John Bresee » Mobile Internet

The iPad May Change Commerce Patterns Forever

John Bresee — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:46:11 +0000

And maybe not for the reasons we think.

It browses beautifully. It’s battery lasts all day. It’s light. The color is beautiful. And quite simply you can hand it around the living room as you watch TV and ask your peers what they think about an article, video, post or perhaps more importantly, a purchase.

We have wondered and tested ourselves blue in the face to help determine why online conversion is low and unmovable. And it may be a simple few things like making the experience more friendly and welcoming to peers.

For instance I loved bring the Apple Air to bed to do my browsing…but the little fan couldn’t keep up and it would try to recirculate through my comforter; eventually the computer would slow and annoy me, the fan would whine, I’d feel guilty and I’d shut the whole mess off. But for the first fifteen minutes it was so much nicer than having 10 lbs. of laptop in bed.

I’m not saying the iPad brings you savior faire that before you lacked, but it is at least cool, quite, unobtrusive and can be disposed of or shared much more easily.

This is but one of the technology changes, be it pervasive broadband, to new computing forms that I believe will accelerate the ecommerce trends. There has never been a year where I’ve have more time in the day to go physically shopping and as the tools get better and the industry matures, tools like these may cause huge leaps in immovable conversion rates.

At least I’m hoping that.

Chasing the FedEx Van for my iPad

John Bresee — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:05:53 +0000

The snow has been dumping in Park City, Utah. Falling in huge car hiding piles…for the first time in one of the driest, saddest winters ever. And what drags me out of bed at dawn with a shovel and broken down snowblower was the fact that without some skinny path cleared to my door there was a chance that the FedEx guy might make me the last semi-blogger to get a hold of an actual iPad.

But FedEx came through and I plugged it in and waited for the lightening bolt to strike. I waited and failed through synch after synch…thinking it might be time for for Apple to spend a little time with the iTunes app and making it the happy center of the media universe that it’s supposed to be.

I keep hoping that iTunes will be great at synching this complex media world. And I keep hoping that somehow it will recognize that I am going to exceed the 16 Gigs right as I check the buttons of what I’d like on my iPad. But no, I wait, patiently and run through about fifteen dry runs before I get enough data off to make the iPad run.

But it’s not the optimum data load. But eventually I’ll get the hang of it.

And I inadvertently dumped all of the apps from my iPhone onto the iPad. What a mistake. A small iPhone app doesn’t belong on the iPad. Wait for those that are iPad ready.

And yet once it happens. Once the iPad fires up…the magic happens. It was when Netflix loaded that I first felt the magic. Just the media I want when I want it, beuatifully rendered. I preferred watching on my iPad than my 44″ 1080p flatscreen. The show felt more intimate. And the iPad never got warm in my lap. I thought I felt much of the media world begin shift to a new axis. And again and again as I loaded new apps I saw the media world shifting and twisting in, beginning to be caught between the old way of business and the new. Media will benefit first and suffer first. Commerce will come very shortly after.

We don’t yet know what the iPad will change . But there are some guesses:

Ecommerce will shift toward home and couch and bed, from primarily work.
The iPad will succeed
Netflix is going to kill on the iPad.
And the rest of the world is going to have to watch and wait to see what happens as we figure it out with them.
Well designed ecommerce sites run just fine on the iPad. No need to hire firms to redesign for a small form factor. Just build beautiful simple focues ecommerce sites and QA on all top four browsers and you should be fine
And build apps that have real single purpose that deliver value above and beyond the flat world of standard ecommerce site. It’s time to innovate in return for the gift that Steve Jobs has given us. He has allowed us to once again shift into the future.

Thanks Steve…it’s brilliant.

FreEcommerce–Craigslist Continues

John Bresee — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:57:30 +0000

Thanks for checking out my stuff. I hope it's not crushingly dull. I mean if you love the internet and radically changing business models and the many laughable errors that are teh nature of trying to run a business then you might enjoy a post now and again.

Craigslist continues to disintermediate whole industries. And by disintermediate I mean crush them using the beautiful art of capitalism like dancing wu-li black practitioners. They have reduced costs in the ticket scalping industry to zero as No related posts.

