David Pogue’s recent article on Text expanding applications, is what got me thinking about this issue.  Text Expansion applications run in the background and instantly covert shorts strings of text into longer ones to save you time.  For instance, you could use such an app to automatically replace “tsdt” with “They Should Do That” in any program.  Basically, if you find yourself using the same phrases or words all the time these programs are a huge time saver.

Typo Correction

Microsoft Word already does some automatic typo correction, but ultimately it’s just not enough.  For instance, Microsoft word already substitutes some misspellings with matches from the dictionary.  For instance, try typing “correctoin” in Word and it should be converted to “correction” so fast you probably didn’t even notice.  However, it’s still not nearly far reaching enough, for instance Word doesn’t auto-correct “correctiom” even though it’s just one letter off and N and M are right next to each other just like I and O.  Also, this feature is only works in Microsoft word and really typo correction needs to be at an OS level so it can work in all the apps you need it to.  Autohotkey offers a really good auto correction scripts which I am currently experimenting with.

Auto Completion

It’s always baffled me that Microsoft Word lacks adaptive automatic text completion.  Microsoft Excel has text completion for entering data in columns and it’s super useful.  Microsoft Visual Studio has text completion that really speeds up coding.  And of course Microsoft Internet Explorer has text completion for entering URLs.  Yet Microsoft Word offers only limited text completion, for instance, if you begin to type a date, Word will complete the rest.  But this isn’t really adaptive text completion like Excel does and it only applies to certain types of very standardized text input.  True adaptive text completion would learn from what you type and predict the ends of words after just a few keystrokes.  For instance, you’re writing a document in which you will use the word “ecommerce” over and over.  After a few repetitions, when you starting to type “ecom” the app would offer “ecommerce.”  I don’t really mean to pick on MS Word, I’m just pointing out that text completion works well in other applications and I find it strange that the application most people type a lot in doesn’t offer it.  Really all these typing enhancements need to be on an OS level not an application level.

Portability and Standardization

While all these text-input enhancements (text expansion, automatic typo correction, automatic text completion) are great; they really need to be at an OS level and standardized.  While it’s great that Word offers AutoCorrection, which you can use to do text expansion, it’s limited to just Word.  But if all these features are in at the OS level such enhancements can operate in any app you need them to. 

Additionally, it would be ideal if the data stored to make these enhancement work were in a standardized format that could easily be ported (and synchronized) across multiple computers and devices.  For instance, if I create a bunch of useful text expansion strings, it’d like to be able to easily move them to my mobile phone or another device.

Why does this matter?

Some of you might be wondering if any of this is even necessary.  Obviously, people have been typing out whole words on keyboards for over a century.  There are two main reasons why this matters.  First, such enhancements will make text entry quicker, easier, and more accurate.  Imagine responding to a mountain of e-mails in much less time than it takes you now, or writing a lengthy document without having to type the same words over and over.  The second reason has to do with mobile devices.  Improving the way we enter text on our computing devices will have huge benefits to portable computers and other mobile devices by making on-screen keyboards, tiny keyboards, and even handwriting recognition competitive alternatives to full size keyboards.  Also by eliminating the need for a full size keyboard new possibilities in design and form-factor for mobile devices are possible.

You see that little gap in the top of the tea bag, right by the string? At first I thought it was a manufacturing error, like the glue machine missed a spot. But after getting an whole box of Lipton tea with the identical gap I started to think it wasn't an accidental. Finally I realized the little gap isn't a defect, it's a design improvement. You see a normal teabag can actually trap air inside, and you end up with an air bubble in your teabag instead of water filtering through. That little gap in the top of the Lipton tea bag allows air to escape so more water can pass through the leaves. Pretty clever. This is my first box of Lipton tea in ages, so I have no clue how long their bags have been like this.

When I first read about the new Microsoft ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, I was really skeptical.  The match-up seemed strange; Bill Gates has pretty much stepped down from Microsoft and a Mac was always perched atop Jerry's desk in "Seinfeld."  But after watching the first ad several times, I think it’s incredibly successful (and hilarious).  Unfortunately, I seem to have the minority opinion (more on that later).

