I think that one of my motivations in this mobile-only experiment is the attitude that persists in some parts of the IT community, and that was prevalent when I arrived for my short stint at Microsoft back in 2011 - that mobile phones are "content consumption" devices, that couldn't be used for "proper" computing. That … Continue reading Going Mobile: Day 2: “Proper” computing
Category: Themes
One of the things that has come up a lot from others when launching into this mobile-only experiment is that the screen on a mobile phone just isn't big enough to completely replace a laptop. Screen size is subject to two measures - physical screen size, and pixel size. The Nexus 5 that I have … Continue reading Going Mobile: Day 2: screen estate
So I've just about completed my first day of my mobile-only life, and I didn't resort to tablet, laptop or desktop all day. If I was going to crack, I figured this day, working from home, would be the one where it would happen. Very early on I realised that using my phone with a … Continue reading Going mobile: Day1: it’s all in the detail
Last week I got a peculiar invitation to connect on LinkedIn. It was from someone who I had never heard of, apparently holding a senior HR role in a multinational law firm. A few other people I knew were connected to him, but it didn't feel right. I pinged off messages to those I knew … Continue reading The power of the network
So I'm at the beginning of the mobile-only experiment. Alongside the phone and keyboard, I've a charger and a Powergen Mobile Power Pack. That latter accessory is nothing new - I've become accustomed to having to lug that spare battery around with me as usually by lunchtime on a trip into London my phone is … Continue reading Going Mobile: Day 0
Last week I got hold of a cheap Bluetooth keyboard to use with my laptop. Then I had an idea... why not use it with my phone and see whether the time is right to be able to ditch the laptop entirely? This isn't a unique experiment. My long-time chum Euan Semple experimented with an … Continue reading Going Mobile
In Dan Pink's wonderful book To sell is human there is a chapter that describes six ways to pitch an idea, a product or even yourself. The one that I found most interesting was what he called the Subject Line Pitch. Imagine the best email subject line in the world, and Pink argues it will contain three … Continue reading The one thing that all LinkedIn all-time top ten posts have in common
"#HR needs to stop reporting and start predicting" - Michael Carty, twitter.com/mjcarty The quote above from Michael on Twitter this morning (you can see the full thing here https://twitter.com/MJCarty/status/493812100138287104) got me thinking. It mostly got me thinking about how I seem to be developing a particular breed of Big Data iconoclasm these days. The reason Michael's … Continue reading Big data: The tyranny of the past
I got into an interesting discussion last week about an incident in a friend's local supermarket. An elderly neighbour had locked herself out of her house, and in a state of distress went to the supermarket (a small branch of one of the massive chains) to ask to use their telephone. The request was flatly refused. … Continue reading The power of authority
About four years ago I decided to take my career on a new path. I had spent much of the preceding two decades working in IT of one form or another, but needed to change. In my early thirties I'd set myself the goal of becoming a CIO by the age of 40. When I was … Continue reading Career planning
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