The Future Is Now - Matthew Poyiadgi

Did You Know?

2010-03-23T08:49:00.004Z

A study by Gartner revealed that in the next 3 years, more than 50 million IP addresses will come from automobiles. One day, there will only be one network, one global wireless network which everybody, and every device, will be permanently connected to; and we may not need gadgets, as our skin, our clothing and our glasses carry enough technology to keep us in touch.

Chicago Week

2010-03-12T13:10:00.004Z

Facilitated the global sales meeting in Chicago this week. Lots of creative ideas, dialogue and exchange by a team of people who flew in from 10 regions around the world to strategise and focus activities for the rest of the year. Marketing, events for our members, product strategies and social media were the highlight of the week. Pictures above contrast a team concentrating on the sessions during the day and a night out at the United Centre seeing the Chicago Bulls play Utah Jazz one evening. A very satisfying week.

Reseller Forum

2010-02-26T16:50:00.003Z

William Linard from my UK team and I hosted the quarterly CompTIA UK Reseller Forum at the Leicester City Walker Stadium. Great turnout of small business owners focusing on vendor relationships, being better at becoming a trusted advisor and setting high standards of quality for IT service and support to UK businesses. It's not about fixing customer machines, it's about setting them up so they don't fail in the first place. It was a very interactive session, with some very good best practice ideas shared around the table. Once we provided a platform for these guys to meet and talk, the ideas flowed for 3 hours. Together, we are raising the bar. http://www.flickr.com/photos/comptiauk

As simple as it gets

2010-02-17T14:16:00.005Z

This quote came from Business Week in 1953, from the Tupperware company, and it still rings true today, as it will 100 years from now. This is as simple as it gets for me:

“If we build the people, they will build the business.”

Superbowl ads go online for maximum impact

2010-02-10T12:27:00.012Z

I was fortunate enough to be in the US last weekend, and really enjoyed Super Bowl XLIV.
There was as much buzz around the half-time commercials as the game itself. Some 100 million people saw the game (and the ads), but 40 million or so also watched the ads online. With so much creativity at play, led by Bud Light, GoDaddy and E-trade, the ads have been circulating the social networking sites all week. Domain name business GoDaddy have attributed most of their growth to the Super Bowl and many of the advertisers have been relying on their Facebook and Twitter fans to spread the message. It's all about impact and the key is getting consumers creating the buzz through social media - it spreads so quickly and of course it's free. But ads aside, well done to Drew Brees and the Saints on their first Super Bowl.

Small but mighty

2010-01-26T20:42:00.004Z

Spent a few days in Tokyo last week, in a hotel overlooking the Tokyo Dome, home of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team. Aside from shocking jetlag, I discovered the next generation of pocket-sized computers, the mini netbook. These are pocket-sized, have a 5-inch screen, 10-hour battery and boot-up time of 3-seconds (sounds very close to a mobile phone). The Fujitsu U series of their Loox notebook is one such example. These should help address the first fall in sales in 20 months of the first round of netbooks, often seen in Starbucks coffee shops.

Babies & Beer

2010-01-18T07:28:00.005Z

Research was carried out by a leading supermarket to establish connections between products. It was discovered that beer is often purchased at the same time as baby products, in the early evening. This tells me that guys are sent out to buy necessities for a newborn baby and pick up a six-pack preparing for the long night ahead. What it really tells me is that we must use technology to slice and dice the customer database and data at our disposal in ways that are not obvious, to find new connections and alternative collabrations.

Taking your tablet

2010-01-11T08:59:00.006Z

I was early in saying that Netbooks would be a Christmas bestseller in 2008, and I make another bold statement in saying that the tablet (sample idea above) will be all the rage, especially if Apple announce one at the end of this month. A single device that does everything you could possible want online, and where you pay for access to music, movies and memory space in the cloud, is where we are heading. PDAs outsold laptops last year, and this one-device-for-all technology will be the next big thing, or at least one of them. 3D-TV for my home, not convinced, don't like the glasses.

Quality of printing

2010-01-04T15:17:00.004Z

Read a great story in Wired UK about a guy who printed nearly US$7,000,000 in fake currency using home printers from his local computer store. Just goes to show how good the technology is in these machines. I wonder how many print cartridges he used. Don't go getting ideas in your new year's resolution list...

