Techophilia and Social Progress

Here’s a great list of social networking applications. I have finally started using LinkedIn, but I still haven’t quite figured out its use. The first time I used it for business other than trying to build a network was asking someone about an RFP I had heard about. Which was cool, and has given me some hope for this. But yet I can’t help but feel it has that slightly desparate aspect about it, especially as many of the people contacting me are job-related. Still, let’s hope it improves.

This is a great article about cellphone usage. Published last year, it has damning relevance. For me, the cell phone has become a critical piece of my identity. I don’t leave home without it. It has the same power as my wallet, and why not? It has the currency I need to survive. As a person working in the tech world, I find if I miss a call, I miss business. Yet it creates a totally strange nature of checking missed calls. However, lately I’ve been finding that it is harder and harder to answer the cell phone. I check call display and only answer certain calls. I’m funding it exhausting to check messages.. Cell phone burnout??

This is a fascinating insight and shows that Bill et al are not asleep at the wheel. Obviously, as the writer says, MS might be slow, but once they move, they are often unstoppable. I’ve been using Ozzie’s Groove product, which is how he came to be at MS. BTW, his appointment to MS was one of the most unheralded, yet I think he is really a very smart guy and one to watch.

Still, as it turns out, it’s not a leaked document really, but a series of PR moves from MS to allow people to see they are on the ball. My fear is that what we have been enjoying as a relatively free and easy web2.0 will become a pricey world with MS in the game.

Great blog from Deborah Finn about a more strategic approach to thinking about information technology for not-for-profit. A lot of the thinking is about Thinking… Check out her blog.

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