Big Is The New Small

There haven’t been a lot of changes to Twitter as far as the look and feel since it launched. Almost a year ago Twitter launched a new look and I definitely agree that it was an improvement from the original look that we had all become accustomed to.

Well here we go again, as we approach 2012 Twitter has just launched an entirely new look and a cool little marketing name/campaign/hashtag to go with it.  The hashtag and promoted campaign is #LetsFly. I guess flying has something to do with the bird.

I am a big fan of Twitter and was one of the early, early adopters.  Not only am I a fan of Twitter and it’s overall simplicity, but also I’m a fan of the New Twitter.  Below are 10 Great Things About The New Twitter.

• 1. The Simplicity The New Look:  Everything is right there, easy to see, easy to access and is just plain simple.
• 2. More Room On The Border:  (Not referring to the Mexican Restaurant) The one thing that I appreciated about the original Twitter is there was more freedom for customization around the borders.  The earlier new look version condensed the side area leaving less room for customization. The new look has about the same space as the original.  I had never changed my design customization from the original version and now with the New Twitter can see the things that are in the border regions of the page.  Check out my page to see what I’m talking about.
• 3. Home @Connect #Discover:  These are the 3 primary tabs at the top of the new page.  Not only are they the most important, but also the language is more consistent with what they are used for.  @replies @mentions @youname are really all about whom you are making an @connect with.
• 4. Huge Display of Personal Profile:  The personal profile page is very large, easily accessible and has quick connect buttons to all of the things that you need.  Following, Followers, Favorites, Lists, Recent Images, Similar To You and a large panel of your most recent tweets all right there “large and in charge” in front of your face.
• 5. Quick Access To Compose Tweet: You can quickly compose a tweet from the home page in a small box on the left immediately under your brief profile display.  You can go to the right of the page and click the feathered pen icon for a more traditional way to compose a tweet.
• 6. Sensitive To Newbies: This look and feel is much more maneuverable for first timers and newbies trying to navigate around the site.  The new look provides multiple options to get around and access anything.
• 7. Twitter Mobile Is Clean and App-Like: If you interact on Twitter’s website from you iPhone or mobile device, it’s very clean and App-Like.  I’m not sure if App-like is a word, nonetheless I mean it looks and functions like a clean App.
• 8. Continuity: There is not much difference between my iPhone App, Twitter Mobile and The Twitter website.  I’m still browsing around the app; there were a few features that I liked on the previous app; however the continuity makes it a win for me.
• 9. View Photo Feature: There have been several additions over the months for Twitter to interact better with user’s media that they share.  Recent interactive features for photos had already been implemented prior to the new twitter.  The simplicity of the “view photo” feature on the New Twitter is an improvement, as more and more people want to interact with the media of their friends and followers.
• 10. Change Is Good: I like the fact that Twitter is changing and staying fresh.  I’m not saying change for the sake of changing; I’m saying change for the sake of growing.  Most of the changes Twitter made are steps towards forward progress.

Those are my thoughts on the #NewTwitter and the #NewLook.   Share your thoughts!

What do you like, dislike, want to see, want to change, etc.?  #LetsFly

Check out Twitter’s video of the New Twitter below:

We have all had our auto-correct stories, I ran across this one and it’s funny! Made me LOL!

Did this make you LOL?  Share some of your favorite or funny auto-correct stories. What words does auto-correct seem to mess up the most for you?

Let me start off by saying this:  I don’t like voicemail, I rarely never check voicemail, I think voicemail is old and outdated and I think Voicemail Is Officially Shutting Down.  I don’t mean that it’s like really officially shutting down, however more and more people simply don’t like or use voicemail.  I guess you could say it’s unofficially officially shutting down.

When Google Voice came out with their voice to text translation capability a couple of years ago, I saw that as the beginning to the end of voicemail as we once knew it.  As more and more people move to the instantaneous nature of texting, twitter DM’s and FB messages, voicemail will continue to be a thing of the past.  There are simply too many unecessary and unproductive steps.

• Person leaves message
• You call and retrieve message
• You find a time to call the person back
• You finally call them back and leave a message for them
• The voicemail tag game officially begins “Tag you’re it!”
• You finally connect some hours or even days later
• The reason they originally called is no longer relevant

Apparently the iPhone Siri has been hacked or maybe another word for it is a Siri Proxy has been developed by @Plamoni aka Pete Lamonica.  Siri can now be used to start your car, unlock you car and do about anything else a remote control can do.  It’s crazy that we are only years away from being the Jetson’s.  If you would like to learn more about the Siri Proxy, you can read a complete interview with the hacker inventor himself by clicking here.

What do you think?  What are some future things that you would like to see Siri be able to do?

This is a great 60 minutes interview with Walter Isaacson, the author of Steve Jobs autobiography.  There are some great nuggets from Steve Jobs’ life, family, style and some crazy cool twists and turns.  Then end of the interview focuses on how the iPad has changed the lives of families of and individuals living with autism. Really Good Stuff!

