Thank you Luke for the recommendation
Now this is wonderful customer driven design. Great engineering, innovative design and wonderful products.
Check out the video at the end of the article about how and why this has been designed and developed.
What do you think?
Now that I have your attention, Hugh shared this video.
Or, you can pull the plug or switch off the Power Strip.
Are you helping save the planet and your hard earned $?
I have been reading more about the “networked” body and decided to add some of the articles to this blog. I find it very interesting as it applies to “pervasive computing” , ”mobile computing”, “wireless computing” etc. that we are seeing an ever increasing array of products that work with our bodies. The article “Test Driving the Networked Body” talks about the device as well as the service that augments the accelerometer for fitness measurements and the program to improve fitness. From the article, ” The 3-D accelerometer has transformed mobile gaming (hello, iPhone), console gaming (thanks, Wii!), and now…fitness? The tech that accurately measures your movements has birthed a new generation of health monitors that track your daily activity and present it through a data-rich Web site. The big question: Can all that data be translated into a healthier lifestyle?”.
Do you think you will try something like this? Will we all have devices prescribed by our doctors? What do you think about just about “everything” being trackable?
Ok, here is some more information and a look at the Plastic Logic eReader. Looks pretty cool to me.
We read that the Que may be actually targeted at something other than the Kindle. ” But Archuleta also repositions the Que as something a little different to merely being a Kindle killer e-reader device. He notes “Que enhances business performance and gives you a competitive edge.” The business angle’s also played up with mention of support for PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel…and there’s even the intriguing phrase “powerful tools for interacting with and managing the content.” That implies you may be able to do more than just annotate documents on the Que–will you be able to actually edit them, or run a Powerpoint presentation? We can’t tell yet, but it certainly seems that Plastic Logic’s Que will enter the e-reader game right at the top end, perhaps tending toward limited Tablet PC capabilities.”
What do you think? Pretty cool? Will the market handle a “premium product”? Does this seem to square off with the new tablets that we read are coming? DO you want one?
I learned about this new book from an article and short video on the INSEAD KNOWLEDGE website.
The article is “The Innovation Manual“ and we can see from the perspective of a marketing professor a number of key points, many of which we have discussed in our classes, but it serves as a great reminder about the “basics” .
David Midgley, the author of the book, uses the example of the Apple iPod and the business model it created. Once again, we see this model coming out as a key to success. Further, the role of customers in product/service innovation and development. We also read about the importance of an innovation culture and the challenges of maintaining a culture of innovation. The book promises to tell us all about it.
What do you think of the reminders here? What should be emphasized more? Less?
Check out this concept phone “Nokia Concept Smartphone” . First thing, can these phones be designed to be more user friendly? How? What do they need? What do you think of the concept?
What else should you be able to do with your constant companion that it does not already do?
On April 3, our congressman, Hon. James Sensenbrenner published a column in the Wall Street Journal entitled “Technology is the answer to Climate Change“ The column concludes with the statement “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions isn’t about massive federal spending and transfers of wealth to the developing nations. It’s about developing cost-effective technologies that reduce emissions. Federal policy should focus on encouraging these technologies, not meeting demands for additional foreign aid.”
For what it is worth, I lean to this answer, and hope that Wisconsin companies can help lead the way.
Product developers, lets get to work. What do you think?
In the “Conversation Starters Podcast“ you will hear a VERY brief comment about why marketers should get involved EARLY n product development. what do you think? When should marketers get involved in Product Development?
NOTE: You can listen to this podcast without downloading it. It is a streaming podcast.
I have commented before about the content of this magazine and the lack of web friendly content. That all seems to be changing. Deliver Magazine published by the USPS has some wonderful content about marketing, especially direct marketing. What do you think?
An article about application developer 37 Signals describes a very interesting business model. The article “Work Less, Give Your Customers Less… and Succeed Like 37Signals” talks about the culture and their market targets and product development approach using “Ruby on Rails” (framework used for Twitter).
From the article “That’s why, as products strategists, Jason and David focus on customers with smaller budgets, less bureaucracy, and fewer headaches. Most technology companies are obsessed with the “enterprise” market—Fortune 500 giants with complicated problems and big budgets. 37Signals builds software for entrepreneurs and small companies where the executives who buy the product also use the product—a market that they call the Fortune 5,000,000: “We solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to everyone else,” the company likes to say.”
Check out their site and products http://37signals.com/ If you have to pick one product, check out Basecamp.
What do you think of their focus? What about their business model? And their approach to product development? Any comment on products?
