The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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Well looky here, things one has scanned in eh. (ignore the photo, that's some guy that made some accounting software, not sure what became of him ;) MIKE RIVERSDALE is fuming. The expensive headphones he bought in Sydney three weeks ago have just died. His first reaction is not to randomly spill expletives into his coffee, but to use his iPhone to vent his frustration to his Twitter con- tacts, under the moniker Miramar Mike. "I will also put, 'What should I do?' It's a conversation. I'm reaching out to the people following me." The council predicts hand-held digital devices such as smartphones will rule the world in 2040. They already rule the life of Mr Riversdale, whose company WaveAdept helps businesses adapt - their computing sys- tems to allow staff to work from anywhere - and with anyone. In order of fre- equency, he uses his iPhone to tweet (1136 followers; 8363 tweets since joining), e-mail, make phone calls and use online services, such as checki
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Being Labeled Is Good - Isn't It?

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Knowing what you want to be when you grow up isn't something I'm particularly interest in and therefore something I find as a difficult part of my life.

I'm known to many as the "Google guy" despite the fact that I've never worked for Google. Yes, I did have a business focused solely on their products AND I do use a lot of their services so I am quite comfortable with that BUT it's not what I have 'done' for quite some time.

More generally I'm also known as the "cloud guy" having been someone that has talked "Web 2.0" and "cloud" for many many years - much longer than the plethora of Kiwi companies that have seemingly suddenly discovered the "cloud" and who, in my opinion, are still missing the point.

So "Google" and "cloud" are two words I often hear used to describe me but those specific labels don't describe me that well (and I'll be honest with you they never have). Other labels that are probably closer to me are "collaboration", "information dude", "change management"

Bet you're the same. You'll have labels that people have used to place you into a box and my advice is, if they're not too damaging as it is in my case, let it flow over you water off an umbrella.

People need stereotypes and they need labels on the box to 'know' what's inside. Without an image of you people struggle to interact with you and your views may be denigrated without the context of 'you'.

How people perceive you is a joint construct between you and them and especially when you first meet. You have total control over how you act, react and think. Yeah, yeah, yeah ... OK, whilst it can be tougher than that I implore you to be conscious of the part you play. You are not a canvas upon which everyone else can paint their perception of you.

But what happens when you no longer find the labels useful or, as can happen, a hurdle in the way of your life ... that's for the next post.

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The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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