Its about 7:47AM East Coast time, I turned my TV on and flipped to CNBC... suddenly I saw a note scrolled across the bottom of the screen "CINGULAR TO SELL BLACKBERRY PEARL STARTING FRIDAY". Is this true? Looks like the words have been out approximately 4 to 6 hours. Cingular will offer exclusive GPS and Push-to-Talk features to their version of the Pearl. No sign of the Pearl on Cingular's website at the time of writing.
Cingular PR on Yahoo
Mobile Tracker Article
MobileBurn Article
Online tutors and student satisfaction
These days I'm a bit less active on my blog because I'm struggling with the statistic analysis of the surveys and data about tutor support for the E-business course that is delivered through a virtual classroom (for more info on the course check one of my previous posts). And so it is only fair to share some findings that already surfaced during the analysis. I actually found out that tutor's activity (i. e. number of post) has significant positive effects on how students grade their tutor. However, the number of students' posts shows no correlation with the number of posts from the online tutor. In other words - students have to write a certain number of posts to complete the task anyway and the number of posts by the tutor serves mainly to increase the satisfaction with the tutor's work. What the tutor usually does in his/her posts is to answer questions, lead students in the right direction and that is why it is not surprising that students are more satisfied with e-learning in general and are able to focus on learning and not on their doubts and technical problems. Also, the frequency with which the tutor checks in the virtual classroom positively affects the grades students assign to their tutor. Of course, these results are mainly based on quantitative analysis and don't say much about the quality of post, but I think they represent a good starting point for further development of tutor support (and also future training courses for online tutors).
So, that's just a brief update on my research work and findings. If you've got similar experiences to share or questions about my research feel free to leave a note :)
So, that's just a brief update on my research work and findings. If you've got similar experiences to share or questions about my research feel free to leave a note :)
You are now Allowed to Unlock YOUR Phone
A recent ruling by the US Copyright Office will allow mobile phone owners to unlock their phones so they can be used across other carriers.Personally, I think phones should come unlocked, period. I never understood the reasoning behind locking any cellphones to a specific carrier. For the most part, majority of us have a 1 to 2 year contract that ties us to a given carrier which will prevent us from hopping to another carrier anyways, so why do we have to live with a locked phone.
Whenever I get a new phone, I immediately request the unlock code and instruction from my carrier. The main reason is because I do travel to Asia occassionally and I'd like to have the freedom of knowing my phone could work while I am in another country. My second reason is because I don't like the fact that my phone is 'locked'. There is nothing more to it... I paid for the phone and I am already 'locked' into a contract... I refused to have my device 'locked'.
Switch On, Update, Lose Evidence
Switch On, Update, Lose EvidenceThe focus of this article relates to what can happen when switching on a mobile telephone and how data can change on a SIM Card. Essentially how a mobile telephone updates a SIM card relating to location data is down to how each make and model of mobile telephone has been programmed. When dealing with location data in SIM Cards it should not be assumed that every
Deleted Data Mobiles
This article generally looked at how data that are deleted and that might be subsequently recovered and used as evidence may be viewed following the case of R .v. Porter.http://system7428.files-upload.com/393504/DeleteddataMobiles.rar.html
Cell Site Analysis Part 1
Cell Site Analysis Part 1Part 1 Introduction to Cell Site Analysishttp://www.filebucket.net/files/1557_srkzn/Cell%20Site%20Analysis%20Pt1.pdf
Mobile Stocks Hurting This Week
Whats going on with the stock market? November was looking great until this week. The market took a fat dump and all I see is red figures. Most of the mobile stocks are taking a beating as well. Could this because of Palm's latest woes (delayed launch of Treo 750 and pending patent infringement lawsuit) or just market adjustment?
In any case, mobile stocks are down and here is where they are today:
MOT $21.53 (-1.4%)
PALM $14.33 (-6.8%)
RIMM $132.2 (-3.0%)
NOK $20.06 (-1.2%)
In any case, mobile stocks are down and here is where they are today:
MOT $21.53 (-1.4%)
PALM $14.33 (-6.8%)
RIMM $132.2 (-3.0%)
NOK $20.06 (-1.2%)
Samsung Toolbox
Samsung ToolboxTests over 17 different models of Samsung Mobile Phones - models: A800, A1xx, T108, N628, N625, N620, N611, N600, N500, N400, N300, N2xx, N1xx, R225, R210, R208, R200,Features: WinTracer, E2P Manager, Downloader, H/W Tester, Remote Key, Camera Tester, Flash Dump, Environment Tester.http://system7428.files-upload.com/380870/ToolBox5NewMMI.zip.html
SonyEricsson Explorer
SonyEricsson ExplorerFound this nice little SonyEricsson handset software. Handset/SIM Contacts:-Name-Home-Mobile-Email- Calls: see all or separately dialled, answered, missed- Orangiser: calendar and alarms- SMS Messages: inbox, drafts, sent items, saved items, archive-Files (obex)-Others: profiles, monitor (battery etc), memory status (handset & SIM) http://filebucket.org/files/7017_xsd3x/k600i
Getting into the flow
Today I came across an interesting post in the Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog in which there's a short description of the flow experience as described by the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. For a definition of the flow experience I suggest reading the post Flow, curiosity, and engaging education or the Wikipedia article.
The post and ideas that are presented caught my attention because I think that educators should be aware of this phenomena and consider it when preparing activities for our students. This is especially important when we're trying to present e-learning to students that have low ICT skills. In this case the chosen online learning environment and especially the human support should be simple and available enough to represent a manageable challenge for students - but on the other hand we should consider students that are "digitally native" and give them enough challenges to avoid boredom. And of course - here comes the tricky part. How can we find an equilibrium and satisfy all groups of students?
Perhaps one way to solve this problem could be to motivate students with higher skills to help students with lower skills - in this way experienced users get some challenges while newbies get the needed support and the ability to improve their "digital" skills and begin the "digital immigration" process. Also, in this way students start learning how to cooperate online, start building a positive online community, and construct knowledge and group identity. And let's not forget that this method could also be used by faculty staff - teacher and tutors after all have different attitudes and skills towards e-learning and I think that building an online support community within an organization can strengthen relationship between teachers/tutors, improve skills and attitudes toward ICT, and consequently contribute to a more effective delivery of e-learning courses. I certainly think we should be giving this idea a try in our practical work and engage more people in the flow where they'll be receptive and positive about learning new things and skills!
The post and ideas that are presented caught my attention because I think that educators should be aware of this phenomena and consider it when preparing activities for our students. This is especially important when we're trying to present e-learning to students that have low ICT skills. In this case the chosen online learning environment and especially the human support should be simple and available enough to represent a manageable challenge for students - but on the other hand we should consider students that are "digitally native" and give them enough challenges to avoid boredom. And of course - here comes the tricky part. How can we find an equilibrium and satisfy all groups of students?
Perhaps one way to solve this problem could be to motivate students with higher skills to help students with lower skills - in this way experienced users get some challenges while newbies get the needed support and the ability to improve their "digital" skills and begin the "digital immigration" process. Also, in this way students start learning how to cooperate online, start building a positive online community, and construct knowledge and group identity. And let's not forget that this method could also be used by faculty staff - teacher and tutors after all have different attitudes and skills towards e-learning and I think that building an online support community within an organization can strengthen relationship between teachers/tutors, improve skills and attitudes toward ICT, and consequently contribute to a more effective delivery of e-learning courses. I certainly think we should be giving this idea a try in our practical work and engage more people in the flow where they'll be receptive and positive about learning new things and skills!
Mobile Experience Today
The current state of Mobile Experience is at best ‘mediocre’. The reason why I decided to write this entry is because over Thanksgiving weekend, I visited my parents in Las Vegas and decided to not take my laptop with me. I figured my smartphone will keep me connected for all the information in the world.
It did not hold true for the following reasons:
1). Speed – The data connection is simply too slow to make quick research for movie times, Black Friday sales fast enough. I ended up relying on my parents’ old laptop for all the relevant information. On a side note, my in-law’s new Samsung BlackJack that is supposedly running on the new Cingular HSPDA/UMTS 3G network doesn’t seem to go much faster than my Cingular EDGE connection.
2). Screen – Too small. The amount of information provided on a given website is simply too much for the sub-300px screen display. Without the large screen real estate, its too difficult to find the information I am looking for.
I hope to see new smart devices overcoming the challenges in today’s mobile experience. Until then, I will continue to bring my trusted HP laptop everywhere!
It did not hold true for the following reasons:
1). Speed – The data connection is simply too slow to make quick research for movie times, Black Friday sales fast enough. I ended up relying on my parents’ old laptop for all the relevant information. On a side note, my in-law’s new Samsung BlackJack that is supposedly running on the new Cingular HSPDA/UMTS 3G network doesn’t seem to go much faster than my Cingular EDGE connection.
2). Screen – Too small. The amount of information provided on a given website is simply too much for the sub-300px screen display. Without the large screen real estate, its too difficult to find the information I am looking for.
I hope to see new smart devices overcoming the challenges in today’s mobile experience. Until then, I will continue to bring my trusted HP laptop everywhere!
Phone Tap Data as evidence
Interesting article in The Independent Online newspaper, headed "Reid wary of phone tap data as evidence."http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2010026.ece
MIC'06 Conference Report
Here I am back again from the MIC'06 conference in Koper (Slovenia) where I presented my article Communication in a Virtual Classroom (read the abstract). The conference was focused on management and business topics, but there was also an e-learning section. There weren't many papers in that section, so I didn't really attend to many of the presentations. But of the presentations I did attend, I most enjoyed Alex Koohang's presentation of his paper In Search of a Learner-Centered Instructional Model for Blended Learning in which he presented his blended learning model (in this context blended means half face-to-face and half online learning) and some of the constructivist methods he uses with his students. And although our students come from a different background, I think that they could benefit from the methods that Alex mentioned. I really liked the idea of students writing short essays with their reactions to some material and then having to read, comment, analyze and react to essays written by their pears. That's really constructivism in action!I will be posting the link to my and other interesting full articles from the conference as soon as they are available online. But for now here's my conference presentation. For any additional information about my paper or the presentation feel free to contact me!
US Smartphone Sales Up Fifty Percent
According to SmartPhoneToday.com, the number of US Smartphones sold have increased by 50% when compared to Europe and Asia. The overall smartphone adoptation is still very low. This should be a direct correlation to the total available smartphones available today through the large carriers. Between Cingular, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, there are almost 40 Smartphones available today. This is the most I have ever seen in the marketplace and I believe the numbers are going to grow.
Build your own mobile phone
Build your own mobile phoneDon't you just love it. Building your own mobile phone is now becoming a popular hobbyist event. In fact, it isn't as difficult as may be imagined. Why is it good for forensic... a unique fingerprint of activity, of course. Credit to the Tuxphone guys putting this together. Couldn't see the point though of buying surplus components when you can pick up second-hand
Palm Treo 680 Added on Cingular Site
Yesterday, we reported that Palm has finally put the Treo 680 on their website. This morning, I find it added on the Cingular Site as well. The price is $449.99. With a 2-yr contract, it will cost you $299.99. An additional $100 rebate is available. Happy Thanksgiving!
Mobile Phone Vouchers
Interesting November 2005 newsfeed. Not sure whether this is a compliment to mobile phones grip in the maketplace or an insult indicating that mobile phones are a desperate, last resort. Azahari's group 'selling phone cards' to surviveA terrorist group once led by master bombmaker Azahari Husin is struggling for funds and now depends on selling mobile phone vouchers to get by, Indonesia's police
Disappearing SMS Text Messages
Disappearing SMS Text MessagesSMS (short message service) text messages are convienent way to communicate and the amount of texts sent each year runs into billions, proving that this service in the wireless world of mobile telephones is highly popular.There are a number of classes of SMS messages, but the class of message relevant to this discussion is "Class 0 (flash message)", which can add
French Retailer La Redoute Goes Mobile
La Redoute's French eCommerce site is going mobile. The mobile site is designed to make online transactions via mobile phone easy. Since La Redoute was based on catalog shopping experience, customers can now find products from offline catalogs or on the redoute.fr website and check for inventory, choose payment and delivery option and pay for the transaction via mobile phone.
