An interesting trend of new apps in the consumer social web is that of closed networks. For example, limiting social networks to certain sub-sets of contacts/friends, or to a fixed maximum number, or giving them a shelf-life. Enterprise collaboration solutions already support this implicitly, with email distribution lists, persistent group chat channels, etc. Hopefully we can see this supported in a more integrated and pervasive fashion across the various disparate tools used in the enterprise.
In the meantime, check out:
Cheers,
Eric
Over at Mashable, Brian David Johnson from Intel has noted a few of the key themes they think will shape network-connected devices in 2011. His list, as most things about technology these days, emphasizes consumer technologies and use cases:
- The screen is the device. We’ll use whatever screen best fits what we want to do and where. Tablets, laptops, smartphones, etc.
- The next computing environment = the bed. (?? Yeah.)
- Cars
- People still love TV
Overall, the predictions aren’t exactly Earth-shattering. However, they do underscore two key trends of the past decade-plus:
- Consumer technologies influencing enterprise technology
- Technology enabling work to erode your personal life
For the past several years consumer technologies have been driving innovation back in to the enterprise. Two examples of the consumer-enterprise relationship are, of course, the iPhone and the Blackberry. People with iPhones on their personal accounts started demanding their enterprise IT organizations support them. More important for the 2011 predictions, perhaps though, is the Blackberry precedent. Blackberries enabled work to intrude into our personal lives. As did high-speed broadband and other technologies too.
So, I don’t think we’re yet to the point of holding conference calls at night from bed. And, we won’t see a step-change in car-based working until cars can (and are allowed to) drive themselves (it’s coming, though). But I do think we’ll see continued intrusion of work into our personal lives.
Cheers,
Eric
PS, for a genuine futurist’s imagining of working while on the road, read science-fiction novel Mother of Storms.
The recent attempted mail-bombs may cast doubt on the in-flight use of cell phones and broadband.
Cheers,
Eric
The 11″ MacBook Air has been approved by the US Transportation Safety Administration so that it does not need to be removed from your bag when going through checkpoints. Apparently it’s small enough that the components are sufficiently discernible under X-Ray. Those checkpoints never bother me in terms of taking my own laptop out – I’ve got it down to a relatively quick science. It’s all the other idio… er, people, in the line who never remember or don’t know to take their laptops, etc. out until the last minute. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…
On a more serious note, this could bode well for both tablet and netbook form factors going forward. The MacBook Air 11″ is only fractionally smaller than my very-”I’m a PC” ASUS 1201N netbook.
Comparison
The best news is that hopefully we’ll see more and more netbook-type devices cleared by the TSA to remain in their bags. Especially if the MacBook Air 13″ is also cleared (it’s still under review).
Or, at least we have something to recommend to those slowpokes in the TSA line slowing the rest of us folks down ;-)
Cheers,
Eric
HP announced an 8.9″, Windows 7-based tablet today. Specs and pics available here. It’s targeted for the enterprise only, and as such will only be sold via their website. If you’re evaluating it, it’s best to compare it vs. a Windows laptop than against an iPad.
How it could help improve collaboration?
- Front and back cameras for easy videoconferencing
- Access to the full Windows application portfolio (Win 7 compatibility, etc. notwithstanding). You don’t need to wait for new collaboration apps to be written for your iPad, Blackberry, whatever. This is going to be especially important for niche and domain-specific applications, where demand isn’t enough to merit non-mass-market software for an iPad, etc.
- USB and BlueTooth to integrate other outboard tools
- Full HTML browsing
- Supports Flash
In other words – you can start using it to do real work right away, without waiting for developers to jump in, and where it matters: the enterprise.
Cheers,
Eric
PS, HP’s right that the iPad is mainly just a consumer oriented media-device. …. I figure that might get some folks wound up, but it’s true. ;-)
Collaboration Tools, iPad, mobile computing
Interesting use case posted up a couple of weeks ago at CollaborationIdeas (no idea how I missed it earlier – shame on me) – issuing smart phones to students to improve access to not just course content, but to assist peer-to-peer collaboration. A great idea, not just because it helps the students, but because students are often drivers of innovation. Innovation usually happens at the messy, ad hoc end of the workflow <-> collaboration spectrum. Especially disruptive innovation. I think we could all name a few dot coms and even pre-dot coms that were borne in dorm rooms or graduate labs :-). So – never a bad thing to help enable that.
Cheers,
Eric
This actually sounds pretty cool. RIM’s new tablet, the “PlayBook”, will be smaller than the iPad but is going to have a number of features designed for secure enterprise use. One thing I liked, actually, was the way that their co-CEO turned their lack of apps (vs. iOS) to a positive: “What we’re launching is really the first mobile product that is designed to give full Web fidelity”, thus the tablet will be less dependent on third-party applications or “apps.”
Cheers,
Eric
Head-on over to Mashable’s quick update on the new Twitter web UI changes. Long-story short, the UI is getting incrementally more like Facebook. For good or bad. Twitter appears to be trying to drive more traffic to their real-estate, and thus get more eyeballs in front of advertising. This is consistent with stuff we’re seeing separately with various formerly free mobile Twitter clients now being for purchase only. Twitter is getting more aggressive about revenue generation, which is good.
NB: check out the video above too. Nice use of the visual bird mnemonic.
Cheers,
Eroc
Microsoft has announced that they will no longer be investing in the “Kin” mobile phone platform. CRN has an excellent analysis of Microsoft’s mistakes and lessons from this. One take-away I found is the theme that the device success, and hence its design follow the expectations and experiences of users with respect to social media. Connecting with other users, of course, and also the expectation of myriad and bountiful apps to support all flavors and combinations of said connecting.
Again, we are reminded that the device is merely a vessel for the interactions desired by the users. Or, extending the logic to the enterprise, the device or application is merely a means to the behaviors and interactions the organization wants to enable and promote. Note: This relates to the notion of Collaboration Patterns (aka, Chat Patterns). More on that to follow.
Cheers,
Eric
