The Coolest Thing Revisited

This past weekend you would have found me once again scurrying around town doing still more Christmas shopping, finally with the end of my list clearly in sight. And 'scurrying' may be a bit too energetic to describe the sometimes painful process of getting through the agonizingly-slow-moving columns of traffic both outside as well as inside the stores. It was clearly obvious I was not alone in my task judging from the volume of shoppers out and about. I was thrilled to locate most of the gifts on my various lists, and of course some that were not. But as usual there remained several more challenging items left to still be procured.

Troughout the day I turned many times to my iPhone texting questions about a particular gift, or to search Google for something, to browse for comparable products, check prices, availability, shipping charges - at one point I even sat in the parking lot to order an item for home delivery after discovering the store did not have it in stock.

That evening back home, having unloaded the car and inventorying the day's booty, I finally kicked back in front of the fireplace, a glass of crisp chardonnay in hand, holiday music gently playing in the background. On the table next to me my iPhone began providing status updates for my online purchase - first the order confirmation, then the credit card receipt, then fulfillment, and ultimately the shipping confirmation with tracking number. All in the course of no more than thre to four hours time. I smiled.

While none of this is necessarily new, it is continuing evidence nevertheless of how technology is revolutionizing consumer shopping habits. Basking in the satisfaction of my day's accomplishments I reminisced about gift-shopping experiences of Christmases past, before the personal computer, the Internet, and the iPhone. It was a far more exhausting time and energy-consuming process, searching store shelves, driving from store to store, sometimes town-to-town, searching for a special item that just simply had to be under the tree.

Many people still enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the frenzy of the SHOP-PING experience and that's absolutely fine. But for me, I love my techno-tools and how they have simplified my gift-giving experience. Vendors are successfully delivering the sights and sounds of Christmas over the network. Now we just need to figure out how to deliver the smells of Christmas over the same network as well. Talk about integration!

The Coolest Thing

Yesterday my daughter and I were doing some Christmas shopping when I was intrigued by an application of digital signage at one of the stores we visited - ok, it was Kohls. Posted everywhere - in the aisles, on the shelves, directly on merchandise - were 7" LCD display panels with the sale and price information for the particular item(s). There were literally hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. Each one was battery powered, easy to read, designed to be hung virtually anywhere - with nary a connection. So, being the tech-inquisitive person I am I covertly slipped one off its palstic hanger to see what the heck it was, a brand, model number, any identification I could find. Probably drove the store security people watching camera monitors nuts!

The sign had nothing to distinguish it from any ordinary, everyday black and white LCD picture display, about 3/8' thick, battery access door, that was it. And the name "Altierre Corp., San Jose, CA.". I was so intrigued by this little device I found it difficult to pay attention to the real purpose of our trip - Christmas gift shopping! Was it Wi-Fi enabled I wondered? Did it get automatic price updates from a central database somewhere, distributed wirelessly throughout the store? Then I noticed the complete absence of traditional printed product and promotional placards. They had been replaced by the digital displays. What a great time-saving, perfectly feasible application of digital display technology I decided. And what made it feasible was its ease of deployment - small lightweight package, battery powered, and wireless.

Back home I Googled Altierre Corp. and found their website but not much in the way of product information. The image above came from the home page as does the following Press Release:


ALTIERRE ANNOUNCES NFC-ENABLED PRICE TAGS AND DIGITAL SIGNS
Smart Phone Interactivity Complements Suite of Consumer-Facing Offerings for Retailers

San Jose, Calif., September 13, 2012 — Altierre Corp., a provider of ultra low-power wireless technology that enables dynamic pricing, promotion, and product information in brick and mortar retail stores, today announced the introduction of near field communication (NFC)-enabled price tags and digital signs, augmenting the company’s complete suite of wireless solutions for retailers. NFC is a standards-based connectivity technology that enables interactivity with smart phones, facilitating communication and mobile payments. Altierre’s NFC- embedded technology opens the way for shoppers to scan electronic price tags and digital signs using their smart phones, making it possible for retailers to provide in-store personalized offers and product details such as nutritional and allergy information. In addition it allows retailers to cross-sell or upsell associated items, while also enabling instant checkout via applications like Google Wallet. “Convergence technologies like NFC are the wave of the future for bricks and mortar retailers seeking the holy grail of one-to-one personalized engagement with customers,” said Sunit Saxena, Chairman and CEO of Altierre. “We are continually striving to offer retailers new opportunities to harness technology to increase their store efficiencies and revenues, and to delight their customers while strengthening loyalty.” The introduction of NFC capability adds a new dimension to, and complements, the broad suite of infrastructure, sensor network, and consumer-facing display technology offerings from Altierre that includes E-Paper and animation capable tags. Altierre’s bi-directional ultra-low power wireless technology is already operating in over 1,000 retail stores across US and Europe. The system has been enterprise-hardened in terms of ease of deployment, ease of ongoing maintenance, least infrastructure cost, 24/7 system dependability, and synchronization to point of sales cash registers, all adding up to the highest functionality, lowest-cost system in the market place today.