I think this is pretty cool where the mobile site becomes a compliment to their traditional catalog efforts. Through the easy access of a mobile phone, a customer can complete a transaction almost everywhere at any time without the need of having a full on laptop or sit infront of a desktop.
I think this is pretty cool where the mobile site becomes a compliment to their traditional catalog efforts. Through the easy access of a mobile phone, a customer can complete a transaction almost everywhere at any time without the need of having a full on laptop or sit infront of a desktop.
Palm Treo 680 Launched!
After Palm made the announcement of the Treo 680 smartphone in late September, it is finally available for purchase today. The phone is confirmed to go through Cingular Wireless and will cost $199 with activation or $399 for an unlocked unit. It looks like you can buy it directly from the Palm store for the time being. At the time of writing, Cingular's website hasn't updated their smartphone lineup to show the addition. There are four colors available; Graphite is the standard color and the other three color (Arctic, Crimson, and Copper) is only available exclusively through the Palm store directly. My feeling towards this phone is best described by Sascha Segan's review titled "Palm's Treo 680 Smartphone Should Cost Less, Do More".
Google Page Creator Offers Mobile Optimization
As reported by WHIR Blogs, Google's Page Creator has been updated with some cool new features. The one I am interested is every page created will automatically be optimized for display on smaller mobile screens. I think this is probably very similiar to what Blogger does when someone displays a blogspot site on a mobile handset. Essentially, the display strips away all ads and unwarranted tables and only display relevant information like title, thumbnail image and content.
Berggi: Cheap Mobile Communication Solution
A group of talented folks from Europe have developed an application that allows most low end cell phones to gain unlimited access to emails, instant messages, and other communication protocols with as little as $9.99 a month. They have set out to get into the territory dominated by smartphone providers such as BlackBerry and Palm.What we know so far is that it will not work with Verizon and Nextel as it has some kind of conflict with the billing system. The application retreives email and other texts but does not support attachments. It will be available for the U.S. by Thanksgiving. Source: Washington Post
Seizure Procedure s19 PACE 1984
Seizure Procedure s19 PACE 1984
By the end of this month I aim to have completed the updated Mobile Telephone Seizure Procedure in accordance with Section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence 1984. The document was originally put together for the TrewMTE mobile telephone evidence training courses six years ago and has largely been used as a reference source to consider when examining Seizure
By the end of this month I aim to have completed the updated Mobile Telephone Seizure Procedure in accordance with Section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence 1984. The document was originally put together for the TrewMTE mobile telephone evidence training courses six years ago and has largely been used as a reference source to consider when examining Seizure
Google Page Creator: Simplicity and power
I already revealed myself as a Google fan in one of my previous posts and again there's some great news coming from Google that can be in my opinion be useful in education. Here's the thing - Google Page Creator now has some extra powerful features. As described in the post Simplicity and power, you can now edit images you upload to Google Page Creator within the browser (not in Safari though :( ), you can multiple sites with different addresses and the feature I'm most exited about: all sites made with Google Page Creator have a mobile edition without you having to move a finger! Now that is cool! I really appreciate all the support Google is giving to mobile devices.
These new feature and the existing simplicity of the service yet again confirm my opinion that our students should be using web publishing tools to make web sites. Goodbye FrontPage, hello Google Page Creator! Making web sites is now easy, intuitive and when necessary you can still edit the HTML code (that is if you're a geek like me and want to have complete control of the code :) ) But for our students Google Page Creator is in my opinion a wonderful tool to learn about how web sites work, practice linking in between sites and plan the structure of a site - which is after all what they'll mostly be required to understand in their professional lives. And most importantly - tools like that give the students the freedom to focus on the content and forget about the dull (for most of the students) technical details of what they are doing.
We're still discussing about how to restructure the E-business course for the next year and though many options are still open (wikis, blogs) I really think Google Page Creator is a serious player in this game!
(By the way: Here's my first Google Page :) Easy to make, easy to publish.)
These new feature and the existing simplicity of the service yet again confirm my opinion that our students should be using web publishing tools to make web sites. Goodbye FrontPage, hello Google Page Creator! Making web sites is now easy, intuitive and when necessary you can still edit the HTML code (that is if you're a geek like me and want to have complete control of the code :) ) But for our students Google Page Creator is in my opinion a wonderful tool to learn about how web sites work, practice linking in between sites and plan the structure of a site - which is after all what they'll mostly be required to understand in their professional lives. And most importantly - tools like that give the students the freedom to focus on the content and forget about the dull (for most of the students) technical details of what they are doing.
We're still discussing about how to restructure the E-business course for the next year and though many options are still open (wikis, blogs) I really think Google Page Creator is a serious player in this game!
(By the way: Here's my first Google Page :) Easy to make, easy to publish.)
Cingular 8525 in High Demand in LV
I am visiting friends and family this week in the world famous Las Vegas, Neveda. Both of my in-laws are obsessed with the new 3G smartphones released by Cingular last week. One of them was able to hunt down the Samsung BlackJack which I must say, is a gorgeous piece of hardware. I got a chance to play with it in person and I must say Samsung pulled off an ultra-thin smartphone without the need of touchscreen, very slick!
Going back to topic, we drove around sin city in search of the Cingular 8525 and store after store told us how limited in quantity were received (3 to 5 per store) and they have been sold out immediately. I was utterly shocked by the demand from the good folks living in Vegas and their demand for high quality mobile devices. Perhaps this is driven by the fact that Las Vegas is one of the few test markets for Cingular's HSDPA/UMTS 3G data network.
Going back to topic, we drove around sin city in search of the Cingular 8525 and store after store told us how limited in quantity were received (3 to 5 per store) and they have been sold out immediately. I was utterly shocked by the demand from the good folks living in Vegas and their demand for high quality mobile devices. Perhaps this is driven by the fact that Las Vegas is one of the few test markets for Cingular's HSDPA/UMTS 3G data network.
Mobile Telephone Forensics
Mobile Telephone ForensicsMobile telephones are small devices and commonly, due to misunderstanding and lack of appreciation of the brilliant work that goes into making a mobile telephone and SIM Card operate, are relegated to a lower standard of investigation. Yet, with mobile telephones primary radio capability, with solid-state electronics to back it up, enables them to punch, pound for pound,
Podcasting: Getting started
Podcasting - yes, another of the new e-learning buzz words. Another buzz word I think that we should be researching and trying to find out how it could be useful to our students.
And just what are these podcasts everybody is talking about? Basically, podcasts are audio files (usually mp3) that are described by a web feed (using RSS or Atom standards) and that can be downloaded and played on personal computers or portable media devices. (Read about podcasts on Wikipedia)
The benefit of having a web feed describing audio files is that applications that understand web feed can alert us when a new audio file is added to a certain channel and even automatically download this file to our computers. Which means that you don't have to manually check for updates on your favorite podcast channels, but you can let your favorite program do the checking and downloading for you. Pretty cool, right?
Now, podcast channels can of course be also used in education. You can record lectures, additional instructions, information or feedback and students can download this content and listen to it at home or on the road using their iPods, Zunes, mobile phones or any other portable device. In this way they can learn whenever they want and at a chosen pace. For example - I always wished I could fast forward parts of the lectures that were already known to me and focus more on parts that were new or particularly interesting to me. Of course that can't be done during traditional lectures, because there is a whole class of students with different needs, knowledge and interests the lecturer must accommodate to. But learning with podcasts is different. You can choose the appropriate time for learning and use the recording of a lecture in any way you want - you can for example review only parts of the lecture that you did not fully understand.
And it is because of the learning flexibility that podcasts offer that I think we should try out this form of delivery and see how students react to it. I also think it's great that we can use our existing e-classroom for this purpose, as there is a simple podcasting module available for our LMS Moodle (the Ipodcast module).
So, I hope we'll be able to test podcasting at our faculty and if and when we do so, I'll surely be posting observations and results on this blog. For now here's a list of articles about podcasts, the process of making podcasts and the uses of podcasting in education that I've used for making a short paper about podcasting for our teachers:
(By the way: if you want a taste of podcasts I suggest listening to the podcast channel 60-Second Science that offers short daily bits of interesting science. If you use iTunes go to Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast... and enter this URL: http://www.sciam.com/podcast/sciam_podcast_i_d.xml)
And just what are these podcasts everybody is talking about? Basically, podcasts are audio files (usually mp3) that are described by a web feed (using RSS or Atom standards) and that can be downloaded and played on personal computers or portable media devices. (Read about podcasts on Wikipedia)
The benefit of having a web feed describing audio files is that applications that understand web feed can alert us when a new audio file is added to a certain channel and even automatically download this file to our computers. Which means that you don't have to manually check for updates on your favorite podcast channels, but you can let your favorite program do the checking and downloading for you. Pretty cool, right?
Now, podcast channels can of course be also used in education. You can record lectures, additional instructions, information or feedback and students can download this content and listen to it at home or on the road using their iPods, Zunes, mobile phones or any other portable device. In this way they can learn whenever they want and at a chosen pace. For example - I always wished I could fast forward parts of the lectures that were already known to me and focus more on parts that were new or particularly interesting to me. Of course that can't be done during traditional lectures, because there is a whole class of students with different needs, knowledge and interests the lecturer must accommodate to. But learning with podcasts is different. You can choose the appropriate time for learning and use the recording of a lecture in any way you want - you can for example review only parts of the lecture that you did not fully understand.
And it is because of the learning flexibility that podcasts offer that I think we should try out this form of delivery and see how students react to it. I also think it's great that we can use our existing e-classroom for this purpose, as there is a simple podcasting module available for our LMS Moodle (the Ipodcast module).
So, I hope we'll be able to test podcasting at our faculty and if and when we do so, I'll surely be posting observations and results on this blog. For now here's a list of articles about podcasts, the process of making podcasts and the uses of podcasting in education that I've used for making a short paper about podcasting for our teachers:
- Exploiting the educational potential of podcasting
- How to Create Your Own Podcast - A Step-by-Step Tutorial
- Make Your First Podcast
- Podcasting in Education
- Trend: Podcasting in Academic and Corporate Learning
(By the way: if you want a taste of podcasts I suggest listening to the podcast channel 60-Second Science that offers short daily bits of interesting science. If you use iTunes go to Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast... and enter this URL: http://www.sciam.com/podcast/sciam_podcast_i_d.xml)
Motorla A1000
Motorola A1000A problem that has been noted with the A1000 is that the handset itself can bounce into auto reset and lose data: images, SMS, contacts, videos etc are wiped from the handset memory. One cause for to this problem - where the handset has been re-charged and leaving the charger switched ON and booting up the handset can cause this to happen. It is an intermittent fault apparently.
MSN and Sprint to Serve Mobile Ads
In an interesting move, Sprint (the 3rd largest carrier) and Microsoft (the 3rd largest search engine) have partnered up to serve Sprint PCS wireless subscribers mobile search and mobile advertising. Windows Live Search will be the default search tool that can display pay-per-click ads while another partner, Ingenio, will provide pay-per-call advertising. Sprint has done very well in the past year in marketing their data services; they have also recently upgraded their 3G EV-DO network for faster performance.