The purpose of the ad, and perhaps the entire $300 million campaign, is simply to improve people's opinions about Microsoft.  All of Vista's bad press has hurt Microsoft, and it needs do something.  Obviously improving Vista is important, but all the improvements they make could be insufficient if people still have an overwhelmingly negative impression of Microsoft.  If people begin to like Microsoft more they'll not only be more receptive to future products (and product improvements) but they'll be more forgiving if things aren't perfect at first.  And that’s a problem only advertising and PR can tackle.

Why Bill Gates?

Casting Bill Gates in the ads is a brilliant strategy.  Bill Gates is far more likeable than people give him credit for.  Even people who don’t like Microsoft, can’t help but admire Bill Gates.  After all, he became the richest person in the US by starting and running his own company.  It’s hard not to be impressed with success like that.  He’s also regarded as extremely (intimidatingly) smart, and his heroic philanthropic efforts don’t hurt his image either.  Still Gates has a casual appearance that’s quite disarming and endearing.  He also keeps a very low profile and rarely appears publicly.  In the end, Gates is the real celebrity of the ad; we’ve all seen Jerry Seinfeld on TV hundreds of times, but most of us have only seen Bill Gates on TV a couple of times (if that).  

But Gates doesn’t just appear in the ad for his celebrity and likability, his appearance has symbolic value too.  When a company falters, people want accountability and reassurance from a figure they know.  Invoking the CEO in some public fashion is the best way to signal to people “We recognize we have a problem, and we’ve got our best guy on it.”  That's exactly what Crispin Porter + Bogusky has done by casting Gates in the ads.  Gates’s appearance in the ads is a symbolic apology for Vista, or at the very least a public acknowledgement of a PR problem.  After all, if these ads weren’t really important there’s no way Bill Gates would be wiggling his low-profile, semi-retired butt for Microsoft.

Target audience

An obvious approach for the ad campaign would be to target big enterprise customers that represent the majority of Microsoft’s business and try to sell them on Vista using logic and persuasion.  The problem is that so many people have formed such negative impressions of Microsoft and Vista that logic and persuasion might not work.  Also, there’s the even bigger problem that if you are satisfied with Windows XP, Vista probably isn’t worth the expense or trouble of upgrading.  Microsoft needs a different approach to be effective.

The key insight Crispin Porter + Bogusky brought to the ads is that they must change people’s impression of Microsoft and even how they feel about Microsoft.   To do this, the ads need to appeal to people on an emotional level.  Humor is the perfect way to do that.  By making the ad really funny and quirky, it doesn’t appeal to our intellect, it appeals to our emotions. This makes the ads much memorable and effective.  The ad is also able to work on a very wide audience, from everyday home users to people who will make big purchasing decision in their enterprises about Microsoft products.  Essentially the ad does double duty.

By comparison, the old Microsoft “your potential, our passion” ads attempted to be inspiring but were very generic and ambiguous.  The repetition of the phrase “we see…” over and over again gave viewers creepy sensation that Microsoft is watching and impossible to escape.  Not the impression you want to give when your software runs on something like 90% of computers in the world.

Why the ad works

Ultimately the ad works because you like Bill Gates, or you now like Bill Gates even more and (hopefully) some of those warm fuzzy feelings will bleed over into your impression of Microsoft.  But the ad also works, because it’s extremely funny.  It makes you smile and that can’t help but affect your opinion of Microsoft (even just a little).  The comedic timing in the ad is great, and Seinfeld and Gates work surprisingly well together.  The ad seems to acknowledge the weird mash-up of the two (worlds collide!) and push it to extreme absurdity (where does a guy like Bill Gates by his shoes anyway?).

But there’s more than the symbolism and humor.  There’s content there, not much but just a little.  The real content of the ad is when Seinfeld asks Gates:

“I’d imagine that over the years, you’ve mind melded your magnum Jupiter brain to those other Saturn ring brains at Microsoft?”

And Gates, very proudly and confidently answers “I have.”

That tiny interaction and its delivery are meant to instill confidence in Microsoft, and it works.

