mobile

Well maybe the title is a bit overblown.

Hot on the heels of the study that claims Spongebob Squarepants causes attention deficit disorder in youngsters, I encountered a service booth (to remain un-named because the people cannot be blamed for the distractions in their hands) where I experienced the ultimate "connected" moment.

Now, if the purpose behind wireless, small form factors, and mobile access here, there, everywhere, all the time..., is to make us more connected, then indeed there is a problem.

Well maybe the title is a bit overblown.

Hot on the heels of the study that claims Spongebob Squarepants causes attention deficit disorder in youngsters, I encountered a service booth (to remain un-named because the people cannot be blamed for the distractions in their hands) where I experienced the ultimate "connected" moment.

Now, if the purpose behind wireless, small form factors, and mobile access here, there, everywhere, all the time..., is to make us more connected, then indeed there is a problem.

For years you could watch people in airports coo over their Blackberry. People would compare features, holsters, and the latest models. Newest models asserted status on the owners.

Now, the "market value" of RIM has dropped from its high of $70 billion to $13 billion. Staff are being laid off. Analysts are expecting a takeover.

Is the Blackberry any less functional? Is it still not secure and useful and a great productivity tool?

Will the herd mentality and the opinions of stock market analysts doom the company? Hope not.

Article from Baseline today speaks about the lifespan, staying power, growth and decline of mobile apps, and also that some people find them more important than coffee. How can that be?

See:
http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Mobile-Apps-Live-Fast...

PS I like Baseline magazine. Good articles fairly regularly.

There is an Educause Webinar entitled:
Spotlight on Mobile Computing: Enterprise Mobile Technology Services Best Practices

(If you don't have an Educause profile, go to www.educause.edu and set one up. We have an institutional membership so you can easily join.)

Speaker:
Jill Forrester, Director, Enterprise Systems, Dickinson College

Dear TechKnowFilers:

Great news! TechKnowFile went mobile! If you have an iPhone, you can now access your personal schedule, review sessions, locations and presenters using the TKF Mobile WebApp.

Using your phone browser, go to: http://tkfmobile.oise.utoronto.ca and login using your techknowfile.org username and password.

Give us your feedback at the TKF-Dell feedback kiosks available in the Stone Lobby of the MedSci building on the day of the conference!

Thank you to Michael Moncada from OISE for his hard work on the TKF Mobile WebApp.

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to poll the population here at U of T to see how many people would be interested in a lecture series for developing Mobile Apps for the iPhone (with some possible talks on other platforms such as Android if there is enough interest there). If there is enough interest to drive this I would like to propose the creation of an evening lecture series for those interested (through the TechKnowfile Venue), where we could potentially record it and post it up for everyone. I have been hearing questions about iPhone development from various sources around U of T and I see this as an opportunity to potentially promote some learning and information on the subject. Let me know what you think!