What does IT consumerization mean?

This may be a bad piece of news for many IT departments out there in the companies.  But I got to know that the IT department has to attend to the consumers like myself who is working as an internet marketeer for the company to use our own devices that we have with us.  Although it can be quite a tough life working in the IT department, they tend to be the show stoppers in many cases of the employees’ lives.  They tend to be the one saying “yes” or “no” to our projects even though business comes first.  And to say yes or no, it is up to their working schedules and also whether they know how to do it or not.  Or sometimes, it may even be up to their mood whether they want to support or not.

Actually, it is not the IT department’s fault.  It is actually to do with the born of IT consumerization.  We, as the IT consumers, are becoming more and more demanding with our IT needs.  We hope to be able to use our own devices (in my case, I have my Samsung Galaxy Tab and my HTC Desire) to connect with our company’s network to work independently for our internet marketing activities.

Today, we are all really going against the IT security rules to satisfy today’s internet activities needs.  IT security says we cannot use our own devices because of the potential invitation of virus.  IT security says we cannot use the usual ways of user logins and registrations because of potential email leak and spams.  IT security says that we cannot use our own laptops because of potential virus again.  I have tried my very best to be compliant with IT security, but it is a never ending story if anybody wants to use IT security as the show stopper.  In fact, with IT security ruling, I don’t think we can proceed with the Internet marketing activities at all.

A lot of companies – who are standing by their IT security – are going to take another 5 to 10 years before a new change is made.  For that matter, I rest my case and I shall move on with my life where IT consumerization is being embraced.

How has IT consumerization been doing in your company?

Everybody has a role to play

The trend has slowly changed.  PR was originally formed to provide newsworthy information to the press so that they can write their articles.  Today, everybody is actually part of the PR system for the company.  Whether you are writing about your company or not, it doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that you might be able to see some of the things that the PR agency/dept wants and it could be only for your eyes.  The PR needs a lot of these kind of juicy information so that they can help to drive sales to the business.

PR needs to learn how to use the web tools and basic HTML programming

The PR dept will usually do more events and other things, but not the Internet.  With the advancement of the Internet by the social media, every PR person should learn how to use the web tools and some basic HTML programming.  That is because by understanding HTML, it helps a lot in getting the contents done beautifully.  Web tools are necessary to learn so as to drive the entire campaigns properly.  This is especially useful if they are going to do mash-ups.

To outsource social media or not

This topic has been a real controversy.  On one hand, the company is the one who knows best about their own business.  But on the other hand, the company is also lacking in manpower and is not capable of working on the social media.  This is the time where I think the PR dept should learn more about the social media by getting themselves involved.  Although there are a lot of people who don’t wish to involve their personal information with company, it is almost inevitable that the individual staff may become associated directly or indirectly.  That’s one reason why they wouldn’t want to be involved in social media.  Things are just getting messy but there are always ways to work around it so that they can hide behind their brand again…

I am not experienced with PR stuff, but I think that the social media is mixing everything up and the affected departments could be from the Marketing Communications, Public Relations, Customer Service, Customer Relationship Marketing, IT department and even the product marketing people as well.  But because the PR dept is in charge of spearheading the company to do public relations in the online space, it is definitely going to be relevant for them to drive sales as well.

What do you think?

I personally think that it is not really a matter of choice when a person is comfortable with one of the three dominating phone operating systems today.  Whether iPhone or Windows Phone 7 is going to be the next better operating system or not, it doesn’t really matter to me anymore simply because of one very simple factor – Software.

It doesn’t really matter whether this operating system has 20,000 apps or that operating system has 30,000 apps.  At the end of the day, please don’t tell me that it only has 10 apps.  That’s all I need to know.