The Criticism

The response toward the Gates and Seinfeld ads has been mostly negative.  Admittedly, I haven’t read all the criticism out there about the ad, but most of what I’ve read is along the lines of “I don’t get it” or “These ads are weird.”  Well here’s the thing, there’s not a lot to get.  Just like there’s nothing to “get” about frogs that have learned how to croak “Bud-weis-er” or claymation bunnies invading Manhattan and becoming a tidal wave.  I think the real problem here is that people aren't used to seeing Microsoft do something as original and creative as these ads and are a little confused by the whole thing.  Which is really a shame, because that's exactly what the ad is meant to combat.  As of late, the ads featuring Gates and Seinfeld have been put on hold for some ads that take on Apple's Mac and PC ads.  More on that later.

The biggest issue I have with the prevalence of product variations on store shelves is that it's caused some companies to wrongly conclude that simply creating lots of products is an effective product development strategy.  After all, when browsing the aisles of the supermarket it's easy to assume that the all those pasta sauces are just a result of what's easy to manufacturer or part of a clever marketing scheme.  But as Gladwell discusses, the origins of product variations came from exhaustive research.  So the strategy isn't just making a lot of products, it's using research to make new products that address previously unknown consumer desires.  I think some companies, particularly in consumer technology, have missed this point and are just creating a lot of products with little or no research and analysis.  This is one way that product variations become product spam, and it's an approach that only serves to demonstrate the company has no clue what people want.

Then there are the "me too" products.  This is when a company enters a large or growing product segment just to glean whatever sales they can, despite not having anything original to contribute.  More often then not the company who's brand name is on the product had nothing to do with it's creation and outsourced it's creation or rebranded someone else's product.  These are the worst types of product spam because they often just distract customers from quality products.  Also, it's not uncommon for the company to have little to no commitment to the products and consequently offer little customer support.

Will it ever stop?

The big downside to product spam, is that I don't see it going away anytime soon.  While product spam isn't effective at creating interesting or meaningful products, it does seem to be effective at boosting sales.  A company with a lot of products and product variations can cause its competitor's products to get lost on the store shelves (or search results), which yield more sales.  Also, just by creating a lot of products, the company can present an image of having expertise in that product area, whether or not the products are any good or not.  Companies can also use a big selection of products to influence the buyers for retail chains.  Invariably some buyers will be too busy to properly research the products (or just conclude that they don't know what customers want either) and just purchase some of everything, again yielding a larger order for the manufacturer.  Even those me too products will generate a lot of sales when placed in the right retailers.

What's interesting to me about is how Sprint has been disadvantaged by being a first-mover.  Sprint was the first company to offer digital cell service back in the 1990s.  At the time Sprint's CDMA network offered features and call quality that the competing analog networks couldn't touch.  Back then CDMA networks were a bit more proven then the competing GSM standard and it seemed like a safe bet.  However, GSM networks quickly caught up and became much more popular globally.  Now GSM networks have about an 80% market share.  Consequently, the number of CMDA compatible handsets became limited.  It's really disappointing to see a pioneer of digital cell service fall behind.  And I have to say, part of the reason I've stayed with Sprint so long is because of its heritage.  But since getting my current phone, a MOTOSLVR, I've had it with second rate hardware and I don't plan to renew my contract with Sprint.  Also, the iPod touch has really wet my appetite for an iPhone.

I'm on a perpetual quest for the perfect computer mouse.  I find something wrong with almost every mouse I use: wireless mice - too heavy, Microsoft mice - comfy but kinda plain looking, Logitech mice - the high pitched click sound grates on me (I WISH I were kidding), Apple mice - pretty, but not that comfy and hard to clean, gaming mice - expensive and ugly... I could go on.  The one brand of mice I always like are Wacom mice.  They look great, have all the right features, and they're super comfortable.  The problem is they only work on a Wacom drawing tablet.  Which is why Wacom should make regular USB (and Bluetooth) mice with high sensitivity tracking.  Wacom mice could be really popular with style conscious customers and anyone looking for something a little nice than the standard mouse.  In fact just writing this has me thinking if it would be possible to cobble one together with an existing Wacom mouse and a USB mouse.

