Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #8 Blogs and Custom News Feeds

The next personal technology influence that has an effect on my daily life is something that helps me keep track of the world around me, on my time and my schedule and without the "noise" of information I don't care about. It is...

Technology Influence #7 - Blogs and Customized News Feeds

If you're reading this article, chances are, you already know what a blog is. After all, what you are reading is a post on my personal blog, leonardarmstrong.net. But, if you're still unclear I’ll make this simple. Let’s define a blog as someone’s online journal where the author (i.e., blogger) can comment on any topic (s)he so chooses. However, in many cases blogs are theme-specific so the commentary is often centered around a certain topic or theme. Some popular themed blogs include http://perezhilton.com/ (Entertainment industry gossip), http://www.engadget.com/ (Consumer technology) and http://www.politico.com/ (Politics), just to name a few.

Blogs can be read by going directly to the webpage mentioned or by using a blog reader application such as Reeder or NetNewsWire. (Both of which have cross-platform versions available.) These applications retrieve new blog posts when they are available and provide a structured interface for you to skim them or read them in detail. They work with a technology called RSS which stands for Really Simple Streaming. (The orange part of the image at the top of this post is the common RSS news feed symbol.) But its not just blogs that feed their updates through RSS. Most popular new sites feed their breaking stories through RSS feeds as well.

[caption id="attachment_203" align="alignleft" width="600"] Reeder Blog and News Feed Reading Application[/caption]

If all that techno-babble makes your head spin, fear not. In simple terms, what it means is that I can use one application, such as those listed above, and have a custom set of stories tailored to my personal interests all in one place. See the screenshot of Reeder to get a more tangible feel for what I'm talking about. On the left are categories for organizing the blogs I read. If I just want to catch up on technology I can click on the "Tech" category and the stories shown to me will be filtered accordingly. The second column shows a snippet of the the stories that are available. If one catches my eye I can click on it and the main window will show the whole story. This way I can quickly peruse available topics and drill in for more detail on only the stories that are of interest.

Its not just blogs that use RSS feeds but also most news sites as well. There's not really much difference between a blog and a news organizations's feed of breaking news stories. Both are combinations of text and other media (pictures, videos) that are produced on an on-demand schedule and that the producers want to publish to the world in a convenient and direct form. The line between a blog and a news feed is murky and from a technology standpoint there is no difference. Most major news companies like CNN, Fox and even The Huffington Post have RSS feeds available.

I no longer turn to sources like TV, radio or newspapers as a first source for news. To capture the latest information that is important to me, blogs and news feeds have changed my model for information consumption.

Next:  One more break from the Top 10 Technology Influences with a conversation on "The Struggles of Weight Control"

Then: Down the home stretch on the Technology Top 10 with Influence #9 - Quantified Self Technology.

Previous Posts in the Top 10 Technology Influences Series

• #1 Cloud Data & Dropbox


• #2 Cross-platform Applications


• #3 The iPhone and iOS


• #4 The Macbook Air


• #5 Audiobooks and eBooks 


• #6 Cutting the Cord


• #7 Online Shopping and Amazon

Image credit: Image credit: coramax / 123RF Stock Photo

Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #7 Online Shopping and Amazon

I used to be a slave to malls and to big box stores. Wal-Mart. Target. Best Buy. Barnes and Noble. Visits to these stores were part of my schedule almost every week. However, one thing I disliked about retail was packing the car full of heavy bags and other bulky packages and then, upon arriving home, unpacking and bringing everything into the house. I love my house but the front door is on one side of the property and the driveway is on the other. Not the most ideal setup for transferring big or heavy packages, especially in bad weather.

But all that has all changed. I no longer go to the store to buy large packages of paper towels or cat litter or laundry detergent. I get them shipped right to my front door and often pay less even with shipping. All thanks to…

Technology Influence #7: Online Shopping and Amazon Prime

In the early 2000s I started purchasing online. First it was an experiment as I overcame my fear of providing my credit card information over the Web. For the next few years it was something I would remember to do every now and then. The usual situation for me was to shop on eBay for things I wanted and had a hard time finding in local stores. Typically these were collectible items, not necessities. After a few years I would do less Christmas shopping at the stores and more on line. But I still wasn't really consistent.

