thefutureisred

Why I Hate the iPad!

I don't doubt this is a revolutionary device. I like using it for many things, but when I watch Lila play games -- I shake my head and hate it!

There's just something about playing a game on this crazy thing that makes my normally pleasant child aggressive. Lila doesn't listen when she's playing. She ignores, probably doesn't even hear, what we say to her. If you try to take it from her, she becomes petulant and angry.

I've seen it happen to Noah, too, especially when he and Lila play Plants vs Zombies together. Lila grabs his hand in this pincer like grasp she has. It's not particularly painful, but she is surprisingly strong and quick. It's definitely aggravating. So Noah is aggravated. Then Lila gets upset. Then there might even be some grabbing and pushing. 

Or they both poke at the screen trying to play together and end up poking each other. Worse, they block each other and miss a point or a sun or whatever it is. Then they both get frustrated. Then I get frustrated.

Is it really so wrong for me to take it away from them? Tell them that if they can't play nicely with the iPad, they're going to lose it until tomorrow?

But I don't blame them.

I've felt the same intensity with Angry Birds. When someone distracts me, and I accidentally set off a bird before I'm ready. Then it flies off in some random direction, and I don't crush a single pig. I get mad. It makes me want to pincer grip people and maybe even push them away.

Clearly I'm not the first to see this. A recent article on NPR calls angry birds addictive. So I researched it and found this study that suggests certain tones raise our serotonin levels. Could the bips and beeps and squawks from iPad games invoke that little rush of pleasure in addition to the reward of seeing the pigs' clever and maze-like defenses dropped?

When we're then removed from our tonal reward, do we then become aggressive?

What I do know is that anyone in our house -- metaphorically speaking, since we don't actually have a house -- must stop playing when they become rude during a game. If you don't stop on your own, it will be taken from you.

Yes, I mean it. Please don't test me.

What else I don't like?

It's all been said before, so I'll keep it short. The keyboard. I find it cumbersome to use. So I don't. Ever. At all. I figure, though, this is simply a technology limit that will change soon enough. It's annoying, also, that iPad doesn't support Flash.

What I do like?

I use it primarily for reading. Suddenly I can read magazines and books. That's a lovely new thing in the five years since we left NY. The games themselves force you to think logically and spatially. Apps tend to be either free or you can buy them for less than $2 each. We've recently started using one to help Lila keep track of her chores.

I'm a huge fan of Flipboard. During my recent visit to NY, I chatted with Benjamin Wagner, old friend and SVP of MTVi, who loves the interactivity of Flipboard. Where else can you so seamlessly integrate social media platforms, Google Reader and RSS feeds while also staying in touch with what your friends are reading and doing?

Just In Time for iPad 2

I've managed to squeak my little review in just before the iPad 2 comes out March 11, 2011. The new one has a camera and video camera. Lighter. Thinner. Has a cover attached magnetically to protect the display so you don't need a separate case. The screen, apparently is sensitive to strength of touch.

All sounds great, although I probably won't see it myself for quite a while, because we just got the old version. Add that to my list of Dislikes, by the way. Such is the nature of owning an Apple product. 

But the addictive anger, aggression-pincer-thing makes me want to fling the damn thing out the window. I doubt even the newer, snazzier model will change that.

Photo by hj_west.

Roadtripping Argentina and USA: Tips, Tricks and Technology

We’re coming to the close of our Argentina roadtrip during which I've written about Twitter tips for visiting beautiful Cordoba, my first skiing adventure and a bizarre Walmart sighting in Nuequen.

Coming up, more information on Nuequen, Argentina's so-called Portal to Patagonia as well as traveling Argentina by bus.  I’ll also cover a visit to San Martin de los Andes, including details of how to navigate Chapelco family ski resort and local advice for where to stay and rent your ski or snowboard equipment.

Right now, though, I’m in Buenos Aires, staying at Hostel Colonial. It’s tagged as a youth hostel specifically for backpackers, but we decided to try it out as a family. So far, it’s been lovely. We arrived early this morning after the long bus ride from Nuequen, relaxed over breakfast while our room was prepared and now we’re taking our own sweet time getting ready to go out. But this is Buenos Aires, Argentina. Even for a big city, life is tranquilo here, especially on a Sunday. There’s no need to rush.

If you're nearby, please join me for  Buenos Aires Tweet up!  Details are still to be determined, but right now, it’s looking like tomorrow night, Monday, July 20 at 9pm, somewhere in Palermo.  I’ll  post more here soon, but if you’d like, you can also contact my through @thefutureisred, my Twitter account.

