It's about time!

I have this nasty habit of leaving blogs I start hanging in cyberspace for eternity. Some poor little server somewhere is striving to keep it up and rolling, and I don't make the effort to at least write a new entry every once in awhile. Shame on me.

I've been crazy busy (still plenty of room to get busier, of course) with this new company I'm working on - I can't tell you how much I've learned not just about computers/coding/business, but the big one we all struggle with: Time management.

Nope - I've never had the slightest clue how to best utilize my time. Managing it, or attempting to, makes that crazy animal climb up and smack you in the face a bit. It's a lot easier to let it just do its thing and roll on by.

Now's the time where I realize that it doesn't work that way for anyone wanting to really do something with their lives. Of course, if you prefer not to, I won't hold it against you. I'd be fine with just existing if it weren't for that little nagging desire to leave the world better off than it would have been otherwise.

Wild-eyed entrepreneurs are naturally on the front lines of that raging battle, trying to do something cool and helpful - finding a better way to do things. This necessitates time management to get something accomplished in a reasonable amount of, here we go, time.

I've found the best way to do this is establish a list of priorities, and attack that mountain with relentless vigor until a new list of priorities pop up. Oh, but how do I sort all of these things out and identify what's really important?

In the tech industry, especially support, we've (collectively) established a system to make sure the important things get done. I really think it can apply to other areas of life as well. The most important thing:

"Solve the problem that affects the most numerous amount of users FIRST."

You can take "users" and simply state "people." Think about it. Each of us wants to please those around us (usually), or at least keep them out of our business. We can best do that by taking care of the problems that directly affect them. I.e., providing for one's family, paying the rent on time, etc. But it extends further than that.

Pro actively solving a problem before it occurs is great, but we can take it further to "make life easier/more productive than it would be otherwise." Take something as simple as email. It has revolutionized the way we communicate, and has taken collaboration/communication into the digital realm. That's a pretty big step.

When Ray Tomlinson was developing a mail program for ARPANET in 1971, did he imagine we'd have things like AIM, Skype, social news and networking (MySpace, Facebook, Digg, Newsvine, etc.)? Probably not, but I can bet he knew he was creating a better and easier way for people to communicate.

I like to keep this idea in mind when creating something new. How many people are affected? Can they use this tool in ways that I can't begin to imagine? Does it have the potential to revolutionize the way we work and live?

Back to prioritizing things. I've compiled a short list that should always be kept in mind when going after your life. Do I practice what I preach? No. But I certainly try. I get better every day as a result.

Five Steps of Effective Prioritization:

1. Which current problem or project affects the most number of people?
2. Are any of the current projects or problems pre-requisites for others to be completed?
3. Will any of the projects or problems, if immediately solved, benefit you or those around you to a greater extent then the others?
4. Of those affected by the project, does any one person have a level of seniority that would dictate which is to be done first?
5. Any side projects that are self-fulfilling and may lead to new opportunities in the future?

So yeah. Go through your current laundry list, and filter them through the steps above. I find it helps me decide what is most important and what needs to be done first. Of course, action is required to actually accomplish your list. Some people are gifted with a relentless drive. Others, myself included, really struggle to keep moving.

Being able to sort things out is the first step in effective time management, along with several other key points I'll touch on at a later date.

-Jameson

It's Not Primetime Yet

One of the problems faced as a content provider and a designer is how we're going to get material into the hands of the user, and by what method. I'm talking about mobile phones, people.

While I don't have any consistent statistics in front of me (studies vary widely), mainstream mobile users doing any kind of real data (aside from downloading portal-sourced ringtones) seems to be pegged at about 25% of the population. How about those actually getting away from their provider's portal and into the unknown? Much, much less than that. Probably around 2-3%.

Nick Gonzalez over on Tech Crunch wrote an article about a company out of Singapore named Velvet Puffin . Velvet Puffin is a tool that integrates with social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook to provide a seamless experience between mobile and traditional computing environments. That's great - I use Facebook's SMS-based mobile features all the time. But how many people are really able to get some actual data flowing on their mobile device? The real question is do they want to?

I like to acknowledge something I call "carrier arrogance" when talking about progressive mobile technologies. I'm convinced that your average user does not yet see the real value in spending $20+ extra a month (per phone, at that) to visit the underdeveloped world of mobile browsing. Hell, people outside of the 18-25 age bracket are barely comfortable with text messaging.

I'm convinced that carriers are not ready to let go of their cash cows of ringtones and videos. If a user had access to the whole internet on their phone (they do - not many realize it), why should one pay $3 a pop for a ringtone that expires in 90 days? They wouldn't. Carriers know this.

