ForbesOnTech

Why is Today's Portable Computing Marketing Stiill Stuck in the last Century's Model?

 

Portable computer technology is at a seminal point in history, yet most portable computing marketing is still mired in 1990’s marketing that’s little more than a feature checklist that’s been stuffed into a spread sheet and then turned over to a graphic artist before it’s posted on the web. And all of this flies in the face of tha availability of flash-based animation or video technology that can be used to highlight great portables.

Nothing makes this more apparent than this week’s rollout of Intel’s new chipset and Centrino II brand. My overwhelming reaction to the is a yawn and a direct phrase words: “Get out of the 1990’sm marketing model and break new ground!”

Faster processor speed for me is a yawner.  I’ve come to expect them from Intel. What are important today are the increased and new capabilities of chipsets. Better WiFi range, or integrated support of WiMax are very important, but unless you see or experience their tangible benefits, they’re just words in a self-serving marketing presentation.

I’m not ashamed that I spent a portion of my professional life as a PR person. I learned a lot working the opposite side of the table from editors. And foremost among the things I understood was whenever it was possible I should show the direct benefits of something, rather than merely gabbing about it.

If I were working in PR today for Intel or one of its portable computer marketing partners, I would have set up tables with new notebooks that incorporate the new technology in a parking lot or field. Each of the tables would also have an older notebook with legacy wireless networking chipsets.  And each of the tables would set in front of as range marker listing the distance between it and the WiFi router.

The very visible point of the demonstration is that the new chipsets free notebook users from being close to a WiFi access point.

Now let’s think a minute about Intel’s WiMax WAN technology. Want a fun way to demonstrate it?  Set up a test network along Amtrak’s Oakland, CA to Sacramento right of way. Now load up 15 reporters, editors or industry luminaries in several of the cars on a train’s consist ( the term used to describe an engine and cars expressed as a single unit). Let them experience true persistent mobile connectivity, sit back and wait an hour or so for the rave reviews to appear.

Mobile persistent connectivity is a transformational experience for most users.

I’m an occasional user of Verizon’s Edge network when I ride the train between San Diego and eastern Los Angeles County. It turns my commute from a passive to an extremely productive experience. Great wireless, and most of all persistent wireless connectivity is something that’s so transformational you often wonder why it’s not more pervasive.

To restate my original premise: It’s time for notebook marketing to catch up with the times.  Notebook product managers shouldn’t being showing big PowerPoint decks, they should have their audience out in field 150 (or more) yards away from an access point, doing what I’m doing right now, writing a blog post underneath a fruited peach tree in my front yard.

It beats sitting in a conference room looking at a Presentation graphics marketing deck with a product manager or PR person who refuses to go off message for even one second.—Jim Forbes 07/15/2008.

 

 

 

Notes from a Conscript in the Borg Army-- How i've Come to Depend on Bluetooth

I’ve been shanghaied into the Borg army.

            As a Borg conscript, I was first armed with a simple headset. However, geek that I am, “I’ve promoted myself into the Borg’s heavy weapons section.

            My conscription into the ranks of the blue tooth Borg army began nearly six months ago, well in advance of California’s mandatory hands free headset law, which took effect last week. I had a difficulty adjusting to the rigors of Borg boot camp, trying unsuccessfully to connect two head sets to my LG and Palm Treo 650 phones, and a succession of notebooks (including a Thinkpad X60s and a MacBook Pro). Four headsets later, I’ve advanced through the ranks of the Borg Army and have added not only a Bluetooth speakerphone, but also a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to my arsenal, as well as some primitive weather instrumentation that sits outside my office.

What surprised me about adding Bluetooth peripherals to my computers and cell phones was that initially it wasn’t very easy to pair headsets with phones, which contradicts the basic premise of how easy it would be to use blue tooth peripherals for sort range networking.

My earliest experiences with Bluetooth were almost comical: I’d wave my headset around in the air, next to, above or below a cell phone or notebook, hoping to establish a link. One day, thoroughly exasperated. I made two trips to the local Fry’s electronics store to exchange headsets I thought were defective because I couldn’t get them to connect.

