Had not heard about this, so unsure how rampant the problem is – that said the fix is already in – thanks to the guys at www.yodelay.com
Archive for the ‘software’ Category
Stop The Press : A CEO actually called a customer ?
13
Nov
OK _ not strictly a customer – but another example of why Apple wins over and over. I know a lot of people bang on about Jobs and his one one liners, his arrogance, how dare he – blah bah – but how many CEOs anywhere even track their customers, partners, developers and vendors – much less respond in emails – or pick up the phone.
Good Story – and a such a contrast to a customer complaint I made to a company at the other end of the spectrum of Customer Centricity (let’s call them American Airlines – post here)
A conscientious guy: Steve Jobs has a well-deserved reputation for creating great quality products and for his passion for excellence and user experience. I’ve also read that he is a detail-oriented executive and a hands-on guy who is intimately involved with his company’s work (in a way that few other CEOs are).
His phone-call reinforced those notions and went further to suggest that he was also a very conscientious guy who cared about people. The fact that he took the time to read my email, think about the app and then personally call me was amazing.
Passed on – with thanks to Cascade Soft
Gruber on Nack on Apple’s Control Over Native iPhone OS Software
14
May
Daring Fireball: Regarding John Nack on Apple’s Control Over Native iPhone OS Software
That’s exactly what’s going on. Apple is testing whether a tightly controlled and managed app console platform will succeed or fail based on its own merits, as determined by customers. There are different levels of competition. Apple has made its choice about how it wants to compete, and there’s nothing Adobe can do about it – other than proving Apple wrong by shipping compelling excellent software for Android.
Passed on – with thanks to : Daring Fireball
Are photographers different to the rest of us ?
17
Apr
Ever since I was sent this NYT article: For Photographers, the Image of a Shrinking Path – NYTimes.com, I had been mulling this in my mind. Before that even. I picked up on one set of words … which I replay here to save you clicking through.
“There are very few professional photographers who, right now, are not hurting, said Holly Stuart Hughes, editor of the magazine Photo District News.
That has left professional photographers with a bit of an identity crisis. Nine years ago, when Livia Corona was fresh out of art school, she got assignments from magazines like Travel and Leisure and Time. Then, she said, three forces coincided.
They were the advertising downturn, the popularity and accessibility of digital photography, and changes in the stock-photo market.
Full disclosure - I am not – nor would I ever pretend to be a photographer, fine-artist, musician, write, sculptor or any other kind of creative professional ….. I am however someone who admires the work of a number of photographers, fine-artists, musicians, writers, sculptors and other kinds of creative professionals – and I currently happen to be working in a space that provides an aspect of business savvy to those photographers, fine-artists, musicians, writers, sculptors and other kinds of creative professionals.
So what is it about this article that made me tick ?
Well, two things;
1) It is like all the other articles that face off on the topic of the challenges of a photographer. It highlights the problem – provides not even an offer of a solution – and leaves everyone with a ‘woe is me’ attitude …. “Well – it isn’t so bad that I am having a hard time – so is every one else.
2) The world doesn’t owe ANYONE a living – so what are we going to do about it ?
No one can dispute that a photographers life is difficult these days. But sorry – everyone’s life is – EVERY industry and profession is having the rug pulled out from under its feet. It is a problem. But not insurmountable.
If you read other parts of the NYT and similar organs, there is much written about the importance of creativity and innovation and thought and leadership as the key to extricating ourselves from this particular swamp.
Last time I looked – photographers are part of that creative energy and drive that can lead us into the brave new world. Where is the leadership?
Before I move on to how that leadership might kick in how about a few more forces that collided with the three already picked out earlier.
A quick diversion into Music
Cast your mind back 10 years ago – and the MP3 download revolution that was going to destroy the music industry. How life was going to never be the same. How this was it – the end of the Music Industry. Site after site went up allowing people to download and swap MP3s if not for free – then at a very marginal cost. The courts were used to push massive fines onto 12 year olds to pay up thousands of dollars in fines – what a WASTE. We knew it was wrong – we did it. You know what – they were right. The Music Industry is in its death throws. Thank God.
BUT – Music is alive and well. Very well – thankyou very much. The creative energies are bursting out all over – and for us – the consumer – there is now so much choice it is hard to keep up – its like being back in the 60s again, with every day a new band or singer popping up – delivering their sounds … it is awesome !
The old style music industry is of course not doing too well out of all of this – Musicians are going direct to their fan base, the distribution engines that used to be essential are being bypassed, there is no need to have ‘the Suits’ involved – that ‘MiddleMan’ is dead. (Of course there are plenty of other MiddleMen springing up – would you recognize a Social Media Optimization expert if they walked into the room ? (Clue – they are about 12 years old).
The point is that the people that made the money out of music – Universal, Capitol, EMI, Sony …. yes – they are having a hard time. EMI in the UK is the latest disaster. And with Tower, Virgin, Sam’s Records – name your record store of choice all (pretty much) gone. I mean – where do you go to buy a CD today. A what ?
