Too Many Apps

My favorite line from one of my favorite movies is "too many notes" from Amadeus. In case you missed it, it's the King's reaction to Mozert after debuting one of his ingenious compositions.

After praising Mozert, he segues to that excruciating word; but! The "but" being that the composition just had more notes than the human ear can handle.

The King was obviously a buffoon. Here's that word again; but! But, who couldn't relate at least just a little bit to his feelings of being overwhelmed. Too much of even a good thing is still, well, too much.

I am starting to feel more than just a little like the King in Amadeus when it comes to all of these apps. iPhone apps. Facebook apps. Twitter apps. Google apps. App 2.0 is just a little too App-happy.

Just last week, the iPhone app store added its 30,000th application. Some eight months ago, their app store opened with 500.

If you cruise the other technology blogs, you will likely become buried in postings like "27 Twitter Applications Your Small Business Could Use" , "10 Must-see Finance Apps for the iPhone" or I really like this one; "23 Apps Were Still Using a Month Later".

I'm serious. I really do like that last one. It at least has a more sober, practical approach.

It's not enough to check out a new application and a) see if it works and b) does something fun or useful. The word "useful" is the slippery slope in that criteria.

Being "useful" is more than doing something functional. It's not useful, if you don't need it. An application is meant to be a tool (I'm excluding entertainment apps); a tool that helps perform a task better or faster that you already have to do. A tool that helps you do something you never had to worry about before is truly not a tool. It's a time suck.

Be judicious before you hit the "download" button.

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Skype on iPhone

This has been the subject of much buzz ever since the Consumer Electronics Show last year, when it first got out that Apple was developing a Skype client for the iPhone.

Starting tomorrow, the free Skype application will be available for download on iTunes. Since it's impossible to beat the rush, I would advise waiting out the rush. If you can survive another week or two, wait until then and save yourself the headache of battling for bandwidth on iTunes to get your copy.

Here's just a little bit of the good, the bad and the ugly with Skype on iPhone:

- You can call other Skype users for free. Calling non-Skype users is relatively inexpensive. Good!

- Skype will be able to access phone numbers from the iPhone's address book seamlessly. Good! Great, in fact.!

- Skype only works if there's a WiFi connection within range. Bad!

- Skype's wildly popular video phone calls for the desktop will not be immediatly available on the iPhone. What a shame! Can you imagine the possibilites, otherwise. Ugly!

Enjoy the lead time while you can iPhone. Skype has cut the same deal with Blackberry. Skype on Blackberry launches in May.

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Bluetooth Headset for Your Convertible

I live in Austin, TX which means that it's convertible weather all the time except in the middle of the day in the summer, when it's about 3000 degrees and we all cower in air conditioned buildings.

It also basically never rains, so I drive with the top down just about all the time, everywhere.

So I although I love my Blue Ant earbud thingy I was loathe to try it out on anybody I really wanted to talk to while driving 70 mph down Mopac with the top down.

And then some obnoxious telemarketer found my cell # and called me:

"Hello Mr. Finch, I represent JuJuBean Software Corporation and we have offices in
Bangalore and would like to partner with you, blah blah blah."

"Yeah, I'm not firing my developers and sending the work to India. Hey dude, how does this phone sound right now?"

"It is a little hard to hear you Mr. Finch. We have 4 million MSCE developers over here who will work for peanut butter and Triscuits if you have any."

"That's nice." I press my earbud button, and put my windows up.

"Voice Isolation Max", said my earbud in a pleasing male voice reminiscent of a newscaster.

"How does it sound now?" I queried.

"Oh that's much better Mr. Finch. Now we can code anything in 3 minutes no matter what it is and my CEO, Mr. Narijaniswamisami will be in Austin next week and he would very much like to meet with you..."

"No thanks, see ya."

I double click my earbud and it says - lovingly, "Call Terminated"

So now I've figured out that I can drive about 50mph with the windows up and have this thing in voice isolation mode and I can actually talk and be understood, not that I have that much to say that is useful in most cases.

I hate it when telemarketers call my cellphone. I realize they have a hard job. But quit it.

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You Really Need a Bluetooth Wristwatch

Don't you? Sure you do. See my wife thinks watches are sexy on men, and that I should get one.

Although I'm not sure this item would meet her criteria.

The first one out there was from Citizen, and would alert you if you abandoned your phone, as well as tell you you had a call visually when the phone in your pocket was on silent.

Yikes that is ugly.

For $400 you can get a Sony which lets you "know you have a phone call because your watch is vibrating and the display shows a new SMS has arrived. You're in touch but nobody has to notice."

Hmmm...

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That's About-Facebook

If you're a Facebook user, then you are probably aware by now that it's undergone an upgrade over the past couple of weeks.

I use Facebook and the changes seem pretty minor to me. This is not so to some two million users who joined protest groups within the network clamoring for the days of old. You know, last month!

I will say this; this latest Facelift (pun intended!) is feeling Microsoft-esque to me. It crashes constantly now. In fact, one more crash and I'll start calling it Vistabook. But I digress...

Now, let's go back to the two million users who are having a coniption over the location of the applications button. Facebook has heard your cries and is now promising to incorporate changes from your feedback over the next several weeks.

Yes, two million people is quite a garden party; until you consider what a small fraction that is of the 175 million total FB users.