It Can Happen

2009-12-31T09:35:00.001Z

This is exactly what the web is all about. A producer from Uruguay who uploaded a short film to YouTube in November has been offered an £18.6m contract to make a Hollywood film. Fede Alvarez's short film "Ataque de Panico" (Panic Attack) featured giant robots invading and destroying Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. It is 4 mins 48 seconds long and was made on a budget of £186, but has attracted more than 1.5 million views on YouTube. Within days he was contacted by Hollywood studios and is now planning the new movie - you see, it can happen.

Tweet Now, Tweet Later

2009-12-12T10:06:00.005Z

Just back from the windy city, one of my favourite places, Chicago. Favourite not for its weather or the sightseeing, but the people - large portions of food, good attitude, great people. Enjoy reading US papers every day for snippets of news - learnt that 5 million tweets are now recorded daily and bloggers post 900,000 new articles every day. That is enough to fill a broadsheet for nearly 20 years! Also discovered TweetLater, which allows you to schedule tweets to post when you are offline. The wonder of information.

Cereal Entrepreneur

2009-11-26T08:58:00.003Z

I hear Kellogg's is using new technology to stamp out imitation cereals. They will be branding every corn flake with its logo. They make 67 million boxes annually, and the new technology will burn its signature onto every individual flake. The originals are always the best.

Sales, Discounts & Free

2009-11-21T10:04:00.005Z

The web has become the biggest store in history and most things are free - 100% off. Consumers are saving money and playing free online games, listening to free music on 'we7', cancelling basic cable and watching free video on Hulu, killing their landlines in favour of Skype. How do we compete with free? How do we learn to embrace it?

Pass, Fail and Learn

2009-11-09T08:22:00.006Z

I read that a lady in Korea has just passed her driving test at the 950th attempt. I passed first time, then smashed my dad's car. Sometimes - often - it is better to fail and learn from the experience. What the current wave of technology does, is let us try things; try using Twitter, try a Facebook page, try putting video instructions onto YouTube, because we can learn as we go. It is better to take a leap and try stuff than spend hours discussing it! You can always correct course along the way.

Let the customer do the talking

2009-10-31T09:26:00.004Z

When you work in sales and marketing, what a customer says about you is worth 10 times what you say about yourself. This testimonial came in from Dave Cruse, the founder of a great little company and supplier search engine called Conjungo, where technology buyers identify and shortlist suppliers. It is probably my proudest testimonial:

"There have been all sorts of Events, Summits and Conferences during 2009 yet none have bettered the CompTIA annual member conference held at Ascot Racecourse recently. The organisation from start to finish was superb and highly professional, the speakers gave an excellent added dimension with very topical content and your very own Matthew Poyiadgi was simply outstanding and well worth seeing. Finally, to listen to James Caan of the Dragons Den was inspiring to say the least. Congratulations on the best event of 2009." David Cruse, CEO and Founder - Conjungo.com

A day at Ascot

2009-10-23T15:50:00.003+01:00

After months of planning and organising, my team successfully delivered our annual CompTIA Member Conference at Ascot Racecourse. It was a resounding success and more than 250 people left very satisfied. James Caan was excellent and a talking point throughout the day, Steve Clayton from Microsoft's International team gave a brilliant vision of the future to 2019, our US executive management were a fantastic support throughout the week and I shared my own mad-cap presentation on technologies, trends and people! I feel a bit deflated today, now that it is all over, but I am pleased with the results. Roll on the planning for next year, but first a weekend of rest.

CRN Conference

2009-10-16T13:29:00.004+01:00

Joined the CRN Conference this week, and met some interesting players in the IT channel. Intel had some very visionary things to share and for Dell the emphasis was on their partner programme. A good day, well organised and attended. Whittlebury is also a great venue, and as there was little signal for mobile phones, it meant we spent more time talking face to face with people. Refreshing. I focused my presentation on technologies, trends and people as the principle asset of organisations today. Great example of that was the headline guest, Sir Peter Rigby, founder and chairman of SCH. Humble, hardworking, private, but very successful man - my kind of person.

Who knows more?

2009-10-10T10:00:00.004+01:00

Presented on technology and education for NAACE this week, at Hellidon Lakes. This was the view from my seat as I waited to go on stage - how calming, my mind was wandering. The presentation went very well and lots of debate afterwards, largely around do our students know more about technology than we do? We concluded that the students don't necessarily know more, but they are more prepared to give things a try, and they learn as they go. The key point for me from the session was that the future of education must be about 'learning how to learn'.

