Whatever...

Once upon a time there was a mainframe computer...

By Jacqui Depares

 

You’d be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu over this week’s news that the internet has turned 40.  After all, wasn’t it only recently that we were celebrating the birth of the World Wide Web?  So what are today’s festivities about?

 

Courtesy of University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), here’s the ‘LO-down’:

 

“In olden times, a few giant computers ruled the planet.  They were clever brutes, but highly territorial and socially deficient. They wouldn’t, couldn’t, didn’t know how to talk to one another.

 

Then came the internet.

 

LO and behold!  The first message was supposed to begin with “LOG/IN’, but after the first two letters – an L and an O – the system crashed.  The system was restored in a few hours and the rest is history.”

 

Arpanet, as it was then called, had a few teething problems – what IT project doesn’t? – but went on to create the foundations of an infrastructure that has arguably revolutionised modern society.  

 

Summing up the extent of this ‘revolution’ is a little more tricky – certainly within the confines of a blog.  That said, some key things stand out.  The birth of online shopping, video sharing and search engines.  Most notable of all, however, is good old trusty communication.  E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc have changed not only how businesses operate, but also, how our personal relationships are conducted.  Why pick up the phone and call someone, when you can poke them on Facebook? 

 

And so I come to the moral of our blog today.  If those two little letters hadn’t been sent, life today would have been very different.  First and foremost, you wouldn’t have had the sheer delight of reading this blog... my, you are lucky.

We’ve got the flop

By Mike King

 

Here we go again, next version of Windows and forced upgrades in sight no-doubt.  So, Windows 7 is with us and available from retailers. Yawn; application and driver compatibility problems here we come.

 

Given that Windows Vista was only launched at the end of 2006 it hasn’t taken Microsoft long to move on the next version. Not surprising given that the previous version of Windows, XP was launched in late 2001 and still accounts for around 70% of the market.

 

Given the poor level of take up of Vista – less than 20% of XP users have apparently upgraded to Vista - Microsoft had to move quickly to release Windows 7.  Vista was a flop and the idea is to get people who still have Windows XP to move to Windows 7.

 

Unfortunately, at Johnson King we’re on Vista.  A couple of years ago we bought all new PCs and went for Vista over XP as a sensible longer term option.  Don’t laugh.  Most annoyingly, I remember feeling comfortable because we’d waited and avoided the supposed pain of early adoption.  Vista had been on the market for a year before we made the switch and seemed like the right option.

 

Funnily enough, in spite of the widespread criticism, I find Vista to be a decent operating system. It works and supports what we want to do.  It is irritating that we have to frequently save documents in XP compatible formats when sharing with people outside of Johnson King because so few of them have Vista but, apart from that, it does the job.

 

Obviously now that XP is pretty much obsolete, there is going to be a forced mass upgrade to Windows 7 (don’t you just love Microsoft) and we’re on borrowed time. 

Of course, the probl em with upgrading an operating system, particularly in a business environment, is that you have all the pain, cost and hassle to be able to run essentially the same applications you were running before and do what you could do already.  No one likes to feel forced into doing things, particularly not when they cost money.  I’d like to think that we’ll get a low cost, painless and easy upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 but experience tells me that won’t be the case.

Google makes waves

By Alexandra Radius

 

The latest big buzz in France is around the invitations to test Google Wave, the search giant’s soon-to-be-released collaboration tool which combines social networking, Google docs, email and instant messaging.

 

The hype around the impending service has been extremely effective: #Googlewave has made Twitter’s list of top trending topics, while there has been endless online chatter about how to get an invite, with some even being auctioned off on eBay. There have even been reports of bogus invitations.  Isn’t Google marketing machine simply genius?!

 

For me, Google’s success lies in the fact it’s created the sensation of feeling part of a privileged community if you obtain a precious invitation.  If you don’t, you feel excluded. Even those people who aren’t particularly interested in using the service still want to receive an invitation.  

 

I didn’t know much about Google Wave before reading a blog on the subject, but instead of discussing the functionality of Google’s latest innovation, the post focused on how rare it was to be able to test it. I really appreciate the fact that Google Wave’s preview isn’t just reserved for a pre-selected elite - even journalists are looking for invitations. Only the waiting list and a little luck will permit you a sneak preview of this new tool and I like the principle of using luck in a society where most things are governed by status.

 

Google has totally succeeded in making a service, which doesn’t even exist yet, into the next ‘must have’ and that’s why my name is on the waiting list.

Has Twitter come of age with latest media gagging incident?

By Tom Kirkham and Jonathan Mathias

 

The worldwide Twitter community is an excitable bunch to say the least – too often eager to jump on pretty much any bandwagon, irrespective of where it’s headed and whether it’s in anyway a journey worth making.  Consequently, the trending-topics on Twitter generally need to be taken with a pinch of salt.  Indeed, only a few months back we blogged about why most people still view the traditional media as the real authority on important news matters.

 

But what happens when a traditional media outlet, through no fault of its own, is unable to act as that authority figure?  Well, in the past 24 hours, since The Guardian posted a story about a gagging order it had received, Twitter users have picked up the torch and set about bringing the story to the world’s attention, with electrifying resolve.

