Will Google Inbox change email forever?

Google has announced a new product called Inbox, which is a snazzy new way to look at your email. One reviewer pointed out that it looks like Google Now and Gmail combined. Inbox is being rolled out by invitation only. Anyone can request to be added to the waiting list at inbox@google.com. I sent my request last week and I’m looking forward to see what can be done with it.

A list of features: 

• Bundle messages: promotions in one place, purchases in one place, travel in one place. 
• Create your own bundles.
• Highlights at a glance, without opening the message.
• Reminders or to-dos can be added to the top of your inbox.  The example shows the reminder pulling in information about the event. In this case a restaurant address, phone number and hours.
• The option to time reminders or snooze them.

Generally I don’t think it is a good idea to use email as a to do list. It is too easy to create a list that is not doable. I attempted using the To Do function in Outlook several times. I like my to do list to be more independent.

Inbox is suppose to be able to pull information together for the to do list. The example worked like this: A reminder is made and it goes to the top of the list. Then extra information is gathered automatically to help complete the task.  Sounds really cool.

Overall i’m very optimistic about this product. I really like all of Google’s products, so I’m a little biased.

It looks like the real advantage of this product belongs to mobile users. Not sure it is going to translate well to the desktop. But you never know until you know.

Go ahead and request an invitation by sending an email to inbox@google.com. Kick the tires and see what happens.

The upside to disposable tech

The upside to “essentially disposable” technology is that more people now control the means to production. Seth Godin has written volumes on this idea. Here is the short version.

During the industrial revolution the person who controlled the means of production controlled everything. As manufacturing progressed manufacturers sought ways to cut cost. Which led to automation, cuts in employment and outsourcing.

Flash forward to today. We live in a post-industrial world. Some call it a connection economy others refer to it as a knowledge based economy. The chief tools in this economy are the laptop and the internet.

Once you have access to a laptop and internet, you are free to work from any location at any time. At that moment you control the means of production.

The upside of disposable technology is that more people can get their hands on it.

Essentially disposable

I was reading an article about the Kindle Fire HD 6 when I came across this phrase “inexpensive enough to be essentially disposable” and that caused me to pause and think about the consequences of disposable devices.

The first thought that came to mind was the razor and razor blade model. Consider this; in the 1990’s I received a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo in the mail from Gillette. I still use it today. The handle and first blade were free. But all subsequent blades are very expensive and yet they are disposable. This is how I see personal computer industry moving forward.

Cloud computing is essentially free. If you have a gmail account, then you also have access to all of Google’s cloud computing tools. When you buy an Apple product, you get access to an iCloud account. The cloud product / service is the handle. Take a moment and think of other  free services that are available; such as Dropbox and Evernote.

But we must have a device to access the tools. Now the devices have become “essentially disposable”. I don’t know about you, but I think $100 is still quite a bit for something to be considered disposable. Of course that phrase really has more to do with the production of the device more than the consumption of the device. It has become cheaper to produce and that leads to waste.

Following the model that every new thing creates its own problems, here are a few questions about the future of disposable devices.

• What happens to our disposable devices?
• How is this going to affect our environment (manufacturing and disposal)?
• Will devices become cheap enough for lower income families to think of them as disposable?
• Doesn’t everyone need WIFI coverage at this point in time?

When something becomes to cheap to matter, we tend to waste it.  That creates it own set of problems. Problems we need to consider now.

Get the most out of digital tools

Our society is acquiring more and more personal digital devices all the time. It makes me wonder how many people are using the devices to maximum efficiency. Here are four things to do to get the most out of your digital tools.

Decide exactly what you want to accomplish. I believe this step is going to become more important as we move into the future. Truth is we have too much stuff battling for our attention. It is easier to become distracted. That means we all have to focus more intently. Ask the question what is the ultimate goal.

Determine the amount of effort the tool requires. Let’s face it we generally don’t like to put much effort into learning new things. So before spending the money on a device, find out how to get the maximum benefit. Then decide if you really want to put forth the effort.

Put forth the effort to use the tool. I’ve seen Smartbands sitting on desks for months. The owners never bothered to check their progress or use the social aspect of the tool. So they never saw the benefit from the tool. The tool became a burden. Please if you are going to spend money on a digital device, take the time to use it.

Create a workspace to put the tool into full use. It is easy to put your new toy down on a table and forget about it. What I suggest it creating a special space for that tool. The rule is simple: every tool in its place, a place for every tool. Make a workspace to use all features of the tool.

Digital gadgets are expensive. Save yourself some time and money. Think about how you are going to use the tool and if you will put forth the effort needed before buying the new gadget.

