Happy Friday everyone. Just wanted to share that I participated in #kaizenblog chat this morning, a wonderful Twitter chat focused on taking action – advantages and disadvantages. I recommend checking out the transcript
Smart phones are taking over and we’re going to see a rapid evolution of the apps as more and more people use them to manage more of their lives, with making phone calls moving far down the list. I, myself, just got an iPhone a week ago – and have found it an amazing device on so many levels. From simply staying connected to the ability to find pretty much anything on the fly. No longer do I have to go back to my desk or pull out and connect my laptop every time I want to hop online. Now I might be revealing that I’m late to the smart phone game, but it’s not because I didn’t want to earlier – it just hadn’t become a top priority. One week later and I’d find it tough to give it up! That said, making your mobile website work like a fine app is a sound development strategy you should consider when making yours mobile friendly. Here are five frameworks your development team should consider.
Apple definitely has a target on their back and Android is no doubt gunning for them. Who wouldn’t want a piece of the lucrative smart phone market? And AT&T certainly isn’t helping Apple’s cause. Now I’m no expert stock analyst and am an Apple fan – but recognize they can never, ever get complacent – but I wouldn’t necessarily count Apple out of the game just because Android is growing by leaps and bounds. I agree that Apple’s recent growth isn’t sustainable, and that Android’s a clear threat. But it wasn’t that long ago (10 years?) that many considered Apple dead. I’m betting they’ll come up with something to counter Android – and we’ll see some healthy competition. Afterall, I do believe the iPhone 4 has got to be one of the most beautifully designed devices out there – phone or not. This is great food to munch on, however.
Here’s something to fuel your strategic thinking: how can you monetize your social network? Will your customers pay to be a part of yours? Or pay for your awesome content? There’s something to be said for the lure of exclusivity and restricted access.
If you’re like most companies, you’re likely struggling to find a way to make Facebook work. How to format your page and gain traction. This is a great compilation of 25 companies who’ve seemed to figure it out. If you read the comments, you’ll note many point out upcoming changes that will restrict the page width to 520 pixels and may impact these designs. But it’s still great inspiration for your team.
I couldn’t resist including this one today because it’s such a rare experience. Perhaps you’ve seen it, but if not, here’s a flight attendant engaging in a light-hearted, spontaneous pillow fight on a recent Lufthansa flight, and captured by a passenger. How can you inject some of this personality into your brand? I believe that no matter how serious your product, there’s always room for a little levity. And that it helps the most serious become more human.