to keep you in their app-ecosystem ultimately resulting in a degraded user experience.

Looking at Pebble and Google Glass highlight these problems. The Pebble doesn’t play nicely with the iPhone. Google Glass, while integrated with Google’s empire of web services, doesn’t integrate with much else. There’s no reason to think heavy weights like Google and Apple are going to start playing nicely just so the technology does what you want it to do.

2. Stigma

The Saturday Night Live parody skit goes to show how awkward the user interface is.  Sure, there are early adopters who say “I’ll never take it off,” but the majority of potential customers will never put it on. It’s still too geeky and most people don’t want to be “that guy.”  I can imagine the technology improving over the coming years to be so small it is a lens applied to eyeglasses and maybe even the size of a contact lens. These advancements would remove some of the stigma but further drive problems with etiquette and privacy.

Google Glass Prohibited

3. Etiquette

The stigma is about how the user feels, but what about everyone else?  That’s where etiquette comes in.  Recently I was at my daughters dance competition. The organizer had a strict policy against photography, presumably to ward off pervs.  Is the dance competition ready to set policies wearable computers too?  Manufacturers need to show leadership and guide discussions on what is considerate use of the technology. While Google Glass’ photo/video capture commands are easy to spy, “Ok Glass, take a picture,” developers have already broken the verbal cues by creating an app that takes a picture when you blink. This example shows that we need to create etiquette standards for this new technology. We’ve done this in the past for new technologies, think email, but never has the technology had the potential to be so invasive.  Leading us to the final obstacle to wearable computers…

4. Privacy

Without public debate and agreement on how wearable computers should be used, individuals are taking action. A couple of examples:

• A bar in Seattle has already banned Google Glass 
• There is a “We The People” petition to ban Glass from the USA

As computers are shaped to be an extension of our bodies they extend the limits of what humans can do.  Conversations can easily be recorded. Implicit trust is threatened and people will reject and shun the technology.  Using the technology could easily be regarded “poor taste.”  People have reasonable demands to privacy and these expectations will be upheld by etiquette, legislation or ostracizing wearable computers.

In Summary

The Wearable Computing technology trend is fascinating but immature.  Those involved in the movement need to think past the technology and consider the real-world practical implications of how the tech impacts society.  People who don’t give a hoot about wearable computers should recognize the hype and know that there is a system of checks and balances that will integrate this technology into the mainstream in a way that suits the populace.

Photo Credits:

Ironman Toon – DracRoig

Prohibited – Cabrera Luengo

Dorie Clark took it farther, I’m paraphrasing here:

“the phone is used differently now. Unless you have an appointment, it’s considered rude to call someone.  I only talk to someone if I’ve scheduled time to speak with them, likely arranged via email.”

Phone Rudeness

The premise “using the phone can be rude” struck me as both absolutely true and not quite right. CONFESSION: I screen my calls. Unless I like know the number, it goes to voicemail. Gawd bless caller ID. I just get too many cold calls from vendors and I like to avoid the awkward dance of them trying to keep me on the phone as long as possible and me trying to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

So what’s not right?

Phones are for sensitive and important conversations when you need to hear not just what is being said but how it’s being said. “are they holding back? do they agree? what are they subconsciously communicating with that pause?“ Using the phone is reserved for important discussions that would be poorly served by a long email chain. In some situations using the phone is hardly rude – it’s required.

Email Rudeness

To be fair, phones aren’t the only digital communication device where rudeness abounds. Do you get unsolicited meeting requests?  I do. Is there anything more presumptuous than taking time on someones calendar without some signal that the person on the other end actually wants to meet with you?  Last week I received an unsolicited meeting invite from a company I respect. The poor soul also made the mistake of cc’ing the recipients, (instead of bcc’ing). What followed was a flurry of reply-all “get me off your list”, “don’t contact me again”, “you’re a dickwad” emails back to the salesman.  So yes, rudeness is not limited to the phone.

Social To The Rescue?

