I’ve strongly considering adding a place setting at the dinner table for Blackberries. I can’t remember the last time I sat down to a meal where my guests or myself didn’t regularly check our Blackberry’s. For some people it’s possible to go 15-30 mins without glancing, but for others it’s a shameless multi-minute compulsion. Nowadays there is a constant need to be in touch and although many of us recognize this pathetic behavior, it’s virtually impossible to stop it. Blackberry is the scapegoat for this post, but I'm referring to any Smartphone, PDA, or cell phone.
Many of us justify this behavior because “we have work e-mails that need to be read” but most of the time we’re all simply surveying what else is occurring. We’re rarely content in the here and now because we assume everyone else is doing something better. With these devices we've all become opportunists, totally disregarding the etiquette that once existed about when and when not to check the Blackberry. We’ve all succumbed to the fact that we rather know what is going on elsewhere than be stuck in present.
The only time I consciously ignore my inner urge to check the Blackberry is when I am on a good date, an important face-to-face meeting with a superior, or some kind of funeral etc… I’d normally be ashamed to admit this, but given my relatively objective observations, I’m one of the better ones. I have some friends that check their Blackberry’s like a nervous tick. If they moved their eyebrows as regularly as they check their phones we’d think they’re a tad off. It’s scary how extremely pathetic and juvenile the behavior is.
I’d like to think that one day when I have a wife and children, I’ll forbid the use of Blackberries at the dinner table, but it's totally idealistic. It's digital whispering! I can’t stand it and I can’t stop it.
Showing posts with label Blackberry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blackberry. Show all posts
Monday, March 9, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Value of a Voice
The other day I called my friend Josh on his work line and was shocked to hear the voice on the other end. "Josh Green's Office" said his female assistant. I laughed aloud. It was surreal hearing someone answer the phone for my 23 year-old friend who only graduated from Dartmouth 8 month prior. I felt like I dialed the CEO, not my friend, and it was then I realized the value of a voice.
Nowadays everything is digitally automated. You dial numbers for businesses and assume you are going to get a recording. It's par for the course, but it's not a sonically pleasing. Calling Josh made me appreciate how nice it is to place a phone call and hear a well spoken human being on the other end. Boom! An idea struck me. What if you could have an answering service whenever you wanted and remotely activated and deactivated it through a text message, email, or cell phone application for a nominal fee? It would be incredible! You'd have your own personal secretary whenever you needed it.
There have been so many articles published about Americans having side businesses. Someone is a teacher during the week and runs a SAT tutoring office on the weekends, or a CPA is creating proprietary tax software on the side etc... It would be such an advantage to have a human being answer your phone calls. It sounds so incredibly professional and the caller would never know the person answering your phone wasn't your own personal secretary.
So how does it work? What makes it so much different from a traditional answering service? The remote ON/OFF switch and ability to change your status on the fly.
Let's say you are a full-time businesswoman and in your free time you are writing a screenplay. You've distributed the script, established your own LLC and want producers to think you are a full-time screenwriter with a bustling office. All you have to do is send a text message to 12345 that reads "ON: Stacy Heath's office. She's in a meeting right now, may I take a message or put you through to her voicemail?" When your number gets dialed, the person answering the phone reads your message verbatim. Immediately the dialer assumes you are important and successful. So much of life is based on a first impression, and hearing a well spoken human being on the phone is the best way to start a conversation.
As soon as you want to turn the service off simply text OFF to 12345, send an email or do it via an iPhone or BlackBerry app. You can even create a schedule that coincides with your workday so you can directly receive calls starting at 7pm without manually disabling the service. You can edit the message as often as you like because it's only a text message/email/smartphone application entry away. Each person can handle many different accounts because all they do is answer the phone, redirect the call, or take a message and relay it to you via email. You can establish a monthly fee of $10-$20 or employ a pay-as-you-go or pay-per-use billing method.
This would totally change the way people approach their businesses because labor costs are so prohibitive. With this system you can effectively start a company on a shoestring budget and appear like you're hitting on all cylinders, primed and ready to conquer the world. That's the value of a voice.
Nowadays everything is digitally automated. You dial numbers for businesses and assume you are going to get a recording. It's par for the course, but it's not a sonically pleasing. Calling Josh made me appreciate how nice it is to place a phone call and hear a well spoken human being on the other end. Boom! An idea struck me. What if you could have an answering service whenever you wanted and remotely activated and deactivated it through a text message, email, or cell phone application for a nominal fee? It would be incredible! You'd have your own personal secretary whenever you needed it.
There have been so many articles published about Americans having side businesses. Someone is a teacher during the week and runs a SAT tutoring office on the weekends, or a CPA is creating proprietary tax software on the side etc... It would be such an advantage to have a human being answer your phone calls. It sounds so incredibly professional and the caller would never know the person answering your phone wasn't your own personal secretary.
So how does it work? What makes it so much different from a traditional answering service? The remote ON/OFF switch and ability to change your status on the fly.
Let's say you are a full-time businesswoman and in your free time you are writing a screenplay. You've distributed the script, established your own LLC and want producers to think you are a full-time screenwriter with a bustling office. All you have to do is send a text message to 12345 that reads "ON: Stacy Heath's office. She's in a meeting right now, may I take a message or put you through to her voicemail?" When your number gets dialed, the person answering the phone reads your message verbatim. Immediately the dialer assumes you are important and successful. So much of life is based on a first impression, and hearing a well spoken human being on the phone is the best way to start a conversation.
As soon as you want to turn the service off simply text OFF to 12345, send an email or do it via an iPhone or BlackBerry app. You can even create a schedule that coincides with your workday so you can directly receive calls starting at 7pm without manually disabling the service. You can edit the message as often as you like because it's only a text message/email/smartphone application entry away. Each person can handle many different accounts because all they do is answer the phone, redirect the call, or take a message and relay it to you via email. You can establish a monthly fee of $10-$20 or employ a pay-as-you-go or pay-per-use billing method.
This would totally change the way people approach their businesses because labor costs are so prohibitive. With this system you can effectively start a company on a shoestring budget and appear like you're hitting on all cylinders, primed and ready to conquer the world. That's the value of a voice.
Monday, February 18, 2008
New DVD Formats are already obsolete
It doesn't matter that Blu Ray is becoming the new accepted DVD format because it too is already old news. With ability to download HD movies and TV shows without ever leaving the comfort of your home, Blu Ray will live a very short life. People love to make the argument that "we" material westerners always love tangible things, and that there will always be a desire to physically "own" the movie. This notion is false. Of course there will always be a group of people that need to touch their possessions, but for the rest of the material westerners, we'll put the movies on our peripherals. The peripherals are the desired material item, not the content.
There is nothing physically cool about a DVD. The content may be cool, but the actual device does not say anything about who you are other than your taste. A Blackberry however, speaks volumes. A Blackberry lets the people around you know that you think you are important. It tells people that you know how important business is, and you need to be in touch with the world at every second. Even swankier than a Blackberry is an iPhone. Oooooo! An iPhone really lets the world know who you are and what you truly value. For those who want an iPhone strictly because "it's that damn functional" have to catch all the flack for being similar to the superficial iPhone users. Just like sports cars, there are true enthusiasts and then there are truly insecure wealthy people.
DVD's are different. A bookshelf full of DVD's will never impress people the way it used to. Too many people have access to the content. It might be hard to imagine, but one day your neighbor with "all those movies" is going to look "old school" because you have all your content on a little pocket sized flash drive. Good bye Blu Ray, I am committed to never buying one single Blu Ray or HD DVD. The future is already obsolete.
There is nothing physically cool about a DVD. The content may be cool, but the actual device does not say anything about who you are other than your taste. A Blackberry however, speaks volumes. A Blackberry lets the people around you know that you think you are important. It tells people that you know how important business is, and you need to be in touch with the world at every second. Even swankier than a Blackberry is an iPhone. Oooooo! An iPhone really lets the world know who you are and what you truly value. For those who want an iPhone strictly because "it's that damn functional" have to catch all the flack for being similar to the superficial iPhone users. Just like sports cars, there are true enthusiasts and then there are truly insecure wealthy people.
DVD's are different. A bookshelf full of DVD's will never impress people the way it used to. Too many people have access to the content. It might be hard to imagine, but one day your neighbor with "all those movies" is going to look "old school" because you have all your content on a little pocket sized flash drive. Good bye Blu Ray, I am committed to never buying one single Blu Ray or HD DVD. The future is already obsolete.
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