Tim Altom – Indianapolis Business Journal

GIZMOS: Here’s how to learn to parler franÃ§ais online

April 4, 2005

Several years ago, a colleague and I were in Montreal on both business and pleasure. I defy anyone to visit Montreal for business alone. It ranks with American cities such as Boston and San Francisco for charm and variety. Only one thing bothered me-I didn’t speak French. In fact, I don’t fluently speak anything except English, the high school German not having stuck very well. There’s my command of Geekspeak, which many consider to be as baffling as ancient Egyptian,…

GIZMOS: Videoconferencing is envisioning change

March 21, 2005

I’m used to technology, but sometimes it creeps me out. A while back, I was in a small conference room that had one of the newest small videoconferencing units crouched atop a massive monitor. I picked up the remote from the table to move it out of my way, and abruptly the unit came to life, swiveling about to stare at me. The monitor, until then comfortingly black, now had my picture on it. It was a flashback moment to…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: How to enjoy wi-fi ‘hot spots’ on the road

March 7, 2005

I recently stayed at a charming hotel in California that dates back more than a century. At least, it was charming to me. It’s been retrofitted many times over the years as it’s struggled to stay no more than 30 years behind the times. It has two elevators, only one of which is completely automatic. The other still has its manual operations lever, and is apparently used only for freight. Most of the room doors still have the old key…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Some suggestions on how to overcome spam

February 21, 2005

Some time back, I got onto the solicitation no-call list maintained by the state of Indiana. It’s the second-best decision I ever made, after proposing to my wife. My evenings are ring-free, blessedly non-commercial, aside from the ads that overly optimistic marketing people hope I’ll watch on TV. There should be a similar no-call list for spammers, but there isn’t. Spam, as you probably know, is unwanted e-mail. Spam requires a lot of time every day to find, sort and…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Do cell-phone calls trump talking person-to-person?

February 7, 2005

I’ve been watching the wireless revolution in business, and I’m fascinated by how people are fitting technology into etiquette. For example, in one recent meeting, I saw people jumping up and down like a Whacka-Mole game, scuttling from the room each time their cell phones commanded them to. The phones were muted, so nobody heard the rings, but it’s not conducive to coherence in a meeting to have people running in and out like the Secret Service at a state…

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Testing is secret to worthwhile Web site tinkering

January 24, 2005

I’ve just been reading yet another article giving advice for building commercial Web sites. It’s by a recognized authority named Saul Carliner, at Boxes and Arrows (www.boxesandarrows.com), itself a pretty venerable site for Web-site builders. The article draws parallels between brick-and-mortar retail stores and Web sites. For example, Carliner recommends that your site give some personal customer attention, because that’s how retailers like Nordstrom have become so successful. Store success, Web success. The implication is simple. Except that it’s not….

RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Talking over the Internet may be your answer

January 10, 2005

Some technologies are born inefficient, some achieve inefficiency, and some have inefficiency thrust upon them. Your computer, for example, is horribly inefficient, in an engineering sense. It sits and does nothing most of the day. It wasn’t born inefficient. It can be hooked to other computers to maximize its downtime, if you like. But your telephone is another matter. It’s intrinsically inefficient, and not just because it isn’t in use most of the time. It’s also because when you’re on…

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