 

Twitter moves so quickly, and generates such vast quantities of content, that it was at first very difficult to determine how the story started spreading.  When the Johnson King Twitter team went to post its morning update, ‘Trafigura’ was pretty much the only thing anyone was talking about – and of course, like so many others, this compelled us to follow the weblinks and see what all the fuss was about.  For those of you that are still in the dark, you might want to head here.

 

This incident demonstrates the uncontrollable nature, lightning speed and powerful momentum of social media, with both Trafigura and the Carter-Ruck law firm being mentioned hundreds of times each minute.  There are tweets soliciting the BBC to cover the story, tweets encouraging other users to write to their MPs, tweets publishing links containing background information on the story and its key players… and of course, an awful lot of verbal abuse! 

 

It’s far too early to say whether this incident will be defined as the moment at which Twitter ‘came of age’, however it lays down a marker from which we can evaluate and assess the evolution of the media – traditional and social elements working side by side to fight against censorship and shape the public agenda.

 

Email is ruining my life!

  By Rebecca Surtees

 

I admit that I regularly have the urge to shut down my inbox, crawl into a quiet corner of the office and rock gently to the sound of the phones ringing.  Why?  Simple – an acute case of email overload.

 

Since email was created in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, it has revolutionised every aspect of our lives – two million emails are now sent every minute in the UK.  And my reaction to the perils of my inbox isn’t one of a kind in the business realm, as this week’s eye-opening BBC Four documentary on the UK’s use (or should that be overuse?) of email confirmed.  

  

According to a recent study, we can spend up to half of our working day trawling through our inboxes, leaving us frustrated and unproductive.  The pleasure doesn’t come cheap either – one FTSE firm estimated that dealing with pointless email costs the company a staggering £39 million per year.  Add to this the fact that 14 million Britons take sick days due to stress every year and you’ve got yourself a problem.

 

So, how can businesses control email without letting it control us?  Cutting down on unnecessary internal email, designating ‘email free’ days and even hiring highly-trained email consultants to train employees on how to cope with their inboxes are all admirable suggestions.  But it all boils down to three simple rules:  write carefully, target your email and, most importantly, get basic training on how to effectively use your inbox.

 

But in today’s increasingly mobile technology landscape – BlackBerry devices being a particular culprit – I wonder if we’ll ever truly get a handle on the situation?  Professor Gary Cooper, a government advisor on stress in the workplace, seems to have hit the nail on the head: ‘For me, email is one of the most pernicious stressors of our time’ – I couldn’t agree with you more Gary.

Windows 7... video heaven?

By Flora Haslam

 

If you've seen any tech news in the last week, you've almost certainly heard about Windows 7.  And here in the UK, the stories you've read will probably have featured Microsoft's video encouraging you to host your own launch party.  In fairness, I haven't seen the whole thing... it was so spectacularly bad that I couldn't take any more after the first few cringe worthy minutes so it's possible that it turns into a stroke of cinematic genius around the 5 minute, 47 second mark.  Then again, if previous attempts are anything to go by, possibly not.

 

I'd be the first to encourage the companies we represent to embrace video - you can't argue that it's a radical improvement to static text-heavy websites - so I'm reluctant to dismiss Microsoft's attempts.  Unfortunately, I think this one just doesn't work.  Maybe it'll be better received in the States?  Maybe it was always intended as a spoof?  Maybe it served its purpose in signing up techies to host their own balloon-clad bashes and spread the word in exchange for a free OS?  Maybe the mere fact that we're talking about it makes it a viral marketing triumph? 

 

But, for me, the fact that comments have had to be disabled on YouTube makes its success more than a little questionable as a social media campaign. 

  

On the plus side, we can surely all learn from this: video is great, but as with all PR, never underestimate your audience.  All publicity is not necessarily good publicity and there's a danger that your target market will be distracted from the good stuff by the general noise.  Even if your video's not intended for consumption by the general public, you can't afford to ignore its impact when - inevitably - it does hit YouTube. 

The internet hasn’t put the passion back into German politics

By Steffi Nowak

Yesterday the German people once again voted for a new Government, an event that usually takes place every four years.  As with all elections, the internet proved to be a vital source of information about the different political parties, their manifestos and the candidates who wanted to become “Bundeskanzler” (head of state).

   

However, what struck me (and I guess a great number of other young Germans who are not yet utterly weary about politics), was the total lack of passion and enthusiasm surrounding German politics (not to mention the absence of a charismatic candidate!).

 

In Germany things are very different than in the US for example. German politicians live up to the national stereotype of being firm and accurate without any hint of charm or self-mockery. Electioneering from all parties wasn’t only slow, it was so boring and this remained the case right up to election day, usually ‘high noon’ for the campaigning parties!

 

Last year, many of us marvelled at how President Obama successfully re-invented grassroot politics by utilising the web.  Never before had the internet played such a key role in canvassing support.  It’s been a very different story here.  German politicians simply haven’t recognised the power of the web, with activity limited to the odd candidate posting blogs gossiping about their rivals.   Indeed, the majority of web content came from independent blogs, for example F!xmbr and TV… und so, which bemoaned the lack of optimism and the uninspired election campaigns.