So if cold calling is rude and unsolicited emails are rude, what’s a sales person to do?  Social to the rescue?

Well, it’s more work. It requires finding prospects, evaluating their digital signatures and listening to what the prospects care about.  With prospects identified you then need to find ways to engage them in a conversation.  You can start a conversation by commenting on their blog posts and retweeting their content. These activities build social currency that you can cash in later.

Be nice. Be social. If you’re skillful and helpful, you’ll likely be able to establish a rapport on social channels with the prospect.  If your products and services are useful to the prospect, they will let you know and ask you for more information. That’s when you can connect via email and the phone. 

Seem like a lot of work? It is! It also requires a digital sophistication that many people have not yet fully acquired, but if you want to succeed at selling in a social world, you’ll need to start practicing.

Social Selling

So social is the anti-rude alternative?

Not quite. In general, my experience is people tend to be nice on social media. The exceptions are some websites where comments can get out of hand. And maybe Reddit.

Still there is etiquette to be considered.  Above I laid out how a sales person could best connect with prospects. There’s more to it than that. Like anything being proficient on social media takes practice.  If you’re in sales and you’re not practicing your social media/networking skills you better have plans for an alternative career in the not too distant future. Cold calling is considered rude and your smart competitors are learning how become efficient at social selling. You better get started too Rude Boy!

Still Reading?

Thank you! You may have figured out that this post was simply an opportunity to introduce (or re-introduce) my readers to ska music.  The third wave of ska happened in the ’90s and created some great music.  I’m patiently waiting for the fourth wave of ska – it should be along any moment now.  I’ll leave you with a live performance of Hepcat. Hepcat is a LA based ska band that still plays gigs.  You may recognize Alex Désert from the movie “Swingers”. You can listen to their “Right On Time” album on Spotify.

Photo Credit: I couldn’t determine the original artist; my best guess is it was someone associated with Utah SKA.  I usually don’t use photos without a license, but I made an exception in this case because it was just too delicious.

If you haven’t heard the news yet,

Google is pruning its product portfolio to better unify its product suite. Well. Sort of.  It’s really trying to compete with other social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. All of these services are walling off portions of their services to ensure that they control (and can monetize) the user experience.

I’d bet most people, save for some techies, don’t get news via a RSS reader, so let me briefly describe what it is and what Google Readers shuttering means to them.

So…what is RSS again?

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. RSS was great because it let you read hundreds of websites a day without having to actually go to the websites – sort of an inbox for the websites you really care about. RSS has two components:

1. The website creates the feed
2. The client (aka reader) consumes the feed

What are your options in a life without Google Reader?

So in killing Google Reader, Google is killing the most popular RSS client. If you’re a die-hard RSS fan, you should look to apps like Feedly to become your new RSS client.

However, the death of Google Reader is a good time to think about how you get your news.  RSS was born before social media and one of the reasons Google Reader was marginalized was because social networks have become a more popular way to get news.  RSS just isn’t the only game in town any longer.

For me, the perfect news reader would:

1. Alert me to hot stories, even if they are outside of my normal interests
2. Allow me to follow specific topics like: social media and the Boston Bruins
3. Still allow me to follow specific sites via RSS – in some cases I want to see every article on a site
4. Be intelligent enough to show me more of what I read and less of what I don’t

The *NEW* news readers:

With a thought that it’s time for a change, I’m reviewing 4 news aggregators in terms of usability and features:

1. Flipboard
2. Zite
3. Pulse
4. Google Currents

Note: All testing is on an iPad2. You’re experiences may vary, especially on Android systems.

Flipboard

Flipboard was the first news aggregator to really make a splash on the iPad tablet.

 Overall Grade: A-

Flipboard is a solid choice for replacing Google Reader. Flipboard is also a good platform for interacting with all your social networks. Sharing could be made more straightforward and I wish it allowed me to follow topics too.