Technology that makes sense gets me all excited. This makes incredible sense. It uses the same 'e-ink' techology as the popular book readers so battery life is incredible. And considering the implications of being integrated into marketing and PoS solutions this makes the printed signs and posters things of the past. Undoubtedly we'll soon be seeing these things - and others like them - everywhere. To read more, go to Altierre's web site www.altierre.com

Happy Thanksgiving

I've got so many things to be truly thankful for and yet I often find myself down-in-the-mouth about one thing or another, lamenting that I don't have something or that circumstances haven't gone exactly my way. Typically, and thankfully (again) those times are short-lived as I am always reminded of the bounty and goodness that fills my life.

Not surprisngly the most precious of my blessings are the loves of my life, the people nearest and dearest to me. And I can tell you I am blessed with a great many lives - family, friends, close relationships - in my various communities and roles, too numerous to count.

Here at work I have the honor of  working daily with some of the most genuine, dedicated people I've known. They are individually gifted with unique skills, talents and abilities  that collectively result in the greatness that our customers have come to appreciate and expect. But far more importantly, they possess a spirit of service and compassion. They care deeply about what they do and for the customers we serve. Time and again I have witnessed each of them graciously sacrifice personally for the benefit of a customer in need.

While we may not be unique, we are certainly indeed rare. In a time of increasing challenge and cynicism, our company I believe stands out as a shining example of what's right in the industry.

The people of my life are who I am most thankful this Thanksgiving Day. Please accept our grateful appreciation and best wishes for you and yours this holiday season!

Our Most Cherished Right

I am excited! Tomorrow is Election Day. It is the day guaranteed to me by my Constitution to vote for the people I want to represent me in governement. It is the day I am privileged, and obligated, to vote for the men and women candidates that I believe possess and demonstrate the skills, wisdom, character and conviction to lead our nation for the next few years. It's an invaluable, inspired process by which we are empowered to self-determination.

Personally I feel my freedom and individual liberties increasingly rewstricted and/or removed altogether by the encroahment of a presumably well-meaning government. To some degree I have come to the conlcusion that our government at all levels has become 'self-aware', seeking more to preserve itself than to preserve the welfare of the nation's population. The growing differentiation referenced by public officials when speaking of "the people" and "the government" is alarming. It's as if they do not grasp nor value the instrinsic 'one-ness' rooted in the Declaration of Independence and reiterated by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address:

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth"

We are one nation under God. We are Americans all. We face many great challenges but history has shown time and again that by God's hand we have overcome those challenges to become the greatest nation in the history of the world. We always come together in the face of great hardship and sacrifice to rise above ourselves for the good of another.

I love my country. I will vote with exhuberation and relsih the freedom to do so. At day's end the voice of a free people will have once again been heard. Please vote. God bless America!

To the Clouds, and Beyond

I'm fascinated with the direction our industry is going with Cloud Computing. The concept seems simple enough - use your computer, tablet, smartphone, iPhone, iPad or whatever device you prefer to connect to a server somewhere in the cloud and do whatever it is you want to do.Communicate, access and process information, upload information, post news stories, photos, videos, view streamed movies and live broadcasts, have a meeting with others anywhere and collaborate real-time on  common projects. The technology behind all this is formidable and requires vast resources to implement and maanage so that we, the consumers in the information age, have access to anything, anywhere, at any time, whenever we want it. And it is increasingly unacceptable for the systems to fall short of this expectation.

Until yesterday I'd not had the opportunity to enjoy "Facetime" on my iPhone with anyone. While enjoying a phone conversation with my out-of-town daughter, she invited me to try "Facetime". Not knowing exactly what that meant, but curiously replying "sure", she instructed me through the process and before I could say "Hey! would you look at that", I was looking at her beautiful smiling face and, in sequence, the beaming faces of my four giggling 4-year-old grandchildren. Keep in mind that at the time I was busily preparing dinner in the kitchen of another daughter's house, my hands inside a chicken carcass, the iPhone propped precariously face-high on the cupboard in front of me. She was riding in the family van, heading home after a pumpkin-gathering excursion. And when my wife observed what was taking place she quickly managed the phone away from me and had her own "Facetime" with the kids for at least another 30 minutes or so.