Then I discovered Amazon Prime and my online shopping habits really changed. For a flat-rate of $75/year I get free two-day shipping and if there is something I really need overnight, I can upgrade to next day shipping for less than $4.00 per item. An Amazon Prime membership comes with other perks too like instant streaming video and a Kindle lending library but I use those services far less than I take advantage of the shipping service.

If you still think Amazon is an online bookstore, look again. Amazon sells nearly everything. It’s the first place I look when I start online shopping. But, it is certainly not the only place. I have accounts with a number of online retailers, some specialized (e.g., www.1800flowers.com,  www.foodnetworkstore.com) and others more general (e.g., www.macys.com, www.bedbathandbeyond.com). I’m more apt to do price-comparison shopping now then I was when I used big box stores. It’s a lot easier and qicker to surf a few websites looking for the best price than it is to drive from store-to-store.

Not only have my preferred retailers changed but I’ve also changed my buying habits. Going to Target, Wal-Mart or the grocery store, I typically purchased a single large jug of laundry detergent or a couple of boxes of tissues at a time. Now, I purchase things like these a case at a time. Why not? It’s not like I have to worry about detergents, paper products or other types of packaged goods going bad. And, you can save by buying in bulk. It also helps to have a basement where I can store things.

On average I get about 2-3 deliveries a week from online shopping. There is one downside. It results in a lot of cardboard. A lot. But, I am very good about recycling and every piece of cardboard and other paper I receive go through my borough’s curbside recycling program.

Online shopping is a time saver and a money saver. If you haven't done it yet, try it. You might just like it.

Update (April 27, 2013: 11:57AM): I forgot to mention the on-going battle between my girlfriend Grace and I. I'm an Amazon Prime guy all the way. She uses QVC online (and sometimes HSN online) like other people drink water. Like they say, opposites attract.

Next: Influence #8 -Blogs and Custom Newsfeeds.

Previous Posts in the Top 10 Technology Influences Series

• #1 Cloud Data & Dropbox


• #2 Cross-platform Applications


• #3 The iPhone and iOS


• #4 The Macbook Air


• #5 Audiobooks and eBooks 


• #6 Cutting the Cord

Image credit: vasabii / 123RF Stock Photo

Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #6 Cutting the Cord

A few months back I realized my cable TV bill was outrageous, well over $100 for an HD package with HBO. Every six months I'd call the cable company, threaten to leave until I was forwarded to the Customer Retention department where they'd offer to keep my rates low for another six months. Half a year later the cycle of threats-and-temporary-deals would reiterate. And I  was only watching about 7 hours of television a week. I also noticed I had a few dozen unopened DVDs and Blu-ray discs that I was always “going to watch.”

Enough was enough. I made a decision that led to…

Technology Influence #6: Cutting the Cord

After listening to a few podcasters who experimented with cutting the cord I decided to try it myself. A lot of people could not believe I did this. I was an early adopter of home theater so why would I abandon video entertainment? To be clear, “cutting the cord” means I stopped my cable television subscription. It does not mean my television is idle.

After stopping my cable package I subscribed to Netflix streaming and Hulu Plus, both of which are streamed into my home theater via an Apple TV. Plus, I use the iTunes store through my Apple TV to rent movies and to purchase television series that interest me. This way I am only paying for the shows I want.

In case there is an emergency where I need to see something on broadcast news I purchased a thin, unassuming indoor HD antenna. Admittedly, it is not perfect and the signal tends to pixilate at times. As a better method for getting local broadcast TV I am hoping that the Aereo service comes to the Philadelphia area soon. (Aereo provides local broadcast TV to subscribers over the Internet by basically renting the subscriber a small antenna from a farm of antennas that are owned and run by Aereo.)

Truthfully, I really don’t miss live TV much. I can still keep up with the latest episodes on some shows via Hulu Plus. (E.g., Community, The Office and Saturday Night Live) I have been able to use Netflix and iTunes purchases to selectively watch or catch up on shows I’ve always wanted to see at my own pace. (E.g. Dexter, The Wire) I rarely watch over-the-air network TV although it does happen for events like the Super Bowl.