Google Maps on the iPod touch is great but with only Wi-Fi for internet access, it's often inaccessible when you need it most: in the car. I'm really hoping someone uses the new iPhone SDK to create a Maps application that works offline by locally saving maps of the entire US. Even iPhone users could find this useful as it would probably run much faster than Google Maps over the EDGE network.

Ok, you're probably thinking, "Zini-what and Texteri-who?"  Zinio and Texterity are both companies that convert print editions of popular magazines into digital replicas that can be read online.  The digital edtion looks just like the original magazine, ads and all, but boasts some very handy features like searchable text, web-links, and a simplified table of contents.  You can check out sample magazines by Texterity and Zinio for free.  Both have some impressive titles and offer way more selection than is available for the Kindle.  As I wrote before, I think magazines could be a killer app for the Kindle, but they need more titles and a way to deliver full-color editions which can be read from your PC.  Purchasing either Zinio or Texterity would help accomplish both those objectives.  Of course, Amazon already has it's own Amazon Online Reader which delivers faithful reproductions of books, so the actual software and methods may be less attractive then the magazine titles they would gain in an acquisition.   Also, both Texterity and Zinio have created online readers optimized for the iPhone, which could prove to be a tough rival to the Kindle.  By purchasing Zinio or Texterity, Amazon could control their competition better or even profit from it.

Reader Paul sent this in, and I totally love the idea of transparent Post-it Notes.  I'm not sure if it's just a concept product or something we actually may see one day soon.  Either way, I'd totally use them.  3M should jump on this if they haven't already.

Transparent Post-It Notes on Noisy Decent Graphics

Through a rather odd turn of events, I'm now the proud owner of a 32GB iPod Touch.  Looks like I'll no longer be using my trusty 20GB iPod 4G (sigh).  Anyways, I've been using it for several days now and it's great.  I actually wrote a full review, but decided it was too long and way too boring.  So I've boiled it down to some highlights. 

• The iPod Touch is incredibly thin, yet feels really solid.
• The Sleep/Wake button is super useful and perfectly placed.  I love it.
• Love that the headphone jack is on the bottom.
• The iPod Touch looks really plain though, it almost doesn't look like an Apple product.  There's nothing cute about the iPod Touch; the dark bezel seems really out of character for an iPod.

Music Playback

• Double tapping the "Home" button displays music playback controls (play/pause, next, previous, and volume) from any application or even sleep.  It's fast and easy to use, but I still wish the Touch had volume buttons on the side like the iPhone, and a third for play/pause.
• Coverflow sorts albums by artist THEN album, it's awesome!
• Music playback is fast thanks to flash memory.
• Wish I could put music shortcuts (e.g. artists, shuffle songs) on the home screen.  This thing may run OS X, but it's still an iPod.

Podcast Playback

• A blue dot is displayed next to any podcasts you haven't started playing which is really helpful to tell which ones you've started but not finished.
• It doesn't display podcast descriptions.  Boo.
  
• Using the scrubber to seek to a certain point is a little tricky on a hour long podcast.  One trick I've found is to tap the scrubber, then slide my finger down.  The scrubber still drags, but it's easier to position without your finger in the way.
  

Safari

• Best portable web browser.
• Text and images look amazingly crisp and clear.
• Wish it could save passwords, with a master password like Firefox.
• Embedded YouTube videos should launch in the YouTube application.  Seems like a no-brainer... Does it already do this, somebody clue me in...

Photos and Videos

• Hi-res photos become low-res when you transfer them to the iPod Touch.  Not sure if there's a workaround for this yet.
  
• Video playback is fine.
• I think David Lynch has it right, I can't imagine watching a movie on the Touch or really anything longer than 45 minutes.  Still, I've been known to do crazy things when I'm bored...

Other

• The Weather application rocks.
• Using this thing can't help but make you want an iPhone.
• Can't wait for "official" apps.
• Also, I really wish I could save PDFs, web pages, and other files to it.