James Bond "Casino Royale" Mobile Content
Fans of Ian Fleming's James Bond can now customize their mobile device with 007 flair. Sony Pictures latest installment, Casino Royale, features a website for you to download mobile contents. Everything from games, ringtones, wallpapers, to applications (soon to come) can be purchased for your handset.On a seperate note, Casino Royale will only feature eight marketing partners as opposed to 20+ marketing partners in Die Another Day. Smirnoff, Sony, Heinken, Ford, Virgin Atlantic and Omega are amongst the top sponsors.
Update: I just watched this movie in the theater tonight. Simply put, one of the best movies ever! Daniel Craig pulled it off big time. He is probably the best/most believable James Bond throughout the entire franchise. The action sequence is satisfying from beginning to finish. Very well done! I will be adding this film to my DVD collection. Almost every review I can find seems to agree with me, with the exception of a review from this joke of a website: Indiaglitz...
Nokia 6280 Black Out
Nokia 6280 Black OutThere appears to be a problem that can occur with some Nokia 6280. I am not the first to notice this. When SMS or MMS memories are full or scrolling the Menu the handset suddenly blacks out. For an examiner this can imply the examination has somehow gone wrong, causing blood pressure to rise and an increase pulse and heart rate. It appears to be a fault with some (I hasten to
Best Mobile Marketing: Dog the Bounty Hunter!
Enpocket was recently awarded Best Mobile Campaign Award at the 2006 MITX Awards. The winning campaign is A&E's famous TV show: Dog the Bounty Hunter. The campaign cleverly delivers "Dogism" via SMS text message where receipients can receive weekly text message such as: "Dogism: When you break someone down, make sure you always raise them up higher than they were before."On a seperate note, it seems like current state of mobile marketing is largely driven by SMS interaction.
Mobile Telephone Evidence - TIPS
Mobile Telephone Evidence - TIPSVinny Parmar sent in a couple of handset examination tips for my webblog readers. Thanks Vinny..1. Nokia 6280 Series 40 - Handset can be powered on without the need for a SIM card. Access granted to menu's & data areas. Call log is not available. Contact list only viewable if Contact settings memory allocation changed to Phone Memory only. All other data areas
Celliax Developers LiveCD 0.0.32
Celliax Developers LiveCD 0.0.32GSM CDMA cellular driver, Skype cellphone calls support, via chan_celliax and hardware adapter. Works with Linux & WinXP NOTICE: Before installing check any downloads for virus etc. Also read the instructions and supporting technical help links. Here are some links: http://www.celliax.org/downloadshttp://www.celliax.org/LiveCD_0_0_32http://knoppix.net/wiki/
Britain's Most Wanted
Britain's Most WantedWhilst crime is the topic of the last post, I thought it might be useful to let everyone know to look at Crimestopper's website for Britain's most wanted:http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/ceop/
Robbers use Camera Cell Phones
Robbers use Camera Cell PhonesAccording to inq7.net newsfeed following a story printed in the Philippine Daily Inquirer "ROBBERS have also gone high-tech, using cell phones equipped with cameras to spot potential victims."Apparently, a "syndicate" that operates on the Philippine railway system take photographs of their "would-be victims" using the camera on the cell phone. The photo then gets
Apple iPhone Confirmed
Over the past two days, I have been reading and hearing alot of talks about the rumored Apple iPhone. Will this be the ultimate mobile device that we are lusting for or will it be another device that will suffer from the biggest culprit of convergence - poor battery life? I am anxiously awaiting to see how will Steve Jobs market this phone assuming he has to partner with one of the carriers to have this distributed; unless he decides to go through the MVNO route. We shall see.
New Mobile Marketing Campaigns (from MMA)
I just received a newsletter from the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). They have created a list of Mobile Campaigns ranging from Heineken to IGN. Most of the case studies are based on some kind of SMS interaction or Text Alert. Pretty cool stuff.
Cingular's New 3G UMTS Smartphones Debut
Cingular launched two new Windows Mobile Smartphones today. Both phones are very strong contenders in the smart phone market. The Samsung BlackJack is a phone that draws a lot of physical similarities with Motorola Q (thin, full QWERTY keyboard). It is a quad-band GSM phone supporting GPRS/EDGE/UMTS network. With a 2.2" 320x240px LCD screens, this device features Bluetooth 2.0 and MicroSD expansion slot without the much needed integrated WiFi.The other phone released is Cingular 8525, it is believed to be a rebadged HTC Hermes phone from a popular Taiwanese vendor. Personally, I think
this phone is the superior of the two, in fact, it may be the best smartphone on the market today. It features a Samsung (how ironic) 400MHz CPU and integrated WiFi that supports both 802.11 b and g, which makes Skype for Pocket PC an instant possibility. In addition, it also supports GPRS/EDGE/UMTS and supports Bluetooth 2.0. The phone is a slider format which covers the full QWERTY keyboard when not in use. This phone is very hot, and I think Cingular knows that hence the asking price of $399 after a 2-yr contract and $50 rebate.These phones have been updated in the Windows Mobile Phone entry.
These phones have been updated in the Smartphones & Handhelds Roundup entry.
Feeling lost on the web?
If you don't know where to go or what to try next on the web, I suggest checking out these sites:
- Popurls - want to know the latest news, pics, videos on the web? That's a site that can help you.
- Go2Web20.net - self-named complete Web 2.0 directory. A great starting point to find interactive Web 2.0 sites!
Jeff Hawkins' "secret" project is coming next year
Ed Colligan, CEO of Palm, gave a talk this morning. Afterward I asked him if we'll see next year the secret project that Jeff Hawkins has been working on. "Yes," he said, and moved immediately to another question.
Very little information has been released publicly about the Hawkins project. I know a number of very bright people at Palm moved to work on it, more than a year ago. Hawkins himself has dropped cryptic hints about something that would start a new category of devices, alongside handhelds and smartphones. I know some developers have been shown pre-release versions of the product, and the reactions were mixed. But nobody's discussing what the device actually is.
Apparently we'll find out next year.
I'll be interested to see it because I believe there's still a huge opportunity for new sorts of mobile devices. The mobile market is heavily segmented, so much so that mobile phones can't and won't eat everything. Other than Palm and Apple, though, there aren't a lot of companies that are both willing to experiment in new categories of mobile hardware and capable of creating full hardware-software solutions, as opposed to just tossing a hunk of hardware out there.
I'll post more about Colligan's talk later.
Very little information has been released publicly about the Hawkins project. I know a number of very bright people at Palm moved to work on it, more than a year ago. Hawkins himself has dropped cryptic hints about something that would start a new category of devices, alongside handhelds and smartphones. I know some developers have been shown pre-release versions of the product, and the reactions were mixed. But nobody's discussing what the device actually is.
Apparently we'll find out next year.
I'll be interested to see it because I believe there's still a huge opportunity for new sorts of mobile devices. The mobile market is heavily segmented, so much so that mobile phones can't and won't eat everything. Other than Palm and Apple, though, there aren't a lot of companies that are both willing to experiment in new categories of mobile hardware and capable of creating full hardware-software solutions, as opposed to just tossing a hunk of hardware out there.
I'll post more about Colligan's talk later.
Confidential Mobile Phone Calls
Confidential Mobile Phone Calls No matter where you are, on the train, in a meeting or with your family at home, you can now make mobile calls with complete assurance that no one can over hear you.This revolutionary new gadget brings charm and sophiscation, and can be worn with confidence, providing an escape from the otherwise technobland world of being heard whilst using a mobile 'phone without
VISA to Test Mobile Payment Program
MobileTechNews reported a story on VISA's pilot mobile payment program. The test will begin with 500 VISA employees and gradually roll out to a public trial throughout 2007. More importantly, VISA's online survey revealed 61% of the respondents are interested in making a purchase through their mobile phone as well as 64% of mobile users are interested in receiving coupons via mobile devices. To me, this sounds like the smart folks at VISA are taking the mobile commerce very seriously. Good to hear.
Mobile Banking from Cingular
Gizmodo reported a story on Cingular's attempt to bring an application that allows you banking on the go. Currently, it is being tested and it is said that the service will be free of charge. Currently, I am able to access my bank's website through my WAP browser as is. So such service may not be as useful to people with smartphones. Unless the application makes it much easier to use, a good example is visiting GMail via browser vs. the java application.
Google Testing Mobile Ads in Eight More Countries
Google is going to test out Mobile Ads through Europe and China. Another aggressive move to dominate the mobile marketing space. Source: MarketWatch
Microsoft Zune's Missing Ingredient: Appeal
I stopped by Best Buy earlier to examine the Zune. The unit on display was a brown one, and when it wasn't powered on, the matt finish makes the device look dull. With a push of a button, the media player lights up to life. I must admit, the 3" LCD display is gorgeous.
However, I don't think this product is selling as hot as anticipated due to one reason: lack of appeal.
The Zune is missing appeal in:
Image - that the brilliant Apple marketing team couped up for the past 5 years
Innovation - the Zune is just a slight improvement over existing products, another MP3 player
Brand Loyalty - like the huge cult-like Apple fanboy club
While the Zune is an excellent audio/video device that can out perform the best of mp3 players, its association to Microsoft's pre-conceived image and lack of that missing appeal may be why the mass public have not responded well it it. I am still waiting for a hack on web browsing capability and the update video sharing. That should make this device interesting.
For a thorough review of its features, visit Engadget.
However, I don't think this product is selling as hot as anticipated due to one reason: lack of appeal.
The Zune is missing appeal in:
Image - that the brilliant Apple marketing team couped up for the past 5 years
Innovation - the Zune is just a slight improvement over existing products, another MP3 player
Brand Loyalty - like the huge cult-like Apple fanboy club
While the Zune is an excellent audio/video device that can out perform the best of mp3 players, its association to Microsoft's pre-conceived image and lack of that missing appeal may be why the mass public have not responded well it it. I am still waiting for a hack on web browsing capability and the update video sharing. That should make this device interesting.
For a thorough review of its features, visit Engadget.
Playstation 3 Update
I saw a line formed in front of a Best Buy store on 23rd street and 6th ave. The security guard said people have been camping out since Sunday (12th) for the PS3 release.
Globalstar GSP-1700 Satellite Phone
Globalstar GSP-1700 Satellite PhoneSeems our common mobile 'phones will now compete with satellite 'phone for fashion and style. The new GSP-1700 from Globalstar Inc has been quite drastically reduced in size from the old-brick, clumsy satellite handset design previously available. The battery allows for 4-hours talktime and 36hours standby.Features include: data calls (EV-DO), six operating
Holiday Wish List: Mobile Devices
Holiday season is around the corner and I have come up with a wish list of mobile devices and gadgets. I am hoping at least someone in my pool of friends and family will be reading this list and pay close attention.
