It’s funny, I really get the impression that there’s a bunch of kids at the Googleopolis or whatever, that just don’t give a hoot now. Maybe it’s because they’re gonna lose their free lunchtime chips.
How’s this for a topsy-turvy world…
Google unleashes their loaned Twitter firehose on the great unwashed, via their search engine.
The result? Twitter gets loads more traffic.
Google unleash Wave – noone understands it.
Google makes noises with Buzz.
And people need a user manual just to figure out how to search it.
Now here’s my thing: I’m all about deciphering the cutting edge of tech so normal folk – our Short Tail, if you like – can have a cat in hell’s chance of understanding what it can do for them.
It’s all well and good cocking a snook at this exercise in hilarity without pondering for a moment over what your mums would do with Buzz or Wave. They should use them. They should make things easier, communication swifter, relationships stronger by sharing stuff more simply. But they don’t. They just confuse, befuddle.
I guess the message that comes across loud and clear from this lesson in tech torture is this:
- Crystallise your ideas. If it takes you an hour to write down exactly what you’re setting out to achieve with The Next Big Thing, so be it. It’s time well spent. That hour will not only help you refine what was in your head, but it will dispel all the negativities and fears you face without applying your concepts to paper or pixel.
- Share your objectives. Ask someone what they think. Ask 100 people what they think. Don’t let it stop you, just make sure to address all their concerns and curiosities in your operations manual.
- Make it simpler. Comes down to knowing your market. Whoever you’re aiming at now, aim at someone 10 years younger. Everything, everywhere that’s successful is a bite-size remedy to a problem long-loathed or not even understood. The quicker it sinks in, the bigger your success.
- Understand that everyone wants better. You’re missing a big trick if you think your 8-in-1 remote control with touch screen technology is only suited to geeks with multiple av setups. My granddad would have bought one, had he been alive today. Sadly he’s not, and it wouldn’t fit in his pot home on the mantelpiece, but you get the gist. Expect the unexpected and broaden your horizons. Market to your niche, for sure, but by sharing your objectives you should have built a picture of other segments you can reach out to, effortlessly, through simplification.
Don’t Wave goodbye to your life’s achievements. Buzz me up and let me know how you’re getting on with your 2010 projects, today!