Asian express

2009-09-26T11:23:00.008+01:00

Just back from an express trip to Asia, covering Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand - this was the view from my room in Kuala Lumpur. Rushed through 17 meetings, 32 hours of flying and plates brimming with mouthwatering sushi. Lots of government and partner interest for CompTIA certifications and our association work, and presented at the NECTEC conference which was very well received. A satisfying week (and they cover as much of the Premier League in Asia as we get in the UK), so I didn't miss a thing!

Pay-what-you-want

2009-09-17T17:58:00.005+01:00

We know that famous bands like Radiohead have adopted a pay-what-you-want model and scored a success. They are famous, their concerts sell out, and as well as online sales, their physical CD sales still hit the top of the charts. But how about Mr Derek Webb? This pleased me the most - his record company had no funds to promote his song, so he gave it away, in fact he sent out 80,000 copies in 3 months. In return he asked only for email addresses and postal codes.

Now the smart bit - he sorted the postal codes, invited fans to small gigs by locale, and sold a lot of merchandise! His song is called "Mockingbird." Mr Webb, I take my hat off to you.

Monty Python

2009-09-07T08:32:00.007+01:00

In response to poor quality clips of their movies online, Monty Python launched their own YouTube channel, giving their fans high-quality video clips for free. Why? To help drive sales of movies and TV shows. 3 months after launching this, Monty Python DVDs were at number 2 on Amazon movies and TV best–sellers list, with a 23,000% increase in sales. This is the paradox of free – people are making lots of money charging nothing. It is one of the most powerful marketing tools of our time, to give away one thing to create demand for another.

The best computer of all

2009-08-24T09:34:00.003+01:00

A computer that is super fast, that remains on even when switched off, that can change direction and decision instantly. The BRAIN - firmly tied to the human body, and the best computer of all.

Brave New World

2009-08-17T19:38:00.004+01:00

Remember Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Spooked me the first time I read it, but here is a version of it in our world of IT. Companies able to adapt to this new world of cloud computing, open source, software-as-service (SaaS) have a geuine opportunity to steal a march on the competition. This is where the future lies and doing things the old way wont cut it - customers know what they want (and if they don't it's a door open for managed services!). Lots of change, lots of opportunity, the digital natives will eat this up!

Avg time spent on a web pg is 56 secs

2009-08-10T12:18:00.008+01:00

Nobody has any time for anything. Anything not immediate is deemed too slow. We want fast food, nuked in the microwave because we can't be bothered to cook (and yet we all watch cookery programmes), we can't bare to stand in a queue so we bank online and we expect news to reach us as it happens. Shops stay open 24 hours just to remain competitive, or to satisfy our need for doughnuts at 3am. And yet loyalty to stores and brands is old hat, itself having disappeared with time.

Hula Hoops genius

2009-07-31T16:17:00.006+01:00

Hula Hoops have been around for ever, but this is a stroke of genius. They have created a site for you to upload videos of hula hoops in action - take a look at some of the clips in the highly rates section, outstanding, but talk about engagement of their audience. www.hulahoops.com/high

How are you intelligent?

2009-07-18T10:00:00.010+01:00

How many people read that headline and saw the words "How intelligent are you?" What a key question. Sir Ken Robinson turns that around, and asks "How are you intelligent?" In other words, what are you good at, and how can we combine an individual's passion with talent, to find their Element. I am still going on about this book, but it is that good. Some people are good at science, others good at music. My sister runs the most most fantastic tea room, the Vintage Tea House in Surrey, my brother is a film director. No one is better than the other, just different. How are you intelligent? I have not stopped thinking about this for a week now.

Technology and a kayak

2009-07-10T15:39:00.009+01:00

I joined OCR on the final leg of their roadshow today at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. I was very animated in my presentation - I enjoyed myself and like working with the OCR team, always professional and well-organised. What is clear, despite resistance from some quarters, is that technology-fuelled change is like steering a kayak. You cannot turn around - we are going in one direction only and we need to embrace it. Get on board, because our students are leading the way and they are comfortable with it. They live and breath new technology, social media and doing 5 things at once. It's time to learn from them.

