RickyCadden.com

A New Year Begins

// December 31st, 2011 // 1 Comment » // blogging, technology

Wow, it’s hard to believe that an entire year has already passed. What a crazy one it’s been, too. In March, I started a new position as the Social Media Community Manager at RadioShack, taking the lead on all of our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and The Shack Blog content. It’s been exciting and fun, but challenging, too. In July, I became a daddy to a beautiful little girl – what an adventure that’s been. The rest of the year has mostly been spent learning how life works with a kiddo – it’s entirely different than life before, that’s for sure.

So, what are my plans for 2012? For starters, I’m going to continue focusing on blogging more. I did a decent job of keeping this site updated through 2011, and I intend to continue that this year. I may even get crazy and go for a complete redesign, who knows. I have always wanted a hand-drawn theme for this site, so maybe I’ll finally do that. At the very least, you should expect to see more regular updates here.

Another goal for 2012 is to read a book every month. When I was a kid, I read all the time. I read all the Bluebonnet books, most of the Newberry Award winners, all that. I read a lot through high school too, and in college, by gradually drifted off. Most books will be business-oriented, with a healthy mix of Christian non-fiction and maybe something random thrown in. I’ll try to do a book review each month here, but I always hated writing book reviews in school, so maybe not.

Last, to use mobile technology more to create content. I used to do this nonstop, and I got spoiled with a laptop. So, for 2012, I’m going to try to create with my phone and iPad more. Starting with this post – it was written entirely on my iPad. More photos and videos, too. I’d like to say ill take a photo of something everyday and a video once a week, but we’ll see how that goes.

So that’s it – nothing fancy or major. What are your goals for 2012? I would challenge you to adopt the mobile technology one, personally. Most people would be astonished at what you can do with just the phone in your pocket.

Real Life And Gadgets

// September 25th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // cool, technology

I just read this awesome post from my friend Antoine about how he met our mutual online friend Trent in real life the other day. The two apparently had a great time discussing tech, and the conversation eventually moved to something that I firmly believe in: Technology should enrich and enable your real life, and not get in the way.

Trent had noticed that his new Nexus One made it so easy – simply type in his Google username and password and all his content was downloaded from the cloud to his phone, just like that. Somewhat magical, but the process of getting setup is so simple now that it leaves plenty of room for actually using our devices.

There was a time when I changed phones multiple times per day. Even now, I have no less than 10 phones laying around, but I only swap my SIM card between three, and they each have very specific purposes. My G2 is my powerhouse – it can do anything, at any time, and I’ve got it setup to work precisely how I want it to. My HD7 is my reliable phone. It never needs to be rebooted, doesn’t lock up or get sluggish, and while it doesn’t afford me the same abilities as my G2 (yet), it’s awesome for various specific needs. My N8 is my fun phone, since I can’t put my work email on it (because it’s too stupid to be able to sync 2 Exchange accounts simultaneously). The N8, though, has the best camera and pretty darn good battery life.

As phones get smarter, they get more useful, mainly because they begin to do things FOR us. The money quote from Antoine’s blog post is this:

Those two applications made it such that my device was able to simply sit on the side until I needed it. And when I did, there was no swiping between home screens, application lists, folders, or even navigating settings. Things just worked best for me and the mobile could go back into my pocket without much fuss. Simplicity because it adapted first.

Technology that enriches and enables our real life, instead of getting in the way. It’s beautiful.

The Gaming Industry’s Missed Opportunity With Mobile

// June 19th, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Mobile, technology

I have an Xbox 360 with Kinect, and have a few games such as Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, and Halo Reach that are very character-driven. The Xbox Live profile includes an avatar that you can dress up and buy things like pets and accessories for. It’s an entire ecosystem within the overall Xbox ecosystem, and it’s tragically left as a wide-open door, specifically when you look at the mobile opportunity.

I have an HTC HD7 that I sometimes use, which is powered by Windows Phone. There is an Xbox Live application that lets me see my avatar, messages, and manage a few other things around my profile. I can also buy games that often have achievements for me to unlock, and this all builds up my overall Xbox Live profile. However, there’s still something missing (and I’ve talked about this about 4 years ago)

There are many games, such as Kinect Sports or EA Sports’ golfing games where you start with a rather basic character and you build their capabilities the more you play. With Kinect Sports, it’s your avatar – you increase their capabilities as you complete more and more challenges or win more matches. With EA Sports’ golfing game (such as PGA Tour: The Masters) you have a golfer who starts out rather humbly, but gains more power, greater accuracy, and a better wardrobe as you play through various courses. Racing games are another great example of this.

