Google’s Nexus One – What Happened to Crowdsourcing?
The Google search engine organizes its webpage information based on user visits to sites resulting from keyword searches.
Google crowd sources their map data using applications that allow users to submit data as well as correct it in both Google maps and Google earth.
They also apply to concept of crowdsourcing to many of their user applications such as Google moderator, Google translate and Google traffic.
With Google basing their success on harnessing the wisdom of the collective to produce superior web applications one has to wonder:
Why didn’t Google use crowdsourcing to design their new android phone: Nexus One?
The hype surrounding the release of the Nexus One promised a revolutionary smart phone, a clear step above Apple Inc.’s i-Phone. What was released however was an underwhelming, slightly improved (in some respects and not others) version of the existing android smart phone.
How does it compare to the i-Phone?
“Coming up with ways in which the iPhone 3GS maintains a formidable lead over the N1 is a cakewalk. The iPhone OS’s interface is less cluttered. There are not only five times more iPhone apps (100,000+ vs. 20,000) but the best ones, such as Tweetie, may be five times better than their Android equivalents. Google doesn’t even seem to be trying to catch up with the iPhone’s entertainment features: Android lets you copy music from a PC but not sync it, and has no provisions for buying or renting video. Bottom line: The iPhone is (still) a more highly evolved, refined device.”
Harry McCracken, Technologizer
Perhaps, Google should have stuck with what works:
User designed product!
Tweet While You Meet!
Want to add an element of collective intelligence to your next meeting or conference? Incorporate inputs from the global community on Twitter!
How often in a meeting or conference have you been participating in a conversation, listening to a presentation or in the midst of the decision making process and thought to yourself “I wish I knew someone with experience to ask or consult”? Well, simply tweet you inquiry and you will be surprised how many experts you’ll know in a very short period of time! This approach is also effective as an accuracy barometer for content – information at the speed of DSL! A perfect example of this can be found here, where a conference participant tells of one experience where twitter was a more accurate and engaging source for information than the conference presenters.
In addition to sourcing information and consulting with experts, Twitter is also a great way to gauge the effectiveness of your meeting strategies – as you are executing them. Imagine, you have prepared a learning activity for your group that you believe is very clear and engaging but as you watch the tweets roll in from your participants you can quickly gauge whether a course correction is in order. This far surpasses the traditional meeting evaluation that occurs at the meetings conclusion when the comments will be less candid and conscise because they are no longer in the moment.
Meeting Planners have begun to use Web 2.o applications such as online surveys to engage meeting delegates in the planning and evaluation process, they now need to forge forward and embrace microblogging as a means to continue the process of delegate interaction during the event. This article “Twitter for Event Planners” is a basic orientation to the application and how to use it effectively for meetings and conferences.
Whether you choose to utilize Twitter to harness information and heighten engagement in your conferences or not, the conversation is happening!
Blio
We’ve heard it before with the advent of the Kindle but this time it could be true – the end of the paper book could very well be upon us.
November 2007, we were told that the Kindle would revolutionize reading and end production of the paper book. In reality however, this generation of e-readers are not as popular as anticipated due mostly to the aesthetics of the reading experience. These devices use E Ink, a black and white display which is fine for text but incompatible with images, and other display options.
Enter Blio, a new e-reading software entirely unlike the others. Created by Ray Kurzweil prolific inventor and author of The Singularity is Near, Blio isn’t a device it is a ‘platform’ designed to run on any device from your home PC to your moblie - eliminating the need for additional devices. Blio sports some impressive features including with full colour graphical display, 2 page view, 3D page turning and web interface, making it a compatible interface for any kind of book from instructional text to childrens illustrated stories vs. it’s text onlycompetitors. The application is free to download and the books can be downloaded directly from either the Blio website or the application itself.
Not surprisingly this advancement in technology has come about as a result of a collaborative venture. Ray Kurzweil and his enterprise Kurzweil Technologies has a joint venture with the National Federation of the Blind called knfb Reading Technology to create reading products for people with disabilities. knfb Reading is the company that has created Blio and most certainly done so with every possible user in mind.
To learn more about Blio visit http://blioreader.com/
