The Narrative

Trendwatching.com on:Tips & tricks on how to become a better trend watcher

Posted on by charlie

I read these guys every month. They have very through reports on different consumer trends, all written in a cheeky and breathless style.

If you need to follow consumer trends, which you should, then these guys are for you.

Link: TREND UNIT | Tips & tricks on how to become a better trend watcher.

Let’s face it: never before has knowing about emerging consumer trends been as important as it is now. Luckily, finding out about trends has become much, much easier. In a world that’s fully connected, where tens of thousands of smart professionals and amateurs are spotting, observing, thinking, and innovating, and putting their findings online for all to see, insanely valuable resources are up for grabs.

BTW, I read Intelligence Group’s newsletter, as well. Small snippets of what’s hot or up and coming. Useful for keeping a finger on the pulse of emerging culture and styles as it happens. Also, highly recommended.

Strategy

Good mobile browsers are not enough

Posted on by charlie

I read Matthew Maier’s latest newsletter (it’s now via CNNMoney and called ‘Third Screen‘) titled ‘Is that a PC in your pocket?’ Of course, it was about shoving PC apps into phones. It was a bit starry-eyed in how phones are becoming more like PCs. Ok, so he does briefly mention that it helps to think of how folks use the mobile to develop good apps. But, he does focus too much on the mobile computing experience.

The article promoted me to finally take a look at OperaMini (point your phone at mini.opera.com). It’s decent, but I was able to quickly test it and prove that improving mobile browsers is not going to solve all our problems.

Here’s a test:
1) Use your favorite mobile browser to view Bloglines at www.bloglines.com
2) Now use Bloglines via bloglines.com/mobile

Of course, and I’m not stating anything new, the mobile version of Bloglines has the better mobile experience.

What I mean to show is that, yes, it’s great to have more fully featured phone browsers. It fills a gap in access. But, let’s call a spade a spade – the browsing experience will still not be as effective as any site that has a mobile device in mind.

And that’s not only because of the usual layout and content issues. To me the real thing is that PC-centric sites are designed for the PC, broadband, two-handed, mouse-and-click, two-eyes, sitting-on-my-butt, I-have-time kind of experience. Mobile sites or PC sites that keep mobile in mind, remember the one-handed, strawband, one-eye (if any), on-the-go kind of needs. In short, they need to cater to the mobile lifestyle and not just the mobile layout.

I think the mobile computing mentality is fooling everyone into thinking that phones are turning into PCs. Eh, that’s not right. Yes, phones are turning into powerful computing platforms that can have rich applications – but those applications must be relevant to the way folks use their mobile.

And that’s what most folks miss.

The Narrative

Unstrung on: Location Services Lost on Users

Posted on by charlie

Sigh. This is not a blindspot of mine. I don’t think anyone has got this wrong. I think Location-based services are a great idea. The problem is that to make it work, you need to convince the company with the location info (the operator) what’s in it for them. I don’t think any of it was handled or pitched properly such that these services could be rolled out. It’s really no one’s fault. It just is a messed up mumbo-jumbo that has been making us drag our feet.

Do you realize that there is no reason technically for location-based services not to be deployed today?* What I’d like to see is more ground-up kinds of services that go around the current barriers, for example Plazes, Dodgeball-like (Jumpclaimer or Wayfaring), or something like what Nathan Eagle did.

Link: Unstrung – Location Services Lost on Users – Wireless Networking News Analysis.

Location based services (LBS) — which deliver localized information directly to your mobile phone in real time — have generated plenty of buzz in the wireless industry over the last couple of years, but it turns out these new cellular applications are largely lost on enterprise users.

UPDATE 10feb06: I wrote this sentence backwards and forgot to add an important word ‘not’. What I mean is that all the tech is there. There is no reason, technically, we cannot roll out these services today. Sorry for any confusion.