iPhone 5 - Better Than R2D2 ? "Help me Oki Wan, You're my only Hope..."

Paper?  What paper?

Jus sayin..

The Imaging of Greg - "MPS Summit: What a Difference Three Years Make"

"Yup, I was in Vegas at the “Recharger show.”


Well, technically, I attended the 2011 Managed Print Summit, which to me, seemed even more out of place, until I looked at the scheduled presenters: Ed Crowley, Robert Newry, Mike Stramaglio, Jim Lyons and Greg VanDeWalker – all MpS regulars, each in the ecosystem from early on if not the very beginning.


And there were more. Jim D’Emidio, Ed McLaughlin, Mark Mathews and Jim Phillips – old-skool hardware and infrastructure dudes who each see the impact of MpS.


And the new guys? How about Brendan Peters from Intel, Tim Grimes from Research in Motion or Gordon Jones from Green Hills Software? Googlitize them if you don’t know who they are. For now, let’s just say wireless, intelligent devices and security software. Yeah, at an MpSummit, the day before the large toner cartridge show. Who woulda thunk?..."

Read the rest at The Imaging Channel



Click to email me.

This is What HP Should Do with TouchPad/WebOS: "Execute Order 66"

Give more TouchPads away.  And by more, I mean to give another 500,000 away.

Quickly put together a Mega-Cloud, now.  

Call it the "MacGyver Cloud"; duct tape, paperclips, hope, and a prayer - whatever it takes, string it together.  

In this cloud, give away 6-month subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal, HBR, LeopardONE, MPSInsightsPro, LuLu, TMZ, on and on.

Bundle all of it in. Free.

Hook up with Verizon and get on their network, into their stores.  Hell, buy Verizon.

Get every remaining print publisher on the phone, in a Halo room, or to the West Coast and offer up an advanced conduit to 1 million customers, through MacGyver. Negotiate for a percentage and target Amazon/Borders; the Nook and the Kindle.

Spark up the TouchPad plants.  Rationalize, re-calibrate and reorganize PSG around generations of TouchPad.  Get this new team out there selling MacGyver and giving away TouchPads through every channel.  EVERY CHANNEL.  Sell it at 99 bucks - through Walmart.

Call the second model, "TheNext" and release a Leopard print version.

Buy a f*cking advertising agency, not another technological oddity.

I'm not done yet.

The Dubious Monk On Professional Printer Destruction

Author Nathan Dube, also known by his twitter handle @dubiousmonk

As time has gone on I have "worn multiple hats" in my tenure at Expert Laser Services. Graphic Artist, Managed Print Services Specialist and Social Media Marketing Engineer are all responsibilities I have held or currently hold.

As of recent I have also taken on a new role, one with as much prestige as any. In fact I am one of only a few professional "Printer Destruction Specialist" in the world. This is a humbling and rewarding career, one of which I know there are many aspirants...

In this post I would like to outline what makes a great printer destruction possible. Below you will find a most useful guide for the annihilation of print and copy devices that if practiced regularly, will ensure a most sublime level of expertise in the noble art and science of printer destruction.

Quigley - Another Analog Guy in a Digital World

A couple of weekends ago, I was fortunate enough to squeeze off a few rounds from a Sharps 1874 - you may remember the 1990 movie, "Quigley Down Under" with Tom Selleck.

The weapon had a prominent role.

At its peak, the Sharps was considered one of the best, long-range firearms in the world.

From the Uberti site, makers of Sharps replicas:

"...In 1874, after 700 Comanche warriors attacked 30 buffalo hunters in the Texas panhandle, the hunters used their Sharps rifles to exact a punishing toll. By the early 1880s, the long-range models had become the favorites of professional buffalo hunters because of their long-range capability..."

Indeed, even today, the long-gun is a fully functional, work of art:  double triggers, lever action, 34" barrel, 15 pounds she delivers a good kick, our black powder loads were clustering in 8 inches, 300 yards - we aren't that good.

The Sharps is cool - but the movie/sales metaphor?

Rugged individualism in the face of despotic ownership and management; Analog Guy, in a digital world full of other analog guys who think they're digital.

Huh?

"Dear Steve, I've never owned a Mac, or an iPhone and I don't have an iPad..."

I don't even know you, but you seem to know a great deal about me.

So Steve, thank you for my Droid X.

Thanks for forcing Microsoft to integrate a mouse, even if it was on DOS 4.0.

Thank you for getting IBM to utilize 'preemptive multi-threading in OS/2 even though it was a doomed OS.

Thanks for pushing the 3.5" floppy.  Thanks for letting all the peripherals that attach to the Lisa automatically connect.

Thanks for AppleTalk.

Thank you for seeing I really only wanted three or four songs from an album.

Thank you for disrupting the music industry - giving us Lady Gaga and incredible, mind-blowing live shows. (figure it out)

Thanks for recognizing a dwindling need and not allowing the iPad to print.

You beat the PS/2 and helped IBM find a new way.  