But the musician is doing ok. I think. True. it is different. New knowledge is needed, but you no longer need to sell millions of records to make a buck. Will there ever be a band as big as The Beatles again ? I say not. Been there – done that. But don’t forget that for every ‘Beatles’ – there were tens of thousands of bands that never made it.
I maintain there is an analogy at work here. Musicians give their work away for free to make it up in another bucket – eg Radiohead. Or perform for free – in the hope of selling their recordings (think buskers) (Two extreme examples). David Byrne of Talking Heads wrote a piece in Wired two and a half years ago called Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars take a read – two and a half years ago – this was before the recession – and still the Music Industry was in shock – but there was a way through.
So – what could photographers do ? Who is going to write the equivalent article for the photographic industry ? Is there a single person of that stature, with that knowledge that could do it and would want to do it ?
I have some ideas, even made a start. But I am not that person. Who the hell am I anyway and what do I know ? Actually – little. I am not an expert. I flit between industries and connect dots. I see something in Industry A – and wonder – would that work in Industry B?
That is why I am passionate about this. The Photographer is not the only career hit by this problem – but is one of the few that can do something about it. I think. Easy for me to say – so shall we set about proving it ?
Passed on – with thanks to : Rachel Lacour for the original piece.
A Parable of Open v Closed and Expert v Crowd Sourcing
11
Apr
An interesting take on the battle of open / closed …. apple / google …. apple / adobe – etc – without too much getting on the band wagon – but rather coming at the open v closed issue from a design perspective.
Not sure I totally agree with him but I sure don’t reject it either, and haven’t got an argument against – so what – conflicted ? Yes – because I love Apple and I love Open Source. And that right there is a seeming conflict.
I took the piece as a kind of metaphor / allegory / parable – I just can’t bring the right word to mind for the battle all creative professionals (and in this category I include the ‘poets of the internet’ [that would be the coders] are currently facing. As ‘the price’ gets close to zero – how do you make money? And if ‘we’ all want to pay nothing to others – but we want them to pay us for our art, photographs, design etc – how does that reconcile?
It is another tension that we have in the market place.
Tools are making $$$ less relevant and talent MORE relevant – the way it SHOULD BE!
Anyway – take a read – enjoy – agree or not – it isn’t the end of the world either way 
Extract From David Malouf’s piece:
Because open systems people lack patience and strategic thinking. Yup! I said it. There ya go! With very few exceptions (ok, Mozilla you’re off the hook), OSS systems have failed to deliver mainstream, compelling, engaging, successful products.
As I listened to Apple talk about what they did to make their implementation of Multi-tasking work, it just started to really crystalize for me one salient point about Apple.
It is not about the right feature, but the right feature done right at the right time.
This means being thorough. It means understanding the ins and outs of your system. It means being patient until both design and engineering get it right, and not just get it done.
This level of intentionality is something that open systems can’t deploy well if at all. If everyone is free, then no one waits. No one considers. No one designs.
And to save you the click through – ‘he’ (the writer of this oiece) is but one voice, name David Malouf and according to his web site:
David Malouf is currently a Professor of Interaction Design in the Industrial Design Department of the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD).
Before taking this position, David was a Sr. Interaction Design for Motorola Enterprise Mobility where he designed software, webware, and hardware interactions and interfaces. Motorola was the last in a 15 year journey of practicing interaction design, information architecture, UI design, project management and other roles and positions working almost exclusively with thin client technologies.
Read the full article here : Why people who favor open systems are at a disadvantage?
Passed on – with thanks to Daniel S
The Internet of Things is Here
17
Mar
This makes for a really interesting read. I love it when the internet web thingy and the real world (as we at least perceive it to be) come together. Hopefully meeting part of the network next week. When I found out what he was doing – and where he wanted to go – I couldn’t resist. The stuff is not the same as described here. But its stuff (good stuff – sorry – can’t be more precise) – and there’s money to be made.
It’s the same story as BandN v Amazon – compete on your terms – not theirs!
Connect the dots. Make the jumps. Find the Blue Ocean. It’s just a small leap of thinking that can create a giant leap of change.
The Internet of Things – McKinsey Quarterly
… the predictable pathways of information are changing: the physical world itself is becoming a type of information system. In what’s called the Internet of Things, sensors and actuators embedded in physical objects’ from roadways to pacemakers’ are linked through wired and wireless networks, often using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that connects the Internet. These networks churn out huge volumes of data that flow to computers for analysis. When objects can both sense the environment and communicate, they become tools for understanding complexity and responding to it swiftly. What’s revolutionary in all this is that these physical information systems are now beginning to be deployed, and some of them even work largely without human intervention.
Passed on – with thanks to : McKinsey Quarterly
Roambi – Your Data, iPhone-Style
18
Aug
