Some years ago I wrote, rather cruelly, about how the relationship between Apple and its customers sometimes resembled the gaoler/captive relationship present in Stockholm Syndrome (where the captive falls for the charms of their gaoler). It strikes me that the same sort of relationship, in much more dangerous form, also exists between analyst companies and … Continue reading Stockholm Syndrome (Part II)
Category: Themes
One of the things that has been most striking in re-reading Negroponte's being digital is the belief that he had two decades ago that the rise of digital channels would lead to new, multi-media content forms. The book was written at the height of the CD-ROM multimedia craze, when Encarta was going to supersede Britannica and … Continue reading Multiple media
When I was a kid I had the opportunity to learn to code. It wasn't a "right" - I was just lucky to be in a home where there was a computer (a BBC Micro that my dad had supplied by his work). In those days in the mid-Eighties, coding was pretty much synonymous … Continue reading A fuller appreciation
Two themes in my Twitter stream today that have been fused together in my mind. 1) the government's Universal Credit benefits reform, turning into a great beast of a disaster. At it's core (from where I see it) "IT disasters" resulting from ineffective change management, an over-confidence that technology in its own right can deliver … Continue reading Would learning to code help?
https://twitter.com/furtherfield/status/431407949672480768 In my lifetime I've known three meanings of the word "hack": to go at something with a sharp implement; to (criminally) break into computing resources that you shouldn't; and to botch a bit of programming to get it working, or just to see whether something might do. None of those definitions are particularly positive. … Continue reading Hacked off
Imagine the scenario. You're running late for a meeting. You need to let the person you're meeting know that you are running late. You reach for your mobile phone. What channel do you choose? My experience over the past few months is that most people choose to send a text message. We have learned, somehow, … Continue reading Tech preferences
Back in September I gave a talk about the importance of empathy in design at the wonderful Silicon Beach event in Bournemouth. The video of me prattling on is now available here:
Eighteen years ago I bought a book that changed the way in which I thought about the world. It was a book I wanted to share, and after I had consumed it page-by-page, I leant it to a friend and never saw it again. The book was Nicholas Negroponte's being digital, first published in 1995, in … Continue reading a generation of being digital
It’s that time of year where those prone to procrastination find themselves knee-deep in bank statements, receipts and other bits of financial flotsam and jetsam. Yes, it’s the end of January and the last chance to complete one’s tax return. The online self-assessment service is a classic example of an information system that is complex … Continue reading Anti-agile
In my illustrious career as a management trainer, the first course that I ever delivered was a two-day Negotiation Skills event run for an energy company in a dingy hotel in Shoreham-on-Sea. Other than my extreme imposter syndrome, there are two other things that I remember clearly from the experience: firstly, that being able to … Continue reading Pricing and negotiation
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