Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 222

Apple Is Laughing All The Way To The Bank

I went from a non-believer to a believer.

I love Apple. There, I said it. It's not a tough thing to put out there, as the company edges closer to becoming the first ever trillion-dollar organization. The customers are there. The interest is there. You can have you own feelings and philosophies about the brand, but go into any modern shopping mall, and the two stores with the most energy, excitement and activity are - without question - the Apple and LEGO stores. With that size comes the detractors. As a personal anecdote, I've had computers in my life since the first personal computers were brought into the home. I went from Radio Shack to Atari 800 to the earliest version of IBM clones. My nerd cred in this space is documented. I still have the invoices from the first modems that were ever introduced (you would suction cup those old rotary phone handsets to the top). I only converted to the cult of Mac a few years ago. I did it, to better understand the landscape, and I also wanted to understand what it was like for a newbie to be dropped into this world. Within a couple of hours, I could not look back. The PC and the BlackBerry just felt antiquated to the way in which the MacBook and iPhone worked. To this day, I still marvel whenever I pull out my iPhone. Sure, it's easy to get frustrated over technology, but imagine the power that you have in the palms of your hand. This is Star Trek stuff, people!

Planet of the phones.

The Economist magazine's cover story is called, Planet of the phones (February 28th - March 6th). The stats presented were startling. "They have become the fastest-selling gadgets in history, outstripping the growth of the simple mobile phones that preceded them. They outsell personal computers four to one. Today about half the adult population owns a smartphone; by 2020, 80% will. Smartphones have also penetrated every aspect of daily life. The average American is buried in one for over two hours every day. Asked which media they would miss most, British teenagers pick mobile devices over TV sets, PCs and games consoles. Nearly 80% of smartphone-owners check messages, news or other services within 15 minutes of getting up. About 10% admit to having used the gadget during sex." We live in this fascinating duality where technology is a must-have part of everything that we do, and - in the same breath - it is still a luxury, that is getting more and more expensive (did you see the pricing for the new Apple Watch?). It's startling to see how quickly we have adapted to this immense amount of power. With that, all technology gets smaller. So, while the excitement over the watch can't be denied, I was very eager to better understand what this new MacBook was all about. Again, the discourse online about it is polarizing. For some, it's sleek, fast and beautiful. For others, it feels like a very expensive netbook that lacks a lot functionality and ports.

You're going to love this.

It's very rare that I share videos like this, but in reading and reviewing all of the online discourse about Apple this week - and the future of technology - this one made me laugh. Hard. With tears. Deep deep belly laughing. It's on the verge of going viral, but when I first saw it today it was only at about 30,000 views. 

Apple Engineer Talks About The New 2015 Macbook...

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Will Amazon Soon Be 3D Printing Products En Route To Consumers?

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Today is the day. Apple is making their big announcement. The focus, of course, is on The Watch. The Apple Watch. When is it coming out? How much will it cost? What will the apps look like? With that, I also have my finger's crossed for a new and updated MacBook Air, but make no mistake about it, this is about the watch. It also, potentially, ushers in the next era for Apple and - most importantly - the mainstreaming of wearable technology. Apple will do for the watch what Google did not do with Google Glass. 
Google is going to do a lot more in the mobile space. Beyond the Android operating system, smartphones and having app dominance with things like Gmail, YouTube and more, they are looking to become a wireless carrier. It will be very hard to do this in some parts of the world, but Google is going to start offering voice and data plans on what they are calling a "small scale."
Here's one from the future: Amazon just patented the technology to 3D print products en route to consumers. That's going to make the whole "warehouse" thing seem kind of antiquated, don't you think?
App of the week: Fast Company magazine has a new app... and it's great.

Listen here...

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Get Big Things Done

Episode #452 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

When a friend like C.C. Chapman tells me that I have to meet someone, I am there in a heartbeat. Prior to the introduction, I had never heard of Erica Dhawan. Erica was in the final throes of writing her first book, Get Big Things Done (which she co-authored alongside Saj-Nicole Joni). The book is based on her research, interest and business around something she calls, "connectional intelligence." A new (and better) way to communicate and network. Erica's mission is to accelerate the connectedness of employees, teams, customers and clients. In this episode, we talk about the changing workforce. We look at how businesses are going to thrive and prosper by understanding connectional intelligence. We debate the challenges in building a culture rich with productive communication, where an open flow of ideas and profitable collaboration can happen. Enjoy the conversation.

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #452.

