RSS feedsThere are plenty of signs that the tech-and-web world is becoming more balanced, open and competitive. Nexus One – Google’s smartphone or, in its own words, the “web meets phone device” – is the first gadget to give Apple’s iPhone real competition and customers a real choice.
And in the web world, Microsoft is offering Windows users in Europe a choice of browsers. From next month, users of Windows XP/Vista/7 who have Internet Explorer as their default browsers will be greeted by a pop-up allowing them to install, among others, Google’s Chrome, Mozilla’s Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Opera and AOL.
The search engine world is changing too. It’s moved beyond Google to Bing and WolframAlpha, bringing colour to your search palette. It’s happening at the same time as a strong push for net-neutrality – the principle that all internet traffic should be treated equally, without being tiered and without network providers deciding what data users should see.
And as well as more phones and browser options there are more types of e-readers, e-books, micro-blogging sites, social networks, feedreaders and technology tools and applications.
It all represents a broader choice that should benefit the user. But are we shopping around enough to decide what suits us best? Are we using the right tools? And do we have the ability to move to a new one if it suits our needs better? The answer to all these is no.
Here’s a quick statistic. A study by oneDrum found that while 72% of UK small businesses offer staff the option to work from home, 61% of their staff never take it up. Why? Reasons range from not having the technology in place to the need to use documents that can only be accessed from the office. Businesses and employees just need to look around. By combining free and paid-for tools they would be able to connect, network, collaborate, access information and work securely and efficiently.
Within organisations, professionals can instantly connect through instant messaging, but more than half still use email – a technology that is slow, time-consuming and limited in reach.
In addition, social media is restricted to just a few names. It needn’t be: Twitter is good for microblogging, but so is Tumblr and identi.ca. For more specific needs, there is Pownce for file sharing and microblogging, and Squeelr adds location and pictures to information while hiding user accounts for microblogging from phones.
Now is the time to make a shift to faster search and content processors. For instance, search engine CrowdEye and aggregator Scoopler include social media in their indexation and aggregation of information, and they present content on the basis of the discussions devoted to it and its importance.
Push the boundaries and test technologies such as vlogs, crowdsourcing, VoIP, podcasts, social bookmarking, social tagging, internet forums and social network integration. The chances are that you can get precisely what you want if you look for it.