You destroyed the music industry and helped them find a new way, giving us immediate access to the music and artists we, the people, wanted to hear, at 99 cents a pop.

Sony, because of you, experienced the stink of defeat, the folly of internal business silo and they found a new way.

Talking, Rumors Flying - IBM to take Xerox; HP Getting out of PC's, Oracle to Pick up HP

All over the 'Net:

Xerox a good Purchase Target - WOW

"IBM to purchase Xerox" - WOW, WOW

"Samsung Eyeing HP's PC business" or not, Huh

Dell Smack Talk to HP - duh...

The Unthinkable -

"Oracle should Buy HP" - No Way!

Business as Usual -

To Customers - "Business as Usual" - YOU HAVE NO CREDIBILITY TODAY.

To the Channel - "Business as Usual" - YOU HAVE NO CREDIBILITY TODAY.

Why -

How did we get here? - History, repeats

The Dude - Speaks

Does All This make Sense? - No, Yes.

Android to the Rescue - TouchMy X

The DOTC read on all this...

"The Sky will Blow The Heavens into Stars" - The Future of our Imaging Industry, Xerox, IBM, HP, Content

2011

Autonomy Corporation

"Autonomy is the market leader in the provision of software that automates the analysis of unstructured data, whether in the form of text, audio, images or video." - UBS, July 2008

The other day, I sat in on a webinar.  The fine folks at Lyra were presenting "Printing supplies market trends MPS" - yeah, I know, who the hell would sit in on one of these?

MpS Geeks, that's who.

Of course, the data presented has been fodder for DOTC for the past year; we will never get back the placement levels of 2008, A3 devices are dying(ahem), any recovery will be linked directly to the surviving dealership's ability to focus on workflow, not the box. We know this, correct?

Then a funny thing came up - OEMs are "rationalizing" their fleet offerings.  They are narrowing down the number of models.  

Shrinkage.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! T1000 is here..."Sarah Connor...??

From: Teetering on the Edge of Chaos by Jennifer Ouellette at Cocktail Party Physics.

Original source: Sachiko Kodama “Morpho Towers — Two Standing Spirals”

Sarah Connor...

The Summer of 2011: Integration, Re-Imaging, User MpS Profiles and DOTC Members Only

Optimize Everybody...

Oh boy, I am in the middle of the Anthony Robbins "Ultimate Edge...blah blah blah..." -  it's good, really, I mean it and someday I want a place on Fiji right next door.  So what better way than to study the dude.

He's humongous, you know.

Perhaps you don't know Anthony Robbins or what he does - in a nutshell, he helps point out the obvious to the oblivious.  He sounds sincere, is the consummate selling professional - always closing - and makes an impression.  He attracts - I guess that is one reason he has 'handlers' - huh.  Well, the material I am visiting is dated and timeless pointing out how so unaware we walk through Life.

The waning days of Summer 2011 entice a review of my journey these last 90, a Quarterly Review of sorts - who says our clients should be the only ones to get QBRs?  

This summer has been about breaking through Stage 1 and Stage 2 - wait, that's not 100% - before I could breakthrough, I needed to 'remember' Stage 1 and Stage 2...so yes, now I see S1/S2 completely.  Table stakes.  Temporary.

You can really change, by letting go of the restrictive patterns of our past and you can't let anything go until you remember.

MpS changes all of us, by making us aware, and helping us remember.

Anyway, this summer has been about integrating an MpS Practice into a VAR/MSP's Infrastructure, recognizing End-User's behavior, and Re-Imaging.  

Interesting thoughts. Everything starts with a thought.

MpS Will Migrate Downward - Lyra Acknowledges the Death of the A3(Copiers)

The Imaging Channel held a webinar where Lyra presented, "Printer and Supplies market Trends That Impact Your MPS Program",

8/17/2011.

I found the content interesting.

Some of the better comments:

"MpS is a Significant Threat to the Supplies Business"

"MpS should be the first step in engaging clients for overall managed services."

"A3 in decline and has been before MpS became 'sticky'" - The Death of the Copier.

"Everybody is considering mobile printing"

"The key to the recovery will be looking at workflow"

One of the questions from the audience was, "what are ITO and BPO?"

The Imaging of Greg - "MpS: The Unifying Theory"

"Just over three years ago, when I started writing about copiers, MpS, technology, selling and pole dancing, I was one of three. Back then, if one were to Google “managed print services,” the dozen or so returns would’ve consisted of wedding invitation printers and “full-serve” print advertising providers.


There were few fleet monitoring alternatives and fewer proactive supplies management solutions. Hardly anyone mentioned cost reduction, business process, fleet optimization or phases. And nobody championed reducing costs by reducing prints, copies, or printers and copiers.


This isn’t to say nobody serviced printers or supplied toner. Yes, some were “optimizing” fleets, shifting volume, addressing document workflow and business process or managing hundreds of devices, but we..."

Get the rest of the story at The Imaging Channel blogs, The Imaging of Greg.

