Cloud Part II: Everyone Is Showing Their aaS

So, as I fight off the impending turkey coma, I have a choice to make: I can go out and start that yearly tradition of hunting down the blown bulb in that endless string of holiday lights or sit by the fire and wax technical listening to music from a time when...well...music didn't suck ;) I choose #2. If my words begin to decay into an incoherent dribble, know that I have succumbed to tryptophan and will return after a short nap. Meanwhile, if you wish to have a soundtrack to this blog, feel free (and safe to) click here. Not as fun as the Dark Side of Oz, but still good toe tapping. Dark Side of Oz you say? Ha! Call it a holiday gift for those of you who are unaware.  You can read about it here or just go here to listen to it. Be sure to give it at least 10 minutes. Intended or coincidence? You be the judge. Don't be gone too long though.

And if I say to you tomorrow. Take my hand, child, come with me. It's to a castle I will take you, where what's to be, they say will be
- Led Zeppelin

Whole Lotta Love

Cloud computing: the head-scratching catchphrase of 2012. Most of you don't really know what it means. Hell, I sometimes say "huh?" when I hear someone else's definition of what it is or what it should be. Or better yet, what is and what should never be (thanks Led Zeppelin). What's funny is knowing that most of you are using the cloud even now and are perhaps unaware you are doing so in daily life. Better yet, you didn't even know it was called the cloud. So what is it really? Well, cloud is most often associated with something you enjoy using which, for the most part, lives on the Internet. Things like Pandora, Dropbox, Salesforce.com and Office365. These products are lumped into this nice, neat bucket called Software as a Service. Or, known by its Internet vernacular, SaaS. Seems easy enough to understand, right? SaaS means I can enjoy music just about everywhere I go, for little or no money (add commercial here). Ok, I see you get that. What you may not know is that the cloud goes beyond software per se. So, in addition to SaaS (Software As A Service), we also have HaaS (Hardware As A Service), PaaS (Platform As A Service) and my personal favorite GaaS (Girl As A Service).  Jeez. All of a sudden, it's now hip to show your "aas."

Thank You

Just about everything in our lives seems to be moving in the direction of  "a low monthly fee." Cloud services are so appealing because they were built from the ground up around this idea: Get you in the door with a service that works well, for nearly nothing. Then, give you the ability to enhance the service for a small, set monthly amount. Now, as the saying goes, "everyone is doing it." Do you remember what it used to be like to join a gym? The long-term contracts with no way out? Not any longer. Sorry, you still need to go to the gym. Yet, gym memberships have gone the way of data plans, NetFlix, and Spotify. Full access for a flat monthly fee; cancel at any time. Just how pervasive have these services become? Naturally, at this moment I am typing away on my laptop. Here is what else is going on at the same time: I am waiting on an email from Google regarding the Jellybean update for my phone. It will arrive via Gmail at some point (cloud email service). I have my wife's laptop sitting next to me, uploading 600 pictures to Snapfish (a cloud picture printing service), They will take these digital photos and, within about three or so days, print them on photo paper for a ridiculously cheap price and FedEx them to her so she can crop and paste them into an analog slideshow (aka a scrapbook). This is happening while I listen to an Eric Clapton show from 1970 that is streaming through Pandora (a cloud music service)  on my networked TV. As it happens, my phone has just informed me that it is going to bed. No, you didn't read that wrong.  At 10:00 each night, it uses GPS (with Google's mapping service) to check if I am at home. If so, it automatically places itself into night mode by turning the ring functions to silent (except for VIP calls and texts). See what I mean?

Ok, now think about the working world. Besides offering predictable spending, cloud offers flexibility. It gives small business access to big business software; software they could not afford due to the ginormous cost involved in building a network to run it. A small business could never afford to build a payroll processing system. Yet for a mere few bucks per employee, they can sign up for Intuit Payroll Services, and have direct deposit, payroll tax processing, 1040 and more…all on the Web and without paying for a single server, software, or accountant. Moreover, the software is always up-to-date and the servers maintained, as part of the monthly fee. Sound to good to be true? Let's see.

Heartbreaker

So I tell people all the time that there is a difference between risk and risky. Using computers is always a risk.  You COULD lose your work. You COULD spin out your hard drive. You COULD get hit by lightning making your pony tail stick straight up, break the light bulb above you, causing a short circuit that kills the power to your office, crashing your computer with two seconds left in the EBay auction for the Forest Gump running shoes that you were the lead bidder. Cloud is risky. It is the Wild West right now. Doesn't mean you can't use it. It means you need to clearly understand (and be willing to except) the riskiness of using cloud services.

Let's talk riskiness for a moment. First, there is the obvious: availability. No matter what Microsoft and Google would have you believe, their servers do go down. And while they don't see outages all the time, even infrequent ones have a very public and crippling affect (Office 365 outage...again) And of course, these services depend on your Internet access. Looking for the big boys to remind you about these "little" gotchas? Yea, keep waiting. The workaround is a fully installed desktop application (ie Office 2010) that links directly with their cloud services so you can continue to work on spreadsheets if the Internet is down or the cloud is "unavailable."

Next there is the issue of control. Say you are an individual working for a company and you decide there is some cloud-based service that you want to use. Let's suppose it's Dropbox; a fabulously useful cloud-based service. You know you are supposed to clear it with the IT guy. But right as rain, you suspect he will say "no" and will  pepper you with some meaningless technical gibberish. Perhaps it is true but to you it is verbally nauseating. After all, he doesn't have a clue about you job, your deadlines, your pressure. Besides how much can it really hurt and who will ever know? Oy! A user going rogue and using unsanctioned cloud-based services and software? If you are the IT guy, it is the equivalent of blasting a hole in the hull of a battleship. Loss of  control, exposure, and compromised security. "C'mon Rick, really? That bad?" Yes, yes it is. Try this, due to using Dropbox, and the ease by which info can be sent off the network virtually unchecked, your company fails a key compliance audit, loses its certification and forfeits a sizable contract. And while you may be able to regain the certification, the contract (and the trust that goes with it) is forever obliterated. This is especially true if you are dealing with companies who exchange licensing, patent, classified  or accounting information. Oh, and remember that employee who wasn't so worried about his decision to "stick it to the man?" Yea, he won't have to worry too much since his job will evaporate just like the contract. My friends, this is the ugly side of SaaS. Until firewalls and threat management systems catch up, this scenario will play out more and more .

For a moment, let's play ostrich and pretend the cloud world is always sunny. Or is the sunny world a bit cloudy. When all else is forgotten, there is the elephant in the room: Legal. How will the law and privacy protection play into this stuff? And will the rulings truly hold water (finally got a pun in there)? This is not my area of expertise but I can't help but ask myself this question: Suppose you found yourself thrown into the judicial process. Will Google and Microsoft honor your privacy? Will they turn over your email and other data quicker than you can spell the word "warrant?" My guess is yes. We'll all need to watch for the zero case and see how it shakes down.

Ramble On

When it is all said and done, the adoption of cloud is just as much a human hurdle as it is a technological one. It is a shift in mindset. For consumers, it is just another in a long list of monthly charges that places the world into their hands. "Hey, if I can have all of my music on demand for $5.00/month, why should I buy music any longer." So it is ok if you are deprived of your music for a little while. For businesses, it is a tempting opportunity to level the playing field, placing small businessess somewhat on par with bigger ones. Yet, at the same time it is a very real leap of faith. See, there are no rules nor agreed-upon standards. Not really. And that makes people very nervous. I'm talking about IT people, business owner, and other C-level decision makers. No rules usually means best effort. Let me translate: we (meaning the cloud people) may sometimes not be able to give you access to your data due to an update gone bad. If we lose your data, we will make a reasonable effort to get it back…but no guarantees. Basically, our responsibility is limited to making our service, and your data available to you most all of the time (the key word here being most). And if we don't, we will credit you a month of service for your inconvenience.  Sound a bit harsh? That is the reality right now. Just read the fine print.

