The Efficiency Advantage

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My first exposure to mobile computing was through my father. In the mid-1990s, my dad started to use an Apple Newton along with a Macintosh calendaring program called NOW Up-To-Date to keep track of appointments, customer contact information and the like.

There weren’t a lot of people carrying these devices around, but my dad saw the utility. He carried laptops early, he used the original Macintosh, he carried handhelds before others. I even remember him carrying a cell phone before most others. What does he do? He’s a piano technician.

Piano technician? You mean the guy that comes to my house and tunes my piano and fixes it when it’s broken? Yes, that’s the guy. You wouldn’t think of it as being a technologically-oriented profession, but he saw the potential early. He saw how technology products could make him more efficient, get him out of the living rooms of his customers and on the road riding his bicycle.

I tell you this because we had an interesting conversation last night about this woman he hired to make phone calls for him, set up appointments, and follow up with customers who haven’t called in a while.

How does he use mobile computing? He carries a cell phone and a handheld. He used to carry a laptop but now the handheld does what he needs. He calls customers on the cell phone and uses it for GPS capabilities to find his next appointment. He uses the handheld not just to see his schedule and contacts, but also to tune pianos with a cool little piece of software that assists his own ear in the tuning process.

But it’s the woman handling scheduling in his office that brought it all together. See, she answers the phone and she calls customers back promptly. The other day my dad got a call from an old friend that used to work with a different tuner. He has resisted working for this woman because, well, no one wants to step on each others toes. But she said she keeps having to wait, sometimes as long as two weeks, to get a return call and schedule an appointment. She likes how she can call and get an appointment with my dad today.

To our customers, that’s all it takes. A little responsiveness and they are satisfied. Gonna be late? Call. Need an appointment? Pick up the phone in a reasonable amount of time. Do the job? As efficiently as possible.

And, in the end, it just leaves more time bike riding.

The Missing Link: Defining the Information Pad

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There has been a lot of talk lately about tablets and sub-notebooks. The Foleo, which I have discussed in this space before, is just one example. Nokia, Samsung and Sony have small computers (called ultra-mobile PCs or UMPCs). Now Apple is rumored to be developing a “tablet” as well.

There is and has always been a lot of discussion and questions about whether these kinds of devices can be successful. In the late 90s, someone released a pen/computer system that allowed you to write on a piece of paper and then have that digital image sent to a computer. Complete failure. Even my friend Michael Mace has an article on why these devices are not successful.

The discussion around these devices reminds me, though, of the discussion revolving around mobile computing in ’95 and ’96. The Newton was a market failure (but technical marvel), companies like GRiD were going nowhere, and this little company called Palm Computing couldn’t get funding. Well, it turned out the problem wasn’t “handheld computing” but the devices being made.

Palm focused on solving one problem in those days: how do I gain quick and easy access to my personal information? I contend that the problem with tablets or UMPCs or whatever you want to call them is that they don’t have similar focus and emphasis. I want my tablet to solve one problem: how do I review information and take notes on the go? If the handheld computer replaced my day planner, then my tablet should replace my briefcase.

What goes in my briefcase? My notebook for note taking, print outs of documents and reports. If this was 1997, that would be good enough. But this is 2007 so I would expect a solid browser experience as well and some level of connectivity.

So here is my requirements list for the “Info Pad”:

  1. Long enough battery life that I can attend a few meetings without needing to re-charge. I better get at least 5 hours of “on time” from the thing.
  2. Instant on.
  3. It needs to be really thin and light with a screen size like a pad of paper: 5×7 or 8×10.
  4. For that matter, it needs to lay flat like a pad of paper if I need it to (such as in face-to-face meetings).
  5. It should have wi-fi and a good browser so I can look up information on the web.
  6. I need to take notes on it somehow, so either a fold out keyboard, handwriting recognition or some method that allows me to enter notes at the same speed I would write in my notebook. Oh, and these notes should be search-able.
  7. Be able to review the basic documents: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, etc.
  8. Some level of connectivity to my main computer system so I can access files and move them back and forth.
  9. Price point is critical: I think it needs to run about $500-600.

The good news is the software is there in one form or another. What we need is the device. Someone will make this happen. I just hope it is soon.

Market Growth Will Come Again So Get Ready Now

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I have talked recently with a number of financial planners, Realtors, mortgage brokers and loan officers and all I hear is the same thing: business is slow. Well, I’m not very surprised given the state of the market. The stock market is all over the map, the housing boom is bust, and lending is tighter than 1980s clothing styles.