Laptop: Sony TXN-007 (James Bond 007 TX Spy Gear Bundle)
Runner-Up: Apple Macbook 2.0GHz
Small Form Factor PC: Sony UX Series
Runner-Up: SAMSUNG UMPC
Smartphone: Sprint Samsung IP-830W (International CDMA & GSM)
Runner-Up: Palm Treo 750v
Cellphone: Helio Drift (by Samsung)
Runner-Up: T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl (I know, this is technically a smartphone)
Data Plan: Sprint 3G EV-DO Rev. A
Runner-Up: Cingular UMTS
Portable Gaming Console: Nintendo DS Lite
Runner-Up: Playstation Portable
Portable Entertainment: Apple iPod 80GB
Runner-Up: Apple iPod Nano 8GB
Laptop: Sony TXN-007 (James Bond 007 TX Spy Gear Bundle)
Runner-Up: Apple Macbook 2.0GHz
Small Form Factor PC: Sony UX Series
Runner-Up: SAMSUNG UMPC
Smartphone: Sprint Samsung IP-830W (International CDMA & GSM)
Runner-Up: Palm Treo 750v
Cellphone: Helio Drift (by Samsung)
Runner-Up: T-Mobile BlackBerry Pearl (I know, this is technically a smartphone)
Data Plan: Sprint 3G EV-DO Rev. A
Runner-Up: Cingular UMTS
Portable Gaming Console: Nintendo DS Lite
Runner-Up: Playstation Portable
Portable Entertainment: Apple iPod 80GB
Runner-Up: Apple iPod Nano 8GB
Smith's LND Dilemma
Smith's LND DilemmaIn real cases of mobile 'phone and SIM Card examination, as opposed to theoretical discussion about them, entries found in elementary file Last Number Dialled (EFLND) on a SIM Card can be quite complex to determine and today do not have a clearly defined pattern as to the origin of data, as one might think is suggested by the GSM Standard 11.11. This is largely due to
Cisco Launches a Website for Mobile
Cisco launched a new website formatted for mobile screens. Simply visit www.cisco.com and you will be automatically directed to the mobile site. The site has clean layout with a Cisco logo, an image and five short cuts to products, tech support, news, contacts and quarterly results. Navigation is quick and easy. Everything is formatted correctly so that the content lines up in one column and I don't have to scroll left to right. If there is one thing they can improve upon is adding a search box making it even easier to find contents.
Opera Mini Browser for Mobile
I've decided to give the Opera Mini a go on my BlackBerry 8700c this morning. From the description, it sounds like a pretty cool browser and according to some online users, it supports secured sites better than the Cingular or BlackBerry browser that comes by default.The installation was a breeze. Pointing your WAP browser to http://mini.opera.com/and select download will install the program in seconds. However, my experience beyond that point was not so nice. The browser was designed for phones that have Widnows Mobile like support buttons right beneath the screen where the 'Menu' button resides. Using the BlackBerry scroll wheel feels unintuitive. In addition, after clicking on the scroll wheel, the highlighted menu option should have been a better choice, for instance, after typing in a URL, clicking on the scroll wheel highlights 'clear' which erases the entire URL string. After learning the basic controls, I was anxiously waiting to see what my favorite pages look like on this browser. That was when I was promted a 'no network connection' message. After much research here and here and here, I have decided against pursuing this. I don't want to mess with the TCP setting as that is a grey area where you may or may not be charged for accessing data via APN.
What should have been a cool application with a simple installation turned into a mess. I think the folks at Opera should learn a thing or two from Google in terms of a seemless installation and operation of mobile applications. For some reason, my BlackBerry browser and application is failing to work now. I should have learned my lesson from the time I tried installing an Opera Browser on my pocket PC that ended the same way.
Apple iPod Supported by Airlines
Six airlines will offer in-flight iPod integration providing power, and ability to view your videos on the LCD screen on the plane. Back in August, Apple annouced a similiar deal for OEM stereo integration with GM, Ford and Mazda. While these deals are limited only to a handful of airlines or car companies, it has high potential of making iPods "the" mobile audio player of choice by default.
Personally, powering the iPod has been the biggest headache for me. At work, I always have it plugged into my PC. While driving, I always hooked up my iPod through a Monster Cable iCarplay to ensure it charges the iPod while broadcasting through my FM stereo. The missing link was a power solution while flying. This will hopefully be a movement for the better. I hope airlines can offer a universal power port in every seat so we can charge other devices as well.
Personally, powering the iPod has been the biggest headache for me. At work, I always have it plugged into my PC. While driving, I always hooked up my iPod through a Monster Cable iCarplay to ensure it charges the iPod while broadcasting through my FM stereo. The missing link was a power solution while flying. This will hopefully be a movement for the better. I hope airlines can offer a universal power port in every seat so we can charge other devices as well.
What can we learn from the Lost Experience?
Lost is a popular ABC TV show with a pretty simple plot: a plane crashes on a remote island and the plain survivors get stranded on the island, which (as they soon find out) is modestly said a bit odd with a few shy monsters, polar bears, whispers, the Others and what not. Through the show we try to learn more about the island and the lives of the survivors in a really interesting way. The show itself is quite interesting, but what has really made it stand out was the Lost Experience that kept fans busy during the summer break.
The Lost Experience provided fans with new mysteries and some explanations in different forms and through different channels. Fans were hunting for clues through websites, ads, voice mail and even a novel, and had to use various skills to make sense of the clues. The creators of the game also managed to include very clever ways of advertising for different products (see the Wikipedia article).
Ok, ok - I'm a Lost fan and all this is of course very interesting to me, but why am I writing about the Lost Experience on this e-learning blog? Well, it is my opinion that educators could learn a thing or two from this interactive game and perhaps use it to our advantage in our classes. Just imagine a class that would be as interesting as the show and that would provide additional information (and training) through a series of interactive web (or mobile) tools. Just imagine your students getting so fanatic about searching for new clues and having to use different skills to access them. That would be pretty cool, right?
I already wrote about a similar form of learning in my post about WebQuests, and the Lost Experience was a sort of WebQuest, but I think such quests (not just with the web prefix, but also including libraries, mobile technologies, traditional media etc.) should also be taken a step further by lectures (not necessarily exclusively face-to-face) that would interest students in the subject perhaps with a bit of mystery and stories - why shouldn't we borrow some tricks from the most interesting TV shows? If I think back to my education I see too many boring hours of facts (not always up-to-date), interesting topics killed by poor delivery, too little space for creativity and not enough of collaboration. And collaboration is also something very important that made the Lost Experience not just interesting but also possible. The Lost Experience would be a really boring and difficult experience to follow without the collaboration among players. The players of this games worked together to find clues, understand their meaning and then discuss it. One week you could be the first to find and decipher a clue and share it with others, the next week you perhaps got clues from other players.
So, how can we put all this cool stuff into practice? Well, first of we could and perhaps should encourage students more to look beyond the typical LMS. Of course it's great to have all the course materials and assignments in one place, but students should be encouraged to look for other sources of information and other tools. The course material should be written in a more interesting way, it should challenge students to verify information, to look for alternative explanations. And course activities should encourage students to use different tools and skills. The LMS should perhaps mainly be a centralized place to share learning experiences, discuss new findings, argue about important questions etc.
I really think that we can learn a lot from the observation of things that manage to intrigue people. And I believe that learning and education should be intriguing for students. Now we have lots of tools that can help us to make that happen; the only limit is our own imagination and creativity. And I think the best way to get new ideas is to find forms of learning that people start on their own and that they find fun and rewarding. I think that instead of asking ourselves How can we teach this? we should be asking the question How can we make the learners want to learn this?
(If you want to learn more about Lost or the Lost Experience I suggesting the Lostpedia. Yes, the show even has its own huge Wiki!)
The Lost Experience provided fans with new mysteries and some explanations in different forms and through different channels. Fans were hunting for clues through websites, ads, voice mail and even a novel, and had to use various skills to make sense of the clues. The creators of the game also managed to include very clever ways of advertising for different products (see the Wikipedia article).
Ok, ok - I'm a Lost fan and all this is of course very interesting to me, but why am I writing about the Lost Experience on this e-learning blog? Well, it is my opinion that educators could learn a thing or two from this interactive game and perhaps use it to our advantage in our classes. Just imagine a class that would be as interesting as the show and that would provide additional information (and training) through a series of interactive web (or mobile) tools. Just imagine your students getting so fanatic about searching for new clues and having to use different skills to access them. That would be pretty cool, right?
I already wrote about a similar form of learning in my post about WebQuests, and the Lost Experience was a sort of WebQuest, but I think such quests (not just with the web prefix, but also including libraries, mobile technologies, traditional media etc.) should also be taken a step further by lectures (not necessarily exclusively face-to-face) that would interest students in the subject perhaps with a bit of mystery and stories - why shouldn't we borrow some tricks from the most interesting TV shows? If I think back to my education I see too many boring hours of facts (not always up-to-date), interesting topics killed by poor delivery, too little space for creativity and not enough of collaboration. And collaboration is also something very important that made the Lost Experience not just interesting but also possible. The Lost Experience would be a really boring and difficult experience to follow without the collaboration among players. The players of this games worked together to find clues, understand their meaning and then discuss it. One week you could be the first to find and decipher a clue and share it with others, the next week you perhaps got clues from other players.
So, how can we put all this cool stuff into practice? Well, first of we could and perhaps should encourage students more to look beyond the typical LMS. Of course it's great to have all the course materials and assignments in one place, but students should be encouraged to look for other sources of information and other tools. The course material should be written in a more interesting way, it should challenge students to verify information, to look for alternative explanations. And course activities should encourage students to use different tools and skills. The LMS should perhaps mainly be a centralized place to share learning experiences, discuss new findings, argue about important questions etc.
I really think that we can learn a lot from the observation of things that manage to intrigue people. And I believe that learning and education should be intriguing for students. Now we have lots of tools that can help us to make that happen; the only limit is our own imagination and creativity. And I think the best way to get new ideas is to find forms of learning that people start on their own and that they find fun and rewarding. I think that instead of asking ourselves How can we teach this? we should be asking the question How can we make the learners want to learn this?
(If you want to learn more about Lost or the Lost Experience I suggesting the Lostpedia. Yes, the show even has its own huge Wiki!)
Playstation 3 Going for $2,011 on eBay
WOW... I am speechless. People are bidding up to $2,011 for a Sony Playstation 3 (60GB) on eBay. That doesn't include the $50 shipping charge either. At the time of post, another seller was offering a PS3 and Nintendo Wii combo for $5,999.99, and shipping is FREE.
Update: (11:37PM) That PS3 was sold for $2,125.
Microsoft Zune's First Day Not So Hot
As I continued to watch the nightly news on CNBC covering today's big events. The Zune story must have come up 10 times already. Overall, the feedback I got is that the product is solid and people appraised the larger LCD and WiFi capability. However, it seems like it didn't get the kind of response from the public as expected. Yours truly will take a trip down to local Best Buy tomorrow to give you a hands on review of the Zune and give you a personal verdict. Stay tuned!
NBC Nightly News via Podcast
I was just watching NBC Nightly News when anchor Brian Williams announced that they will be broadcasting their news show via Podcast starting tonight. The podcast will be available for download at 10PM EST. I verified this information to be true. I think its pretty cool, definitely more mobile marketing opportunities there!
The Cluetrain Manifesto revisited
In April of 1999, Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger posted to the Web one of the most iconic artifacts of the Internet Bubble. It's called the Cluetrain Manifesto, and parts of it are so pompous that they read like a cross between the socialist Internationale and an L. Ron Hubbard novel. Here's the document's preamble:
No kidding, it really says that.
The body of the Manifesto is 95 truisms about marketing in the Internet era, modestly patterned after Martin Luther's 95 Theses that sparked the Protestant Reformation. This implied equivalence between web browsing and one of the founding documents of western civilization is a priceless example of the attitudes that prevailed in the Bubble era.
At the time of its creation, the Cluetrain Manifesto created quite a stir in the online community. Many prominent tech managers signed it, and it was turned into a book.
Seven years later, you don't hear much about the Cluetrain Manifesto. And yet, it's still a very useful document.
Parts of it are silly, and parts of it are just plain wrong. But a lot of it is brilliant. Once you pare away the BS and the posturing, it's a great document on the new world of Internet communication, and much of its advice is just as relevant and insightful today as it was in 1999. Maybe more so, because the technologies involved have matured.
Most companies marketing online still ignore the Cluetrain's advice, to their detriment. Over at Rubicon Consulting, we've been trying to combine the best ideas of the manifesto with our own thinking, to create a short document that companies could use to guide their online communication. You're welcome to check out what we've written; we'd appreciate your comments and suggestions.
I know it's presumptuous to mess around with an Internet icon like the Manifesto, but the original is too flawed and too weird to be taken seriously by most companies.