Usability

• User Interface: Flipboard is the original visual news aggregator so it gets extra credit for setting the standard. The interface is straightforward and relies solely on horizontal flipping. Adding new content is not as simple as it should be – you’ll likely end up clicking on the wrong option at least twice while trying to find the page where you can add/remove content. Flipboard is Ad supported, but they don’t tend to be terribly annoying.
• Platforms: Android & iOS
• App: The feeds can feel slow to refresh when not on WiFi. The app uses roughly 90MB of RAM which is roughly 20% of totally memory – it’s a hog.

Features

• News:
  • Hundreds of publications are available across a wide range of topics.
  • Has a “What’s Hot” content stream that let’s you see the stories that are generating a lot of buzz and might have missed otherwise.
  • Interaction: Allows you to review each of your social networks in one place and you can use the native social interactions (+1, Like, ♥) right from Flipboard.
  • New feed test: You can add a RSS feed via search. Searching for refford.com provided me the option to add this site as a feed.
  • Search test: Searching for “Boston Bruins” provides the ability to add the Bruins Facebook page, Twitter account, Youtube channels, Flickr groups, etc. However, it does not single feed for all things related to the Boston Bruins.
• Sharing:
  • I find it Flipboard sharing somewhat limited and cumbersome. Too many clicks and when you cross-share., say from Twitter to Facebook, it loses basic information like the title. I find this annoying.
  • You can share to the social networks that you’ve connected to Flipboard (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). So connecting your social networks serves as both input to the reader and sharing options.

Zite

Zite – it learns what you like and provides focused topical coverage.

 Overall Grade: B+

Choose Zite if you are more interested in following specific topics than following publications. Zite would be a first choice for replacing Google Reader if you could add specific feeds. It’s still the best choice for following specific topics.

Usability

• User Interface: Simple horizontal side swiping to advance see more stories. A swipe up “Likes” a story. A swipe down “Dislikes” a story. More than once I’ve accidentally liked/disliked a story. Adding new content is pretty easy. You ♥ topics and they’ll show up as one of your featured topics.
• Platforms: Android, iOS & Windows
• App: The app feels spry and benefits from only consuming ~15MB of RAM.

Features

• News:
  • Zite is personalized to you. As you use it it notices what you read and what you don’t and by “learning” shows you content that your most interested in seeing.
  • Zite is driven by topics. You pick a few topics and you’re off and running. You can also add publishers and website feeds if you’d like; I found any major publication I could think of.
  • Zite has a “Your Top Stores” which are individualized based on the content you read and like. Within that section it has “Popular on Zite” and “Headlines” features that highlight news you might have missed.
  • Interaction: Since you’re not connecting your social feeds, you can’t Like, +1, ♥, etc.
  • New feed test: Fails the test. You can not add a website RSS feed to Zite.
  • Search test: Topical searches is where Zite shines.  My “Boston Bruins” search brought up a curated feed of various sources across the web – some I had heard of, some I had not.  Selecting ♥ put this feed in my favorites.
• Sharing:
  • Sharing is okay. The experience would be improved by reducing the number of clicks required to share.
  • You can share to Evernote, Twitter, Facebook, Instapaper, Google+, LinkedIn & Pocket.

Pulse

Pulse is ready to import your feeds from Google Reader, but do you want to?

 Overall Grade: C

Pulse isn’t a bad choice for replacing Google Reader and their import tool makes it easy. Yet, the clunky interface and limited sharing options shows that there are better options available.

Usability

• User Interface: It’s easy to add content but each time you do, it asks you to name the content category, I wish it would categorize the feeds for me. Yet, some may like that flexibility. Otherwise the interface is clean and easy to use with standard horizontal swiping to move between stories. Unfortunately the app shows you the story briefs, not the fully story. When you want to read the full story you have to click and wait for the page to load. Other apps handle this much more elegantly and don’t need to load the full webpage.
• Platforms: Android, iOS & web
• App: Pulse loads and refreshes content quickly.  It uses 60MB of RAM, a considerable, yet not obscene amount.

