brc: Nothing to do with you
Content a Tough Sell in Europe - "Analysts at Jupiter Media Metrix, the Internet research company behind this latest study, said that in 2001 Europeans spent €590 million on content for their cell phones, almost twice the €252 million spent on desktops. The analysts estimate that by 2006, European consumers will spend €3.3 billion on cell-phone content, compared to €1.7 billion on home computers."
Here we go with those billion figures again. Personally, I don't do much commuting, I'm not a teenager, I hate predictive text. But I can blog from my phone -- though why, I don't know. But when the screen gets to be as good as my laptop (they can do millions of pixels per inch rather than the usual 72dpi of CRT screens), when they sort out the keyboard, when I can get a T1 connection both ways -- then I'll be interested. And all that is coming. Hell, most of it is already in Japan, right now.
New Scientist: Mobile Phones: Write here, write now:" The kids are going to love this. You walk up to the teacher's desk with a little practical joke in mind. Your mobile phone suddenly bleeps, and you hear a soft whisper in your ear: "MAJOR bad mood today-don't try anything." You think better of the prank and decide to avoid certain detention. All thanks to an invisible SMS message placed in the air above the teacher's desk."
Invisable Post-It notes in the air, or even graffitti? They've got my attention!
HBS Publishing: Turn Customer Input into Innovation - "What usually happens is this: Companies ask their customers what they want. Customers offer solutions in the form of products or services. Companies then deliver these tangibles, and customers just don't buy. The reason is simple -- customers aren't expert or informed enough to come up with solutions. That's what your R&D team is for. Rather, customers should be asked only for outcomes -- what they want a new product or service to do for them. The form the solutions take should be up to you, and you alone."
Another good book for me to read... Warning! Information overload. Warning! Information overload.
European Business Skills Training Defies Slowdown to Reach $13 Billion by 2006 - "Despite the temporary economic slowdown, the European business skills training market is rising at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.9% and will reach $13 billion in revenue in 2006, according to IDC research. By 2005, IDC estimates that over 27% of business skills training content will be provided via elearning, representing a CAGR of 108.2% over a five-year period."
I do love these grandiose billion figures. But for sure, the e-learning business is going to boom. You usually get, not just web pages but instant messaging tutors 'talking' you through things, so it more than interactive, it's immersive. One other good thing about it, the teacher can't throw the blackboard duster at you as my old Welsh Language teacher used to do to me.
