5/17/2013 0 Comments Tablets Hitting Sweet Spot
Chicago view from Adler Planetarium
There was a time not too log ago when a personal computer meant a rather bulky desktop unit. This gave way to the laptop to some extent - lighter in weight than desktop units, but which still could feel heavy after carrying it around for awhile. The iPod, of course, made entertainment portable, which was then followed by the iPhone, making communication even more portable and user-friendly. Several other smartphones also have taken off, so what could be left? The answer is the tablet, led by the iPad and its spinoff, the iPad mini. Consider some of these statistics:
For viewing video and reading text, these are possible on smartphones but the user experience is generally much better on the larger screen of the tablet. Laptops might be portable, but they can still be cumbersome. Tablets fall somewhere in the middle, which helps explain why they have become so popular so fast.
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MIT Stata Center - June 2012 Last June, I decided to attend my college reunion for the first time. It had been quite awhile since I had seen many of my friends from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Many of the scheduled events were family-oriented, so I was delighted that my wife and our daughters drove up to Cambridge with me after school on a Friday afternoon to spend the next 1 1/2 days renewing friendships, as well as seeing my brother and sister-in-law. One of the events was a brunch on the Sunday of the reunion weekend. It was held at the Stata Center, a building with an unusual design that opened about a decade ago. It was a beautiful June day and our girls had a wonderful time playing with one of the interlocking design toys. Who would have imagined that about ten months later, this same location would be the center of the world's attention? In the same area where my family walked, a young police officer who loved his job and the people he protected gave his life. From all accounts, the respect that the MIT community had for Officer Sean Collier was something special, something that will be lost forever. Perhaps his memory will be a catalyst for all of the good things that a community should be, not just in Cambridge, but around the globe. The horrific events of last week hit home on so many levels. My brother has run in the Boston and New York City marathons in the past, and I have been a spectator in both cities. One of the victims was from his hometown. The little boy was the same age as one of my daughters. The graduate student was from China, where my daughters were born. My family previously signed up for several 5k runs and walks that are coming up soon. Besides supporting the various events, we will now also be thinking of all the families and friends impacted by the events in and around Boston, including those for whom recovery will be a very long-term process. MIT always has been a leader in education and in trying to make the world a better place. I have never been more proud to be part of this community, which, regardless of where we live, feels closer today than ever. This was brought home yesterday with the memorial service for Officer Collier from the athletic fields at MIT. As an undergraduate, I participated in a variety of intramural sports at this very location. Yesterday, a tremendously emotional memorial ceremony was held for Officer Collier. The bagpipes, the color guards, the speeches of Vice President Biden and MIT President Reif, and the music of James Taylor with orchestral and choral groups from MIT all contributed to a very moving ceremony. The words of family and colleagues of Officer Collier brought it to an even more individual level of understanding the impact of senseless tragedies. The live streaming of the event by MIT enabled the global MIT community to feel closer to those in Cambridge. For Officer Collier, Krystle Campbell, Martin Richard, and Lu Lingzi, may you all rest in peace, and may your families and friends find comfort in these difficult days and in the years ahead. 4/15/2013 0 Comments Smartphones + Tablets >PC'sAt home or in the air, consumers prefer mobile devices. People like to have access to information while on the move. This becomes apparent when you consider the latest data from Gartner. The more convenient the information is, the better. While sales of PC's are very substantial, they are declining overall, whereas sales of ultrabooks (ultra-thin notebooks), smartphones, and especially tablets continue to grow. In fact, tablet sales are increasing at an incredible rate. Gartner reports that in 2012, over 340 million PC's shipped, versus 116 million tablets. Jump ahead to 2017 and Gartner projects that PC shipments will have dropped to about 272 million, while tablet sales will have soared to about 468 million units. Undoubtedly, there are many implications to this change. What started out as a trickle of tablet users will continue to be the fastest-growing device over the next handful of years. People will expect information in a clean, crisp format on their mobile devices. Working within mobile-based operating systems such as Android and iOS may very well cut into the lead enjoyed for years by the PC-based Windows operating system. Add the introduction of lower-cost mini-tablets such as the iPad Mini and these tablets should continue to grow strongly for the foreseeable future. Hudson River activity from Liberty State Park (from iPhone). I don't think that it's an overstatement to say that the success of smartphones and tablets is nothing short of astonishing. About a decade ago, the iPhone was still in development, still several years away from launch in 2007. The iPad was even further away on the horizon, with its launch not until 2010. The iPod had been around since 2001, but for the most part, its content focused on media such as music, movies, and photos. While the personal computer had been around for some time in the form of desktop and laptop machines, the success of the iPhone and other smartphones, as well as the iPad and other tablets, has in some ways made the mobile devices into an even more of a personal computer. Individuals select which apps to include on their mobile devices, in effect customizing all content. Once you add the convenience of the devices - they are lightweight and small, especially compared to PCs - it is perhaps not as surprising that mobile devices have become so popular. Internet access is a key feature of virtually all mobile devices these days. The success is not limited to just the most affluent, although the usage does tend to be higher for this group. According to data from the Pew Research Center, lower income groups are flocking to mobile devices as well. 85% of those making under $30,000 had a cell phone as of December 2012, including 30% with a smartphone.For those in the $30,000-$50,000 bracket, smartphone use increases to 45%, and, unsurprisingly, higher as income rises. Ease of internet access appears to be important across the board, including the lower income groups, where just over half access the internet via phone. Online browsing is greater in the African-American (51%) and Latino (42%) populations than among the white population (24%). As of January 2013, 26% of those earning less than $30,000 had a tablet, slightly more than the $30,000-$50,000 group (24%) and close to the $50,000-$75,000 group (30%). With the rising popularity of the iPad mini and its lower cost, these figures should continue to grow. Important online activities for all demographic groups include accessing search engines, e-mail, social networking, and health information. 3/25/2013 0 Comments Spring AheadView of NYC from West Orange, NJ As I look outside, it is snowing once again here in New Jersey. The kids are home for Spring vacation, so at least no more snow days will be used. The clocks have been changed, so now there is more daylight in the evening. The calendar tells us that Spring is here. Opening day in baseball is literally days away. Of course, much of the snow that falls today will start melting tomorrow and become slushy, and in the next couple of weeks, we will see temperatures above 60 degrees. But spring always seems to be a time for optimism. It's usually neither too hot nor too cold (present exception excluded). Actually, for someone here in northern New Jersey, this optimism must be reaching new heights today with a single winning Powerball ticket valued at $338 million. Outdoor events are becoming more frequent - picnics, concerts, 5K races, parades, and more. The outdoor light even feels a bit different, as the sun sets in a position in the sky different from early winter. In fact, just a few days ago, the light was hitting the New York skyline in an amazing way around sunset. Despite the cold, my family decided to pick up a few things at a pizzeria and have an in-the-car picnic. About a dozen or so miles from New York City as the crow flies, there is a beautiful, hilly Essex County park, Eagle Rock Reservation. The view is incredibly panoramic on a clear day, from the George Washington Bridge to the north to the Verrazano Bridge to the southeast. Although the sun sets in the west, the lighting to the east was impressive. What makes Eagle Rock even more wonderful is that there is a very touching, beautiful 9/11 memorial that faces the skyline. In clear sight is the rebuilding of the New York City skyline, including the new World Trade Center. Spring is about things coming back to life. Whether it is nature renewing itself as we go through the four seasons, or seeing a great city continuing its recovery, it is a positive feeling. 3/21/2013 0 Comments First Day of Spring?A sign of Spring So much for Groundhog's Day! If I'm not mistaken, Punxsatawney Phil reported that we would have an early Spring this year. Well, March 20th has come and gone, and this morning we woke up in northwest New Jersey to a coating of snow and ice. Just as luck would have it, we have tickets for the April 7th Mets-Marlins game at Citi Field, and after a week with temperatures predicted to be in the 60's, there is a chance of light snow in the AccuWeather long-range forecast for that date. I remain optimistic, however, as the forecast will probably change a million times between today and the day of the game. As a matter of fact, I think it would be fascinating to pick a day several weeks ahead and monitor how many times and in what ways the forecast does in fact change. This brings me to a couple of pet peeves about TV programming. Most of the time, the Weather Channel is very informative and right on top of breaking developments, particularly when dangerous storms are approaching. But how many more programs and reminders do we need about asteroids and other cataclysmic, global events? Most people just want the current forecast. OK, perhaps one of those Weather Channel jackets from L.L. Bean as well? But the