Bring It On Home

What do Mark Twain and the cloud have in common? Well, I will tell you. We are all very familiar with his literary contributions. What you may not have known was that Twain was a confessed foodie, with a particular  fondness for oysters. And he liked them prepared just about any way imaginable. Reminds me of the classic shrimp scene in Forest Gump. Anyway, for someone who was so serious about his eating, Twain was every bit as apathetic about his health, specifically staying in shape. He proclaimed, "When I feel the urge to exercise,  I will lay down and let the urge pass." He felt like he would get around to it eventually. Unfortunately, Twain died from a heart attack. In fact, he predicted that his life would essentially end as it began, with the passing of Halley's Comet. As it happened, he died a day after the comet came closest to Earth. I would never go as far as to suggest that ignoring the cloud could be hazardous to your health. However, it could be financially fatal to your business.

With my job, I often see the class warfare that exists between large and small companies, as it relates to each one's ability to deploy and maintain software and services to support their businesses. I see companies strive to remain lean yet effective; agile yet efficient; all the while realizing that competition now seems to be measured in inches instead of feet. The cloud is poised to change all that, offering businesses a truly robust set of services for a very affordable subscription. If you step back for a moment and think about it, cloud can enable competition between firms which, prior to its existence, simply could not compete.  All of us, consumers, IT and business people alike will just need to figure out the right place and practical use of cloud services. Real practical use. This can only happen once the risk is understood and mitigated. Kind of like understanding that proper eating plus exercise can reduce your chances of a heart attack.  

Guess I better go for a walk. And, so you know, Halley's Comet is not due to return until 2062.

Warm holiday greetings.

Cloud: You Should Never, Never Doubt What Nobody Is Sure About

You knew I'd get around to it eventually, right? The Cloud. I can't really think of a current technology trend that evokes such excitement, fear, and mystery…all at the same time. Similar perhaps to a four year-old going to Disney World for the first time. Listening to the tech companies take you through the cloud is similar to ingesting dirt-covered golf balls: hard to swallow and irritating the entire way through. Unless you have taken the time to clean them. Hmmm. Let me stop there. You get the idea.

I have written this blog now three times, mostly because I got going and quickly felt like I was taking you into an anthill, with tunnels going in all different directions. Trust me, you're glad I started over and decided to break this subject into a few posts.

For now, just lift your arms and let the bar fit snug against your waist. Try and keep your hands in the coaster while we take a ride.

My dear friends, it is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.  - Willy Wonka 

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

Ok, so let me start by telling you where the Cloud came from. It didn't float into the lexicon of life last year as the advertising would like you to believe. It came to us the end of the last century, in the very early days of computing. No, I am not talking about the early days of Windows computing;  I am talking about the Jurassic period of computing when the T-Rex of the day was IBM, the Brontosaurus was Sperry, and green screens roamed the Earth. You'll remember these beasts as refrigerator-sized monoliths that stood inside what looked like a small ballroom, complete with an elevated dance floor, and the droning sound of humming fans, spinning floppy drives, and hammering impact printers, all dancing about. Here's the fun part: they were called microcomputers. And the green screens, well they were called dumb terminals; "dumb" because they were nothing more than a keyboard and screen (no e-rodent at this time) by which we fed the monster with data. All that calculating (as it was called then) was done in "that magic ominous room." Behold, we were in the computer age, with what was then called host computing…and no PCs.   As time went by, we started to develop the need to compute on a personal level, moving all that computing power away from the big mainframe and onto the desk. Hence the dawn of the PC age. Yet we still needed a central place to do "big" computing things, store data, and share it with each other. So, the modern-day server was born. 

You are now over the first big hill on this coaster ride, which brings us up to about ten or so years ago. Go ahead. Take a moment and reflect. We thought we had it all figured out now didn't we? Windows XP was just released, everyone had an email address, and these two guys named Larry and Sergey were trying to make their bones in the crowded Internet search engine space with BackRub (to be eventually renamed Google). It seemed that host computing would join the great gig in the sky. Then, a funny thing happened: the Internet entered puberty and started to resemble, well, a teenager. It was going through some significant changes, doing things that didn't seem to make much sense (at least at the time), always hungry, a bit moody and, if you asked, it was the foremost expert on everything. See what I mean? And what of host computing? Well, it had been relegated to distribution and manufacturing companies that were labeled as being "behind the times." In fairness, at this stage most people didn't know they existed any longer. Most people had always seen the computer world through Windows. Moreover, they thought of IBM as the company that "lost" Windows.  Here is what happened next: a small group of tech companies, led by none other than Larry Ellison of Oracle, tried to convince businesses that they were doing it all wrong. A PC on every desk? Servers in every office? Nonsense! Too expensive to buy and maintain. We need to go back to host computing. See, your servers should go "over there" (or perhaps it would have been better to say "come to us") and a terminal goes on your desk. Yea I know we've been here before. But this time it will be different; this time it will be better; this time we will use an intelligent dumb terminal. We will give them color, a Windows-like interface, and even a mouse. We'll call it a diskless workstation. Hold on, that sounds too confusing; thin client sound much better. Friends, I give you the technology messiah, reducing cost while doing virtually everything a PCs does, without that messy maintenance and upkeep. And what shall we call this new flavor of host computing? Well we can't call it host computing because that conjures up visions of old IBM stuff. We will call it…wait for it…thin computing.

And what happened next? Let's just say the world didn't abandon its PCs to the level that Larry Ellison preferred. A piece of advice: any technology that has the words "intelligent" and "dumb" within three words of each other should be a considered a prophet for failure.

Little surprises around every corner, but nothing dangerous

The real deal with going back to host computing, thin computing, or anything-other-than-PC/Server computing lies in the "gotcha." See years ago, the gotcha was bandwidth. Now, for less than the cost of a single share of Facebook stock, fast Internet access is readily available. Then it was the cost of PCs. That too became less of an issue, with robust desktops and laptops widely available for less money than a good gas grill, including a monitor that is as thin and flat as a sausage patty. This leaves servers. Quick side note: in order for all of this "over there" computing to work, you have to have computing horsepower and storage located in a place that everyone can reach. Like a rack of servers in a datacenter, connected to the Internet. Servers cost a lot of money and take up space; and the space to store them can become expensive pretty quickly.  Well, now thanks to virtualization, the server "gotcha" has been solved since multiple software servers can live in the same physical server hardware. And while they live together, they function independent of each other except when called upon to share things between themselves. Believe it or not, it works well. It is almost like having your entire family living in one really large house, with each smaller family group having its own wing. Very cost effective and sensible…at least on paper. That is until you meet that uncle on your wife's side of the family. You know the one that everyone thinks is "a little off. "  At a family gathering, he stands on the table and delivers a verbal assault on known history and science, proclaiming that Alice Kramden was in fact the first person to walk on the moon, beating Neil Armstrong by nearly a decade.  He knew this to be true since Ralph Kramden put her up there. For those who don't know the Kramdens', click here. As it happens, he hadn't been drinking, at least not this time. Needless to say, he is checked for sharp objects and carefully escorted to his room, without causing any other issues.