First-rate people hire first-rate people

2009-06-20T10:26:00.005+01:00

I presented at the IT apprentice awards yesterday for e-skills UK, hosted at the fabulous site of the Institution of Engineering & Technology in Savoy Place. The photo above was taken with my iPhone and the view was spectacular. The refreshing thing amongst our doom and gloom headlines was the passion and enthusiasm of the apprentices receiving the awards. As our workforce of tomorrow, they are a shining light of example for the youth of today - if they work hard and truly commit to the task in hand, they have a promising future ahead of them. Investment fund manager Witan said in an advert a while back, "First-rate people hire first-rate people; second-rate people hire third-rate people." Powerful words that resonate true.

Deals on Wheels

2009-06-06T11:14:00.008+01:00

Spent a hectic 5 days meeting and negotiating with new and old partners for some exciting deals in Athens and Sicily this week. Everyone is in harmony on this one - the more technology changes and evolves, the more you need skills and talent to underpin your business and your economy - there are lots of us out there now playing the same tune. I also took an hour to take my buddy Bryan to the Acropolis to see the stunning Parthenon, built in the 5th century BC for the Greek goddess Athena and still standing proud and commanding on top of the hill. With the help of a little DNA purchases over the counter (predicted by 2030), perhaps we can stand as gracefully in our later years.

Channel Expo

2009-05-23T11:55:00.011+01:00

Another week, another conference. This week I attended and presented at the UK's major channel conference, Channel Expo, at the NEC. Good event, lots of interesting people, some great presentations from Gartner, Dell and Google. The UK channel is having as hard a time as the rest of the sector, but it is time to move away from shifting boxes into becoming a managed services provider and offering solutions to specific business needs, as well as focusing on their sales people and technicians, their talent, as the primary differentiator. This truly resonates with the people I met. I do like their willingness to build a strong community and talk 'opportunity' - this has to be the best remedy for getting out of the slump and preparing for better times.

The Great Wall

2009-05-11T08:01:00.003+01:00

I spent 5 days in China last week, and did some extraordinary things. I scaled the Great Wall of China at Badaling, and absorbed one of the most stunning views I will ever see. The memory will last forever. I attended two events, many meetings, spent 24 hours in the harbour town of Dalian, and met some seriously dynamic people, including representatives from Sun Microsystems, Lenovo and HP, the meeting I enjoyed the most. Many thanks Quan, Nelson and team for your time and hospitality - the discussion was motivating and the lunch delicious. I look forward to partnering with HP around the world. The common thread throughout the week was people making the difference, and China truly understands that investing in its talent is everything. Microsoft presented it, Lenovo endorsed it, and I underlined the same message for CompTIA. I hope all other markets see it this way, especially during these challenging times.

2009 Academic Event a Success

2009-04-29T11:54:00.014+01:00

I co-hosted the 6th UK CompTIA Education to Careers conference in Birmingham. The event was designed for UK academic partners and we had another packed house and full agenda. Kriss Akabusi was our keynote speaker and he did a great job entertaining the audience with a typically high-energy session. He is a true celebrity in the UK, but more than that, he is an absloute gentleman, so thanks Kriss. Thank you also to event owner and organiser Michelle, William and the team for putting on such a good show. The Nintendo Wii Room was hilarious with everybody willing to have a go in costume (look for it on YouTube)! From sponsors to delegates to friends old and new - everybody was raving about the day by 4pm, so congratulations on a great conference!

The 'Internationals'

2009-04-18T13:08:00.008+01:00

I hosted a dynamic team meeting of 7 CompTIA international offices this week in Chicago, our global headquarters. Each region presented their highights and we exchanged best practices and opportunities, and brainstormed the 'Next Big Thing.'
I always pick up tidbits of news and ideas on my travels and two things stood out on this trip: companies are becoming very comfortable engaging customers on Social Media, especially Twitter, and I was taken aback by a giant billboard taken up by a lady called Pasha Stocking, telling employers from her state that she was out of work and available for hire. That impressed me and the story was covered by many TV networks the following morning. I hope she secures a position quickly, her creativity deserves it.
Oh, and of course we shopped extensively to help boost the US economy, with Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie and Macys especially benefiting from the group.