As for my fellow roadtrip-bloggers, Kelly, Peter and Pam of TbexRoadtrip, they’re on day four of their trip. I’ve been reading along with them as they make their way from Seattle to Chicago for the Travel Blog Exchange Convention.  Today, it appears they’re just leaving Yellowstone National Park.

One feature of the TbexRoadtrip  I wanted to share. They’ve developed an amazing Interactive Roadtrip Map that allows you to follow along with them through Twitter as well as see their photos from Flickr. I mention this not only because it’s a wonderful way to interact with their trip but it’s also a wonderful use of the technology. They’ve incorporated Google Maps, GPS tracking, Flicker and Twitter to create fantastically detailed updates through a wonderfully user friendly blog interface.

Perfect for those of us who want to stay connected to their trip, suggest places to visit and eat or perhaps offer them a place to stay. It’s also an excellent use of the myriad technologies and gadgets available for bloggers. 

Photo courtesy of MishiMoshiMoshi's Flickrstream

Is Social Media Just Another Bubble Waiting To Burst?

We live in a world of bubbles. The Dot.com Bubble.  The Housing Market Bubble. The Banking Bubble. Now, as I spend more and more of my time in the various social media spheres, I can't help but wonder if there isn't also perhaps a Social Media Bubble, rapidly expanding, thus moving every minute closer and closer to bursting.

Here's how I see it: A blogger reads other bloggers blogs and comments on them. Then, each blogger adds her favorite bloggers to her Google or whatever RSS feed reader she chooses. She follows the same people on Twitter, friends them on Friendfeed and Facebook, Stumblesupon and Diggs them and then adds a link from her own blog to theirs. They, in return, follow, friend, comment and link back.

I see the same names pop up on mailing lists, Pitch Engine and HARO -- two sources where writers, journalists, PR Pros and regular people go to ask for publicity or sources for their stories. Which means, reporters send out queries on HARO which are then picked up by the public relations people from Pitch Engine who then write articles for the blogs that are then fed and followed by Technorati, Digg, Stumbleupon, Squidoo, Ning, Twine, Icerocket and that only brushes the surface of social media outlets out there.

There's no tangible product here, so how does anyone actually make money from this.

Ok, there are eyes and clicks. How many people view your page and eventually click on your links. That counts for something. In fact, every site has a method of counting and measuring. Feedburner and other such feeds are perhaps the biggest yardstick for knowing how important your blog has become.

Then your feed serves up articles about How To Gain More Followers, How To Be A Better Twitterer and How To Optimize Your Subscribers. The posts on my own blog that recieve the most traffic -- of course, I'm counting too -- are the ones that focus on blogging, twittering and any any number of other subjects related to Social Media Success. So the circle goes around, feeding itself.

But how much can a click really mean? What is the product being sold? Who is buying? And how many articles can one really read about how to drive traffic to your site and who are the best people to follow? Maybe we should all just pack it in and go do something real and solid, something worthwhile like teaching orphans or rebuilding communities devastated by earthquakes.

Or  maybe, just maybe, this online world works because people interlink. People subscribe to HARO because they have direct access to reporters. Every day, I recieve upwards of 100 queries. At least two per day pertain to me. That one AOL article brought more than 20,000 hits in five hours. And HARO costs me nothing to join, so really, why not? When fifty thousand people say why not, you have a solid audience, one that will click on links and buy from your advertisers.

Even better, we are building real community here. We go from being the faceless consumer to having names. I recently ran a contest with a Whimsy and Spice sampler box of cookies and cake as a give-away. Since only four people entered, I decided it only made sense to send a box of goodies to each of the entrants. Thus, Whimsy and Spice has four more sales. I have four happy readers who are very likely to buy from Whimsy and Spice again. These four happy readers -- Jessica, Shannalee, Jennifer and Jodi --  will soon be featured on my website, including their blogs, and will most likely return to read my blog. Jenna, the owner of Whimsy and Spice, of course, understood whyI wasn't able to put in my order until Noah felt better, because she has a family too and knows how life slows down when someone is sick. She wished Noah a fast recovery and also offered me a price break on shipping.

We reciprocate, not just because we have to supply a product for a price, but because reciprocity and generosity have a value. Kristi Colvin recently wrote a a must read article on Twitter and the Law of Reciprocity. "We must genuinely like people to benefit from social media," she says."Because if you like someone, your intention is naturally more reciprocal and less self-serving."

So which is it? Have we created something unique, something that will transcend past business models or are we inevitably headed for the Next Big Pop?

You tell me.