Did Facebook do the right thing?

What about the silent majority (to use an old Nixon term)?

I think social networks should be careful about how they react to customer feedback.

I'd like to point out that there are just under half a million Facebook users who belong to the "people who always have to spell their name for other people" group. I know! I'm one of them. I can tell you that when I joined I put about half a second of thought utilizing about three brain cells when I hit the join button.

Once upon a time when you had a gripe, you had to really make an effort to bellyache to the powers that be. You had to be mad enough to write a letter and invest in a stamp, not to mention look up the address of the makers of Captain Crunch cereal, your state representative or editor of your local newspaper depending on the issue.

Now, you just click a button. Two million people on Facebook clicking a button for grins and giggles isn't exactly the March on Washington (which was only 250,000 people, but a zillion times more significant).

And why is that?

Because, it's not the sheer number of complainers that matter. It's the sheer number of people who cared enough to make an effort to complain. Big difference!

Social networking, e-mail, Twitter, etc. are great communication tools. When it comes to feedback, perhaps they are too good. With such easy, instantaneous feedback, how can companies today separate real feedback from knee-jerk dreck?

Just a question.

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The Death of The Elevator Pitch

What happened? Believe it or not; it's too long.

I'm old school converting to new school. Once upon a time (a couple of years ago), the rule of thumb in business was to have your so-called "elevator pitch". In other words, whatever you are selling, advocating, messaging about yourself or your business; be able to say it in the time it takes on the average elevator ride. If you aren't on an elevator, it was called the two minute pitch.

The elevator pitch today is a lifetime. The two minute pitch is eternity.

Here's a softball question; what killed it?

- Texting
- Twitter

Even if you really are on an elevator with a potential client/new employer/venture capitalist, guess what? They are used to information shortened into short illiterate phrases - and they like it that way!

I will resist the temptation to moan about the downfall of civilization, the art of language, the courtesy of patientlly offering time to others; when the reality is that it is what it is. Sigh!

So how do you say what you need to say about your business or yourself in literally one line?

Start with the basics; noun, verb, object.

(i.e. We sell cloth.)

Now add a modifier to clarify what is special about you or your business.

(i.e. We sell cloth made from bamboo.)

Now add a short modifying phrase to clarify what is not only unique; but niche about your business.

(i.e. We sell cloth made from bamboo that is cheap, ample and green-friendly.)

Now edit the whole thing down by a third to one half and start with the most ear-catching words.

(i.e. We're totally green. Bamboo cloth. cheap & ample.)

Then exchange e-mail addresses.

Hook 'em.

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The Problem With Wikis

Is the same problem you will have with any other data storage.

You lack a librarian.

My company is 12 years old. We have a fileserver where we store documents. Those documents get old. Then people move them into a directory called 'old stuff'. Or they divide up the filespace with departmental folders. Then those get full. Sound familiar? After a while a zillion documents exist in a zillion places and nobody knows which one is current and correct (if any are).

So we got a wiki for internal use. Policies and procedures and training documentation and videos and all sorts of stuff is stored there. So now we have a wiki and a big filesystem.

Sometimes I want to assign someone the job of cleaning all that up and sometimes I have and progress was made. But making it a fulltime job - well that would be just overhead right now. So we struggle on, searching and eventually finding what we're looking for.

Surely there is a better way. Some sort of brilliant AI that can file and index and archive things?

Someone in the MIT lab must have already figured this out. I hope?

Curt runs a resource management software company (although not always all that well)

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March Sadness: Let Them Stream

The NCAA basketball playoffs are just starting to get to the really exciting part. The "Sweet Sixteen" tips off in just two days.

Every year, like clock work, we pass on the projected losses in employee productivity provided by business coaching consulting group, Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

In light of the dismal economy, CEO John Challenger, says his company decided to not crunch the numbers this year.

"In this economy, employees are disinclined to do anything that might put their jobs at higher risk than they already are. Meanwhile, employers have bigger issues to address than whether a few workers are using work time to fill out brackets or sneaking peeks at games online. Companies would be better served by allowing this minor distraction during these anxiety-producing times."

- John Challenger, CEO Challenger, Gray & Christmas

Here, here!

A couple of seasons ago I wrote the following article about all the nifty, techie ways to torpedo your employees from slacking on the job during March Madness.

I take it all back. I agree with John Challenger and commend his group's decision to let it go this year. I hope employers will let it go, too. These are tense times. Lighten up and let 'em watch a little B-ball.

To read the rest of Mr. Challenger's guest column that include some nice ideas how to use March Madness as a morale booster click here.

p.s. As far as I'm concerned, it's already April anway. My beloved Longhorns lost by five to Duke over the weekend. It was a squeaker, however. On to baseball, I say.

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You have MSProject, But Can You Use It?

Everyone has Microsoft Project, but few can get it configured to the point where they can actually deliver a project on time. This free educational video can tell you exactly what you need to do
to create a predictive, reflective and dynamic Microsoft Project schedule.

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Interesting Bedfellows: Salesforce.com and Twitter

To hear Salesforce.com tell it; call centers are on the way out, while "crowdsourcing" is the new customer service.

Don't hang up that phone just yet. While you are on hold waiting for someone to help you with your over-zealous security suite, again, consider getting your answers somewhere else.

