Mobile Monday - the Future of Mobile

We have a coming divergence in Mobile. Not today. But in 3-5 years. We will all have two screens. And no the second screen will not be an IPad. It will be a Tablet. I see really dumb articles discussing if anyone can catch the IPad. If you have a college degree the answer is 100% yes. I don't view the IPad like the IPod because we won't need an ITunes for Tablets. They will be full web devices. So I look at the segment more like Laptops today. Many options with high to low end choices.

A year before the IPad was even whispered about I was discussing Tablets as the future. With screens about 6"-10". Cheap. $200 or under. Almost disposable. That we can throw in a backpack or our handbag. Rugged. Lots of memory. Connected to the Internets.

The difference will be the Tablet will be an extension of the web while your phone will not. The uses of the devices will split. You can't put a Tablet in your pocket. So think of the Phone being what you use when you can't have the tablet with you. 

Think of the Tablet being used for what you want a bigger screen for: 

Web surfing. Games. Video. Shopping. Possibly Work. 

The Phone for Talking, Texting and Twitter type communication, Payments, Navigation, Photos, Music, checking Movie listings, finding Restaurants etc. It will still have everything else but it will not be the default choice and only for when we don't have a Tablet with us.

Both devices will be capable of doing everything but look for the experience on each device to be different for each task. I feel both will have video calling.

The reason I thought of tablets was video. In 2009 the Trade Pubs were talking about mobile video and how much people were watching on their phones. What they failed to state was this was the only choice. If we were out and about and had 15 minutes to kill and wanted to watch the Daily Show we could. But is a 2.5" to 3.5" screen what we want or prefer? Alien's are logical. The answer is no. Because at home everyone has and prefers big screens.

The biggest obstacles are price and bandwidth. But those will be over come from various sources. 4G. Moore's Law etc. So we will have tablets thrown in our car glove box (does anyone really put gloves in this box anymore?). Or under our seat. In our beach bag etc.

What does this mean for developers? Does the IPad need Apps if it was a full computer? If that is the case why aren't we buying Apps for our Laptops? Or is the trend the reverse? Will all software for us become Apps? And we migrate to only Apps formatted to different screen sizes?

UPDATE>>>> Staples now has a Tablet Center: LINK

In a future post I will discuss the future death of MP3's due to Moore's Law. Yes it's coming and it is going to be the best thing that has happened to music.

Do You Use the Facebook Commenting Plugin? NO COMMENT!

I go to the Yahoo front page a few times a day. I go there because they are my main source of Sports Scores, Game Schedules, etc And right on the bottom of the news box there are buttons for each sport. So much more clean than ESPN which has horrible navigation issues.

But Yahoo also plugs into local news. Usually nothing there to pique my curiosity but sometimes there is. WRGB which is the CBS TV Affiliate here uses the Facebook Commenting Plug In. You have no idea how much it freaks me out and sends me aggro when I go to a Non-Facebook site and see this:

I am technically logged into WRGB.COM because I am logged into Facebook 24/7 due to running a Clients Brand Page for the time being. First of all I will never ever comment on your site if you use this plug in. You can be offering me $500 and I will say no. I would rather drive to you, beat you over the head and take the $500 by force than use this commenting system.

But here is the kicker. If you are not logged into Facebook this is what you see:

You have no idea that you can even comment! That blank space to the left is where where that box you see above with my logged in info and the comment box? Missing! So by using this system you only are giving people currently logged into Facebook the chance to comment!

Now you can say that the box shows to log in to see your friend's recommendations. Right. Great. Uhm. But it still says nothing about me being able to comment on this site! And a MEDIA BRAND that has a ton of content, that wants me reading article after article, the box highlights two articles.

Since April 2010 per person usage of Facebook is down 31% from 55mins to 38mins per day. As a Brand with a Web Presence , especially a MEDIA BRAND, do you really feel it is of strategic importance to help Facebook reverse this trend by forcing your readers who are on your site directly to use Facebook more? Wouldn't having a box showcasing most read articles by readers be better for your business? Vs trying to help Facebook who's real intention is not to help you, but take readers off your site and onto Facebook?

Shouldn't Facebook be PAYING YOU for this? And if they aren't why are you doing it?

The Big Marketing Fail

I spent the first 40 years of my life as a consumer. I either made decisions on purchases or I consumed things others decided for me. Like those crappy tasting pureed carrots from Gerber when I was 9 months old. I had jobs that paid well. I traveled for work. I consumed everything out there in some way or another. I am now 43. Most people in Marketing/Advertising who had a career in Marketing/Advertising who are 43 could easily have spent more than half their life either in School or working in the Industry.

As an outsider my view of Advertising/Marketing is much different than Sales which I have 14 years of work experience in, Advertising is very limited in it's scope/role but the Industry feels differently. They have spent decades convincing Brands how important they are in the role of the purchasing decisions. By doing this they over sell and under deliver. They also set themselves up for failure.

Advertising can make people aware of a product or service. Once someone tries the product, that is it. Job done. If the product sucks or perceived value is not there, no advertising can change that. The Brand can. They can reach out, give great customer service, fix quality issues. But Advertising can not fix that. The Vaunted Chrysler Superbowl Commercial did not change in my view that Chrysler cars fall apart and have horrible quality. It will take years of JD Powers rankings to fix this.

So my observations are that Advertising fails to ask people why and how they use devices and whether Advertising fits the way Consumers want to use devices vs how Advertisers believe the use them. Advertising likes to force their way in whether we like it or not.

1] People do not want ads online. They use the net to consume content/entertain, utility and work. They do not come online to consume Advertising. Trust me. I can find your brand online. I don't need your help. Caveat I do open some email fliers like Staples. But I personally block most  digital ad server ads because they do not bring me value.

2] People do not care about Brands via Social Media. We don't. Get over it. We use Social Media to connect with things we are passionate about. If we are passionate about a Brand off line we will engage via Social Online. But if we are not passionate about your Brand, Product, etc offline we don't give a flying pigs ass about you online. I have been bribed to Like a Brand on Facebook and after Payout Unliked.

I have said this many times. I need to Trade Mark this statement: Social Media is a Revolution of Interpersonal Communication Technology. Note Marketing is absent from that statement.

You want to get a big bang for Social Media in your company? Use it to improve your operations and communications. But if your view is to sell. You are choosing the lowest ROI Choice.

3] More Advertising more places is not the answer. That just enriches Media Buyers, Media Channels, and Ad Agencies. Stop invading everywhere my eyes look.

4] People do not want push advertising on their phones. They don't. It is an invasion of our privacy. We will consider value proposition call to actions where WE INITIATE CONTACT. But stay off my phone.