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We’re all familiar with bio tech and nano tech, green tech and clean tech, but according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon, the newest trend will be kind tech- technology whose goal is not only to make you more productive but also to make you happy.

First, a little background: when visitors enter the main lobby of Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science they are greeted by a quirky “Roboceptionist” named Marion “Tank” LeFleur who calls out “Welcome to Newell- Simon Hall, how can I help you?” But he’s not just programmed to spit out welcome messages every few minutes; he also likes to chat incessantly about anything and everything with anyone and everyone that sticks around. “Tank” is one of the first of his kind- a fully automated robotic receptionist designed to help visitors find their way around the building. Not gonna lie, he kind of reminds me of Zordon from the Power Rangers (don’t even try to pretend you didn’t watch that show)! Anyway, while “Tank” is a great experiment in human machine interaction, the real cutting edge technology has more to do with understanding the humanity of the user, say the experts.

The newest technologies seek not only to make our lives easier but also to learn from us, adapt to our lives, fill our emotional needs, compensate for our handicaps, and ultimately, “make us better people”.  It seems that for too long technological innovation has approached the problems of everyday life with a single dimensional attitude. It aims to minimize or eliminate the effort needed to get things done- and that’s it. Despite all the gains in convenience, however, the researchers at CMU seem to think we have sacrificed a broader sense of fulfillment. So they want the next wave of technology to help restore that feeling with machines that “work with us, not instead of us”.This technology, they say, can be defined as “kind”.

For example, Jodi Forlizzi, a professor at CMU, has recently developed a new product called the Hug. It is about the size of an overstuffed pillow and uses wireless technology to enable physical interaction despite physical distance. You basically squeeze the Hug on your end and it will record the motion and send a signal to someone else’s Hug so that when your counterpart holds the Hug to his or her chest it will electronically mimic your embrace. Other products that are beginning to fill this space include the Chumby, an electronic clock that also enables you to look at your favorite blogs, rock out to Internet radio stations, look at your friends’ Facebook status updates, or check today’s weather report, as well as the Ikan, a countertop digital device that I’ve written about previously that helps you keep track of your groceries, print out custom made and categorized shopping lists, etc.

Across CMU, and across the country really, researchers and scientists are enabling technology to learn our specific routines and habits, our unique likes and dislikes, and our personal tics and neurosis. And then they are using that information to try and custom design our everyday lives.

Personally, I’m not sure how much I like this new wave of technology because in all honesty, it’s kind of creepy. I don’t know how I feel about a virtual hug. And even though it’s cool, I’m not sure who would buy it. But I’ll admit that there is great potential for some true innovation in the human-computer interaction space and it’s refreshing to see that some people are aggressively tapping into it.

 I recently came across a very unique company, Despair Inc., which claims that since true motivation can only come from within, the multi-billion dollar indstury that thrives on the sale of motivational products and services is really a bunch of hot air. Motivational products create unrealistic expectations they say, which is how they justify their own “soul-crushing depressing” Demotivator designs.

While it’s doubtful that anyone would actually hang one of Despair Inc.’s posters on a wall in an office, they are pretty entertaining… and kind of grounding. Plus no one can deny that at a time like this, with our economy spiraling downward uncontrollably after yet another bubble, perhaps there is some truth to their views.

Among my favorites:

 So true! People that are physically attractive or people with attractive personalities always get away with so much more- even if their ideas aren’t very good or their reasoning isn’t very sound. I’d say this applies to companies as well. It seems that several sexy web2.0 startups with snazzy interfaces and striking homepages are somehow blinding people as to the fact that they have yet to develop a business model and/or revenue model…

Not sure I really have to explain this one right now…

And finally…

Too bad I like being opinionated too much to stop now. Besides, if I weren’t blogging you never would have known about Despair, Inc. in the first place!

I’m taking a marketing class this semester and we’re always talking about the four P’s (product, promotion, price, place), the five C’s (company, competition, context, collaborators, customer) and other such “analytical tools” that can help us evaluate the finest marketing methods for any given company, but in the midst of all these mnemonics I’ve come to a very simple conclusion about one of the best advertising techniques out there: the more imitatable your advertisements, the better. Experts and gurus in every industry are always preaching about the importance of being unique, whether in regards to products, customer service, marketing, or any other dimension that a company can differentiate itself on, and I think sometimes people interpret that as meaning that the more imitatable you are, the less valuable you are and that “ordinary” is unacceptable. Based on observation, however, these statements are far from the truth.

