Change is here to stay

Posted by: Dan Prior | 22 February 2007

 

A good friend of mine often says 'One thing is certain; change is here to stay'.  Like it or lump it, change happens and it affects us all.

As a technology organisation we are very aware that how we manage change is key to our business. There are new exciting things happening all the time that drastically change the environment in which we operate. Who would have thought 5 years ago that my mother in law, and possibly yours too, would spend hours every night auctioning the contents of her loft through the internet?

As the internet develops there are so many new things out there promising to change your life; so which of them may actually live up to this grand billing? Here are my suggestions. This isn't trying to be an exhaustive list, just one that may make the less adventurous internet user try something new.

• Photobox. In 2006 Nikon announced that it would stop making the majority of its film cameras. Digital photography will soon be the only from of photography for the vast majority of people. Therefore we will all need companies that produce decent prints of our digital snaps. Photobox is one such company. You simply upload your photos, choose which you wish to purchase as prints, select sizes, quantities and pay on-line. Before you know it, your photos are delivered. Even more useful is the ability to publish your on-line photo album to friends and they too can order prints.
• Blogging. Nearly every corporate website has news, which gets old very quickly. I think people are more interested in what you are thinking than what your company did a few months ago. Since putting this blog on our company website we have had a significant increase in comments from clients. In fact we spent the first 10 minutes of one client meeting discussing the merits of the 'Interrobang' from them reading about it on our blog.
• The iTunes music store. It only takes a second of reminiscing to download one of your favourite songs from the 80s and pop it on your iPod. You can send iTunes vouchers as presents. I recently received a voucher and spent a very pleasant half an hour scouring for old singles that I listened to as a kid but never owned.

Some of my other favorites include:

• MySpace. Information, pictures and music tracks from un-signed bands through to U2.
• YouTube. Millions of random videos posted by members and ranked by viewers.
• Digg. Articles submitted by users are ranked by how many people 'digg' the article. Once logged in you can click to say which articles you 'digg', therefore you should never have to read a boring article again.
• eBay. No matter how strange the contents of your loft, the miracle of eBay is that someone somewhere will probably pay something for it.
• Freecycle. Ever just wanted to give your old stuff away? Try Freecycle; which now has over 3 million members. It is a nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free locally.

Of course we can't forget Google, the undisputed king of search engines. Google has changed the way we live life by making billions of pages of information readily available to billions of people on a daily basis. They are also constantly innovating; bringing new products to our attention. Have you tried Google Maps, Google Earth or Google Desktop?

 

Posted in: Technology Social