The best things in life are free

The way to a techie's heart is through his stomach. And his pockets.

Marketing trade shows and partner conferences are a great place to learn about the latest technology, marketing products and generally trying to see what the industry is up to. It's a good opportunity to mingle with new suppliers, learn about potential new strategic partners, and even casually sniffing out the competition.

But at the end of the day, they're here to do one thing: sell.

So what do I look for when recommending a supplier or strategic partner? Is it guaranteed Return-On-Investment? Is it robust, cutting edge technology with unparalleled developer support? Is it unrivalled sales opportunities?

Nope. It's free stuff.

Okay, okay. Maybe it's not the only factor and I guess the ROI/support/opportunity stuff is important too. But we'd all have to be guilty of casually slinking up to a stand and wax faux lyrical with the rep, just so you can check out the giveaway shiny-shiny on the table.

However, it does get you thinking about the product and depending on what you get, makes a good show 'n' tell discussion point back at the office. It also shows the ingenuity, thought and pride which hopefully reflects their product.

What have I scored over the years? I'm no end-client power-CTO so no special treatment other than what us oiks get. But here are some of the received gratis faire off the cuff:

• Pens, note pads, stationery - Good for taking notes at a seminar. Otherwise, if it doesn't have a button or can't be plugged into anything, pick up your game, please.
• Mints, sweets, other edibles -  Handy for breath-freshening at networking meetings. But make them sugar-free - I'm on low GI.
  
• Key chains - My keys barely fit my pocket so why should I add to the clutter?
• Bottle openers - Handy. Good for opening the bottle also on offer.
• Deck of playing cards - Original, and appropriate from a gambling company. Useful for lengthy sales seminars.
  
• USB memory sticks - Now we're talking. But make them big enough to be useful. Making them only big enough to barely fit your marketing PDFs is just cheap.
• Portable speakers - Makes a nice present for a goodies-waiting significant other. Could come with an iPod.
• MP3 players - Good for listening to podcasts when you can't be bothered reading. Again the same advice for the USB sticks apply.

Internet Explorer 6 - Time to go. Please.

When was the last time you used a piece of software for 8 years? Or in fact, any piece of technology for that long? Can you imagine then, supporting this product for the last 8 years, with technology moving on around it? This is what Microsoft have done - and have announced they will continue doing this until 2014. But the underlying question is - why?

As we approach IE6's anniversary in August, we can reflect that was a solid browser at the time, and leaps and bounds better than its previous incarnations. To this degree, I must admit only upgrading myself less than a year ago - and only to version 7. I've been a strong advocate of cross-browser development, and IE6 has always been part of our testing stable. Perhaps it's also the feeling we're getting from some of our clients of being stuck in a comfort zone, which may be part of the resistence in upgrading.

From an IT point of view, I can understand Microsoft's motive for doing this. I'm sure there are still installations of Windows for Workgroups still kicking around in a basement somewhere - another product from Redmond that enjoyed a 15 year life cycle. However these types of things are much less likely to influence the progress of technology outside.

I've heard the classic "Well, it's different in a business/corporate/[insert IT jargon here] environment" excuse, but how is this relevant for browsers? As web browsers are such an outward facing platform, the web development world has to bow to the whims of many browsers. And there are many whims in IE6. So with Microsoft continuing to support IE6 users, progress in web technology slows down. By discontinuing support we can put the final nail in the coffin and move on.

So where's the marketing angle to this?

By hanging on to IE6, we are held back with web and online design as well as the roll-out of other really cool rich media and interactivity. HTML 5 which is already supported by many of the latest browsers promises many cool new features: Embedded video and audio, drag-and drop, off-line web applications, logical content blocks (opening up new potential in search-engine friendliness) - all out of the box without facny plugins. And don't forget CSS 2+ (did someone say "Alpha transparency"?).

As great as IE6 was, designers and developers are now finding themselves increasingly being held back with what they can do because of this now well-and-truly legacy product. And now they're taking a stand. Even Microsoft are saying "Friends do not let friends use IE6". So I'm saying this to you now. Please. Upgrade.

O Google, I surrender my soul to thee

Recently, our office began trialling switching over to GoogleMail for our email. It's great; excellent up-time (relatively speaking), oodles of space and fantastically cheap. This is latest addition of a now quickly growing stable of Google services we use here, along with Docs (for which I'm currently drafting this blog entry), Calendar, Maps, Blogger, Chrome and naturally Adwords and Analytics.

But over the years, we as a collective are becoming more and more dependent on Google, and signing up to new services, sometimes almost blindly, under the spell of "Google Chic".  Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been a big fan of Google since it was known in geek academia circles as “that new search thingy that you can use to find references for your research paper". However, I can't help but notice the amount of information that we are blissfully passing to Mountain View under the utilitarianism of the brand. Ultimately, Google is an information company. So what are they doing with all of this information?

Let's entertain a cynical side of me for a second. Here's what Google has the potential to know about you when you've created an account and start using their services:

• Search - What you are looking for
• Chrome - What you are looking at and what you're interested in
  
• Analytics - What you are doing and where are you going online
• Checkout - What you are buying
  
• Calendar - What you are doing offline and when
  
• Maps - Where you are going offline and even where you are right now
  
• Mail/Talk - Who you are talking to
• Blogger and Docs - What you are writing about and what is on your mind
• YouTube - What you like to watch, listen and create
• Picasa - What you like to see, what you and your friends and family look like

Web 2.0 hype: Time to try decaf.

I’ll admit I’m a bit of a luddite when it comes to jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon. So it may come as a surprise to some that this is my first ever “Blog". Don’t get me wrong; I’m far from being a technophobe on any level, with the goal of producing somewhat delicious irony for my blog’s title. Over the years, I have written regular short articles about news and daily life, formulated opinions and vented my frustrations and put them online in a web-based journal.  Sound familiar?

But package that up with a cool name, wrap it up with an aura of “the little guy that could take on The New York Times” and immediately, everyone must have a “Blog”.

I’ll reiterate again, I love technology and live and breathe the t’interweb. But bearing the scars of a couple of dot-com booms and busts now, there’s one thing I can’t stand in my line of work: hype. And more precisely, how some marketing types go into a frenzy as soon as they latch on to the latest Web 2.0 buzzword du jour like it’s the latest must-have accessory.

Let me give you a recent example.

I love widgets. I have them all over my desktop and on my phone – they’re great for telling me the weather or the time of the train I just missed.  They just sit there, do what I need them to do, and nothing else.
 
A client of ours loves them as well, and wanted us to build one to broadcast messages to their agents. But without considering a purpose of what a widget is for, they ended up dismissing all sense of usability or usefulness. “Can we have background sound as well? That you can’t turn off so everyone can hear it? Oh! And can it take up half the screen on top of the other windows?  And display whole web pages? And can it automatically send emails back to base?”

Having all said and done, not all hype is bad, it drives the web forward in developing more cool stuff. But like many good things, they are best enjoyed in moderation.

Through this blog I hope I can provide some perspective from us techies on the coal-face of web development, demystifying some of the marketese and buzzwords where we can along the way. If we can also bring some level of common sense and consideration for the user, as we can be a little tunnel-visioned by marketing goals at times, then I will be a happy bunny.

P.S. Am I behind the times? I’ve heard from an Account Director that we’re up to Web 3.5 now. What that entails exactly is beyond me - I missed the release notes when Web 3.0 was in Beta.