What I want to do here is take a leisurely walk through the 95 points of the original Cluetrain, pointing out the parts that work and those that don't. Fair warning, this is a very long post. But I hope you'll enjoy the hike...
1. Markets are conversations.
An outstanding observation, but it needs an amendment: Online markets can be conversations. Most companies still market in the traditional way, using traditional marketing tools. They get into trouble when they take their traditional marketing reflexes into the online world. Because online media can be two-way, it's very insulting to use it in a one-way manner (for example, e-mail messages that don't allow answers, or weblogs that don't allow comments). That's as rude as refusing to respond to questions at a cocktail party. And people online often take the insult personally.
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
True. And a corollary is that because every human being is an individual, no one belongs to a single market. We're each members of a unique rainbow of different markets. Maybe you're a Volvo owner and also a fisherman. The web lets you play both roles, and lets Volvo and a fly fishing outfitter speak to you directly in each role.
In the old marketing world, we had to market to big segments like "males 18-25 years old" because mass media couldn't slice people any finer than that. When you're marketing online, mass market segments are irrelevant and inefficient because you can target much more finely.
Forget about the Long Tail – the online world is all tail.
3. Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.
This needs some translation. The web lets you have conversations with your customers. You shouldn't put those conversations in the tone of a press release. Therefore, don't let your lawyers and PR agency write your online messages. Corporate-speak stands out online like a dead fish, and can be detected at the same distance.
4. Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived.
5. People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.
6. The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
See point 3. In places the Cluetrain gets kind of repetitive. You get the feeling they were stretching it to get up to 95 items.
7. Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.
Um, okay, I guess. Maybe this sounded revolutionary in 1999; now it's kind of quaint. Like listening to speeches by the hippies in People's Park in Berkeley.
8. In both internetworked markets and among intranetworked employees, people are speaking to each other in a powerful new way.
9. These networked conversations are enabling powerful new forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to emerge.
Okay. That's a little bit pompous, but there's truth in it.
10. As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally.
The real changes are just starting. Most people are not deeply engaged with online conversations, so the online impact on market behavior is spotty. If you're not careful, your online conversations can be diverted by enthusiasts who aren't a good proxy for the rest of the world. Remember Snakes on a Plane.
11. People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.
This is just starting, and it's not always true. But there are cases in which the user community does indeed deliver better support than companies. I think the WordPress blogging tool is a good example.
12. There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
Yes and no. Definitely the Web gives a much louder voice to product enthusiasts outside of companies, so word about product flaws circulates faster than it did pre-Internet. But it's just a change in speed. Back before the Internet, there were these things called newspapers and magazines that were pretty good at spreading product information quickly.
And with the application of enough money and effort, it's still possible to keep secrets. Look at Apple.
13. What's happening to markets is also happening among employees. A metaphysical construct called "The Company" is the only thing standing between the two.
Companies aren't just metaphysical constructs. They are organizations that pay employees money, and so they have a certain coercive power that markets can't match. I think there's a strain of wishful thinking in the Manifesto – because a lot of online people don't like traditional corporations, they're inclined to believe scenarios in which the corporation withers away. But I personally need to see the evidence to back up that belief, and it's lacking.
14. Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman.
Another repeat of point #3.
15. In just a few more years, the current homogenized "voice" of business—the sound of mission statements and brochures—will seem as contrived and artificial as the language of the 18th century French court.
Well, it has been more than a few years since the Manifesto came out. Most corporations still speak in he same language, and they don't sound any weirder than they did in 1999.
Online, corporate-speak does sound weird. But in traditional media it sounds normal. The authors were making the mistake of thinking that the Internet was the future of all media. It's not – it's a series of new media that will live alongside the old ones for a long time.
16. Already, companies that speak in the language of the pitch, the dog-and-pony show, are no longer speaking to anyone.
Baloney.
17. Companies that assume online markets are the same markets that used to watch their ads on television are kidding themselves.
Wow, we go straight from a statement that was stupid to one that's very insightful. Because of its potential for personalization and direct communication, the web destroys traditional market segmentation. It creates (or maybe more accurately, it brings to light) a lot of small vertical markets in place of a few big mass markets.
18. Companies that don't realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.
That only applies to the customers who are deeply networked online – a small segment of the population at present. Come back in a generation and this statement will be much more true. For now we're in a transition.
But it sure is an opportunity.
19. Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.
Um, no. A company gets an infinite number of last chances until some competitor wipes it out. Unfortunately, it's very hard to predict when that will happen, so companies that misuse online marketing are playing Russian roulette.
20. Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them.
Translation: Companies need to realize that a relatively small number of people online are laughing at them. But those people sometimes create YouTube videos that get forwarded all over the place, so you gotta watch out anyway.
21. Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense of humor.
Unfortunately, most people aren't great at creating jokes. If they were, Robin Williams would be unemployed. I think what companies need to do is relax and act like themselves. If their reality is that they're a bit stern and somber, that's OK – as long as it's genuine.
Nothing is more pathetic than a CEO trying to pretend that he or she is hip. This is why you don't ever see Bill Gates break-dancing.
22. Getting a sense of humor does not mean putting some jokes on the corporate web site. Rather, it requires big values, a little humility, straight talk, and a genuine point of view.
OK, you're not really talking about humor at all. So why did you say to get a sense of humor?
23. Companies attempting to "position" themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it should relate to something their market actually cares about.
24. Bombastic boasts—"We are positioned to become the preeminent provider of XYZ"—do not constitute a position.
25. Companies need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom they hope to create relationships.
26. Public Relations does not relate to the public. Companies are deeply afraid of their markets.
There's a nugget of absolute truth in that last point. Many companies are deathly afraid of having an uncontrolled conversation with their customers, mostly because they expect to be overwhelmed by complaints. Ironically, the best way to reduce complaints is to listen to them and respond. You can turn most complainants into fans pretty easily, if you're just polite and respectful to them. Try apologizing when you've made a mistake – it does wonders for a marriage, and it can help a customer relationship as well.
The Internet is a great tool for having this sort of conversation.
27. By speaking in language that is distant, uninviting, arrogant, they build walls to keep markets at bay.
This isn't even a full sentence, and it just repeats the previous points.
28. Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what's really going on inside the company.
That's occasionally true, but the word "most" is a gross exaggeration and hurts the credibility of the manifesto. Most marketing programs are like someone going on a first date – you try to make yourself look good, and accentuate your best qualities. Most people (and most companies) won't outright lie, and fear is not companies' greatest motivation.
Greed is.
29. Elvis said it best: "We can't go on together with suspicious minds."
Cute. Meaningless, but cute.
30. Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the breakup is inevitable—and coming fast. Because they are networked, smart markets are able to renegotiate relationships with blinding speed.
No, no, no, no. This point implies that brand marketing is coming to an end. Brand marketing will evolve because of the Web, but well-run brands can and will develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with their customers. At the risk of over-stressing the metaphor, they can go from going steady to getting married.
I think that the manifesto went wrong on this one because a lot of the online crowd views branding as a form of pure evil; they think it clouds consumers' minds to the reality of product features. But most human beings aren't wired that way. They like being associated with a brand that shares their values, because it says something about them. The Web makes it possible to communicate values more thoroughly, so the bonds to a brand can be deeper.
31. Networked markets can change suppliers overnight. Networked knowledge workers can change employers over lunch. Your own "downsizing initiatives" taught us to ask the question: "Loyalty? What's that?"
The first two sentences are exaggerations. In particular, unless a company is selling only on price, the Internet doesn't make customers any more mobile than they were in the past. But if you are selling just on price, watch out. All the more reason to use the Internet to form deeper ties with your customers.
The third sentence is true, by the way. The way I'd put it: "Never love a company -- it can't love you back."
32. Smart markets will find suppliers who speak their own language.
I don't know what a smart market is. Markets can't be smart, people can be smart. People will indeed gravitate to suppliers who speak their language. But the outcome of this is going to be different than the online crowd expects – a lot more people speak the language of Wal-Mart than speak the language of Fry's.
33. Learning to speak with a human voice is not a parlor trick. It can't be "picked up" at some tony conference.
Yeah, okay.
34. To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities.
35. But first, they must belong to a community.
Yes!! Those are two of the best points in the whole manifesto.
36. Companies must ask themselves where their corporate cultures end.
37. If their cultures end before the community begins, they will have no market.
38. Human communities are based on discourse—on human speech about human concerns.
39. The community of discourse is the market.
This is all pretty good. Item 37 is overblown, and I'm not sure what 39 means, but the ideas here are powerful.
40. Companies that do not belong to a community of discourse will die.
Dang, back to the overstatement. Companies can survive without belonging to a community of discourse. For example, if they're the cheapest supplier people will buy from them even if they are rude to their customers (if there's a Fry's in your town, go there on a Friday night and try to get customer service).
But companies will get higher margins, make better decisions, and have more loyal customers if they participate in communities with them.
41. Companies make a religion of security, but this is largely a red herring. Most are protecting less against competitors than against their own market and workforce.
No. That's another gross exaggeration that hurts the credibility of the whole document.
First, not all companies make a religion of security. Second, companies want security for a lot of reasons. Competitive concerns have a lot to do with it, but so do financial regulations on stockholder lawsuits. And yes, there is some paranoia involved too.
The important point – the one the Manifesto fails to make – is that the benefits of heavy information security are outweighed by the advantages of open discourse with customers. When you're online, it's more efficient to be open.
42. As with networked markets, people are also talking to each other directly inside the company—and not just about rules and regulations, boardroom directives, bottom lines.
Uh, yeah. But that's been true since the first corporation was formed.
43. Such conversations are taking place today on corporate intranets. But only when the conditions are right.
The conversations also happen in lunchrooms, hallways, and next to water coolers. They move a little faster on intranets, but the difference is not enormous.
The benefits of intranets for driving internal conversations in corporations are substantial, but are not as great as they are for driving conversations with and among customers. Before the Internet, company employees still had lots of ways to communicate. There were even jokes about corporate gossip being the only thing that travels faster than light.
44. Companies typically install intranets top-down to distribute HR policies and other corporate information that workers are doing their best to ignore.
That's so stupid. Companies generally installed intranets to exchange e-mail. File servers and web access came later. HR policies were the almost last thing to go electronic, because HR teams are usually not very technical. Even today, in many companies you're more likely to get paper memos from HR than from just about any other company department. Paper feels more official to them.
Sometimes it seems like the Manifesto authors' main experience of corporate life was reading Dilbert.
45. Intranets naturally tend to route around boredom. The best are built bottom-up by engaged individuals cooperating to construct something far more valuable: an intranetworked corporate conversation.
A typical engineer's point of view, since they're the only ones in the corporation capable of building their own intranets.
46. A healthy intranet organizes workers in many meanings of the word. Its effect is more radical than the agenda of any union.
First sentence is good, second sentence is dumb. A union is very different from an intranet, and has very different effects. One's not more radical than the other. That's like saying a dog is more radical than a cat.
47. While this scares companies witless, they also depend heavily on open intranets to generate and share critical knowledge. They need to resist the urge to "improve" or control these networked conversations.
Oh, please. Intranets don't scare most companies witless.
48. When corporate intranets are not constrained by fear and legalistic rules, the type of conversation they encourage sounds remarkably like the conversation of the networked marketplace.
Yes, but that's because engineers and technophiles tend to dominate the online conversation both outside and inside corporations.
49. Org charts worked in an older economy where plans could be fully understood from atop steep management pyramids and detailed work orders could be handed down from on high.
Org charts are still mandatory in any corporation, because they designate who controls the salaries of whom.
