Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Medicine using Apps and iPads - This from the NY Times

This morning in NY Times is a nice article about the changing times in the medical field, Doctors using iPhones and iPads.

One app mentioned in the article was Evernote - my favorite note taking app/software. It cuts across all platforms very well and with the ability to take written or typed notes, take pictures (as well as annotate them), make sketches (Skitch - an Evernote product), take audible notes, and search all your notes. It is a great tool.

You can actually get Evernote for FREE to get started: http://www.evernote.com.

I find Evernote, for me, to actually be better on a Windows PC and my Android phone. On the iPad it functions slightly different and is not quite as well organized as it is on the Android or PC. I guess if you use the iPhone or iPad more than I do it is easier.

Read: Redefining Medicine With Apps and iPads - The Digital Doctor - NYTimes.com: it brings up these changing times. I will have to send this to my doctor although he has been using some of these tools already.

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Sunday, October 7, 2012

Unbelievable App’s May Not Always Be for Your Smartphone.

IMAG0248There we were, sitting in Terry’s Turf Club in Cincinnati. This place is known for it burgers and they deserve the great reputation they have – Top of the List!!

It’s Sunday and we are having a great time when friend Bob mentions that on one of the boards on the wall says “Deviled Egg App”.

We thought that Terry had come up with something for the modern day crowd. A quick search of the app store (your choice) we do not find a “Deviled Egg App”. We had to discuss this with April (“April is the best!) who is employed at Terry’s. Turns out “App” in this case refers to “Appetizer” – who would have thought. Another ‘geek’ term being app-lied in a different context.

These days it’s about the context.

Only link we have for Terry’s Turf Club would be reviews or Food Network whose Guy Fieri did one of his Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives shows from there. It was the Grilled, Smoked and Sauced episode.

If you are in Cincinnati you have to go there. Besides the great food it’s a Kodak Nikon moment.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2012

What Will Be The Future of Book Sales

Open BookAfter writing yesterday about Barnes & Noble not selling books published by Amazon, as well as Apple not selling books that have links to Amazon, I got to thinking about the whole publishing industry. We could say that change is inevitable however I like to think of it as evolution. Book publishing and selling has/is changing.

Publishers are beside themselves with losses of dollars from the sales of eBooks and the power that is now in the hands of Amazon, Apple, and now Google. They do not welcome the change and neither does the newspaper industry, the movie industry, the recording industry.

It appears that no one likes change but change happens. It happens at the top and it happens at the bottom and everywhere in between. That is what makes Life interesting, there is always learning. In the words of Jim Rohn; “Don’t get frustrated, get fascinated!” It has kept me going.

After writing yesterday I began to wonder “What if Apple would not sell your book if it mentioned Windows, HP or Dell?” What if Google would not sell your books if they mentioned Apple, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble?” This list could go on and on. I mean we even have Microsoft Press Books and they do not sell books re: Apple or Linux for that matter.

Who would sell “50 Shades of Grey”? Or the Bible? I guess I should have listed them the other way around.

The future? Publishers need to get into the retail market. They, publishers, must take it to the people. Refuse to sell through middlemen. In other words each publisher sets up their own Internet retail environment. They could then control the price and the media in which their product is produced. Sounds reasonable to me.

More change.

We do have one working example of this and that would be O’Reilly Media Inc.. I have purchased an eBookO'Reilly Logo directly from O’Reilly. O’Reilly books can often be found at Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble but how long will this last?

How long will it be before we get over the idea that we have to ‘feel’ the paper? How long before we can get all the data on the web including 3-D representations of products thereby reducing out need to visit Best Buy? When we go out it will be to visit, to see, and in my case, have a cup of coffee where good people congregate.

Oh that sounds good. I can take my wife and my computer with me everywhere. What else do I need?  I am sure someone will think of something.


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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Censorship Is Alive & Well Thanks To Capitalism

This is censorship that has nothing to do with social or cultural bias’s or fears. This censorship is the result of an attempt to stop competition. If Amazon publishes a book then you may only be able to buy it at Amazon, at least XBooksaccording to Barnes & Noble – the last (and dying?) of the great bookstores.

In this morning’s GigaOm newsletter I was guided to an article “Barnes & Noble reportedly instructs local stores to pull Amazon titles” by Laura Hazard Owen (Oct. 2, 2012). This brings back to mind a similar incident regarding Seth Godin and his manifesto “Stop Stealing Dreams”. In Seth Godin’s case it was Apple who pulled the book because of several links that would send someone to the Amazon store to buy a book. You can read Seth’s response at “Who decides what gets sold in a bookstore”.

I seriously would expect that the same would prevail at Apple Books regarding Amazon published books. I wonder how long it will take before Google gets involved in the same lack of concern for the consumer experience? Now the titans of the book industry will try to control what you read.

Perhaps many new and good writers show go to self-publishing and then we can buy direct from the publisher and not have to deal with the middle-person. That would work as long as I could read it as an eBook.

At the moment my choice would be Amazon, even though Barnes & Noble has a good café with Starbucks coffee. Since I have an account at the three major ones; Amazon, Apple, Google (alphabetically), I can, and will, read reviews and then go where I can get the book. This will all be dependent, again, upon being an eBook.

I just remembered I have a Kindle and Kindle Fire, hmmm….

Incidentally the same author at Paid Content had published a different story the day before (Oct 1, 2012). There is a link to that story below.

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Monday, October 1, 2012

GREAT Advertisement Placement

I was reading the article "Why you can't smile for your N.J. Driver's license" in The Inquirer (philly.com) and at the bottom of the first page is a ad line that reads; "Your Looks. Your Smile." It is an ad for an orthodontist.  Absolutely GREAT placement by Google Ad Services. It may not be there when you go there but trust me, great work.

Picture of ad from page - I'm all about smiling. .
Why you can't smile for your N.J. driver's license - Philly.com:

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Ah, Somebody Like Me - Adapts Early And Then Goes Totally Over

This article by Nick Bilton at the NY Times (Blog) Bits (link at the bottom of this post) is about where I am at. I disagree greatly with those who say, based on past history, that we will not adapt easily to the coming changes. We adapt, and sometimes to easy. We forget what the past was like.

On one hand this could be my problem. I "remember" winding the phone handle to get the operator however that memory is actually as if I saw it in a movie rather than real life. The same goes for a typewriter. Every time I mention 'carriage return' I get some smiles and some questions. We do adapt - and we now walk upright.

Back a year or two ago I read Nick Bilton's book; "I live in the future & here's how it works". It is really a great read and fun. You can follow Nick Bilton's personal blog.

The blog post that led me to write is here, Disruptions: Your Brain on E-Books and Smartphone Apps - NYTimes.com: go on and read it, really a good way to smile and enjoy Monday.

It is Monday right?

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