9:10

How much mobile technology in our lives is enough?

How much mobile technology in our lives is "enough"? And what's an optimal mix?

I define "mobile" as any electronic device connected through a cellular radio or wifi link. 

We as technology users have a great challenge before us to choose the right physical and digital components of mobile technology. It's a daunting task to not only choose from a huge variety of global options, but then manage the overhead of maintaining and becoming proficient with them. 

In my opinion, the endless consumption of 'technology', just for the sake of it, is a losing proposition for humans. 

Which philosophies must technology companies and consumers adopt to find the right balance of value and reward and help safely guide them towards impact (and happiness)? How do we put mobile technology to work for us rather than the other way around? 

Please submit your answers here. Thank you for your thoughts on the subject.

Mobile World Congress is almost here

And I am in Barcelona with a team of frogs to take a bunch of meetings and hopefully meet some new clients looking for help to bring valuable mobile experiences to market. I think the theme this year will have to be how does the industry deal with the iPhone disruption and will other OEM's, content providers, or ABC (anyone but the carriers) be able to wrestle back control of the value proposition to the end user.

The event starts on Monday morning and I will do my best to update my observations, experiences, learnings and try to make some sense of it all. Since I have no interest in being a mobile news/ industry source, I will merely be providing my humble thoughts on the themes and developments in the mobile space at this year's Mobile World Congress and the ramifications for end users.

I have been here now for a few days and must say, I love this city. I have high hopes for a productive week of doings here among the mobile elite. I can already spot these folk filing into the city and have been hearing lots of Finnish in the crowds of Las Ramblas today. It's time for Mobile Madness 2008.

Austin is on my mind as well. I look forward to getting back to some writing about the River City after the orgy of handsets, networks and data services is completed.

Maybe this is the solution that enables us to have time to read all those magazines we subscribe to?

clipped from www.telecomskorea.com KTF, the leading WCDMA provider in Korea, announced the launch of Show Magazine service to provide the contents of Vogue, W, allure, GQ, Moto trend, movie week and economist. In order to offer the latest magazine contents, the wireless carrier partnered with picsel, a British mobile solution provider and wait4u, a local mobile contents provider.    High definition images are provided to ensure as good visual quality as paper magazines. The contents are provided in many categories including celebrity news, star pics, fashion trend, health, leisure and travel information.   The contents are automatically downloaded onto user mobile phones between 2 and 8 a.m. People can see the contents anytime they want while not having to pay additional money for data use.   KTF said that more magazines for film, politics, economy, society, and sports will be added to the list. Also, it will introduce contents available only on mobile magazine and more economical tariff plans to promote the service, said KTF.

My life on the Internet

Happy Friday!

In the New Years spirit, I have been reflecting lately and realized that I have been full-time on the web for 13 years now and am pretty amazed in the manner in which "my Internet experience" has evolved. As an engineer coming out of Northeastern in 1990, I was on a path for industrial and mechanical engineering. Little did I know that I would be a Web and Software business development jockey for the better part of my career.

I may be dating myself but take a look at this progression:

1979 got my first TRS 80 mainly for gaming (not much else you could do)

1985 rolled with a Commodore Vic 20 (also for the sole intent of gaming)

1990 my Windows world took off as well as my first exposure to the Macintosh platform

1991 my first UNIX experience at Sun Microsystems- the network is the computer

1992 I was the de-facto IT guy and built my first Windows 3.1 network with 12 clients at CNC Corporation. Being able to share files and printers from one computer to the other is a major technology breakthrough for me.

1993 Learn about massively parallel supercomputers at Kendall Square Research and am a full-time NeXT user. Became a Framemaker pro aficionado.

1994 Web 1.0- THE INTERNET!! I got mail...with AOL and sometimes ventured off into the wild wild web within that cute little walled garden of an experience.

1999 Got my web designers certificate from Boston University. Now I can contribute to the web

2000 Moved to Norway and became employee #23 at Opera Software. The Web EXPLODES. My first true mobile phone is a Nokia 7110 (Nokia's first phone that shipped with a WAP browser and hence my very first mobile Internet experience)

2001 I say goodbye Bill Gates and I convert to Mac (for good). OSX is the clincher for me.

2002 Developed and negotiated the very first paid Google search field in a browser with Trond Hansen at Opera. Opera starts making money on the desktop and a new browser business model is born. Moved over from Nokia to Sony Ericsson on the strength of the T68i- my first fully color mobile phone. The simplicity and capabilities of this phone still impress me today- it was well ahead of it's time.

2003 Started using the web as a true tool. Less about discovery and browsing and more for transacting, e-commerce, travel, maps, finding music, etc. Using Nokia series 60 handsets and regularly accessing the mobile web (a slow and painful experience). Move to Austin to establish Opera's first US operation. My first experience working remotely. I could really put my love and use of the Internet and technology to the test.

2004 Web 2.0- Now things are getting interesting. I am spending the better part of my working day ON the Internet and it's my lifeline to doing my job and designing my lifestyle. Start working at Macromedia Mobile and Devices (remote from Austin) and my career focus shifts from the desktop web to the mobile web. Still a Nokia series 60 junkie but starting to dabble with other platforms more and more.

2006 I am now a mobile Internet power user and using Opera (the world's first full HTML mobile web browser) daily to access the web. This was the year the Internet became a medium that was accessible by desktop machines, mobile devices and other Internet enabled consumer electronic devices. The world of digital convergence was quickly upon us.

2007 Joined frog design with the hopes of helping mobile players innovate more and deliver best of breed mobile experiences. At this point, I am a pro on the web and an Web 2.0 power user. I finally breakdown and get my first Blackberry- the 8700 (my business tool). I LOVE IT. My other mobile phone was a Nokia 8800 (personal phone). Moved to a Curve and that was the first time I did not hide my Blackberry. I displayed it proudly next to Nokia and later the.... iPhone! I was one of the first in line on June 29th at the Cingular store in Austin to get my iPhone. It was a truly special day and one that I was waiting 2 years for. Apple got the product right and it is hands down the premiere Internet experience on a mobile device. The iPhone changed the way OEM's and MNO's would view handset and Ui design. Thank you Steve Jobs- you just made my job at frog a whole lot easier! I now manage my own blog (9:10), a facebook, Linkedin, Orkut, MySpace, Spock and spend my daily time on popurls.com, youtube, various google apps, and a host of work and leisure related blogs and news-sites. The Web is officially an always on and seamless experience for me.

2008 Wow, 2007 is going to be a tough act to follow. Easily the most exciting technology year that I have ever experienced. At first glance, the iPhone may not be so technologically revolutionary but what was revolutionary was (in perfect Apple form) the vastly simplified UI and desktop like Internet experience. Openness,interoperability and seamless syncing with iTunes and other apps is what's it's all about in the future. Apple is already there and the rest of the mobile world will be very busy in 2008 trying to catch up. I hope we at frog design can help some companies accomplish that.

The future is bright!