Top 10 Android Apps Vs Top 10 IPhone Apps And What Is Missing In Both

Content Management and eCommerce

I feel like I have been doing Content Management for my whole life.  It actually has been a long time, but the real calculation places me just short of 1/3 of my life.  In that time, I have run the gamut in terms of "What is Content Management".  I have been through Web Content Management, Enterprise Content Management, Records Management, Catalog Management and more.  Content Management can take many forms, but I wanted to look at it a little closer and see what makes "sense".  What makes "sense" in this world of ever reducing costs is to be able to do content management better, faster and cheaper both today and in the long-run.

The first thing I look at is we need to agree that following the KISS method is of the utmost importance. (Keep It Simple Stupid).

The second thing to look at is your Information Architecture.  After realizing that Content Management needs to be easy, this is the most important in order to understand so that all of your base level pages, media types and content items can be defined.  Your solution should be able to accept new media types and the addition of pages should be simple and straight forward.  By identifying your content types and what pages they live on, new pages and new content can be easily automated.

Many people feel strongly that the creative defines the content management system, however this is one of the biggest mistakes in the field.  Since we all know the only constant in life is change, we can assume that the creative will change and in some cases change significantly.  When this happens, it is important that the content management solution doesn't need to be rebuilt.  Content types should be defined by what they are, not how they look.  Defining content in this manner is called loose definition and it allows for the best reuse of content and the most flexibility.  Most pure content sites can be handled with less than 5 content types (navigation item, media item, article item, and promotion).  CSS can and should handle the details.  Since we know the sites will change every 12-18 months, changing the out the content management system (CMS) as well makes even having a CMS questionable based on the cost to implement one.  there is no ROI in saving 500K by having a CMS if it costs you 700K to implement it every 12 months.

The next question is eCommerce.  Products are just content at the end of the day, and should they really be managed as anything other than as another content type?  The obvious answer is no.  I am amazed how often I see content and products managed by different systems.  The cost for something like this is almost unimaginable.  Now, a product may be a more strictly defined content type depending on the requirements for making attributes searchable.

“Keeping it Simple” means keeping your content simple and keeping the number of solutions simple.  If multiple solutions are in place for products and other content, it might be time to re-evaluate your solution to something like ATG (Art Technology Group) as a solution that handles all content within a single application.  Additionally, if your system has more that 10 content types, it might be time to re-evaluate your solution to see where things can be streamlined in order to not have the cost of implementation become a barrier to entry for updating your site and keeping your brand fresh.

My rant on the new iPhone Data Plans

I believe the term is "Indian Giver" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_giver

That is in a nutshell how I see AT&T now.  Anyone who knows me has heard about my my rants on companies doing these kinds of things.  Recently, Pei Wei took away free soda with your carry out order.  Since they essentially made the soda worthless, customers assume the cost is built into the food (which it must be because the food isn't "cheap").

There are dozens of examples of this in the corporate and retail world and there are acceptable and unacceptable ways of doing this.  

Acceptable ways of changing the rules generally mean it's clear that you are getting a "deal".  For instance, Best Buy may do a promotion of Buy one, Get One (BOGO) free and that promotion may run for a week or 2 weeks or it may run for a year depending on the circumstances.  However, it's clear that you are operating under a promotion.  This is the case with Dish TV and DirecTV and Cable where they may "give" you promotional pricing for a year or they may "give" you HBO and Showtime for 3 months.  However, in all cases it's pretty clear you are getting a promotion.

Alternatively, if your cable company was giving you 200 channels and then said hey, we are going to now give you 20 channels but we will charge you $10 less, would that be "OK"?  I am going to guess no in 90% of the situations.

If, for instance, 95% of the people are in the under 200MB range, then why change the rules?  Does anyone honestly buy that this is in the consumer's best interest?  It's kind of sad if you really do. 

When someone gives you something and then takes it away, it's crap.  I use quite a bit more data for streaming Pandora and downloading movies for the kids via iTunes. God forbid if you find yourself on the road and your kids are screaming for Spongebob.

Guess what?  If you are on board with this plan, you're in trouble.  Gone are the days of surfing You Tube.  I find myself wondering what is the point of an iPhone when you are locked down on data?  Everyone knows that the iPhone SUCKS as a phone.  It's only advantage were the great apps that use data.

Why does the iPhone suck as a phone?

High-powered CDMA signals have raised the "noise floor" for GSM receivers, meaning there is less space within the available band to send a clean signal. This sometimes results in dropped calls in areas where there is a high concentration of CDMA technology. Conversely, high-powered GSM signals have been shown to cause overloading and jamming of CDMA receivers due to CDMA’s reliance upon broadcasting across its entire available band.

The result of this little cross-broadcasting joust has led some cities to pass ordinances limiting the space between cell towers or the height they can reach, giving one technology a distinct advantage over the other.

This is the case is most of the US where CDMA has the advantage.  

