Paul Wallbank – Communications Professional
Comms, journalism and writing
Join Tony Delroy, Paul Wallbank and Pete Blasina for a look at how technology has evolved over the twenty years Tony has been hosting ABC Nightlife and where it’s going to go in the next twenty.
Join Tony Delroy, Paul Wallbank and Pete Blasina for a look at how technology has evolved over the twenty years Tony has been hosting ABC Nightlife.
Tune in on your local ABC radio station or listen online through the Nightlife’s webpage.
If you’d like to join the conversation with your questions or comments phone 1300 800 222 within Australia or +61 2 8333 1000 from outside Australia.
You can SMS Nightlife’s talkback on 19922702 or twitter @paulwallbank using the #abcnightlife hashtag
Is Apple the world’s most innovative company and what lessons does Apple offer for other businesses.
Since the iPad was announced there’s been much talk about how Apple is the world’s most innovative company. Is that true and if so, what lessons does that have for other businesses?
There’s two schools of thought about what innovation is; the big, new invention that changes industries, like the light bulb or the Hills hoist, or incremental improvements like the stump jump plow and the wave piercing catamaran. The latter, building a better mousetrap, is what Apple do best.
When the Apple Mac was released there were hundreds of personal computers, at the time of the iPod’s launch there were thousands of MP3 players in the shops and Apple’s iPad enters a tablet PC market that has been around for a decade. With all of these products, and most notably the iPhone, Apple redefined the market by releasing a better mousetrap.
The good news is most business don’t need Apple’s fat margins to test ideas. Cheap computers, pervasive broadband, rapid prototyping and social media tools allow you to design and develop new solutions while monitoring how your staff and customers respond to the changes.
We’re living in a time of great technological change — new products and business methods are overwhelming or about to overwhelm most industries. It’s going to be the innovative companies that survive and prosper in this new era.
It’s time to start experimenting.
iPad hysteria is in the air. But the smart buyers are waiting for the next version.
This week the Internet is alive with tech journalists and Apple fans breathlessly describing how the iPad is going to change business and the world. All of their predictions may well be true, but it’s best holding off buying an iPad until the hype cycle runs its course.
Right now, iPad users are in classic bleeding edge territory as the early adopters explore the neat features and the disappointing drawbacks of the new device. There will be joy and tears as they make their journey.
It’s great they are making those discoveries as this knowledge will make life easier for the later adopters and Apple will address many of the disappointments in their next version, which is the main reason for holding off buying the first version.
We saw this with the iPhone — the early adopters rushed into buying it even though it wasn’t a particularly well featured device. A year after the original iPhone release, the new 3G model addressed most of the dissatisfaction with the original model. It was a better, cheaper product.
Exactly the same thing will happen with the iPad, and that’s why you should save your pennies. Almost certainly the next version of the iPad will include multitasking, without which you can’t be talking on Skype while editing your LinkedIn profile and will probably prove the biggest headache to iPad users.
Where the iPad may really change things is in the retail, logistics and medical industries. All of these sectors have seen some adoption of tablet computers, but the clunky, overpriced Windows based tablets have held the market back. The cheaper, lighter and better designed Apple device will probably accelerate the take up of tablet devices and the business methods that work with them.
The retail angle shouldn’t be understated. We recently looked at how iPhone products like Redlazer are changing the retail industry and Smart Company’s Craig Reardon recently described how Australian retailers are being left behind by the net.
It’s no coincidence one of the first business applications for the iPad is a point of sale application. Should the next iPad version be released with a rear mounted camera, it will be more than a glorified cash register and deliver some serious power to smaller retailers.
The iPad further illustrates just how pervasive computing and the internet is capable of challenging established business models. If you’re ignoring how tools like the iPad, mobile Internet, cloud computing and social media are changing your business then your company probably isn’t going to be around in a few years time.
While it’s best to hold off buying an iPad right now, you can’t ignore the changes it presents to business. By waiting you make sure you get the best return on your technology investment.