I'm so sorry if right now you're in a worse frame of mind after having suffered through my muddled thoughts, questionable grammar and imaginative spelling. Thanks.

No related posts.

iPad and eCommerce- Finally a cash register for the individual

John Bresee — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:03:18 +0000

“(the iPad is) not nearly as good for creating stuff. On the other hand, it’s infinitely more convenient for consuming it” — Pogue In one sentence this anonymous scribe captured the essence of the iPad. It’s a consumer oriented cash generator with almost every form of payment waiting for you to join. We may well get out of this recession because Steve Jobs willed it to be.

One analyst just raised his 2010 sales number for the iPad to 8-10 million. Which is a ridiculous amount when you consider the category doesn’t exist yet. Which is silly for me to mention it’s not like the analysts spotted the housing crash, the dot com crash or any of the other eighty three recorded fiscal bubbles…but still, they are analysts and presumably they have more wisdom in their domain than I, so I listen.

But what I am guessing and feeling is that the iPad is going to revolutionize in a different way. The notion of personal browsing. That ecommerce+ will be at your fingertips and it will be incredibly powerful. This is not a browser who’s history you have to wipe to keep corporate from reading it, but instead your own that you carry with you…history of all messages, commerce browsing, blogging, writing, photography. The iPad will be the window into your own lives and others.

Ecommerce only represents 6% of total commerce in the US…but it’s the fast growing segment and will be for years to come. It is expected to grow 2% a year for the foreseeable future and that is without mobile factored in. The iPad will do an interesting thing in that it will help migrate those who have been resistant to ecommerce by way of a more friendly environment where commerce will, perhaps feel less threatening. So it will increasingly steal from the physical side of commerce. For the cognoscenti ecommerce will grow faster due to a deeper wallet share. Suddenly commerce that never would have happened over the web will be possible, be it the hot dog vendor or bike parts for a kick ass bike/community/commerce app. Those who comfortably spend on the web now will see their spending accelerate as the software grows to meet capabilities in the new hardware.

And in that way the iPad will work to combine the aspects of commerce that are already appealing with those of geo-tagging, nearest physical product, best price within five miles, and much more to move a large percentage of wallet share to the web. So ecommerce will grow, again at a much faster rate than it has. And it will grow in new, unexpected places that get the distinct advantages of this format. For instance in-game digital product sales might well grow at an astonishing rate.

And Android will follow along with their impossible to beat “Better Than Free” model and slowly and they will own the lower pricepoints. Yet this is a market that is already proven, the $275 netbook is very desirable. Add in a touch screen and phenomenal OS and it will be a dream browser. The Tablet is here to stay. And so is the app. A web page is nonspecific brochureware for the dying 2000s and an app is the perfect hyper-focused one purpose tool for which this generation was born to use.

High price-points will be Apple‘s as there is something luxurious in software and hardware designed together. But Android’s breadth of connectivity to massive data sets creates opportunities that I don’t have the brain power to imagine. Apple and Google do something that no other companies do, they create moments when the current and future exist at once. It’s this strange feeling, as if for a moment, we get a moment of living in the future just by way of a new product release. What a cool capability.

Tablets will not have to war for its share of computing. It will instead be the third form of computing and within 36 months the primary mode for ecommerce.We won’t stop using our laptops and desktops and we can’t give up our mobile phones.” The world never converges, it only diverges into more ways that we can stay in touch, buy, say hello, record our thoughts, support our existence.

Best Award Ever- Cornify

John Bresee — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:03:18 +0000

SXSW managed to hang on to their cultural relevance for one more year by giving Cornify a win for best in Technical and Judges choice. A site that buries Easter eggs of magic unicorns all over the web can’t help but be the best thing ever. And yes the app is installed here. Just use the classic “Konami” code to make them start popping up.

@SXSWi 13th Annual SXSW Web Awards Winners (austinist.com)
SXSW: Wolfram Alpha wins ‘best in show’ (telegraph.co.uk)

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Scum Sucking MBA Survey-The Broken Morals Start Before Day One

John Bresee — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:11:33 +0000

Pepperdine, which according to Business Week (who apparently really really dig MBAs cause they spend about 50% of their editorial calendar blowing and fluffing the MBA programs of the world.*) is not a top tier business school. They sadly fall into what Business Week labels the “Second Tier”. Second tier in MBA programs is as appealing as being a Grenada based medical schools.