Customisation and the need for speed

2009-03-27T16:55:00.003Z

I learnt this week that in Tokyo, you can order a car to your specification from Toyota on Monday morning and drive it home on Friday afternoon. We are swiftly moving from mass production to mass customisation, and that is service indeed. I also understand that Sony produces 2 new products every working hour, and Disney develops 1 new product every 5 minutes! One manufacturer recently said he can see the day when a product is released in the morning and is out of date by midnight. You can customise perfume, jeans, credit cards and even chocolates today, so I agree with that!

Kyocera 1-0 !

2009-03-09T08:09:00.004Z

I have a new favourite footie team in Germany, and that is Borussia Moenchengladbach. The team is sponsored by printer and copier firm Kyocera, where I presented last week at their EMEA Service Directors meeting. A great discussion continued for hours afterwards, where we talked about the future, the ongoing needs of customers and the opportunity that continuous learning and certification gives as a competitive edge for their technicians. Many thanks to Norbert Wolter, Senior General Manager Service & Development EMEA, Dr Karen Birkmann and Sabine Trefz for being such great hosts - it was my pleasure being there with you all.

When in Rome...

2009-02-28T11:11:00.005Z

I am just back from Rome, for a CompTIA meeting of our Services, Support & Logistics workgroup. I hosted an industry panel on the current business climate. Great group of leaders, very passionate about the business. We were hosted by ACER, the laptop manufacturer - impressive people (Mario and Vincenzo), fast growing company and grabbing market share. No wonder their little netbooks are so popular. Many thanks ACER for being such excellent hosts.
I read this week that millions of people are revealing 25 random (and sometimes embarassing) things about themselves, as the latest trend to sweep social networking sites. I am baffled - will somebody please share the benefits of doing this. Well OK, I will reveal one of my own - Rome is now alongside Barcelona as my favourite city in Europe.

Cloud Schooling?

2009-02-14T11:09:00.004Z

My kids' school is moving online. I went to a parent-teachers evening this week and learnt that the school will manage all projects, homework and document hosting online. I was impressed, they are leading the way. My kids are already planning phase two, that they don't ever have to physically go to school or wear school uniform, can carry out lessons over the net and work whilst watching High School Musical. Wishful thinking. But what progress, and a great example. A teenager in Florida recently clocked up 35,463 sent-and-received text messages on her phone - in one month! I wonder if she bothers with school at all.

Can you afford not to?

2009-02-02T12:15:00.004Z

Pope Benedict XVI has just launched his own channel on YouTube. The site will carry short clips of news from the Vatican each day. Like most social media, it is free, easy to setup and maintain, and reaches millions of people. Every company, every department, every person, must have a presence online. The question we must ask ourselves is can we afford not to?

Own & Hoard or Rent & Download

2009-01-24T11:23:00.016Z

The latest IDC report on PC sales growth across EMEA highlighted, without surprise, that unit sales had slowed, but that the UK had a much healthier growth, at 13.5% year-on-year.

This was largely from sales of those netbooks I keep going on about. Yes, they are cheaper to purchase of course, but I belive this is the start of something more significant. A good little article in Stuff magazine made a similar case with Blu-Ray players. We are moving away from a world of "ownership," and filling valuable room space with of out-of-date gadgets and media, and into a digital world where everything is at our fingertips for download. If we combine cloud computing with the shrinking life-cycle of technology products and the squeeze on our wallets, could we go back to the days of Radio Rentals? Remember them?

Cool Kit

2009-01-17T11:32:00.003Z

Another year of the Consumer Electronics Show has passed and lots of new stuff introduced.
The biggest news was 3D TV; TVs continue to get smaller and can switch themselves off when they sense they are not being watched! Will TV's have feelings in future?
ASUS, manufacturers of the cool Eee PC, the hottest Xmas seller, announced the Eee keyboard, with a built-in 5-inch screen for browsing. Elsewhere, new one-stop remote controls, the first mind-controlled toy (the Mattel Mindlfex), and more video glasses from Vuzix (the Wrap 920). Today, these glasses allow you to watch 3D TV from portable players and mobile phones, but in future, I am certain they will convert your thoughts into on-screen action and movement. I am sure we can have some fun with that!