Increasingly, folks are turning to their social network accounts like Facebook and LinkedIn for help.

Salesforce.com offers its customers "Service Cloud"; a way to aggregate all the chatter regarding a topic or company on various social networks like those mentioned above and others.

Word is that it's going so well, Salesforce.com will be adding Twitter to the list by summer. The advantage Twitter has to the other sources is that it's in real time.

Service Cloud gives Salesforce.com clients a way to monitor what their customers are chattering about them; including problems with products, questions about service, complaints and positive feedback. It's also a way to get answers, as well.

This is one of those things that you have to watch the demo to better understand (at least I did).

I have a couple of lingering concerns:

1. How can you be sure you are getting reliable advice?

2. This strikes me as a FAQ 2.0. I'm not sure if that is a good thing. I find FAQ's to be too general. When I have a problem or question about my technology; it is typically because of a very unique situation, like a conflict between two apps on my laptop. I forsee a lot of time wasted looking for very specific advice "in the cloud".

Perhaps as much time spent sitting on hold.

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Freaky Friday: Google, The Joe Scarborough Button and The iPhone

Here's my round-up of tech oddities this week and topping the list would have to be Google Earth.

Mother Earth must be feeling downright naked since Google Earth 5.0 came out earlier this year. Not a day goes by that it seems another "scientist" has made some sort of crazy discovery using the big googly eye in the sky.

Last month, it was the supposed discovery of the mythical Atlantis. Don't get too excited. It's still a myth, after several close-ups of the ocean floor off the Canary Islands appeared to resemble a human-made grid perhaps laying out an ancient city.

This week, however, now it's Osama Bin Laden. A group of geographers from UCLA claim they have zeroed in (via Google Earth) on a compound of three buildings within Afghanistan. The geographers want the military to check it out and see if it is home to Bin Ladin.

Here's my favorite part from the write up from the UCLA newsroom:

The researchers advocate that the U.S. investigate — but not bomb — the three buildings.

- Meg Sullivan UCLA

My question: Not bomb? Huh?

Item #2 from the week; also from Google. Introducing what I call the Joe Scarborough button on Gmail.

It's actually called the "undo" button. If you use Gmail, all you have to do is activate by going to Gmail labs and finding it under settings and then lab.

If you have ever hit send and then immediately thought, "Oh $%^~!; then this button is for you.

It puts a five second delay on your outgoing e-mail, giving you the same amount of time to hit the button and save your marriage/job/etc.

Being a former television producer, this reminds me of the old seven second delay during live broadcasts made fashionable after George Carlin's infamous "Seven Dirty Words" monologue. The FCC, if you are old enough to recall, had what I would call a conniption fit. It went all the way to the Supreme Court.

More recently, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough let a F-bomb slip during a live broadcast. He's now on seven second delay.

I hope Joe uses Gmail.

Item #3 It's an iPhone, no it's a Trombone! Huh?

And last but not least; Apple took the wrapping off it's latest version of iPhone software, version 3.0. As the pre-announcement collective buzz predicted, the highlights of improvements include a new cut and paste feature, push functionality and peer-to-peer connectivity.

Never mind all of that!

File this under, "Gee, I miss Steve Jobs":

The demo drifted off into the surreal when two guys demonstrated an app called "Leaf Trombone" allowing users to convert their iPhone into a sort of musical instrument. You play it by blowing into the microphone while manipulating the touch screen. I don't think that I'll ever be able to enjoy Phantom of the Opera again.

Have a great weekend. We'll get back to business on Monday.

- Renee Oricchio

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Dell's Identity Crisis

Dell Computers just hasn't been the same since it lost the top spot in PC sales to Hewlett Packard a couple of years ago. As it stands now, Dell is actually back on top in the United States. But, it still lags behind HP worldwide.

For the first twenty and some odd years, Dell Computers had a clear vision of their "niche"; their marketing position within the PC industry. They sell build-your-own, direct order PC's. They still do. They just got scared that wasn't sexy enough anymore when they lost the top spot. Ever since, it's been a different corporate persona that has changed almost as frequently as Texas weather.

Let's review:

There was the village people approach. Dell launched IdeaStorm, which still exists (quietly); a place for the customer base, I mean community, to be a voice within Dell.

Then there was "Discount Dell" that started selling cut-rate models at Wal-Mart. It hasn't exactly been a failure. But ewww!

Now, there's Apple-Wanna Be Dell. It started with candy colored laptops. Now, this week they have unveiled the Dell Adamo, the world's thinnest laptop. It's even thinner than the new MacBook Air, launched last year. The MacBook Air was the world's thinnest laptop until this week.

My question: What's up with these anorexic laptops? I can understand lighter laptops. But who says thin is in?

You must, must, must click on this link. It's the streaming video promo on the Dell site featuring the new skinny laptop.

It looks like a perfume ad; complete with underweight supermodels (my feminist hackles are hackled, by the way) and Vera Wang-esque gowns.

I showed this video to my seven year old daughter. In all her wisdom, she pronounced, "That is sooooooo stupid."

What's next Dell?

McDell? Every computer comes with a toy and apple dippers?

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Bloggers Love Their Mothers, Too

Here's a cautionary tale of why a business can never afford to 'dis a customer; not even a nice, unassuming old lady from Panama City Beach, Florida.