But, there are a few things I do miss. I admit it. I miss being able to skip forward through commercial breaks. (Hulu Plus adds short commercial segments to TV shows and prevents fast forwarding.) This year I missed two event I usually watch, the Golden Globe Awards and Winter X Games. In both cases these were result of not seeing advertisements that reminded me exactly when they were on. (I guess commercial advertisements really do work.)

Cutting the cord has been liberating and has saved me money. The cable companies know that with the rise of Internet content and distribution, the model of cable TV is limited. For example, the recent straight-to-Netflix series House of Cards was a top-rate season of episodic TV that by-passed cable and broadcast distribution to go right to the Internet. I predict this will be the wave of the future as cutting out the cable middle-man increases the profits and artistic control for the content creators. Cable companies will try to hold onto the cable distribution model for as long as possible, but the writing is on the wall.

Next: Influence #7 -Online Shopping.

Previous Posts in the Top 10 Technology Influences Series

• #1 Cloud Data & Dropbox


• #2 Cross-platform Applications


• #3 The iPhone and iOS


• #4 The Macbook Air


• #5 Audiobooks and eBooks 

Leading the Leaders and Leading the Dreamers

My significant-other, Grace, is a well-seasoned Human Resources professional. She is a self-made woman who climbed her way up various corporate ladders from a retail clerk to a Senior Vice President for a well-known media company with over 100,000 employees.

Last year she took a gamble on herself and broke away from that media corporation to open her own executive consulting firm. But as challenging and scary as taking that leap may sound, for Grace that was the easy part. She is well-skilled in her craft and has a great intuitive sense of self and others. She has a deep network of contacts who are keenly interested in the skills she provides. Creating this new consulting firm should have been reason to stop, look around and take pride in her achievements. But that isn’t Grace's way. She is a woman who navigates through the steep rocky hills of life more quickly and assuredly than a shiny new Ford pickup truck in an over-produced Superbowl advertisement. She had larger dreams and this was the time to execute on them.

Grace dreams of helping woman of all ages develop into better professionals, better leaders and better people. She lets nothing in this world hold her down and lives to  empower others to realize that nothing should hold them down either. It’s great to dream of achieving these lofty goals, but its better to make those dreams realities.

This past week she did just that when she launched Half the Sky Leadership, a new professional development program for women in industry. To get to the point of this week's launch she's put in many months of countless hours nurturing a budding idea, engaging a base of trusted faculty and advisers and loyal staff, developing curriculum, producing materials, finding and configuring facilities, promoting and selling, and ultimately executing on the Institute’s leadership sessions. This week the Institute opened its doors for a two-day session of its premier class of young female leaders. The cohort will convene for two more two-day sessions before graduating later this summer. By week’s end Grace was exhausted but rightfully delighted with the achievements of the Institute, its faculty and staff and the matriculating class.

Of course, I’m proud of Grace. But what I see here is more than just another in a great line of accomplishments. What I see is an inspiration for others to execute on their dreams and make them a reality, to follow-through TODAY and stop thinking that there’s always tomorrow to start. I know some of Grace’s additional dreams for helping young women make their mark in this world. I think that creating Half the Sky Institute is both a milestone achievement as well as a stepping stone to making her next dream a reality.

Too many of us wait for that “tomorrow” to begin making our own dreams come true. But as long as you see “tomorrow” as part of your plan, the TODAY to execute your dream may never come. Don't wait. Start living your dreams now.

Next: Back to the Top 10 Technology Influences list with Influence #6 - Cutting the Cord.

Image credit: sangoiri / 123RF Stock Photo

Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #5 Audiobooks and eBooks

I have countless books that I’ve started and never finished. I probably have an equal amount that I’ve never even started. One reason is that I’m a fairly slow reader. Another reason is that I have more plans and desires than I have time. (I know I’m not alone on that one.) And making time to read has never been a high priority for me.

Then, somewhere around 2005 my life changed. A friend was reading The Da Vinci Code  and told me that she thought I would really like it. I knew I would never take sufficient time to read the whole book but fate intervened when I turned to…

Technology Influence #5: Audiobooks and eBooks

Actually, the decision to try The Da Vinci Code as an audiobook was also influenced by some coworkers who told me how much they were enjoying The Da Vinci Code and some other titles in audio form. It seemed like a solution I should try.  So off to iTunes I went. A couple clicks later I owned my first audiobook. As is the case with many people, it took me a little while to adapt to this new form of content consumption. The mind has a tendency to wander at first. Then, all of a sudden, you realize you missed a few minutes of content. Rewind. Listen again.