Virtual servers behave the same way. That is, while living together in the same box, they get along well and can handle themselves accordingly when one chooses to misbehave. Software servers living together require fewer physical servers; fewer physical servers cost less money. Less money lowers cost. Lowering costs means you can now make it pretty appealing to have your stuff living "over there" instead of in your office. So yes, for the first time, the idea of remotely hosted computing (i.e. cloud computing) is getting some legs. However, we are not quite "there" yet. There are rules, best practices, and other safety precautions that must be defined before everyone can safely fly in the cloud. Unfortunately, this will take time, data loss, and downtime on the part of early adopters in order for the Wild West of cloud computing to finally get a sheriff. I'll cover that in more detail during the next post.

The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last. 

Want to know where the name "cloud" comes from? No, it wasn't invented by one of the big tech companies. It actually came along from guys like me. For years, whenever it comes to drawing out a network (yes, I really do draw them out), I, like the rest of my IT brethren, use a picture of a cloud to symbolize the Internet or the network which lives outside of your office network, PCs or servers.  As the Internet became more widespread in its use, host computing came back around. And this time it would be called cloud computing, paying homage to the doodling done each day by us propeller heads. What is confusing for most people is the over-use of the term. Cloud computing has become the moniker for every system that runs "out there." A Caribbean-sized umbrella that every Internet-based service is being sat under like beach chairs. At its core though, they all describe the same basic concept: your programs, your data, or both live and run on someone else's network. So cloud computing is really Internet Computing. 

Everything is not going to be "in the cloud." Nor should you feel compelled to jump on the wagon. More important, you shouldn't feel like you are left behind since most of you are already have it in your daily life. It just wasn't called "cloud something" when you started using it. If you have an online email account, like  Gmail account, you are using a cloud email system. Nothing to install on your PC or device. And all your data lives out there. How about Netflix? Yes, it is a cloud service. Why? Because you don't own any of the movies. You pick one you wish to watch and it automagically arrives at your TV or mobile device…you guessed it…from the cloud. Use Pandora or Spotify to listen to music? Yup…cloud music service. Pick the music you want to hear and press play. Music is streamed to you wherever you are. No schlepping around all those CDs or uploading music to your device. Uploading…jeez…so 2010.

On the business side, there is backing up your data online. HyperVault (www.hypervault.net) is a really good example here. Used to be that servers were backed up each and every day to tape. Yes, tape. A gigantic and unreliable pain in the hind quarters. Nowadays, our customers still make the same backups, however, they are sent to remote servers in datacenters. You guesses it…cloud servers. And it happens automatically with no tapes. I use HyperVault at home to backup all the pictures, videos, and financials that I collect at home. And I'm an IT guy.

Want a new use of the cloud? Try this one out. While writing this blog, I installed a Nest (www.nest.com) thermostat in my home and at our office. It is the first of a new generation of programmable/learning thermostats, designed by a former Apple guy. I know you're saying, "Big deal. It’s a thermostat. You're way behind. I've had a programmable one for years." Well, so have I. This one is different. Really different. You install the this thermostat in place of your old one. You spend a few days adjusting the temperature to your liking, merely by turning the dial…like an old school thermostat. Immediately it begins to learn your heating and cooling habits. No programming days and times and temps. It comes with a built-in proximity sensor. That means it can detect when you are home and when you are away. It also knows when you are away longer, perhaps on vacation. Try that with your old Honeywell thermostat! Here's where the fun comes in. See, the Nest hooks into your home WiFi.  A few turns of the dial and, with no help from your HVAC guy or the neighbor's kid who knows about computers, it is on the Net, talking to the Nest cloud servers. Why is that useful? Well, how cool (I couldn't resist) would it be if your thermostat knew the weather outside your house, and could adjusts itself.  Nest knows thanks to…you guessed it…the cloud. Nest knows it takes longer to cool your house down on a humid 95 degrees versus a dry 80 degrees; it knows that some days have more daylight (and heat) than others. And it knows exactly how long it takes your A/C unit to cool your house, based on previous days. Your current thermostat has no clue how long it should take to cool your house let alone the scathing heat outside of it. It runs endlessly until the desired temperature is reached. Kind of like a dumb terminal, huh? Now then, since you are using the Nest cloud service (which is free by the way) you can securely control your thermostat from your smart phone, computer, or tablet, from any place you have Internet access. That's right: remote control thermostat. It also tracks your energy usage each day and adjusts itself so that you can keep your head cool and save money. Nest is a really good example of things to come with the cloud. Things that don't necessarily have to do with your PC, server, data, and all that other obvious cloud stuff.

The Everlasting Gobstopper

Ah the gobstopper (aka the jawbreaker). That childhood treat that keeps your mouth occupied for hours. Widely considered to be the Grand Poobah of candy, it lasts a long time, changing colors and getting smaller the longer you keep licking or sucking it.  Yet it remains a gobstopper through and through, until it completely dissolves. The Cloud closely resembles the everlasting gobstopper. Highly evolved and rarely seen in the wild, the legend of the everlasting gobstopper speaks of a candy that cannot be finished and never gets any smaller. As you coast to a stop, ponder that statement for a moment. The cloud has been around a long time, appearing in slightly different forms and even going by different names. Yet the bones have always remained pretty much the same. And it would appear that the cloud is indestructible and will never get smaller. No truer metaphor exists for the cloud than the everlasting gobstopper.

While it seems clear how all of this IT stuff would make its way to the cloud, most of you didn't think of the non-IT side of things now did you? That part of it seemed, well, a bit hazy. Years ago, some of you will remember all that talk about refrigerators and hot tubs being hooked into the Internet. You shook your head and mentally commented on how we, as an advanced civilization, were wasting our creative brain cells on silly technology like an Internet-enabled fridge. Please. Then along comes the Cloud and a few choice words from yours' truly. I hear the collective ah-ha right about now. You can see it now: the day your fridge will text you to pick up milk.  Sorry, washing the dishes is still a bit further down the road.

You may now lift your hands and allow the bar to rise from your lap . Be sure to smile as you exit the car to the right and remember: the next time someone asks you to explain this whole cloud thing, offer them a piece of candy and then take a moment to smile as they look at you in a most peculiar way. Who knew that technology could be so sweet!

P.S. Watching Willy Wonka for the first time with your daughter. Priceless. Thanks Laila.

Copyright © Richard Harber, Decision Digital Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except for the images. 

Lobbing The Social Media Grenade Over The Fence

Over the last few months we have been enduring the process of hiring. The key words here being "enduring" and "process." Hang on, I am not going to blog on hiring people. Jeez, there is no way I could fit it all in nor do I consider myself to be an expert. What I can tell you is how interesting the process has become given the advent of social media. Used to be you talk to someone, check their references, perhaps test their capabilities and offer them a job. Not any longer. The first place you now go is the Internet. Checking LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. Even Googling the person to see if you can get any type of extra recon beyond the interview process. After all, people forget things. The  Internet is the proverbial elephant that never forgets.

“If you stop eating donuts you will live 3 years longer. It's just 3 more years that you'll  want a donut.  - Lewis Black

Recent news has included stories about companies demanding people part with their Facebook account credentials during the interview process (Click Here). Same is true of a Marine facing discharge over Facebook comments (Click here ). Friends, these two instances are bellwethers for a series of new twists (or tactics) that we will see used in the information gathering game.  These so-called "zero-cases" will be interesting to follow as they end up going legal (you know they will).  While we wait on the wheels of justice, it occurred to me that companies need to really think about the other side of social media. The skinny end of the megaphone if you will.  So kick up your feet and let's talk about what you should know.