This is a great video and reminder of an iconic figure whose legend lives on.  As a matter of fact I’m typing this post on some distant version of the 1984 computer that Steve Jobs introduces in this video.

Outside of the people yelling and screaming for the introduction of this product.  The one thing in this video that I really liked was the simple 2 word cursive writing that showed on the screen. The words were simply Insanely Great!  One thing is certain, Mac and iAnything are all insanely great.

~Insanely Great

Below (Video #2) is the video for the iPhone 4s which is being released this Friday.  There are some cool additions to the iPhone 4s including: The dual-core A5 chip, 8MP camera with all-new optics also shoots 1080p HD video, iCloud, Retina Display and the highly anticipated voice recognition personal assistant Siri.

Siri is actually ridiculously amazing and is the feature that I’m anticipating the most, the unusual thing is that this feature has been around the App store for some time now.  Yes Siri was a start-up company that featured a voice recognition, personal assistant app. The app quickly gained notoriety and the rest is a part of Apple history.

Apple Inc. acquired Siri Inc. just a few months after the start-up’s voice-activated personal-assistant program launched in the App Store.  Apple’s purchase was originally confirmed Robert Scoble aka “Scobleizer” who theorized that the Cupertino, Calif., company might have paid about $200 million to purchase Siri. Previously, Scoble had declared that Siri was “the future of the Web.”  You can check out Siri’s original promo video in (Video #1) below, pretty similar to Apple’s, however Apple’s is better.  Great companies move things from good to great.

If you can’t invent it — buy it.  I remember reading this old Steve Jobs quote that may speak to Apple’s purchase of Siri. Jobs said this, “We’ve demonstrated a strong track record of being very disciplined with the use of our cash. We don’t let it burn a hole in our pocket, we don’t allow it to motivate us to do stupid acquisitions. And so I think that we’d like to continue to keep our powder dry, because we do feel that there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future.”  With the iPhone 4s having record pre-sales, many due to Siri — I guess you could say that Siri is one of those strategic opportunities for the future.

Oh and if you were one of the lucky folks to have previously downloaded Siri, enjoy it while it lasts.  You only have a couple of more days to enjoy it.  It has been removed from the App Store and will be removed from all non iPhone 4s devices on October 15th.  Existing Siri Customers are receiving messages like the one shown below in (Image 1).

The Legend of Steve Jobs.  They should change the Siri female voice to Steve Jobs’ voice and change the name of the technology to Steve instead of Siri.  ”Hi this is Steve, How May I Help You?”

(Video 1)

(Video 2)

(Image 1)

Will you be grabbing the iPhone 4s? Is Siri your primary reason for the upgrade? Share your thoughts on Apple’s approach to Siri and it’s existing App owners.

Steve Jobs was a a brilliant innovator and iconic CEO.  He will be remembered for the many contributions that he has made to culture via Apple inventions.  Below are 15 Steve Jobs Quotes from over the years that he can also be remembered for.

Top 15 Steve Jobs Quotes:

• 1. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. ~Steve Jobs
• 2. Design is not what it looks like and feels like.  Design is how it works. ~Steve Jobs
• 3. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. ~Steve Jobs
• 4.A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. ~Steve Jobs
• 5. You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. ~Steve Jobs
• 6. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. ~Steve Jobs
• 7. One of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. ~Steve Jobs
• 8. Picasso had a saying: ‘Good artists copy, great artists steal.’ We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas… ~Steve Jobs
• 9. There’s nothing that makes my day more than getting an e-mail from some random person in the universe who just bought an iPad over in the UK and tells me the story about how it’s the coolest product they’ve ever brought home in their lives. That’s what keeps me going. ~Steve Jobs
• 10. No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. ~Steve Jobs
• 11. I have looked at myself in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ and whenever the answer is ‘no’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. ~Steve Jobs
• 12. My job is to make the whole executive team good enough to be successors, so that’s what I try to do. ~Steve Jobs
• 13. Why join the navy if you can be a pirate? ~Steve Jobs
• 14. Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles. ~Steve Jobs
• 15. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. ~Steve Jobs

People will remember not only the quotes that you say, but the quotes that you live.  How will you be remembered?

Share your favorite Steve Jobs quotes from this list or others.

If you have not seen this Apple commercial, it’s definitely worth your time – especially on the eve of Steve Jobs’ passing.  I have been inspired by this commercial for years, I talk about it in my book, my mantra of dream BIG. think BIGGER. has a kindred spirit.  Thinking different is where it’s at.

Steve Jobs helped us to Think Different…  he helped to move a generation to think beyond what is, to what could be.  dream BIG. think BIGGER.

Today is the highly anticipated release of the iPhone 5, or at-least that’s what I’ve been told. As I was in the air at about 30,000 ft. in route to NY, I decided to send Apple a Txt Msg. Maybe since I was in the iClouds they will receive the text. Sometimes you just think about things that make you go hmm.

Will you be getting the iPhone 5?   Can you relate to my text msg.?