11.16.06
Fear of Experts
When I read a recent article by Aaron Goldman, it got me thinking. During many years of management experience, the one lesson that every manager learns along the way is that you should not be afraid to let your staff shine. If one of your team members excel at a particular area, give them credit where it’s due. It will not harm your “management position”; in fact, it will achieve exactly the opposite. A team is only as good as its weakest member, so therefore it would be true to say that a team, with a good leader that recognises this fact and is readily accepting and putting their skills to best use makes for a strong team.
Sometimes it’s best to partner with experts than to try and gun it all on your own.
With Google’s latest break for recognition in the mobile sphere it’s been trying to put this theory to use and partner with mobile experts. The mobile experts on the other hand are afraid that Google might dominate the industry and remove their loyal following. Some have even gone as far as to try and create their own search engine.
Why would you try to reinvent the wheel when partnering with the right people may enhance the existing qualities thereof?
Ok, it does make sense when it comes to fear of monetization. Some of these carriers are worried that should they give people access to third-party search engines, it will steer them away to other properties or content they can not monetize. (Adsense works though does it not?)
Does it surely then not make sense for them to think outside of the box, and create a new monetization strategy?
Statistically over 80% of all mobile search and content interaction in the U.S. takes place within a handset application as opposed to within the mobile Web or WAP environment. According to Omar Tawakol, chief advertising officer at Medio (a company that creates such applications for carriers), this contrasts sharply with the mobile landscape outside the U.S., where the ratio is flipped and approximately 80% of all mobile search and content interaction occurs within the mobile Web or WAP environment on the open Web.
What happens when one obstructs water? It finds a new path.
With the large carriers continuing to resist partnerships, Google has turned to handset manufacturers and smaller carriers to try and carve out a piece of the pie.
Just last week, Helio and Samsung introduced a new phone featuring Google maps and satellite positioning technology.
Thinking Laterally
Imagine a phone with easy-to-navigate search functionality that doesn’t require opening a browser and visiting a search engine. Now add GTalk, Gmail, a calendar, documents and spreadsheets, and similar products (like Palm) may soon be looking over its shoulder…
Now if you think that pretty much all the latest mobiles have cameras, include with this a simple uploading functionality and post your photos directly to Picasa or YouTube.
The possibilities may be limitless.
I definitely believe that competition is good. Without it we would never progress.
And why should we fear progress?
If the right companies embrace it, they may very well be reaping the (monetary) rewards sooner than we think.