There's a thing called the Internet and her daughter just might be a professional blogger.

If that's the case, you could be looking at some bad PR that will stick to your shoe like you know what; the reason being that nothing really ever goes away online. Even when pages get taken down, there's that thing called 'cache' that lingers.

I'm going to take the high road and not name the airline. But, my mama got treated terribly this week while attempting to fly home from Dallas and I am fuming.

1.) First, she got shaken down for an extra $15 at the gate to check her carry-on bag (yes, I said CARRY-ON) because it didn't fit in the overhead compartment of the little regional jet assigned to her flight. Snoopy (a.k.a. "The Red Barron") and his retro-fitted flying dog house has more carry-on space per passenger.

How was she supposed to know? Yes folks, the major airlines are so desperate to make ends meet that they are turning grandmothers upside down by their heels during pre-boarding and catching what falls out of their pockets to create an extra revenue stream. For years, I've called the major airlines busses with wings. I want to go on record and apologize to Greyhound.

2.) The flight was overbooked and no one volunteered to take a later plane. My mother was racing home to take her dog in for surgery for a malignant cancer the next morning. Even after she explained this, they bumped her anyway.

3.) They couldn't be bothered to take her bag off the plane and return it to her (not to mention return her $15 bucks). As the plane taxied away out of sight, it took her prescription drugs with it. Have I mentioned my mother is turning 70 in two months? She doesn't die her hair anymore. I'm sure it was obvious to the senior-hating, dog-lover hating ground crew that she's an elder; just not theirs. Perhaps they don't have mamas themselves. Perhaps they received the gift of life through sporulation or regeneration, instead.

4.) Though this all happened at 3:45 in the afternoon at one of the busiest airports in the United States on a day of crystal blue skies for perfect on-time flying, there was not another spot on another flight to get her anywhere near Northwest Florida until the following day. At that, they flew her into the closest location; Mobile, Alabama. The one-way rental car cost her $150 for the three hour drive home.

5.) They did put her up at the Airport Marriott and sent her off to bed that evening with a whopping $15 dinner voucher. It's too bad the hotel would not accept it to help pay off the $23 tab for the sandwich and bottled water she ordered from room service.

Back to the cautionary tale part of this...

The World Wide Web is a world wide web of voices. For every IP address, there's a voice. And there are literally millions of us. Anyone, and more importantly everyone, has the power to flambe' your company with bad worth of mouth testimonials on review sites and message boards, to name just a few options. Some of us blog and some of us are up to a zillion friends on Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn and/or MySpace (imagine a zillion friends telling two friends who tell two friends who tell two more friends, etc. etc.).

Welcome to Bad PR 2.0

PR people literally are all a-Twitter about the potential high payoff of using social networking sites and other Web 2.0 Jedi mind tricks to juice up their campaigns.

I would just like to remind them that when you live by the sword, you die by the sword. If you want to practice preventative crisis communications management, you may want to invest less in text messaging campaigns and go back to the basics; customer service.

P.S. If you work in PR or corporate communications for a major airline, please send this link to your pointy-headed CEO. If you are a business traveler with an out-of-town meeting to go to anytime soon, do me a favor and avenge my mom; cancel your airline ticket and web conference instead. Last but not least; if you know my mother, please don't mention I revealed her age on Inc.com.

Or, I'll be wishing that I was the one sporulated 44 years ago.

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Luck O' The Irish Doesn't Hurt

You can do all the right things to build a business online and still fail.

You can do most of the wrong things to build a business online and still succeed, anyway.

Both happen all the time. So, tell me there's no such thing as plain, dumb luck; or plain, bad luck for that matter!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, let's talk a little more about that wild card of the cosmos we all refer to as luck.

I typically fill this space every day with nuggets of tips and advice on how to better bullet-proof your technology decisions to better bullet-proof your business.

Not so today. Here's a list of five areas of your online business that largely succeed or fail based on good or bad luck.

1. Buzz. You can hire the best of the best in online marketing and PR. You can launch what you think is the killer viral campaign. You can blog, comment, Digg, Del.icio.us, Twitter yourself silly, leverage Facebook, and spend gobs and gobs of venture capitol money on search engine optimization (SEO) and that spark to light up your fledgling business still may never happen. Then again...

2. Building up major traffic to your site. Speaking of SEO, the pros would argue with me on this one that SEO is a "science". Do this, do that (pay someone else to actually do this and do that) and "BAM!" as Emeril would say - you've got big time web traffic. First of all, that's hog wash. Fortunes have been spent and lost to SEO consultants who sometimes deliver and more often don't deliver high rankings in the search engines. P.S. Less than half of all web visitors find new sites through search engines.

3. Consistent support from your supporters. It takes a village to build a village on the web. It takes a village of good, stable employees who don't jump ship to a better paying job as soon as they've made their mark at your company. It takes a village of vendors and sub-contractors who honor their committments and deliver what they promise. It takes a village of other players in the start-up of a company; from investors who don't get antsy and bail on you when you are so far down you can only make payroll one more time to advisory board members who don't get bored with your company and move on to something else. One or two unexpected weak links in the chain can kill you. One or two extra strong links can be the Hail Mary pass that keeps you in the game awhile longer.

