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Showing posts with label Techno Impressions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Techno Impressions. Show all posts

Why Your iPhone Wants to be Your Best Friend

Technology Friend or Foe?

I saw the movie HER with a group of friends. The movie takes place in the future and the main character has a new improved IPhone like device with its own personality and they start dating. It's a very odd and thought provoking movie. The research study below my entry is about how we use are phones as our companions because they are designed to be.
In Fact, my friends and I couldn't stop talking about the implications of having a tech girlfriend or tech boyfriend and discussing how we currently view and interact in our relationships. I am fascinated by the idea we are and will continue to use technology as our personal companion. In my book, SNAP Making the Most of First Impressions Body Language and Charisma I discuss how we date are phones and carry them around and tend to them like they are our own little three year old child and give specific steps to use technology properly, with respect to your clients and fellow employees.

My audiences talk about how they bring their iPhone or pad or laptop to be with them and how it might be the last thing they interact with and touch before they go to sleep and the first thing they reach for in the morning. Yep, when I am on the road speaking that is certainly true for me. Goodness I use it to read up about every author who's books I am reading,  the history of the places I visit, the directors and actors in the movies I watch and I use my phone placed by my hotel bed side table as a sleep machine to block out hotel noise.
The other night I was watching a TV show that is my favorite guilty pleasure, "Graham Norton." on the show he had three famous actors, but the host spent a 5 minute segment playing with a little robot who walks and dances. All this happened with the actors sitting watching. And we were mesmerized. The robot was upstaging three actors. One of whom is listed as "The Highest Grossing Actor of All Time." ( You can look his name up on you smart phone) The little robot only costs 12,000 pounds. (more than 12,000 US Dollars. The last line of the article below was the most interesting it says, "But there's a trend here, and its toward technology as companion. It's as if consumer electronics companies are giving up the pretense that technology is connecting people and are instead designing it so that we don't miss them at all. " What do you think.

Here is an interesting article on how technology wants us to date our cell phones.


Why your iPhone wants to be your best friend    
Technology is increasingly designed to make you forget it's not human

Humans seek companionship. When no one else is around, we look elsewhere for it. I don't think I'm alone in turning on the television or checking Twitter at every opportune moment to "check in" on other people. On weekends or late nights in the office, I often fire up our drone and have it hover around the room. It makes me feel like someone else is there. Perhaps it would have been more practical for us to get a Roomba.
The point is, for as long as we've had technology, people have sought companionship from it. What's new is that consumer electronics companies are now designing their products to mimic human voices and even biological functions: From voice-activated phones to washing machines that coo in disturbing simpatico with human beings — not to mention the trend in car manufacture toward more explicitly face-like front ends.
You may know that Nokia chose its famous SMS tone because it shares a frequency with that of a crying infant. That's a sound most of the population is already keenly tuned in to. In other words, a mobile phone manufacturer tapped into maternal terror to ramp up the attention-seeking quotient of its handheld devices.
Apple's "personal assistant" Siri is one of the best-known examples of anthropomorphism in technology. Apple knows this, which is why the company is so smart and a little smug about it. Try asking Siri to "open the pod bay doors" and she will respond in a slow and monotonous tone, a stark change from her usual robotic accent.
While Siri lacks HAL's capabilities for art appreciation, chess-playing, and holding a conversation, people fell in love with her. You can't have a conversation with Siri, and you have to tap a button on the screen before issuing any command, so it's more akin to having to beat someone with a stick to get them to reply. But still.
Of course, Siri isn't a new concept. ELIZA, written by MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum in the sixties was a "digital psychiatrist." The worst kind of psychiatrist, too: ELIZA would ask never-ending questions based on the last thing you said to her. It's a mundane program by today's standards and not in any way useful, but for its time was absolutely amazing.
Weizenbaum was shocked by the reaction to ELIZA from people who didn't understand it. His secretary would spend hours telling this program about her problems. She was, however, incredibly upset when Weizenbaum showed her the conversation logs he had kept. Which is perhaps something we can all empathize with.
Sometimes the companionship we seek can be purely physical. I have no doubt many of our readers have fallen asleep to the soft "breathing" glow (not chosen by accident) of iBooks, iMacs, PowerBooks, and MacBooks over the years. It can be strangely reassuring to glance over at your machine and know it's asleep. Alas, Apple have phased this out in their latest generation of computers as new technology allows them to be always on.
But there's a trend here, and its toward technology as companion. It's as if consumer electronics companies are giving up the pretense that technology is connecting people and are instead designing it so that we don't miss them at all. Bit sinister, really. Don't you think?







Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Death of the Business Card? Should You Still Exchange Business Cards?

I was reading a blog post from Bruce Turnkell about the new way to exchange business cards. I know you can bump my IPhone with another IPhone to exchange contact information but this is a way to share your contact information with an entire audience. I still lament the loss of opportunities to get in close proximity and create more intimacy. The old business card exchange gives you an opportunity to get close and shake hands and or touch hands as you share your card then linger a bit as you read the person's card. Then you have the concrete object that becomes, albeit for a brief time, a part of you. Here is the scoop from Bruce.