But I adapted fairly quickly. And from that point on I’ve never turned back. I’ve read almost 90 books in the years since The Da Vinci Code. Ninety. Nine-zero. That's a phenomenal number for me. And the content has been varied. On paper I generally read non-fiction forms like biography and history. Now I was reading fiction,  biography, history, career-related, self-help, classics. Suffice it to say, I love this form of reading. Unlike reading the printed word I can effectively multitask with an audiobook. I listen in the morning while getting ready for work. I listen in the car on my way to work. I listen while taking a walk in the evening. I listen while doing mindless cleaning and other chores around the house. With audiobooks there are a slew of new-found hours every week to get in my reading.

(Note: For those of you  wondering why I keep italicizing the word reading when used in relation to the consumption of audiobooks, this is my way of stating that I think it is OK to refer to printed word consumption in audio form as "reading."  I am aware that other people do not consider this reading. My blog. My rules.)

But audiobooks do not lend themselves very well to all types of materials. As a technologist by trade, I tend to acquire a number of technical reference materials. Reference books work well when you have some capability to search into the content (even if it is just an index or table of contents in a paper book) and then to go directly to the specific information you need without having to move through the book in a linear fashion. Audiobooks are not well-suited to this type of random access model.

The solution to the moving off of paper reference books came a few years later.  The Kindle was first released in late 2007 and grew steadily in popularity. But early versions were expensive,\ relative to what they delivered. Then, in 2010, the iPad was released. Shortly thereafter Amazon ported the Kindle book reader app to the iPad as well as the iPhone, the Mac, Windows, and a slew of other platforms. (See Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #2 Cross-platform Applications for the benefits of cross-platform applications such as the Kindle app.) The problem of how to remove paper from all my reading soon became a no-brainer. Where audiobooks replace paper for all my non-reference books, eBooks via the Kindle apps became my replacement for paper for all my reference materials.

There is one unexpected downside to replacing hardcopy books with electronic alternates. Leisurely evenings sipping coffee and perusing the aisles at Barnes & Noble or Borders have all but ceased, mostly replaced with a computer screen searching for content in Amazon or iTunes. The downside is less about the bookstores (who, like every business, must be forward-thinking in how to remain relevant) and more about the loss of social contact. For as much as technology becomes "social" I fear people may become less so.

Next: A halfway break from the Top 10 Technology Influences series to talk about something non-tech.
Then: Influence #6 - Cutting the Cord.

Previous Posts in the Top 10 Technology Influences Series

• #1 Cloud Data & Dropbox


• #2 Cross-platform Applications


• #3 The iPhone and iOS


• #4 The Macbook Air

Image credit: dny3d / 123RF Stock Photo

Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #4 MacBook Air

In a previous post I cited the iPhone as a premier hardware technology influence. Today I continue with the hardware trend with my fourth overall technology influence, a notebook computer that has shaped my life since the summer of 2011.

To set the stage let me first talk about the iPad. I was an early adopter of the iPad, intending to use it as an organization and note taking device. But in those capacities it just didn't cut it for me. When entering high volumes of text, I found the virtual keyboard made my typing error-prone. I tried both the iPad keyboard dock and a Bluetooth keyboard but I found it awkward to move my hands from the keyboard to the screen to navigate or do some other form of pointing. And the inability to have more than one application on screen was very inefficient. But I loved the portability of the device... the small size and footprint. I loved having built-in Internet access.

I resolved my problems and found the perfect, portable device when I purchased...

Technology Influence #4: The MacBook Air

In July, 2011 Apple released a major update to the MacBook Air, a device that combines the portability of an iPad with the power and flexibility of a laptop computer. A win-win situation. I bought an 11 inch 2011 Air on the day the update was released. It quickly became my favorite computer. Ever. I'm such an evangelist for this device that at least 3 people I know purchased one for themselves after seeing how effective I am with mine. And they love theirs too.

The Macbook Air has a physical, full-sized, comfortable, backlit keyboard with built-in multi-touch trackpad. It has a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 and a footprint of 11.8" × 7.5" which is only 25% longer than the iPad. The Air weighs in at a mere 2 ⅓ lbs. And the Air runs OS X, a full-blown multi-purpose operating system. It's small and light yet powerful and effective.