4. Heads; loyal. Tails; fickle. Now I'm talking about customers. Building an online customer base is like playing Texas Hold 'em compared to building a bricks and mortar business customer base that is more like playing the Candyland game. Growing online customers and playing Texas Hold'em both require strategy and running the analytics in your head constantly as you play. But in the end, don't be fooled. Both still hinge on luck of the draw.

5. All the right tech moves. Off the shelf software or developing your own solution? Storing your data on the cloud or in a well air conditioned back room? Hiring a staff IT person or having a consulting firm on retainer? To Microsoft or not to Microsoft? The maze of make or break decisions never end and you can never foresee all the consequences while making them. Sometimes you get burned and sometimes that one application... well, there's a reason why they call them killer apps.

And that's no blarney.

Happy St. Paddy's!

Renee "O'ricchio" (the only day of the year my Italian surname get's an apostrophe)

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Better Than Green Beer Tomorrow

Yes, I'm being tongue in cheek with that headline. Is there really anything better than green beer on St. Paddy's day? Apple-istas will probably disagree with me this year. Tomorrow, it seems, the latest version of iPhone software (3.0) will debut.

In the world of software, version 3.0 is usually a big step. If people were software, version 3.0 would be the legal drinking age (just in time for all that green beer). It is almost synonymous with the word maturity.

Apple watchers, therefore, are expecting big things tomorrow. No pressure. Last year, about this time, Apple unveiled iPhone 2.0 software that included the app store. That's a big upgrade between v 1.0 and v 2.0, which sets the stage for even bigger expectations tomorrow.

More interesting to me:

- Apple has a rhythm going here. New iPhones get released in June, with the next version of software coming out in late winter that supports and even newer version of the next iPhone handset coming out in June, again. With this latest software version coming out tomorrow, Apple is right on schedule setting the table for that new hardware version to come out again this summer. Get the lawn chairs ready.

- All of those people who camped out in lawn chairs a couple of years ago to buy that first version of the iPhone for $600 will be hitting the end of their first service contract with AT&T this June. Hmmm... what will Apple do persuade them to sign up again?

- Will the new 3.0 software work with all those "jailbreak" iPhones out there?

- Regardless of what happens this summer with all those June contracts expiring and whether Apple will release a new iPhone or not; what about Steve Jobs promised return to work about that time?

p.s. Who cares about another iPhone upgrade?

If users had to choose, I'm guessing they'd prefer better coverage with what they have from AT&T than whatever new bling gets announced tomorrow. iPhone users in the heart of Silicon Valley (that would be San Jose somewhere between Valley Fair Mall and the Rosicrucian Museum) can't even get a decent signal. Dropout is apparantly rampant just exits away down 280 from Apple's main campus in Cupertino.

Meanwhile, Austin, TX is hosting the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference right now. Just about everyone at the annual tech festival has an iPhone and that meant that just about everyone found themselves living in the last century while inside the Austin Convention Center during the first couple of days of the conference. Apparantly, AT&T really blew it in beefing up their 3G coverage in time for the event. As of last night, AT&T has promised iPhone bearing convention-goers a working signal starting today.

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Using iChat

A friend of mine wanted to put together a present for her 90 year old father, an iChat 3 way video conference between her, her brother and her father. She wanted to test it out first so I was the guinea pig playing the part of her father.

I happen to use a Mac at home but I'd never tried iChat with video.

iChat works with either an AIM ID, or a .mac ID. I had neither. Whenever I clicked on the 'get a .mac ID' it took me to someplace on the apple website that costs money. Although there are rumors on the web that .mac IDs are free, I couldn't figure out how to get one. Actually I couldn't figure out how to pay for one either because I probably would have done that.

AIM on the otherhand, is easy. It's free.

The iChat software is great once you get an ID that works.

But the apparent impossibility of getting a .mac ID from the company who's motto is "It just works." was ... well ... disconcerting.

Sometimes it just doesn't work at all.

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Double-take: Your Company Telecom Bills

Remember the bad ole days when telephone bills were outrageously high for no good reason? There baaaack!

According to new research put out by the Utility Consumers' Action Network, UCAN, telecom bills are not only creeping up faster than weeds in the garden; it's so subtle most customers nor the FCC can keep up with the increases.

I wrote an article for this site last year advising small businesses that they should hire outside companies that work on commission only to "weed" through their telco bills. There are big savings likely to be found. The FCC conservatively estimates that 30 percent of all bills have errors.

In addition to "errors", this new survey shows rates and fees have been going up dramatically in recent years.

Here are some nuggets of note from its findings:

- Directory assistance charges: up 1500%.

Cheap solution: tell your employees to use the phone book, look up numbers on the Internet and then save them in their phone to avoid the time and/or cost of looking up the same numbers again.

- Call waiting charges: up 346%.

Cheap solution: dump it. That's what voice mail is for anyway.

- Long distance calls are up, on average, 55 cents a minute.

Cheap solution: Hire that outside company to earn their commission wading through the complexities of your long distance plans and maximize your dollars. Consolidate accounts and negotiate with a carrier for better terms. Consider Skype or VOiP, as an alternative. Use e-mail or instant messaging, instead, where it makes sense.

All of this requires getting your employees on board and actually making a concerted effort to change their phone habits. Make a contest out of it, offering prizes to the biggest cost-cutters.