            Eventually, I bite down on the bullet and finally got through to tech support. After installing new drivers on my notebook, my headset connected. But what I learned on that and subsequent phone calls with tech support is that the combination of Bluetooth and other wireless communications drivers can cause problems.

I found this to be particularly true when I first installed a Bluetooth keyboard to my primary computer. After spending about 20 minutes on the phone with the most patient tech support rep I’ve ever dealt with, I was able to get my keyboard and mouse working and quickly attach a Jabra Bluetooth speakerphone.

As a result of my experience with Bluetooth, I’ve made Jabra headsets and other Bluetooth accessories the de facto standard in my life. They’re easily attached to any of my multiple Bluetooth networks and they produce they best quality audio I’ve ever experiences with any portable device.

Almost nine years after it made it’s first commercial appearance, Bluetooth peripherals are a partr of my everyday computing experience. I use them on my cell phone, on my notebook and desktops and in ways that improve my ability to clearly communicate.

The best example of how Bluetooth really works for me is my dependence on Skype. With my Jabra headset or speakerphone, most people can’t tell I’m working at a table on my front porch—unless one of the local crows or mocking birds, lands in front of me and starts sounding off.—Jim Forbes 07/087/2008.

 

What's it Going to be; Google's Android Platform or Apple's iPhone?

Over the weekend, Om Malik commented on a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal on delays in Google’s Android smart phone operating system here. Om’s observation is “welcome to phone business, Google.”

The article quotes Google’s Andy Rubin on some of the tribulations Google has faced in getting Android ready for release with forthcoming TMobile smart phones. 

What Om missed in his post however, is this: Andy Rubin is one of the few Valley executives—other than Apple’s Steve Jobs-- who has real experience dealing with cellular carriers. Before starting Android software (which was acquired by Google), Rubin co founded Danger Research, which developed the Sidekick smart phone platform which was sold for use by TMobile on its network.

I believe Google’s Android platform has the potential to throw a giant monkey wrench in Apple’s plans and mid-term success for its iPhone. Unlike Apple, which is relying heavily on the Kleiner Perkins’ administered iFund to attract developers, Google has the workforce, wherewithal and pocket book to lure top-notched developers to Android. And it can do this without the intrusive over watch of a third-party venture capital firm.

Let’s see which platform will consumers vote for with their pocket books:  Android developed by a company that’s synonymous with the internet; or the iPhone, which will be two or three years old when the Android steam roller picks up momentum.

I can hardly wait to see how this tussle shakes out. I think it’s going to be fun to watch.—Jim Forbes 06./23/2008.

Touch Computing Ready to Be Mainstreamed

    For the last 16 months, I've been deeply immersed and influenced by the concept of touch computing as a big part of my everyday computing experience.

I made "touch computing" part of my life in a big way when I began using a ThinkPad X41 Convertible portable and then stayed with it when I upgraded to a ThinkPad X60 -- which is among the finest portables ever made.

    A big part of my experience with touch computing has to do with the fact that in mid-life I became handicapped and lost fine motor control in my dominant left hand. In other words, at the age of 52 a stroke kicked my ass and ended a great career in journalism. That damn stroke closed one door but opened another. After moping around for more months than I care remember, I found my interest in touch interface technology and pen-computing was heightened.This happened because I was using a Palm Treo as a cellphone. I distinctly remember the day when the light bulb turned on. I had pulled over to the side of the road to take a phone call and needed to note a phone number. I my pulled out my pen stylus and wrote the number down on my Treo's notes screen. I then cut and pasted the information into my appointments file and continued on to a local college where I was going to speak to some fourth-year marketing students.

     That was my Aha! moment. I realized that although it was difficult to read my writing, I could use touch computing to enter data on my screen and then cu about t and paste that information into an appropriate program. And the company that enabled initial he discovery was Palm, the grandfather of touch/stylus-based computing.