Features

• News:
  • Pulse is jumping into the void left by Google Reader with an import tool. I tested the import process and it went smoothly. However, some of my Reader folders have a lot of feeds it. Pulse had to break them into groups such as: Bloggers, Bloggers 1, Bloggers 2 …. Bloggers 6. It’s also presenting posts that I’ve already seen, some of the content is months/years old. Ideally it would only present new/unread content.
  • There appear to be a few hundred publications to select from. Again, having to organize the content folders is an unnecessary chore.
  • Pulse doesn’t provide a single view of “What’s Hot”, but it does provide “Best In Category” content feeds for news categories such as: Sports, Business, Technology, etc.
  • Interaction: Although you can connect your networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and services (Instapaper, Pocket, Evernote, etc), Pulse doesn’t seem to leverage the content very well. Two examples… I can add Facebook and see updates from friends. I could comment but not “like” posts. Even though I connected Pocket and Evernote, I could not send stories to either one of those sources for reading/reviewing later.
  • New feed test: Yes, you can add a site RSS to Pulse.
  • Search test:Just like Flipboard, searching for “Boston Bruins” provides many options for subscribing to feeds that cover the topic, but it doesn’t aggregate them into one feed the way Zite does.
• Sharing:
  • Very limited sharing capabilities: Facebook, Twitter and email.

Currents

Hey LOOK! Another Google product sitting alone in the corner. All by it’s lonesome.

 Overall Grade: B

The great user interface and sharing options make this a strong contender. Yet, I wish it had more focus on topics and important news stories.

Usability

• User Interface: Currents interface is more complex than other offerings yet it is still easy to use. Swipe horizontally for new publications. Swipe up for more stories from that publication. Currents uses the same fade-in style used in the Google+ app – quite attractive.  Stories rely heavily on images with different sizes that keep the reader engaged.  Within the publication there is navigation that let’s the reader jump to different sub-topics.  Adding content is easy and you get the added bonus of seeing how many other subscribers the feed has. Currents also grays-out the images of posts you’ve already read a nice feature.
• Platforms: Android and iOS
• App: Currents loads and refreshes content quickly.  It uses 60MB of RAM, a considerable, yet not obscene amount.

Features

• News:
  • Hundreds of publications to choose from. Currents does let you manual import your feeds from Google Reader and it wouldn’t take many clicks to import your feeds (unless you have many hundreds of feeds).
  • Readers can add Breaking Stories for News, Business and Science & Tech to keep abreast of “What’s Hot”.
  • Interaction: Currents doesn’t connect to your social networks, therefore you cannot interact with them.
  • New feed test: You can add a site to Currents via RSS.
  • Search test: Like Flipboard and Pulse, a search for “Boston Bruins” yields feeds that cover the topic but it doesn’t create one feed for the topic.
• Sharing:
  • Currents has the best sharing of all news apps reviewed. Clear and simple.
  • Currents provides the ability to hide networks that you don’t use. For example, I don’t use Instapaper so it’s nice to be able to remove it from the sharing options.
  • Share to: email, Facebook, Google+, Instapaper, Pinterest, Pocket, Tumblr and Twitter.

Recommendations:

Social Business By Design

Dion Hinchcliffe @dhinchcliffe & Peter Kim @peterkim

#socbiz http://schedule.sxsw.com/2013/events/event_IAP255

Everything That Can Be Social, Will Be.

Although short, this was a useful outline of what it takes to become a social business. You can check out there book here for more info.

10 Fundamental Concepts to Achieve A Social Business

Social Design is needed because the days of accidental success are over.

1. Anyone can participate - Example: Intuit – any employee is empowered to solve a customer problem. This capability moved them from #2 to #1 in their industry. When you limit participation, you limit results.
2. Create shared value by default
3. While participation is self organizing, the focus in on business outcomes
4. Enlist a large enough community to derive the desired result
5. Engage the right community for the business purpose - Example: Toyota tweeted press releases which was the wrong venue for reacting to a crisis
6. Participation can take any direction, be prepared for it and take advantage of it
7. Eliminate all potential barriers to participation. Ease of use is essential
8. Listen and engage continuously to all relevant social business conversations
9. The tone and language of social business is most effective when it’s casual and human
10. The most effective social business activities are deeply integrated into the flow of work

#nextui

Session: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2013/events/event_IAP5188

Josh Clark, who also invented the super-popular running program “Couch To 5K” program, led the audience through the future of mobile. The entire presentation is at the bottom, but here are some highlights.