 

Maybe German politicians were put off by Obama’s lack of political luck with his plans to reform the US health insurance system. This may even be the reason why the SPD (Social Democratic Party) didn’t want anything to do with candidate Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s  Obama-style “Steini-Girl” campaign, which featured heavily on YouTube.

 

For the German public at least, the internet hasn’t put the passion back into politics.

Vultures circling for product placement cash

By Claire Ayles

 

This week’s announcement to allow product placement in British TV shows is a much needed shot in the arm for beleaguered commercial broadcasters. 

 

But behind the jubilation, there’s been a bit of a turf war about who’s in the better position to facilitate product placement, with the ad industry squaring up against PR agencies for the right to take the bigger slice of pie. 

 

Both industries obviously have strong credentials.  Ad execs are used to buying opportunities that are proven to reach the right people, while PRs are expert at making products relevant and desirable.  Both these elements will play a crucial part. 

 

But how much money is actually up for grabs here?  While some experts value the market quite highly, Cazenove rightly points out that us Brits don’t always like the hard sell, and therefore predicts the market will be worth a meagre £70m, with just £30m going to ITV.  While this amount of money certainly isn’t to be sniffed at, it’ll only boost ITV’s ad coffers by 2%. 

 

So it looks like the two industries might just be fighting for scraps.  However, with the UK ad market shrinking at 14% a year, there’s no doubt which is hungrier.

Twitter makes you a twit

By Mike King

 

It’s not been a great week for promoting the use of social media.  The widely reported story about two young girls in Australia, who were trapped in a storm drain and used their mobile phones to update their Facebook status rather than call for help, did little to foster a positive image of young social media users.  It is difficult to argue that these girls weren’t seriously lacking some basic life skills and common sense, but to imply that Facebook was somehow to blame is a bit rich. 

 

Particularly when a study from psychologist Dr Tracy Alloway from the University of Stirling shows that Facebook enhances intelligence. Twitter, on the other hand, supposedly makes people stupid.

 

Dr Alloway studies working memory, the ability to remember, recall and process information.  Working memory, according to Dr Alloway, has been shown to be more important than IQ when it comes to academic studies. 

 

Dr Alloway claims that her recent study shows that Twitter and YouTube hinder the development of working memory because they constantly bombard the user with small chunks of information that require very little recall or processing. 

 

The opposite applies to activities on Facebook or playing video games which are apparently good for enhancing intelligence because they exercise working memory.  Based on the evidence from Australia I’m not sure that I’m convinced.

 

Of course, given that anyone on Twitter is likely to also be a regular user of a social media site like Facebook there’s almost certainly nothing to worry about.  I’m sure they’ll all just cancel each other out.  I’d be far more worried about kids spending hour upon hour passively watching TV.

Battling the back to school blues

By Carol Pender

 

This week officially marks what in France is known as ‘la rentrée’. It is synonymous, not just with the return to school, but with the end of the lazy, hazy days of August during which economic and political life comes to a standstill, the Parisians leave the capital en masse, and you have absolutely no problem finding a seat outside a café or restaurant (unless they’re closed as well of course!). As if to underline the fact that summer is over and reflect the general mood, September 1 was greeted with rain after days of clear skies, and public transport is yet again overflowing with men and women battling their way to the office, all be them a little more tanned than usual.

 

In many ways, la rentrée is a lot like New Year. The holidays are over, which has everyone a little down in the dumps, you’ve probably indulged far too much, and so you look towards the future with a set of new resolutions, which normally includes kick-starting your health and fitness habits.

 

So keeping in that spirit, and to face the rentrée in a positive frame of mind, the French team has been thinking about ways in which we can maybe improve the way we work and interact with clients and journalists. Some of these are things I’m sure many of you do already, but it’s easy to slip into bad habits. In any case, here is what we’ve come up with:

• Clean out your inbox on a regular basis and file all important emails in a logical, intelligent way so that they will be easy to find!
• Don’t drop everything to reply to an email that isn’t urgent i.e. prioritise
• Begin monthly reports at the beginning of the report and fill them in gradually – don’t wait to do everything at the last minute
• Don’t have blind faith in your computer’s spelling and grammar check; it will only lead you astray. In fact, don’t have blind faith in anything!
• Remember to support and praise each other for work well done. Not everyone  remembers to do it, but it’s always nice to hear, particularly from colleagues you  respect
• Find a healthy way to handle stress. Some can do it by nature, others need a little help (not necessarily liquid help, hence the ‘healthy’ part!). Reading, yoga, breathing techniques or knock-the-crap out of you kickboxing – whatever works for you to switch off and leave the office behind without taking your bad day out on the hapless boyfriend, wife or stranger in the street.  It’s only work for goodness sake ;-)

So there you have it. Just a few ideas to ponder on – I’m sure you can think of plenty more ways to make the office a more agreeable, conducive working environment for everyone, so don’t be afraid to share.

But especially, Bonne Rentrée à toutes et à tous!!