The CIO, the orange button or the TV - who's most influential?

Being so close to the cutting edge (there are scratches on my big toe - that's how close) I was watching BBC Click this morning (yes at 06:50 on BBC1 I'm afraid) and they ran a feature about apps on browsers and had a few examples of those available on chrome...

15 hours later I had myself a look and I thought the 'blog it' by blogger was pretty neat... I then thought to myself well will it actually make me blog any more frequently.The results of the test say yes but I'm guessing you say the same about anything tried once its the fact I know its not going to happen again for another few months that makes the voice in my head say 'NO it will not!'

Be that as it may, I did find the BBH Labs post on innovation in agencies both interesting and relevant so thought I'd use the new little button in my browser to share it...

The agency I currently work at has a CIO, he's name checked in the blog and is a thouroughly nice and amazingly intelligent chap. In addition to that I'd say my sample of one thinks having someone in that role brings a hell of a lot to the agency. From personal experience its been in points 3 and 5 but I'm sure those with a closer or more regular interactions would say he delivers on all counts so, for what its worth yes a good agency (or any agency that wants to be good) does really need a CIO.

Exploring The Edges: On Innovation In Agencies « BBH Labs

but its unlikely he or the nice orange button in the corner of my browser will make me blog more consistently.

So shall I tell you what hit me more than anything today?

TV is an awesome and influential communications channel. Ok it may be dross, and if you've stayed here this long you're probably my wife or brother but the only reason I've spent 30 minutes this evening mucking about on the chrome webstore and typing this is due to 30" of TV coverage at an ungodly hour this morning - 30 seconds of TV coverage for 30 minutes of real world interaction is a great ratio and that's why TV is still awesome!

Why google wins

Funny, I had completely neglected my wee blog, I'd go as far saying I forgot I ever started one, then today by pure coincidence I was chatting with a buddy about google and facebook... bit if a who would win Superman or King Kong type conversation and I was nicely reminded of the sheer scale of toys google gives me to play with on my own terms.

I thought I'd check them out and needless to say there are a good 6 or 7 tools above I use on a regular basis and a further 10 or so I could and should be using more.

Another good thing about the G-bomb? I'm writing a blog that nobody will read and its not going to end up in my newsfeed and have everyone thinking what is he talking about... because I'm not really talking about anything.

Probably why I don't update a blog very often eh?

Google Discontinues Nexus One - A Sign Android Is Really Here?

Quite a few headlines around this one today but I'm not sure the implications of the news are as big as some may suggest. My view, for what its worth (that much? Why thank you!) is google knows that android has seriously taken off and as a result they don't need to waste the time and money themselves in supporting it with a flagship phone for a few reasons

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_to_discontinue_nexus_one.php

Handsets
A quick look at one fairly well respected tech site sees the Nexus One ranking in at 7 out of 10 and I know its an awesome phone so all that says to me is since release its been bettered by a range of other phones - http://techie-buzz.com/mobile-news/top-android-handsets-to-purchase.html

Android Take-up
Phones with android operating systems are literally flying out the door, according to the Boss Man himself Eric Schmidt there are 160,000 being activated each day
http://gigaom.com/2010/06/23/android-daily-activations-top-160000-all-verizon-droids-will-get-froyo/ and the likes of HTC and Motorola struggling to build the phones at the same pace they're being sold http://mashable.com/2010/06/10/android-popularity/

App Market Growth
The android market itself is growing, growing, growing. Circa 15,000 new apps a month in May and June 2010 http://read.bi/9HPZ03

So, if the overall android market is growing by the day, perhaps Google have decided its better to concentrate their areas of expertise with their sites (google, youtube etc), apps (maps, goggles, shopper etc) and advertising products (search and admob) and let the specialists develop handsets which google and its multiple products can be plugged into!

So, from my outsider looking in view, I think dropping he Nexus One can be taken as a positive for google and its mobile offering.