Viva Las Vegas

2009-01-09T11:09:00.005Z

If there was one place I would like to be this week it is Las Vegas, and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). CES is the annual pilgrimage for gadget fans to see the very latest gadgets, news and predictions. I am watching the releases daily to find out what is expected from the big brands, new innovations from the little guys, and the fun and games as companies compete for headlines. I first mentioned Buglabs two years ago in a presentation, and it is great to see them highlighted - they make a collection of electronic modules that snap together to build any gadget you can imagine. Next week I will pick out some of the most user-friendly gadgets and devices from the show (always like those). Stay in touch at: http://www.cesweb.org/

The wrinklies now have the crinklies

2008-12-23T09:18:00.006Z

Read this line from 'Funky Business', the excellent book by Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom, two very cool and no-nonsense authors. They say silver surfers have the money to do as they please, and question if we are targeting them - an audience who has the know-how, the lifestyle and the cash to fund it!

Fact: according to a report by insurance group AXA, internet usage surpassed gardening as the preferred pastime for pensioners, as long ago as 2007. Are we engaging them?

Great school - this is the future of technology

2008-11-28T08:40:00.005Z

I presented at the JJB Stadium in Wigan last week and was invited to be interviewed by the pupils of St Edmund Arrowsmith School. I was amazed, not just by their professionalism, but how closely they listened to the presentation, picked up key themes and then asked challenging questions, all of which were recorded for a podcast that was made available soon after - how impressive.

These schoolkids know more than we do - they don't reflect on technology, they live and breath it. Teachers must become enablers, facilitators and coaches to support them, the kids know where to go to find content and they work it out very quickly.

They make me feel old, but more power to them!

If women are females, are men emails?

2008-11-22T11:50:00.010Z

I asked one of my kids: "If women are females, then men are...?"

And they replied, "Men are emails."

I thought that was a quite brilliant response, and how true.

We seem to spend all our waking hours connected in some way, and a report in the UK actually highlighted that 17% of us are anxious when we are offline. In addition, a number of companies across the country have hired consultants to help their staff deal with the stress levels that come with having a full Inbox of emails. Will our Inboxes just continue to fill and will 'email stress' be the next backache for the workplace?

A bite-sized life

2008-11-07T10:55:00.004Z

Read an interesting little article in Metro newspaper on my commute to the office this week.
The City Academy School in Hackney, East London has abandoned text books and now encourages its pupils to download information to their mobile phones.
Life is becoming bite-sized - people like to snack on books, perhaps a chapter at a time; we know that already today some 10% of viewers watch popular TV shows like Doctor Who outside of their traditional broadcast time, that TV is becoming as portable as music; and that learning will also take this path in future.
Imagine schools as drop in centres for 60-minute learning modules, then back to work.
Schools are important, though, they cannot become virtual, because technology is reducing the amount of time kids spend face to face - schools are one of the few great places they can gather and interact.
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?School_dumps_books_for_mobiles&in_article_id=387384&in_page_id=34

Nabaztag

2008-10-25T11:13:00.006+01:00

So, who is Nabaztag?
I am just back from the Gitex conference in Dubai. 130,000 visitors, 3,300 companies from 83 countries. I presented a session on IT Skills for the region and met some great new people. Walking around the show, I came across some great new devices - Sharp's 108" LCD, Panasonic's astounding 150" display, and the latest in cameras and next-phase TVs.
The thing that caught my eye was this little rabbit, Nabaztag. It feeds off the internet and responds to what he finds. He plays music, reads out content from any website (in 16 languages), tells you the weather and stock prices (perhaps not a good idea today) and integrates with MSN, Twitter, MySpace and others. I like the fact that he can read your messages to you!
Check him out at www.nabaztag.com.

The most profound words

2008-10-14T17:27:00.007+01:00

Technology has turned us into the equivalent of playing an old record at 78rpm. Life is too fast, no time for anything, or anyone. The extract below was taken from a poem called Slow Dance, written by a terminally ill girl in a New York Hospital. The most profound words I have read for a long time:

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life is not a race,
Do take it slower.
Hear the music,
Before the song is over.

