Author Archives: Jason

About Jason

Innovation | Transformation | Success. And for fun - running, Karate, the universe and Star Wars. Made in Hong Kong.

It’s in the clouds

A very topical topic for this post – cloud computing. It’s everywhere and growing exponentially. I love the photo below – taken down our road of the telegraph pole (is that still the right term for it?) that pretty much every telephone (and therefore broadband connection) down this part of the road comes from…

Cloud technology is now and it’s about using computing as a utility service – i.e. you use and pay for what you need, when you need it and even where you need it. Versus the more traditional approach of doing everything locally where you are and investing in your own (quite often expensive) hardware and software. It’s not a new approach as such, and has similarities with the mainframe services from way back.

A great example of cloud computing, is in the consumer world with smartphones. I expect to be able to access my e-mails, music, photos, videos, documents and more, wherever and whenever I want and in the way I want. I don’t want to have to sit down at a designated computer (yes even my lovely iMac) and only be able to access things then. What if I’m away and need something urgently? Cloud computing means I can use services that store my data for me and that I can access through the “cloud” – i.e. with an internet connection. Not just my data but tools and utilities and applications that I want to use as well. My smartphone is my access portal to the cloud.

Here’s a link to a great blog post from Kevin Fielder – a fellow IT professional (specialising in security) – that talks about this more and also 2 other current trends we’re seeing in technology, that all link together:

BYOD – bring your own device
Consumerisation of IT

Both phrases I’m sure most people have heard of as well. But what are they?

In short BYOD is the cultural change over recent years where businesses are allowing their employees to bring in and use their own technology equipment at work and accessing their work technology resources (e.g. e-mail) through that device. Yes there are security and support implications but these need to be and are being resolved. Gone are the days when my work technology equipment is by default the latest and greatest, it’s me the consumer driving this (with the latest smartphone or tablet) and I want all my data – work and personal – accessible in one place, and yes I can be more productive like that.

The consumerisation of IT fits neatly in here as well. As Kevin rightly says, it’s about the blurring of the differences between technology at businesses and for consumers. I want to be able to do everything from one device, whenever and wherever I want. And hey if it’s my device, I’ve paid for it and I’m more than likely paying for any monthly charges! Think about that.

The image above shows cloud computing more from a business standpoint, showing what type of services I (as a business) can access through the cloud. Creating technology as a true utility service – much like businesses use electricity (without their own generators to create their own) – means that businesses can focus on what they do best and still deliver services using the best technology without massive investments that have to be depreciated after a few years and yes then upgraded.

Another great definition of cloud computing is below…

And going back to my first photo to finish. Although I’m now using the cloud for my technology, I’m still reliant on this older technology (through the telegraph pole) to get my access. If that’s not there I’m stuffed quite frankly – not internet connection. Where’s the redundancy here? What have my (my road’s) telco provider done to ensure continuity of service if a storm blows this down? Are consumers thinking about this? Not really. What about businesses? As part of any move to the cloud, businesses need to look at considerations like this urgently.

The 45 minute barrier has been cracked again!

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Back to the running theme. Only 3.5 weeks until the British 10k. Here’s a quick reminder of the route of the race…

It goes past some of London’s best known (and best) sites and we’ll be able to wave (quickly) at the Queen in Buckingham Palace on way past. With all the roads closed running along routes like this, it’s special and reminds you what a cool city London is.

For more details on the route and history around the places see below…

It’s going to be a busy race – with some 25,000 runners expected but they’ll be a real buzz about. The Olympics starts here only a few weeks after and part of the route is the same as planned Olympic Marathon route – very cool.

It starts at 9:35 I think – so not too early. It’s always a joy commuting up to central London for that time on a Sunday morning though – and typically there’s a normal Sunday train schedule running (i.e. not very frequent).

I’m aiming for a finish time of around 43 minutes on the day. It may be difficult to start at the right pace depending on people traffic but the overall time is do-able. I did a great 10k run (on the local roads) a week after the London Marathon and got just under 45 minutes. A few others since then a bit slower but then a great great run yesterday (same route) and 30 seconds faster. Sub-44 or even sub-43 is a possibility!