Ordinary and simple campaigns are the ones we remember the best, the ones that we most identify with, and the ones we find ourselves quoting. These are the ones we use in presentations and skits to make a point, the ones we find countless copycat Youtube videos of, and the ones that continue to live beyond their debuts and their demises.

The classic example is the ubiquitous “got milk?” campaign that debuted in California in 1993 and went national in 1995. Launched by the California Milk Processor Board, it has inspired dozens of copycat campaigns. Other such ads include the “Is it in you?” campaign by Gatorade, Mastercard’s “priceless” campaign, Intel’s “Intel Inside” campaign, and even Apple’s “Mac vs. PC” campaign. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve seen people use the “Mac vs. PC” campaign format to “compare” products or other things completely unrelated to Apple. What makes these campaigns similar? They’re simple, universal, and highly imitatable. In fact, part of the motivation for this post came when I was walking through downtown Philly the other day and saw a man standing on the side of the street holding a sign that said “got change?” in that familiar white font on a solid black background. I couldn’t help laughing, thinking about the “got milk?” campaign, and giving him some money. Fraternities and sororities on Penn’s campus and elsewhere are constantly donning shirts that say “got greek?” or “Greek Life…Is it in you?”

So why are they especially useful for the original company? Well every imitation just expands their reach, because when you see a copycat ad you can’t help but remember the original. And sometimes they become so pervasive that your competition gets desperate, freaks out, and imitates you too! (i.e. think Microsoft’s new “I’m a PC” campaign- Apple can just sit back, relax, and watch Microsoft do the work for them!)

Long story short, keep it simple and replicable and let the copycats do the work for you. Just do it.

A new burger joint called Top This just opened up on Penn’s campus. The restaurant has a creative name, and an even more creative pricing strategy. Take a look:

See anything strange? In case you didn’t catch it, the Fries & Beverage “combo” actually costs more than purchasing the fries and a beverage separately… 1 cent more to be exact. Creative no? Trick your customers into thinking that since it’s convention for combos to be cheaper than buying the individual components, they are probably getting a better deal with the combo and they probably don’t need to check…

Except when they do. A friend noticed this, took a picture, and showed me, and of course he’s not the only one that’s noticed. The 1 cent difference isn’t even the issue, it’s more about principle, and it’s justifiably pissing people off. Strategic pricing is an art, and firms pour tons of money into research in this area, but there some basic no-no’s. This is one of them.

I’ve written previously about TalkBizNow’s aggressive entry into the business networking arena on August 18th. With claims that the website will be far superior to LinkedIn and hopes to attain over three million users in the first six months, the company loves to generate buzz, regardless of how or why.

I just read a recent interview that BNET conducted with TalkBizNow CEO Martin Warner dating back about a week to Friday September 12^th. Below are some snippets from the interview:

BNET: Who predicted that the company would be five times bigger than Facebook? What’s the basis for the claim?

Martin Warner: Who said that? [What we said was] that the business networking market is going to be five times than the social networking market. It has nothing to do with Facebook. Is that the headline? I’ve not said it.

BNET: Didn’t you vet the release?

MW: I approve or my president approves every press release, but this comes as a complete surprise to us. It’s not good form if someone from our agency released this without being approved.

BNET: The release also claims that Talkbiznow.com is the “world’s first business networking site.” How is that true?

MW: That’s a fair comment. If we think about a couple of the players that are trying to do this in the market, Xing out of Germany and LinkedIn out of California, they’re allowing business professionals to connect with each other, and on that we all agree. The difference is the way we can do peer to peer networking, hosting a webinar, or selling a product. Once you connect, they don’t necessarily say here’s what you do to do business online. Ours may appear to a social network to be a little stout. It may look like a business application – it is a business application. It is a pure b-to-b networking tool. We haven’t seen that on the market. It’s whether you have something that wants to be a b-to-b tool or something that sits in the middle of a business and social network.