Software is the crux of the deciding factor whether I should make a change of operating system or not.  Take Symbian phone for example: I have used my Nokia N95 for several years already.  And I have purchased quite a number of symbian applications.  What makes me decide to make a switch is really because of the limitation that the symbian phones seem to have… That is… my old Nokia N95 needs to upgrade because it is slow and incapable of doing more things that I need today.  And it makes no difference if I should make a switch to another symbian or non-symbian phones because all my applications I have purchased are no longer usable.  I am really disappointed with Nokia at that time because I have spent hundreds of dollars literally on Symbian applications!  In the end, I have to look for a phone operating system that I can rely on since I know I will buy some applications in the near future.

At that time, there are only two shining stars… iPhone or Android.  Windows Phone 7 wasn’t out in the market yet.  And my experience of the Windows Mobile is not very good when I tried it out using my friends’ phone.

It is coincidental that iPhone has decided to cease support for Adobe Flash.  Although I don’t really like Flash myself too, it is becoming a de factor standard, especially in Singapore.  When I look at Android, the first thing that came to my mind is Google because I am a huge fan of Google!  And I would want to see my Android phone synchronize with the Google services.  Moreover, Flash support is really important since it allows me to access more websites.

I can tell you one thing… If Windows Phone 7 wants to be on the edge of things, they must support Java Applets on their browsers.  I would probably buy one of their phones sooner or later.  If Android is going to support Java Applet, it will be perfect for my investments in HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy Tab.

I would say that iPhone is a really easy-to-user phone.. And I believe Windows Phone 7 is going to be as easy.  No matter what, I have already spent some dollars in Android applications and it is very hard for me to make a switch unless the software licence can be transferred to other operating system platforms.

Hence from what I have said so far, I would think that Microsoft might want to focus their attention on people who have not commited themselves to use Android or iPhone.. It is very difficult to convert any one of us to use Windows Phone 7.  We don’t want to change for the sake of changing or for trends.  Probably the ladies will want to have a better looking phone casings and compromise on their software needs, but not me or probably all the guys in the world.

It is such a pleasure to be able to use the same software on my HTC desire and Samsung Galaxy Tab… really!  It’s like I am now so used to use Microsoft Windows XP/7, please don’t ask me to use Macintosh or Linux… It’s the same analogy!

I think we should learnt from those people who had burnt themselves before because there must have some fantastic lesions that we can learnt from them. At least they know how to attract millions of dollars to be invested in them, and I don’t.

But looking at the direction that we are going, if there is going to have another internet bubble burst, this time is going to be so much bigger than ever before.

Looking on the bright side, the supply and demand are on the right time…

Demands: A lot of devices have been geared towards internet access.. The evolution of IPhone that had huge effect on enabling the normal users to start using internet while on the go… The upcoming competitor Android software that allows the rest of the companies to compete with Apple effectively… Tablets are also finally on the rise… Netbooks that allow the users to be able to access internet at an affordable price and yet at the comfortable usual Windows operating system..

Supplies: With the rise of facebook that allows end users to come to a common media to network… Google and bing allow the users to search more effectively… Twitter allows everyone of us to have a say in just 140 characters and yet it can have tremendous effect… Friendfeed that allows all sort of social media to come together… Blip.fm that allows us to share our thoughts through our favorite songs… Google docs allow us to work on documents easily… Digg to allow us to share and see interesting information…

The internet media is maturing for sure… But the only question is whether the users are matured enough to use or not. When I say users, it can mean both individuals and companies… Because of this, the internet agencies’ tend to be more profitable… The clients are mostly not educated simply because they have never attended such courses before in the past.. And the power is now with the end users… All of a sudden, they are not sure of how to handle a media because it is always the job of media owners… Now, it belongs to them… And it is always not a good idea to outsource to someone who is not specialised.

