Although I write about technology, I don’t have a big gadget fetish. While many of the people I work with carry fancy Treo 700 phones that automatically synchronize with their Microsoft Outlook calendar and in-box, I get along with a very basic Motorola RAZR, my trusty laptop and an EVDO card. But I was intrigued by a new service called Jott (www.jott.com).
The idea is pretty simple. You’re driving along and you think of something you’d like to “jot” down. Alas, your hands are busy. No problem. You speed-dial the toll-free Jott number from your cell phone and speak your mind (for 30 seconds at a whack). The information is automatically transcribed and delivered to your email along with a link to the original audio. You can also access the transcription and the original audio at the Jott websiteIf you’ve set up contacts via the Jott website, you can also “JottCast” to them—record a message that’s sent to their phone (audio) and email (text transcription). In this format, it’s similar to the broadcast voicemail offered by Santa Rosa-based YackPack (www.yackpack.com). One clever application is jottcasting to an email address that isn’t a person but rather a process, which then does something with the text (for example, posting it to a blog).
According to Jott’s founders (in an interview I found at www.PodTech.net), heavy users Jott between 10 and 15 times a day. As you might expect, lawyers are prime users. Perhaps more unexpectedly, at least one up-and-coming rapper uses the service to record lyrics as they come to him.
For someone who’s frequently on the move, Jott seems like a clear winner. It’s still in beta, meaning it’s under development and subject to change. At this time, you can use Jott for free (not counting the minutes you use on your cell phone plan to call it). My guess is they’ll eventually charge for a premium version of the service with additional features or possibly do some kind of advertising-supported business model. I encourage you to give Jott a try for yourself.
Netflix, WineQ and your business
I’m guessing many of you are, like me, already fans of Netflix (www.netflix.com). The idea is simple: For $10 a month, I create a queue of DVDs that I want to watch; the DVD at the front of the list is mailed to me; I watch it and send it back using the clever return mail envelope, all postage-free. Lather, rinse, repeat. So far, I’ve gotten through the first and second seasons of “Lost,” and next I’m planning to tackle the epic “24.”
Now, WineQ (www.wineq.com) has applied this idea to wine. For $5 a month (first three months are currently free), you can queue up wines for shipment to yourself. By default, the shipments are worth $35 or more, so you’ll get free shipping. And unlike Netflix, you won’t be shipping anything back. At present, WineQ only has 14 wineries listed, so the selection is limited to about 50 wines, most in the $15 to $30 range. Interestingly, the company appears to be based in New Mexico, of all places.
I mention WineQ for two reasons: First, wine is an important part of the North Bay business ecosystem, and WineQ is an interesting new development with a technology base. Second, its notion of a do-it-yourself wine club was formed by applying lessons from one business to another. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the book or record club business of the 1970s, with one powerful change: here, you’re in charge of what shows up in your mailbox.
People are becoming more willing to take on self-service chores in return for greater control, lower prices, greater convenience or some combination of the three. That’s an important thing to remember when thinking about your business. The Web is just a broadly available mechanism for letting people do it themselves.
Daytime TV
Here’s an interesting statistic: According to comScore Networks, which maintains real-time databases measuring how the Internet is used, 30 percent of all online video watching takes place between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Even allowing for the fact that some of that usage comes from students and desperate housewives, it probably means your business has a fair number of people watching video online when they’re supposed to be working. Depending on how Draconian you are, it’s something you might want your IT department to take a look at. Of course, the IT department may be the primary offender…
Regardless of how you view the issue of employee computer use at work, an employer of any size must have a clear written policy detailing what is and isn’t permissible as far as the use of company computing resources. It should cover things like use of email, surfing the Net and instant messaging. The SANS Institute provides a free acceptable use policy template, which you can locate by searching for “computer use policy” on Google. Your lawyer may have samples of policies that have been drafted for other clients.
Save the Pants!
I want to call your attention to a “first” of sorts: a “television” advertisement that wasn’t created for television. SC Johnson Company decided to create a clever video for its Shout Portable Wipes stain removal product specifically destined for the video sharing site YouTube (www.youtube.com). You can find it by visiting YouTube and searching for “Save the Pants!” At two minutes, 14 seconds, it’s much longer than a normal TV commercial. Yet tens of thousands of people have sought it out and watched it.
New York Times technology columnist David Pogue made a great point about YouTube ads: No one will ever watch advertisements on YouTube unless they’re “good enough” (interesting, clever, funny or otherwise noteworthy) to be noticed and passed around. By the way, if you like my column, you should probably be reading Pogue.
Business leaders in the North Bay and elsewhere should think carefully about how to apply technology to their own business goals. Not every new thing is appropriate for your business, but “business as usual” has never been the path of leadership.
