At the risk of being a little MS heavy just lately, I’ve been catching up on recent posts from TED and came across the demo of Photosynth. It’s the result of the acquisition of image tech company Seadragon and some awfully smart thinking,

Photosynth recognises the similarities between photographs in a way that allows it to create a virtual 3D environment. You can then zoom in and out of that environment, moving through all the available images of that scene. And it’s really rather impressive.

The TEDtalk can be found here. If anything, however, the following demo gets it across better:

The opportunity to create a sort of photographic Wikipedia is enormous. I also wonder whether the same thinking couldn’t form the basis of a much more interesting OS interface that is better at showing the relationship between files.

The recent TEDtalks also showed this demo of the BumpTop interface:

I’m sympathetic with the approach – the demo looks like my desk (on a good day). And it’s great that more interface options are being created than at any time recently.

I can’t help wondering, however, whether interfaces based on paper and documents are really the way forward. It would be great to see options based more on how people think and relate ideas to one another.

I guess it was only a matter of time.

Just goes to show how easy it is to re-cut and re-voice anything these days. Of course I probably won’t find it so funny the day any of my work gets this treatment. But until then…

Just a quick aside that’s a bit off-topic, the best re-cut I’ve seen is the following trailer for the Shining (the feel-good version).

Common Craft has got a couple of ahh-sweet videos on the (absolute) basics of RSS and wikis.

RSS in plain English:

Wikis in plain English:

Not so sure about the boo and yay bits but I love this way of presenting ideas. If any of our clients are reading, expect to see this in a meeting near you soon.

Source: Bokardo

Geek.com has put together an interesting video ‘ad’ for the HTC Touch highlighting how you can get most of the iPhone features right now.

Over at Jupiter Research, Michael Gartenberg comments:

It’s a shame that no one over in Redmond is thinking like this and putting out an official message in this way.

Really? I don’t know. Sure, if we hadn’t seen the iPhone this device would be very cool. But we have seen the iPhone and all the derivative messaging in the world is just that, derivative. It’s the same with all the iPodalikes on the market.

Sure the crew at Redmond could go down this path but surely that just reinforces the message that Microsoft simply joins bandwagons rather than starting them. Watching the ad, I’m left with the impression (rightly or wrongly) that HTC have dashed out a copycat device that works like an iPhone yet in every way shown isn’t quite as good.

As opposed to the actual iPhone:

Source: Jupiter Research

Even after the volumes of ink that has been spilt describing China’s meteoric rise to the “hottest” economy on the planet, it is still a country that defies description. It is a country that takes every possible dichotomy – communist vs capitalist, 3rd world vs 1st, 25th century vs 16th, blinding wealth vs abject poverty – amplifies them tenfold and then puts them out on display in a way that wrecks total havoc on the senses.

It was into this milieu that Rod Banner and I dove. Attempting to ascertain if there was the opportunity to expand Banner’s offering into Asia. To see the market for ourselves, chat to local experts and try decipher the complexities of China.

Our trip took us first to Singapore then on to Shanghai and finally to the centre of China’s technology belt, Beijing. Singapore has long been coveted as a natural “hub” for many agencies. Conveniently located between China/Japan/Hong Kong and India, Singapore also sports a deep advertising base exemplified by, as one local partner told us, more accredited agencies per capita than anywhere else in the world. After 48 hours of discussions with numerous media owners, several partner agencies and one or two client contacts, Rod and I had merely scratched the surface of “deciphering Asia”. It was time to get immersed in China.

Shanghai began with a white-knuckle taxi ride from the brand new Pudong airport into the city centre. From the moment we got into the taxi at Shanghai, China seemed intent on unsettling every single preconception we had about the country. The expressway into Shanghai was pristine and world-class in every way, the cityscape looked reminiscent of Blade Runner with world-class architecture evident in almost every city block, the buzz of activity also suggested Shanghai was trying to unseat New York as a town that never sleeps. Shanghai is definitely a global city with all the euphoria and turmoil that entails.

From our three days of meetings, a pattern was slowly beginning to form. However in a uniquely Asian way, for every two steps forward we seemed to make in building a picture of China, we seemed to take one sideways and another one back. Some insights though;

• China is still in the throes of a massive manufacturing phase. Marketing is therefore seen in terms of stiff local competition, price reduction and increased manufacturing output.

