Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

My Platform – The Tools I Use

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overdrive - FlickrWhen you’re doing work online, there’s a lot to consider, not just about the work you’re going to do, but about the tools you used to do it.

This goes beyond just picking between Blogger and WordPress or Tumblr and TypePad – the tools for web workers to build their platforms on range from getting the right laptop and Skype-ready headset on the hardware side, to picking seemingly low-priority things like task management software, browser plugins, and Instant Messenger clients.

Very often, the things that seem to be the least of our concerns when setting up turn out to make the biggest difference in the long term.

It’s easy to buy a new keyboard for a desktop computer. But what about laptops? We look for good screens, good speakers… Maybe a good processor or large harddrive if we’re savvy enough – but how many of us buy laptops based on typing tests and the way they fit our hands? It’s virtually impossible to replace the keyboard in a laptop.

Choosing your tools wisely is important. Here are some of the ones I use.

Some of the hardware that gets me through the day:

  • Dell Studio 17′ laptop – I chose the beast based on screen size, keyboard, and capacity for graphical work. When you’re a writer, any old typing machine will do (If you can type on it) but storing loads of data – hundreds of pages of writing, images, photoshop files… Big data is making its way down to the individual, so having a large harddrive is a good idea. My Dell has a terrabyte of storage.
  • Sony MDR-XB300 Headphones – picked based on their range (they work for the music I listen to) and for their comfort. I listen to a LOT of music, in addition to podcasts
  • BlackBerry 8520 – I’ve got the WordPress app, as well as Twitter, Facebook, Google Talk, Live Messenger, and AIM on my phone. Oh, and Evernote as well. I use my phone as a backup publishing platform – mostly for ideation and review of ideas I’ve had. It’s astonishing how much having even a little access can increase productivity, and accessibility.
  • Razer/Microsoft Habu mouse – it’s a gaming mouse, really, but I got it based on ergonomics and high DPI, which is a boon when working in Photoshop.

That’s an incomplete list, but you get the idea I hope – if any of these pieces of my kit fail, it changes the way I do my work. All of it was chosen based on knowledge of my workflow,

Some desktop software I use for productivity:

  • iTunes for music – because… Well, it’s iTunes. And I have an iPod.
  • Google Chrome – because it’s fast, even though it has some issues with WordPress’ post editor. Also, add-ons like;
    • SEO Site Tools
    • Bit.ly
    • ScribeFire
  • Instant Messaging software, like;
    • Live Messenger
    • AIM – AOL Instant Messenger
    • Skype
    • Google Talk
  • Evernote – as mentioned above, because it lets me keep information on the move.
  • Dropbox because it keeps my things safe and lets me collaborate easily.
  • TweetDeck for Twitter management.
  • Adobe CreativeSuite software – it’s a standard, really, though mine’s outdated.
  • YNAB – You Need A Budget to keep things in order.

There’s also web software:

  • (mt)MediaTemple for web hosting – for reasons I’ve covered in a review previously. My domains register through them as well.
  • WordPress.org as a blogging software, because it’s infinitely extensible and powerful – I’ll get into more detail about WP.org later.
  • Standard Theme 2 which I developed my current site theme on top of, for reasons also covered in a review
  • Google Apps for my domain email and other tools – everything, at this point, routes through my Google Apps account

This is, of course, an incomplete list – in both cases. However, the trend is clear; I’ve chosen a set of tools that works the way I need them to. It’s not all flash and sizzle, but it does the trick, exactly as I expect, every time.

Picking hardware and software that works well in concert with your best creative workflow is of paramount importance. What tools do you use to get stuff done online?

Image by extranoise.

Mind The Gap

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We lay a lot of trust in our news sites, just as we do/did with newspapers before them expecting that when something appears in their space, it’s worth viewing and provides meaningful,concise information.

Then you get articles like the one @modernsusan dropped me today, “Time to drop the Netbook label.”

It blew me away, so much I’m having trouble expressing how frustrated I am trying to figure out their point in writing this. In the space of 949 words, the article meanders from being pro-notebook to anti-netbook, and somehow in between tries to explain the idea of the netbook class of computers by explaining where certain models fit inside the very gap that defines the difference between fully-featured laptops and stripped-down netbooks.

Netbooks DO NOT replace fully-featured computers!

They’re add-on devices. Pure and simple. Thankfully, CNN explains their original purpose:

The big PC makers, understandably, wanted a piece of the action too, but not at the expense of cannibalizing their budget-conscious traditional notebook lines.

So Netbooks were sold as a “companion device.” As in, if you keep some of your data “in the cloud” as with e-mail on Yahoo or Gmail or pictures on Facebook or Picasa, and you stream music on a service like Pandora or Last.fm, you can use your regular notebook at home and use something smaller on the road that still affords access to a lot of your stuff.

A good point. Totally ruined, later in the article:

Color, screen resolution, battery, Wi-Fi, Webcam? The same. And they both lack an internal optical drive. The differences, though relatively small, can be summed up in the 11z notebook’s 1.5 inches of extra screen real estate, a more powerful Celeron processor, 1GB of extra memory, and a larger hard drive.