Examples of the Future of Mobile

Skinvaders

Skinvaders is a game that turns a face into the background for a space-invaders type game for the iPad.

http://bit.ly/skinvaders

Table Drum

Table Drum turns everyday objects into inputs for a drum machine. This technology shows us we can move beyond a mouse and keyboard.

http://bit.ly/tabledrum

AnyTouch

AnyTouch turns any surface into a game controller.

http://vimeo.com/43108191

Important!

The best touch interface is no interface at all

Medical Breakthroughs

Electronic pills that can tell you when a loved one has taken their medicine [LINK]

Sensors embedded into cows that text the farmer when the cow is in heat. The ultimate in barnyard booty calling.[LINK]

Important!

Gestures + Speech = Magic

Scrabble for iPad

Versions of this game use an iPad as a game board and iDevices as controllers. Letting you have a $1,500 game of Scrabble.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UO0JDjnKL0

Grab Magic

Grab Magic let’s you grab a screen from a TV and “throw” it to a second screen using hand gestures.

http://bit.ly/grab-magic

Important!

sensors give us superpowers!!! GPS, cameras, microphones, accelerometers, compass…

Rounding it Out

Josh rounded out the session with these words of wisdom.

1. Push Sensors – less staring at screens
2. Think Social – make devices interact seamlessly
3. Your Ecosystem – managing your personal contact and services
4. We’re All Cloud Developers
5. Mind Your Metadata – structured data will enable sharing and automation
6. New Input Methods – move interface off the screen

PDF of presentation: bit.ly/beyond-mobile

I recently read/listened to two excellent pieces that opened my eyes on the issues surrounding guns. Like many, I was an emotional wreck after the killings in Newton, CT. I am eager to act. Eager to make a change that will make America a safer place for everyone.  Even setting aside partisan politics, it looks like the gun issue is more intractable than one would think.

Securing Guns – Gun Control That Could Work

A recent Wall Street Journal article does an excellent job at explaining “gun culture” to those that don’t have guns. Even though I carried various firearms as a soldier I’ve never owned a gun. The article goes on to make some reasonable suggestions on how America could actually improve the situation in ways that gun owners ought to support.  The basis of the argument – guns used by young adults aren’t obtained at gun shows or gun stores. Young adults often get guns that are not well secured by adults.  Mandating guns be locked and stored separate from ammunition would keep them safe from kids. In fact, 27 states already have such laws on the books. Many/most gun owners are already painstaking careful with their guns and keep their guns safe.  Gun owners should accept, perhaps begrudgingly, laws that require safe gun storage. They’re certainly less invasive than other legislation being considered such as a ban on assault rifles.

Not storing guns safely needs to become socially unacceptable in the same way as smoking in another persons house and making lewd comments in public are.  Legislature requiring safe storage is both achievable and provides meaningful results by keeping them away from troubled youngsters.

Which brings me to my second point. It won’t work.

The “Gun Problem” Is Intractable

When we step away from the partisan rhetoric and take a practical view of an economist, we see that the “gun problem” won’t be solved and in fact we’re better off spending our efforts on issues where we can make progress.

Some points from Steve Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics:

• When considering the number of guns in America, it’s surprising there aren’t more gun related deaths.
• Guns are non-perishable. If you’re not willing to take away the millions of guns away from Americans, you’re left with passing legislation on new guns only. This obviously does nothing for the hundreds of millions of guns already in America.  Therefore little change can be made.
• Efforts to date, such as gun buy back programs do little to make communities more safe.
• Guns are not a deterrent to violence (as gun owners suggest).
• The minimalist gun control policies being considered will not have a significant impact on the issue of gun violence.