Hence, if the internet hype is really going at a ridiculous rate, all the inexperienced business initiators are going to be the black sheep…

Marketing the iPhone

Let’s backtracked a little… The very reason why people are buying iPhone is simply because it is a mobile phone with Internet access.  Before iPhone was born, I was already using Nokia N95, which is already an Internet-enabled mobile phone.  Nokia has been the leader in the phone industry for many years (at least in my opinion!).  They gradually put in Internet applications as the mobile phones are enabled by 3G internet.  (So are other brands like Motorola, Sony Ericsson, etc)  But at that time, I don’t really see a lot of my friends using any of the Internet applications with their mobile phones.  It is really nothing new when iPhone was introduced.  Probably because they are adopting a touch screen technology with it… Probably because they look really sleek… Probably because they are simply known for this formula = Internet + Phone…

Interestingly, a mobilephone salesperson created a hilarious video about this (and he is probably losing his job because of this video). Watch it below!

You can read about this mobilephone salesman’s story at TechCrunch.

Marketing the iPod

Another scenario will be with the iPod.  I can still remember that the MP3 players have been around for quite a while… They were marketed by many other companies.  It seems like when iPod came into picture, the whole world became obsessed with having an iPod – where it works like a MP3 player but it only plays its own format of songs and not MP3.  It’s really amazing to see things like this happen!

Marketing the iPad

Next, it will be with iPad.  Tablet PCs and ebook readers have been around for a number of years.  It seems like people are more acceptable to iPad when it is released.  But for this case, I think Apple has done a good job.  Tablet PCs have never got a real good user experience of its touchscreen technology; there is bound to have a problem somewhere which is not so well-done.  And as for ebook readers, the eink technology has no doubt convinced me to buy (i didn’t buy in the end) but the software applications are not very fantastic with its costly price tag.

What can we learn from here?

I find that it is not necessary for us to reinvent the wheels in order to lead the market.  When a new technology is being released in the market by any particular company, it does not necessarily mean that this company will win the game.  They are usually the geeks (I admit I used to be one of them) who are willing to adapt the first wave of devices.  Plus, it is usually more expensive to buy the first wave!

When the first wave of technology has been introduced by a company, the next company will usually win the game simply by finding an edge over the same technology.  All that the next company needs to do, is to package the same thing nicely and create a new value proposition over it.  I find that it usually works with the ladies when you can make the device look really attractive to be associated with it.  (By the way, you don’t have to have all the functionalities built-in… Oh, how do I bluetooth a file to you?)

Branding is still important as a person will want to buy it simply because it’s from that brand.  It’s the promise of the brand, and the feel of owning this device.  I must admit that it really feels good to have an iPhone in your hand.  And I think that the antenna problem that they are having with iPhone 4 is just a matter of time to be resolved.  Ultimately, the phone must still function well at the very basic level.

P/S: I am probably going to buy a HTC Desire very soon!

Image credit: whitesnowsphinx

I was talking to Andrew whether a person should buy Android or iPhone.  Andrew was comparing the differences between Android and iPhone (we are talking about iOS 4 here), and he had concluded that Android is a much better choice.  Andrew listed down all the various reasons to me, and I volunteered to post it up to let all of you know.

Let’s find out the 12 reasons below:

1. Flash support (try booking tickets on www.gv.com.sg or other movie sites without an app using an iPhone)
2. MP3 and videos files can simply be copied into Android devices for playback
3. Third party app Wi-Fi tethering support (will be standard in Android 2.2)
4. True multitasking (Android apps run in background as opposed to iPhone which pauses them to switch to another)
5. Full screen widgets (like HTC’s friends and twitter stream)
6. Can Bluetooth files to other devices
7. Use industry supported, Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) endorsed micro USB connector that allows all Android devices to share connectors and chargers
8. Greater developer access to phone features
9. Greater hardware device variety to choose from
10. Have removable battery that can be replaced if it weakens
11. Have micro SD expandable storage
12. (For the ultra geeks) Can root Android devices and install custom OSes like CyanogenMod

