It is not new news that there is almost ungraspable amounts of data pinging around the world, and data is growing at an amazing rate. Those rather knowledgeable bods at Cisco have come up with a lovely infographic, from which this is just a part so you can get your head around the relativity of scale of data metrics. Kinda makes the fact that my work inbox has just been downgraded to a max 1gb even more of a joke....
This is pure genius: For those of us that spend hours a day stuck behind a keyboard, often out of sight of nature, then you need to bookmark this RIGHT NOW:
Have a play with the rather fun "What do you love" variant of the search engine. Nice touch using the heart for the "search" button.
Doesn't say much about either the algorithms they've applied to this exercise though if the results that come up for sailing products are nil though...., either that or possibly the search engine optimisation of the products pages of the sailing technical gear experts like Musto and Henri Lloyd need some serious work!
I did rather like this content framework from the Jess3 crowd. The fact they started the path to purchase with "bored at work" tickled me. If only I had chance for that.
There's no shortage of maps and infographics around social networking kicking around the web, what's big where, how big etc etc but I do rather like this one from my chums over at Global Web Index which takes a view of the world more from a Forrester technographic ladder perspective:
Cash. It's heavy, it's dirty (money is well known to harbour all manner of germs), it disappears far too fast, and having to go to get some more means making an effort that many of us could live without.
Many years ago someone gave me one of those fun-but-random books on made up words that should really exist. One of the more memorable ones was "coinophony" the noise made by jangling coins in your pocket. Some see it as a satisfying boredom-busting activity, others as downright annoying noise, but perhaps it's a word that will cease to be relevant at all with NFC (Near Field Communication) becoming an increasing reality.
I can already swipe my Barclays Connect card against readers in certain retail outlets for small purchases, but mobile handsets that have the same swipe and pay functionality have been all over all the big tech shows this year and will be in the hands of consumers over the coming months. There's is already a live in market test going on in Poland. With new phones having the technology built in and more investment in infrastructure from retailers we will no doubt see the days numbered of the phone, keys, wallet check before leaving the house.
We're already seeing that consumers' search habits change between a desktop and a handheld mobile device; what they are searching for, when, and how quickly they make a decision or increasingly opt to purchase there and then is different. Imagine in a joined up, connected world with your phone-that's-now-also-your-wallet never far from your hand, the opportunities to convert interest into purchase in a shorter, smoother journey.
Here's a nice video from Google that makes the point.
Maybe it's moving house that's making me count pennies particularly carefully at the minute, but in possibly the most genius example I have seen recently of harnessing the power of technology to deliver positive behavioural change in consumers, I offer you Westpac New Zealand's Impulse Saver app. Shame the nice explanation on the site is all in Flash and takes an age to load, isn't skippable etc, but persevere or if not watch the not so groovy version below.
It is designed to help you save the $ you might fritter away on snacks, coffee and magazines and make that money work harder for you. Harnessing the fact that more and more people have smart phones, and the fact that they are always likely to be close to hand / wallet whilst you are in the queue at the newsagent. Making saving EASIER and accountable is all part of a broader trend of how technology, mobile, and better consumer access to data via visualisation is coming together to make our lives smarter. I have no doubt that Facebook's recent acquisition of the Daytum team, themselves behind the fabulous Feltron Report was no co-incidence.
Having recently had several run-ins with various banks and credit card providers whilst trying to do something as simple as change my address (net result, 3 cards / accounts closed, because it was all too hard / they insisted despite numerous rounds of ID security, and multiple "can I speak to your manager" elevations, I had to go to a branch....) I am all in favour of simpler, smarter banking. This is 2011 Santander, Barclays, Barclaycard, Nationwide, as particular villains. Take note!
Thanks to a little bit of crowdsourcing from the teams I work with, what started off with me sharing a random but humorous Tumblr I tripped over somehow somewhere, a flurry of random finds from the interweb flooded my way. Given that in the whirlwind my life has been over the last few months the posts have been a little few and far between, I thought I'd share them just for fun, please hang your PC hats by the door first:
I liked this infographic from Microsoft Tag, which starts to look at the purchase journey when the smartphone empowered consumer can shop whenever they like.
A self-confessed girl-geek, digital strategist & marketing consultant with a passion for technology, and the power and potential the digital space offers brands and consumers. I never cease to be amazed by the creativity that I find on the web, so this blog is my platform for sharing my finds and thoughts. All the views presented here are my own.
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