Once everyone had their fill of Facetiming we ended the conection and got on with the remainder of our evening, sharing our delight with this new-found treat. The phone call - is that an accurate term for Facetiming? - witnessed to me the power of the cellular network and the hand-held devices we have come to take for granted in our daily lives. This particular application enriched my day by bringing my distant family closer. Though Facetiming for me remains somewhat a curiousity, I can easily see how it could become the normal mode of communicating for the younger generations now growing up with it.

While by definition Apple's Facetime is not truly considered a "Cloud" application, it reminds me nevertheless of the life-changing capabilities that come with the power of the new networks and the visionary geniuses behind their design. Cloud computing will be another tool along the evolution line of technology that will empower us to enrich our lives.

Integrity

integrity (ɪnˈtɛɡrɪtɪ)
— n
1.	adherence to moral principles; honesty
2.	the quality of being unimpaired; soundness
3.	unity; wholeness

(from the World English Dictionary)

 

When most of us go to market to purchase something we do so with a healthy dose of skepticism and caution so as not to fall victim to misinformation, veiled promises, misleading advertising and unscrupulous pitchmen. At least until we have gained a level of trust with the vendor and satisfaction with the product or service purchased. Our conditioning to this behavioral posture comes from prior negative experience ourselves or the lessons learned by others.
 

At times it can seem that integrity has been wrenched from the business proposition – that is, to be 'successful' in business comes at the expense of ethical behavior. The age-old-adage “its business, not personal” somehow is supposed to excuse unethical behavior. This attitude seems to have infiltrated every aspect of society, and perhaps nowhere more evident than in government. It is disconcerting to find it increasingly difficult to trust the interests and leadership of those governing us. In difficult times integrity is more important than ever but, unfortunately, desperation tends to move people to higher levels of unethical behavior. As times become more challenging inexcusable behavior can become rampant.

 

The integrity of individual or group behavior can be assessed only after it has been experienced, and attested to by those experiencing it. It stands to reason the best way to quantify the integrity of behind any proposition is to identify and consult anyone that can provide credible prior experience. In lieu of such testimony we will rely on our own intuition and discernment, ultimately making a decision of faith.

 

Not surprisingly, integrity is the cornerstone of our company's value proposition and underpins every aspect of our business. You can expect it. You deserve it. Accept nothing less.

Style Points

One need only look at last night's presidential debate for evidence of the power of the spoken word. And not surprisingly much of the spin today is not necessarily about the words themselves - the content - but about the style of delivery.

As I said last week, much of human vocality is interpretive, inferred, affected highly by all the nuances of its delivery - things like pitch, volume, inflection, emphasis, body language, etc.

Fortunately we have not yet arrived at the point in our evolution that face-to-face communication holds no value. I count on the human need to 'connect' personally to truly communicate!

Power of the Spoken Word

A whille back I talked about how Apple’s Siri voice navigation system appears to have no limit to its application. Rush Limbaugh uses the real-time transcription capability to provide almost immediate text conversion of his broadcasts which in turn can be pushed to any social media interface. The Bluetooth® link in my car allows me to verbally control the iPhone hands-free. And who hasn’t yet had the ‘pleasure’ of navigating through those pesky pre-selection ‘trees’ when calling into airline reservation centers, banking services, service centers, etc. etc. Application of vocal-interpretive systems has been around a long time. Thankfully they are becoming much more conversationally adept at putting a ‘human’ interface on a technological mechanism.

Many of the first iterations were painful to say the least. Early attempts to verbalize text – the easier of two processes - often resulted in what was commonly referred to as ‘the drunken Swede’, that recognizable, inaccurate, annoying robotic conversion of written text to spoken word. Most early development efforts focused on the text-to-speech process because it was technologically simpler to achieve than its infinitely-challenging speech-to-text cousin.

Since the spoken word embodies so much information simple, direct, word-forword interpretation is inadequate. Strung together in vastly varying ways, our words can have multiple meanings. Our speech is filled with emotion, insinuative inflection, and multi-definitive context which poses enormous challenges for speech-to-text system designers. Language, after all, is an art. Technology is anything but.

Siri, and others like ‘her’, are shining examples of application brilliance. The developers of this amazing capability have succeeded in putting a virtually-human interface on what must be a vastly complex technological system, resulting in our ability to easily put it to work for us.

