1. Infrastructure
2. Integration
3. Intelligence
4. Innovation

But I believe they are missing the fifth “i” (like the 5th Beatle) which is: Information.  And what is information?  Well, it is everything employees are doing within (and outside) the firewall.  Such as content, knowledge and data.  Plus, with the explosion of social media (or social business) in organizations, there is information everywhere in blogs, forums, status updates, documents, IM’s, wikis, etc.  Who is managing all of this information?  Driving out best practices?  Ensuring that the knowledge of the company is used, leveraged   and re-used?

And that is where the fifth “i” comes into play.  And I feel it does not belong under the CIO.  I actually believe this is a future role for many organizations.  For the heck of it, let’s modify it (so it is not CIO), to read CKO – Chief Knowledge Officer.

As the saying goes, “knowledge is power”.  But if organization do not properly capture and utilize this knowledge, then they are missing out on a competitive advantage.  But who now is accountable to “empower this knowledge”?

You got it – the Chief Knowledge Officer.

1. More  Columns (Customization)

One problem I have with Communities is everything is crammed into the middle of the page.  But on the left hand side there is the community image /explanation, menu and tags.  On the right, Important Bookmarks and Members.   For me to get any information past the first widget, I need to scroll.  Very annoying.  Why not first of all, have multiple columns?  You can have the option of two or three columns on your home page; why not bring this functionality to communities?

2. Hiding “static” options
Well, there is some static data (such as the navigation menu, tips, and tags) that are always there.  I also want to include the Community log and overview.  Why not hide it as if I have been to the community, this information is redundant.  And, if I need to navigate at the top level, I just click on the widget title to get to my content.
So, you could take a page out of Lotus Notes sidebar and add it as a sidebar on the left.  Let’s take a look at 1 and 2 would look like:

So, now it is hidden.  And what that has done is opened up a lot of space now for community activity.  Of course, when you drill down a level; for example forums, the collapsible menu can be opened up automatically.

3. More Widgets
You’ll notice that in my static data I did not speak to the right hand information (Important Bookmarks and Members).  Although I see the value of this content, there is no choice to actually move them.  Thus, I think that important bookmarks, Members and even the above Tags should be widgets that can be added to the community if required:

4. Status Updates Widget
It would nice to a widget that allows community members activity stream added.

5. Recent  Activity Widget
When being away from a community, it would be nice to go in a see an RSS feed (in a widget) of what recent activity (discussion forum post, bookmark, etc) has happened:

Anyway, those are some of my suggestions for future releases.

One more before I go. So, to stop the paper I can e-mail them but if I want to stop ‘future promotional’ material, I need to call. Seems the process works for them and less about the customer.

E-mail is easy
The learning curve is so easy, that people are hooked instantly.  And it is easier to start building onto an existing platform that people like and use instead of a new experience or application.

No specific company own’s e-mail
As mentioned above, any company can create their own e-mail client…but it still does the same function as all the others.   Thus, no matter which country you live in, language you speak, or religious beliefs (kidding), there is an e-mail client for you.

E-mail has a bigger market share than Twitter, Facebook, YouTube put together.
Maybe they weren’t first to market for connecting people (the telephone beat them to the punch) but it has grown so popular that if you think about it, when was the last time you met someone who did not have an e-mail address?  For goodness sakes, I have three of my own. Robert Scoble has one.  Don’t you?

People will let you tweak it
Sure, go ahead and add Twitter or Google Buzz to my in-box.  It doesn’t necessarily mean I am going to use it.  But, that is the beauty of it.  It is just there, waiting for you.  And if you get curious, or your friends/family/work starts to use it, well, you can take a peak because you already have your e-mail open.  And if you can’t figure out how to DM your mother…well, you can send her an e-mail.  But the power here is you are not forcing people to start communicating in a totally different way or application…you are letting them gradually start to use these tools.

E-mail Content
In an e-mail, you can be formal/informal, long/short, add images/video, put links, add emoticons, write a novel, sell products, and be private/public, communicate with one/thousands of people all in one application.  No other tool can do it all.  Sure, Twitter you can reach a million people with one Tweet…but you can’t add a video, an emoticon, picture of the vacation and a excel spreadsheet.  But Twitter has it’s use…that is why it is a good ‘add-on’ to e-mail.

So the killer app is out there…and everyone is using it…so tell me again why we want everyone to abandon it?  That is why I believe that you will see more and more integration of other tools into the in-box. Or whatever else it will be called in the future.

I came across this cartoon the other day and it really hit home about the focus on ROI.   Listen, don’t get me wrong – I understand the importance of measuring ROI. But sometimes, it is not as easy as A+B=C. Sometimes you need to just let it incubate. Let folks try it, stretch it, taste it and see what they can come up with. You never know…a new wheel might be around the corner.

Drivers: Those who drive out change/early adopters. They are the ones who drive the bus, and plow forward through the storms.

Passengers: Although they won’t be first to change, they will get on the bus and go along with any change that happens.

Road Kill: Those who resist change.

Yes, the iPad will change the world.  The hype is over and it the world is still the same…though I believe it will change the future.  Recently I read an article stating that:

Textbook publishers have already enlisted the third-party services of developers to build adaptations of textbooks for the iPad.

