David Erasmus

I love asking the big questions and being OK with having very few answers and often being misunderstood.

Its rare these days that I question what is right and wrong as In an interconnected world some people probably spend their lives asking this and never doing anything. Instead my big questions tend to look a little bit like this when I am trying to make decisions……….

What do I want written on my grave stone?

What story do I want to be a part of?

Is what I am about to do the easy option?

Am I being honouring and loving to those around me?

Am I thinking long term or looking for immediate gratification?

It does become tricky when as I have found recently massive opportunities can come along that only maybe meet 30% of the good answers to those questions and then the rubber hits the road!

They are not black and white situations that are opposite to my beliefs but hang in the big grey abyss.  If I took the work on I would be misunderstood and run the almost certain risk of making a good number of peoples life much worse.

If you take the Sex scene for a clear example…….

I almost certainly would be happy to support and take on a mobile project for a party shop that mainly sold helium balloons and poppers but also sold fluffy toy handcuffs or a few sex toys

At the other end of the spectrum I  am actively involved with an Anti Slavery Charity who help bonded sex workers get free from their torture.

At some point along that line I change from being helpful to actually campaigning against.

Choosing at what point you are pro, which point you abstain and at what point you are actively against is a tricky one.

All I know is that the questions I have mentioned are vital, the answers may change from time to time but I am not worried about that, I am only worried if I or anyone else stops asking the important questions altogether.

First off Props to the Magento Man, Alan Cole for talking me through this stuff and having a bit of fun dreaming with me about what might be in a few years time.

Whilst my Kindle seems partially ridiculous like I have traded my iPhone in for a Nokia 3210 it also has the beginnings of extraordinary technology in it, E Ink.
E Ink is a bit like an Etch-a-Sketch, once you make the image it takes no energy to leave it on the screen, exponentially increasing the life span of device battery life making greenys happy.

Follow me on this journey, the end is fun………………

So next will come crap colour and crap motion Eink

Then brilliant full colour, full video Eink

Then it should  get thinner and more flexible.

Then the value of it will fall to almost nothing so we can use it everywhere.

If you then mix that with cloud computing where our “digital selves” is all in one place with a Near Field chip or a Finger print swipe access we can do some crazy stuff making our digital experiences truly ubiquitous.

I am not sure the following will happen but will be fun if it can.

Imagine putting some clear E paper film over your mirror and skyping someone whilst brushing your teeth.

Or lining all your walls with it and whenever you feel like it changing the style and colour of your wallpaper and then watching a film on the whole wall.

How about every restaurant table top being your menu, Facebook, live kitchen video feed and doodle kit all in one.

Let’s see what happens.

It seems to me that the optimum level of intensity for our lives rests in the balance of fear and boredom.

This sweet spot moves towards the Fear end the more you do stuff.

I have observed the noob sales guys on the phones quivering, praying they don’t get a guy that knows his stuff or tells them where to go.   I have also seen my top sales guys hoping and praying to get those guys on the phone as they are the exciting ones.

What was the difference between the sales guys?

Its pretty obvious it’s confidence, competence, experience etc.

It is interesting how in different scenarios your threshold for excitement can be higher or lower than other scenarios.

Example : I can speak to a potential client about a 000,000 deal on Search or mobile with ease, but if you try and get me to sell a product that I don’t have experience in like a simple £1,500 wordpress template design my knees quiver.

It is my observation that for optimum working enjoyment and excitement you must ensure you are always accepting jobs that are 10% above your experience or comfort zone. This way you always move forwards, stay excited and increase your value towards becoming an expert.

When I was a kid my favourite books were the choose your own adventure books where you “turn to page 32 if Angela says yes and page 64 if she says no.

I found these books to be insanely captivating, much more so than other boring monologues it seems that interaction is back in a big way.

Tippex are doing a great viral at the moment.

I think we will only be seeing a heck of a lot more experiences that used to be monologues turning into interactive experiences.

How about Films in the Cinema where the audience votes on their iPhone at a few key points in the film about what should happen next so you end up going two or three times to the cinema to see all the endings?

There are many businesses that still do not have a website, or are not currently trading through it .

This happens predominantly where the PC penetration is low like Africa, or where there is a high level of physical presence needed like a wedding dress fitting shop.  Also some businesses feel they  are too small and feel that a web provision would not make sense for them like ice cream vans and street sellers.

The advance of the “on the go” mobile users will help plug some of these gaps and we will see some businesses only web expression being in the mobile space.

They will primarily be interested in helping users who are out and about getting the web to view and purchase their products and services.

It will be heavily dependent on timing, emotional responses and advertising messages as the mobile platform lends itself well to the impulse buy.

Example:  At the pub, fancy a dirty kebab, my local is called Ali’s. Don’t have any cash and don’t like queuing. Hit his mobile site from your iPhone and click large doner and can – £4.75, pay via paypal. The order arrives instantly to his mobile phone via SMS alert and 10 minutes later you arrive, Hey presto.

The only problem I can foresee is me buying more more kebabs than I should and getting the meat sweats!