The winner last year came home in just over 29 minutes – that’s insane and awesome. At the 4 minutes 35 seconds per mile pace again. Which means they’re 2 miles ahead of me then – 30% of the race. Amazing!

I’m really looking forward to this run and pushing myself.

How do you make money with streaming media?

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A great post here, on a very similar theme to the post I did last week about digital content consumption and the need for changing business models and how content creators (such as artists) get paid. Care of tuneCORE.

Can Artists Get Rich In A Streaming Music Industry? | TuneCorner Music Blog.

Asks some great questions… In the digital world, will artists make the same money they did in the physical world? Who’ll make the money? What business models will work? How will you access and consume digital content (music in the case of the post but similar questions for all types of digital content)? Yes the article is by tuneCORE who provide services for artists moving to the online and digital world – so a bit of a sales pitch for them. I have no links to them whatsoever – other than being interested in the same space. But very very relevant and topical questions, in the digital world.

And streaming of content is very much in-line with what I’ve been saying about the changing needs for “owning” content. I don’t want physical media taking up space in the house any more or even digital media taking up storage space. I want to be able to access my content whenever I want, wherever I am and however I want.

“Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” – the very aptly named single from The Who from 1945…

What are you doing about moving your business online and consumers’ changing habits for getting and consuming content? Anything? Nothing?

10 reasons why Darth Vader was an amazing project manager

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A work theme for project management and consultancy, plus Star Wars? Genius. A great post I had to share care of GeekWire and written by Brandon Koeller (link here takes you to Brandon’s blog).

10 reasons why Darth Vader was an amazing project manager

And they are:

Prioritisation according to strategic values
Decision making based on objective data
Deliver on committments
Take time out to keep perspective
Pre-emptively manage risks and expectations
Be persuasive
Pick a methodology and stick with it (until it doesn’t work)
Push through challenges and find solutions
It’s never too late to make changes to plans
Get involved and be prepared to get your hands dirty

Darth Vader as a good project manager? Bet that never crossed your mind until now! With the work he did in episodes 1, 2 and 3, before 4, 5 and 6, he could even be a Galactic programme manager.

May The Force Be With You…

How to focus in the age of distraction? And a 10k run.

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A superb mind-map from Learning Fundamentals in Australia about how to focus in the age of distraction…

With so much going on these days and the constant and growing need to feel and be connected, this is a great little pointer for how to better manage it all, and not get too consumed by it.

How often do you check e-mails?
Do you turn your phone off?
Do you use to-do lists?
Is there too much digital information?
Do you get much exercise?

A great link there back to running. Running for me is a great distractor in itself – I’ve said before I don’t listen to music when I run and that helps me focus my mind on the running. The pure freedom of just getting out and running is unbeatable and with the ability to keep pushing and improving yourself.

It’s the British 10k in less than one month’s time. My training plan is going ok. 4 runs per week being done – pretty much, bar the week when my sister was over and a cold got the better of me. Aiming for low 40 something minutes which I know I can do – need to focus on more speed work over the next 4 weeks. Some great runs this week in the great British June weather – gales (which almost did knock me over), heavy rain (yes I got drenched) and sun!

10 technology trends set to change the world

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A great post – care of Manufacturing Executive – that I found from Twitter of a presentation from Dave Evans at Cisco back in July last year. 10 technology innovations and trends that are happening now that will impact all our lives over the next 10 years…

Here’s the overview list…

The Internet of Things – more ‘things’ being connected to the Internet than people
Big data – allowing us to predict more things and change the way we plan
The cloud – making all knowledge of the world available to everyone
The next generation Internet – network speeds are increasing exponentially
Hyper connectivity – realtime broadcasts with unprecedented transparency
The power of energy – intelligent use of energy
Augmented reality – and the ultimate man-machine integration
3D printing – everyone becomes a manufacturer
Artificial intelligence – completely intelligent and self-aware computers
Human evolution – slowing the ageing process

And links to the original presentation and video from Dave.

As an aside Dave’s job title has to be one of the coolest ones out there – Chief Futurist & Chief Technologist. It clearly demonstrates the importance and criticality of innovation in technology. Do you have one of these chiefs?

How digital are you? Videos? Music? Books? Games? Newspapers?