There's a nugget of wisdom here, though. The Internet makes it possible for information to move more quickly, and for groups of smart people to coordinate their work directly. A properly designed company, taking advantage of electronic communication, requires much less detailed hierarchical control.
But somebody still has to write the performance reviews.
50. Today, the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority.
It isn't either-or. There's still an org chart, but there's also an informal network of people who share information and sometimes agendas. But that has always been true of corporations, an intranet just makes it more visible.
Every generation thinks its parents were stupid, and in the second sentence you hear some baby boomers saying their parents had too much respect for abstract authority. Go read some books, guys. See how soldiers in World War II felt about abstract authority in the military, or how workers in 1910 felt about their bosses. Better yet, read the US Declaration of Independence and pay attention to the part where they talk about the king.
51. Command-and-control management styles both derive from and reinforce bureaucracy, power tripping and an overall culture of paranoia.
52. Paranoia kills conversation. That's its point. But lack of open conversation kills companies.
This is just posturing.
53. There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.
There are an almost infinite number of conversations going on. The Internet can actually reduce the number of conversations, because it consolidates them.
54. In most cases, neither conversation is going very well. Almost invariably, the cause of failure can be traced to obsolete notions of command and control.
55. As policy, these notions are poisonous. As tools, they are broken. Command and control are met with hostility by intranetworked knowledge workers and generate distrust in internetworked markets.
56. These two conversations want to talk to each other. They are speaking the same language. They recognize each other's voices.
57. Smart companies will get out of the way and help the inevitable to happen sooner.
This thinking is dangerous, and not in a good sense. There's an idealized agenda in operation here, an assumption that bosses are stupid and that companies will make better decisions if the average employee talks directly to the average customer, and they then make a collective decision on what the company should do.
The reality is that bosses are sometimes stupid, and in those cases the company will indeed do better work if the bosses are bypassed. But those companies generally go broke eventually anyway.
In a well-managed company, it's important to draw a line between listening to input and making decisions collectively. Listening to input is almost always good. The internet can make for better input, meaning better decisions. That's fantastic. But making the actual decisions collectively is usually bad, because collective decisions reflect a compromised consensus. Products designed according to that process are often over-featured because they try to please everyone. An example: the Sony Clie handheld was beloved by online users but failed in the marketplace. Why? Too many features, too hard to use.
Companies are most effective when they have smart management, and that management has the authority to make clear decisions and have them carried out by the staff. If the Internet undercuts that, it's not helping the company or the customers.
58. If willingness to get out of the way is taken as a measure of IQ, then very few companies have yet wised up.
Companies don't have IQs. Their managers do. And a company manager who passively "gets out of the way" and lets the market drive his or her decisions is not doing a good job.
59. However subliminally at the moment, millions of people now online perceive companies as little more than quaint legal fictions that are actively preventing these conversations from intersecting.
60. This is suicidal. Markets want to talk to companies.
No, people want to talk to people. And it's good to enable that. But the company still has a role to play, and it needs its own decision-making.
61. Sadly, the part of the company a networked market wants to talk to is usually hidden behind a smokescreen of hucksterism, of language that rings false—and often is.
Translation: Come the revolution, the first thing we'll do is shoot all the marketing and PR employees. Spoken like a true engineer.
62. Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They want to participate in the conversations going on behind the corporate firewall.
If you substitute "customers" for "markets," this one is true.
63. De-cloaking, getting personal: We are those markets. We want to talk to you.
64. We want access to your corporate information, to your plans and strategies, your best thinking, your genuine knowledge. We will not settle for the 4-color brochure, for web sites chock-a-block with eye candy but lacking any substance.
65. We're also the workers who make your companies go. We want to talk to customers directly in our own voices, not in platitudes written into a script.
66. As markets, as workers, both of us are sick to death of getting our information by remote control. Why do we need faceless annual reports and third-hand market research studies to introduce us to each other?
67. As markets, as workers, we wonder why you're not listening. You seem to be speaking a different language.
68. The inflated self-important jargon you sling around—in the press, at your conferences—what's that got to do with us?
69. Maybe you're impressing your investors. Maybe you're impressing Wall Street. You're not impressing us.
70. If you don't impress us, your investors are going to take a bath. Don't they understand this? If they did, they wouldn't let you talk that way.
71. Your tired notions of "the market" make our eyes glaze over. We don't recognize ourselves in your projections—perhaps because we know we're already elsewhere.
72. We like this new marketplace much better. In fact, we are creating it.
73. You're invited, but it's our world. Take your shoes off at the door. If you want to barter with us, get down off that camel!
This is the weakest part of the Manifesto, in my opinion. The authors complain about flack, posturing, and exaggeration, and then go on an exaggerated rant full of posturing. Nothing to see here, let's move along...
74. We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.
Yeah, sure. Tell it to Google.
Reality: Most people don't like advertising. That's not the same thing as being immune to it. If people really were immune to advertising, companies wouldn't do it.
75. If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make it something interesting for a change.
76. We've got some ideas for you too: some new tools we need, some better service. Stuff we'd be willing to pay for. Got a minute?
Good! But keep in mind that the people you can reach online are not normal customers. They'll have lots of ideas, but unfortunately they can't speak for your typical users.
77. You're too busy "doing business" to answer our email? Oh gosh, sorry, gee, we'll come back later. Maybe.
Yes. Very well said.
78. You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention.
79. We want you to drop your trip, come out of your neurotic self-involvement, join the party.
80. Don't worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it's not the only thing on your mind.
81. Have you noticed that, in itself, money is kind of one-dimensional and boring? What else can we talk about?
Groovy, baby. Join the love-in. This is starting to feel like that old episode of Star Trek, where Spock meets the space hippies.
82. Your product broke. Why? We'd like to ask the guy who made it. Your corporate strategy makes no sense. We'd like to have a chat with your CEO. What do you mean she's not in?
Fair enough. Now that it's possible to have candid conversations online, it'll be perceived as rude not to have them. Most companies haven't realized that yet.
83. We want you to take 50 million of us as seriously as you take one reporter from The Wall Street Journal.
Believe me, every company takes 50 million customers more seriously than one Wall Street Journal reporter. But most of them haven't yet figured out how to talk to 50 million people online.
84. We know some people from your company. They're pretty cool online. Do you have any more like that you're hiding? Can they come out and play?
85. When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn't have such a tight rein on "your people" maybe they'd be among the people we'd turn to.
I agree with these. Most companies would come across better online if they allowed employees to communicate freely on the web. You can create some sensible guidelines (don't pre-announce products, label opinions as your own), and trust that most people will follow them. And if they don't, fire them.
Being open personalizes your company, helps people feel good about it, and helps you make better decisions. The benefits of this outweigh the risks.
86. When we're not busy being your "target market," many of us are your people. We'd rather be talking to friends online than watching the clock. That would get your name around better than your entire million dollar web site. But you tell us speaking to the market is Marketing's job.
The answer here is not to get rid of marketing, it's to teach marketing how to operate in this new world. Because, in reality, the engineers do have some other tasks they need to focus on.
87. We'd like it if you got what's going on here. That'd be real nice. But it would be a big mistake to think we're holding our breath.
88. We have better things to do than worry about whether you'll change in time to get our business. Business is only a part of our lives. It seems to be all of yours. Think about it: who needs whom?
Again with the posturing.
89. We have real power and we know it. If you don't quite see the light, some other outfit will come along that's more attentive, more interesting, more fun to play with.
Translation: "We are arrogant and we don't know it. We think we represent all customers when in fact we represent a slice of them. Companies would be stupid to take all our rhetoric at face value. But our influence is growing, it would also be stupid to ignore the potential we represent. We are noisy, we influence a lot of purchases, and we're increasing in number."
90. Even at its worst, our newfound conversation is more interesting than most trade shows, more entertaining than any TV sitcom, and certainly more true-to-life than the corporate web sites we've been seeing.
Well, it is to those of us who like to read and write blogs. But a lot more people watch TV. So in the real world companies will have to deal with both.
91. Our allegiance is to ourselves—our friends, our new allies and acquaintances, even our sparring partners. Companies that have no part in this world, also have no future.
92. Companies are spending billions of dollars on Y2K. Why can't they hear this market timebomb ticking? The stakes are even higher.
Well, that one's a tad dated now.
93. We're both inside companies and outside them. The boundaries that separate our conversations look like the Berlin Wall today, but they're really just an annoyance. We know they're coming down. We're going to work from both sides to take them down.
94. To traditional corporations, networked conversations may appear confused, may sound confusing. But we are organizing faster than they are. We have better tools, more new ideas, no rules to slow us down.
95. We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.
At this point you really expect John Lennon to stroll in with a guitar, singing Imagine...
Lessons from the Cluetrain
Don't be pretentious. Unless you're writing the Declaration of Independence for a new republic, you should leave out the cosmic rhetoric. It's ironic that a document telling people to speak like humans contains so much trippy rhetoric. (Or maybe that's how the Manifesto's authors really talk.)
Be careful with timelines. Like almost all tech commentary written in the bubble period, the Manifesto assumes that the Internet is about to take over all communication and be used by all human beings. In the real world it's growing, but other media will continue to exist alongside it for a very long time.
The Web is an accelerator more than a revolutionary. The Web speeds up conversations, and broadens their audiences. That's very important, and sometimes the increase in speed produces a qualitative difference. But our parents and grandparents were pretty clever, and most of the human principles we think we're pioneering online have actually been around for generations.
Keep it short. Ten commandments are a lot more memorable than 95 manifestos.
In that spirit, at Rubicon we've been working on a set of principles for communicating with people online, combining our thinking and what we think are the best ideas in the Manifesto. Here's our list:
1. Engage, don't sell.
2. Speak as individuals.
3. Be yourself.
4. Never lie.
5. Don't be afraid of passion.
6. Set your employees free.
7. The Internet strengthens great brands – and destroys false ones.
8. Forget about mass markets.
9. Remember that the Internet is still evolving.
10. Don't mistake the Web for the real world.
They're not nearly as colorful as the Manifesto, but I hope they'll be more actionable. You can read the details here.
____________
*As pointed out by the authors of the Gluetrain Manifesto (a satire of the Cluetrain), it's hard to have the sky open to the stars when clouds are rolling over you all the time. But let's not quibble. The Gluetrain is no longer available online, but a copy was printed at the end of a Cap Gemini / Ernst & Young document here. If you want to understand what the Cluetrain authors meant by that "clouds and skies" imagery, there's an essay here that sort of explains.
"The sky is open to the stars. Clouds roll over us night and day. Oceans rise and fall. Whatever you may have heard, this is our world, our place to be. Whatever you've been told, our flags fly free. Our heart goes on forever. People of Earth, remember."*
No kidding, it really says that.
The body of the Manifesto is 95 truisms about marketing in the Internet era, modestly patterned after Martin Luther's 95 Theses that sparked the Protestant Reformation. This implied equivalence between web browsing and one of the founding documents of western civilization is a priceless example of the attitudes that prevailed in the Bubble era.
At the time of its creation, the Cluetrain Manifesto created quite a stir in the online community. Many prominent tech managers signed it, and it was turned into a book.
Seven years later, you don't hear much about the Cluetrain Manifesto. And yet, it's still a very useful document.
Parts of it are silly, and parts of it are just plain wrong. But a lot of it is brilliant. Once you pare away the BS and the posturing, it's a great document on the new world of Internet communication, and much of its advice is just as relevant and insightful today as it was in 1999. Maybe more so, because the technologies involved have matured.
Most companies marketing online still ignore the Cluetrain's advice, to their detriment. Over at Rubicon Consulting, we've been trying to combine the best ideas of the manifesto with our own thinking, to create a short document that companies could use to guide their online communication. You're welcome to check out what we've written; we'd appreciate your comments and suggestions.