     Portable computing technology and my interest in touch-based computing merged at roughly the same time. Lenovo let me review an X41 tablet computer and I was soon completely immersed in tablet computing, relying more and more on entering manipulating data using a stylus or even my finger and touching my notebook's digitizer screen.

     All that of that is to be expected from touch interfaces but I soon discovered another advantage that dovetailed with my life but more importantly helped me improve a skill lost to a stroke --but which as a reporter/writer I view as a defining skill that defines me-- the physical act of writing. Every morning for the first three years post stroke. I would practice writing on notepads designed for elementary school children. So, when I unpacked my first convertible notebook and booted it up, I found myself in a well designed application that helped train my notebook to recognize my hand writing.

     Voila! The bond between me and my pen-based, touch interface notebook  became cement strong. And, like good cement,this bond has become stronger over the last year and a half.

     My handwriting still sucks, and I've come to accept that I'll have this disability for the remainder of my life. but touch computing has become so important to me, that I think it should be a part of desktop computing as well. Enter the HP Touch Smart IQ all-in-one desktop. Paired with a fully functional all-in-one Touch computing is so compelling that my 90 year old mother, now a resident of my household is playing solitaire, after avoiding computers for the last 20 years.

     Touch computing is about to go mainstream, a leap that's long overdue. So far, this key interface technology has been limited to Apple, Compaq, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Palm and Toshiba.  I suspect that is about to change in the immediate future as Microsoft supercharges its R&D efforts into mainstream computing and other PC makers increase the bond between consumers and their brands with touch computing.

     And all of this comes at a time when computing technology is increasing rapidly and the price of such technology (including digitizer screens and memory) is plummeting. It's the beginning of a new era in personal computing and I'm glad I made it to the point where personal computing is indeed "personal"-- Jim Forbes 05/21/2008.

 

Twitter:Strangling the Bird,Or Not?

There are applications that come along and automatically generate buzz and applications that come and go very quickly.

            And this brings me to the social media phenomena Twitter. This 145-word cap limited application is quite the rage among A list bloggers. Contrarian that I am, I have a quite different view of it.  I’m not really very interested in whether or not some one is going to get a cup of coffee at Pete’s in Menlo Park, and I’m even less interested in the fact that they found a parking space right across the street from Pete’s on Santa Cruz Avenue. Twitter might as well be a grill- mounted loudspeaker hoi polloi use to broadcast their regal presence and progression to we lesser mortals, so that we can avert our eyes and bow in time.

            But I can see some uses for Twitter: A.) The best use of it so far was by Dan Lyons, writing from audience at Steve Jobs’ MacWorld opening speech in San Francisco, earlier this year. Lyon’s twitter feeds may have been the funniest things ever posted on the Internet. B.) If I were an executive at a hardware maker or software developer, I can see where my job would be made easier by Twitter, since it gives me a chance to have conversations about product performance, reliability and usability in real time with select customers. C.) The same argument holds true right now, moving into National elections. If I were on a campaign management staff, Twitter could be an important tool in gauging the effectiveness of a dynamic campaign, in real time;D) as someone who was searching for topical local news in the middle of a community-wide conflgration last Fall, I think a dedicated twitter channel could have be equally important to both citizens and first responders.

            I have seen Twitter put to effective use by two good friends who hold high-level marketing positions with PC manufacturing companies. Both use it to stay abreast of customer support issues—which may be one of the most important applications of this mini-Instant Messaging format.

            If I were still working as a producer on Demo Shows, I could see using a Twitter channel for communicating with my audience and for strategic market research, in real time.

            But do I care when someone is jumping into his or her car for a trip across SF Bay to go see a movie? Hell No! I don’t.

            None of this should be interpreted as dismissing the hard work developers have put into Twitter and Twitter applications.  I appreciate good softwaremuch more than most people.

