Opinion Time! Technology Tracking: Okay, or Just Plain Creepy?

Monday, an article came out in the New York Times about the future of apps. It stated that apps of the future will be more like "personal assistants", and will be able to instinctively know what you need, when you need it. How? The answer is simple: the app would go through your calendar, emails and personal conversations.

Apps will see that you discussed meeting up with someone, for example, will be able to recognize this, and ask you questions like "You are free Monday night, would you like to schedule this then?" or "Here are a couple of top rated seafood restaurants in your area, would you like me to make you a reservation?"

Having been both a personal assistant and techie, I was intrigued by the idea, even excited about it. After all, I had once been privy to private emails, calendars, bank accounts and passwords of someone, why would placing that trust in an app be any different? Soon after, though, the words of Mr. Weasley in the second Harry Potter book came to mind: "Never trust something if you can't see where it keeps its brain."

I emailed the article and asked for a couple of my coworker's responses. Most of them were negative. "I want to go back to writing letters", one coworker stated, "Apps can't read those." "Creepy," another one added. "Definitely creepy."

Paid or sponsored advertising, also known as direct marketing, is a big issue as well. Companies will pay Google or Facebook to advertise to those who search for certain subjects or talk about certain things on their social media profile. For example, say that you search for "pet stores". Immediately, Google will give you all the pet stores in your area (which by the way, is another way of it tracking you).

But lets say you click out of that search and go to read an article somewhere. Google still has in mind that you searched for pet stores, and ads will continue to pop up on different pages you go to. Google knows you have a pet or are interested in them, so the ads that you get will all be directed toward pet owners, or animal enthusiasts.

As privacy-invasive as this may seem, think about what you just did. You accessed a public company's website to use its resources. You used a search engine to find what you needed, a search engine that paid an employee to set up the matrices and codes in order for you to find the pet store that you wanted. You essentially waved your rights to privacy by using this resource. Think about it in terms of the law of commerce: if you want something, you have to give something in return.

My advice to people is that if you don't want to be tracked, if you don't want Facebook or Google to use your information to advertise to you, simply don't use them. They are companies trying to make money, and you are using their resources. There is no such thing as a free lunch, unfortunately. Same goes with apps. If you don't want them to track you, don't use them.

I for one am looking forward to buying apps in the future that set up my schedule. If I had a dime for every doctor's appointment I forgot....

What do you think about this issue? Is technology tracking okay in some aspects, but wrong in others? Comment below to let me know! I want to hear your thoughts! 

If I Can, You Can Do It Too!: YouTube Edition

Ever seen those awesome company YouTube channels and wondered how amazing it would be to be able to make something like that? Well, trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too. Seriously!

My company, PGi, handed over their corporate channel to me with the request that I update and organize it. Through the experience, I have gotten a first-hand account about what it looks like to

First things first: Content. Content. And more content.

This day in age, EVERYONE in marketing will tell you that content is king. Creative and engaging content differs your company from your competitors and will help get your company's name on everyone's mind. "But Tech-Know", you say, "I work at a (insert random company name here) and I don't NEED content or a YouTube channel!"

Oh really? Let me turn your attention to blender maker Blendtec. This company has a line of professional-grade home blenders that hadn't really caught on in the market due to their higher-than-average price. However, the company started a YouTube channel called "Will It Blend?", which showed, with witty dialogue and themed posts, a man blending household items with the powerful Blendtec blender. Due to a growing response, Blendtec started making "Will It Blend?" vidoes with Apple products, video games and even pool cues all meeting their maker by being blended up in a Blendtec blender. Each video they make has over 1,000,000 views and countless views per day. On Amazon, each Blendtec product now has 500 comments or more from their growing fan base on YouTube.

Second helping: Make it pretty.

As much as I would love to tell you that looks don't matter, we are a shallow species. And to catch our attention, we must have something bright, something bold and something that looks good.

At least when it comes to marketing.

There are three key pieces to your YouTube channel that you must coordinate. Your background, your banner, and your key video. These three sections will be the first impressions that your viewers will have of your channel. The background and the banner must mesh well together, and your key video will play automatcially when someone enters your site, so it must be catchy and attention-getting.

Next: Organize your stuff.

The first step to organizing your page is to organize your videos into playlists. The more you organize your videos by content, the easier it will be for your viewers to find your videos. Next, go to the "add a section" button at the bottom of your channel, and add your playlists as sections on your page. It will create these nice little lists of videos that appear on the front page of your channel.

Play with your channel design and content until you add more viewership. Make sure to look at the "Analytics" section on your page to monitor what videos are getting views, how many people are viewing your channel, etc. Feel free to comment your questions below!

Some people who are doing it right:

PGi (if I do say so myself)
Kraft Cooking School (although you can't go wrong with food)
Apple
Cisco 
And of course, Blendtec

It's Business Time

Question: where would a modern-day tech-know be without their business apps? That's a trick question. Because the answer is: I definitely don't want to know.

I use apps all the time to make myself smarter, better, faster, stronger. Especially when it comes to the working world. But, note: these apps aren't only for those who are taking on the world one cubicle at a time. They can be used for any kind of industry.

Except miming. I mean, why have a phone when you can't talk? And if you're texting and communicating via chat as a mime...well, that's just cheating.

Communications 

I have to brag a little bit about my company now. PGi has great web conferencing tools that fit every business' needs. iMeet and GlobalMeet (Android & iOS) are web conferencing solutions that will help keep employees connected, no matter where they are. iMeet is a video conferencing service that enables you to meet with up to 15 people at a time with HD video quality, and GlobalMeet is a web conferencing service that allows you to see who is talking in a meeting, with up to 125 guests per meeting. Both have apps on Android and iOS for on-the-go, easy meetings. Check out their website at PGi.com.

Hootsuite (Google Chrome, Android & iOS) is a must-have in every social media guru's toolbox. Manage multiple social media accounts and schedule tweets or posts through this all-inclusive app. It makes social media management easier and makes you look like you're in five places at once. Magic.

MailChimp (Google, Android & iOS) is a marketing tool that allows you to reach your customers through mass email campaigns. It will let you design your own newsletters, keep track of your email lists and will track the click-through results for you.



Budgeting

Slice (Android &iOS) was made as a personal shopping app, but can be extremely useful for business. Simply input the email address that you use for your shipments, and it will track your shipments and analyze your budget for you. And anything that does the work for me is automatically my best friend.


Organization

DropBox (Google Chrome, Android & iOS) is a cloud-based storage tool that allows you to download files from your computer or mobile device and store them in one place. You can give the login information to your coworkers, and they can drag-and-drop files into your Dropbox as well. Best of all, it cost FREE.99.

CamCard (Android & iOS) saves you from being the only employee to have a Rolodex still sitting on your desk from 1998. Take a picture of a business card, and CamCard will scan the card and input all of its information into your phone's address book.

 For an easy way to sort out your email inbox, check out Mailbox (iOS). Just swipe your screen to organize each email and clean out your inbox in SECONDS.

Presentations

Skitch is one of the Evernote apps that I wrote about on a previous blog post. It allows you to edit any document on any device, and create PDFs.

Mural.ly allows you to make presentation boards by syncing a clipping tool with Google Chrome so that you can clip from any web page and drop it on your board. Makes creating presentation pages super easy, and almost does the creative work for you. Let me repeat, anything that does the work for me = instant friendage.


What do you think about these apps? What do you use for your business needs? 

Also, if you don't get the reference of the title, please see the following video. And then watch the rest of the Flight of the Conchords' videos. This is non-optional.

*Thanks to Natasha Hernandez and Kathryn Garvin for the help! Couldn't have done this post without your recommendations!