Showing Your Style

So you have your company logo and perhaps a certain font that you use on your letterhead, website, brochures  and other deliverables. This is the beginning of your presentation to the world, also known as "branding." Sounds big doesn't it? And you thought it was for huge companies, right? Not so in the Internet age. That is one of the nice things about the Internet. Everyone can appear to be the same size. Branding is very important to all companies.  But it goes beyond look and feel.  Consistency is also paramount.  Here is what I mean. From time to time , some employees exert their creative genius in creating their own "branding" on company stuff.  You know, the off-colored logo, the cursive font, the oversized text. My personal favorite is the ridiculous email signature. Took me a while to get my Dad away from this one. You know it as the huge logo (that is out of focus mind you) with your company name and supersized contact info. Trouble is, it’s a graphic file (usually a jpg) which routinely gets blocked by Outlook and most firewalls. Which means you get this big, tacky blue question mark where your beautiful graphic should be. And, guess what? You can't see the contact info because it is INSIDE the graphic. Ugh. Most business owners get irritated when this happens because they usually discover it unexpectedly or they are on the receiving end of one of these little jewels.  Solving the problem is pretty easy though: don't let anyone send anything out from your company. Uh, not gonna happen. So therefore you need to have an established set of standards for this type of stuff. This is what a style guide is all about. And your company should have one in place to keep those armchair Picassos' in check. Moreover, to maintain consistency across all of the "views" of your company.

Social Media requires its own style guide. After all, it directly reflects the branding and messaging of a company. However, unlike a brochure or website, it is presented in a direct, personal and emotional way.  Be mindful of the words I chose here: direct, personal, emotional. Very powerful and at the same time remarkably dangerous.  Kind of like  chocolate.  People like the idea of connecting with other people, especially at an emotional level.  Social networking enables a type of direct contact and evokes a certain level of bonding.  Your chances of emailing George Clooney are remote. Visiting with him on his cellphone even more remote (that is unless you're Stacey Kiebler or Brad Pitt). But if you follow him on Twitter,  he "talks" to you all the time.  And you can talk back. Want to wish Tom Cruise a happy birthday? Just go to Facebook. After all he is your "friend."  This is good stuff when used properly. Trouble is there is no vetting process and people can freely speak their mind, absent of fact-checking and truth, and packed with a mortar shell of emotion.

Web 2.0? I Barely Knew Web 1.0.

Social media is the key pillar in what has now become known as Web 2.0. I know you have heard that term but were likely not sure what it meant. Well, according to the great tin-foil-hat-wearing Internet gods, the first iteration of the Web was not social or interactive enough. Which is ironic when you consider Web 1.0 effectively killed off those old interactive online communities. Places like AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy. These were places where people would electronically assemble and  "talk" to each other. Yet by using one of those services, you effectively chose a side since they weren't connected to each other. You weren't "online" per se. You "used" AOL. Saying you were online implied you were a propeller head on the Internet...literally.  And no, they were NOT the same. Kind of like telling a man that boxers and briefs are just different names for underwear. They are not and never will be. A man wearing boxers will  never use the word underwear. He wears boxers. The same is not true of the brief's man. He wears underwear.  How on Earth did I get to underwear? 

Ok, so, after defining (or confining depending on how you look at it ) ourselves to being a surfing and emailing society, it was decided we were becoming a bit socially inept in this new electronic world of ours. After all email seems so impersonal and two-dimensional. And the Internet was getting bigger;  speeds getting faster and connectivity getting cheaper. Time for us to evolve beyond our friends in the neighborhood. We want to be friends with the world and share everything! So, as the Web matured, services such as , Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have emerged to instantly and electronically connect our personal lives with each other, anywhere we might roam. Interesting to think about what Web 3.0 will look like given how connected to each other we have now become. That will be something for a future blog.

It Was The Drink's Fault

Now then, some people have learned the lesson of (or the need for) measured responding thanks to some not-so-appropriate emails and texts.  The emotionally charged response to a customer, friend, co-worker, or boss that, as you later learned, should have, I don't know, never seen the light of day beyond your mind's eye.  "Oh god, I hit reply-all didn't I?" Or "Ugh, that party was supposed to be a surprise."  Or that popular social pastime of  "drinking and texting/tweeting." Yet even after being digitally smacked in the face, many still feel very compelled to share every waking moment with all their friends and followers.  Social media really takes this stuff to a whole different level. And left unchecked causes...well...issues. Say you spray painted  the side of your car with "I drink beer at work."  This is perfectly acceptable  (the statement not the spray painting of your car) if you  work for Anheuser Busch. If not, chances are people are going to notice, especially when you get to work. And I think your opportunity for advancement will be, shall we say impaired (I couldn't resist).  Let me put this another way: while it may be cool to brag to your friends about leaving on a beach trip for a week, you are making it easier for ill-willed "followers" to rob your home thanks to posting it on Twitter or Facebook. Don't believe me? Check this Robbed from Facebook Article . Also, in case you don't know, Facebook is not the place to post that picture of beer funneling  in P.C. (Panama City for those out of the vernacular loop) regardless of how old or young you think you are. These examples all represent  the difference between risk and risky.  Now you are starting to get the idea.

So what do you do? Well, first you have to get a grip on what you can and cannot control.  There are two buckets here. One is the company bucket which you can control.  The other is the employee bucket with limited control . Start by embracing the idea that social media should be governed by a code of conduct. Code of conduct implies a level of personal  and moral responsibility in addition to accountability. It can easily be placed into your Computer Use Policy (yes you should have one of these) or become its own freestanding rule. In reality it should be a "life rule," right? The key here is making people aware of the collateral damage that can come from the most innocuous comment. I know it sounds elementary and perhaps smells of common sense. It is. But just like you have long since forgotten how to do long division with a pencil and paper (the precursor to calculators and computers), people need to be reminded from time to time.  I don't necessarily want to focus on specific things to do with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Instead, this is more about best practices that apply to just about all social media (and some other communication forms for that matter). In other words, here is the ointment; apply it liberally to the infected areas.

Measure Twice; Cut Once.

Know this: The Internet is the first place people go to learn about you, your business, and your employees.  That is now our world. Not only is it important that you gainfully understand this reality, you should embrace it. Customers and other companies need to see you and your employees represented in social media. It implies that you are accessible and have a human dimension. Something that a website simply cannot convey. It's the wrong tool. See, social media is all about bringing people in for a closer look.

Your corporate social media strategy should begin and end with this understanding: it belongs to the corporation and remains under its control. You wouldn't send out a brochure with improper grammar (at least you shouldn't). So why would you allow a post to contain incorrect information? Also, link things together wherever possible. An example would be making sure that the individual  LinkedIn pages of employees are linked to the company LinkedIn page. You'll notice I didn't say personal pages. While these pages can be personalized, they should not be personal. Be sure you know the difference. As you add new people, part of your onboarding process should include adding them to social media systems such as LinkedIn.  While the LinkedIn account may belong to an employee, they must understand that any content including or referring to the firm is something that falls under the guidelines of the company, its copyrights, and business intelligence. Latitude can be given to how things may be structured, however, the core contents are governed and controlled by this new social media policy in order to ensure consistency.   Remember, these pages represent you and your company.