There's one more issue, and that's the issue of usability. I believe in simple interfaces designed for mainstream audiences. Something so intuitive that those of us who don't happen to be internet savvy feel comfortable and functional in using it. Mobile devices certainly lack that, both from a hardware and a software standpoint. I've gotta go log onto the web, hit a variable soft key, scroll down to the "Go to URL..." button, enter the exact URL, and hope that my browser can display the page properly.

Sure, there are other ways to get there. For instance, URL's can be embedded into SMS messages. There's one method. Another is for mobile portals to link to off-portal content. Think that'll ever happen? Fat chance.

It boils down to this: Things need to happen before the United States catches up to the rest of the world with regards to mobile data.

• Consistent browser design on the phone itself.
• Better mobile web design with the user interface in mind.
• Awareness of off-portal content.
  
• Improved ease of access to off-portal content.
• Hardware. Not as significant, but improvements (see iPhone and other smart phones to follow) will allow for easier web access for your average Joe.

If I had to guess, I'd let a good year and a half go by before we see some real progress that everyone can appreciate. It's not time yet, but it's close. And with that, opportunities are abound.

You knew it was coming. Now what?

So it's here. Officially. TV on your phone. But only if you're a Verizon customer. Cool in theory, but does it work? I had the opportunity to play with a beta version of a program called mobiTV on Sprint's network a couple of years ago. It was smooth enough to be considered TV, and the audio was decent enough to understand what was going on.

Why wasn't it ever released to market? I don't know the official answer, but I can certainly guess. The fact is that most carriers are so darn arrogant that they think they can 'steer' where the public decides to spend their money. But they're only half stupid. They've seen things like this fail before, and are a bit more cautious when deploying a new technology.

I see a couple of real problems with it that may or may not have worked themselves out in Verizon's camp:

• Lack of penetration with their users.
• the only people I see using this are the early adopters and possibly sports fanatics. Grandma isn't going to want to watch TV on a 1.8" screen.
• It's too expensive, and not worth the extra (pricing hasn't been announced yet) $20 or so a month to most people.
• No or very little advertising to keep costs down.
• We begin the vicious cycle of the classic 'Chicken and the Egg' debate. With such shallow usage, only the biggest advertisers might bite. And they're not going to bite hard.
• Do you really think that Verizon is going to use that ad revenue to cover their costs and pass the savings on to the users? Nope.
• Jittery video streaming and poor audio quality.
• This isn't going to fly with your average Joe. TV hasn't made a real presence on the home computer yet (soon to change, see Joost for an example) - what is going to help it succeed on the mobile phone before it is widely adopted elsewhere?

I'm almost convinced that Verizon/Sprint/AT&T wants to keep this service exclusive and inaccessible. They consider their bandwidth precious, so why not make the consumer pay for it? Maybe it's not such a terrible model for them - however, don't count me in. At least initially.

Gives "Bullet Proof" a whole new meaning

I've been saying it all along. Had I bought a Dell Inspiron or a Toshiba four years ago, I would have long ago replaced my primary machine - my 12" PowerBook G4.

An article over on Engadget supports my claim:

"A mugging victim in Brazil avoided a trip to the ER thanks to his trusty bodyguard, a seemingly bulletproof MBP. According to the image holder (who isn't the victim or MBP owner), the lappy continues to function, although it isn't clear to what extent."

MacBook Pro takes Bullet like a Champ - Engadget

Now I can't say that I've thrown my PowerBook in the line of fire, so to speak, but it has had its fair share of bumps and tumbles. the dents in its aluminum casing are there to tell the tale. This machine owes me nothing - it has been nothing short of fantastic.

Which leads me to problem - there's no obvious upgrade path from my 12" PowerBook - many other 12" PowerBook users are complaining of the same thing. The MacBook isn't exactly a pro-sumer model, and the MacBook Pros are simply too big to be considered a 'lightweight portable.'

Fortunately there are some rumors in the pipe of Apple working on an ultra-portable model. I for one have my fingers crossed...

-Jameson

Ramping things up.

So I've really been getting into the design aspect of web design, and trying to go beyond simply throwing a page up. In developing my skills, I keep a couple things in mind:

• The user determines what is good and what is not.
• Content is king.
• Less is more.
• Don't try and reinvent something that simply confuses people (i.e., navigation)

In keeping these principles in mind, I hope to have some really great pages up to show you all. This is my first real venture into this world, and what fun it has been! I'm sure that's exactly what all of my clients want to hear.

Thanks for reading.

-Jameson