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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The Best Support Is To Become a Customer

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The phrase, "The Best Support Is To Become a Customer:, has been for a long time popping out of my mouth, and yet there are many that dispute my stance, especially with the, "This is just another failed "Buy Kiwi" type of approach".

I understand that point of view, I really do. There is absolutely no reason to support companies that charge more on the basis that they are merely headquartered in New Zealand (or wherever your home city, region, or country is). Slapping a "100% Kiwi Made|Owned" label on something, ramping up the prices, and then selling goods or services that are ostensibly delivered from overseas suppliers seems to be me the height of false advertising and is only designed to more money into the owners pockets.

I also don't think the phrase, "The Best Support Is To Become a Customer", can be any sort of sweeping statement applied in all circumstances - if you are looking at two competing products and services then you must go with the one that provides the most value to you. Whilst there are a number of email providing services based in New Zealand I am yet to find one that provides the value (I want) that can compete with Gmail.

However, saying all that, you must look. Don't assume there isn't a great Kiwi product / service that isn't equally as good, or even better. If you don't take the timer to look, are swayed by glossy pamphlets from internationally based corporations, or even have an emotional attachment to what you already know ("This is a Microsoft shop") then I would beseech you, STOP!

And when you are lucky enough to find a Kiwi solution to your problem then the best support is to become a customer. No, they may not be the biggest company in the world, they may not have all those extraneous bells & whistles of the incumbent (which you don't need anyway). But with your support they can grow, with your customer dollars they can invest, and with you telling the world they can become more than niche.

An example, Lil Regie (https://lilregie.com/), a New Zealand created and run event registration / ticketing system. It goes up against Eventbrite, and Meetup which certainly have more users, have extra features, and certainly have the headspace of many. However, those extra features are rarely ones I, as an Event Producer, have any use for. This holds particularly true to those that believe it should be an event discovery system - no, I don't need that, I want it to allow people to register, buy a ticket, stay in touch and be able to get in  /out as easily as possible. Lil Regie does that as well as any other. So I chose Lil Regie every time because I can support local by being a customer.

Of course, if you're running your own events then heck you chose whatever woreks. Give your support to whoever you want. IF, however, you are a New Zealand based government agency, then you will have to explain to me why you're not giving your support to a local supplier ... seriously, why wouldn't you?

And it's not kust event management, it's everything ... use Zoomy (https://zoomy.co.nz/) instead of Uber for instance, use me instead of a Swedish company to run your hackathons (sorry, had to say it), use Catalyst Cloud (https://catalystcloud.nz/) instead of AWS, use Equinox (or your any other favourite NZ consultancy) instead of PWC ...

* there is a flipside to this, the best opposition is to withdraw being a customer. I have done with this with Uber, Facebook, and a few other online services., The downside is negligible, the upside is a conscious knowing you tried.

 ** I was one tweeted at, "Sorry, you're so high up on your horse I can't hear you", and it's a message I have constantly in the back of my head asking if what I have said / written / shared deserves such a response. Is this?
Mike on a horse ... again!

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The Future As Seen By Me In 2010

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