I know it's presumptuous to mess around with an Internet icon like the Manifesto, but the original is too flawed and too weird to be taken seriously by most companies.
What I want to do here is take a leisurely walk through the 95 points of the original Cluetrain, pointing out the parts that work and those that don't. Fair warning, this is a very long post. But I hope you'll enjoy the hike...
1. Markets are conversations.
An outstanding observation, but it needs an amendment: Online markets can be conversations. Most companies still market in the traditional way, using traditional marketing tools. They get into trouble when they take their traditional marketing reflexes into the online world. Because online media can be two-way, it's very insulting to use it in a one-way manner (for example, e-mail messages that don't allow answers, or weblogs that don't allow comments). That's as rude as refusing to respond to questions at a cocktail party. And people online often take the insult personally.
2. Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors.
True. And a corollary is that because every human being is an individual, no one belongs to a single market. We're each members of a unique rainbow of different markets. Maybe you're a Volvo owner and also a fisherman. The web lets you play both roles, and lets Volvo and a fly fishing outfitter speak to you directly in each role.
In the old marketing world, we had to market to big segments like "males 18-25 years old" because mass media couldn't slice people any finer than that. When you're marketing online, mass market segments are irrelevant and inefficient because you can target much more finely.
Forget about the Long Tail – the online world is all tail.
3. Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice.
This needs some translation. The web lets you have conversations with your customers. You shouldn't put those conversations in the tone of a press release. Therefore, don't let your lawyers and PR agency write your online messages. Corporate-speak stands out online like a dead fish, and can be detected at the same distance.
4. Whether delivering information, opinions, perspectives, dissenting arguments or humorous asides, the human voice is typically open, natural, uncontrived.
5. People recognize each other as such from the sound of this voice.
6. The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
See point 3. In places the Cluetrain gets kind of repetitive. You get the feeling they were stretching it to get up to 95 items.
7. Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy.
Um, okay, I guess. Maybe this sounded revolutionary in 1999; now it's kind of quaint. Like listening to speeches by the hippies in People's Park in Berkeley.
8. In both internetworked markets and among intranetworked employees, people are speaking to each other in a powerful new way.
9. These networked conversations are enabling powerful new forms of social organization and knowledge exchange to emerge.
Okay. That's a little bit pompous, but there's truth in it.
10. As a result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more organized. Participation in a networked market changes people fundamentally.
The real changes are just starting. Most people are not deeply engaged with online conversations, so the online impact on market behavior is spotty. If you're not careful, your online conversations can be diverted by enthusiasts who aren't a good proxy for the rest of the world. Remember Snakes on a Plane.
11. People in networked markets have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.
This is just starting, and it's not always true. But there are cases in which the user community does indeed deliver better support than companies. I think the WordPress blogging tool is a good example.
12. There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
Yes and no. Definitely the Web gives a much louder voice to product enthusiasts outside of companies, so word about product flaws circulates faster than it did pre-Internet. But it's just a change in speed. Back before the Internet, there were these things called newspapers and magazines that were pretty good at spreading product information quickly.
And with the application of enough money and effort, it's still possible to keep secrets. Look at Apple.
13. What's happening to markets is also happening among employees. A metaphysical construct called "The Company" is the only thing standing between the two.
Companies aren't just metaphysical constructs. They are organizations that pay employees money, and so they have a certain coercive power that markets can't match. I think there's a strain of wishful thinking in the Manifesto – because a lot of online people don't like traditional corporations, they're inclined to believe scenarios in which the corporation withers away. But I personally need to see the evidence to back up that belief, and it's lacking.
14. Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman.
Another repeat of point #3.
15. In just a few more years, the current homogenized "voice" of business—the sound of mission statements and brochures—will seem as contrived and artificial as the language of the 18th century French court.
Well, it has been more than a few years since the Manifesto came out. Most corporations still speak in he same language, and they don't sound any weirder than they did in 1999.
Online, corporate-speak does sound weird. But in traditional media it sounds normal. The authors were making the mistake of thinking that the Internet was the future of all media. It's not – it's a series of new media that will live alongside the old ones for a long time.
16. Already, companies that speak in the language of the pitch, the dog-and-pony show, are no longer speaking to anyone.
Baloney.
17. Companies that assume online markets are the same markets that used to watch their ads on television are kidding themselves.
Wow, we go straight from a statement that was stupid to one that's very insightful. Because of its potential for personalization and direct communication, the web destroys traditional market segmentation. It creates (or maybe more accurately, it brings to light) a lot of small vertical markets in place of a few big mass markets.
18. Companies that don't realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.
That only applies to the customers who are deeply networked online – a small segment of the population at present. Come back in a generation and this statement will be much more true. For now we're in a transition.
But it sure is an opportunity.
19. Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.
Um, no. A company gets an infinite number of last chances until some competitor wipes it out. Unfortunately, it's very hard to predict when that will happen, so companies that misuse online marketing are playing Russian roulette.
20. Companies need to realize their markets are often laughing. At them.
Translation: Companies need to realize that a relatively small number of people online are laughing at them. But those people sometimes create YouTube videos that get forwarded all over the place, so you gotta watch out anyway.
21. Companies need to lighten up and take themselves less seriously. They need to get a sense of humor.
Unfortunately, most people aren't great at creating jokes. If they were, Robin Williams would be unemployed. I think what companies need to do is relax and act like themselves. If their reality is that they're a bit stern and somber, that's OK – as long as it's genuine.
Nothing is more pathetic than a CEO trying to pretend that he or she is hip. This is why you don't ever see Bill Gates break-dancing.
22. Getting a sense of humor does not mean putting some jokes on the corporate web site. Rather, it requires big values, a little humility, straight talk, and a genuine point of view.
OK, you're not really talking about humor at all. So why did you say to get a sense of humor?
23. Companies attempting to "position" themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it should relate to something their market actually cares about.
24. Bombastic boasts—"We are positioned to become the preeminent provider of XYZ"—do not constitute a position.
25. Companies need to come down from their Ivory Towers and talk to the people with whom they hope to create relationships.
26. Public Relations does not relate to the public. Companies are deeply afraid of their markets.
There's a nugget of absolute truth in that last point. Many companies are deathly afraid of having an uncontrolled conversation with their customers, mostly because they expect to be overwhelmed by complaints. Ironically, the best way to reduce complaints is to listen to them and respond. You can turn most complainants into fans pretty easily, if you're just polite and respectful to them. Try apologizing when you've made a mistake – it does wonders for a marriage, and it can help a customer relationship as well.
The Internet is a great tool for having this sort of conversation.
27. By speaking in language that is distant, uninviting, arrogant, they build walls to keep markets at bay.
This isn't even a full sentence, and it just repeats the previous points.
28. Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what's really going on inside the company.
That's occasionally true, but the word "most" is a gross exaggeration and hurts the credibility of the manifesto. Most marketing programs are like someone going on a first date – you try to make yourself look good, and accentuate your best qualities. Most people (and most companies) won't outright lie, and fear is not companies' greatest motivation.
Greed is.
29. Elvis said it best: "We can't go on together with suspicious minds."
Cute. Meaningless, but cute.
30. Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the breakup is inevitable—and coming fast. Because they are networked, smart markets are able to renegotiate relationships with blinding speed.
No, no, no, no. This point implies that brand marketing is coming to an end. Brand marketing will evolve because of the Web, but well-run brands can and will develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with their customers. At the risk of over-stressing the metaphor, they can go from going steady to getting married.
I think that the manifesto went wrong on this one because a lot of the online crowd views branding as a form of pure evil; they think it clouds consumers' minds to the reality of product features. But most human beings aren't wired that way. They like being associated with a brand that shares their values, because it says something about them. The Web makes it possible to communicate values more thoroughly, so the bonds to a brand can be deeper.
31. Networked markets can change suppliers overnight. Networked knowledge workers can change employers over lunch. Your own "downsizing initiatives" taught us to ask the question: "Loyalty? What's that?"
The first two sentences are exaggerations. In particular, unless a company is selling only on price, the Internet doesn't make customers any more mobile than they were in the past. But if you are selling just on price, watch out. All the more reason to use the Internet to form deeper ties with your customers.
The third sentence is true, by the way. The way I'd put it: "Never love a company -- it can't love you back."
32. Smart markets will find suppliers who speak their own language.
I don't know what a smart market is. Markets can't be smart, people can be smart. People will indeed gravitate to suppliers who speak their language. But the outcome of this is going to be different than the online crowd expects – a lot more people speak the language of Wal-Mart than speak the language of Fry's.
33. Learning to speak with a human voice is not a parlor trick. It can't be "picked up" at some tony conference.
Yeah, okay.
34. To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities.
35. But first, they must belong to a community.
Yes!! Those are two of the best points in the whole manifesto.
36. Companies must ask themselves where their corporate cultures end.
37. If their cultures end before the community begins, they will have no market.
38. Human communities are based on discourse—on human speech about human concerns.
39. The community of discourse is the market.
This is all pretty good. Item 37 is overblown, and I'm not sure what 39 means, but the ideas here are powerful.
40. Companies that do not belong to a community of discourse will die.
Dang, back to the overstatement. Companies can survive without belonging to a community of discourse. For example, if they're the cheapest supplier people will buy from them even if they are rude to their customers (if there's a Fry's in your town, go there on a Friday night and try to get customer service).
But companies will get higher margins, make better decisions, and have more loyal customers if they participate in communities with them.
41. Companies make a religion of security, but this is largely a red herring. Most are protecting less against competitors than against their own market and workforce.
No. That's another gross exaggeration that hurts the credibility of the whole document.
First, not all companies make a religion of security. Second, companies want security for a lot of reasons. Competitive concerns have a lot to do with it, but so do financial regulations on stockholder lawsuits. And yes, there is some paranoia involved too.
The important point – the one the Manifesto fails to make – is that the benefits of heavy information security are outweighed by the advantages of open discourse with customers. When you're online, it's more efficient to be open.
42. As with networked markets, people are also talking to each other directly inside the company—and not just about rules and regulations, boardroom directives, bottom lines.
Uh, yeah. But that's been true since the first corporation was formed.
43. Such conversations are taking place today on corporate intranets. But only when the conditions are right.
The conversations also happen in lunchrooms, hallways, and next to water coolers. They move a little faster on intranets, but the difference is not enormous.
The benefits of intranets for driving internal conversations in corporations are substantial, but are not as great as they are for driving conversations with and among customers. Before the Internet, company employees still had lots of ways to communicate. There were even jokes about corporate gossip being the only thing that travels faster than light.
44. Companies typically install intranets top-down to distribute HR policies and other corporate information that workers are doing their best to ignore.
That's so stupid. Companies generally installed intranets to exchange e-mail. File servers and web access came later. HR policies were the almost last thing to go electronic, because HR teams are usually not very technical. Even today, in many companies you're more likely to get paper memos from HR than from just about any other company department. Paper feels more official to them.
Sometimes it seems like the Manifesto authors' main experience of corporate life was reading Dilbert.
45. Intranets naturally tend to route around boredom. The best are built bottom-up by engaged individuals cooperating to construct something far more valuable: an intranetworked corporate conversation.
A typical engineer's point of view, since they're the only ones in the corporation capable of building their own intranets.
46. A healthy intranet organizes workers in many meanings of the word. Its effect is more radical than the agenda of any union.
First sentence is good, second sentence is dumb. A union is very different from an intranet, and has very different effects. One's not more radical than the other. That's like saying a dog is more radical than a cat.
47. While this scares companies witless, they also depend heavily on open intranets to generate and share critical knowledge. They need to resist the urge to "improve" or control these networked conversations.
Oh, please. Intranets don't scare most companies witless.
48. When corporate intranets are not constrained by fear and legalistic rules, the type of conversation they encourage sounds remarkably like the conversation of the networked marketplace.
