VidMama

You’re Already in the Cloud

The internet has changed life so completely in less than twenty years that it’s difficult to imagine what life was like before websites, email, laptops, and smartphones. Every year there are new innovations that take society even further into the virtual realm . In 2010 it seemed like a person couldn’t go a few hours without hearing some reference to “the cloud” and businesses who weren’t already taking advantage of this new technology began to do research into how best to utilize this amazing tool.

If you’re like most people, you probably use the cloud without even knowing it. At home people rely on web mail and photo and document storage — Flickr is a part of the cloud as is hotmail. Businesses are also starting to realize that they already rely on cloud services without even realizing it. If your company requires you to maintain a gmail account that you can access from home and smartphone as well as the office, that’s a cloud service. Likewise anytime you attend a webinar or on demand training course for work, it’s most likely being hosted on a cloud company rather than by the trainer.

In the past decade software has become the main way that companies use the cloud, whether consciously or not. Anytime you demo software online instead of by installing a program on your work computer, you’re using the cloud. And many industries use cloud-based software as part of their daily business. They have employees login via the web, rather than installing software on their own servers and computers. Other features available for companies on the web include the ability to setup and run a virtual lab , produce their own virtual demos of services and products, and set up on demand training for their employees or customers.

Tags: virtual lab

Businesses Embracing Android Apps

Everyone knows that there’s an app for everything — even those who don’t own a smart phone or other device that uses apps have heard of apps. Short for mobile applications, mobile apps are software programs that are downloaded to smart phones and tablet devices that improve their functionality. The fact that most apps improve productive or provide entertainment are what make them so attractive to users.

Big business quickly realized that these apps aren’t just about fun. They are a great way to reach customers, sometimes without the customer really realizing it. Even smaller companies have recognized the benefits of hiring an Android app developer to create an app or two.

Business apps generally fall into two categories. The first are apps that make it easier for the customer to access the companies goods and services. This would include apps that quickly located the nearest store or provide specs for a product simply by passing the phone over a bar code. The second category are apps that promote good will toward the company. These may be games or productivity apps that are only slightly related to the company’s products. This could be something like a trivia game that taps into the massive database of information held by a sporting good company.

Whatever the actual app may do, the connection between the benefits of the app with the originating company should help turn the app user into a loyal fan, and customer.

Tags: phone

The Tool Evolves, iPad Applications and a Perfect Present

The history of tools is one that continues to develop, both backwards and forwards in time. It might seem like a contradiction to see the past evolving, but a recent discovery in Ethiopia adds another million years to the invention of tools. A bone that is over 3 million years old was found, with chips on it that suggest it was cut with sharp stones. That’s more than enough to fit the definition of a tool, which is really just an extension of the human hand.

Since the hand is responding to impulses that begin in the brain, than there are many other things that could fall into the same category, not the least of which is the control pad for video games. This does shift things in a new direction, because it sets the origins back a lot further than once imagined, but also highlights the present moment as place where tools are undergoing some radical changes.

Today, one could conceivably develop the idea for a new app, contact an ipad application developer and ask for help with moving it forward, and have the new invention on the market in just a few weeks. In the mobius strip of history, then, this moment folds back on the first moment, but their individual complexities are always revealing that there is more to these things than anyone could have imagined.

Tags: ipad application developer

Online Presence: Getting Organized

It’s always an exciting period of any new venture when things are just about to launch. Collecting the right resources so that there’s a qualified and knowledgeable team, plenty of product, and an infrastructure to make the day to day operations run smoothly all are part of the process. Like in anything that one has to do in the business world, to be effective means breaking things down into steps.

Starting the online portion of a business can be one of the most fun, and it’s also one where some important details are often overlooked. For many people, the idea of the internet suggests there has to be a great deal of computer expertise, but that’s not the case at all. These days, it’s really rather easy to get things going, but it is important to have all the ducks in a row ahead of time.

Having a web designer is certainly important, but not always necessary. For a beginning business, an online presence can be established using pre-made templates that are often offered by the company offering its web hosting services . It is important, though, from the get-go to have a point person in charge of the web presence. More often than not, these positions are radically undervalued, so it’s also important to allow them room to breathe and grow into the position, as the business starts to walk and eventually learn to thrive.

Tags: web hosting services