But we never learned how to collaborate

When an organization names a leader of even the smallest team, they need to empower that leader to make changes and lead their team. Likewise the team leader should empower team members to contribute and collaborate. Often what happens is the leader is given enough authority to resume responsibility, but not enough to actually lead. More than likely the person in charge of the organization never learned to collaborate.

Remember in school when the teacher would divide the class into team for group projects. There was always one team that excelled and then there was the team that couldn’t get it together. In the end the team passed as long as you participated and produced a fairly decent project. The point of the exercise was to teach teamwork and collaboration. But no one was actually taught how to collaborate.

Fast forward to college, career and volunteering. Suddenly we are expected to know how to collaborate on a much larger scale. But we never learned. So when we hear stories about companies that excel at collaboration we get hung up the mechanics of what they are doing. That is probably the reason most offices have whiteboards.

For collaboration to take place there has to be culture that supports collaboration. When the only voice that matters is the that of the boss, collaboration is hopelessly lost. Meetings meant to gather ideas in end up being meetings where everyone receives marching orders.

 

We are the media now

 

News flows through our social feeds all day long.  We share it with friends, family coworkers and friends of friends and friends of the guy down the street. Which makes us a trusted source. That is how satirical stories and hoaxes are spread as truth. We are the media now, it’s time to verify before we post.

The future of buying

Apple Pay is now live. Of course we have to own an iPhone 6 or update to the new iOS on our tablets. But it is live. So what does this mean for the future of buying? Probably not that much until the infrastructure is rolled out at a mall near you. But I suspect, in App purchases will be quite different.

According to Apple in App purchases only require selecting a button while holding our finger over the Touch ID. Whereas in-store purchases require a contactless reader. This could take showrooming to new heights. We could purchase an item before leaving the store without anyone being the wiser.

Mobile devices just became much more valuable.

 

Get good at anything

To make the most of our opportunities and challenges, we must speed up our ability to learn. According to Josh Kaufman, in his book The First 20 Hours, we can learn any new skill in twenty hours.

Here is how to do it:

• Decide what you want. 
• Deconstruct the skill. 
• Research the skill just enough.
• Eliminate barriers to practice.
• Recommit to practice

We are not talking about mastering a skill. We are talking about learning a skill well enough to accomplish a task. The key to Kaufman’s approach is deciding exactly what we want to do. He uses the example of learning to speak French well enough to order off a menu at a restaurant with a French speaking waiter.

The next most important action is committing to practice the twenty hours.

Want to learn more? Watch Josh Kaufman on The Good Life Project and  TEDxCSU talk. Also pickup a copy of The First 20 Hours from the Jellyfish Project Amazon Store.

I receive a percentage of all items bought through the Jellyfish Principle Amazon Store.

It is hard to win back business

Providing a great service or product is always easier than trying to win back a client. Once trust has been broken, it is nearly impossible to restore.

But when a client comes to us with a complaint, it is best to not brush it off. We certainly should not spend that conversation trying to convince them that we care about them. Instead we should admit our mistake and make it right.

It is always best to offer great service, exhibit genuine concern, and be transparent about procedures that affect service.

Free to choose the delivery system

In recent years “internet television” has become all the rage. People are cutting the cord and subscribing to services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon to watch TV.  HBO has announced plans to offer their product as a web-only service beginning in 2015. What is causing this disruption? Cable and satellite systems are no longer needed to deliver the service or product. 

Likewise more people are abandoning the traditional workplace and are turning to the internet to deliver the product or service they offer. One reason this is happening is because jobs are disappearing. Another reason is that people are beginning to realize that we no longer need the traditional delivery system of “jobs” to deliver our product or service. We simply need a computer and an internet connection.

The Future of Jobs

An Economist article entitled The Onrushing Wave notes that more and more jobs will be lost to automation in the form of computers and software. New skills will be needed to get and keep available jobs.

Business Insider reports that during testimony to a Washington D.C. think tank The American Enterprise Institute, Bill Gates said “Software substitution, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses… it’s progressing… Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set.”

No one likes to think they are at the lower end of a skill set. Unfortunately what was once considered a low skill set job is not the only job in the category. Thanks to automation and advances in software any job that can be described in a series of written tasks is in danger of becoming low skilled labor.

Good Enough vs Average is Dead

We live in a society that is willing to accept good enough products that are made cheaply. This idea goes beyond big box stores, think in terms of information. A highly qualified person creates a report while earning a high wage. A nearly identical report can be generated by a lower wage worker and now a job is relocated to another area. Fast forward to a day when software can generate a good enough report produced by software and an overworked employee.

Ironically, our new world will ditch the average employee and gladly replace them with a good enough product. The future of good paying jobs in whatever form, belongs to those who can produce remarkable work. The opportunity is finding the market for excellent work.