Nevertheless, there are definitely some advantages why iPhone is gaining market share in the mobile phone industry. There is a higher possibility of somebody amongst our friends owning an iPhone, while there is a lower possibility of our friends owning an Android phone.  Let’s find out what are the 5 advantages of iPhone over Android here as well.  (Yes, I only got 5 iPhone advantages from Andrew…)

These are the 5 advantages of iPhone 4 over Android:

1. (Arguable) Better surfing experience and user interface
2. Better audio quality than most Android devices (except maybe Sony’s Experia X10)
3. Excellent and familiar iTunes UI for music
4. Huge variety of aftermarket accessories
5. Higher screen resolution

As Flash evolves, I started to accept Flash as one of my choices to use when creating a website.  It has created numerous games in various websites.  It’s especially useful in Facebook where many of my friends are playing a lot of games where it is almost impossible to create if not for Adobe Flash!

Now that iPhone has rejected third party from creating a layer over iPhone apps (for easy creation of applications using their familiar interfaces such as Flash), it has effectively cut ties with Adobe Flash from existing in iPhone.  It was just recently that Adobe announced Flash support for iPhone application, and Apple has rejected such a support indirectly.  I can feel how much hatred has been created between the two companies now.  I don’t think we should blame Apple for not supporting Flash… After all, they are still valid to say that third-party programming may cause potential performance problems.  It’s a fact actually.

I think it’s all about compromising between speed or to have a potentially wide variety of applications.  To the third party developers, they have the advantage of allowing their applications to support a wide variety of operating systems easily.  It means that they only need to programme once, and it shall be workable on all platforms!  Now, they have to programme once for most platforms, and to programme a separate application just for iPhone OS.  I think it’s really to the disadvantage of Apple… But anyway, they are taking over the market by storm!  It’s just a matter of time whether the world will continue to embrace iPhone or not in the future… That’s because the lifespan of a mobile phone is pretty short… Moreover, iPhone’s battery is not replaceable… It’s just within 2 years’ time that a typical mobile phone user will switch to another new phone.  Who will know what’s the next Apple strategy?  Apple has always been surprising me with all sorts of news…

Anyway, I don’t think Flash is dead yet.  In fact, they have been embraced by several other mobile phones i.e. Android, BlackBerry, Palm webOS, Windows Phone 7, LiMo, MeeGo, and Symbian… It’s just a matter of time that Apple may go back to support Flash because of another surprising reason.. And I strongly encourage them to support Flash again!

Anyway, I am thinking of getting an Android phone (If my 2.5-year-old Nokia N95 is failing on me… But the truth is that it is still alive and kicking!)  Any thoughts about Flash for your iPhone?

Photo credit: archtron

But come to think of it in another way… It seems like Apple has been focusing more on trying to be standalone while Microsoft has been more towards the open market… When you own an Apple device, you have no other choice except to use Apple peripherals… But when you buy a Microsoft operating system, you will have a wide range of hardware to choose from.  As such, the games seem to be all available on Microsoft platform.

Now, think about iPhone and iPad.  There has been a lot of reasoning why Apple chooses not  to use Flash… But ultimately, I seriously think this is going to be the deciding factor for me not to choose iPhone as my next phone.  And when they also thought of switching to Bing (from Google), I am more and more firmed with my decision.  No doubt that iPhone has been a great device… It has a lot of interesting applications and that I can share information with my friends (most of them are having iPhone!).  I just can’t imagine sticking myself with iTunes where the interface is not really sleek in my laptop (yes, I am using Microsoft Windows 7).  And to imagine that it is not supporting the usual MP3 format (it is standing by itself again with its own format…), I am feeling so restricted more than just using the phone.

Of course, I don’t have a lot of iPhone experience to begin with… It seems to be the definite decision for anyone to buy an iPhone 4 now… I am struggling with myself to know if I buy an iPhone, will I ever be drifted away from my favorite companies Adobe and Google?!?!