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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #246

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

The Great Knowledge Box Showdown: Google Now vs. Siri vs. Cortana - Stone Temple Consulting . "We're building prosthetic brains. It's about time for an IQ test. Eric Enge put Google's Now, Apple's Siri, and Microsoft's Cortana to the test to see which one of the upgrades will work best." (Alistair for Hugh).
The Work Of Julien Rivoire . "I don't know why I like this, but I do. Maybe it's because it's what art looks like once 3D rendering is commonplace and our feeds are full of animated GIFs." (Alistair for Mitch).
Data Monopolists Like Google Are Threatening the Economy - Harvard Business Review . "That 'data is a strategy' won't be news to Alistair, who has been running a conference (Strata) for a few years now, dedicated to helping companies understand and use big data. Still, I hadn't heard the term 'Data Monopolist'  before (I guess Alistair has). Kira Radinsky at the Harvard Business Review thinks maybe it's time for an Anti-Trust act for data." (Hugh for Alistair).
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letter to Shareholders . "Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha, is the world's most successful investor, with an unrivalled track-record dating back to the mid-60s. He's also a wonderful writer, and his yearly letter to shareholders is always filled with nuggets of wisdom, thoughts on the state of the world of business, and, if you are interested in selling your company, the best invite to contact a giant of finance you are likely to see. This year's letter is particularly interesting, because it contains a section: ' he Next 50 Years at Berkshire'... Mr. Buffet is in his mid eighties, so chances are he won't be around for all of them!" (Hugh for Mitch).
10 Mind-Boggling Stats from Mobile World Congress - Ad Week . "There was a lot of news this week about the Mobile World Congress. Most of it was surrounding the fact that Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was going to speak. I tend to shy away from click-baity and Buzzfeed-ish articles like this, but it's just too juicy not to share. Each stat in this article could be an epic blog post unto itself. The first one sets the pace: mobile subscibers will jump by a billion people in the next five year." (Mitch for Alistair).
How Music Hijacks Our Perception of Time - Nautilus . "The other week, I was in a terrible mood. Instead of my usually nightly routine of writing, I decided to watch some videos on YouTube. Out of the corner of my eye, was a suggested video. It was Van Halen playing the now-infamous US Festival back in 1983. This was one of the first concerts that got me into music in big way. As I watched, I closed my eyes. I just wanted to hear the band play. It was dark in my room. The music took me somewhere. It made me feel like that teenager again. The excitement of new things. The unknowing of what will come of my life. Does that girl in my class like me? What are my friends and I going to do on the weekend? I was time travelling. Music is power. There's a science to it. Here it is." (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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As Digital Infects Nature

What will the future hold for our physical spaces?

That - in particular - is one of the biggest questions that businesses will to ask. We have seen digital completely re-invent how we operate our businesses on the backend. We have seen digital completely re-invent the way in which brands can communicate and connect with their consumers. As these big companies change the way that we do business, we are beginning to see how it affects both our economies and the space that we live in. When you think about it, companies like Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon are not only dominating the online spaces, but they are taking over office spaces. But, then what? They expand. They take on other buildings, and try to customize these spaces. Many have turned these spaces into campuses. This kind of development causes a new kind of interaction between people, their work and the surrounding community. It changes the community, the people who work there, the environment, transit and so much more.

What can spaces look like for digital businesses? 

I am often asked to be on the Google campus (known as the Googleplex). I have watched this space grow, expand and be pushed to its limit over the years. I remember the first space that YouTube operated in when they were first acquired by Google and now, they have major production and creative studios in multiple cities. On my last trip, I had a meeting with someone at Google. Their office had been moved. It was so far from the Googolplex that it was - literally - a different exit off of the highway. Well, Google (like Apple) is looking to build a new campus in Mountain View, California. Below, is the Google proposal for North Bayshore. Sure, it's a sales pitch to the community, but it also provides layers of interesting content that revolves around digital products and how they interface with our physical lives. It looks at architecture beyond buildings, and how it has  a more expansive definition. Architecture and design is all about the actual people who use these spaces, and the environment that it breathes in. It's exciting to see a video like, especially if you have any interest in how we work in the near future. Take note of the space and how it flows. Take note of how the people are moving through it. It all seems to breathe as one. Is this done, to keep people at work? Or, is this being done, to inspire people to want to work?

What does the future of our work spaces truly look like? 

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Just Go To Work... To Work

There is a favorite story of mine.

We all have them. My favorite story (and, the one that motivates me the most) comes from Steven Pressfield. Whenever I am stuck, when I can't come up with ideas, when I'm worrying in the brain about ideas that have no output in the physical world... I think of Pressfield and start re-reading The War of Art. I also remind myself of something he once said: "Put your ass where your heart is." With that, the work of being creative is just that... it's work. Pressfield brings a blue-collar work ethic to his writing that is both inspiring and pragmatic. He gets up, takes a shower, grabs some breakfast and starts writing. Much in the same way people go and fix toilets, sit behind their desks as accountants or those of us that create great marketing.

The point is this: the real professional just goes to work.

We can all lament spaces to think, office politics, creative blocks, waiting for inspiration to strike, and whatever else we think holds us back from doing our best work. More often than not, it's simply about putting in the time. I was reminded of this recently, when I had a chance to spend some time with a legendary bass player.

Be humble... but be great.