BNET: No offense, but the type of over reaching statements in the press release I saw indicated sloppy execution. Might that not come back to bite you?

MW: If you read all the press on us, I think we’ve done very, very well. People have testified how good our press has been. We’ve got enormous amount of buzz around the application. The press campaign, I’m very happy with. We’ve got that coverage and, I’m sure, we’ve got viral targeting based on it. We can put out something that raises more questions and then be ready with answers. That can be effective. We just have to stand up and be counted for our statements.

Alright, so where to begin? First of all, it’s a bit questionable that neither Warner nor his president approved the comment about TalkBizNow being five times greater than Facebook, and yet it somehow made its way into the press release, but I won’t even harp on that point for now. The claim that TalkBizNow is the first business networking website is simply riddled with holes. Judging by the responses to the interview posted on BNET, even if you buy Warner’s argument about LinkedIn and Xing, which I don’t, several other business networking sites that offer similar peer to peer networks have existed for the past couple years. Take a look at WeCanDo.BIZ, Biznik, or Zoodango, just to name a few. It’s one thing to say you’ll be the best, it’s another to claim you’re the first when others clearly already exist.

Because the number of social networks has exploded in the past few years, experts have been studying the mechanisms and ins and outs of this phenomenon. One of the most important aspects of any network’s success seems to be the trust and the relationship between the users and the network. Mark Zuckerberg, for example, is well known as the face behind Facebook, and users are encouraged to contact him if ever they have something to say about the way Facebook works. With the amount of exposure one receives by including so much personal information on the network, it’s no surprise that trust is such an important element.

Dan McComb, the cofounder of Biznik writes, “It seems that anyone who has been in the business networking industry for any length of time knows one thing: successful business networking is all about building trust. In fact, any business getting started in this social media landscape is going to need the trust of their customers, and making overly bold claims isn’t exactly the best way to get it. The fact is [that] “business networking” is a massive potential market, with plenty of room for healthy competition. Adding some project management tools to the application sounds like an interesting idea. I question whether advertising on a social network of any kind will be able to support the model, though…”

I commend the company for adding such software services as blogging, webinar facilities, calendars, free user advertisements, and online stores to the more expected linking with colleagues and business associates; however, I can’t say the same about their marketing strategy.

Enough of my rambling though… let’s see how the website is doing so you can judge for yourself…

(It’s been exactly one month and remember: the goal is to attain three million users within the first six months)

SpinSpotter is a new startup that aims to scan news stories for signs of “spin”. Users can download “Spinoculars”, a toolbar located on their browser that lets them know if the story they are reading has any phrases or words that indicate bias. It highlights those words in red and allows users to click on them to find out exactly why SpinSpotter has flagged them.

The tool works in three ways, says founder Todd Herman. First, it uses an algorithm to discover phrases that violate any of the six transgressions that the company’s journalism advisory board came up with based on the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. These are personal voice, passive voice, a biased source, disregarded context, selective disclosure and lack of balance. SpinSpotter’s algorithm also uses a database of common phrases that are used when spinning a story. Finally, readers themselves can flag instances of “spin”.

Currently, because SpinSpotter has started out with very few phrases in its database of spin, it rarely flags articles. “Referring to something as spin is a pretty serious thing. We don’t want to go through vandalizing properties. We would like to do this responsibly,” says Herman. Alright, so I understand that bias in the media and the news can be a problem, but do we really need a web tool to help us recognize this fact? If it only highlights writing that is flagrantly biased, can’t we just discern that ourselves? And if you can’t, you probably need more help than a simple web tool can provide.

As internet users become more and more dependent on blogs and news aggregators to get their daily news fix, it seems to me that we enjoy reading articles and posts that are written from an angle and that present a point of view. This doesn’t mean that we agree with the point of view, but rather that we like to understand the “so what?” in regards to any given topic. In fact, when I read several news stories I often find complete objectivity inappropriate and useless. Part of the beauty of information exchange is that we expect to be given some direction as to how to think about a subject by those that are experts or more knowledgeable about any given topic. We are then free to agree, disagree, debate, discuss, explore, etc.

