This is my final TechTalk for 2009, and I’d like to thank NorthBay biz readers for another year of reading my tech-based musings. I hope you’ve continued to find TechTalk informative, interesting and (at least occasionally) useful. I’d also like to extend a sincere invitation for you to write me with questions related to technology and your business.
Although there’s almost always something new and cool to talk about when it comes to technology, business technology changes pretty slowly. For the most part, we’re still running Windows, using Microsoft Office and checking our BlackBerries—despite the revitalization of Apple’s Macintosh, the rise of Google Docs and the coolness of the iPhone. For most businesses, investing in technology takes money directly from the owner’s pocket, so an obvious and immediate payback from any new technology is pretty much a requirement…and the state of the economy doesn’t make it any easier to contemplate additional expense.
Nevertheless, I’ll make my annual suggestion to spend an hour talking with a technology expert (who doesn’t have a vested interest in selling stuff to your business) about how you might effectively use technology to add revenues or cut costs. The discussion should start with your goals and the obstacles you face in reaching them. Disclaimer: This is the sort of work I do for companies, so I have a vested interest in suggesting it. Regardless of who you choose to talk with, though, it’s definitely something to consider as 2009 closes and the new year begins.
Doing the Wave
It seems Google has about a kazillion product offerings, and it can be hard to keep track of them all (although you can see most of what’s available at www.google.com/options). Its newest product release, Google Wave (wave.google.com), has generated some confusion, so I’ll explain it (to the best of my understanding).
The tag line for Wave is “communicate and collaborate in real-time.” Take a chat window (instant messaging) and add the ability to share and edit data (documents, video, images) in real time. This single, ongoing “conversation” is referred to as a “wave.” Unlike an instant messaging session, a wave is persistent, editable and can even be embedded into a Web page (that is, you don’t have to visit Google to use it). There are also “wavelets” and “blips” (a subset of a wave and a single element within a larger wave, respectively).
Confused? Lots of people are, and the fact that Wave is presently invitation-only means having to rely on other people’s descriptions of the product.
Programmers can extend Wave by creating “gadgets” and “robots.” Gadgets are programs that can be used by all the people in a given Wave (like in a multi-user game). They’re similar to Facebook applications in concept, but without (it appears) the worries of giving up too much information. Robots, on the other hand, are actual participants in a wave conversation; they’re programs that act (to some extent) like people. For example, when someone mentions “General Motors” in a wave, a wave robot might respond with the current GM stock price. A robot can be as smart or stupid as its programmers make it. Smart ones are going to watch what’s going on in a wave and respond intelligently. This makes Wave very interesting to developers and could lead to some truly innovative additions to the Wave environment.
The closest product I’ve seen to it is Campfire (www.campfirenow.com) from 37signals (www.37signals.com). Campfire’s tag line is “team collaboration with real-time chat.” It’s less ambitious in its goals (37signals sees simplicity as a virtue) but has a longer track record. It’ll be interesting to see how they actually stack up.
All that said, if you’re responsible for keeping track of technology for your company, you should request a Wave invitation. I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with it.
Augmented reality
As I write this, “augmented reality” (AR) is another topic getting a lot of attention. The term describes approaches to viewing the “real world” with information overlaid on it. For example, a real-time image of someone undergoing surgery, overlaid with identification of organs, blood vessels and the like, as well as patient status. The “heads up” display in the cockpit of a fighter plane is another example: real-time information about the speed and orientation of the plane is displayed in the pilot’s view of the sky. Wikipedia has a good summary.
The current buzz surrounding AR surrounds mobile phones, and more specifically, smart phones (those that are Internet-enabled, run applications, have a camera and are GPS-enabled). Knowing where the phone is located and how it’s facing (thanks to the GPS), an AR application running on the phone can download information via the Internet and display it on top of a picture of your surroundings (from the built-in camera).
If you saw the film “Minority Report,” you saw AR applied to advertising. Needless to say, there are lots of people excited about that possibility, and having AR arrive on mobile phones is a first step in that direction.
If you’re interested in this technology, you should check out Layar (www.layar.com), which is available for both the iPhone and Android-based phones. (Android is a sophisticated operating system for mobile phones created by Google. T-Mobile released the first Android phone in the United States in late 2008. The newest mobile phone to use Android is the Motorola Droid, which Verizon should be selling as you read this.)
In addition to Layar, there’s Junaio (www.junaio.com), Wikitude (www.wikitude.org), and Monocle (a hidden feature of the mobile application from Yelp.com). I can imagine an AR app that shows grape growers the state of the vines they’re seeing on their iPhone display. You can probably imagine uses for your business or customers as well. Now that AR is available for phones, the pace of development is only going to accelerate, so again, it’s something to keep track of.
And so ends 2009. Next month starts the tenth year of TechTalk. Thanks again for your continued readership.