The one downside of the MacBook Air is that it only has built-in WiFi access. The orignal iPad had WiFi plus an option for built in 3G month-to-month, no-contract-required cellular access. If a WiFi network in unavailable the MacBook Air cannot connect to the Internet. Well... maybe. There are ways to counter this limitation. I purchased a 4G MiFi hotspot... a small devices that transforms an over-the-air LTE cellular signal into a WiFi signal. The MacBook Air talks WiFi to the hotspot which then translates the signal into 4G LTE and out to the cellular network. Problem solved, albeit with another device to buy, carry and charge.

The MacBook Air may be one rung lower than the iPhone on my Top 10 Technology Influences but it remain the overall favorite computer that I have ever owned, even two years after purchase. After purchasing my Air, use of my iPad dropped to less than 10% of what it had been previously. But the iPad still does have a part in my life, and I'll talk about that in my post on Technology Influence #5.

UPDATE (April 15, 2011, 6:25AM EDT):  A comment on this post from Christopher Bruni via is Facebook account reminded me of a killer feature of the MacBook Air that I neglected to mention. The Air uses a solid state drive (SSD, also referred to as "flash memory") instead of a traditional mechanical spinning hard disk drive (HDD). This makes a world of difference for performance. While processor speed is often blamed when our PCs are running slow, these days our wait times are more often a result of slow I/O processing than CPU power. Writes and reads to/from a hard drive and across the network often dominate the amount of time we spend waiting for a device. One example is bootup time. A traditional PC, even an HHD-based Mac, may take the better part of a minute to complete a cold start. The MacBook Air with SSD takes a mere 12 seconds. Now that is a killer feature.

 

Next: Influence #5 - Audiobooks and e-books.

Previous Posts in the Top 10 Technology Influences Series

• #1 Cloud Data & Dropbox


• #2 Cross-platform Applications


• #3 The iPhone and iOS

Image credit: bedo / 123RF Stock Photo

TeamworkPM - A Technology Company Who Delivers on Customer Service

I'm taking a brief timeout from the Top 10 Technology Influences to credit a small software-as-a-service company that I think is doing something very right. TeamworkPM is an easy to use, well-featured project collaboration software service, but I also see it as a role model for customer service in the information age.

In early, 2013 when I started in my current role as Director of Information Technology for Data Commons, LLC, one of my first tasks was to evaluate and select a collaboration environment to link dozens of people from 8 different organizations across the country. My requirements were: a shared calendar, task tracking, document storage (preferably with versioning), and threaded conversations.

I had no desire to host the solution so I knew I wanted a cloud-based service. My first thoughts ran to Microsoft Office 365 Sharepoint or Basecamp. I like Sharepoint but the monthly costs grows with each new user, no matter how active they are in the system. And the full-featured nature of Sharepoint dictates use of a Sharepoint administrator, even if only part-time. This was a cost I could not afford. Basecamp was my next choice but as I was evaluating a trial copy, I found myself struggling to find out how to achieve certain things that I thought were easier when I had first used Basecamp a few years back. I googled for help and learned that others had similar problems. More importantly, I saw a number of responses recommending TeamworkPM as a better alternative to Basecamp. I signed up for a trial and within an hour or two I knew this was the product I was selecting.

The price was right but more importantly everything I needed was there and figuring our how to configure the site for my needs was intuitive or easy to learn in a short period of time. Having been in the software business for almost 30 years, I've seen plenty of good (and bad) software. Seeing a good product like Teamwork is a joy but its not unique.

What really put this product and the company behind it over-the-top was the first time I needed customer service. I navigated to the Feedback and Support page, filled out the form and hit send. I'm used to not expecting much by way of customer support requests but what I experienced really wowed me! In less than 5 minutes I received an email back, written by a real person responding directly to my question with a direct answer. Maybe this was just a fluke. Nope. Since that first time, I've sent a number of requests through this form and every time the pattern is the same. A quick reply from a real person with a direct answer. Even more amazing is that I typically send requests during normal business hours on the east coast of the United States. The TeamworkPM crew operates out of Cork, Ireland.