            And I’ve been wrong about things before.  Just last week I was dismissive about my daughter’s chance to win a new car in a lottery. But,  early this morning I got an email from The Lovely Miss Amanda telling me how utterly surprised she was to find out she had just won a brand new 2008 Volkswagen Beetle.—Jim Forbes, 04/07/2008

Q&A with Kleiner Perkins' Matt Murphy on the iFund

I've spent several days now thinking about Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers' and Apple Inc's attempts to bolster the iPhone with a $100
million venture fund.
    First, I believe iFund could legitimize the iPhone in virtually all segments of the market, taking it far beyond the realm of the so-called "Apple Faithful" who wait in line for every new Apple product.
    Second, the overall effect of the iFund will extend far beyond iPhone
platform and help make the mobile Internet a reality not only for
Apple iPhone users s, but for all mobile phone users.
    Finally, the iFund is a much different proposition than KPCB's
previous platform-based venture effort. The Java Fund.  Although both
the iFund and the Java Fund initially have the same value, $100
million, the first fund was subject to the forces of several large
corporate entities, including  IBM and Sun Microsystems. The iFund was
raised solely by Kleiner Perkins and is only concerned with one large
corporate partner, Apple Inc.

If you want to get to the core of the iFund, there's only one person
to as questions of; Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Matt Murphy, an
eight-year veteran of the firm and a member of KPCB's Information
Technology investment team. The following are some of the questions I
asked Matt Murphy and his replies:
ForbesonTech: What are some of the differences between the iFund and
the Java Fund?
Matt Murphy: The Java Fund had many different strategic partners. The
iFund is focused on one partner and it's all KPCB's money.
ForbesonTech: Does Apple have to "approve" iFund investments?
Matt Murphy: Apple doesn't have to approve anyone, except when the
investment is strategically aligned with its goals/
ForbesonTech: Will Apple help iFund companies with cooperative
marketing programs and funds?
Matt Murphy: Apple will control internal editorial and marketing, at
Apple stores and on its website, but I haven’t heard anything yet on
whether or not Apple will establish cooperative marketing programs
for iFund companies.
ForbesonTech: Have there been any surprises since Klein Perkins
announced the iFund?
Matt Murphy: The response to the fund has been great. We’ve heard from startups, establiushed companies and other VC firms.

The biggest surprise has been the volume. Internally we had a bet about what the response would be in the first 30 days. The high end number was exceeded in 36 hours and now the number of companies we’ve heard from is 3x that number.

ForbesonTech: What was the number?

Matt Murphy:  (silence)

ForbesonTech: any other surprises?

Matt Murphy: the number of healthcare and healthcare applications people would like to develop for the iPhone was more than we imagined.

ForbesonTech: Are there are other types of applications you hope to see:

Matt Murphy:            Location-based shopping –which includes delivering local coupons—and Mcommerce are things we’ve heard about., GPS Shopping (and related services) are things we’ve been pitched with.

            We’re looking for businesses that will be stand-alone applications, not small widgets.

            The iFund is about funding high tier mobile Internet applications.

ForbesonTech: Do you think current pricing models for wireless Internet connectivity will be a significant problem gating the success of wireless Internet-based applications?

Matt Murphy: Mobile Internet pricing is an issue, as is consumer awareness of the mobile Internet.

            Cell network operators are moving to adjust the pricing of mobile Internet connectivity and some are looking to offer free over-the-weekend trials of Mobile Internet (connections).When they do they report 10X spikes in wireless Internet usage.

            Iphone (internet) connectivity is high, 95 percent of all iPhone users use Internet connectivity, compared to only 20 percent with other (brands) of cell phones.

ForbesonTech: What’s your take on Google’s Android mobile phone operating system?

Matt Murphy: there’s a great spot in the (smart phone) ecosystem for Android and JavaBrew operating systems.

Stay tuned, the iPhone applications are coming and when they begin trickling in I think we’ll see it’s a tide that raises all boats and which drives mobile internet connectivity, creating an ocean of where persistent connectivity is expected and is the flood tide that fuels a new economic force.—Jim Forbes 03/20/2008.