Of course I won’t mind if somebody is going to give me an iPad… I would most likely use it as my ebook reader replacement!  I have been waiting patiently for the e-ink technology to evolve into color version… And indeed, it has launched!  Now, I am waiting for the various companies like Amazon to launch their color-version of ebook readers.

Take a look at the support of HTML5 from their website. http://www.apple.com/html5/

Over there, they are actually saying that HTML5 is only supported by Safari… How is that possible when I am using a Google Chrome right now?  They are simply trying to stand by themselves again…

If you take a look at the number of factors above, you will start to see that Apple has deliberately stand by itself to set the standards.  They had been trying this for numerous times in fact!  They have a couple of new inventions along the way, but it’s only the Mac, iPhone and iPad have been able to set the trend!  I don’t think the iPod has been successful at all, but they will continue anyway since it is still in the production…

There was quite a big discussion out there saying that they are preparing to quit Facebook.  Most of them reasoned that their privacy is being infringed…  Some simply don’t like Mark Zuckerberg… And others are just followers…  QuitFaceBookDay.com was started to gather a community of such people!  (See screenshot above.)

On the surface, it is not possible for Facebook to go out of business

While it seems to me that people are looking out for alternative websites to Facebook, it is just not feasible for any of us to quit Facebook just yet.  The trend is still here, we are not prepared to move on to the next thing (till somebody created that next big thing!).

Taking a look at how my surrounding friends have been using the Facebook account… It is nearly impossible to put a dent to the Facebook website just because 34k people have quitted Facebook.  My friends, colleagues, vendors and clients are all using Facebook as part of their communication.  It helped them to keep in touch and it has helped a lot of us to find our long lost friends. Some even found their true loves through Facebook.

History tells us that it is possible to destroy Facebook

On the other hand, it may be possible for all of us not to use Facebook anymore.  That’s unless we have all moved on to a different platform!  I can still remember how one site goes up, and another goes down… Friendster, ICQ, eCircles and so on… they are all almost forgotten although they have been used by many of us many years ago.

Dominating giants are good for the Internet

I don’t think I will ever join this anti-facebook group… Let me tell you why below.

It is a rare case that we are able to find a single web platform which we can all leverage on.  Most of the websites out there are very decentralized in terms of their membership… And when the whole world decides to use the same web platform, it makes a lot of things much more easier in terms of both business and personal…

Without players like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, eBay and Amazon, life can be really hard for all of us who are looking for information online.  It is even harder for businesses who have to look out for so many websites to market their products.

Hence, my answer is no!  I won’t delete my Facebook account… Anyway, it seems to me that Mark Zuckerberg is always on the lookout to amend his privacy policy.  At least, he is trying to be nice to all of us still… Why must any of you treat him so badly?

As I have been playing with the Internet in a variety of ways… i.e.

1. Checking my emails
2. Coding and designing my various websites up (hitting about 40 of them)
3. Hanging around in the social media to get more exposure with the various users on the Internet
4. Learning how to do copywriting for my websites
5. And obviously, surfing the Internet… (i.e. watching videos, reading the web, online shopping, etc)

it has become apparent to me that the Internet is the new way of using your computer.  Google has been an evangelist to educate the whole world that you don’t need any other applications other than a web browser.. Well, I think it’s true that most of our time, we are only opening the web browser.  Do you really open any other applications, frankly?

Well, Google has come up with this new operating system for your computer.  I don’t view it as a competitor to Windows, Macintosh and any other open source operating systems such as Linux or any BSD.  That’s because they only focus on the single function… That’s to focus your whole computer to dedicate every single resource on the Internet.

It makes the whole browsing experience even better since you don’t have to wait for your computer resources (e.g. hardware and other software) to load when you don’t need them.  You don’t even need to wait for 50 seconds!

Here’s the deal that Google has promised… Check the video out below.

Well, if you do use computer only because of the Internet access, why not just give it a try by setting up your computer to boot up Google Chrome OS from a USB drive?