Instead of framing it as just another penny-pinching campaign "by the suits"; frame it in a way that means something to them.

Just like many companies are forming employee-led "green teams" to motivate staff to conserve and recycle for the benefit of the environment; form a "back in black" employee-led team to motivate staff to keep the organization economically lean and mean through what I now call "the hard times".

It may prevent a layoff or two down the line. Now, that's something worth taking the time to pick up the phone book!

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With Windows 7, All Boats Lift

Goodness, I don't know what I'll have to write about when Windows Vista finally ends its cycle and the new of era of Windows 7 comes to be.

As recently as last week, I reported on this blog that PC sales for this year are expected to be much worse than previously projected. U.S. sales are expected to be down more than 11%. The previous title of worst- year- ever goes to 2001, when the PC industry suffered the one-two-three punch of the dotcom bust, the y2k hangover and 9/11. That was a paltry 3% dip in comparison to what we're facing now. Yipes!

Officially, Windows 7 is not expected to launch until January 2010.

That's officially!

Unofficially, word is coming from numerous sources that Microsofties are working around the clock to actually get it out in time to be bundled into PCs for the fourth quarter (Ho Ho Ho!).

As a friend of mine would say, "and there was much rejoicing!", if this is true.

One such source is PC industry analyst Sandeep Agaarwal, from Collins Stewart, who says Microsoft is expected to put the finishing touches on Windows 7 by mid-summer making it possible for it to come out by football season. He also says the next version of Microsoft Office, Office 14, will come out in the first quarter of next year. Office 2007 is actually a great upgrade. We can wait on that one.

An early release of Windows 7, however. That's another story.

How many companies and personal users are dog-paddling by with XP skipping over Vista entirely. I predict, bad economy or not, PC sales will get a healthy bounce when Windows 7 ships.

Let's just hope it's not a dead cat bounce.

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China's 3rd Manned Spaceflight

When I was a kid I watched men land on the moon. Like every kid I wanted to be an astronaut.

Now China is getting in on the act. After a 68 hour flight they touched down in Mongolia, the old fashioned way, with a parachute.

In the last 12 months they've done their 2nd and 3rd manned flights, and their first spacewalk.
Go China.

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Online Advertising During The Hard Times

I refuse to call it a recession anymore. It's obviously more than that. And yet, I don't want to be a hysteric and use the "D" word. So until things get much, much better or worse, it's "the hard times".

Can you tell that I'm not an economist?

It doesn't take an economist, however, to see that these "hard times" are more than just a monetary rough patch. We're going through something and when we come out on the other side it will not be as it was before. Dramatically so, I believe.

I believe media audiences are making a dramatic shift once and for all. Where media audiences go, advertising dollars follow.

One of the top executives at Interpublic Group (one of the world's largest advertising groups) is presenting the results and conclusions of their new research on consumer spending at conference in Sydney, Australia today (yesterday now? tomorrow already? I never can remember!).

Here's the nuggets to know:

- U.S. advertising budgets are expected to tank 20% this year. However, special promotions and public relations will likely stay afloat.

- While economists are predicting "the hard times" to start turning the corner next year some time, after reaching bottom this year; consumers aren't buying it (or much else, it seems).

- Their surveys show people are looking at canceling their cable television subscriptions and landline phone accounts to save money. However, they plan on hanging onto their (read carefully, folks) broadband connections and mobile accounts.

- These same people say when times get better they have no plans on going back. They are making cuts in the way they spend for good.

- Conclusions for small businesses: with your limited ad budgets, spend wisely. Traditional media buys (print, television, etc.) are "out", online advertising and text message ads are "in". We've seen it tilting this way for a few years now.

Here comes the tipping point!

"We're telling clients that while budgets may be cut, don't cut innovation or your commitment to emerging technologies. Because this is where you'll find consumers."

-Nick Brien, Interpublic Group

One other tip: advertising is in free fall. That means there are bargains to be had for the little guys. If you do want to put some money into traditional media buys, there's never been a better time to pick up a lot of loose inventory for pennies on the dollar.

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Confessions of an Dysfunctional E-mail User

Hello, my name is Renee and I have serious e-mail issues. Imagine my secret shame. I am a technology writer with 1967 e-mails currently sitting in my inbox. 666 remain unread (no, I did not make up that number). Some are over a year old.

What has brought me to this sorry state? Let me count the ways:

1. I use my inbox as a "to do" list. I tend to flag e-mails that I need to act on and drag and drop them into the aptly named "needs action" folder. Then, I never look in the folder again, of course.

2. I am an e-pack rat! I am loathe to hit delete because I'm afraid I might need those messages later. This is why I don't subscribe to National Geographic Magazine. It's the same mentality that would compel me to save every issue for fear of never finding that photographic essay on shrimp farming. again. I could easily be one of those people giving away 25 years of back issues at a garage sale someday.

3. You know the old organization tip; never touch a piece of paper more than once? I know, I know; ditto for e-mail.

4. I rarely save attachments to my hard drive, where they belong. Why do that when I can just hit that paper clip button at the top of Outlook and Voila! they are all there bunched up for my easy perusal. I can just cruise through all my e-mails with attachments, open up what I need and close it again when I'm done.

5. Paranoia! What if a boss or colleague is keeping an electronic message trail on me? I better be prepared by doing the same, just in case. What if I need to reconstruct a timeline of my actions on a particular project or issue? What if...