Voice, tone, point of view- these are the components that make up the character of any piece of writing. These are the elements that making writing and expression such an art. Learning to separate opinions and bias from facts and figures is part of the academic journey. Additionally, the algorithm is especially limited because it can spot phrases but can’t account for context or tone. How can we rely on a rudimentary algorithm to inform us of “spin”? That sounds like indolence at its worst. Plus, who wants big red boxes all over the article being read. That sounds like more of a distraction than a help.

Finally, a philosophical concern: in choosing to highlight certain phrases and words, the application is itself being subjective. “I’m not a slave to objectivity. I’m never quite sure what it means. And it means different things to different people.” -Peter Jennings

That said, I guess there are some potential uses for SpinSpotter. Perhaps it could be employed as a teaching tool in English classes to help facilitate lessons on bias and point of view. Or maybe it could be used to help train newscasters who often have to report “this just in” news on the fly? Maybe.

I wonder what this post would look like if I viewed it through a pair of Spinoculars…

This blog is entirely non-political and I intend to keep it that way, but tonight I was given the opportunity to hear Kate Walsh (Addison from Grey’s Anatomy and the star of Private Practice!) speak on behalf of the Penn Democrats organization on campus, and I was both impressed and inspired. Not only is she a very beautiful woman, but she also spoke very eloquently and appropriately given the college audience. Her brief description of the various ways she’s been involved, including her work for the Obama campaign during the primaries, was surprisingly “grass roots” and she encouraged all of us to get involved in any way we can.

Okay so the lighting is strange and I’m looking at the wrong camera but you get the point. Whether we are passionate about healthcare, women’s rights, the economy, the war in Iraq, the Supreme Court, or any of the other issues that the candidates’ opinions differ on, it’s critical that we get out there, get involved, and vote! Our nation is going to face (and is already facing) some very complex challenges, and while these problems may threaten the country, they also provide an opportunity for rising generations to take action and find innovative and amazing solutions.

Consider this my token “how innovation relates to politics” entry. Now, go register if you haven’t already!

You already know how much I love lists, so here goes…

Some of these are far more feasible than others… some are straight up crazy. A couple are my own ideas and others are ideas I’ve discussed with friends or colleagues. You may find yourself laughing about, scoffing at, or even identifying with the need for some of these innovations, but regardless of how you react to the individual ideas I hope that, at the very least, you find it stimulating. In no particular order…

1)      Sensitive Thermostat: No I don’t want my thermostat to cry when it’s sad or smile when it’s happy, but rather to adjust according to bodies in the room instead of some preset temperature. Often when I’m caught up in an activity or busy thinking about something else, I’ll go several minutes without realizing I’m uncomfortable (either too hot or too cold)… plus, getting up and changing the temperature on the thermostat is a pain… especially in the middle of the night. I’m sure there is some technology out there that has the potential to use pulse/ heartbeats, or sense goose bumps/ overactive sweat glands, and adjust the temperature accordingly.

2)      Sleep Storage: We’ve all had those weeks where we just wish we could squeeze in a couple more hours of sleep. How amazing would it be to be able to capture “excess sleep” for use in “times of need”. There are all kinds of problems with this, not the least of which is that I have no idea how it would possibly be done. Plus, I can only begin to imagine all the ways this technology could be used for “evil” and the several court cases that might arise as a result. Nevertheless, it’s fun to think about!

3)      Brainshots: Speaking of sleep, I somehow I always find myself being most creative right before I go to bed. When I have an essay to write, the perfect sentences come to me right before I fall asleep but the thought flow is constantly interrupted by my efforts to commit the ideas to memory, and yet I inevitably will forget them in the morning. If there was a way to take “screenshots” of my ideas/thoughts from when I get in bed to the time I fall asleep it would be phenomenal. There are already ways to covert audio into documents, perhaps someone will figure out how to covert brainwaves too…?

