28 April 2010
Universal Impact (If it's True)
So apparently Noah's Ark was found in Turkey.
This according to The Sun (Noah's Ark Found in Turkey, published April 27, 2010).
Now I'm fairly skeptical and waiting for the official report that the article is a hoax. Partly due to the fact that no other reputable news agency has ran this story and partly due to the fact that The Sun's home page looks like the home page for the National Inquirer...
But it did catch my interest and made me read the story.
Think about this: What would it mean for the world if the actual Ark was found?
Is this something God would allow? Would He let physical evidence on this level be found - and in essence make the Bible almost irrefutable?
Or would people in this life rationalize and science-ize it to death so that even a true find of this magnitude wouldn't make it to Prime Time News?
I just love to think of the possibilities. What if Noah's Ark was found? What if the Ark of the Covenant was found?
Would people start believing then? Or would we as a materialistic, consumer-driven and reality TV loving people not even blink?
Wow...now that's something to think about...
If this is truly Noah's Ark - how soon until the end of all things?
Technology Suggests Connectivity
Think about it. Each new gadget does more and more - which means you are connected to more and more. Early phones allowed you to talk on the phone - which happened once or twice a day (unless you were a middle school girl). But today's devices allow you to monitor things like Twitter which update every few seconds.
So what does that mean for us as users? Well it probably depends on what type of person you are. I've decided there are two big (and messy) buckets that we fall into as Uber-device users:
The Type-A User
This user keeps up with everything. After all, it would be a sin to miss a tweet from a friend or fail to respond to an email within 24 hours. Tweets are monitored ongoing, the Indox is under 50 and Facebook is an App you're in more often than you're in the restroom... (By the way - the "A" stands for "Attempting to be responsible").
This user keeps up with everything. After all, it would be a sin to miss a tweet from a friend or fail to respond to an email within 24 hours. Tweets are monitored ongoing, the Indox is under 50 and Facebook is an App you're in more often than you're in the restroom... (By the way - the "A" stands for "Attempting to be responsible").
The Type-O User
You own the latest and greatest device(s) that can take pictures and video, surf the Net, social network and run Productivity Apps like email and a word processor. But you don't really care. In fact you check Twitter and Facebook once and a while - usually if you see others checking it. Your Inbox is at 200 because you look at the subject line when it comes in and fail to do anything with it at the time - or later. You don't respond to texts or emails but if you see someone in the hallway you magically start spitting out answers to questions that you remember reading in texts and emails... (By the way - the "O" stands for "Oblivious").
You own the latest and greatest device(s) that can take pictures and video, surf the Net, social network and run Productivity Apps like email and a word processor. But you don't really care. In fact you check Twitter and Facebook once and a while - usually if you see others checking it. Your Inbox is at 200 because you look at the subject line when it comes in and fail to do anything with it at the time - or later. You don't respond to texts or emails but if you see someone in the hallway you magically start spitting out answers to questions that you remember reading in texts and emails... (By the way - the "O" stands for "Oblivious").
Of course a lot of this is driven by our personalities - so it can't be wrong...right?
The truth of the matter is:
Technology does NOT suggest connectivity. People are the filter through which connectivity happens or fails to happen.
Just talking out loud :)
Can you figure out which category I typically fall into?
22 April 2010
What the Shell, Dell?!
"Shell!" Like that? My son watches the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles religiously so I couldn't resist...
But seriously! What's up with Dell lately?
Wasn't it just a year or two ago that they were having legal problems, losing money and putting bad versions of their products into national superstore chains like Walmart and Best Buy?
Yet here they are playing with the big dogs - acting like they can keep up with the best out there today in computer, mobile and even tablet technology.
Last night I saw no less than 6 articles on new Dell products being released soon. Most are mobile phones. But there was also an article or two on their tablets called the Streak5 and the Looking Glass.
Here are just a couple of the articles on the mobile phones they unveiled yesterday:
- Mobile Crunch on the Flash, Thunder and Smoke
- Engadget on Dell Lightning
- Engadget on Dell Thunder
- Engadget on Dell Froyo
- Engadget on Dell Smoke
- Engadget on Dell Aero
The Dell phones run Windows Phone 7 or Android OS and seem to be in the running as far as specs go.
Needless to say I was a bit surprised last night with the flurry of activity.
Dell definitely wants back into the game - so should we let them? :)
Enabling the Love-Hate Relationship
It amazes me how many things in life invoke the love-hate relationship quandary. You know how it works, but I'll give you a couple examples just in case:
First, are the snowplows that come by during the winter months. I LOVE the fact that our streets stay plowed. But HATE the fact that they can't drive and typically scrape sod off my lawn...
Second is the street sweeper that comes through in the spring. I LOVE that all the dirt, sand and pebbles are gone from the long winter. But I HATE the fact that the sweeper breaks up the asphalt along our curb and makes an even bigger mess.
And I could go on and on (automatic sprinkler heads, electronic devices, technology, etc.) but I don't want to bore you.
So what are we doing with our websites and our web strategy to keep from enabling a love-hate relationship with those that visit us?I won't lie, we can't please all the people all the time. But for the most part, do we give people a sense of "zen" when they visit? Or do we so frustrate them, that the good our sites do end up being hated at the same time?
At Granger, we have a short list of things we know have the potential to provoke this response in people. We try to knock things off the list as soon as possible, but aren't always successful.
I guess the most important thing is to recognize them for what they are and work toward minimizing their impact on our visitors.
Do you struggle with this as well?
07 April 2010
Are You Kidding Me?
I have access to an iPod Touch for testing purposes since I own a Zune HD and need to see how development projects look on Apple platforms.
I don't typically use it that often, so when I went to the App Store to look for the new PayPal App I was greeted with an upgrade message like the following:
The Terms of Use have changed since your last purchase. Please review and accept them before proceeding.Then I noticed this at the bottom of the screen: Read more: Page 1 of 92.
What?! 92 pages of legal mumbo jumbo in order to use a service?
Wow...I find it amazing that someone could actually come up with 92 pages of legaleze to begin with (granted - this was on the iPod - so there are probably fewer pages if viewed on a laptop).
And (for all of my Apple loving friends) I'm not saying this is specific to Apple - I'm sure I've seen the same thing when activating other software.
But seriously, I find it interesting that the Terms of Service or Terms of Use can actually be more detailed than the application or software we are using...
So do we do the same thing? When building websites do we have more help documents and "required for this website" requirements than we do web pages?
If so - I think we need to pull back and ask ourselves if we like visiting websites with 10 different requirements just to view their content.
Maybe it would change the way we design and develop...