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The Death of Print?
A couple of articles (online and in print) and discussions have got me thinking lately about the future of printed media and the direction in which all media is moving. The first was an interview in the latest issue of Creative Review with Bill Buxton, Microsoft's principal researcher. The first thing that caught my eye was in the sub-heading, he says "Soon...we will use interactive experiences in as many diverse ways and as often as we currently use paper." This is quite a broad statement and I think in terms of frequency, I know that I use my computer more than I use paper, but does this tie into the "Death of Print"? His basic argument is that in the near future, LCD screens will be as through away as paper. I've got to say that at the moment I don't think Stephen would be too happy if I through away my 30" Apple cinema display.
The second was a discussion on the computer arts forum about this very subject. One poster was quoting Moore's law saying that the development of online and 'virtual' media is exponential and that this had to equal the death of print sooner or later. Personally I have to agree with another poster who mentioned that science has been predicting a 'brick wall' for a number of years, which I'm inclined to believe.
In my view, I can't see the printed word ever really dying completely. To quote another poster from the forum who put it much better than I could;
"a book somehow has a precious quality of ownership a screen based set of words does not, humans as mammals are tactile, books feel good, screens do not really cut it in that way."
We've been googled ....
Wherever you are, whoever you are, there's no escape. To make this blog continue to work I now have to have a google id. How on earth have I managed before? I hear the hoards of digerati scream in incredulity. Dunno. Just did.
Do I feel different? A little. Older perhaps? Wiser? Tired? Wired?
Oomph dashboard widget
For anyone using Mac OS X, there's now an Oomph widget available for your dashboard. This will take you smoothly and effortlessly straight to our website in one click.
Web 2.what?
Still wondering what this whole web 2.0 thing is about?
This article goes some way to explaining what it's all about.
Is it just me....
I'd love to know if anyone can make sense of this thing:
http://www.blogjones.com/TiddlyWikiTutorial.html
Do let us know at Oomph. It's probably something very important in Web2.0 that will define the way we do business in the next decade.
Pass us a fag diplodocus
Party Party
We had the office opening party last Friday night.
The office is the size of a small barn with two stories. Very tasteful bit of interior shenanigans. Open; small gallery. But not big.
We needed some music for this do.
So I thought 'Get a Jazz band, small outfit, 4 maybey 5, D'Jango Reinhart to Jacque Lousier kind of thing'.
Brief : 'Jazz band. Not trad. Reinhart/Lousier kinda thing'.
It was when the bloke carrying the Euphonium turned up that I began to wonder.
16 piece swing band. With amps and a one armed drummer.
Classic.
From my rather chic little cocktail party with canapés and champagne we were all suddenly, and collectively, landing Lancaster's to the sound of swing.
At one point the band out numbered the guests 2 to 1. Happily they were swamped in the end.
The band were far from perfect and very up for it (they used to rehearse in our building a while back allegedly; not often enough to my mind, but there you are).
There was a fantastic touch of Eric Morcambe in it.
Nice of him to come.
Everyone had a great time; even though most of them were outside for a bit giving the old ears a breather.
I look forward to the next bash; Artic Monkeys perhaps?
Long hot summer
It hasn't actually been a long hot summer at all. July was a bit warm, August was a bit windy and wet. But it's been bloody hot and bloody long at Oomph. And as this blog is loosely based around what it's like to set up and agency and make it successful, it's probably about time we put some content into a blog that was relevant.
With security scares at Heathrow, petrol prices hitting GBP1 a litre (OK just before summer) and hot weather in the UK which has led lots of commentators to talk about the new global warming phenomenon (read about this anywhere but obviously The Guardian who believes most of us not in the Highlands and Wales will need to invest heavily in wetsuits and diving gear http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1864311,00.html)
.So surely everyone stays at home in the summer? Not likely. Everyone in Oomph has had a holiday and has been very much encouraged to do do (including me). So far so progressive. The problem is that as a successful and growing outfit (Cello bought half of us in June) but with 7 key people and lots of strategic partners, this has been the summer of hell with handover briefings and KBS cover to make sure that experts are covered effectively by non-experts in their role while away. We've just about managed with a couple of dropped balls but it's not been easy when you have core expertise in individuals. Summer of 2006 will always be remembered as the worst because by next year -and in fact by Christmas, we'll have cover in every role. Some rules for the future. 1. Don't skimp on handover briefings. 2. Handover documents are OK but never read the same when you're on your own at midnight working out what it means. 3. Clients should be given every opportnity to say they want additional cover or make it explicit they understand a contact is away. 4. Flexibility in working practice requires flexibility in holiday practice - i.e. you can be contacted. 5. Don't abuse point 4.
Partly as a consequence, we are now interviewing allsorts over the next few days. Feels like 1 year in we are moving to a next phase. I'd suggest we've gone from household to commune. Village life is looming for Oomph.
And with all of this going on I entered the real world of digital by getting an ipod nano for my birthday, have promptly run out of space so need to get a real one. Listening to a podcast as I speak and have even registered on Myspace. Not sure why. Does anyone know? Here's what The Economist thinks: http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7855102
Clearly not quite convinced.
Corporate client and blogs
Is it good marketing to have a blog attached to a corporate site? Would customers be concerned? What happens if the blog is critical of the organisation? Would a prospect believe it?
Mugs
As Adam has pointed out, we're now in new offices. They are very shiny and we're very proud. I don't think Adam has found the colleague that works in the nude yet http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28729-2127805,00.html but I'm pretty sure if it's not an Oomph person, the ratio will be made up in our sister company Talking Numbers roll. They are the data and analysis folk so light relief is probably needed.
Dress Code
Our growing agency is moving to fab new offices this week, and this will undoubtedly change the way we work. I think we have the right balance at the moment, working as a virtual team for much of the time, but when we do come together that time is really valued by all. The differing needs of our projects require 'face time' more or less. However, after reading the article in the times online, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28729-2127805,00.html, I feel that I need to point out that as I am not amongst the 33% of teleworkers who adopt the dress code mentioned , that means that one of my colleagues must be!