So now that you have Facebook and LinkedIn looking nice, neat, and organized, you now have to face the demon: Posting. Doesn't matter if you call it a Tweet, or Status Update, or How You Feel...they are all the same. It is a post.  This is where people get a bit brave and will require, shall we say, the imparting of firm wisdom.  No one in their right mind would  jump into a pool of hungry alligators. Yet many people will  do the equivalent in the social media world. And guess what? Like Betty White, It lives forever. You can't take it back . I am no legal expert but I will hazard a guess that you can't keep people from posting things on their personal Facebook pages. So they can say pretty much whatever they wish. The fun comes into play when they involve a company. See companies are very plugged into customers who post negative things about them or their products, especially that which brings harm to the company or its employees (wow that last sentence sounded very lawyer-ish now didn't it). Want worse? How about when an employee's personal posting, albeit on their own Facebook page,  negatively  influences someone  about the company. Or the tweet from the company account that is...well...just plain inappropriate on ten different levels; something even a high school kid wouldn't send out let alone a mature adult in the corporate world. And I've seen some doozies. So much so that the damage control required after one of these epic posts is worse than Mike Rowe's latest assignment on "Dirty Jobs. "

You can't keep all the negative juice off your clean white company coat. However, you can reduce your surface area of exposure. You have the obvious: corporate posts to the likes of Facebook and Twitter  must never contain disparaging remarks or anything negative about the firm. And it is no place for raw emotion.  The essence of corporate update posting or tweeting is all about placing timely and relevant information into the hands of your followers. Timely and relevant does not include bathroom visits, the tour dates for The Eagles Final-Last All Done tour, or the fact that the IT overlords will not let you watch Game of Thrones at work, even during lunch. Nor is it s place for you to vent that your boss takes credit for all your work and won't give you the 50% raise you deserve. The same rules should apply to email that employees send and receive while employed by a company. While you would hope that people gravitate towards common sense when it come to these things, a stated policy is really required for enforcement. Trust me when I say that if the day comes when you invite someone to leave because of a Twitter post, you want to have a stated policy behind it and not argue the termination based on common sense.

Finally, be aware and sensitive to social media overload. The act of multiple tweets or other posts from the same person each and every day. Sometimes I login to LinkedIn and see no less than twelve posts in the same day from the same person or company. I'm not kidding. I am glad to feel the love but that is a little much. Too much. I simply don't have the time to read all those posts or articles linked to them. So what do I do?  I move past them. Now you've lost me as an audience. And that my friends is the kiss of death in the SoMe world.  Think about this when you post:  Informative: yes; timely: most definitely; limited: absolutely. Give your audience something to look forward to and captivate their attention. This way you can remain relevant and bubble to the top of the social media list we all navigate each day. Also, you've got to know your audience. Not everyone shares your passion about every subject. Bear that in mind as you share your views or take up space in people's social media bucket.

The Pin Has Been Pulled

We're in the early stages of social media and we are all learning as we go. It really wasn't until recently that we as a company started to look at it more closely. Like many of you, we just weren't sure how we wanted to leverage it. It's one thing to own a hammer. It's another to know how to use it. As I have been living this process recently, it became apparent to me that while I don't know where the social  media road will take us, I am keenly aware of the potholes connected to the uninhibited and  unchecked posts. It is inevitable that someone will lob the hand grenade over the fence and run in the other direction, whether intentional or accidental.   I believe it is our job  to reduce the amount of collateral damage that takes place as a result. Moreover, our job is to secure the grenades.

Copyright © Richard Harber, Decision Digital Inc. All Rights Reserved

Medical Data Here There And Everywhere

Recently I was asked to pull together a HIPAA article for some medical folks. HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act. Sounds Washington D.C. kind of important, eh? Well it is since, among other sundry red tape things,  it is all about keeping your personal medical information secure while being stored in your doc's office or in transit between people and/or computers. You can only imagine how deep and wide this rabbit hole goes. Being that it involves technology, our IT practice is heavily involved in helping customers reach an acceptable level of compliance. This is true of HIPAA as well as SOX (Sarbanes Oxley) and PCI-DSS ( Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards). I see you yawning. Resist the urge and keep reading. Believe me when I say this is not a blog about compliance. Ok, so, these compliance standards are rooted in basic common sense, with a heavy dose of responsibility and a super-sized portion of technology control.  For a while now, many have argued that these so-called standards were toothless tigers. And they were right. That is until we really started to become a mobile society. 

Anyway, I agreed to write this article so long as I could take a different approach. People (especially doctors) don't need me to parrot volumes of regulations to them. They get this every day from everyone else in their lives.  I will go out on a limb here and say it is the least favorite part of their day. So I chose to do what I do best: use examples and analogies in order to get my point across. Upon completing it, I realized that while this article was primarily intended for medical folks, it would surely resonate with most of you. No, the idea is not to paint doctors in a negative light. Much the contrary. I have a profound respect for the fine folks in the medical community. The idea is to show how easy these kind of things happen to all of us every single day.

I should point out that the article slants towards the Mac side but absolutely applies to Windows and Android as well.  I chose this path since  most of us now live in mixed worlds  of Microsoft, Apple, and Google machines. Quite frankly, I believe most everyone is at least moderately aware of the inherent risks involving Windows use. The same is not true on the Mac side. All the more reason to make noise on this front given the growing number of Apple devices finding their way into the corporate world. Continue reading and you will see what I mean.  

You're a doctor. You’re entering a special place in our society. People will be awed by your expertise. You’ll be placed in a position of privilege. You’ll live well, people will defer to you. call you by your title – and it may be hard to remember that the word “doctor” is not actually your first name -  Alan Alda

Boy that sounded good some years ago when you went to medical school didn't it? Now comes the reality. And it goes something like this.

A Day In The Life

It's 11:00am and you have a cancellation. Just enough time to grab a quick bite and get caught up on some work. You steal away to the café downstairs to have a cup of coffee, late breakfast, and extinguish your hair. Out the door.

Let me grab my smart phone. Those test results should be here by now.  My PA better not forget to forward the email to me. She is the only one that knows where I am "hiding" right now. Nothing yet. Ok, let me whip out the laptop. Ah, forgot the café has free WiFi. Great! So nice that everything is web and remote desktop now. No more slow programs on my laptop. A few emails, updating our patient information system. Ugh. That damn password. So hard to remember and I am not at my desk to look at that sticky note. Ah, right, I put it in my phone. Here it is. Open sesame! Jeez, my laptop is running a bit slow. Making all sorts of noise.  Seems like every time I open this thing there are a hundred updates. It will need to wait until the next time. Where is the "Not Now" button (Click Here) ? Here it is.  I will do it later.  Emails, emails. Let's see; delete, delete, delete, read later. Hmmm. Ok, need to answer this other doc and his questions about our mutual patient. Here is the info he needs. Convert to pdf and off it goes with a cc to myself. What on earth did we do before email. Hey, looks like one of my med school colleagues is going to be in town (at least according to Facebook). Let me click this link and tell him I am here tomorrow. Jeez, now my laptop is really grinding away. I am so "over" this technology. It is supposed to make my life easier.  Need to bring this steaming turd back upstairs to our IT guy.  So much for getting work done.

"Hey, you're infected and I need to reload your laptop" he says. Great. No laptop for the rest of the day. Unreal. I bought this really expensive Mac because they said it never gets infected. Explain that to me! Never mind. Guess I need to rely on my...oh god...where is my phone? Must have left it in the café. I hope no one grabbed it. Everything is in there! My pictures, my passwords, my emails, account numbers, directions to my home...my entire life. And what about the patient info?  "Haven't seen it down here, doc"  says the waitress.  Holy cow this can't be happening. Not to me. Not today. Not right now. It has to be here. If not, I am totally screwed to the wall. How could I be so stupid to have all that stuff in my phone let alone lose it. Oh god what have I done.

