The best videoconferencing software
The world is abuzz about videoconferencing which, along with Internet connectivity, has essentially saved the world from self destruction in the time of sheltering. By now everyone has experimented with a number of video conferencing apps. Wired provides a summary of the top contenders. It reviews Apple FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams, Houseparty and Google Hangouts.
dis-rup-shun: Funny how different each of these apps, which all bring people together virtually, really are. Houseparty brings people together to waste time together. Teams brings people together to manage many computer-based tasks, FaceTime is perfect for showing people what you are doing in the moment (action), and Skype is really not good for anything. Zoom remains one of the easiest and best tools. Hopefully all of these providers will enjoy great success in return for the incredible utility they have provided, mostly free, to the world in quarantine.
How to influence millennials
Success of flattening the coronavirus curve, it has been said many times, depends on the millennials. This cohort of young and mostly healthy people can make or break global efforts to slow the virus. A marketing company called Xomad, with the help of the government of Bangladesh, created a Social Leader Council, consisting of 200 social media influencers. The company successfully persuaded the influencers to user their platforms (many on Instragram) to encourage people to stay home. The company has also worked with influencers in Los Angeles, paying them a fee to join the campaign, which, in terms of delivering the message, is proving effective. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: The new rules of marketing are far less decentralized, requiring brands, or causes, to work through dozens of fragmented channels in addition to traditional channels of TV, radio, and even search. The power of influencers is significant, with people viewing dozens of different posts depending on tastes, making the task of messaging more challenging than ever. Xomad will have many important lessons to teach as a result of their public service work.
Palantir a coronavirus winner
Another company making lemonade in this time of lemons is data analytics software company Palantir, a privately held company backed by the controversial billionaire, Peter Thiel. The company’s contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services enables the CDC to amass large amounts of data on COVID-19 cases, uses of ventilators, locations of infections, and much more. CNBC
dis-rup-shun: Data analytics is the new plastics (Google The Graduate if you are too young to understand this phrase). The Internet of Things and the future of computing is about connecting end devices such as sensors, smart phones, cars, thermostats to the cloud, where vast amounts of data are collected every second. That’s impressive, but more impressive are the companies that can figure out how to make actionable insights from vast oceans of data.
Happy Easter and Passover
Blessings to you and your family as we celebrate that which is greater than us during the Global Reboot. Let’s take this time to be in touch with what is most important and what we wish to retain on the other side.