I came across a new pen that is promising to change the world. Lifescribe has just recently started shipping their first ever pen that has writing to audio and memory. I’m intrigued by the thought that this somehow helps you learn better and gain in-site into your notes. Reading the blog on the company website it seems that a lot of people are raving about how much more they got from their writings by using this new pen.

The guys (and gals) over at Lifescribe have done a good job marketing their product and generating buzz in a low key social media environment and seem to have some good momentum behind them. I’m interested to see once it’s been in production of it’s going to fade into novelty status or if it really does live up to the hype.

So my husband would tell you that we are hands down, a Mac household. Since he owns a software company (Semanteme, Inc.) that is solely focused on creating applications for the Mac and iPhone, that leaves us pretty much with a huge spend at the Apple store and more than 5 different Mac’s (Powerbooks, Macbooks, Dual Core Desktops etc. at any one time to work on at home. Now turn left. I work at Microsoft and since 2002 my real estate business required the use of Windows in order to run proprietary real estate software that just wouldn’t work on the Mac. Therefore, I’ve always had a PC laptop running whatever the newest version of Windows was (currently XP because it doesn’t have the gusto for Vista) and I’ve run both Windows XP and Mac OSX on my Powerbook since the emergence of the Intel chip on the Mac. So while my husband gets to live in his own happy bliss Continue Reading ->

So AT&T is launching a new browser based on Firefox called Pogo that will focus on 3D content delivery from the browser startup screen. This is a move to try and endear their broadband clients to their services since most customers these days apparently don’t remember who their internet service provider is.

My first question is how detailed have they been in identifying their customer base and is this really what customers want? If they are going after the Gen Y demographics then I think that that the 3D browser experience might make sense but it’s not a totally new concept so how much excitement will it really generate? If they are hoping this will be a “catch all” for their entire customer base to get excited about, I’m not so sure. Other companies have already launched 3D content “browsers” such as Apple’s “coverflow” feature and Windows Vista Flip3D and while it’s thought of Continue Reading ->

I have an 18 month old son and while I wasn’t necessarily looking for a lesson in content delivery from my son, he’s provided a very interesting perspective on it. He already knows how to turn our iPhone’s on and use the touch pad to get to the different screens until he find something that interests him. He knows how to start and stop the videos playing on his daddy’s Powerbook and how to take the iPod, headphones and all to listen to music. His attention and excitement over a new experience is amazing to watch. First he looks at it skeptically, then he analyzes if it’s worth his time and once he’s decided that it’s interesting he goes for it full force, wanting to experience anything he can get from it. New experiences far outweigh those that he’s already done more then a few times. Once he’s seen something on the computer or the iPhone or figured out what the response will be from a certain action, he moves onto something different, looking for the challenge, for something to figure out or discover. It’s fascinating to watch and insightful about the natural inclination of people to want to experience something new.

I believe that most online companies could talk a lesson or two from my son. Continue Reading ->

I believe that the initial hype and enthusiasm around podcasting is on the decline. Podcast discovery is one of the biggest problems that podcasters face. Getting easy access (one-click subscriptions) and the ability to find what you are looking for needs to be addressed before podcasting will blossom as a long-term digital media platform. There are so many podcasts available now that the quality of the content is declining and finding quality podcasts is getting harder and harder. ITunes is about the best options for finding podcasts that I’ve found but even that is limited. I strongly believe that if the content is too hard to find, people won’t bother to use the delivery channel even if that channel seems to be the coolest thing around.

While ITunes still trumps any other digital download site for it’s design, content and user experience in my opinion, it’s sad to see that the networks are pulling many of their shows off of ITunes and moving them to their own hosted sites where the can sell advertising space and control the downloads. The experience on each individual networks site is inconsistent and I find it very annoying that many of them offer only streaming media options to watch their shows rather than the ability to download and watch in a viewer rather than a website. So will podcasts and digital downloads continue on the same path or is there something new on the horizon…

What’s next for digital channel delivery? User experience is the key for any new technology and targeting the delivery channel for the individual user is a must. Finding a niche that captures the users attention, delivers a seamless experience, is widely available, quick, easy to find and cost effective is what every company dreams of figuring out.

Traditional marketing avenues and strategies are getting upheaved as we move full force ahead into a digital media world. Advances in digital video and streaming media have opened up many opportunities. The digital media industry is a consumer driven market influenced by the demands for improved experiences on all platforms. Opportunities are being created across a variety of segments within the digital media industry. The Gartner Group projects that 80% of all consumer software and 50% of all enterprise software will be delivered via ESD in 2008. That means there are huge opportunities for software companies to maximize on their revenue and reduce costs through smart digital media plans.

What’s next for most companies in this new digital space? Figure out a way to produce cutting edge content delivery methods that allow them to monetize their digital assets by creating high-quality, media-rich online experiences and then be able to protect that experience while measuring their return on investment. Sounds easy right?

First off, I have to say that I’m a big fan of Gartner’s Hype Cycles. I find the way they analyze the hype and potential viability long-term to be truly fascinating. While there is no Hype Cycle for the iPhone, there are my predictions.

Second, I do believe that some hype truly is worthy of the attention. Take for instance the future of running applications on the iPhone. The addition of being able to have truly well designed applications running on the iPhone is going to make the days of carrying around a separate laptop in the past.

For people like me, app’s on the iPhone will be a dream come true. I have one computer that I currently use at work and then our various home computers. Because I’m currently working at Microsoft with their strict equipment policies, I can’t combine my personal computer with my work computer. During the day the only piece of technology that I have with me at all times is my iPhone. I’m continually wishing that I could manage my budget on my lunch break or write up a blog entry and if I could do things on my iPhone with an integrated application life would be good.

I’m currently contributing to the creative of a few different iPhone applications in development by Semanteme, Inc. and I believe that when Apple rolls out the final green light for running app’s on the iPhone that the we will see a huge wave of people rushing to both develop applications and to buy iPhones because when the dust settles, it’s either going to be all hype or the future of mobile devices. My vote is for the future.