"Imagine my surprise when I met with my old friend Marcos the other day and asked him for his business card. “I don’t carry them anymore” he said. “Just text my name to 65047.” I did as he instructed. A few seconds later all his contact information arrived as an SMS message on my phone, ready to be copied into Outlook, friended on Facebook, and followed on Twitter.
“Now that you’re registered I can send you anything,” he went on enthusiastically, “updates, promotions, special deals and coupons. Because it’s all opt-in, people can cancel whenever they want so there’s never any spam. My company has just two employees but we’re using the most sophisticated mobile marketing out there.”
The minute I got back to my office I went online, looked up the company and signed up for my own mobile account. Now, when I speak at conferences or meet people at networking events, I tell them to text “Turkel” (my keyword) to 65047. They get back an instant message from me with my contact information and their cell phone number automatically goes into my database where I can let them know where I’m speaking, announce my new blog post or tell them anything I think they’ll find valuable.
Best of all, it’s an easy and inexpensive way to add mobile marketing to your promotions arsenal with almost no barrier to entry. If you’re in the cruise line, airline or hotel business you can expand your yield management programs by sending special offers to your customers at the very last minute. If you’re in the restaurant business, you can offer specials – two for one, say, or a free glass of wine – at the exact moment when you have empty seats. If you run a CVB, you can issue travel deals when you see your stakeholders’ RevPAR dropping. Bloggers can announce their latest post in real time. Bakeries can let people know when the muffins are fresh out of the oven. Heck, you can use the technology to tell your softball team when you’re practicing or tell your friends when you’re going to the beach. The opportunities are endless; those are just the first few I came up with. Talk about yield management – now you can reach your customers right on their phones with time-stamped promotions.
All you need to do is click here and visit the Momares.com site. The trial is free, the process is simple and after just a few minutes you’ll be a mobile marketer too. If you type in the promo code TURKEL, Marcos will add an additional 50 messages to your account for free. And if you send me an e-mail with your new keyword, I’ll text you back and be your first customer."


Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

John Cusack's First Foray Into The World Of Tweeting.

I just did a read of John Cusack’s first foray in the world of tweeting for Fox News.com

I will put up the link to the article when I get it from Fox News. I have my rough notes below.

Coincidentally, I was working on the techno impressions chapter of my new book when I got the request. I told the journalist that most tweeters speaking on political or social issues tend to make strong declarative statements. They start their sentences with a capital I; they put lots of exclamation points at the end of their tweets and use caps to shout out what they feel. John is not so self assured. The few sentences he starts with an I he uses a little I. It's clear in a content analysis that he is not sure how he should act in this medium. He starts a tweet sharing his opinion, but, in more than half of the tweets I analyzed he stops in the middle of the sentence to ask if he is following the rules or saying things correctly. This is particularly interesting when you compare it to how he is in camera interviews. I have done many nonverbal reads on Johns' TV interviews. He is calm, self assured, intelligent and articulate and often witty. In his tweets he does not use capital letters, or follow the rules or spelling grammar or punctuation. The spelling seems phonetic and the vowels inside words or incorrect phonetic spelling and letters inside words being mixed up are mistakes I see in people, who are dyslexic. That is personally, very easy to recognize as I have dyslexia. It is interesting that he chooses to ignore the rules here but cautious with his words.

1. was that who it was?? RT Shawn Hannity sings 4 Cusack...http://youtu.be/r5KeGccP9Jk . filmed live at a satanist celebrity cult death center.2:33 AM Sep 2nd via TweetDeck

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2. doesnt that guy work in politics? or was it entertainment?10:42 PM Sep 1st via TweetDeck

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3. whats been going on guys? whhttp://youtu.be/r5KeGccP9Jk10:40 PM Sep 1st via TweetDeck

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4. freindship tour rolling through santa monica today..12:15 PM Sep 1st via TweetDeck

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1. ummm.. was sbeing sarcastic about the rules- i'm irish -- dont do well with arbitrary authority1:54 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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2. i want to be a good boy for them all-- did i miss something? any other rules i should follow?1:48 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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3. hope twipolice tell me what' sok comming out myown little twi-feed....no jokes no CAPS-- no tonaly quesytionabe insights into politcis1:47 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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i would sadly agree- a bit overstated- but sadly true-RT @jeffjfyke: Gore Vidal says US has a one-party govt with two right wings.1:42 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

1. the gop establishment has been in a shamfull cycle of fear mongering for years in my opinion..1:27 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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2. ron paul on everything - but i think he has character in many ways.. depends on the peroson.1:26 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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3. nothing... i may not agre with RT @RambobeatsRocky: John, I've watched your movies for 25+ years...what do you have against conservatives?1:25 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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4. and the flag..? i know were not supposed to make jokes about anything - now that america has turned back to the lord..1:23 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

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without changing context.. am i for or against ? how about a celebrity death cult center? i will join as pennance to the folks who own god1:22 PM Aug 31st via TweetDeck

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at http://PattiWood.net. Also check out the body language quiz on her YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.