Plus, by getting the notebook with Vista, you have an automatic free upgrade to Windows 7. With any computer with XP, it costs around $100 to get Windows 7 Home Premium Edition.

The specs are so similar that the average shopper would likely be confused as to why one is better than the other. And the way Dell introduced the 11z doesn’t clear matters up. Dell’s official blog notes that “the Inspiron 11z blends Netbook-like portability with laptop-like capability.”

Can you see where it is, this total blow-your-mind article-ruining realization that hit me after reading this passage? I did a count on the page, and CNN mentions the Dell 11z seven (count them, 7) times in less than six hundred words.

They’re promoting a bridge product! That’s why they’re writing this! Whether or not Dell asked, or paid, or they’re just using it as an example, the focus stands out, and it blows my mind because it ruins the whole thing. I feel like they’re trying to sell me one of these things, and I can’t help but be angry about it.

Netbooks fit nicely into the space between a laptop and a smartphone. By definition, they ARE a filler product! I’ve spoken before about why the market needs gaps, and I stand by it. So having CNN declaring the gap a non-issue really gets my goat.

A high saturation of what reads like product placement really doesn’t help either.

Too Zune To Make Assumptions?

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Ian’s Note: Hann is a web developer and designer I’ve worked with for a few years, who’s spent time both behind, and in front of the counter. In short, he’s a geek with his eye on gadgets, the know-how to get the best stuff on the market, and the patience and persistence to collect information on why something’s worth buying.

Microsoft. We hear that name and we both rejoice and shudder collectively. Windows and XBox are two big terms that come to mind when we think of the worldwide corporation, but do enough of us also think of the Zune? While some people have likened the digital media player to nothing more than an iPod knockoff, when compared to its more popular predecessor, the Zune actually scores just as high in usability and features, and offers a worthy alternative to Apple’s product.

Strangely, this is not true in Canada.

While on the hunt for the Zune last month, I became aware that it suddenly and recently became an elusive product; major retailers like Wal-Mart, FutureShop/Best Buy, and even Amazon.ca were out of stock. Customer service had no answers as to when they would be restocking. Some stores even removed the Zune product displays completely. Microsoft’s official consumer news site makes no mention of this bizarre turn of events. So, what does this mean?

Since I wasn’t getting the information I needed directly from the horse’s mouth, I did some digging underneath the official channels. A thread on the official Zune.net forums made mention of Microsoft pulling Zunes out of Canadian retail outlets, for possible reasons such as non-compliance with the CRTC, failing to bring the Zune marketplace to Canada, and preparing for the release of the Zune HD. People on anythingbutipod’s forum have garnered similar responses.

My question is – why hasn’t Microsoft issued a public statement in regards to this?

It’s too soon to make premature assumptions, given that there are no press releases or news reports pertaining to the Zune’s fate in Canada. However, one cannot help but wonder while Microsoft remains silent.

Do you own a Zune? What are your thoughts on it? Would you buy another one or recommend it as a worthy purchase?

Smoke and Mirrors

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A marketing guru friend of mine, @modernsusan who’s also a consumer advocate passed along an article from Lifehacker that demonstrates something I absolutely hate about salespeople.

Article: Watch for In-Store Lighting Tricks When Purchasing Electronics

By cranking up the lighting levels as much as 50 times typical home lighting conditions. According to HDGuru, “these intense levels can make the best displays with the blackest black levels and highest contrast levels look inferior to cheaper, lower performance displays.” As a result, customers may purchase cheaper sets that aren’t as good as advertised because they’re basing their decisions on brightness levels.

The comment stream under the article is awesome, because a large bulk of the comments are derailed and filled with complaints about a store’s display looking like junk. It’s nice to hear that someone messed up and people see through it, but that’s not the point, is it?

Specialized lighting and “theatre rooms” are some of the most used tools in the showman’s kit. This is sideshow trickery at its finest, and it’s ruining retail. I do this for a living, and I have to say, specializing the TVs is a bonehead move – but it’s only boneheaded if you don’t tell people!

The skinny is that, where I work there’s a wall of televisions. Plasma sets sitting beside LCDs both looking just about the same, both of them looking fairly good in our twenty-foot-ceilinged mall-retail hole in the wall, with the same amplified HDMI-fed BluRay loop move on all of them. Why? Because we played with them!

If you go into a shop – the worst for this are big box retailers – and the screens are hidden in a room aside from everything else, you’ll see one of three things. Either the room has a low ceiling with very little lighting, which makes the TVs pop out of the darkness, lending them a certain amount of mystery and wow factor; or, the room will be evenly lit, with televisions spaced well apart from each other totally eliminating side-by-side comparison; or, you’ll have a dimly lit room with spotlights directed at the televisions, usually light bars about ten feet up, making the whole set glow as if it had just been handed to you by the Gods of Hollywood.

Pop quiz time, you all set? Which of these tactics is the greater trick?

