So what are we waiting for in the rest of the world? If it can be done in Japan, why not here...?
"Japan's NTT DoCoMo said Wednesday that, since July, it has sold one million phones that can be used to make payments. 'The phones use built-in smartcards that enable users to swipe the devices near point-of-sale terminals to pay for purchases. The wireless carrier launched the service last summer and there are about 13,000 shops and 2700 vending machines in Japan that accept that sort of payment."
woensdag 29 december 2004
What's the buzz about buzz marketing?
Reading this article on 'buzz marketing' made me think about the i-mode launch campaign in The Netherlands where KPN used a number of 'in the know' ambassadors to promote the new i-mode phones and services. It didn't work and here's why. So before you start buzzing...
"Not every product can be effectively marketed by buzz agents, however. 'It has to be an interesting one,' says Kahn. 'Products do have to live up to the hype, they do have to deliver. If these products aren't delivering coolness, this will not over time be a credible method.' According to Kahn, products that fit this description are fashion items and items of cultural interest such as TV shows, books and movies -- anything that connotes a sense of being 'in the know.'"
"Not every product can be effectively marketed by buzz agents, however. 'It has to be an interesting one,' says Kahn. 'Products do have to live up to the hype, they do have to deliver. If these products aren't delivering coolness, this will not over time be a credible method.' According to Kahn, products that fit this description are fashion items and items of cultural interest such as TV shows, books and movies -- anything that connotes a sense of being 'in the know.'"
dinsdag 28 december 2004
The alpha bloggers
Newsweek is running an article on the 'alpha bloggers' and their impact/influence. Although very much focused on technology, its a model we'll surely see in other areas as well with blogs becoming more mainstream.
"The blogosphere is a tipping-point machine," says Searls, referring to Malcolm Gladwell's treatise on how ideas and trends can suddenly tilt from obscurity to ubiquity. A good idea gets amplified by the "echo chamber" of the blogosphere. It need not be the original thought of the blogger. In fact, as scientists from the HP Information Dynamics Lab wrote in a paper titled "Implicit Structure and the Dynamics of Blogspace," ideas move on the blogosphere like viruses; the alpha bloggers spread concepts like Typhoid Marys."
"The blogosphere is a tipping-point machine," says Searls, referring to Malcolm Gladwell's treatise on how ideas and trends can suddenly tilt from obscurity to ubiquity. A good idea gets amplified by the "echo chamber" of the blogosphere. It need not be the original thought of the blogger. In fact, as scientists from the HP Information Dynamics Lab wrote in a paper titled "Implicit Structure and the Dynamics of Blogspace," ideas move on the blogosphere like viruses; the alpha bloggers spread concepts like Typhoid Marys."
(Don't) speak and surf simulaneously
Indeed amazing that this is not possible...
"For example if I'm looking up restaurant listings on my phone, I want to be able to chat with my sweetie at the same time about where we're going to go to dinner. However, unless you are going to put in two sets of circuitry and make two simultaneous connections, there's really no way to do it other than by doing it all as data and packetizing the voice and doing voice over IP at the same time."
"For example if I'm looking up restaurant listings on my phone, I want to be able to chat with my sweetie at the same time about where we're going to go to dinner. However, unless you are going to put in two sets of circuitry and make two simultaneous connections, there's really no way to do it other than by doing it all as data and packetizing the voice and doing voice over IP at the same time."
maandag 27 december 2004
Options and integrated thinking
"CIOs don't run the supply chain in most companies, so they have trouble envisioning what will happen to sales if a critical system doesn't function as expected for a few days or weeks. Businesspeople, meanwhile, have trouble imagining an IT programming glitch getting past the walls of the data center and causing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of lost sales. The chasm between cause and effect is almost too vast to contemplate."
Although I agree with the point he makes, at the same time I think "envisioning what IT can do" will be a basic skill of business people in the near future. Especially when (young) people who don't regard IT as being someting new and mysterious will be in charge...
Although I agree with the point he makes, at the same time I think "envisioning what IT can do" will be a basic skill of business people in the near future. Especially when (young) people who don't regard IT as being someting new and mysterious will be in charge...
zondag 26 december 2004
Digital inheritance
A lot of attention has been given to the case of Marine Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth. He died in Iraq over a month ago and his parents are seeking access to his email-account which is not allowed given the email provider's privacy policy. This story has triggered me to think about what happens to my digital life after I'm dead. To have everything under my own control I too think this is the best solution:
"The easiest approach, Internet scholars say, is simply to leave behind a password. I think this (Yahoo) case will be helpful to people who are thinking about issues not only of inheritance but planning," said Jonathan I. Ezor, a professor of law and technology at Touro Law Center in Huntington, New York. "When one family member tells another where the important paperwork is, the will, safe deposit box key, etc., the list of passwords is going to be added to that."
"The easiest approach, Internet scholars say, is simply to leave behind a password. I think this (Yahoo) case will be helpful to people who are thinking about issues not only of inheritance but planning," said Jonathan I. Ezor, a professor of law and technology at Touro Law Center in Huntington, New York. "When one family member tells another where the important paperwork is, the will, safe deposit box key, etc., the list of passwords is going to be added to that."
zondag 19 december 2004
Barcodes are real world hyperlinks?
I've written about it back in May already, and it's not yet as user-friendly as it should be, but I fully agree that something like barcodes could link the physical world to a virtual world in a mobile environment. There are so many opportunities here, can't wait...
"The NetImp piece argues that bar codes could be the real-world equivalent of a hyperlink - the break through thinking that gave us the web. Clicking on a physical hyperlink (bar code) can take you anywhere relevant in the cyberworld."
"The NetImp piece argues that bar codes could be the real-world equivalent of a hyperlink - the break through thinking that gave us the web. Clicking on a physical hyperlink (bar code) can take you anywhere relevant in the cyberworld."
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