4x4 Video

2008-10-03T15:07:00.005+01:00

Just returned from a very productive 4 days in Chicago, including a two-day strategic session focused on who we are serving (more on that next week), but what caught my eye were the new screens and their stunning picture quality. We have a 65-inch Sharp screen in the office at CompTIA which is most impressive, and I also read that NEC unveiled their largest ever LCD at 82-inches, which can be tiled together for a 4x4 video. Is this the Range Rover of TVs?
Do we like the idea of TVs this large? Can our small houses in the UK accommodate screens this size? We know that Sony have launched a foldable display screen less than a millimetre in depth. This type of technology will be embedded into our clothing and even into wallpaper as invisible screens, so it is a battle of the giants - like cars I guess, the Range Rover is for some, whilst the G-Wiz suits others. What suits you?

Quote of the Week

2008-09-14T19:06:00.008+01:00

Just finished a great book: "4-Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferriss.
Great nuggets and takeaways throughout the book, I highly recommend it. Great quote from Star Trek referenced in the book:

SCOTTY: "She's all yours, sir. All systems automated and ready. A chimpanzee and two trainees could run her!"
CAPTAIN KIRK: "Thank you, Mr Scott. I'll try not to take that personally."

Honey, I shrunk the computer!

2008-09-06T13:48:00.009+01:00

I spent an hour in PC World today, and noticed how much laptops have taken over the floorspace. The ASUS, Acer and Advent mini-notebooks have also evolved and are very popular. Some online stores are completely sold out. They are getting smaller, and the PDA will eventually take over all computing and telecommunication needs.

Then we will move into technology embedded into our clothing.

By the way, I was in there for those superb gaming chairs, but my wife wouldn't allow it!

How poor is your post?

2008-08-30T10:23:00.004+01:00

It seems today that the grainier, shakier, more unintelligible your post on YouTube, the more authentic it is and the larger the audience. With HD TV and razor sharp screen quality on our laptops, it is almost a contradiction - it's a new world alright!

Meet Chumby

2008-08-15T14:59:00.008+01:00

Just back from Orlando. Two weeks of Disney, Seaworld, Kennedy Space Centre, shopping, swimming pool, rest and Olympic-style eating. Met some new friends, including (awesome) 65-inch plasma TVs, new line of wafer thin laptops and the Chumby. Check it out, what a cool gadget - timepiece, RSS feed reader, photo frame, music player and more - http://www.chumby.com/.

PS. Never would wear a bluetooth headset, hated the things, and learnt this week they are now a fashion faux pas - phew!

Oh thank thee it’s Thursday…

2008-07-29T08:27:00.003+01:00

Utah, whose motto is "industry" and whose official symbol is the beehive, is about to become the first US state to switch to a four-day workweek for thousands of government employees, in a year-long experiment aimed at reducing the state's energy costs and commuters' fuel expenses. Staff will put in 10-hour days, Monday to Thursday, and have Fridays off – I like the sound of that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25518225/

What did you play with when you were a kid, Dad?

2008-07-25T16:42:00.006+01:00

My daughter (7) asked me what technology is. What a great question.

She also asked me what I played with as a kid if technology is such a recent invention, implying that before gadgets, there were no toys and all we did was homework and chase ants in our back yard. For kids today, technology doesn't actually mean anything, because it is so integrated into their lives. For them it is a utility.

I was besotted with Subbuteo, played every day, that was action at its best. I would glue and reglue them until they were standing on their knees, but the matches were thrilling.

They still make it today, and I even purchased a 'policeman-and-streaker-box-set' not long ago. Ah, the good old days.

Mexico and the future of ideas

2008-07-16T14:51:00.027+01:00

I spent last week in the USA and Mexico, where I was privileged to help facilitate a meeting with leaders and key business partners in the skills and certification arena. What a powerful session - I was impressed by the content and scale of ideas being put forward to help engage more people in assessment and certification around the world.

The attendees were people who know how to influence change, so my thanks to Clarke Porter, assessment genius and founder of Integral7; Mark Miller, CEO of New Horizons; Suzana Lopes and Bill West from Pearson VUE; Ray Kelly, Senior VP at Prometric, and the CompTIA directors from the regional offices of Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US. I applaud your contribution.

Dining furniture sales down 8% - I stand accused

2008-07-04T14:58:00.011+01:00

Had a great conversation with a chap who is not fond of the impact of technology on the family unit. He asked me how many times a week we sit down as a family for dinner - I was embarassed with my answer. He believes technology is contributing to youngsters' poor social skills, keeping them glued to a computer screen and away from outdoor pursuits and exercise. He is right, but some contest it is safer in the house where you can see them, than on the street.