So, most would ask, why does my iPhone drop calls more than my Blackberry?  Well, the iPhone grabs more data on a tower in addition to the voice.  GSM towers hold connections for about 60 users each vs. CDMA holds about 300 users each.  So, what happens on the iPhone is that when you move from tower to tower, there is a higher likelihood that you will get squeezed out when you switch towers.  Certain areas of high usage make these drops happen more often.

So, now what we have is all these people putting up with crappy voice service because it's really a mobile mini computer with an always on data connection.  Taking that away is a really bad move and it ensures the continued adoption of Android en masse.  This is really sad for me personally because I feel like a strong offering from the iPhone will make all the options better, however this change will likely slow down advancements. 

Personally, I use quite a bit of data on my e-mail for opening and looking at docs while on the go.  I have actually been iPhone-less since I left my last job and I have been on my Droid 100%.  I "have" to go to an AT&T plan though and I have a stay atleast until June, but now I am thinking I might as well stay with Verizon and just suck it up.  I have a real problem with locking you down to 2GB and the fact that people are actually "buying in" to this is really shocking.

So, here is what I am seeing:

AT&T vs. Verizon:

Data - AT&T wins

Voice - Verizon wins

Apps:  (Taking Jailbreak/Root out of the equation) For all intents and purposes, it's a wash now for apps that you would regularly use, however:

Android gives you Google Voice, Chat, Maps, etc. and it's all free.  You have to pay for decent navigation on iPhone.  Both have Skype, however you have to pay for it on iPhone now.

AT&T just killed their only advantage over Verizon. 

I was so excited for the new iPhone (really, I was - I admit it) and I was actually going to buy it.  However, literally EVERYTHING costs more on iPhone and to be quite frank, the Android experience is pretty darn good.  I just wish AT&T would get a decent Android device.  

Stupid move ma bell.  Feel free to comment away :)

Honda FCX Clarity - Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle - Official Web Site

via www.neurosurgical.com

Step by Step - Updating iOS 4.x Beta to your device

This seems to be a general problem that people figure out by word of mouth and I couldn't find and good instructions on how to do it.  Once the 3rd person asked me (after I had to ask a friend of mine), I decided to do a little post on it.

Notes:  

To download the beta, you need to be a paid member of the Apple developer program ($99/yr)

The file you download is a DMG file (disc image), so, that's probably the most confusing part.

Go do the Developer apple site and grab the latest beta:

http://developer.apple.com

Now, once it's downloaded (it's a BIG file 500+MB), it's a DMG file, so you need to double click it (just like you were installing it).  This will mount the disc image for you.  In Finder, you should see this:

The DMG file is mounted and you see the .ipsw file, which is what you need to select from iTunes to update your iOS.

Next, open iTunes and connect your device.

Hold down the "Alt" key and click "Check for Update" This will open a finder window for you to select a file.

Select your mounted image file and the .ipsw file is inside.

Select "Update" and just wait.  iTunes will take care of the rest.

If anyone has problems with this, let me know.

RFID in an OPEN world

RFID has been around for several years and my first introduction to it was several years ago when I had the pleasure of working with some visionaries at Simon Property Group.  We were looking at RFID to track kids in the malls for their parents.  RFID has come a long way since then and I am still amazed it hasn't really caught on.

If you read my last post on OPEN E-Commerce and you take that approach, implementing RFID in your retail locations and showing immediate ROI on it is within easy reach.

I read a really good blog post on the subject here: How to Implement RFID in a Store Quickly.  They go over, in detail, how your employees can even install the system.  They mention the big thing in retail which is reduced shrinkage.  At the touch of a button, you can know where every item in your inventory is.

What would really make the ROI extreme though?

If your store is setup with a wireless internet connection (this can be done very easily even with a Verizon myfi), installing small, netbook type computers into the dressing rooms with the RFID sensor at the door will pay for itself in spades.

Scenario:  Customer walks into the dressing room with some size 4 jeans and 2 medium t-shirts.  The RFID will automatically sense how many items and what items are present.  This can be displayed on the screen with ratings and reviews (which could also be added right there in the dressing room) as well as recommended cross sell and upsell items.

Lots of information can be garnered just from what a customer takes into the dressing room.  For instance, we know she is a woman, looking for casual wear and she is a size 4.  By feeding this information into an engine such as ATG recommendations, the system will use it's Artificial Intellegence (AI) features to call out what things would go with the items best.  All of this information will also help you on-line as the additional information feeding into the recommendations engine will create better recommendations.

Talk about wow-ing your customers and making sure they know that you care about them and are giving them the most OPEN and transparent information they can get.

If you are in Retail, it's about moving the dial and nothing will move the dial like this will!

How to add the CrossFitPolaris.com feed to MyWOD

Hey everyone:

Here are step by step instructions on adding the CrossFit Polaris feed into your MyWOD app.

First, you will need the link to the actual feed. For us, its 

http://crossfitpolaris.com/category/wod/feed/

Go to your MyWOD app and select the "Common" tab at the bottom:

Here, you should see all the common WODs and any custom WODs you have added. Select the "+" at the top corner.

From here, select "New Feed" to add a new feed.