If I request a new feature I'm told if it is likely the feature will be included or not and if I am helping to advance a feature on the development roadmap. Did I mention that the TeamworkPM folks keep a published roadmap of upcoming features? (http://www.teamworkpm.net/roadmap) Sometimes I am given advice on how to achieve a goal that is alluding me. Sometimes I am asked to provide more information, screenshots, etc. so they can review the code for a potential bug. At all times the communication lines are active and know I am talking to a real human being and that the TeamworkPM team is taking ownership of alleviating my concerns. And that is World Class service in an ever more robotic Information Age.

TeamworkPM is a terrific online project collaboration product initiated in 2007 by Peter Coppinger and Daniel Mackey's Digital Crew with the mission "to make the world’s most easy-to-use, fastest and best Project Management System." On their bio page is the description "Peter and Dan spent some time reviewing and using project management software... Many are very expensive and overly complex, some were lacking basic features such as dates on tasks and some seemed to remain stagnant with the developers simply ignoring basic feature requests from customers." Elsewhere it states "We care. You'll get fast amazing support from people who really care and we actually listen to all the suggestions we receive. A lot of our features have been driven by people just like you letting us know what they would love to see."

Selecting and implementing our TeamworkPM collaboration site was the first major success of my new role. Peter and Dan, I believe you have achieved your mission and also set a new standard for customer support. Thank you!

Next: Technology Influence #4 – MacBook Air.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in TeamworkPM. I am simply a satisfied customer of their products.

Image credit: iqoncept / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #3 The iPhone and the iOS Ecosystem

The first two influences in this series (Cloud Data and Cross-platform Applications) were conceptual in nature. These concepts  are made real through software such as Dropbox and Evernote. Today, I move on to a more tangible influence, a piece of hardware and the associated platform ecosystem that has evolved along with it.

At the end of my last post I teased that my #3 influence would be the MacBook Air. Well, I've had a change of heart. In reviewing my 10 planned influences I realized I needed to switch numbers 3 and 4. I love my MacBook Air and it is a huge influence on my daily life, but there is one other piece of hardware that simply has a greater influence and rightfully deserves the #3 spot on this list.

Technology Influence #3: The iPhone and iOS Ecosystem

I am addicted to my iPhone. It’s not a secret. I estimate that my iPhone is an active part of approximately 70% of my waking hours. It plays podcasts and audiobooks when I’m getting cleaned up in the morning, when I’m in the gym, when I’m traveling to work, when I'm taking a walk and when I’m doing home chores. At work, it plays background music and helps me track my task time. It serves as my GPS when I’m heading someplace new. It tracks my diet and exercise. It serves up Sudoku and crossword puzzles when I need a break. It maintains my grocery list and tracks my package shipments. It provides me with news and blog entries to keep me up to date. Of course, it's used for text messaging. Oh yeah, it's also my phone.

I am beginning to see Siri as a killer app for the iPhone. Years ago, I stopped knowing most phone numbers thanks to smart phone contact lists. I don’t think of calling 215-555-1212 any more. I simply pulled up “Mom” or “Grace” from a contact list, pushed a button and they were dialed by name. Today that trend is migrating again thanks to Siri. I don’t “pull up” anyone's name anymore. Without needing to look, I press one button and simply say  “call Mom” or “call Grace.” I find myself using Siri more and more. “Remind me to take my checkbook to work at 8:00 tomorrow morning.” “Set timer for 15 minutes.” "Where are the Phillies playing tonight?" When a minor trivia debate broke out at a party one time Siri got asked “How old is Brad Pitt?”

In the iOS realm, I use my iPhone and AppleTV daily. However my iPad use has declined since I bought a MacBook Air (to be described in more detail in my upcoming "Technology Influence #4" post), but I still use the iPad to read e-books and comics. The iPad also serves very functionally in my kitchen as a recipe manager.

In addition to my primary iOS devices (iPhone, AppleTV and iPad) a number of supplementary devices complement the influence iOS has on my life. (Some of these influences will be described in upcoming posts.) Here is a sample of the additional devices that communicate with and complement my iOS devices: the Withings WiFi body scale, the Withings blood pressure monitor, the FitBit Ultra, a Go!Link on-board diagnostic cable and app for diagnosing car problems, numerous iHome clock-radio docks and speaker systems, a series of Apple Airport Expresses for serving whole-house audio and my most recent addition, a Martian watch.

