DaxThink: Digital life

According to a Marketing Charts report, mobile phone manufacturers shipped 291.6 million units in Q1 2008 and 330.8 million units in Q4 2007.

Whilst smart phones, such as the Nokia 6500 (pictured) were very popular in established markets, there was also success for Nokia in emerging markets with the more basic models.

It just strikes me as an incredible quantity of phones.

Just back from LA and have been asked the inevitable question of "did you have a good flight?"

YES!

Drank Champagne Bellini cocktails at 35,000 feet sat at a bar before being called for my massage and then having a night's sleep on a 6 foot bed with a feather duvet.

Yes it was a good flight thank you. Virgin Atlantic Upper Class I salute you!!

As someone once said, "it's better to travel in first class than it is to arrive anywhere"

I am sat in another airport today in a contemplative mood. Life is a funny thing and you never quite know when it's suddenly going to be picked up, shaken around a bit and dropped back down looking completely different. Even when you instigate the change.

In the words of the The Fray, 'sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same'.

So whilst contemplating life I started to think about why do we blog. There are millions of us and I wonder what the motivations are.

Personally I have three blogs. I have a family blog so that the family can stay in touch with what's happening with the children, I have this industry blog and I have a photography portfolio blog in the vain hope that someone will think an image is wonderful and give me lots of money for it. Or just leave a nice comment that isn't blog spam!

I think I write because I am an extrovert and need an outlet for creativity and expression. It is a wonderful gift from this modern age that anyone can publish their work at the click of a button. How many great thoughts will have gone unheard in the past because someone couldn't get a publishing deal or become a writer for a newspaper / journal.

I also like checking my site stats from time to time and seeing the numbers creeping up; about 20 uniques a day during the week currently. But I don't think I write for that, I don't really know anyone who reads it and so there is no sense of commitment.

I actually started the industry blog because I thought I was in need of changing my job a couple of years back and it was a way to fill Google with content from me if any prospective employer searched for my name! It worked I think, and certainly was mentioned by one of my current bosses when I migrated over to my current job.

(Long story, but it was definitely more of a migration rather than an application!)

So in short I do it because I love it. And if you read this and want to reach out to say hi so that I know who you are then please do so y adding a comment below.

I have been wondering recently if we have too many ways to communicate with each other, too many technologies that give us access to email and calls on the go.

With the number of Blackberries passing the 8 million mark in mid-2007 and the global number of mobile phones climbing past 2.7 billion, it is no wonder some of us are feeling 'too connected'.

I was listening to a discussion between some Colleagues last week about the 'phantom vibrate'; the phenomena of feeling your phone vibrate in your pocket even when it hasn't. There was wide-spread agreement, so it seems that it wasn't just me!

Etiquette seems to have gone out of the window too with most Blackberry owners feeling it acceptable to check their email whilst in meetings or whilst out with friends and respond there and then. Do we think you are more important than people in business were 10 years ago? I bet 99% of emails that are answered could have been answered an hour later and the world would not have come to an abrupt end, with just a small white blinking cursor left behind in the black.

One of the problems with these technologies is that we allow them to interrupt our lives whenever a message comes in.

As regular readers will know, I love my technology and I consider myself an early-adoptor. I love convergence and find it amazing what can be squeezed together now (have you seen the MacBook Air???).

But I have now turned my back on convergence for a while. I check my emails regularly, at work and at home, but I have been trying to shut down my connections to the world outside of work hours where possible. I follow the principal that if its that urgent then they will phone.

As a time management tool I have also turned off all Outlook notifications. I no longer get the little beep, the title of the message in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen or the little envelope in the system tray (that never seemed to go away even when I had checked my email!).

It's liberating, Try it.

No longer will you lose your chain of though whilst trying to complete a document or be distracted whilst talking to someone at your desk. It is impolite to allow yourself to be distracted whilst communicating with others and we should avoid it where possible.

Now if only I could cut down the number of emails I get every day.

Nothing beats it. When you know you have the right pitch prepped and rehearsed, you know you have the best team in there with you and you know the client and their needs inside out. I love pitching with a real passion. It's what we do and we do it damn well.

To use a very cheesy saying, we are locked and loaded and ready to roll. Awesome. Bring on the big day.

So this is nothing new, but I am sat in our iCrossing LA office doing some work. I have 3 colleagues on Gtalk currently; one in Arizona, one in Salt Lake City and one in Brighton, UK.

We take this for granted, but this is amazing right!

Also, trying to beat the jet lag so walked from Venice Pier to Santa Monica Pier last night; about 4 miles I think. Was on Venice Pier watching some guy try and land a ray. His rod was too small and so after an hour long battle the line snapped and he lost it.

But he had attracted a small crowd of people out to watch the sunset over Malibu. One of the guys was from eastern Europe and took some pictures and a video. He said to the fisherman that the photos and video would be uploaded to Picassa and YouTube with the location and date as the tag.

Again, amazing that we can do that now.

Maybe I just need some sleep...?