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Posts Tagged ‘instant messaging’

U.S. Mobile Culture is an Embarrassment!

August 18th, 2010 by Erin Posted in Business, Technology | No Comments »

I just got back from a trip overseas. I thought I was cool because I had my new BlackBerry Storm 2 with me – equipped with cutting edge global capability, super speed, navigation, and a whole lot of other bells and whistles.

I was not cool. Far from it.

As soon as I set foot in Italy, I realized that, yes, Italians do lead a simple, slower lifestyle. But part of that lifestyle stems from their efficient use of mobile devices and the services provided to them.

The mobile culture among Italians, along with many other Europeans and beyond, is surprisingly well more advance than here in the U.S.

How?

Well, according to a mobile culture survey conducted by Sybase 365, Americans are simply not adopting mobile technologies as fast as other parts of the world.

Their key finding: The United States finished dead last in the use of text messaging and instant messaging. Only one in three U.S. respondents take advantage of these services. In comparison, nine out of 10 respondents in China text on their mobile phones.

Parents of US teenagers who spend the bulk of their days texting would probably disagree… but wait, there’s more.

Sybase indicates that Americans have also been VERY SLOW to adopt the use of mobile commerce and mobile customer relations solutions. Want to pay your cable TV bill or buy office supplies? Most people here still get on the computer or pick up their land line phones to complete the transaction.  In other parts of the world, it’s quite the opposite.

According to Diarmuid Mallon, product marketing manager at Sybase, people in Africa can pay for goods with a simple text message and a payment card that acts as currency. That is, they don’t need a bank account. In the United States, however, most people have access to banks and ATM machines.

People around the globe are using their mobile devices to gather information, check finances, and manage their social lives. Here, well, we still use our mobile phones as… phones. Our problem, perhaps, is that we have too many choices; too many ways to buy things, communicate, and help us manage our personals lives and businesses.

Reflecting back on my trip to Italy, I realize that the Italians (and so many people in other countries) have it right. They value mobile speed, mobile services, and connectivity. While technologically advanced, their lives are still simple – easier to manage. Their mobile devices help them enjoy life a little bit more.

Of course, a bottle of Chianti doesn’t hurt either.

 Tags: blackberry storm 2, instant messaging, mobile commerce, mobile culture, mobile customer relations, text messaging

Email versus Instant Messaging

June 6th, 2008 by Gregory Silvano Posted in Technology | No Comments »

I am all for advancements in communication technology, but I have to admit my dislike for instant messengers has reached the tipping point.

Email’s great.  I can push an email to the side and answer on my terms.  Email conversations are threaded by nature.  They can be archived and forwarded easily.  I can attach relevant files.  All good.

But an IM is like a phone call.  You have to answer it right now or that window will keep blinking at you.  And you’re expected to answer immediately (it is instant messaging, after all).  It interrupts and annoys.

But there’s more than that.  I get emails immediately wherever I am.  I get them on my PC, on my laptop, and on my Blackberry within seconds.  But your IM may sit on my PC for hours, waiting for me to get back to my PC.  Ironically, your email is much more instant than your instant message.

My nephew (19 years old) told me that he doesn’t email unless he has to talk to “old people”.  Like for the bank.  He thinks of email the same as I think of a fax: archaic and clumsy.   If it weren’t for eFax I’d never fax again.  But that’s how he thinks of email.  For him, logging into email is the same as me firing up the fax machine.  It’s something to do when there’s no other choice.

It’s hard to imagine what’s next.  Snail mail to fax to email to IM to texting to Twitter to…?  I’m not sure.  It’ll be something related to mobile devices and will probably debut on the iPhone somehow.

 Tags: efax, email, fax, im, instant messaging