Levitt suggests that our efforts are better spent on opportunities where we can make measurable improvement. Like swimming pools. A swimming pool is 100 times more likely to kill a child than a gun.

So What Can We Do?

Where does this leave us? Gun culture is big part of American life and that is not going to change. Perhaps the best we can do is work with gun owners and keep guns away from kids.  It’s a terribly frustrating situation.

Here are the pieces if you want to read them in full:

1. Wall Street Journal - Why Our Gun Debate Is Off Target
2. Freakonomics - How to Think About Guns

 Photo Credit: David Kasnic for the Wall Street Journal

Wearable computers?!? Yes!

Personal Tech

Personal Technologies

Notice

I love gadgets… but do I need another gadget?

Things to think about before buying that next *cool* gadget:

You don’t have to be “this guy”

Brace yourself for the blowback

“I will never wear a smart watch or that thing on my face.”

Are you ready?

Feature Photo Credit: Bfishshadow

Marketing Technology 5

5 Marketing Technology Stories you might have missed

MT5 Edition: #65

Stories This Week: Best Apps of ’12, Twitter advertising best practices, social media’s 15 mins, 5 Marketing Mega-Trends, Socl – MSFT’s social network

1. 25 Standout Apps From 2012

[Mashable] Instagram, Twitter and Facebook were, without a doubt, the most talked about apps of 2012, but they’re not what Mashable considers the top apps of the year.

My Hits: Instagram, Foursquare, Buffer, Twitter, Facebook, Untappd and Google Authenticator (2 factor security)

My Misses: The “where my friends are apps” (Highlight, Glancee, Sonar, etc.) and Facebook

That’s right, Facebook is on my naughty and nice list. I truly have great experiences with friends there, but in 2012 Facebook’s need to drive revenue diminished the social experience of its users.

2. 4 Tips For Using Twitter Ads & Promoted Tweets

[TopRank] Implementing a successful social media advertising program is an art form.  There are many opportunities for success and failure, which is why it’s imperative that you follow a set of best practices to increase your chances for success.

My Take: Click through for details, but the four tips are below.

1. Tip 1: Pin To the Top of Your Timeline
2. Tip 2: Utilize Hashtags
3. Tip 3: Promote Good Content
4. Tip 4: Using Geographic Targeting For Improved Results

3. Is Social Media’s 15 Minutes Of Fame Up?

Gartner Hype Cycle

[SEOMOZ] This Op-Ed takes a more critical tone in measuring social media’s: The Good, The Bad and The Money

My Take: The author raises good points, brand managers do need to understand why they’re using social media and for what gains.  Check the comments for some eager push back on how social media can better serve small/medium businesses (post purchase). 

Having a technology background, Marketing’s reaction to Marketing Technology life cycle follows a predictable pattern that has been documented for decades.  The trend is nicely illustrated by what Gartner calls the “Hype Cycle”.  Technologies spring to life, go through a period of exuberance, take their lumps as people realize the technologies failings, then settle in as the technology matures and finds its place in the technology toolbox. Sure, many technologies fade away before becoming truly productive, but considering the scale of consumer impact that social is having – I find it hard to imagine social is a fad.

4. Five Marketing Meta-Trends

[ChiefMarTec] Scott Brinker covers 5 huge trends in Marketing. What are they? Click through to slide 18.

My Take: Not the first time I’ve covered Scott’s work in this space. Pay attention to what he’s saying, he’s predicting the future in real-time.

5. Microsoft pulls back the covers on Socl, opens its social network to the public

[TheVerge] Microsoft is opening the doors on Socl, the mysterious social network project from its FUSE research group. As ZDNet reports, up until now the beta had been limited to a small set of users, but now anyone with a Facebook or Microsoft account is free to sign up.

My Take: Ugh.  Really. Come on Microsoft, another social network?  I’m sitting this one out.