Weather Channel is not alone. If you find the Travel Channel, it can be a great place to learn about various destinations and cultures. Sometimes you can practically smell the foods being created - OK, that's a stretch. Except perhaps around Halloween, do we need to be constantly bombarded with shows about ghosts? Speaking of which, it's hard to believe that next year will be the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters! Soon we will probably complain that it is too warm, but Spring on the East Coast can be beautiful. Cherry Blossom season is at our doorstep, with great annual events in Washington, DC and Newark, NJ. In my household, we count our blessings with the weather, that the worst of our problems was lack of power for nearly a week, first with the surprise Halloween snowstorm in 2011 and then during Hurricane Sandy exactly a year later. Even earlier in 2011, parts of our town suffered horrendous flooding as a result of Hurricane Irene. For those still rebuilding in New Jersey and New York after Hurricane Sandy, we hope that the improving weather will make it a little easier to move forward in impossible circumstances. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. These days, most companies have a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or some combination of the three. There are also other social media channels that businesses of all sizes have discovered. Regardless of the social media outlet, managing the messages that these sites convey to readers can be a major challenge. If managed well, it can help keep happy customers and attract new ones. If done poorly, it can turn away current and prospective customers. An article this morning on CNN's website provides a case in point. A United Airlines passenger traveling from California to Texas to see his dying mother needed to make a connecting flight. The flight crew informed the pilot, who radioed ahead to the second flight. Not only did the passenger make the connecting flight, but this story was featured very prominently on CNN's website. While it might be difficult to quantify, this wonderful gesture reflects very positively on United. In the very competitive airline industry, which so often is focused on on-time performance, projecting a human face may have done more to win over new customers than comparing performance would ever do. Letters to the Editor - out of control? While the CNN story in and of itself is refreshing to read, social media can sometimes seem like it's out of control. Letters to the editor in newspapers are perhaps a precursor of modern social media. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are fundamental to the fabric of the United States. The one challenge that comes across on the websites of many news organizations, however, is that it is difficult to control the comments that appear. Perhaps this is a decision by CNN and other outlets to let all comments be published. It would seem, however, that by removing inappropriate comments by readers, the value of the letters to the editor would be greater. Even this wonderful story about the airline passenger contains a host of idiotic, sometimes offensive comments. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are intended to encourage the free flow of ideas, whether you agree or disagree with them. Respect for others is a value that should be strongly encouraged. By not taking responsibility to moderate the comments that appear on various media websites, it can turn away readers. 2/28/2013 0 Comments Yahoo! and the YankeesAbout one month to Opening Day! At first glance, you might say that there is nothing in common between Yahoo! and the New York Yankees. Well, they both begin with the same two letters - OK, that's a stretch. When I was growing up, the Yankees had struggled through a series of lean years after decades of being the best in baseball. The championship or near-championship years of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Ford, Berra, Mantle, and others had given way to seasons far distant from any pennant race. Attendance at Yankee Stadium generally was low. In the early 1970s, George Steinbrenner became principal owner. It wasn't too long before the Yankees were in the headlines on an almost-daily basis. Sometimes for great things - post-season heroics by Chris Chambliss and Reggie Jackson, and the amazing 25-3 record by Ron Guidry come to mind. "We Are the Champions" became a hit song, still as popular as ever over 3.5 decades later. But the Yankees of the 1970s and 1980s had their share of controversial press. Jackson and Billy Martin arguing with each other in the Yankees dugout. Steinbrenner firing and rehiring Martin so many times, the two of them decided to do a commercial together making light of it. So again you ask, what does this have to do with Yahoo!? Not too long ago, Yahoo! was arguably the premier search engine. These days, however, you don't hear anyone saying that they are "Yahooing" for information. To "Google" something has become a very commonplace expression. YouTube, which is owned by Google, is another incredible source of information (sometimes worthwhile, sometimes junk) - according to one report, more video is uploaded to YouTube in two months than was created by the major networks combined in six decades. What does Yahoo! need to do to retain and improve its position as a search leader? That is up for debate, but this writer would like to suggest that the controversy itself