So…. what to do with your time? For some, board up the windows and go home. But for most of us, it is a perfect time to prepare for when the markets are good again.

Some suggestions:

  • Go buy yourself a new piece of hardware or software that will let you communicate faster and better with your clients than ever before and work with it until it actually does what you want. If that’s a BlackBerry that lets you see and respond to email instantly, than go learn how to work the device and keyboard.
  • Spend some time thinking about your biggest bottlenecks — the things that take the most time — and figure out how to speed it up. Is it processing paperwork? Look for automated systems that help do this faster. Is it waiting on someone else? Figure out how to get them involved sooner or figure out what you can do during the downtime to keep the deals moving along.
  • Unhappy with a business relationship? Now’s the perfect time to make a change. A lot of people are leaving the industry and those remaining are stronger for it. If you are a Realtor, go talk to a bunch of loan officers or mortgage brokers to see how others compare.
  • Bone up on something you should know but don’t. Realtors, you better learn the ins and outs of mortgages and make sure you are reviewing paperwork coming from the lenders.
  • Go interview your customers to understand what you can do better and be more attractive to others like them. People love it when you ask for input and help.
  • Read a book. I find inspiration in all kinds of places, even if they are not directly related to my business. A couple of interesting ones I have read recently include Diary of a Real Estate Rookie by Alison Rogers and Wikinomics by Tapscott and Williams.

Now’s the time to get yourself ready for the next wave. It won’t be long — it will come. And then you won’t have time to do the little things that makes business better.

Question 1: Who Leads? Question 2: Who Cares?

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I have to admit I am tired of reports from research companies proclaiming who is winning and losing position in the smartphone space. The latest from the vendor iSuppli, who appears to be a corporate shill for Apple, was happy to proclaim Apple the leader, let it get published in all kinds of magazines and web publications, and then redact part of the information a few days later.

The problem I have is not with the “research” itself, but the fact that the data is always published as if the individual devices matter. I contend that when you buy a device, you are only partly buying into an individual device. By the time you purchase a smartphone, you are actually buying into a platform.

So you are not buying just a Treo 750, you are actually purchasing a Windows Mobile/Pocket PC device. And you are not just buying a Pearl, you are buying a BlackBerry.

This is important because at the end of the day it isn’t about just the device — which is made up of form factor and battery life and other things specific to that device — you are also buying into software and interaction and the things that platform allows you to do.

When I buy an iPhone, I am buying into a rich media experience. And when I buy a BlackBerry, I am buying into an email and instant communication platform. When PalmPilot’s first came out, I bought a personal information manager (now I don’t know what I am buying).

The question is: what do you need every day? Which of these is most important to you? And which platform will satisfy that need most clearly?

Product Inefficiency = Third-Party Opportunity: PIM Edition

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Kids everywhere are going back to school and stores have been pushing that simple fact since, well…, since they got out of school. (Maybe that’s the reason kids don’t read the newspaper — tired of being reminded.)

Anyway, back to school is really a time of getting organized for the onslaught of work ahead of us. One area where I always feel that the devices let me down is in the built-in personal information management: calendar, to-do, addresses. The irony is that these devices were all built with one thing in mind — keeping in touch with clients — and they all do the organizational portion of this poorly.

What these devices lack is a perfect opportunity for some third-party developer and that’s the beauty of BlackBerry, Palm OS and Windows Mobile devices. (I know I am leaving off Symbian from this discussion. It’s just not a major force here in the States so I haven’t spent much time with it. I am also leaving off iPhone since Apple decided they don’t need third-party developers.)

My expectation is that I should be able to see my day’s to-dos and calendar on one screen. I should be able to adjust those to-dos and appointments with a single tap. I should be able to see to-do priorities easily (color, number, order, etc.). And all of this should be linked to my addresses and mapping so I can quickly pull up a contact’s number if I am late and grab directions to the meeting.

None of the device PIMs do this.

On Palm OS and Windows Mobile, a great third-party application that handles these functions is Agendus (Palm OS, WM Pocket PC, WM Smartphone). I always liked this product and used it on a Palm OS device myself. My complaint — and this is true of almost every piece of software — is that the developer got carried away and added every feature under the sun that he could think of. At least most of it is hidden (or can be).

On BlackBerry, the only choice is PocketDay, a reasonable shareware product that does the core things I want (shows to-do and calendar on same page and allows easy editing) but misses on address book integration, a major issue for rapid contact of customers. It too has a number of extra features that can be hidden.

There’s a lot of room for innovation here: better designs, faster access, improved organization and integration with other applications. I am sure there is a developer somewhere ready to develop it.