When will the gaming industry see the opportunity to connect the console and mobile experience through these ‘buildable’ characters? What if when I bought EA Sports’ Tiger Woods ’12, it came with a code to download ‘Tiger Woods ’12 Trainer’ to my Windows Phone device? This side-app would download my character from EA’s servers and let me practice my putting game while standing in line at the grocery store, or hit the driving range while my wife drives us to her mom’s house for dinner. The improvements gained on my phone would then sync back to my player when I fire up my Xbox 360, so the whole experience is complete.

It’s such a simple solution, but I have yet to see a console game ship with a code for a free mobile download. Most of the big development houses like EA have mobile divisions – is it really so difficult to get them to talk to the console team? The benefit for the developer, too, is that they’re creating additional ways for me to interact with their product, in different ways than I have before.

If Windows Phone is going to take over the world the way Nokia and Microsoft hope it does, they’re going to have to get creative and tie the whole experience together. Just keep the N-Gage folks out of the room and you’ll be fine.

What Will Be The First Computer-Free Generation?

// July 30th, 2010 // 17 Comments » // blogging, Mobile

Several years ago, I conducted an experiment on Symbian-Guru.com called PC-Free For 30 Days. My main computer had crashed and was going to be in service, so I decided to see how I could complete the tasks that I normally do on my computer using only a Symbian-powered smartphone. The conclusion at the time was that while it is possible, in most cases it wasn’t nearly as convenient to do things from my smartphone as it was to do the same task from a computer.

Fast forward to the present, and I’m honestly convinced that if I didn’t run a blog, I wouldn’t need a computer at all. In the past 6 months, I’ve used smartphones powered by Android, Symbian, and BlackBerry – some of the leading smartphone operating systems.

As I use these smartphone platforms more and more, I’m growing less and less dependent on my laptop for pretty much anything and more dependent on my smartphones to pick up the slack. Aside from the physical aspects (bigger screen, keyboard, etc) there’s really nothing my laptop offers me that my smartphone doesn’t. In fact, my smartphone has a few physical aspects that put it a step ahead my laptop.

1. Better battery life – sure, today’s netbooks can go several hours on a single charge, but the majority of laptops on the market today, barely eek out 2-3 hours of continuous use, much less 6-8. My smartphone – particularly the BlackBerry Bold 9700, can easily go through one, sometimes 2 full days of use before I have to charge it. Impressive.

2. Much more mobile – there’s a difference in mobility and portability. Mobility is the ability to use something while mobile – while moving. Portability is how easy it is to move something from place to place. Portability requires stops to really use something, while mobility doesn’t. My smartphone is a handheld object – I can use it with one hand easily. Even my netbook can’t do that.

3. Connectivity – my smartphone is connected via the cellular network all the time. I get notified of new updates this way, and I don’t have to hunt down a Wi-Fi hotspot to use it. I realize a few netbooks have this built-in now, but the vast majority do not come with this feature built-in.

As the younger generations grow up and get to high school, college, and beyond, how many will opt to have computers – even laptops and netbooks – versus just a smartphone? Even the most high-end smartphone is a few hundred dollars cheaper than the cheapest netbooks, and is just as capable. How many of the generations after them will opt for a full-on computer?

In fact, if I didn’t blog, I’d probably never open my laptop or netbook. Of course, there are WordPress apps for Symbian, BlackBerry, and Android, but it’s not really a great solution. What about you? Do you really need a computer, or have you started to depend more and more on your smartphone for everything? Are there any tasks that you simply need a computer to accomplish?

A Return To Mobile Blogging

// July 4th, 2010 // 14 Comments » // android, blogging, Mobile

A long while ago, I was really obsessed with mobile blogging – that is, blogging from a mobile device. I kept trying from my Symbian-powered smartphones, but kept coming up short. Unfortunately, software was the main limiting factor. There simply are not any great solutions for blogging from a Symbian-powered smartphone, in my experience. Yes, there’s an official WordPress app, but due to the small storage, I was unable to use it on my Nokia N97. My new Nexus One, however, runs the official Android WordPress app like a champ, so here I am.

I hope to start blogging from my phone more going forward. It’s incredibly convenient, since I always have it with me and I don’t have to wait for it to boot up or anything. I’ll also be exploring other things that I can do from my phone. I believe that we’re incredibly close to having an entire generation of humans who are connected, but have never used a computer – they’ve always relied solely on their smartphone. I’m anxious to try to see what their experience might be with today’s technology, to see areas in which it could be improved.

Are you one of those? Do you still use your computer primarily, or has your phone yet taken over as your primary connected device?