I believe this will change the world in the future for the following reasons:

1. Money: As someone who went through University and dropped a lot of cash for paper books, new iPad ebooks/ibooks will keep that much more money in student pockets.
2. Throw away that Notebook: It would be nice (in the future) if you could add notes ‘right on your iPad book’ (ie – adding a sticky) so all of your notes are incorporated with your book
3. Multimedia: Imagine, on page 206, when the author is talking about a theory that a YouTube video could be embedded on the page for users to view.
4. Web: Yes, as you are reading your book, you can either surf to the web to find out more information from a hyperlink…or at least view your Twitter/Facebook/etc updates all in the same place.

So where will the biggest change be?  As more and more students graduate using the iPad, they will be bringing this into their workplace.  And thus, enterprises big and small will start integrating this into their hardware requirements (goodbye Mr Desktop and Mrs Laptop).

Hook’em when they are young.

Photo from jorgemir via flickr

Poor Hollywood.  Still can’t figure out how to stop pirating and make money off the internet.  But I believe there are may untapped avenues that Hollywood could take to generate money and not stop…rather to encourage pirating of their shows.  And here is how:

Embedded Advertising within your shows

OK, I agree this is not revolutionary but here me out as I don’t think it has been looked at through this lens.  And I believe that the infrastructure is already in place…it is just bringing them all together (along with a revamped Hollywood).  Let me walk you through an example and then I will break down the three pieces that are need for this to succeed.  I will use Amazon for the example below (though the other players above could do this just as easily):

You are watching a TV show/Hollywood movie and you want to know what kind of leather jacket the main character is wearing. Put your mouse over the jacket (or character), click and (the scene continues) on the right hand side of the screen (think of the Hulu setup with the black on the left and right side, or the full screen is pushed over slightly to avoid having the text block the scene) and information detailing what that character is wearing appears on the screen. If the jacket is from The Gap, on this click, Amazon gets a eyeball click $$ payment. What it also allows is for the user to click to the 1) Gap website 2) Gap store; potentially purchasing that jacket immediately or 3) since this is Amazon, go directly to the Amazon store to buy the jacket (do everything in one place).  Additionally, to make the experience better, the viewing public can engage a setting in the video player that enables when you click, the information is sent to your “Viewing Basket” so when the show is over, you can review the product information and shop without interrupting the entertainment experience. And for a mobile strategy, you could have a GPS awareness that could notify you know when you are within 1 mile of a Gap Store that has that product in stock.  And, since this is Amazon, you would not need to be a big retailer as you can setup an Amazon store.

1. Infrastructure:  The Content is Being Broadcast Already

On-line, there are many places where content is available to stream or download such as Hulu, You Tube, Amazon Video and of course iTunes to name a few.  Great.  They all have a purchasing system setup so the public already trusts their purchases.  Most have also done a good job of making it dead simple for the public to view, sample and purchase a large variety of content.

2. Embedding Technology Exists

YouTube is already going down the path with Annotations but I prefer the technology by a company like VideoClix as it makes for  a nicer viewing experience.  Great, we now have both the infrastructure and the technology.

3. Hollywood…and their willingness to change.

This is the real place where the money (and the change) happens and has the potential to change the whole pre-production of the Television and Movie industry.  And that is the key point – pre-production.  It changes/influences not only the costumes/clothes for actors, but furniture, food, dishes, etc. You can auction off every single thing that will be on the screen to people who want product placement before production. For example, if your star is listening to an ipod, you can hover over it and find out what songs they are listening to – link straight to iTunes/Amazon mp3 and buy the song. People are sitting in front of the computer, why not have them be interactive?

How about “Lost”?

A question I get a lot is “what about a show like Lost?”  Well, besides the obvious Dharma swag they should be selling (who wouldn’t want to crack open a Dharma Initiative beer on the weekend in their Maintenance overalls?), there is an opportunity to grab your audience in so many other ways.  Lost followers (me included) love the mysteries of the island.  So, why not embed more into the shows?  For example, during the show, what if you could click on the hatch and walk around and look closely at the books on the shelf, records and past training tapes.  You could have a show within a show.  Possibly sell membership to see be able to check out different parts of the island yourself.

Remember:  there is a difference watching things on your television versus your computer.  On a computer, you have a keyboard and mouse in front of you…rotting away.  Utilize it.  And I believe  eventually that all television controllers will act like laser pointers for our screens.

A New Distribution Model = Open Season for Spammers?

Of course there can be negatives such as people putting in spam links, virus links, etc.  But if movies play on the Amazon site, then there is trust in the links.  But looking to the future, viewing movies in the browser using such as the soon to be released Google OS or the updated HTML 5, the browser can detect the source (such as the FireFox 3 secures sites check).  Peer to peer sharing will now be embraced by all involved as it will help get content get distribute more widely.

So, there you go television and film industry honcho’s (Or Amazon).  A whole new model waiting to be tapped into for profit.  Are you ready to try a new business model or are you too busy locking everything down and suing your customers?

OK, so I am new to the blackberry world and am on my first Blackberry (Bold).  Nice experience so far (and I am a Mac fan) but I must say their help files are…well, horrible.  Here is an example of my latest frustration.

I have a meeting tomorrow but I will be on my way to an appointment and thus would like to put the phone on mute.  So, I need to figure out how to put the phone on mute.  No problem…I went to the phone help menu – selected Phone Basics -> Mute a call.  Sounds easy right?  Here are the instructions:

Mute a call

During a call, press the Mute key.

To turn off mute, press the Mute key again.

Well now, that was not very helpful.  How about throwing in press the Mute key by selecting the button on the top left  of the phone.  How hard would have it been to add that?  I am assuming that these are general instructions they add with all Blackberries.  But I guess that goes to show their attention to detail.

Anyway, I went online and found a Blackberry review that told me where it was….

Ugh!!