"Who is that bass player with the long white beard?" That was my initial reaction when I first saw the video for Phil Collins' smash hit, Sussudio, in 1985. I did not know Leland Sklar's pedigree as a bass player before that (and, what happened after is a journey of impressive artists and songs that continues to expand to this day and beyond). Sklar was studying music at California State University in the sixties, and that was when he met James Taylor. This is the gig that shot Sklar into the limelight, and has led him to become one of the top session and live bass players ever. He turns 68 this year, and has no desire to slow down. His list of credits is a veritable who's who of rock, pop and country (literally from Air Supply to Warren Zevon and everyone in between). He has played on over 2500 albums and close to 30,000 songs (and, trust me, you're probably listening to a song that he played on right now). His melodic grooves and focus on the artist and the song over trying to over-power a song with a bass line, speaks to his mastery of the instrument. He thinks more about the creativity than the riffs. More importantly, listen to him as he discuses - with great humility - what the real job is of a creative person, and how he approaches it.

Are you ready to groove on this?

In this third episode of Groove - The No Treble Podcast, we dive deep into the creativity and the work ethic that is needed to foster moments of greatness. Enjoy the conversation...

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How Did The Color Of A Dress Become A Bigger Story Than Net Neutrality?

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Live Long And Prosper, everyone.
The Internet went insane last week. It goes insane quite often, but last week was a real exception. What color was that dress? Blue and black? White and gold? Many experts weighed in. It got a lot of mass media attention (like, right now). But, for me, it spoke to two interesting (and divergent) results of moments like this. One, when the intelligentsia steps in and we get these awesome, high brow, pieces about how nothing really has any color. Two, how wild our world is, when things like this become global and viral memes. We are a peculiar people.
Big news for people who use the Internet (that, would be all of us!). In the US, the net neutrality law (that had been talked about for years) has come to pass. The Internet will now be regulated as a public utility. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has adopted net neutrality regulations. What does it mean? The new rules prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing down traffic on wired and wireless networks. They also ban Internet service providers from offering paid priority services that could allow them to charge content companies, such as Netflix, fees to access Internet "fast lanes" to reach customers more quickly when networks are congested. It also means that may, in fact, start seeing the Internet as a human right (which is the law in certain European countries).
Francois wants a great translation app. We talked about this last week. Google Translate app. 
App of the week: Nat Geo View.

Listen here...

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The New Cluetrain Manifesto

Episode #451 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

If ever there was a book written about what marketing "could" be, it would be The Cluetrain Manifesto. The book was published in 2000 and presented 95 theses organized around the Internet, culture, society and business (it also happens to be one of my my most loved books). Many point to this book as the genesis of social media. Many recite the infamous "markets are conversations" line from it. The truth is that many don't really understand the depth, value and insights that the book delivers. It's amazing to look at the content of this book - in 2015 - to see how much of it has come true... and how far we still have to go. It's something that two out of the four original authors have been thinking a lot about. Doc Searls and David Weinberger put together New Clues. It is 121 more theses authored for 2015. While, Rick Levine and Chris Locke opted out of taking another kick at the can, Searls and Weinberger provide much more fodder for all of us to think about. Technology has - without question - moved at an exponential pace, so it's interesting to see what these two think needs to happen next. Enjoy the conversation... 

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #451.

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Pay Attention To Net Neutrality

In The United States Today, An Important Decision Was Made About The Future Of The Internet.

The term "net neutrality" has been in our zeitgeist for the past few years. Many were not sure when (or if) these changes would become law. It has happened. It is not a completely clear and obvious thing, but it is here. Do you believe that certain people (or companies) are entitled to have faster access to the Internet? Do you believe that if that should take place, it would be fair for some people (or companies) to not be able to get their content/information fast enough (or at all) to an audience? Yes, it's that complex.

The vote has passed.

The Internet will be treated like a utility (must like electricity, etc..). What does all of this really mean? John Oliver's thirteen minute segment on Last Week Tonight from last June is funny, true and should give you everything you really need to know about net neutrality... and what it means...

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Net Neutrality (HBO).

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The Conflict Of Media... And Digital Media

Well, this is uncomfortable.

I spend a lot of time - in boardrooms and on stages across the world - trying to explain to brands why a digital marketing agency is so fundamentally different from a lot of traditional advertising and media agencies. It can get uncomfortable. There is no doubt that many of these traditional institutions have done a great job, at adding in digital services, hiring the right people, or have attempted to transform their businesses. In a simplistic way, my train of thought is this: while many agencies and companies are doing their best to transform into being more (or fully) digital, this is the kind of work that Mirum has been doing for the brands that we work with for over fifteen years. So, while traditional agencies try to evolve and transform, we have been what they are trying to become for over a decade. There is a difference. Chris Hughes was one of the founders of Facebook. He then went on to be an integral component in the online organizing for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. After that, he purchased the magazine, The New Republic. His Silicon Valley approach to the traditional magazine/publishing legacy created a well-documented friction with some of the best journalists in America. Hughes recently discussed the situation on Charlie Rose. It's a tough watch. On one hand, the evolution to digital is one that Hughes is very capable of leading. On the other hand, it feels like Rose is schooling a second year journalism student on what it means to be a journalist, and in the media. No matter which side you may choose to defend, one thing is for certain: we are not yet through this moment of purgatory. The new entities will continue to disrupt. The traditional entities will claim that they have already migrated, but the truth will be obvious to most.

If you're fascinated with media, you must watch this... 

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