Marketing with Technology and More

A Pen that is Mightier than A Computer

Every year at TED there are some cool new technology introductions.  This year was no exception, and one that really captured my attention was a new "pen."  It is actually much more than your average pen however.  It is called the Pulse SmartPen by a company called LiveScribe.  What makes this device interesting is that when you take notes (using special note paper), it captures the ambient sound in the room where you are writing.  Later, if you want to review your notes, you can tap the pen to any word on the page, and it will play back what was going on at the time you took the note. 

This is a fantastic concept for any situation where you need to take notes, but might want more detail (a lecture in school for example).  The pen has a variety of other functions too.  For example, if you have a phrase that you have written down, you can touch the pen to the phrase, and it will repeat it back to you in a foreign language.  Another feature is that you can write down numbers, and then arithmetic statements such a plus or minus.  By touching the numbers and math statement, plus adding an equal sign, the pen will give you the correct answer to the math problem.

The pen is not available yet, but will sell in both  one and two gigabyte models for under $200.

Marketing's Philosopher

When I was out at TED this year I ran into Seth Godin.  I wish I had more time to spend with him as I think he is a marketing genius.  He's often referred to as a guru.  I think that is the wrong moniker.  I think he is really a marketing philosopher.  Sometimes he makes simple statements that boil things down to their essential nature.  Today he posted the following:

"Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying.

Persistence is having the same goal over and over."

If more salespeople and marketers paid attention to this advice, the world would definitely be much more enjoyable (and less annoying).

A TED Talk You Must See

I my earlier post titled A Stroke of Genius, I posted some details about Jill Bolte Taylor's fabulous TED talk this year. This is the scientist who experienced a stroke, realized what was happening to her, and made amazing note of the experience. Her talk was rated as one of the most amazing presentations at any TED. TED has posted this amazing talk on-line, and is something that you must see. It is eye opening and an incredible story.

YouTube Marketing Power

TED had one last minute addition to the speakers list.  A young fellow by the name of Johnny Lee.  Lee is a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University brilliant young technologist, who on his own, without any funding figured out that there is more power in a WiiRemote than simply helping your backhand in a video game.  Lee presented two ideas he developed using the WiiRemote.  The first allows a user with a computer, LCD projector, remote and white-board to turn their regular cheap white-board into a digital capture white board.  He also showed how it can be set up to do heard tracking.  Both of these ideas are explained in the video clips below. 

What is significant is two fold.  First he has definitely developed some cool interactive technology.  But more importantly is the fact that his idea has spread far and wide through the power of YouTube.  A total of 3.9 million people (more viewers than many network television shows) have downloaded the video on head tracking.  Another 1.2 million have downloaded the white board video.  If any marketer has ever doubted the power of a viral message, this should eliminate any doubt.

What I love about the age of the web, is that an old adage has become a truth.  Build a great product and the world will beat a path to your door.  Just ask Johnny.

A Stroke of Genius

Breathtaking is about the only adjective I can think of to describe yesterday’sa first session today at TED.  But then would you expect anything less from the likes of Paleoanthropologist Louise Leaky, Professor Stephen Hawking, Anthropologist Wade Davis, Artist Chris Jordan, and Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor.

The last presentation of the session was incredibly moving.  Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain researcher who suffered a stroke.  She started the talk with perhaps the best audience attention-getter I have ever seen.  She brought a human brain with her, and showed the audience the different parts in graphic detail.

Her story however was about the details she gathered as she experienced the stroke.  She was able to make sense of what was happening to her, as her functions shut down, and looked at the experience from her perspective as a researcher.  Her understanding was profound and beautiful.  She shared that as a researcher she understood what was happening to the left hand side of her brain (what she called the serial processor) , and how her right brain (parallel processor)was taking over, and she was able to see “the we inside of me.”  She described the state as Nirvana-like, as all of the components of her brain that create stress (recollection of the past, anticipation of the future) shut off.

Her point was that  we can choose the consciousness of the two hemisphere’s, and that if we take the time to spend more time in the peace of our right brain, that perhaps there will be more peace.  Her presentation was one of the most moving I have ever seen.