Either way, as I type I am eating octopus in a red wine sauce, and I need to go for a run!

Friends!

2008-06-21T11:00:00.003+01:00

I remember as a young lad we were told, by parents and teachers alike, that you could count your friends on one hand. Today, kids collect friends like we used to collect football stickers, marbles and the original Star Wars figures! 'Best friends' come from Facebook and MySpace, people they have never met...will it last? Is it genuine? Somehow I don't think it will settle this way...

Our kids - multi-taskers extraordinaire

2008-06-13T16:48:00.005+01:00

Our kids today are master jugglers, 5 chat rooms, multigame playing, and some homework on the side, all at once! They can do it - can we? Should we? Is this the way forward? For them, the computer is not a box, but a doorway to a connected world.

2008-06-06T15:27:00.002+01:00

Delivered a presentation at Microsoft this week, at their fab offices in Victoria, London.

Met up with some old friends too, like Anneleen Vaandrager, 20 years in the industry - great to get together with such good people every so often. Also saw a breathtaking demo of Silverlight from Microsoft - what a cool product. I especially love Deep Zoom! The Hard Rock photo demo was outstanding, Andy (Sithers), great job.

Customer Service Hall of Shame

2008-05-28T11:41:00.005+01:00

The Customer Service Hall of Shame, listed on MSN moments ago.

This is ranked by people who have had bad experiences, and the site gives others the opportunity to have their say!

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/ConsumerActionGuide/TheCustomerServiceHallOfShame.aspx

Need for Speed

2008-05-26T20:37:00.008+01:00

It took 50 years for the landline telephone to be adopted by the masses.

3 billion mobile phones were sold last year.

3 billion more will be sold by 2010.

It took just 5 years for CDs to overtake the vinyl record market (I loved those covers).

We are living deep in a digital world...moving from Yellow Pages to Google, car boot sales to ebay, wine bars to dating websites.

Are we keeping up? Are we influencing this new world?

Ray Kurzweil, take a bow

2008-05-16T10:22:00.007+01:00

Check out Ray Kurzweil's site - it is like floating in space reading some of Ray's stuff. Excellent!

http://www.kurzweilai.net/

Ray has been described as the 'restless genius.'
Somebody transcribed his "Next 20 Years of Gaming" presentation - outstanding!

http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/people-blog/?p=1676

Dubai development and technology

2008-05-10T06:49:00.008+01:00

Just returned from Dubai, where I presented at the HelpDesk Institute's annual conference on developments in technology underpinned by skilled people.
The adoption of technology in the Middle East equals the 24/7 construction of quite stunning new tower blocks and residences. The Burj Tower now stands at over 600 metres high, and they are not finished! The local population welcomes change and new technology with open arms, witnessed by the incredible adoption of mobile technology at an average of 1.7 phones for every person in the UAE. The speed at which change is taking place is impressive, and they say they are yet to reach 50% of their development plans - personally, I really enjoy Dubai.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

2008-04-29T17:42:00.003+01:00

Teachers are being rated by students and parents alike at http://www.ratemyteachers.com/.
Nobody can stop this wave of change.
What's next - will we rate our doctors, our supermarkets, our insurance providers and the restaurants we eat in?
Martha & the Vandellas were right back in 1965, "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide", I can hear it now!

Have you seen Tetris played like this?

2008-04-28T13:54:00.003+01:00

Just take a look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmKgLp6L55c&feature=related

Top Man

2008-04-28T13:38:00.003+01:00

There are few top blokes left in this world, but DK is definitely one of them - take a look at MediaSnackers for some of the most creative techno-stuff I have seen in ages...
www.mediasnackers.com

Bloggers, Gameplayers, Facebookers - Tomorrow's Workforce

2008-04-28T13:28:00.003+01:00

Companies are very defensive about their staff on Facebook, MySpace and Youtube, and yet we could all so easily turn these to our advantage. For the first time, the Net Generation are authorities on something really important - for them these tools and technologies are part of their birthright. Kids can run 5 instant message windows at the same time, chat and multi-game play; this is perfectly normal for tomorrow’s workforce.
What are we doing to attract and engage them?
Are we on their terms?
They are our workforce and our customers of tomorrow!
A storm is gathering Mr Corporate - a new force in business is emerging with this new technology – mass collaboration - and the self-contained, inwardly looking company is dying...