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Having worked in the digital media, online and content space for over 10 years and being a big fan of the latest and greatest technology, I like to think that this Noble household is pretty digital.

But how digital are we when it comes to consuming content – it’s very different depending on the type of content.

Music

CDs? We don’t have many. The ones we do have, are for in the car and even those are getting used less and less, replaced by the iPhone and Bluetooth connectivity. The CDs we did have, have all been digitised into our iTunes library that neatly syncs with the other devices around the house.

Videos

VHS tapes? None. We got rid of those a few years back and moved to DVDs. I don’t think the little Nobles will even know what they are. For the home videos, we went through the painstaking process of hooking up a VCR to the pc and playing and recording digitally all the ones we wanted to keep. The quality isn’t brilliant but they’re more than watchable. DVDs? Not too many. We still have some of the classics in our library but every so often even they’re cleared out. The neat little AppleTV is the home video consumption hub for us – nice and easy to use, great selection of content and no more popping out to the local Blockbuster. Am I bothered about owning a collection of physical media? No.

HD-DVD? We tried it and yes I thought it would win the HD format war. But it’s no more. We didn’t have a big collection and we’ve sold them all now, including the player. Blu-Ray? We also tried it but found the PS3 user interface not too friendly, so gave up on that as well.

Games

We still have some console games on physical media but even they’re getting fewer. You can now download games on most consoles and it’s often cheaper and there’s no difference in the experience. And coming up fast are games as apps on smartphones and tablets, for a fraction of the price and even streamed to the TV.

Books

This is where it gets interesting. I love books and yes there is something about holding a physical book and turning the pages and reading it, and it’s not the same with digital. Sure I get how convenient digital is and in some cases cheaper (but in many cases not cheaper thanks to Amazon)and how it can be more interactive and provide a far more immersive experience. Apple’s iBooks is great, it works very well and has that usual awesome Apple experience to it. Amazon’s Kindle is also good but with no colour version in the UK still and missing apps, browsing and more, its not for me right now.

Having said that, I read something the other day about what the author of a book is trying to say – he or she is telling a story and it is all about the content. The physical book is not the content, that’s just the medium and it shouldn’t impact the experience or story that the author is trying to get across. An interesting way of thinking and it actually applies to all types of content – not just books. But digital books aren’t there yet for me, I don’t doubt it will come in time but now we have more physical books than digital ones. Maybe it’s the little Nobles who’ll help make this transition for us.

Newspapers

This is the one that made me think I’ll do a blog post about it. Up until the end of last year we had weekend newspapers and one weekday one delivered only. The rest of the week there was no time to read them, for me at least. Then through changes at work I was at home in the mornings more than normal so went for the full 7 days a week of papers. Great, with the extra time to read them in the morning and the newspapers 7 days a week then stuck. But now I’m trying an experiment and dropping back to just the weekend and one weekday physical newspapers and seeing what I can do with the iPad the other mornings and how the experiences compare. It’s only day 4 in and I’m missing the newspapers, how long can I last? Maybe it’s the Dilbert and Calvin & Hobbes cartoon strips – even though they’re still delivered to my inbox via an RSS feed.

There are apps on the iPad or in the Newsstand app for the papers we read and yes they do have the cartoons. It’s now time to test these as well as news aggregator apps that I’ve been using so far.

Why I’m missing them I’m not sure yet. Maybe it’s just part of the transition of moving to digital as with everything and it will eventually make sense. I’m not convinced about the Sunday papers though, having all those sections to read is part of a Sunday morning for me and always has been.

One thing to look at is the whole idea of “owning” content. Do we ever own it? Do we need to own it? Even on physical media – taking up shelf space – we’re simply licensed to view it and within certain guidelines (e.g. not running our own paid for home movie cinema for lots of people). Why not just pay for content as a utility when you use it? Or even – and this is a big one – content becomes part of our internet, phone etc (connectivity) bundle and is all inclusive, for you to use whenever and wherever you choose, subject of course to your particular (license) agreement.

This requires a huge shift in how we pay for content, how content creators are paid, how artists are paid and how royalties are paid, and business models around creation, distribution and storage and much more all need to change, but it’s a possible option for the future. We need to think more about new models and new ways of consuming content.