The problem in Pepperdine’s integrity goes as least as deep as its marketing department and its inability to write a survey. And writing survey’s is kind of thing one at a business school. Kind of the med school equivalent of stitches.

Yet at the end of their survey they ask this question which is nothing more than scum sucking attempt to either force an honest person to lie or they can choose to tell the truth and sign up for either the Presidential spam package or the Executive.

“* Would you like to learn more about Pepperdine MBA programs

PRESIDENTIAL MBA

Executive MBA

No, thank you. I have an MBA”

The correct thing to do would be to offer a fourth option, something like, “No thank you, I’m not interested in your marketing materials.” No need to debase those confused few who do not have MBAs and have yet to discover the many study’s that show that an MBA is as wise an investment as multi-level marketing or making deals to help the daughter of the ex-president of Zimbabwe free up some of her father’s cash which is unfortunately held by hooligans.

Pepperdine Law School Dean Kenneth W. Starr Named Baylor University’s 14th President (eon.businesswire.com)
Pepperdine Does It Again (volleyball.about.com)
Pepperdine Graziadio School Names Dr. Charla Griffy-Brown to Lead Center for Excellence (eon.businesswire.com)

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The iPad Will Launch Like Ellison’s Jet Out of Palo Alto

John Bresee — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:22:01 +0000

: Image by 37prime via Flickr

Which is to say big and loud and fast and it’ll piss a lot of people off.

Ironically it’s those in the Netbook world who look shocked and say, “look how much more we give for half the price?” I’ve got bad news for Netbookians…your computers suck. They’re slow and painful and cramped. But oh yes, they were cheap. And we love cheap.

But the iPad isn’t a nicely done Netbook. It isn’t a Kindle with color. It’s not an iPhone that met a steam roller. It is the the next fom of computing and it’s beautiful. Yes, as always, it’s missing some things. But it’s not like a boat missing a motor. It’s more like, well, an iPhone that launched without cut and paste. We suffered along while we all worked to change the world.

The truth is we carry 100X the computer we need in our laptop most of the time. Buried in a slow loading inconvenient poorly designed behemoth. The iPad can accomplish 95% of what we need our laptops for. Oh, we won’t get rid of our laptops. That five percent is crucial. We will just add the fourth form of computing to our lives. And it will be beautiful and we will wonder in two years how we ever ordered off a menu that wasn’t pre-loaded in our iPad with our built in payment system.

The iPad is our wallet, portfolio, memory, communication, calendaring…well it’s our life. It’s just not our phone replacement. Our bags got lighter. We’ll take the laptops home one the weekends for heavy work.

Desktops? How cute…they’ll be good for towing behind cars or some such anti-world recreation. But the iPad will be our center.

And yes Android will follow and it will be good. It will be the Chevy 3/4 ton to the beautiful Pininfarina like lines of the iPod. Change is good and at first it will look effete and snobbish. But soon it will be real. And Microsoft and RIM and others will head for other shores, other businesses where they don’t have to compete with such smart people.. Most of our computing is simple and can even be fun. and it’s always better when it has location. The world continues to change whether we bought a two pound Droid with a worthless keyboard or not. The iPad makes me happy.

How Many iPads Need To Be Sold To Make It A Viable Platform For Content? (streamingmedia.com)
Apple iPad: what the tweeters say (guardian.co.uk)
Why iPad will sell despite “missing” features (digital.venturebeat.com)
The iPad is a Digital Coffee Table Book (everwas.com)
‘iPad as netbook-killer’ concept ignites controversy (infoworld.com)
Opinion: The iPad vs. netbooks (macworld.com)
In praise of the iPad: A contrarian view (tuaw.com)
The New Apple “iPad” – the Amazon Kindle Killer? (adriansjournal.blogspot.com)
The iPad: First Impressions of Its Importance to Publishers (scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org)
Where netbooks still beat the Apple iPad (computerworld.com)
Is Apple’s iPad worth the price (timesunion.com)
Waaannnttt!!! (thedutchfiles.com)
Textbook Firms Ink E-Deals For iPad (online.wsj.com)

UStream Live Broadcaster- Your Life Changes Today

John Bresee — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:30:34 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

I’m way off the back on this but I had to to jot it down. UStream launched their iPhone app recently and it’s simply one of the coolest and scariest pieces of technology I’ve ever seen. The app turns your iPhone into a realtime broadcast device. Your camera films and transmits whatever lies in front of it.