Yes, but that's because engineers and technophiles tend to dominate the online conversation both outside and inside corporations.
49. Org charts worked in an older economy where plans could be fully understood from atop steep management pyramids and detailed work orders could be handed down from on high.
Org charts are still mandatory in any corporation, because they designate who controls the salaries of whom.
There's a nugget of wisdom here, though. The Internet makes it possible for information to move more quickly, and for groups of smart people to coordinate their work directly. A properly designed company, taking advantage of electronic communication, requires much less detailed hierarchical control.
But somebody still has to write the performance reviews.
50. Today, the org chart is hyperlinked, not hierarchical. Respect for hands-on knowledge wins over respect for abstract authority.
It isn't either-or. There's still an org chart, but there's also an informal network of people who share information and sometimes agendas. But that has always been true of corporations, an intranet just makes it more visible.
Every generation thinks its parents were stupid, and in the second sentence you hear some baby boomers saying their parents had too much respect for abstract authority. Go read some books, guys. See how soldiers in World War II felt about abstract authority in the military, or how workers in 1910 felt about their bosses. Better yet, read the US Declaration of Independence and pay attention to the part where they talk about the king.
51. Command-and-control management styles both derive from and reinforce bureaucracy, power tripping and an overall culture of paranoia.
52. Paranoia kills conversation. That's its point. But lack of open conversation kills companies.
This is just posturing.
53. There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.
There are an almost infinite number of conversations going on. The Internet can actually reduce the number of conversations, because it consolidates them.
54. In most cases, neither conversation is going very well. Almost invariably, the cause of failure can be traced to obsolete notions of command and control.
55. As policy, these notions are poisonous. As tools, they are broken. Command and control are met with hostility by intranetworked knowledge workers and generate distrust in internetworked markets.
56. These two conversations want to talk to each other. They are speaking the same language. They recognize each other's voices.
57. Smart companies will get out of the way and help the inevitable to happen sooner.
This thinking is dangerous, and not in a good sense. There's an idealized agenda in operation here, an assumption that bosses are stupid and that companies will make better decisions if the average employee talks directly to the average customer, and they then make a collective decision on what the company should do.
The reality is that bosses are sometimes stupid, and in those cases the company will indeed do better work if the bosses are bypassed. But those companies generally go broke eventually anyway.
In a well-managed company, it's important to draw a line between listening to input and making decisions collectively. Listening to input is almost always good. The internet can make for better input, meaning better decisions. That's fantastic. But making the actual decisions collectively is usually bad, because collective decisions reflect a compromised consensus. Products designed according to that process are often over-featured because they try to please everyone. An example: the Sony Clie handheld was beloved by online users but failed in the marketplace. Why? Too many features, too hard to use.
Companies are most effective when they have smart management, and that management has the authority to make clear decisions and have them carried out by the staff. If the Internet undercuts that, it's not helping the company or the customers.
58. If willingness to get out of the way is taken as a measure of IQ, then very few companies have yet wised up.
Companies don't have IQs. Their managers do. And a company manager who passively "gets out of the way" and lets the market drive his or her decisions is not doing a good job.
59. However subliminally at the moment, millions of people now online perceive companies as little more than quaint legal fictions that are actively preventing these conversations from intersecting.
60. This is suicidal. Markets want to talk to companies.
No, people want to talk to people. And it's good to enable that. But the company still has a role to play, and it needs its own decision-making.
61. Sadly, the part of the company a networked market wants to talk to is usually hidden behind a smokescreen of hucksterism, of language that rings false—and often is.
Translation: Come the revolution, the first thing we'll do is shoot all the marketing and PR employees. Spoken like a true engineer.
62. Markets do not want to talk to flacks and hucksters. They want to participate in the conversations going on behind the corporate firewall.
If you substitute "customers" for "markets," this one is true.
63. De-cloaking, getting personal: We are those markets. We want to talk to you.
64. We want access to your corporate information, to your plans and strategies, your best thinking, your genuine knowledge. We will not settle for the 4-color brochure, for web sites chock-a-block with eye candy but lacking any substance.
65. We're also the workers who make your companies go. We want to talk to customers directly in our own voices, not in platitudes written into a script.
66. As markets, as workers, both of us are sick to death of getting our information by remote control. Why do we need faceless annual reports and third-hand market research studies to introduce us to each other?
67. As markets, as workers, we wonder why you're not listening. You seem to be speaking a different language.
68. The inflated self-important jargon you sling around—in the press, at your conferences—what's that got to do with us?
69. Maybe you're impressing your investors. Maybe you're impressing Wall Street. You're not impressing us.
70. If you don't impress us, your investors are going to take a bath. Don't they understand this? If they did, they wouldn't let you talk that way.
71. Your tired notions of "the market" make our eyes glaze over. We don't recognize ourselves in your projections—perhaps because we know we're already elsewhere.
72. We like this new marketplace much better. In fact, we are creating it.
73. You're invited, but it's our world. Take your shoes off at the door. If you want to barter with us, get down off that camel!
This is the weakest part of the Manifesto, in my opinion. The authors complain about flack, posturing, and exaggeration, and then go on an exaggerated rant full of posturing. Nothing to see here, let's move along...
74. We are immune to advertising. Just forget it.
Yeah, sure. Tell it to Google.
Reality: Most people don't like advertising. That's not the same thing as being immune to it. If people really were immune to advertising, companies wouldn't do it.
75. If you want us to talk to you, tell us something. Make it something interesting for a change.
76. We've got some ideas for you too: some new tools we need, some better service. Stuff we'd be willing to pay for. Got a minute?
Good! But keep in mind that the people you can reach online are not normal customers. They'll have lots of ideas, but unfortunately they can't speak for your typical users.
77. You're too busy "doing business" to answer our email? Oh gosh, sorry, gee, we'll come back later. Maybe.
Yes. Very well said.
78. You want us to pay? We want you to pay attention.
79. We want you to drop your trip, come out of your neurotic self-involvement, join the party.
80. Don't worry, you can still make money. That is, as long as it's not the only thing on your mind.
81. Have you noticed that, in itself, money is kind of one-dimensional and boring? What else can we talk about?
Groovy, baby. Join the love-in. This is starting to feel like that old episode of Star Trek, where Spock meets the space hippies.
82. Your product broke. Why? We'd like to ask the guy who made it. Your corporate strategy makes no sense. We'd like to have a chat with your CEO. What do you mean she's not in?
Fair enough. Now that it's possible to have candid conversations online, it'll be perceived as rude not to have them. Most companies haven't realized that yet.
83. We want you to take 50 million of us as seriously as you take one reporter from The Wall Street Journal.
Believe me, every company takes 50 million customers more seriously than one Wall Street Journal reporter. But most of them haven't yet figured out how to talk to 50 million people online.
84. We know some people from your company. They're pretty cool online. Do you have any more like that you're hiding? Can they come out and play?
85. When we have questions we turn to each other for answers. If you didn't have such a tight rein on "your people" maybe they'd be among the people we'd turn to.
I agree with these. Most companies would come across better online if they allowed employees to communicate freely on the web. You can create some sensible guidelines (don't pre-announce products, label opinions as your own), and trust that most people will follow them. And if they don't, fire them.
Being open personalizes your company, helps people feel good about it, and helps you make better decisions. The benefits of this outweigh the risks.
86. When we're not busy being your "target market," many of us are your people. We'd rather be talking to friends online than watching the clock. That would get your name around better than your entire million dollar web site. But you tell us speaking to the market is Marketing's job.
The answer here is not to get rid of marketing, it's to teach marketing how to operate in this new world. Because, in reality, the engineers do have some other tasks they need to focus on.
87. We'd like it if you got what's going on here. That'd be real nice. But it would be a big mistake to think we're holding our breath.
88. We have better things to do than worry about whether you'll change in time to get our business. Business is only a part of our lives. It seems to be all of yours. Think about it: who needs whom?
Again with the posturing.
89. We have real power and we know it. If you don't quite see the light, some other outfit will come along that's more attentive, more interesting, more fun to play with.
Translation: "We are arrogant and we don't know it. We think we represent all customers when in fact we represent a slice of them. Companies would be stupid to take all our rhetoric at face value. But our influence is growing, it would also be stupid to ignore the potential we represent. We are noisy, we influence a lot of purchases, and we're increasing in number."
90. Even at its worst, our newfound conversation is more interesting than most trade shows, more entertaining than any TV sitcom, and certainly more true-to-life than the corporate web sites we've been seeing.
Well, it is to those of us who like to read and write blogs. But a lot more people watch TV. So in the real world companies will have to deal with both.
91. Our allegiance is to ourselves—our friends, our new allies and acquaintances, even our sparring partners. Companies that have no part in this world, also have no future.
92. Companies are spending billions of dollars on Y2K. Why can't they hear this market timebomb ticking? The stakes are even higher.
Well, that one's a tad dated now.
93. We're both inside companies and outside them. The boundaries that separate our conversations look like the Berlin Wall today, but they're really just an annoyance. We know they're coming down. We're going to work from both sides to take them down.
94. To traditional corporations, networked conversations may appear confused, may sound confusing. But we are organizing faster than they are. We have better tools, more new ideas, no rules to slow us down.
95. We are waking up and linking to each other. We are watching. But we are not waiting.
At this point you really expect John Lennon to stroll in with a guitar, singing Imagine...
Lessons from the Cluetrain
Don't be pretentious. Unless you're writing the Declaration of Independence for a new republic, you should leave out the cosmic rhetoric. It's ironic that a document telling people to speak like humans contains so much trippy rhetoric. (Or maybe that's how the Manifesto's authors really talk.)
Be careful with timelines. Like almost all tech commentary written in the bubble period, the Manifesto assumes that the Internet is about to take over all communication and be used by all human beings. In the real world it's growing, but other media will continue to exist alongside it for a very long time.
The Web is an accelerator more than a revolutionary. The Web speeds up conversations, and broadens their audiences. That's very important, and sometimes the increase in speed produces a qualitative difference. But our parents and grandparents were pretty clever, and most of the human principles we think we're pioneering online have actually been around for generations.
Keep it short. Ten commandments are a lot more memorable than 95 manifestos.
In that spirit, at Rubicon we've been working on a set of principles for communicating with people online, combining our thinking and what we think are the best ideas in the Manifesto. Here's our list:
1. Engage, don't sell.
2. Speak as individuals.
3. Be yourself.
4. Never lie.
5. Don't be afraid of passion.
6. Set your employees free.
7. The Internet strengthens great brands – and destroys false ones.
8. Forget about mass markets.
9. Remember that the Internet is still evolving.
10. Don't mistake the Web for the real world.
They're not nearly as colorful as the Manifesto, but I hope they'll be more actionable. You can read the details here.
____________
*As pointed out by the authors of the Gluetrain Manifesto (a satire of the Cluetrain), it's hard to have the sky open to the stars when clouds are rolling over you all the time. But let's not quibble. The Gluetrain is no longer available online, but a copy was printed at the end of a Cap Gemini / Ernst & Young document here. If you want to understand what the Cluetrain authors meant by that "clouds and skies" imagery, there's an essay here that sort of explains.
Where is Nintendo DS Web Browser?
This afternoon, I realized with all the big talks about the release of Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii, no one is paying attention to the Nintendo DS web broswer that we were promised. I couldn't find any relevant information beyond this information page from the folks at Opera which only tells you that it is now available across Europe. I think this is one of the best companions to a DS as it turns a gaming console into a handy tool. The potential can be endless if it supports AIM Express or GoogleTalk via Gmail. The dual screens will make this device having the largest viewing real estate and reading content-heavy sites like blogs can be much easier than any other mobile devices that exist today.
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