Ticket To Ride

Ok, so what just really happened here? Quite a few things, some of which are not so obvious. Let's start with the easy stuff.  You have a Mac. So one of those Apple Store baristas told you that you are impervious to any type of infection, right?  If that is true, why do companies make antivirus software for Macs? Hmmm. The reason is because they CAN get infected.  In fact, 20% of Macs carry malware (Mac Malware). And the number is growing . Folks, if I told you that it was perfectly safe to leave all of your holiday gifts in an unlocked car while you walked into the mall, you would give me a free ticket to the funny farm. Or you would have me arrested for preemptive theft (if there is such a thing). Those days are gone. So are bullet-proof Macs, or any other device for that matter. Anyone telling you otherwise simply doesn't know.

So where were we? Oh right, you are using your laptop on a public WiFi system with no firewall between it and the Internet.  You thought you were immune, you never installed antivirus software nor any of those updates - remember the "Not Now" button.  This is how you get infected...the easy way. And now for what you don't see. Since the hard drive wasn't encrypted, all that data is leaping off your device like a hot chili pepper, for all the world to see. You might as well go on vacation with $100,000 on the dining room table, leaving all  the windows and doors wide open and announcing your departure as you drive down the street. Yea, it is that quick and that easy. That "griding noise" you are hearing is not an update or a virus scanner; it is the trojan yanking all the data from your hard drive and sending it to the Internet.  Sure a hacker doesn't really cares about those pictures from Cabo or the pirated copy of The Matrix. But they do care about those patient social security numbers and that QuickBooks file you run around with.  Congratulations! Your data just arrived in the Cloud, without your permission.

And what could be easier than getting infected? Why giving away your phone of course. No physical harm. No guns. No holdup. Just left it there for someone to grab. Yes, you should be mortified, but not because you lost your phone; its because of what was inside of it. And you knew better. But it was so convenient. And you never thought you would lose it. That is why they are called "accidents" and not "on purposes." Credit card numbers, SkyMiles account, patient system passwords, combination to your rental house lock box, and your kid's socials. Your IT guy told you to turn on the swipe lock. You didn't. He also told you to install that remote nuke program. You know the one that would locate and wipe your phone in case it got lost. Yea, on your todo list which happens to be on your phone. 

Fixing A Hole

With your head buried in your hands,  you didn't really see this coming. This is as serious as it gets. Wasn't exactly what you had in mind when someone long ago said your life could change in a moment. And why? Because over the years you been conditioned to watch out for medical meteors and not data ones. I'm talking about marginal insurance reimbursement, unrealistic cash flow, malpractice and lawsuits...those kind of things. Getting infected? Losing your phone? They sound so innocuous compared to the others. But they can be far more dangerous with ripple affects felt for years to come. Different kind of meteor. Just goes to show that taking a few of life's little conveniences and adding a pinch of distraction can produce catastrophic results. 

You experience a sense of being completely naked yet you are fully dressed, followed by a feeling of emptiness and anger. It is at that moment that you "get" what HIPAA is all about.  While it seems like it exists  solely to make your medical life a living hell, miring you in procedures and expense,  it is really about protection. Protecting patients. Protecting yourself. And protecting yourself from yourself. I submit to you that it should be changed to stand for Helping Important Professionals Acknowledge Awareness.  Ah, the difference a moment of pause can truly make.

Copyright © Richard Harber, Decision Digital Inc. All Rights Reserved

Digital Ploughmen Sowing The New Mentality

Eight. A number that holds significance in so many ways depending on who you talk to. You know it as the celebrated successor to the larger-than-life number seven, which by all accounts was hard to succeed given its popularity.  You may not know that it is the atomic number of Oxygen.  It is also considered to be a very lucky number in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. There are eight bits in a byte.  There are eight planets. In Judaism, Hannukah is eight days (as my daughter likes to remind me). And who could forget the "eight maids a-milking" on the 8th day of Christmas.  So one is left to wonder if it is just sequential coincidence or choice that the new version of Windows is aptly titled Windows 8. 

Well, the traffic was murder, you know. One of those manure spreaders jackknifed on the Santa Ana. Godawful mess. You should see my shoes  - Fletch

I've been using Windows 8  Consumer Preview now for about three weeks, and it is quite wonderful. Soon, there will be numerous books and You Tube videos covering every single feature. You don't need me for that, at least not yet. Instead, think of me as the noise filter. The proverbial Dolby Noise reduction of technology.  Therefore,  I thought that my first blog on it should speak to what is going to happen when it gets released.  So, if you'll climb up here into the front seat and take ride, we'll talk about it.

I started out running Windows 8 as a virtual machine on my Windows 7 Samsung laptop.  I was surprising impressed with how polished and smooth it was running.  Then, as they say here in the South, I went whole hog. I fearlessly upgraded my most important PC (my office machine) to Windows 8.  I know what you are saying right now. "Gee, why don't you just ski down a snow covered mountain in a Speedo. Sure you'll be fine as long as you stay in the sun."  Well, I've got news. It was effortless. Really, it was. Not the skiing; the upgrade. It went so well in fact that I was left feeling a bit empty and unchallenged.  This couldn't be a Microsoft product. So I went back and did it again, on a different machine. Then I did a side-by side install with Windows 7 . Four installs of all different types and not a single snag. Like riding a bike with no hands. What has Microsoft done here?  I'll tell you: something very un-Microsoft.

Who Went Mobile First? The Who In 1971

Here is a link for all you folks born A.W.B.  (aka After Windows Began) . By the way, that was 1990 for those of you reeling in the years. Just a little fun ;) People young and old have been transformed into device-toting mobile citizens. Think about the power in the palm of your hand. You can pinch and swipe without being punished or arrested. You can text with no hands. You can fly over Big Ben, the Taj Mahal, and Graceland  in less than a minute. You can change your airplane seat without speaking  to an agent. And, of course, you can slice flying fruit without making a mess (no Ginsu required). So why can't you have this ease of use on your PC? It is about to happen thanks to Windows 8.  See, for the first time in over fifteen years, Microsoft got up from the desktop PC and looked at the world. And what did they see? Well, to begin with, a world with fewer PCs. They also saw lots of smartphones and tablets.  But looking a bit deeper,  I believe they saw disconnected, dysfunctional disparity amongst these devices.  And folks, it wasn't just their own products (ie Windows Mobile, Windows 7, Xbox). For years, Apple has  quietly struggled to get iPhone features injected into OSX. And Google continues to fight the uphill battle with the likes of Big Red (aka Verizon) to keep the Android experience consistent across devices while marching towards  the desktop business (think Chromebook, Google Docs etc).

I also believe they observed that while all this  computer technology was in hyper drive, companies (including themselves) really forgot about the desktop OS and interface. CPUs, memory, hard drives, LEDs...the list goes on and on. Monumental advances in all...except the desktop OS and  interface. Doesn't matter if you are OSX or Windows. It’s the same ole' 20-year old analog. Here is your screen, your keyboard, and your mouse. Now go to it.  Talk about sleeping at the wheel of the getaway car. My friends, I give you motive and opportunity. Read on.

