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"You see, Jason was my son, and today is his birthday..." – Pamela Voorhees, Friday the 13th, Paramount Pictures (1980)

Our son is irritated with his grandfather. Wanted to wish him a happy birthday but…he doesn't have a Facebook account…isn't on Twitter…never looked at YouTube. For gawd's sake, he doesn't even have an email address!

Yes, there are people in this whole, magnificent wide world who are...deprived! So his choice was to resort to the old fashioned stuff…a phone call or letter.

Yeah, those early forms of social media are our last resorts too. We were delighted with the next advance – email. This was a whole new solution for communicating with another person. It was "personal" but allowed both of us to use at our mutual convenience.

But like any movie that somehow strikes a cord with millions of people, it needed a sequel. Web 2.0 gave it to us.Read more

Don't worry, it's almost over. Only a few more hours of media obsessively dissecting every outfit and tone of voice, and then we can all return to our pre-Royal Wedding lives. One thing in this whole mess that did catch my attention however, was the statement by Clarence House that this was going to be the most technologically accessible event in the history of the Royal Family. This is interesting because historically "Royal Family" and "Technology" don't really go together; they have been notoriously resistant to most forms. But to be fair I suppose if you don't need to carry money, you equally have no need to carry a Blackberry. Sure enough though, they're really going all out for this event - in some ways that are more successful than others.

Tweeting the Queen
They have a website, of course - The Official Royal Wedding 2011 - because who doesn't these days. That's not nearly as shocking as the fact that Clarence House is on Twitter (@ClarenceHouse) and has been tweeting updates about everything from the wedding day schedule to the hotel where Catherine Middleton (Kate to her friends, and every worldwide media outlet) will be staying the night before. Read more

Tread Carefully – The industry has made it through a really tough year, and things are getting better; but you'll have to remain alert and move with care. If it were easy, anyone could do it. Source – Comstock Images

Forecasts are a lot like New Year resolutions – a lot of wishful thinking and the idea that you're going to make it; but boy, is the other guy/gal going to be in trouble.

As 12 really sucky months wind down, everyone tries to make sense of the chaos…and the opportunities. Talk to the entertainment people (HW, SW, content) and they're ready for the challenge. Talk to the mobile folks and you'd swear that no one is ever going to be home. Talk to the computer people and it's all business and play. Talk to the cloud folks and you'd swear you never have to touch the ground…ever. Talk to the storage gurus and they're building stuff to stuff your stuff. Read more

"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." – Raul, Die Another Day (MGM – 2002)

Our kids do nearly everything on their smartphones or netbooks. Because we're slightly retarded, they use email for us. For everyone else -- friends, schoolmates, relationships -- they max out all of the capabilities, features and benefits of today's Web 2.0 social media. They simply look at us and repeat Graves's words, "I have to live my dreams."

They aren't alone! A recent article in the WS Journal noted that gazillions of people have chosen to communicate faster (IMing), do it more quickly (texting), do it in a more focused/collaborative manner (wikis, SharePoint, etc.), do it every time they turn around (Twitter). And they are able to do it to almost instantly while reaching a wider audience (Facebook, LinkedIn, other social networking sites). They can tailor their reach with specific content (Flickr, YouTube) and just communicate in the way they want to communicate. Whether it's on their smartphone or netbook, they are connected with someone…anyone.Read more