6. Procrastination It's all right there. I am in my e-mail off and on all day. What a great place to leave something that I know I will eventually handle. Uh huh!

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Is Your MSProject File Crummy?

Microsoft Project can confuse people. What are the best practices around how long tasks should be, who should be assigned to what, and how a gantt chart should be constructed?

Now there is a new service called Ontrack, available over the web, where you can upload your MSProject file and get back expert advice on how to make your project successful.

Just upload your file (cheap but not free) and they'll get back to you in a day or so
with what you need to do to execute perfectly on your next project.

It's difficult to spot obvious errors because project schedules are complicated. And, unless you're a schedule expert, it's often challenging to discern what is the "right way" to utilize Microsoft Project. Take a look.

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Give The Cubicle a Proper Burial

Yesterday I called for a proper burial for the desktop PC. It stands to reason that it should really be a double funeral. After all, don't the two go together like peanut butter and jelly? I'm going out on a limb. I think it's time for the cubicle to R.I.P., as well.

Here's why...

The bottomline is that we are an increasingly untethered workforce thanks to mobile technology and remote access to corporate networks. I say this as I sit at home late at night in my pajamas writing this for Inc; so case in point.

To understand why the cubicle should be history, let's review it's history.

The cubicle came on the scene with the best of intentions in Silicon Valley. Cubicle historians (talk about a niche expertise) debate whether it was Intel or Hewlett-Packard that first introduced the cubicle office floor plan to employees. The "beta" version of the cubicle was developed, however, by one Robert Probst who debuted the "Action Office" back in 1968.

Probst believed the individual employee actually needed more space; a little mini office with more counter space to spread out all their papers. In other words, it was those Cat five paper hurricanes of the early information age that propelled the need for cubicles.

So, this would be clue number one that the cube is a dinosaur. Paper hurricanes have been replaced by monsoons of digital documents. We don't need more counter tops; just lots of data storage and easier retrieval.

Here's a couple of footnotes on Robert Probst:

- He worked for Herman Miller; you know the people who invented that high end, ergonomically correct chair that is one of the enduring icons of the tech bubble years. It continues to be the self-proclaimed "official office hockey chair", as well.

- Probst died in 2000. But, before his death even he admitted that cubicles had become "monolithic insanity".

The other big early proponent of the cubicle was David Packard, Sr. and Bill Hewlett of HP acclaim. Also with best intentions, cubicles were a cornerstone of the famous HP way. Cubicles were about bringing employees together encouraging team work and congeniality.

Then Dilbert came along.

By the 80's and 90's, cubicles had become a tiresome symbol of the dehumanization of white collar information jockeys. I can testify on that one. I spent most of the 80's and 90's as one of those dehumanized workers.

The cubicle implied privacy. But it gave none; thanks to low walls and co-workers sitting three feet away with big ears.

The cubicle implied a place for me to express my individuality. But, it's hard to hang family pictures, diplomas and reprints of "Starry, Starry Night" on a wall that is only two feet tall.

The cubicle implied a safe, exclusive space; but, anything more valuable than ten bucks was also fair game to any sticky fingers that might breeze by when I wasn't around.

So now what?

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March 5, 2009

Finally, a Useful Bluetooth Headset

Posted by Curt Finch at 1:11 PM

I'd tried bluetooth headsets and earbuds over the years, always with disappointing results.
Nobody could hear me, it was hard to connect it to my phone and it basically just didn't
ever work.

The folks at BlueAnt have figured it out. I love this thing. I hate to sound like a commercial,
but this video says it all.

I bought mine from a friend who had three of them. You can talk to this thing and it talks back.
Everyone can hear me and it works great. It's about 80 bucks.

I highly recommend this product. If a handsfree headset is useful for you, then get this thing.

They have them at BestBuy, Amazon, wherever.

I can't figure out from their website where the company is based. If you know where it is, drop me a line.

Curt is CEO of a project execution software company in Austin, TX

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March 5, 2009

Let's Give The Desktop a Proper Burial

Posted by Renee Oricchio at 9:00 AM

For those of you who read my blog on any kind of regular basis (Hi, Mom!), you know by now that I like to do things in lists of five. I cannot think of five reasons for the PC industry to keep making desktops. In fact, I can't think of one.

Apparantly, I'm not alone.

IT research and think tank, Gartner, has released its latest projections on computer sales for this year. If they are right, it will indeed be a blue, blue, blue Christmas 2009.

Gartner is projecting that the PC industry will experience its biggest drop in sales since the invention of the abacus, with a worldwide nosedive of 11.9 percent. Just to give you some perspective, that's more than three times the current record holder. In 2001, still reeling from the dot com bubble bursting and the aftermath of 9/11, total sales dropped 3.2 percent.

If Gartner is right, those were the good ole days.

Now, let's look at the numbers within the numbers.

Here's the one that jumped out at me. Desktop sales will be down more than 30%. Excuse me, that's down 30% plus from 2008 - which wasn't exactly a banner year for desktops. And why would it be?

1. Desktops take up too much space and aren't portable. Plus, they are a magnet for dust.

2. How many people are actually tied to their desk all day? Even those who primarily are cubicle bound occasionally work from home or want to take their computer to a meeting or on that rare business trip.