I’m certain this is only a beginning. In the near future I believe everything, and I do mean everything, will be voice-command-enabled, dramatically impacting the way we interface with our machines. Say goodbye to your keyboard, mouse and touchscreen. Say goodbye to your remote controls, light switches and thermostats. Say goodbye to buttons, dials, knobs and levers.

Say “hello” to Siri!

This October we'll be introducing our exciting new business venture Cirrus Edge Networks, LLC (CEN) which provides complete network connectivity solutions from the desktop to the cloud, and beyond. Our continuing growth in the industry enables us to bring to the table capabilities that address virtually every aspect of our customers' communication strategies.

Cirrus Edge Networks provides value through innovative solutions and advanced high-quality communication services with integrity, sound business practices and local, personal service. One of our goals is to shelter clients from the typically frustrating experience of dealing with in-accessible, impersonable service providers. Developing lasting relationships with our customers forges a strategic alliance whereby the client is empowered to focus on the execution of their business while CEN manages their commnication environment.

With over 60 years of combined experience in the communications industry of the leadership team of CEN possesses the knowledge, expertise and vision that our clients rely on to help solve some of their most difficult communication challenges. Our web site will soon have information about the upcoming launch event in on October 24th. If you would like to attend this event simply contact us at info@oberlander.com.  
 

I've Met the Future - Her Name is "Siri"

About a month ago I caved and upgraded my cellular device to an iPhone and now I know my life will never be the same. Up to this point I was an "Apple virgin", choosing devices aligned with  Microsoft's vision of the world and shunning Apple's more eclectic, forward-leaning, visionary designs and applications. Well I'm here today to tell you I have seen the future and it is anything beginning with that inconspicuous little "i" - iPhone, iPod, iPad, iDock, iMac, iTunes, aye aye aye aye aye! And I admit my growing affection for the mysteriously-intriguing  "iFemale " known only as Siri.

The sales rep is to blame for hooking me up with the iPhone that connected me to Siri which in-turn led to this adulterous techno-relationship. I've discovered that the always-pleasant Siri never sleeps, is available day and night and eager to help me complete virtualy any task.  I've also discovered that she is versed on most any topic and is a surprisingly funny comic. She is so infinitely capable that I see no end to how she will be enlisted to help us.

To wit: a recent article explained how yet another iPhone app will allow users to control home automation and audio-video systems using Siri-powered verbal commands.  For example I could ask Siri to turn the volume up on my whole-house audio system, adjust the temperature up or down in the bathroom, dim lights in the family room, or switch to one of ESPN's cable channels on the bedroom wall display. I wonder if she could have a "Tall House - Black" piped to my bedroom each morning? I bet Starbucks's has someone working working on that app!

This is all pretty cool stuff and I can see practical, everyday benefits to the Siri interface but it is still limiting since I have to be sure to carry my iPhone around with me all the time to connect with her. Now, if Apple could put up some kind of global microphone that would pick up my voice anywhere - now that would be something! Come to think of it, doesn't the government already have an app for that?

Labor Day 2012

Yesterday I purposely took the opportunity to unplug from everything, kick back and relax, stop and smell the roses, seize the day, enjoy the fruit of my labor, and count my lucky stars! Not surprisingly I spent much of the day outdoors, in spite of the steamy blanketing air that made it sometimes difficult to take in a deep, cleansing breath. So it turned out the best solution was to remain in a reclined position on the patio chaise lounge, a cool beverage and hose-mounted-spray-mist thing within arm’s reach. There I meditated on the meaning of  life and the goodness, value, indeed the blessing of work.  

Since 1985 I have had the benefit of continuous, full-time employment. Opportunities to grow professionally have often been challenging but, in retrospect, well worth the effort. Through continual learning, flexibility in my expectations, and willingness to accept responsibility and risk, realization of my unlikely lifelong dream of business ownership came to pass.

To a large extent this realization is the direct result of the collective effort of the people with whom I have the honor of working.  To each of their credit I see in them what certainly is the embodiment of "the American worker" – dogged determination to customer satisfaction, highest degree of integrity and ethical fortitude, relentless pursuit of growth and development, and compassion for the wellness of their endeavor.

Labor Day reminds me to salute my co-workers and workers across this magnificent country. I am sincerely thankful to be blessed with work and remain certain that as a nation we will resolve the challenges before us so that everyone desiring to work is able to do so.