60 of the best photos from the Jubilee weekend

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Some very cool photos from the long weekend we’ve just had in the UK celebrating 60 years of The Queen on the throne, thanks to LBC 97.3. Not just one of the great radio stations out there – with some pretty amazing presenters and talk shows (and no music), and great great conversations, sometimes controversial, sometimes very funny and sometimes way out there.

And it wouldn’t be complete without some photos from the BBC as well would it – click on the Union Jack below (or the Union Flag to use it’s correct technical name – as Mrs. Noble keeps telling me).

In true UK style it rained for the Thames Pageant but millions were out in support, lining the banks of the Thames. Some pretty amazing shots showing the number of people and all in very very patriotic moods with flags flying! Sadly we weren’t in the crowds – we were in the Royal Albert Hall doing our bit with a Jubilee sing-along concert and had a amazing afternoon. A very very feel good weekend for Britain. No-one does ceremony like we do!

How simple should it be? Insanely simple. Please don’t complicate it.

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I was invited to a conference at Imperial College last week – my old college from a few years back – given by Ken Segall, the author of “Insanely Simple, The Obsession That Drives Apple.”. The conference was part of the Business Leaders Network (BLN) CEO Tales series of talks and kindly arranged by Mark Littlewood and his team.

As strange as it was sitting in the chemistry lecture hall, for a physicist from Imperial, it was a superb evening. Ken’s talk was inspirational and gave some unique insights into that amazing company that is Apple.

For more info on Ken you can visit his own blog and web site at…

Some great quotes from Ken’s talk were:

“The customers’ job is to be amazed by our products.”
“Apple is all about passion, simplicity and technology.”
“You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.”
“Simplicity is not a trend. Simplicity is permanent.”

Number 2 is mine but fits the general theme of the evening and Ken’s talk.

The most profound thought for me was this:

Simplicity = Brains + Common Sense

It really does sound so simple. What do customers actually want? Things to work, products they like and good service – that’s it. But too many companies get bogged down in complexity – the world is by it’s very nature complex and we are, but simplicity is where we want to be. Too often I hear of companies saying they can’t do x, y and z because of their processes and the individual you’re speaking to is given no leeway with processes – they have to be followed, or else! Why? Surely the processes exist to ultimately find and retain customers. Banks are a prime example of this. A great example this week, trying to reset the password for an online account of Mrs. Noble and being told we then had to be sent the new password in the post. Say what? It’s an online account. But processes were in place and it seemed there was no way around them. Even trying to then close the account provided a challenge, though we got there eventually. A surprising call from the customer complaints team the next day who couldn’t believe how the call had gone and were very apologetic. These guys weren’t all singing from the same song sheet.

This call could have been handled so differently – the results were the same, but the reluctance to listen and to stick with complex processes that no-one quite knows why they’re there, is a common problem. Thankfully it’s one Apple have dealt with and simplicity is at the very heart of their culture.

On a similar theme, the Apple Store in the Bentalls Centre in Kingston-upon-Thames, has undergone a facelift recently. The store has been expanded and whilst expanding their moved upstairs they borrowed someone else’s shop. Temporarily smaller, but the same great Apple experience and recession or not, the same high volume of shoppers in there and coming out with lots of new “i” somethings. The new shop opened this Saturday and by complete fluke we went in to sort out an iPad problem. Booking made for a genius appointment about 45 minutes before the slot and very painless on Apple’s support web-site. Booking slot missed, as we were late but no problems, rebooked there and then by a friendly staff member and seen within 2 minutes of arriving. Nice!

I’ll sidetrack a little to fill in gaps about the iPad problem – as it also nicely illustrates how good Apple are. We bought our iPad back in 2010 when they first came out, and it’s been working perfectly and kept in perfect condition (touch wood) despite being actively used by the 2 growing up fast little Nobles. It had to be replaced earlier this year as the screen was scratched by a car game that we bought in the Apple Shop. Not their fault but they sold the product that caused the damage (when it shouldn’t have) and they swapped it no questions. The replacement one has had issues with the USB connection since we got it but it’s taken me until now to go back with it – and 5 months after replacement it’s well outside of the normal replacement warranty. The Apple genius listens, says he needs to check if they can swap it, comes back in 2 minutes and sorted – swapped at no cost and the replacement has another 90 day warranty. This sort of service is exceptional, no-one else does this. And this is why the shop is always so busy – people get this type of service and great products.