This is the step where you add in a name and the link to the feed. I used "CrossFit Polaris" as the name and the link is: "http://crossfitpolaris.com/category/wod/feed/" (remove the quotes) 

http://crossfitpolaris.com/category/wod/feed/

Authentication is NOT required.

Now, the feed should appear in your list as is seen here:

To select a WOD for the day, select the CrossFit Polaris feed and you will see a list of the WODs by day.

You can add today's workout or any that you happen to have missed in the past.

Here you will see the WOD for the day you selected.

Select "Add to Completed WODs" to add this as a WOD you have completed.

Add in the date to match the workout and the scoring type (For rounds, for reps, for time, etc.) and then your score. Add in if this is a "PR" and if you did the WOD at Rx as well.

Finally, when you go back to your "My WODs" tab, you will see your WOD entered on the date you selected as shown here:

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Changing the conversation on oil

I really enjoyed this article and I felt that it does a great deal to highlight where the real issues are with gas prices and it paints a realistic picture.  There is one interesting thing that I am honestly SHOCKED I haven’t a lot more of.  Since we know we can affect the market forces in terms of oil costs, why aren’t the politicians changing the market?  Amazingly, I did see a little of this with McCain’s new battery push, but I mean a real investment in alternative fuel solutions like Honda’s FCX car.  If the government gave several billion dollars and tight timelines around making these cars (and an array of vehicles) affordable, accessible and serviceable, dramatic change could occur in the next 5-6 years.

I looked at this report:

I retrieved the following data:

Automobiles:

USMS members report 2.17 cars per household. 49.4% report having 2 cars, with 19.7% having 1 car and 19.6% having three cars. 51.9% of households report buying a new car every 5 or fewer years. The average length of time between car purchases is 6.3 years. Given the average number of cars per household we can extrapolate that USMS households purchase a new car every 3 years, on average. Japanese car makers are the preferred automobile provider. 43.9% of members report preferring Japanese cars, 33.6% of members prefer American cars, and 14.2% prefer German cars. 8.3% prefer “other” countries of origin.

If we do something significant like provide a $5,000-$10,000 tax credit to ALL people (not tiered by income) in order to drop the barrier to entry somewhat on a new car purchase, I think we could affect that 6.3 years.  Since the car already exists by Honda, they could step up production significantly within the next 1-2 years and within the next 2-3 years most manufacturers could follow suit and we could change the market.

I would personally love to see the market changed vs. looking at how to fix something that is inherently broken and finite.

Additional notes:

Consumption Article:  http://www.usms.org/admin/surveys/May2006/consumption_report.pdf

Article Link:  http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2008/db20080619_412349.htm

Honda FCX Clarity:  http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/

This is me :)

Lots of Work, Lots of Innovation, Loving ATG

It's been a crazy last few months and we have been extremely busy working on creating a value added approach to ATG implementations that goes way beyond the standard implementation. Many times these go badly because the reality of what is possible within the Iron Triangle doesn't meet with the expectations that were present at the beginning of the project. I feel that by taking the strong foundation of a market leading product, like ATG, value added add-ons can make the product faster to implement with better scalability and allow the utilization of the entire ATG suite.

The whole idea started for me many years ago when I was at Inforte and it seemed like we consistently had to build the same content management systems over and over that were specifically tailored to a visual design. As we continued to improve our process of managing catalogs and general content, it began to occur to me that these tailored solutions were bad for our clients because in 12-18 months when they refreshed their site, we would have to do this same process again.

As I thought about how we get into this vicious cycle, it became more and more clear to me that there is and should be a slight change to the notion of gathering requirements. When we gather requirements, we always ask the client what they want. The problem is that most people, myself included, when I was a client, don't always know what they want because all of the information isn't available. A light bulb went off in my head at this point in my career that gathering requirements should be replaced by driving requirements based on architectural and design best practices. By driving requirements, we can give the client the best solution that fits within what they want to do now and will likely want to do in the future. We can measure success by seeing how much of a content and catalog management solution we need to replace in a redesign.

Many of you might think I am completely crazy at this point, but content management best practices dictate that the best way to manage content is at the asset level vs. at the page level. If we take that approach, many of the architectural and business level decisions become automatic for us and it will eliminate hundreds of hours of meetings, design and development where approaches are decided that many time do not meet the needs of the business. In the case of asset level publishing, the page just becomes another asset that doesn't lock all the elements on a page when we edit that information. Changes to content on a page can also be published separately from changes to a page's meta data and thus collisions for shared content items in publishing are eliminated.

Being at Resource Interactive has given me the opportunity to create a product add-on for the #1 eCommerce platform on the planet that will address the content management problem that every client faces. We have been working with ATG on this front for the past several months to create a reusable implementation of ATG that would take advantage of all the things ATG has done right with their product and eliminate the major things that most implementers do wrong when implementing the product. Additionally, we have been spending the past several months creating an offering around tying RI Personas into ATG's best of breed multi level personalization.

Combining the power of asset level publishing with actionable persona based personalization creates an unmatched level of flexibility and customer service for an eCommerce client.  I have never been so excited for any one project in my whole career.