A while back Eric Martineau, our Director of Software Architecture forwarded me the following article saying that the new generation of Internet users will probably not look to email as their medium of choice for messaging: http://www.news.com/Kids-say-e-mail-is,-like,-soooo-dead/
This article made me think of another PC Magazine article from about a year ago regarding how the rest of the world interfaces with the Internet. In North America we use a PC to access our information, especially the internet. The rest of the world primarily accesses the Internet through their cell phone. This is especially true in Eastern Europe, Asia. This article that Eric forwarded basically says that teens even in North America are trending away from using a PC and using their cell phone for data access. I wonder how hand-helds, like the iPhone, Treo and BlackBerries with better computing power and graphic interfaces will impact this technology shift.
The articles points out that email will still be used for business and transactions. Given that our CRM is a business application, I’m curious what everyone thinks as to what, if any, impact this technology/messaging shift will have.
Another cool article.
China Heads Toward 500M Mobile Phone Subscribers: http://www.cio.com/article/113353/?source=nlt_cionewswatch
In time we will have an entire development initiative for mobile users. Design, graphics, development platforms, device specific features, et cetera. Most of the world, outside of the U.S. accesses the Internet through their handheld device, not through their PC. We are starting to make forays into this space, especially since a bunch of our software and systems engineers have acquired iPhones. Stay tuned!
I wonder how much automation could be assembled for a stockbroker building his book by himself working alone. I believe the involvement in your automation would avoid “sales avoidance” by involving him in a connected virtual world. So how far could we go with the integration of a PIM, a website, some sales material templates, and an an existing email program like Thunderbird. You are not losing a customer for the more expensive package, you are gaining a son-in law. You can use CRM to blow out Act and Now Contact for the really small business man.