Back to the shop expansion itself, this was the morning the newly refurbished shop opened. And wow, it’s nice. Still the same amount of shelves selling kit but twice as many tables now for people to talk to Apple staff on and try out products. And – and this is the good bit – more than twice (at least it looked that many) the previous number of staff in the shop all helping people. This expansion has all been about expanding the service, it’s so very clever and very simple.

They even now have 2 kids tables set up, with kid’s cool chair things and lots of new iPads for them to play with, with kid’s games installed. Again a very simple idea.

Apple do it right. Sure I’m a huge fan but there’s a reason – these guys are passionate about technology and service and the customer, and so am I.

And finally a link to some pictures from Ken’s talk last week and a write up from the BLN. Thanks Mark for the invite and a very enjoyable evening.

Royal Mail show us how it should be done – London Olympic tickets

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Despite the fiasco about booking tickets for the London 2012 Olympics and the lack of thought that seems to have gone into the whole way the tickets are sold to UK residents (and how user friendly the systems aren’t and how the system couldn’t handle the demand for tickets, I could go on but that’s not what this blog post is about), the tickets we did get have arrived.

A very nice package, with tickets and a bit of information about the event. It’s for rowing, which is over in Windsor, so not London, but they’ve very kindly included 4 travelcards for us to use on the day to get to the event in London. Hmmmmm.

And they’re standing area only but the cheapest “seats” or tickets so not too unexpected.

Don’t get me wrong, I may sound not too positive about all this but I am. It’s going to be an awesome summer in London and as I’ve said in previous posts, this is London’s year. Plus with the Jubilee celebrations this weekend, it really doesn’t get much better.

I was at a conference in London this week about the online Olympics and the technology behind the scenes is incredible. Never have there been games before where the demand for online media has been so great. Back in 2008 for the Beijing Olympics, social media services like YouTube, Twitter and even Facebook were still growing up. In 2012 it’s a completely different story, social media is pretty much everywhere and being used in all sorts of different ways, by consumers (of all ages), brands and everyone else. The demand on the back-end infrastructure for storage, distribution and more is going to be unprecedented. The task of forecasting what to expect will have been no small feat, and no doubt is still changing and being fine tuned. The plans around redundancy and how to fix problems – with the technology – will be something else. What the BBC have planned is fantastic – their Sports page on their web-site is the centre piece and the experience you’ll get on all devices – personal computers, tablets, mobiles, smart TVs and anything else, is going to be so good that it will almost (maybe not quite) be a better more immersive experience than actually being there! That annual license fee we pay in the UK for the BBC doesn’t look too bad. The planned 24 live better than HD (as we know it) simultaneous video streams is impressive to say the least. This really is the first global online digital Olympics. Right up my street – in both ways!

The BBC have got it right, lots they’ve learnt from that amazing service that is the BBC iPlayer and other global British broadcasts they’ve done – the Royal Wedding last year for example.

But the ticket system and booking events, we’ve not got it quite right. One shining light here though – and the subject of this post – is Royal Mail. That amazing British institution that just works so well. Where else in the world can you post a letter or anything for that matter and know it will arrive anywhere else in the country pretty much the next day. Yes the prices have just gone up, but it’s still worth it. Interestingly as well, a postman I was speaking to only this week, said it’s one of the few services you still pay for before they deliver and actual give you the service.

Having had a few e-mails from the Olympic organisers about when roughly to expect the tickets to arrive, you kind of sit back just waiting and hoping. This morning, I got an SMS message and e-mail from Royal Mail telling me the tickets would arrive today. They then arrived care of our very friendly local postman Mick, with a big smile on his face. Signed for with the mobile pad he had and then literally less than one minute later another SMS message and e-mail confirming they’d been received. Now that’s proper service and a very very good use of the latest technology. Keep it up Royal Mail, another reason Britain is brilliant.