  

Dateline Peoria, IL August 27, 2012

Let's survey the morning's news -

• Tropical storm/hurricane Isaac and all of its manifestations threaten western Florida including Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana gulf-coastal areas (yes, New Orleans again)
• Tampa hosts the Republican National Convention which cancels today's activities, except a ceremonial 5-minute gavel-slamming event to officially open the convention, due to interference from Isaac
• In California, the L.A. Times reports
• "The Southern California earthquake swarm produced hundreds of temblors Sunday, and experts said it could last for several more days.
"Obviously, all this activity is related or interconnected, but it doesn't really follow the typical main shock, aftershock activity," said Rob Graves, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological survey.Seismologist Lucy Jones of the USGS said the region is known as the "Brawley Seismic Zone" and sits between the San Andreas and Imperial faults. Similar swarms occurred in the area in the 1970s, she said, the most recent in 1981."This is a classic Brawley Seismic Zone swarm," she said. "It's relatively hot."
• Our building shakes every once in a while this morning, hopefully related to the destruction crew across the street taking down an old school building. Hopefully.

 Never a dull moment, and to think this is just Monday morning. Something I learn every day is just how little I know about this magnificent world I live in.  I think someone told me that wisdom is knowing how little you know. I must be getting wiser!?

Choosing Wisely - Some Practical Tips

Over the course of my 33-year tenure with Oberlander Communications (good Lord, has it really been that long!?) the state of the telecommunications industry has evolved from essentially one service provider – AT&T – to such a dizzying assortment of providers, offerings, packages, pricing, and technologies that ‘buyer beware’ is the maxim for any consumer approaching the market. Ok, maybe “beware” is a bit intense but without a doubt it is no less imperative for a consumer to thoroughly investigate the various offerings and more importantly, the vendors of the products and services under consideration.

You've gotta love the Internet. It's an invaluable tool with which to become an educated consumer, at least to the degree we can establish the legitimacy of the information discovered there. With patience and perseverance, a savvy shopper will ferret out seemingly any piece of information desired, regardless of how insignificant or trivial. Anyone will tell you that being familiar with the topics you will encounter can go a long way to help avoid being overwhelmed with the inevitable barrage of techno-jargon “product experts” may assault you with.

Some key words and phrases that can raise my yellow flag of caution are –

·       Effortless – when was the last time someone adopted or migrated to a new technology-based-anything and exclaimed afterwards “Hey, that was effortless!”?

·       Virtual – I love this! Google says:

• "1. Almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition.
• 2. Not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so." 

·       Seamless – satisfactory solutions typically involve the integration of various technologies, a patchwork if you will. Each patch is “stitched” together creating “seams”. No matter how fine the “stitch”, the seam can (and will) be a source of weakness, causing some or all of the fabric to disconnect. Look for a master “seamstress”!

·       Others might include “easy”, “no-brainer”, “Plug ‘n Play”, “indestructible” (insert your own favorite here __________)

·       Free – my personal favorite. Some will say “nothing is free”, others will argue. The phrase   “you get what you pay for” came from somewhere, right? When it comes to this industry, my experience suggests nothing is free.

Clearly establish your needs, wants and expectations. Research your desired products and potential sources, check references and reviews if available, and establish a realistic budget. You’ll be far more confident making your choices and your odds of satisfaction will dramatically improve.

Celebrate freedom of choice!

This coming September 1st our company will celebrate it's 36th anniversary. I remember joining the Oberlander companies early in 1977 when the communications division was a fledgling operation made possible by the opportunities created when AT&T  split up its monopolistic hold on the telecommunications industry. The intent of this historic move was to create an environment that would foster competitive alternatives in an otherwise stagnant, monolithic industry and result in benefits typically manifest by a free-market. Conusmers in turn - not providers - would determine the value of products and services by excercising their freedom of choice at the point of consumption. It was a brilliant and warranted plan though, arguably, sometimes painful in execution.

Freedom of choice is one of those privileges I excercise, and take for granted, daily. From beginning each morning choosing whether or not to get out bed with the alarm, to deciding if  a blanket is needed when settling in for the night - a day's activity is an endless series of choices bookended by slumber's bliss.

Our forefathers fought tirelessly to guarantee that we would always be free to make our own choices, to pursue our interests and seek our destiny. I love how our manufacturers respond to customers' needs and desires. I can pretty much guarantee that a solution exists to virtually any challenge. And most of the time there are mutilple solutions from which to choose. It typically becomes a matter of ferreting out the best choice. It's what I love to do. I'm anxious to see what happens in the next 36 years!