4)      Virtual Fitting Rooms: Whether you’re lazy or always running short on time, trying on clothes in the fitting room of a store is annoying. Sometimes I’ll see something I like after leaving the fitting room and won’t buy it just because I’m too lazy to go back and try it on. If instead of fitting rooms stores had booths where you could scan the items you want to “try on” into a machine (much like the ones at Walmart that tell you product prices) that then also quickly scanned your body to create images of you in each piece of clothing, it’d be great. The 2.0 version of this would of course allow you to send the images to friends or family via email or a new social network to get their opinions of the outfit

I’ve broken the golden rule of only writing lists in round numbers, so there may be a part 2 at a later date. And for those of you that now think I’m insane let me share with you a quote by Arthur C. Clarke, a famous British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist who passed away earlier this year:

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Have your own crazy invention ideas? Feel free to share.

For several years now stores that cater to the more prosperous demographic have seemed “immune” to the ups and downs of the business cycle, but in today’s economy, as the real estate market and Wall Street are both struggling, it appears that even the upper class is trying to save, especially when it comes to “discretionary” purchases such as clothing, electronics, jewelry, home furnishings, etc. that they might usually splurge on at higher end department stores.

From the retailers’ perspective, everyone likes to advertise when times are good, but several companies seem to scale back heavily on marketing gimmicks and campaigns as soon as the economy turns a little sour, even though there are probably other areas of discretionary investments that could be (and should be) minimized instead. Finding ways to improve operations, decreasing overhead, and overall increased efficiency are all ways to cut costs, and can give a company an extra advantage when times are rough, especially when their customers might be trying to cut back.

As the fall season approaches, several of the nation’s higher-end retailers, anxious about the uncertain economic outlook, are weary of engaging in large advertising campaigns, but Bloomingdale’s (a division of Macy’s) and Saks Fifth Avenue (a unit of Saks) recognize the importance of continually appealing to and “wooing” customers, and are stressing “innovative advertising” as a means to attract customers even in an economic downturn (according to an article in the Times).

 “We’re in a tough economy; there’s no denying that,” says Jack Hruska, executive vice president for creative services at Bloomingdale’s in NY. He adds, though, that those retailers “who play up their strengths will emerge stronger when the economy comes back than those who retreat or scale back. We’ve seen that time and time again.” Clearly other retailers must have their eyes wide closed.

 Bloomingdale’s is introducing an elaborate campaign centered on music, and based on successful results of an experiment with a virtual catalog in the spring, Saks Fifth is expanding the availability of video clips online to offer shoppers a more comprehensive virtual version of their catalogs. They are also attempting to appeal to youthful shoppers that may be slightly younger than their typical customer base, via an outreach campaign to almost 100 blogs and a presence on social media websites like Facebook.

Frivolous advertising spend is obviously unacceptable whether or not the economy is down, but both companies are cognizant of the fact that for luxury goods there’s an expectation of better service and that they must be able to convey this level of service at all times in order to retain a loyal customer base. Thus, in times like this, they are astutely looking to drive outsized growth with “innovative initiatives” and looking for “ways that are nontraditional” to reach the hearts and minds of their customers.

I met Ron Klein (Chairman & CEO of Macy’s East) in this past February at the Undergraduate Business School Leadership Conference, and he shared with us several of their “work-in-progress” campaigns at the time. They were entertaining and appealing and I’m looking forward to the newest round, which were just released yesterday. Bravo!

I was pretty irritated a couple days ago when I walked to the Pottruck Center (Penn’s huge gym) only to find that it was closed for “renovations”, but then I went back today and discovered that they’ve installed brand new machines on every floor! The treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, etc. are all by the same brand as they were before (Life Fitness) but now have an entire media center built in. The interesting part is that the media center caters exclusively to iPod users- basically that’s the only kind of music player you can plug in. The machines have a fairly large touch screen where users can scroll through and select songs or play lists, adjust the volume, and perform all other music functions without ever having to touch their iPods. It’s an excellent idea on behalf of Life Fitness, and fantastic for Apple as well, because if you didn’t already have an iPod at Penn, you’ll certainly want one now. The exclusivity is just another sign of how the iPod and iPod related products have truly captured the market, especially among young adults.

Touch screen technology has been around for a while now, but this just goes to show how important incremental innovation is. Something as simple as enabling students to hook their music directly to the machines makes Penn look cooler, Life Fitness seem more inventive, and enforces Apple’s brand image immensely on this campus.

Too bad I can’t use “my iPod’s battery is dead” as an excuse not to go to the gym anymore.