mobile

Blog Post: The Dreaded #RWD

No, this isn’t a post to tell you what the hottest buzzword in mobile development right now: responsive web design. It’s not even a real description of the term. I would hope that you expect more from your tech blogs than that. I’m assuming if you are still here, that you are familiar with the […]

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Blog Post: Super Sharing

If you have never live-tweeted an event before, there is no greater opportunity to start on Super Bowl Sunday. If it wasn’t always on a day off, this country would have made it a mandatory holiday by now. Take the chance to share. Share with those you are watching with in person first, then give […]

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Blog Post: Disclose This!

I am right on the political fence when it comes to our government in the States. There are times it really empowers people to aid and assist in help those that need it. This is not one of those times. According to this article from GigaOm, the Federal Trade Commission is cautioning mobile application developers […]

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Blog Post: Race For Better Data

Control over data, regardless of the type, is where power truly lies today. Even though it is my body, I don’t really have control over my medical files. The content I create on social media is not something I have power over (unless I jump through a million hoops). 

So what does that mean for data ownership? It lies in the collectors.

This article from All Things D references the kind of data we are collecting today in the digital age and how gathering more isn’t the answer. It argues why and how better data could procured. Problem is, it uses antiquated thought processes behind the hangups.

We haven’t owned our data in years. Some types aren’t thought of the same as others, but it doesn’t change the ownership. We are fine with credit card companies owning and selling our purchase data (get your head out of the sand), but we don’t want Apple and Google telling advertisers where we are currently.

I am going to be inundated with advertising messages until the day I die. Maybe I am different than most, but I’m fine with it. Some products out there are awesome, and I would like to know about them. If data that my devices record are going to help deliver more of what I’m looking for currently so I can make better purchasing decisions, bring it on.

The company that finds the best way to craft that message and gets us all to drop the faux upheaval over privacy and ownership of data will print their own stacks of cash. This company will easily collect, aggregate and transmit the information I need advertisers to use. They will know where I am, what I am interested in buying, and tell me how to do so.

I can’t wait.

Blog Post: Race For Better Data

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Blog Post: Latest From ComScore Tells Mobile Users Much

Everyone latched on to the headline of this latest top 10 ranking from ComScore, with Facebook taking the top spot in terms of unique visitors, but I don’t think this is by far the biggest takeaway for developers. With the hiccup in users while Google Maps was moving from a native iOS app to third-party, it’s understandable this would happen. The fact that everyone is sharing this story shows how we just look for headlines.

The bigger takeaway is despite which mobile platform is utilized, Google is ruling mobile traffic. I don’t even want what the rankings would look like if you used traffic coming from mobile browsers (personally, I use YouTube in Chrome as opposed to the native app), or other applications (anyone else read their Gmail on the other mail apps too?). What you are reading is correct, after Facebook the next top five apps have the word “Google” associated with it.

On top of that, the biggest surprise for me is how over 36 million people use Yahoo messenger on their mobile devices. I thought everyone used texts, Facebook, and Twitter to communicate these days. There is something to be said for branding inertia carrying over to other platforms. I will be very interested in seeing where Yahoo Messenger’s traffic trends in 2013. The same could be said for Pandora, which many have argued was on the decline in streaming media. With Spotify utilizing it’s own streaming radio, again we will see what happens this year.

Blog Post: Latest From ComScore Tells Mobile Users Much

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Blog Post: What Have You Assumed About Mobile?

When it comes to the Web, nobody is a bigger authority and innovator than Smashing Magazine. This article is evidence of just that, pointing out current myths that some decisions makers may have made about the direction mobile is headed. If I may, I wanted to provide feedback and also steer a few in the proper direction.

First, it’s brilliant to assume that we think of mobile users in terms of the platform or device that accesses the amazing new features product development managers are thinking of. However, it’s just the tool and not the end point of the discussion. Simply put, mobile is about the user. 

While easily stated, it is very difficult to define. Users tell us more about who they are in the types of data they search for and record instead of the browser they perform these tasks on. It made Google a leader, WebMD a household name and Facebook a giant. Want to know more about your potential customers? Look at the data they hold dear and find a way to give it to them in an easier manner.

Another assumption made is that everything needs to move to iOS, or at least start there if you want your app to succeed. It’s absolutely true, but one mindset I would love to be a part of changing is that we need to focused on which platform or user experience is better. 

Apple enjoyed dominance until the Android platform burst on the scene. I have read many articles on how users either use their devices differently or expect them to behave differently. This is a very wrong-footed approach. Developers should be caring about to create a unified experience regardless of what device users pick up. How incredible would a service be if users could pick up any device (Samsung phone, Apple tablet, Asus laptop, Pebble Smartwatch, Sony television) and everything was a single experience? It starts with designers design with the user in mind, not the platform.

In that same vein, I can’t in good conscience endorse the idea that apps are just a fad. More and more Internet traffic is flowing from mobile devices every day, and it’s not through mobile browsers. Part of the reason is web designers still don’t employ responsive design in it’s truest form. So, until that paradigm shift occurs in web development, we are going to use our apps. 

In the end, however, these are just my thoughts. I love that we can engage in conversations about this subject to build a much better mobile and connected world.

Blog Post: What Have You Assumed About Mobile?

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Blog Post: The Value of ‘Enterprise’

Did anyone see the new Samsung commercial this weekend? In it, a gaming company announces they will allow employees to bring any mobile device they want and use it in the office. There are some of the usual advertising tactics of making the cool kids the one using Samsung devices and the also rans. At the end of the day, the leaders of the company announce they will launch in four weeks. Guess who are the ones excited about such a short window? 

The Samsung users. 

Granted, this kind of commercial doesn’t draw the ire it used to. Whether you are promoting a soda, smartphone, clothing, or any other product, this is the theme your commercial will probably have at some point in time. Having played with a few of their offerings, I’m even inclined to think in that a Galaxy device might be a pretty cool thing to have.

Let’s not kid ourselves, however, Android is a long ways away from catching iOS in the realm of the enterprise.

Today’s link comes from Apple Insider (yes I know, consider the source) that argues this very idea. What I think many of us will realize, is there is a lot of truth hidden in these words. With the decline of RIM in the last half decade, it is only fair to assume the iPhone took the crown away from the Blackberry. Whether they intended to or not, Apple’s walled garden approach to hardware was made for big enterprise.

The value is of course tremendous. While many companies do not provide phones or devices, they would be more likely to select an iPhone over a Galaxy SIII if they did. Will it always be this way? Of course not. There is something to be said for developing a little residual inertia and riding it out. Microsoft made billions off of that principle.

It’s hard to say what device my kids will want to play with once I let them own one of their own. Thankfully, those days are far, far off. Regardless, if you want to be successful in enterprise products, you have to take a page out of the Apple playbook. Because of that, Android is going to be playing catch up for a while.

Blog Post: The Value of ‘Enterprise’

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