3. Laptops and netbooks are cheap.

4. Towers look ugly actually sitting on a desktop and putting them on the floor is a recipe for constant knee-banging and dust bunnies the size of, well, bunnies, clogging up the fan.

5. Desktops come in too many piecees; keyboards, monitors, a mouse, and the aforementioned tower. Who wants to deal with all that anymore?

It doesn't suprise me one bit that desktop sales projections are so grim.

I wonder what that apocalyptic 11.9% sales drop projection would look like if you just removed the desktop figures?

One final note...

The recession is clearly killing the industry. The other problem; it's the last year of the Windows Vista cycle. Windows 7 can't come out soon enough. I can only imagine how many businesses out there are dog paddling by until next year. I know I am. Why in the world would anyone buy a PC this year with Vista pre-loaded, only to pay for the upgrade to Windows 7 next year?

2009 is looking dismal. But, I have hope for 2010.

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March 4, 2009

Nyetbooks, Er, Uh, I Mean Netbooks

Posted by Renee Oricchio at 9:00 AM

I keep looking at the little suckers and playing around with them. I know some people just love their's. But, buying a netbook is somewhere on my priority list between buying a Kindle 2 and the iPod Touch.

Here's why:

1. You can get a laptop for about the same price (and in some cases, less) and have so much more under the hood.

2. You can get a iPhone or some other smartphone for about the same price and have something even smaller to "just do e-mail, etc.".

3. "Wah! But, I don't like schlepping around my laptop". Are you kidding? Netbooks weigh around three pounds. The smaller laptops weigh around five pounds.

4. Battery time: some of the netbooks have as little as two hours of battery time.

5. Security: shop carefully. Most of the netbooks have the bare minimum in RAM and wimpy processing speed. They tend to ship without much in the way of security or basic malware software because they don't have the juice to run those programs. Also, for IT departments, there's no way to wipe data off the hard drive remotely in the case of theft.

So, what's my problem with the Kindle 2 and the iPod Touch?

Kindle 2: I would love to see it as an application for some piece of hardware I already own and not a whole other device.

iPod Touch: Not enough bang for the buck when you look at how much storage you give up for the priviledge of impressing your friends flicking album covers around with your pointer finger. For the same price, I'd rather be able to store a bazillion more songs. Why would you buy an iPod touch and not an iPhone instead?

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March 3, 2009

Et Tu Melinda

Posted by Renee Oricchio at 9:30 AM

This is just one of those quotes the Microsoft PR people have to ride out and wait for a better day (they have plenty of practice).

Melinda Gates, in a new interview with Vogue, has a lot to say about the Gates Foundation and saving children in Africa - as it should be. However, she apparantly had a little bit to say about the iPhone and iPod.

"There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household," Gates tells me. "But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids." Harsh, perhaps, but understandable. After all, it's hard to walk around tethered to merchandise made by your father's most famous competitor. Still, Gates acknowledges the inevitable lure of forbidden fruit. "Every now and then I look at my friends and say, 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone.'"

Melinda Gates From Vogue.com

Okay, life without an iPhone? Yes, that's possible. Although, I'm not a well-off adolescent holding my own in a ritzy American suburb. No one really cares what kind of mobile device I use. But no iPod!!! Someone may have to call the Department of Family Services (or whatever they call it in Washington State).

Those poor little Gates children.

And, that not so silently suffering Melinda Gates.

No one deserves a Zune for their tunes.

No word from the Ballmer family.

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March 2, 2009

Graphics Tablets for Better Design

Posted by Curt Finch at 1:04 PM

Graphics tablets are computer input devices which let you to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper. The leader in the industry appears to be Wacom. Size is one of the most important factors in choosing one.

I am looking for one because my daughter wants this capability for her birthday. I have a friend who is pretty serious with these kind of devices. Her work is stunning.

I'm trying to figure out how to do this without spending a fortune, and the Bamboo
model from Wacom is looking pretty good at this point, at less than $100.

Now I just need to find her a computer that doesn't flop around on the ground
like a rat with a broken leg. Any advice for that one?

Curt runs a company that helps people with project execution and lives with his wife, kids and a slew of animals in Austin, Texas.

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March 2, 2009

5 Reasons to Buy Refurbished Tech Gear

Posted by Renee Oricchio at 2:00 AM

I'm guessing this is the big reason why you don't consider it for your business, in the first place;

Buying new computers is so cheap to begin with, why bother?

So, let me start there with reason number one;

1. As much as prices have been lowered, you still have to consider how much computing power you actually need. Are you buying too much; beyond the needs of running your applications efficiently, by purchasing new equipment? It may be that a slighty older version is exactly what you need.

2. Refurbished computing equipment is also recycled computing equipment. It's a great way for your business to do its part for the environment. According to research from Gartner, 150 million "obsolete" computers are sitting in storage worldwide.

3. When you purchase refurbished gear, shop wisely. You can get the same warranty protections and service agreements on new gear.

4. Refurbished is not always "used". Again, shop around. Refurbished gear is often "discontinued" or returned gear never even taken out of the box.

5. Refurbished gear is a competitive market. There are generally two ways to go; you can buy directly from the manufacturer or through resellers. All of them want your business, so chances are you will save a significant amount of money even compared to those "rock bottom" prices on new gear.

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