You have to see it function to feel the impact and realize how our lives have changed forever with this one application. Lets say you get pulled over and are concerned about how you are going to be treated. Flip on the app, spin the phone to face the side window and broadcast in real time your experience. Officer Friendly is, unbenknownst to him on live TV.

When you visit their site it is astonishing to see what streams are currently live. Endless litters of puppies under heat lamps…and and audience of 25 people watching them sleep. And the watchers happily chat with each other.

The scary side is that, even though the technology for video phones has existed since the 60s, but most people don’t want to be seen most of the time. Broadcasting our lives is uncomfortable and yet you no longer get to decide whether somebody’s iPhone UStream camera feed is catching you at any given time and broadcasting it to the world. Giving up your privacy is scary. Giving individuals the power to broadcast is amazing. The world will never be the same. Rictus.

Oh, and the application is beautiful and works seamlessly, shouting out to (I can’t say the sill word tweeples) twitter, broadcasting your location and allowing you to chat with your audience at the same time. Truly brilliant development.

Mobile Computing: The iPhone and Beyond (metamorphblog.com)
Type-n-Walk.com – See What Lies In Front Of You (killerstartups.com)
Live at 5 (PM ET, that is): TUAW TV Live (tuaw.com)

39 Google’s New (well it was when I wrote this) UI Shows Only 39 Characters On Screen

John Bresee — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:11:53 +0000

Cool, Google’s new UI only shows 39 characters on the screen, including logo, TM and spaces. And I probably counted that wrong. Until you roll your mouse and then the regular UI reappears all Harry Potter and the Invisible Map style. Credit Veruus for pointing it out. Related posts:iPad and eCommerce- Finally a cash register [...]

I'm so sorry if right now you're in a worse frame of mind after having suffered through my muddled thoughts, questionable grammar and imaginative spelling. Thanks.

iPad and eCommerce- Finally a cash register for the individual

Yet Another Reason Why The Droid Isn’t Quite Ready

John Bresee — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:31:31 +0000

From the site Androgeek on how to install a new Android theme:

“Instructions for Installing Themes on Your Android

1. Rename the theme to update.zip

Themes usually come in .zip format with a title. It is important to change file name to update.zip. You will need to right click file, and then right click again to rename.
If you have multiple themes that you want to download, just download them to a separate folder and remember to follow the instructions and download them to the SD card and then rename with update.zip.

2. To the root of your SD card, copy update.zip.

You need to copy update.zip to the root of your SD card and not to a folder but directly on the letter drive.

3. Reboot the phone in recovery mode…”

It goes on for another thousand words and seven or so more steps.

If you have to tell your users to rename, unpack, reboot…IN RECOVERY MODE, then we’re a little too close to Windows ’95. These days I expect my computers to do all that geekery for me. If they can’t then their UI is just not quite up to par.

Why (and How) to Root Your Android Phone (smarterware.org)
Android emancipation (mdzlog.alcor.net)

John Bresee » Mobile Internet

The iPad May Change Commerce Patterns Forever

Chasing the FedEx Van for my iPad

FreEcommerce–Craigslist Continues

iPad and eCommerce- Finally a cash register for the individual

Best Award Ever- Cornify

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Scum Sucking MBA Survey-The Broken Morals Start Before Day One

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The iPad Will Launch Like Ellison’s Jet Out of Palo Alto

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UStream Live Broadcaster- Your Life Changes Today

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39 Google’s New (well it was when I wrote this) UI Shows Only 39 Characters On Screen

Yet Another Reason Why The Droid Isn’t Quite Ready

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