Category Archives: Innovation

The U.S. won’t be celebrating 100 years of Personal Income Taxes

Posted on May 28, 2013 by markkolier

Our agency is now working with one of the U.S. major tax preparation companies so I’ve been reading up on the category in general.    I knew that personal income taxes began sometime in the early 20th century but you (as … Continue reading →

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Will you miss getting behind the wheel of an automobile?

Posted on May 9, 2013 by markkolier

I’ve made the observation that China is an entire country learning to drive at the same time.  This is in contrast to people like me who had their learner’s permit at age 16 and their driver’s license shortly thereafter.     As … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

WeChat – the best voice texting application I’ve seen but can it make it in the U.S.?

Posted on March 13, 2013 by markkolier

My Mandarin teacher first introduced me to WeChat last year.    In China it is known as Wei Xin from Shenzhen based QQ.  Wei Xin or WeChat has many similarities to another more well known texting app called WhatsApp which is becoming … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Innovation, Mobile Communication, Networking | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Out of the office really does not matter anymore

Posted on February 22, 2013 by markkolier

I have not used Out-of-Office via MS Outlook in a couple of years. After a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong from JFK where I caught maybe 4 hours of sleep I am wired and working late on a Friday … Continue reading →

Posted in Best business practices, Communication, Innovation, International business, Living in the World Today, Technology, Travel | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Annoying Automated Algorithmic ‘Suggestions’

Posted on December 17, 2012 by markkolier

I’m not sure if Amazon.com was the first company to offer crowd-sourced algorithmic suggestions of books I might like to read based on my browsing and buying history but certainly Amazon was one of the first.  I’ve written about this … Continue reading →

Posted in Best business practices, Customer Experiences, Entertainment, Innovation, Marketing stuff, Personal Privacy, Social Media, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

At all costs avoid the ‘endless feedback loop of you’

Posted on December 10, 2012 by markkolier

I wrote a post recently about serial cookie deleters in relation to online tracking http://wp.me/pn6jX-Iw. One of the sources I cited was Jeffrey Rosen’s Sunday NY Times article “Who do they think you are”  . I also noted a line in … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Experiences, Entertainment, Innovation, Living in the World Today, Media, Personal Privacy, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Will Serial cookie deleters change online tracking for the better?

Posted on December 3, 2012 by markkolier

Last week I had lunch with a friend who I met through business. He runs a very good company that helps other companies manage and leverage their data as well as aggregate outside data to help make accurate real-time marketing … Continue reading →

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Will I ever buy another laptop again?

Posted on October 24, 2012 by markkolier

On Tuesday October 23rd Apple introduced its smaller tablet called the iPad Mini. Later this week Microsoft is launching its new tablet called the Microsoft Surface. It will run on software called RT (not the forthcoming Windows 8) at first … Continue reading →

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Creepiness can sometimes also be cool

Posted on October 12, 2012 by markkolier

Google has used the corporate motto ‘Don’t be evil’ for quite some time now. While some people feel that it no longer has the same ring to it now that Google is tracking users universally across its services like Gmail, … Continue reading →

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Laurene Powell Jobs should write about living with a modern day Newton

Posted on October 8, 2012 by markkolier

Now that I have finished Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs I have to admit that I wish I’d met the man – something I had never felt was all that important before I read the book. What I’d also … Continue reading →

Posted in Best business practices, Brand Advertising, Customer Experiences, Innovation, Marketing stuff, Publishing, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment