Allen Delattre, Global Managing Director of Korn/Ferry International's Technology Practice, gave a brief presentation at GigaOm's Net:Work 2010 on the human factor in the future of work.
"Technology has progressed, but have we?" asked Delattre. "Pick your timeframe—5 or 10 years—and you'll see how rapidly technology has changed. Yet we as humans haven't evolved organically."
I thought I was at a tech conference, not a Matrix meet-up.
"You thought the telegraph to telephone was a bit leap," said Delattre, "but we've done more in the last fifteen years than in the past 3000 years."
I'm now beginning to wonder if there's a disconnect with reality, or just a marketing pitch coming, since there's not much that we've done recently that wasn't done in the 1800s (see the
Victorian Internet as a proof point: have we really pushed beyond the place shifting?)
"We live in world where we live locally but have to work globally," he continued. D'oh!
One good piece of news, however, in the presentation is the fact that democracy is growing across the world, at least based around the concept of the democratization of IT. Delattre wisely calls this "constructive anarchy" because workers are brining new mobile devices—such as the iPad—to the workplace.
"They are, in essence, dragging along the IT departments to the point of better tools to get work done," he said.
Yet there's one more disconnect.
"The past is no longer an indicator of the future," he said. "Tomorrow's leaders need to adapt and execute."
Yet he calls out that those who "took a turn through marketing and finance and operations" might not be the candidates to push up the chain, since they don't have the "new media" or "social media" chops.
But wait! Where will they get the experience to adapt, if we're overlooking those people who have taking a turn through finance, marketing and operations? What are they adapting from?
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Plantronics shows off personal speakerphone
Renee Niemi, SVP, Communication Solutions with Plantronics presented a few new (or soon-to-be available) products.
To set the stage, she mentioned that there's a disconnect (no pun) between the message, tone of voice and body language between face-to-face meetings and voice-only calls.
Face-to-Face / Video, she says, breaks down this way: 7% message, 38% tone of voice and 55% body language, while voice-only / phone call communication is 13% message and 87% tone of voice.
Niemi then showed off Calysto 825, a new personal speakerphone that connects the mobile phone and PC phone (Skype) with a unified user interface.
"Because it works with both the PC phone and your mobile phone, it lets you focus on the conversation, not the tool," said Niemi. "It also has a wireless microphone, which allows you clip the microphone on and still remain part of the conference if you need to step away from the speakerphone."
The latter feature assumes you stay within distance of the speaker, of course, and will hopefully have a mute button for those times you need to stay connected but muted.
Another tool is a software app that Plantronics is launching called Instant Meeting, an Android and Blackberry app that allows one-touch connection to conference calls.
It searches through the Outlook calendar [and hopefully other CalDav calendars such as Google Calendar or iCal] and then prompts to join the meeting at the appropriate time.
When confirmed, it will dial the number, enter the passcode and directly put you in to the conference call with a single touch. Diemi didn't really describe what happens in those systems in which you have to say your name and push the # on the keypad before joining the conference, but perhaps there's magic happening there, too, which we'll find out when the app is released.
Finally, she showed off the Voyager Pro UC, a new headset that allows synchronized presence between the PC phone and the mobile phone. In addition, it has sensor capability, or the ability to know whether a headset is being worn or not.
This sensor capability eliminates the issue of having a phone call go to your Bluetooth connected headset that may have slipped down between the seat or is in your coat pocket. If you find it and then put it on, the call will switch over to the headset. Another outstanding questions on this technology, though: what if you take it off again?
To set the stage, she mentioned that there's a disconnect (no pun) between the message, tone of voice and body language between face-to-face meetings and voice-only calls.
Face-to-Face / Video, she says, breaks down this way: 7% message, 38% tone of voice and 55% body language, while voice-only / phone call communication is 13% message and 87% tone of voice.
Niemi then showed off Calysto 825, a new personal speakerphone that connects the mobile phone and PC phone (Skype) with a unified user interface.
"Because it works with both the PC phone and your mobile phone, it lets you focus on the conversation, not the tool," said Niemi. "It also has a wireless microphone, which allows you clip the microphone on and still remain part of the conference if you need to step away from the speakerphone."
The latter feature assumes you stay within distance of the speaker, of course, and will hopefully have a mute button for those times you need to stay connected but muted.
Another tool is a software app that Plantronics is launching called Instant Meeting, an Android and Blackberry app that allows one-touch connection to conference calls.
It searches through the Outlook calendar [and hopefully other CalDav calendars such as Google Calendar or iCal] and then prompts to join the meeting at the appropriate time.
When confirmed, it will dial the number, enter the passcode and directly put you in to the conference call with a single touch. Diemi didn't really describe what happens in those systems in which you have to say your name and push the # on the keypad before joining the conference, but perhaps there's magic happening there, too, which we'll find out when the app is released.
Finally, she showed off the Voyager Pro UC, a new headset that allows synchronized presence between the PC phone and the mobile phone. In addition, it has sensor capability, or the ability to know whether a headset is being worn or not.
This sensor capability eliminates the issue of having a phone call go to your Bluetooth connected headset that may have slipped down between the seat or is in your coat pocket. If you find it and then put it on, the call will switch over to the headset. Another outstanding questions on this technology, though: what if you take it off again?
The Death of Place?
MOBILOCRACY: Spreading the Wealth of Mobile Connectivity
Evan Kaplan, President and CEO, iPass, predicts we're about to see a"destruction of place."
Subtitled THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE MOBILE WORKFORCE, Kaplan's presentation at GigaOm's Net:Work 2010, maps out a world where mobility or mobile work is the rule, rather than the exception that it was just a decade ago.
"Today's average mobile employee is 46 years old and lives outside of Silicon Valley," said Kaplan, whose research is based on the Mobile Workforce Report, a quarterly survey of about 2,000 of the 2.5 million iPass users. "Main Streeters are catching up with the technological elite, many have multiple devices, and their embrace of smartphones and tablets are creating the largest workplace disruption since the PC."
Trends from the iPass Mobile Workforce Report include:
1. Security and cost / productivity imbalance
2. Hyper-connected workers are becoming a norm: only 6% of workers totally disconnect on vacation
3. Post PC - the device stack that lets me work across multiple devices [simultaneously]
4. Multi-generational and global dissemination of the mobile workforce continues.
5. Multiple devices: 50% have three devices
"A highly mobile lifestyle come certain habits," says Kaplan, "which is both highly beneficial and also potentially risky to the enterprise."
"For instance, devices are cheap, but the networks are expensive," said Kaplan. "Just look at the recent LTE high-speed mobile data announcement by Verizon, where a 5GB subscription at $50 per month, can be drained in less than two hours of video viewing."
According to Kaplan, whose company works with mobile enterprise customers, enterprises need to strike the fine balance between data security protection and mobile employee productivity.
"The dirty secret is that the most of these mobile devices are more secure than the PCs or laptops we provision," said Kaplan.
Finally, Kaplan discussed what he calls the Mobility Bill of Rights:
I have the right to stay connected, to access the best networks and services, choose what device I want to use," said Kaplan, "and I want to personalize it (make it my own)."
"I want to be free of security threats and not be deprived of IT support," he continued. "I am one person, so I want one account for all my devices, not one per device."
Through it all, Kaplan talks about the "death of location" as a norm, but says that location is even more important than it was before.
"We see the cropping up of co-working, including the local CitizenSpace [here in San Francisco]," said Kaplan. "We see Starbucks and other coffee shops positioning themselves as 'third space' locations, since the need to meet with a group—and even to be around others while you work on your own thing—is still a key factor."
Evan Kaplan, President and CEO, iPass, predicts we're about to see a"destruction of place."
Subtitled THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE MOBILE WORKFORCE, Kaplan's presentation at GigaOm's Net:Work 2010, maps out a world where mobility or mobile work is the rule, rather than the exception that it was just a decade ago.
"Today's average mobile employee is 46 years old and lives outside of Silicon Valley," said Kaplan, whose research is based on the Mobile Workforce Report, a quarterly survey of about 2,000 of the 2.5 million iPass users. "Main Streeters are catching up with the technological elite, many have multiple devices, and their embrace of smartphones and tablets are creating the largest workplace disruption since the PC."
Trends from the iPass Mobile Workforce Report include:
1. Security and cost / productivity imbalance
2. Hyper-connected workers are becoming a norm: only 6% of workers totally disconnect on vacation
3. Post PC - the device stack that lets me work across multiple devices [simultaneously]
4. Multi-generational and global dissemination of the mobile workforce continues.
5. Multiple devices: 50% have three devices
"A highly mobile lifestyle come certain habits," says Kaplan, "which is both highly beneficial and also potentially risky to the enterprise."
"For instance, devices are cheap, but the networks are expensive," said Kaplan. "Just look at the recent LTE high-speed mobile data announcement by Verizon, where a 5GB subscription at $50 per month, can be drained in less than two hours of video viewing."
According to Kaplan, whose company works with mobile enterprise customers, enterprises need to strike the fine balance between data security protection and mobile employee productivity.
"The dirty secret is that the most of these mobile devices are more secure than the PCs or laptops we provision," said Kaplan.
Finally, Kaplan discussed what he calls the Mobility Bill of Rights:
I have the right to stay connected, to access the best networks and services, choose what device I want to use," said Kaplan, "and I want to personalize it (make it my own)."
"I want to be free of security threats and not be deprived of IT support," he continued. "I am one person, so I want one account for all my devices, not one per device."
Through it all, Kaplan talks about the "death of location" as a norm, but says that location is even more important than it was before.
"We see the cropping up of co-working, including the local CitizenSpace [here in San Francisco]," said Kaplan. "We see Starbucks and other coffee shops positioning themselves as 'third space' locations, since the need to meet with a group—and even to be around others while you work on your own thing—is still a key factor."
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Is Nimble Cool Again?
"Entrepreneurs used to brag about the size of their funding round; now they boast about how little money they need."
http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/on-the-wings-of-angels
iPhoned
http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/on-the-wings-of-angels
iPhoned
Monday, December 6, 2010
Playing Favorites
Ted Turner, who has five children, is now publicly stating that the US should impose a one-child policy.
Which of Turner's five children would he have chosen to spare? And how to the other four feel?
Given Turner's older sister's work as a missionary, does Ted Turner think she should have been the one to live, or would he have chosen to make an exception for the younger child (himself)?
Sometimes the idiots really do rise to the top.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)