The answer is all of them. Chances are, in the first room you’re looking primarily at plasma screens. This is because plasma TVs are built of glass, so natural light or diffused lighting makes them look junky, glass reflects and the cleaner you keep your plasma screen, the worse this gets. These retailers do this to make the sets look good, mostly because if you’re buying a plasma, chances are it’s going into a basement where you can control the lighting just like they do, and you’re making a theatre or theme room. If they give you any other reason for this setup, they’re lying or they don’t know their product, and in either case, run for the hills… Or the next convenient store.

Dimly lit showrooms with eve lighting are the best for displaying both kinds of television, LCD and Plasma. Since plasma is far better at producing sharp contrast and dark colours (Remember they’re usually used as theatre TVs? This is the edge for that use, movies are usually dark) and LCD televisions are best at sharp colour and reproducing fast movement (Sports, animated movies and cable TV are their key uses) the middle ground between the usual home setup and a dark theatre room is perfect for mixed crowds. You’re likely to find the most expensive cables in these showrooms, hooked up to the best audio systems, because what these rooms do best is show you what the whole package will look like in the perfect home. If you’re not shopping for the whole package, or you don’t have the perfect home, ignore these setups, because they’re smoke and mirrors just like the first.

Lastly, the spot lit, dark caverns are probably LCD-heavy displays. LCDs are excellent with bright colours and sharp pictures, not so good at dark contrast and shadow. They’re getting better, but they’re just not there yet – and LED or OLED screens are totally expensive at the moment, five or six times more than the usual cost of a Plasma or LCD. These screens are also covered with a special plastic film which reduces glare. This means, in short, that shining a light (of certain kinds, from certain angles and at certain intensities known only to the retail gods, I guess) at an LCD TV bizarrely makes it look better! Treat this as a preview for what the set will look like in your south-facing home with the sun shining on it at noon. Useful, for some people. For the rest of us, it’s usually just an annoyance, because how often do we spotlight our TVs?

So, retail has all these tricks.

And we’ve got the internet. What good is that? Well, for early comparison, it’s like anything else – look up some stats, compare some prices, and if you still aren’t satisfied, dig into some consumer reports websites and hope for some community response. If it’s on sale, someone bought it before you, and chances are they know its ins and outs far better than most retail sales droids.

The other option is going to a service-oriented store and hoping you grab a salesperson who actually fiddles with every little thing that comes across their counter. Feel free to test these people with inane questions and ask about stats you’ve already researched. If you’re really feeling ornery, get those consumer responses you dug up earlier and ask the salespeople the questions, to see if their answers match up with what their customers actually say. It may not get you any new information, but it will certainly lend you insight into the salesperson you’re dealing with, and the kind of selling they’re trying to foist on you.

And when in doubt, buy it later. More information on a purchase is ALWAYS better than less, and don’t ever let anyone tell you differently!

The Return of Fix-It Culture?

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There’s been a huge shift in the last couple decades toward replacing things when their optimum function disappears, rather than fixing or upgrading existing stuff. Can’t play a new game on your computer? Forget getting a better graphics card, just buy a new computer. Camera not taking just the right shot? Why get a new lens, there are whole new cameras on the market. Digital media device running out of space? Don’t prune your library – buy a bigger pod!

This behaviour has put a lot of strain on people who no longer take advantage of more economical options, and companies who have had to change the ways their warrantees work to cut the per-unit cost of coverage, and as a result, warrantees aren’t as customer-friendly as they once were, which makes it even harder to consider repairing something we own, even if it’s relatively new. Six to eight weeks without our toys – especially critical ones such as a personal computer or a cell phone (for which most of us get charged monthly fees, whether we’re using the thing or not, but that’s a rant for later) can really ruin our routines.

So we buy new, and toss the old stuff. What a waste!

Earlier this week, I had a customer at my store who brought in what had to be a thousand dollars worth of camera lenses for SLR (synonymous with “high-end” and “pricey” for the rest of us) cameras. Apparently, he had found them after a period of neglect, cleaned them up, and wanted to test to see if they worked with current DSLR cameras. And guess what! They do! It’s a standard connection, in most cases, that hasn’t changed for years, which means instead of buying a whole new set of lenses, or settling for a lesser camera, he can use his old stuff with new purpose. How brilliant is that?

At the risk of turning this into an environmental rant instead of a treatise on patience, I need to mention that we’re in danger of ruining our planet because we are, in part, too impatient to consider fixing the old. At the end of the day there are only so many things we can make out of the materials we have on-planet, which means if we don’t find ways of recycling or repurposing our disused toys/cars/computers and so on, eventually we’re just going to run out of gold and petrolium and so on. We, the people who buy, need to step up to the plate and demand warrantees that work better, recycling programs that include electronic waste (So it can be pulled apart and recycled, not so that it can be sent to Asia and burned. Seriously, where’s the disconnect there?) and any number of other ways of ensuring that, even if we can’t convince ourselves to use what we have until there’s a real need to replace it, that it at least goes back into the stream of production somehow, rather than sitting in a pile until the sun explodes.

We need to weigh in. Change our habits. Make a ripple here. Because if we don’t, we’re just going to run out of toys. No one wants that.