But, there is a downside to investing so heavily in the iOS ecosystem. Switching to an alternate platform such as Android or Windows phone is less practical. And, honestly, being in that position is not a good thing. Choice and options are good. I need to consider if switching to an alternate platform make sense for me. For as important as the iPhone is in my day-to-day operations, I am disappointed by the slower pace at which Apple seems to be moving forward in this area. Android is advancing more rapidly, resulting in an interesting array of new phones. Chicago Sun Times technology columnist, writer, podcaster, blogger and long-time Apple enthusiast Andy Ihnatko recently wrote a three-part series for TechHive on why he switched from an iPhone to Android. The Samsung Galaxy SIII and Android simply became the better choice for his daily use and, recognizing that, he made the switch. Andy's article made me think about my own position.

Next: We take a break from the top 10 to talk a little about a small software-as-a-service technology company who I think is doing terrific job at customer service.
Then: Influence #4 - MacBook Air.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in Dropbox, Evernote, Withings, FitBit, iHome, GoPoint Technology, Martian or Apple. I am simply a satisfied customer of their products.

 

iPhone image credit: audioundwerbung / 123RF Stock Photo
Martian Watch image credit: Martian Watches

Top 10 Personal Technology Influences – #2 Cross-platform Applications

 

Welcome back.  This is the second in a 10-part series of articles discussing specific technologies that affect my life every day, that make my life easier and more connected to the world around me. In my last post (Technology Influence #1: Cloud Data & Dropbox), I discussed how cloud data and Dropbox, in particular, are enabling greater focus on actual content and less on the administration of the content's location. We can have our information with us, irrespective of where we are located or what hardware we are using, without spending countless hours managing copies, synching up changes, and without carrying various forms of physical media.

Today we look at the second technology influence that shapes my life in 2013.

Technology Influence #2: Cross-platform Applications

Cross-platforms applications, or the ability to use an application on a variety of different devices, are a separate, but closely-related, trend to cloud data. Applications that have native versions that run across my handheld devices, tablet devices, laptop and desktop computing devices are important for consistency of terminology and operations and use a single native data format.

For example, in Evernote, knowing that the primary elements of the application are stacks, notebooks, notes, and tags allows a user to adapt to different user interfaces as dictated by the platform display and input devices without having to relearn the paradigm of how the notes are organized and categorized.

Consistency of terminology and operations are logical benefits. But why is a single native data format so important? After all, lots of applications claim the ability to open and/or write data in other application’s formats. Have you ever tried to write a complexly-formatted Microsoft Word document to an RTF format and then open the generated RTF in an alternate editor? Was it exactly the same as the original Word document? How about opening a native Numbers spreadsheet in Excel? If you have done that you'd be the first. In addition to the more obvious advantage of providing a consistent model for operations you perform within the application, cross-platform applications also typically eliminate many of these data format woes by allowing your application-specific data to be transfered from one device to another without transforming the data.

Here is a list of some of the cross-platform applications I use regularly.

• Evernote: Multi-featured note management application. Runs on Windows, Mac, Web browser, iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone;


• Omnifocus: Personal task manager. Runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad;


• Paprika: Recipe manager. Runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android;


• GroceryIQ: Grocery list manager. Runs on Web browser, iPhone, iPad, Android;


• Junecloud Deliveries: Shipment tracker. Runs on browser; Mac (as a dashboard widget); iPhone, iPad;


• 1Password: Password manager. Runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android;


• Reeder: RSS and Atom feed reader. Runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad;

I'm a Mac user so you'll notice that some of the applications listed do not have Windows-native clients. That doesn't mean cross-platform applications are not applicable to Windows applications, only that my personal experience skews Apple. Trust me, I wish I had iPhone-native and iPad-native versions of Word and Excel.

Package cross-platform applications together with cloud data storage and you have a world where capturing, consuming and acting upon your data is relatively seamless. You get to concentrate on the data content, not on moving and transforming the data to any of a variety of different devices or applications through which you will interact with that content.

Next: Influence #3 - MacBook Air.

Previous Posts in the Series

• #1 Cloud Data & Dropbox

Image credit: 123RF Stock Photo