To Boldy Go Where No One Has Gone Before

So what did Microsoft do? Well, while standing up from the PC, they rubbed their chin and raised their index finger and said. "Ah-ha."  They figured  out that the OS IS the interface and the interface IS the OS.  Now, if you are Microsoft, what do you do with that little diddy?  Easy, you forge creativity and build something the world has not seen. Something  seminal; something fundamentally and uncharacteristically different;  Something..well…un-Microsoft. A future-feeling, fresh looking  interface to seamlessly rule and run  across all of your device. Your phone, tablet, and PC.  Wow. That's the whole enchilada.  No way. It can't be done  This is you shaking your head back and forth here. There's the phone, uh, then the tablet and the PC. All different yet "looking" the same. That's like crossing the streams. And Dr. Spengler warned us about that. Better charge up your proton pack. Windows 8  isn't the same old interior wrapped in a new body style with the addition of navigation and self-parking. It's an entire new class of vehicle never really seen before.  Squeeze this between your ears for a moment.  Apple didn't invent the smartphone. They reimagined and refined it.  I know you don't remember but the Internet was loaded with critics on both sides. It will fail, it's overpriced, it is revolutionary, it will do your dishes and water your plants. What the hell is an app? After all that pre-emptive fodder had passed, people were intrigued and enticed. As they dove into the device, people adapted, accepted, and fell in love with it.  Apple succeeding in changing the status quo of smartphones, the important word here being  "changing." People have forgotten what it is like to experience this phenomenon with Microsoft.  It's been the Apple show for so long that everyone just assumes that no other company can innovate any longer. And if they do, well it will stand  cold and dark in the long shadow of Cupertino.  Windows 8  will not reimagine or even change the OS-interface experience. Nor will it define a new standard. It will define THE new standard that others will painfully rush to mimic. Need proof? Within days of the Windows 8  Consumer Preview release, Apple hastily pushes out OSX Mountain Lion. Then comes the announcement of Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) arriving mid-2012 when Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is barely on 1% of all Android devices. Both were efforts to say "hey, look over here." Feeling a little pressure are we? 

Riding On The Metro

Windows 8 is blazing fast and will run on your current hardware.  That's right. You won't have to buy new gear.  First time that has happened in a while, huh? Let me make it better:  Windows 8 runs faster on your existing Windows 7 gear than Windows 7! You will notice it the second you boot up. And it really just takes seconds. Like 15-20 seconds. No, I'm not kidding.

After the quick boot, you will be introduced to Metro. Metro is the name of your new  desktop. And man it is cool. Metro brings the smartphone and tablet look and feel to your desktop. You add widget-like items called "tiles" to your desktop (think weather, email, social media, instant messaging, stock updates, news etc.) onto  your screen, all of which are alive and bristling with real time info on a stunningly pretty screen.  All this info right in front of you without opening up a single window.  Metro will seem very familiar and natural, yet a bit awkward at first. Natural because you've been using your smartphone and you will get the idea. Awkward because it is a PC acting like a smartphone.  I've caught myself reaching to my monitor to swipe and move things around which, by the way will work if you have a touchscreen monitor. Without one, your mouse and keyboard will work just fine.  Oh, and know that the old desktop is still tucked away under Metro...just in case you want to go old school.

Space, The Final Frontier

I like Metro a lot. Now that I have seen it on a phone and a PC, I can't wait to see it on a tablet. I think business and corporate users will love it on tablets but will need to warm up to it on the desktop. Microsoft understands this and has quite a trick up its sleeve come October.  And it will send Metro into orbit.  No, people aren't going to go out and buy up all these touch screen monitors.  We already hate those finger smudges all over our smart phones and tablets. You think we will put up with them on our computer monitors? No way.  So swiping your screen is out. But what if you swipe the air in front of your screen? What? So you're saying that the air in front of your screen becomes...well...a touch screen? Yes, yes I am. Hmmm, sounds like Minority Report doesn't it?  Well, it is hear and it is very real. If you are an Xbox user, you have had this technology for a year or so. It's called Kinect. And guess what? Microsoft  has baked it into Windows 8! If you are not familiar with Kinect, it's quite incredible. You can learn more about it here .  Move forward in the video about a minute and a half and watch. Within 30 seconds you will be captivated and your mouth will open wide enough to catch a swarm of bees. 

So here is how this is going to go down: The Kinect bar will fasten to the top of your monitor and  "space" will become your new interface. You walk up to your PC and it will log you in by "seeing" your face. Then, you move around the Metro interface by moving your finger around the air in front of your screen, as if you were using The Force. Yes, you will still use your keyboard and mouse for non-finger-friendly tasks.  It is still faster to use them for Excel and Word stuff. But, you don't have to. I predict that within the year you will see manufacturers start to build the Kinect technology directly into monitors, similar to web cams.  When you become Kinect-enabled, your PC experience doesn't  change;  your life will change.  Really, it will.  In fact, I firmly believe it will be bigger than when you got into (or should I say onto) the Internet. 

Learning How To Unlearn

Windows 8 isn't about learning a new OS; it's about allowing yourself to un-learn the old one(s), and the old (and sometimes bad) habits that go with them.  See, we've all been trained to go to the Start button for everything. And while it is convenient to do so because hey that is where everything lives, it becomes less efficient as time goes by. This is especially true if you install a lot of apps. Put another way, you spend too much time trying to find the app you need in the sea of selections within the Start menu. Windows 8 changes that thinking by implementing an instant search feature. Tap the Windows key on your keyboard, type "ou" and Outlook immediately jumps up for you to launch. And it is way fast. It takes a little thought the first week you use Windows 8 since you are reaching for the start button and it isn't in plain site. However, once you start using the process I described above, you will work faster.

Folks, I want to assure you that I didn't just come back from a Windows convention wearing a tin foil hat. Nor did I consume an entire bowl of Microsoft nachos before writing this blog.  I am genuinely excited about Windows 8 because of what it will do in addition to  what it represents. And this is coming from a guy who has been neck deep in the Android world for a few years. Windows 8  demonstrates that imagineering is alive and well at the Big M and not limited to those "other" technology companies we hear so much about.  It doesn't really change the game. It ends it and begins a new one. And the last time that happened in the Microsoft world was in 1995 with the release of Windows 95. It too was new, different, and disruptive. And it was also greeted with great fanfare and criticism. But in time people adapted, accepted, and fell in love with it, even on a Pentium 75Mhz which, I am sad to say can't even run your car GPS. Don't be scared. It may all sound a bit ominous and concerning. Change always feels that way for many people. It's all good. If you are using a smartphone or a tablet right now (which most of you are using one if not both), you are going to feel surprisingly comfortable with it.  Funny how Google and Apple have been teaching you how to use a Microsoft product and you didn't even know it!  Shhh. Don't tell them.  

Googling Apple On Windows

Is it me or are there some strange things going on? Kodak will stop making cameras. Steve Jobs slept with a letter from Bill Gates on his nightstand. And the original members of Van Halen are back together. Just when you thought your figured it all out, right?

"Don't be obsessed with your desires Danny. The Zen philosopher Basha once wrote, 'A flute with no holes, is not a flute. A donut with no hole, is a Danish." Ty Webb

Speaking of figuring it all out, I've got one last tablet rock (slight pun there) that I should turn over; then I will find something else to wax about. I get this one asked to me all the time: For the love of all that is holy, please tell me the REAL difference between Google Android and Apple iOS. Give it to me straight so that I can really understand it. And can you tell me where Microsoft fits in too? Indeed I can. And you will totally dig the example cause it just makes sense. Here we go...