may be behind the recent decision by CEO Marissa Mayer to end the option for employees to telecommute. Although Yahoo! trails only Google and Chinese site Baidu in terms of search queries, the gap is extraordinary - in November and December 2012, Google had 114.73 billion queries, versus 14.5 billion for Baidu and 8.63 billion for Yahoo! While that is still a lot of hits on the Yahoo! website, that is only 4.9% of the queries. For better or worse, this past week, Yahoo! has gone from being an afterthought to being top-of-mind. Personally, when I was working on the corporate side, I found the flexibility to work from home when my wife and I adopted our daughters to be very important. It enabled me to often put in longer workdays by not sitting in traffic for several hours each day, and to be productive when one of us was under the weather. That being said, I think there is a case to be made for informal interactions at the office. There is a certain energy that may be difficult to replicate when working from home. My guess is that once Yahoo! weathers this storm, there will be some modification of the new policy, primarily due to competitive necessity. With so many major technology-based companies in Silicon Valley, there would seem to be a risk of losing not just those who were abusing the telecommuting option, but also those very productive employees for whom it was a welcome benefit in the work-life balance spectrum. By the way, whether you search on Google or Yahoo!, you will find the late Yankees shortstop and announcer Phil Rizzuto with the query "holy cow baseball announcer". (Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray also appears in both search results.) TV's still popular, but making room for tablets & smartphones It is mind-boggling at times that in just the last generation or two we have transformed the way we consume information, sports, entertainment, and more. At one time, you were lucky to be able to listen to your favorite baseball team on a transistor radio that had decent reception (but filled with static) on the AM band, or by watching on a bulky television. These days, we see cable companies launching apps that allow their customers to view content on mobile devices in their home network and, in some cases, on the go as well. If you have one or more iPhones or iPads or other mobile devices in your home, you may be increasing the number of screens you can watch without buying another television. Some consumers are forgoing cable programming completely, and are opting to purchase and download content via streaming devices. While the audience actually doing this may be comparatively smaller than those subscribing to cable or satellite programming, the flexibility of giving people the content they want, when they want it, and in their preferred format should not be underestimated. Just yesterday, Nielsen announced that it was modifying the way it measures TV households by including those who get their content via the Internet without the benefit of cable or satellite. Nielsen also said it would start counting TV viewers on iPads and other mobile devices in the future. It would seem likely that the trend toward increased portability of devices will result in even greater consumption of content on mobile devices. According to a press release yesterday from the research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), tablet usage skyrocketed in 2012 while smartphones also continued substantial growth. Between 2011 and 2012, desktop and laptop PC's declined in use, while tablet usage grew by 78% and smartphones by 46%. Mind-boggling to say the least! 2/15/2013 0 Comments Pitchers & CatchersTo say the least, the weather in the Northeast has been interesting the last few months. Starting with Hurricane Sandy at the end of October, it seems that mother nature has been throwing some curveballs. This past weekend, parts of Long Island and New England were measuring snowfall in feet. In Hamden, Connecticut, even a yardstick fell short of the 40-inch accumulation.
The good news is that spring is in site. In less than five weeks, we will have the vernal equinox. And speaking of curveballs - another sign that warmer weather is on the way - pitchers and catchers are now reporting to spring training. Derek Jeter is running again after a playoff-ending injury in 2012. Mariano Rivera also is working on coming back from an injury that ended last season very early for him. Opening Day this year features the Red Sox vs. the Yankees, with Kevin Youkilis on the Yankees! So what does this long-time Yankee fan do to get ready for the season? Of course, he takes advantage of a great sale yesterday for the Mets vs. Marlins in early April. Citi Field is much more fan-friendly than the old Shea Stadium ever was. |
Blog Author - Ken FelsherWith over 25 years of writing, editing, and research experience. I enjoy sharing with my readers my love of working with content on a variety of subjects. CategoriesAll 9-11 Airline Apollo 11 Apple Baseball Black Friday Boston Cable Cambridge Ceo Cooperstown Cyber Monday Cyber-Monday Delta Derek Football Freedom Tower Hall Of Fame Harvard Hawaiian HBO Hulu Hurricane Sandy Ipad IPhone IWatch Jeter Marissa Mayer Megatrend MIT Mobile Netflix New-jersey One World Trade Center Personal Computer Qantas Schlep Factor September 11 Smartphone Social Media Tablet Twin Towers United World Trade Center Yahoo Yankees Archives
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