2006 September | Molecularist

Rainbow

Rainbow
Originally uploaded by schickr.

I just loved the colours of this bush in my back yard

Absolutely not interested in the tournament

Absolutely not interested in the tournament
Originally uploaded by schickr.

Blowing away the competition in an incredibly mature market

My team colleague and, now, partner in crime, Udo Szabo, sent me a great quote (see below) that sent me looking for the full article on the Google blog, and written by the guy who brought Gmail to life.

Basically, they entered a really mature market and redefined what Web email should be like. Yeah, free 2GB email was a hook, but that’s part of the product strategy, the benefit to users, and the basis for so much more that they’ve added since (contextual ads, FedEx links, integration with Google Calendar, and so on).

To me, it says that a mature market is only mature because the innovation has stagnated, the mind-set has gelled, creativity has fled to easier problems.

This whole thing also makes me think back to ideas about the ‘freeing’ nature of constraints in design and stepping back a bit and revisiting past aussumptions, thought to be immutable, upon which we built our current assumptions.

Link: Official Google Blog: Guess what just turned 34?.

We didn’t want to simply bolt new features onto old interfaces. We needed to rethink email, but at the same time we needed to respect that email already had over 30 years of history, thousands of existing programs, and nearly a billion users. So we started by learning which features were most important, and which problems were most aggravating. We also realized that solving everyone’s problems was too big of a challenge for the first release. It would be better to build a product that a lot of people love, than one that everyone tolerates, and so that was our goal.

The mushrooms have landed

The mushrooms have landed
Originally uploaded by schickr.

Hugo, a lost cat!

Hugo, a lost cat!
Originally uploaded by schickr.

Our beloved cat, Rodo, is lost

Tired words: Innovation

Yes, I am a cranky bastard. And my prerogative is to get tired of hearing certain words said over and over again.

I’ve been keeping track for some time and have finally decided to make the list public. And, to be more transparent in my thinking, I have also tried to convey the ‘why’.

I’ll be posting these as they come (I have a list, so expect a bunch from the start). They’ll be listed under the ‘Tired‘ category, if you want to see any of the others.

Here’s my first one:

Innovation – My first word on this list, and the one that has bugged me the longest. Odd, coming from a person who just spent the last 3 years deep in the venturing arm of Nokia. I actually credit Carly Fiorina and a talk she gave a Nokia Mobility Conference a few years back when she mentioned ‘innovation’ so many times it started grating my ears.

Face it, innovation is one of those thing you can’t make true by repeating it. Like authentic brands (oh! two more candidates for this list) it is something that you or your company already have within you. As the Oracle would say, ‘It’s like falling in love – balls to bones, you know it.’

I found an interesting newsletter on emerging markets

From Nokia, no less. So, if you’re into emerging markets, go check it out.

Indeed, Nokia is doing a lot in emerging markets. India, China, and Brasil are the old stand-bys. But, Africa is not forgotten. I’ve been talking to a bunch of folks internally, and there are some really cool things already happening.

Yeah, Nokia hasn’t failed to notice that by the end of next year there will be around 3 BILLION subscribers, most of the growth in emerging markets.

Hm. Right now, everyone who can afford a mobile phone can get one. I think soon, everyone who wants a mobile phone will have one. That’s a whole different story.

Link: Nokia – Newsletter.

New Horizons is a quarterly newsletter targeted at anyone interested in new growth markets and reaching the next billion subscriber milestone.

This newsletter provides industry insights from different players, including operators, regulators and research companies. There are also case studies in new growth markets and information on the latest Nokia developments in this area.

Download and subscribe to your free of charge personal copy of the newsletter on the link on the left.

Alert

Alert
Originally uploaded by schickr.

Plazes adding more variety

Plazes is a cool location service that cleverly is building a database of locations users go to, leveraging that info to make connections, and then some.

They started with a PC app for sniffing MAC addresses of routers.

Then they added a s60 app for smartphones to sniff cellIDs (I had a tiny role in that).

Now they are adding SMS (see note below).

I like the way they are doing things for at least 2 reasons:
1) They didn’t try to do everything possible in the first go. They started with the low-hanging fruit, go the service rolling, and are now adding new channels.

I call this ‘first go deep, then go wide’. We had a discussion about this at work, worried that ‘going wide’ – integrating and broadening the offering – would detract from ‘going deep’ – laser focus on making one thing the best damn thing. It’s a tough balance.

2) They are testing all sorts of channels. They started with an easy one, that wouldn’t disrupt one’s behaviour too much – a PC client, easy to work with. Then they upped it a bit – the mobile client needed to be put on the phone, there’s some behavioural change on the phone (really, how many times do you do something when changing cell towers?). Now they are asking the user to actively think about where they are, making them do the work (or at least that’s what I think the SMS channel will require).

I’ve asked to check it out. I haven’t been able to use the mobile version since I got my N93 (and now N73). This SMS version should work with any phone. I’d be interested in knowing what the usability will be like.

From the Plazes newsletter:

Good news for all Plazes users that like to use our service on the go,
but do not own a series 60 smartphone: The Plazes SMS gateway reached
alpha state! It enables the creation of Plazes, checkin / checkout to
Plazes and keeping track of your friends – all via SMS!

Skrap

Skrap
Originally uploaded by schickr.

In a bin, near a bunch of forgotten municipal gear, way off the beaten track, at the edge of a forgotten forest.

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