Running Down The Dream

Let's start with Google Android. Think of Android like owning a house. When you own a house, you are invested. You can do what you want, when you want, and pretty much how you want  (unless there is an HOA involved). You want a purple house, start painting. You want to put your washing machine on the front lawn, have at it. You want to break the world record for most holiday lights on your house? Well besides starting to put them up in September, it's all up to you. Now then, with that glorious house comes responsibility. Cutting your grass, trash pickup, exterminator...you get the idea. You can do many of these things yourself. Or you can hire a professional to provide those services whenever you want. Need your A/C fixed? No problem. Schedule a service call and leave work to meet the man since you are the only one with house keys.  You are the undisputed king of your castle.

My friends, this  is Android. Yea, it starts with the little green Droid (his name is Lloyd by the way). As an aside, the name "Droid" is actually copyrighted by none other than George Lucas. Yup, every time you procure a Droid device, the Force grows stronger...financially. No, I'm not kidding. Each day, over 850,000 Android devices are activated. More that you thought, huh? And why is it so likable? Not because of R2D2. Because it is an open platform that can be customized and hacked (aka rooted) to a near endless level. It is backed by Google and has a massive (and I really mean it) development and user community. You can download apps from multiple places. You can move things around on screens, change backgrounds, tether to your laptop. You can open and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. You can use Flash. The list goes on. And, you can do all of this without installing any overlord  software or building a wall around yourself. So this, as they say, is bachelor #1.

Any Color You Want So Long As It Is Black

iOS is like renting an expensive apartment. Nothing wrong here as long as you know the difference. First, when you do an apples-to-apples comparison (I couldn't resist), renting comes up more expensive than owning. Second, ownership is never in the cards. But, as a renter, you seem to feel happier, more secure, and perhaps a bit less stressed. Why? Well, for started you live in a gated community (remember this) with beautiful landscaping. And while all the buildings look the same, they are clean and well maintained. Trash is never out in the open, the driveway is absent of cracks, and the pool is leaf-free. Need something? Just give the leasing office a call and they will handle it for you. Remember, they have a key to your place. All of this is done for a set monthly fee plus your commitment to follow the stated rules. There you have it. You have succumbed to being fenced in and have surrender control. Hmm, that sounds a bit oppressive. Let me put it another way: You are allowing someone else to handle all of your living arrangements with the understanding that it will be nicer and perhaps a more worry-free experience. No, you can't paint the outside the color you want. Nor can you walk naked to the pool at midnight (without getting fined or arrested). Want to watch a movie? You can so long as you rent it from the leasing office. Want gas cooking instead of electric? Not an option. Yes you can put your stuff all around you, so long as it is inside only. That means no lawn jockeys or grills on the balcony.  

This is what iOS is all about. I know it sounds a bit big brother-ish. It kinda is. Doesn't mean it is wrong or bad. The Apple mantra is about delivering a high-quality, very polished experience. This begins with world class industrial design and a smooth interface...and a few catches and limitations. First, Apple will control everything you see and do. They limit your device choices to what they believe you will like. Sure, you can download apps onto your device...so long as it comes from Apple and Apple alone. Apple's belief is that by imposing these choices (or lack thereof) and limits, the opportunity for failure is greatly reduced, thereby providing a more consistent and seamless experience. I give you bachelor #2.

   

Star Wars or Star Trek?

Which one is better? It really doesn't matter. Really, it doesn't. Can you like Star Wars and Star Trek? Well of course you can. And what of all those people with verbal diarrhea talking smack  about one being better than the other? It's a bunch of overrated, overstated, hyper-emotional fan-boy dribble. Millions of people live in homes and apartments. And they live in each one for a variety of very good reasons. Ironically, from a pure feature and app perspective, the line between both systems is very, very blurry. Just take a look at the latest iterations of both and you will see example after example of mutual feature hijacking.  Folks, it is much more about your needs and wants. It is possible that one platform will fiill all your needs. It is also entirely possible that you will use more than one. Take it from me, it is OK. You don't need therapy and your are not cheating if you use both.

 "What? Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"

So where is Microsoft in all this? Much of their success in the mobile space will depend on Windows 8. Yesterday, the Windows 8 Beta was released to millions of people like me. And it is quite different than the Developer Preview that has been floating around since last year. If the OS delivers as many expect, the market will have another big player. What's interesting here is what Windows 8 has become (or was intended to be all along) and the timing of the release. No, Microsoft hasn't accelerated the release due to the current conditions. Remember, the milestone dates and development track was pretty well established three years ago.  What they did was pull a page from the Apple playbook. Now, go back to the top of this paragraph and re-read the quote in bold. 

You need a few more ingredients here. So, allow me to pour some more thoughts into your mental crock pot. Let them simmer a bit and you will be eating the same stew as me in a few short minutes. Bear with me though. I need to switch gears ever so slightly because what I am about to tell you applies to both tablets and PCs. 

First, as you know, Apple and Google have been bare-knuckle boxing with each other, sans Microsoft, thanks to Microsoft's lack of presence in the tablet market. They certainly weren't paying much attention to the Windows 8 OS timetable. After all, Windows 8 was going to be the successor to Windows 7...a PC operating system. Well...surprise! Windows 8 is a tablet and desktop OS, heavy on the tablet. And it looks really, really good. Microsoft now has a window (I know, I know...a real comedian I am).  One of those rare times when, instead of being opportunistic, Microsoft has an opportunity. Apple and Google have succeeded in selling a boatload of devices, thereby creating economies of scale. For those of you less economically inclined (or who don't wish to be reminded of those high school and college economic classes) that means that due to so many people plunking down paper Franklins to buy tablets, the cost of making them continues to go down. This means that Microsoft can jump into the eye of the tablet hurricane instead of the turbulent eye-wall. Put another way, Microsoft gets into the very competitive tablet market, at a lower price point that is still profitable. Very appealing when you are the new guy.  Grand plan? Not likely. Good timing and a bit of luck? Most definitely. But wait, there is more.

Microsoft has one advantage over everyone else: awareness. And this is really important, if played correctly. See, many people and businesses have been in a long-term relationship with Microsoft. And it has been quite a real one, filled with romance, memorable moments, dysfunctionality, and...well...Vista.  Yet it's this level of comfort and familiarity that have kept something like 57% of people away from the Apple cart and the great Google machine, anxiously awaiting a Microsoft  solution.  I know these people all too well as they make up a large majority of customers and friends. Many of them coexist in multiple worlds. Windows PCs and iPADS, Android phones and Mac Books. And yes, still quite a few Blackberries. Microsoft knows that people yearn for seamless consistency between their smartphone, tablet and PC. Windows 8 is poised to do this. And Microsoft will really be the first to do it. A single platform that adapts to the device and the user, with a consistent look and feel regardless of how you use it. Unless Windows 8 completely misses the mark, I predict that legions of people will flock to it early on,  with hopes of that seamless consistency. Believe me the Microsoft marketing engine will be blowing gaskets to get this message our the door. And from what I have already seen, they are going to deliver big time.  Alas, bachelor #3

And Now For The Big Dating Game Kiss

Now then, I will be the first to tell anyone that the elegance and simplicity that Apple and Google deliver in their OS' is very appealing to people, including myself.  And I will also freely admit there are a number of things they both do better than Microsoft. The same is true of many Microsoft features. In many ways, it is like knowing three different languages. You speak English each day but love the romantic elegance of Italian and the passion of Spanish. As each day goes by, words from each language seem to assimilate into the other. Funny how that happens. 

We're about to experience a three-way (no not that kind). So sit back, listen, and enjoy the show. And be comforted in knowing that the winner will be you!