Interviewer: So, Mike, we couldn’t help but notice you haven’t posted much here lately. Care to explain why?
Mike: Well, you see, my interests have been changing over the last 6-months or so, and, frankly, I’m looking to go in a new direction.
I: Care to fill us in?
M: Well, I’ve become tired, yet again, of how my personal blogs ultimately degenerate into a series of rants. Not very useful or inspiring.
I: Does this mean you’re done with blogging?
M: “Done” wouldn’t be the word I’d use. I’ve got a new website in development you see. This time it’s about content. Adding value. Education. Nothing like my angry rants of the past.
I: Sounds a bit interesting… Any idea of a launch date for this revisioned site?
M: For now let’s just go with “soon”. Stay tuned!
I’m geeky enough that I watched the hour long stream of Andy Ihnatko’s reveal of the shipping version of the iPad last night on Leo Laporte’s TWiT network, hosted by Alex Lindsey.
I’m the guy that not only watched the pirated live stream of Steve Job’s presentation of the iPad via the Net (thanks again Leo) but watched the presentation again that evening after downloading the video to my AppleTV.
I love Apple products. I love what they do for me in both my personal and professional life. I’m a big fan.
I cannot see paying for an iPad.
It quickly boils down to this: the iPad does nothing for me that my other technology doesn’t already do better.
That isn’t to say the iPad doesn’t do things better for other people. It doesn’t do much for me. Not $500-$700 worth of “better” anyway.
“If you were looking at a $250 Kindle you must look at the iPad!”
I’m not looking at the Kindle. I don’t read digital books. I barely read books frankly finding my compressed schedule and personal tastes lead me more to 20 minute podcasts and the modern equivelent of the magazine otherwise called a website.
“It is a portable display that is amazing for those websites and those video podcasts!”
I’ve seen the demos and, yes, it is a wonderfully portable interface to both the web and to digital video content. But, so is my iPhone and my Macbook. I’ve already invested, literally, thousands of dollars into these devices. Why add another layer of expense for such little improvement to services I already can access.
“But the iPad is so eligant and easy to take into the field!”
No question. I would much rather carry an iPad instead of a Macbook based solely on size and convenience. But here’s the rub. The Macbook does much more for me than the iPad can ever dream of accomplishing. The Macbook has a full web browser. It has a huge hard drive to bring tons of content with me. My old school white plastic Macbook even has a replacable battery so I have less worry about being without access to my device. I can even use “Back to my Mac” to easily access files that may only exist on my home server with little effort. I have full software applications, not stripped versions, and, well, I have a computer.
“But hauling that beast around with you…”
Since when did a 13″ laptop become too much kit to carry with you? Are we that spoiled that we are willing to give up function for eligance? Not me. Not yet.
“But the touch interface is so awesome!”
It is. I love Apple’s touch interface. That’s why I pay thousands of dollars to carry an iPhone in my pocket everwhere I go. In my life anyway, it is always on the Net, ready to quickly give me basic access to my email, my Twitter and Facebook accounts, and so much more. Along with that, in case some of you have forgotten, it is a darn good phone with robust address management and voicemail support. Add to that nearly all of the functionality that the iPad provides when it comes to media, games, and, well, again, the iPad is better on many levels, but how much better?
The iPad is being marketed as a third device. The reality is that many will try to make it a second or perhaps even a singular device. Why? Because, in the real world, removed from the pundits that can recover a $500+ investment in new technology with a single podcast or published article, the rest of us need to consider what value an iPad provides us versus our opportunity costs.
iPad v1.0 is a sexy thing full of fun and “wow” for those that love tech. I just can’t avoid imagining being frustrated as I discover time and again how often my new iPad, while capable of so much, leaves me wishing it did more.
That new car sure is sexy. A shame it doesn’t have the ability to go to the post office or the grocery store. But, wow, it sure gets you to the airport in record time. But… I don’t go to the airport that often…
The iPad is a luxury right now. It’s the imported bottled water of the tech world. It isn’t a critical “life tool” like cell phones and computers have become. If you have the money, enjoy your luxury.
Me?
Well, I’ll wait until I can truly replace my laptop. I figure… June 2013
Tags: Apple, iPad, technology
For about the last three years various Internet-based Pied Pipers have been preaching, Tweeting, and Facebooking that the key to online business success is customer delight and caring.
Really? That’s all it takes?
What happened to product?
You can give me the world’s biggest warm and fuzzy hug for hours a day, making me feel like your only customer, but unless you have a product or service that improves my life in a measurable way versus the real cost of doing business with you, well, you’re wasting my time.
It isn’t just about money. Entertain me. Advise me. Inspire me. Educate me. Help me in some tangible way.
Having the right glasses on your face, the right hat on your head, the right apps on your phone, the right stickers on your laptop, and the right membership in the right social networks was a fun, yet empty, game we just finished playing. At least I hope that this year’s SXSWi gathering proved that to many of you who really get it.
Serious times need serious people with real solutions and opportunities.
Cool clothes, funky hair, and a business card declaring you’re a “Community Facilitator” is not a business model.
What have you got for me? I mean, you know, really have for me?
If you’re serious… I promise… I’ll listen.
Tags: business
I’m on the inside this time around on the latest generation’s efforts to turn the Internet into sometiming more than a time sink.
In the late ’90s, as most remember, all you had to do is go public with an idea to market a product online and it seemed you would be a paper billionare by morning.
Selling cat food on the Internet? Brilliant! Where can I invest? Only $11 per share? Sweet!
Wait… What? Shipping costs? Delayed satisfaction? Inventory? Easily available in grocery stores? Cat owners don’t use the Internet yet?!?
And before you knew it those $11 shares were worth $.22 if you were lucky.
Sadly for most the reality of an idea and a real business model often failed to connect profitably and the Internet boom died dramatically around the turn of the 21st Century.
Assuming you know your history, fast forward a decade to this year’s gathering in Austin Texas called South by Southwest; better known as SXSW.
The next generation of Internet dreamers, many of whom were left behind or crushed during the previous gold rush, are gathering in Austin this weekend to party in the name of business development.
“See you @ SWSX” is being blasted all over Twitter and Facebook. People fear whether AT&T will be able to handle the demand on their bandwidth as everyone in Austin posts their latest location via FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook, and Gowalla. The “must attend” event of the weekend appears to be the taping of a drunken comedy podcast at one of Austin’s more popular beer and BBQ shacks.
This is 21st Century business?
I’m not so out of it that I don’t see the value in building a personal brand, shaking some hands, and putting faces together with online avatars.
I get that SXSW represents the modern spin on the 1950′s trade convention in Vegas. Party together, shake a few hands, make a few deals…
The problem, as I see it, is that too many in the space still believe that having a strong public personna at SWSX, a popular personal brand, is actually the end game.
Where are the deals?
Your tweets may make me smile. Your drunken stories from SXSW may remind me of my college days, but, seriously, how can you help me make money?
If you can’t answer that question in about 30 seconds then you’re likely in my way and just another wanna-be full of good BBQ and cheap beer.
