Tagged: web20

New VC Fund: Canada’s Got Mobile Money!

Rick Segal posted a description of the shiny new VC Fund for everything mobile. This is great for tech innovation in general and Canada specifically. Some great companies have come from Canadian entrepreneurs but far too often they have had to move to Silicon Valley to get the support and funding needed to go big.

Not any more, this new fund isn’t simply another example of Canada’s Web 2.0 community following the lead of our U.S. counterparts, it establishes Canada in the lead for the wave of next generation mobile innovations. Yes, Kleiner Perkins has a $100M iPhone fund but this new fund constitutes the first ‘any platform’ fund (and it’s $150M so it takes the lead!).

So get those ideas out of your head and on your phone! Great job RIM, JLA, RBC, and Thompson.

The ‘Me’ Firewall

mefirewall1
Being a digital media consultant I have an interest in how Web 2.0 can mesh in companies; Enterprise 2.0. Although it’s natural that companies (I’m talking non-Web 2.0 or internet companies) would want to take advantage of the great Web 2.0 products and services that have captured the imagination of consumers all over the world, there still has yet to emerge any assemblence of widespread adoption. Why? Because it’s not a technology issue, it’s about ‘me’.

Last year company execs wondered what all the Facebook fuss was about. Then they were told that people love social networks, they should have one for their employees, and that future employees of Generation Y will need one since they’re growing up on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc.

Well, I beg to differ. Much of what we’re hearing about the internet generation is what was said about hippies in the 60s – they’ll change the workplace! Well, hippies became yuppies, and yuppies are the CEOs of today…did the workplace change? Not really.

Work Life vs. Me Life

Some people spend almost all hours of the day and night at work, others pull a 9 to 5. Unless someone is in the enviable position of loving their job so much it doesn’t even feel like work, most people have a separation between work life and Me Life: what they like to do and are not asked to do because they’re livelihood depends on it.

Me Life is that less stressful time when you live how you want to live: T.V., friends, family, gym, surfing online, etc. It’s not work and you don’t want it to look, feel, sounds, taste, or smell like work. It’s a deliberate separation to keep you sane.

My theory on why hippies didn’t change the workplace, and why Generation Y won’t is based on a few principles:

1. Business is about the bottom line. The company has a way of doing things that made it successful. They like that way because it works. Billions of dollars can’t be wrong.

2. People join the company because it’s successful and they want to be successful at the company. They do what the company tells them to do to ensure success (evidence is the hopeful wide-eyes of university recruits during on campus job interviews; it’s almost sad).

3. Company outings are work. If given a choice, people don’t want to hang out at the company happy hour, it’s usually boring, fake, or both (even if the boss is paying). You go because you have to show you’re part of the team but you’d rather be at a happy hour with your real friends.

3. Most people have things they do in life other than their jobs. They can’t wait to get away from work so they can enjoy these activities (their Me Life).

People want to separate work and life. If there is no separation then everything feels like work and life is miserable.  To keep things separate and have some sanity we put up our Me Firewall – making sure our work life doesn’t take over and destroy our whole life.

The Me Firewall is a necessity and presents a huge problem for Enterprise 2.0. Sure, it would be great to bring the benefits of Web 2.0 to the workplace. People would be more social, collaborative, and happy. Problem is, Web 2.0 is Me time. People love social networks like Facebook and MySpace because you can do and say what you want and not get an email from your boss saying something is inappropriate (just don’t add him/her as a friend). You can blog and not have to worry about corporate guidelines. You can mash things up and not have to think about IT compliance. Follow me?

Enterprise 2.0’s Sweet Spot

People aren’t going to use a social network at work if they see no benefit in it (I’ve seen it fail). Promises of connecting with your colleagues, reading blogs of co-workers, etc. are doomed to failure because:

In Work Life people compete for positions, work with people they have to, and do things they need to .  In Me Life people connect with people they want to, do things they life to do, and compete for fun are personal rewards.

There’s a place for Web 2.0 inside the company. It’s not trying to take advantage of the social dynamics and needs that exist in Me Life, but to provide tools that make work life better; helping people work better, smarter, and faster so they can succeed at work and leave the office to have more Me time.

Tools that let you work from home, spread ideas, manage projects easier, work with others on tasks better – call them innovation and productivity tools – this is where Enterprise 2.0 can stake it’s claim as a true benefit to people at work, enjoying adoption because people see the value, and ultimately changing the fabric of how work gets done. Business likes them because they bring down cost and boost productivity, people like them because they give more Me time.

This is why I think solutions like Intel’s SuiteTwo will have a tough time while 37Signal’s BaseCamp will keep succeeding. There’s a lot of companies jockeying for position and all would do well to remember the Me Firewall.

Unleash Your Inner DJ

Most of the applications in social networks suck. But every once in a while a cool idea becomes along.  This time it’s Mixaloo.  If you’ve always dreamed on being a mix tape guru here’s your chance!

Mixaloo let’s you make your own mix tape, share it, or sell it and make money (just like when you used to tape off the radio…ya, I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s)!

It easy, fun, and works like this:

You go to the site (or add their app to your social network profile, yes they have a FB app!), select the songs you like to create your mix tape, and start promoting. In reality, people can only listen to samples of the songs, but Mixaloo puts a value on your mix tape and anyone can buy the full mix…making you money with a 50%-50% revenue split.

Mixaloo also offers has points system where users earn points for doing things like selling tracks, and recommending related artists. Enough points and you can redeem for Mixaloo merchandise and real audio equipment.

They’ve got more than 3 million songs to choose from, so go ahead, get your groove on!

Will Web HD kill T.V.?

Since the explosion of online video a few years ago, there’s been much chatter about whether (or when) web video will kill traditional T.V.  My stance has always been – ya right!

With HD, the chorus is growing a bit louder. The suggestion is that it will be a lot easier for people to get HD content on the web instead of through their television service. Why, because on the web it could be free (better system cost put aside).

What many fail to realize is user behaviour. Most people turn the T.V. on after a hard days work, when exhausted, or for background noise. Here’s the pattern of an average T.V. user:

1. Come home exhausted

2. Plop down on the sofa

3. Turn on the T.V.

4. Shut off the brain

Until someone can figure out how to get web video (no matter what resolution) to the T.V. screen with minimal, or no effort on the part of the user then people will be watching T.V. the same way we have been since the 50s. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google haven’t figured it out yet (yes Apple TV is dead because no one wants to connect, disconnect, have a box sitting in their living room).

The answer could be to transmit wirelessly from the computer to the T.V. so that I can watch what I want how I want. Or, better yet, plugging the web in directly from my wall jack to the T.V.’s ethernet port. Then broadcasting rights, ads, geography all being worked out (wishful thinking) we’ll really see the web content quality race become something to get excited over.

The exciting thing is that people are innovative and things are always being created. The digital world continues to impact our everyday lives and one day, one way or another, T.V. as we know it will change for the better.