• Brands are an ethereal concept in a place that places more stock in tangible, physical concepts like price and distribution.

• Relationships are crucial to gain access. Guanxi is the Chinese word oft thrown out. In short, it means influence and access and it is paramount. From knowing the right government officials, to having credibility with the key client influencers, no business is ever won (or lost) without guanxi. Gaining this would be imperative.

Beijing followed Shanghai and was also a frantic dash to try to glean insights from our numerous WPP contacts. A week of almost back-to-back meetings meant Rod and I left both physically drained and emotionally charged. Highlights of the Beijing leg included a visit to ChiTech or the Chinese version of CeBit. 4 massive halls filled with all manner of gleaming Chinese technology and hordes of local and foreign brands; local players Lenovo and Haier rubbing shoulders with Panasonic, Samsung, it was astounding. The design and innovation hall was particularly interesting featuring, amongst other great exhibits, a live football game between working robots. ChiTech was definitely a glimpse into the future with many of the (currently) unknown Chinese brands showcasing truly phenomenal products, products that would not look out of place in western homes. The day when Chinese brands are found in all of our homes is fast approaching…

Despite our best efforts, China did not conveniently open up all its secrets to Rod and myself. It did offer a fascinating glimpse into a market rich with opportunity. Rich too with traps, for those who don’t exercise caution and restraint. We are still digesting the China trip and mapping out how we tackle this vast market. Needless to say, having a China “strategy” is fast becoming a pre-requisite for any business. Stay tuned as Banner unveils ours in the coming months.

In the meantime, see the rest of the photos we took on the trip here.

The world of consumer marketing gets a good kicking from a pretty funny video by Microsoft Digital Media Solutions.

Personally, I think much of the industry has moved on from the caricature but it’s still a good video and makes some fair points. There’s also a blog attached to it.

For me, however, there are a number of issues this brings up.

Firstly, not every customer wants a “relationship” with a brand. I am happy if the toilet cleaner I buy cleans toilets well. I’m even happier if it does so reliably and without trashing the environment. However, at no point do I want to get into a discussion about the finer points of toilet cleanliness (life’s too short). This is true for many low-involvement products (both B2C and B2B).

What the video does show is the appallingly limited range of options available to old school advertisers. Although, again, apart from the dinosaurs of the industry, most are beginning to wake up to a significantly wider range of possibilities. Not all of which involve either shouting at the customer or bribing them with coupons. Some agencies, and I hope we’re one, are even blending them together is some pretty smart ways.
Maybe I’m being thick, but I struggle to see what Microsoft is offering that really changes the game. It’s another channel. Yes, it’s one where the context and behaviour of the audience can be better understood. But it is still about interruption more than it is about a dialogue.

To be fair, they don’t claim to be a panacea for all marketing’s ills but if the real issue is a fundamental change in the way consumers view brands and marketing communications, simply changing the venue is not exactly ground-breaking.

Source: PJA

Over at Presentation Zen they’ve got a post about Benjamin Zander, who’s day job is as a conductor (with a particular fondness for Mahler) and who, outside of this, is simply an inspiration.

He is co-author of one of my all time favourite non-fiction books The Art of Possibility which I can’t recommend highly enough. It’s one of those books you go back to time and again to restore your humanity and pick you up.

(Another is Gordon Mackenzie’s Orbiting the Giant Hairball.)

And the race to deliver the first multi-touch product is won by… Microsoft.

Of course they had to rename it. So for the people of Redmond, multi-touch is now Surface Computing. Here’s a teaser video which features all the wow-stuff that gets people excited about this technology:

Check out their microsite here. Some additional commentary can be found here and here.

At the moment (despite the impression the video gives) Microsoft are aiming Surface squarely at a business audience (in store, entertainment venues etc). So we’re unlikely to see a rush of Surface office desks any time soon.

The thing that gets me excited about this technology is the opportunity it appears to offer for a completely different OS interface, one that can adapt to the user and application in ways that make current systems look very one dimensional.

(BTW sorry for the lack of posts just lately, a combination of taking a quick week off and being as busy as a very busy thing with too much to do.)