Go..go there now...

The Dawn of The New Selling Professional - MpS Leads The Way - Sales X.X

Not Sales 2.0 - Call it 

"Sales X.X"

2011

“Business Acumen” is a cool way to say, “been there, done that…got three years' financials to prove it” – I admit, it is a big word, does it scare you?

From Merriam-Webster:

Acumen: keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination especially in practical matters.

Practical Matters.

Lots of salespeople don’t think they have acumen, or that there is some special process that goes with acquiring the skill of discernment. Worse, some employers don’t believe their employees possess keenness – more than a few sales managers feel their salespeople lack depth of perception.

You know I’m right. You’ve seen it, I’ve seen it, we’ve all been there.

What to do?

Stand back, there is something going on here, something new; The New Age of Selling. It has nothing to do with the Mayan calendar although "The New Age" calls upon the collective selling skills of the past 25,000 years.

Woah, heavy.

I know it’s difficult to see, but the current economic “Charlie Foxtrot” will someday be in our rear view mirror. When the recovery does start, for real, the new selling professional will lead the way. I believe that our industry, our sales people, in the trenches, will be examples of success, role models.

The New Way demands more from you, the Selling Professional:

1. Expertise – be an expert in something, anything
2. Collaboration – be open to working with everyone, yesterday’s rivals could be today’s partner
3. Engagement/Intent  – work with your clients, partners, peers at a deeper level, with High Intent
4. Growth – thrive on change, bring change, be the agent for change

The New Way also exists in a new environment, a business context that has never existed:

1. Information is everywhere – Content and data are universal and will permeate
2. Power is shifting down – from the OEMs to the cube farms, personal power is increasing
3. Technology is mundane – your refrigerator will talk with your toaster
4. “Citizen Mobil” – brick and mortar is dead. Smartphones, tablets, wireless and G4 networks, you, your clients, and clients’ family and kids are processing business everywhere. Think Cold Calls from the beach.

Eight simple observations.

Still, you will need to know Strategic Selling, VITO, closing techniques, prospecting, how to marshal resources on your team, monitor your funnel, and manage your manager. You still can’t be afraid to pick up the phone.

You must correctly present and follow up – to build trust. This may be new, but you still need to handle your shit. The basics – I won’t say ‘blocking and tackling’ – I loathe clichés, but I just did, didn’t I?

The times are different and personal acumen is more relevant, you are much more relevant, and in context.

One more thing:  There are No Academic Experts.  We're making this up as we go - and because this is all new, dynamic, and changing every 30 days, formal, teaching experts are simply rehashing history - not projecting

The New Selling, not Sales 2.0 or 3.1, let’s call it, Sales X dot XX - “Sales X.Xx"

Acumen, again. MpS Purity, again. Intent, again.

Just ideas on a screen - but ideas are bulletproof...

Sell on.

The Shift is Happening - Not Only in MpS...

 

  "Voila!

In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi now vacant, vanished.


However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.


The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.


Verily this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that its my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V."

The 2011 Global Managed Print Services Conference - Pictures of You.

My Current reflection points, and material for the future:

1. Philosophical discussions - this is bigger than MPS

2. Change or die, again

3. Innovate - now is the time

4. That MPS Insights Pro is better then I thought

5. This is Mainstream for the Smart People

6. Soylent Toner is People

7. MSP and MPS is difficult

8. It is about Content, not "Print"

9. Out of the Box - meaning so much more, I have never been more proud of my industry

10. Are you telling the Truth, or just stating a number

11. "I don't even use the phrase, MPS, with clients anymore"

12. Sheehan -" take a stand"

13. Sheehan - "not Paperless? Are you blind AND stupid?"

14. I swear, he reads DOTC

15. The Old Guys are coming back

16. I can't wait to see the first servers "ripped and replaced"

17. There is still a "P" in MPS

18. MPS is the egg in the cake, not the entire cake

19. The OEM's have Created Their Own Channel

20. This is an opportunity to remember the reason you got into all this in the first place

21. I have Pluto in my Seventh House

22. Ricoh is in - all in

23. Canon is finding herself

24. "Fire, Walk with Me"? - Greg has lost it...again.

25. MPS is a Process, not a Transaction

26. Fire and Ice, Cold Water

27. The 2011 MPSA Leadership Awards

28. Just like the chopper in Usama's compound, we must destroy MPS, before it falls into the Enemy hands.

29. YOU ARE NOT ALONE...WE, ARE NOT ALONE

Oh the fun we are going to have with all that...

DOTC

Tech-News: More Plastic Paper, Self Assembling MicroParticles and the Last Book Ever Printed

Yeah, I know, the electric paper trick has been around for decades.

Below is the latest:

"I think the greatest breakthrough was that traditional display devices usually require electricity to write, but our technology made it closer to how we would use normal paper," said John Chen, Vice President of the Institute and general director of the Display Technology Center.




The more interesting advancement revolves around micro-robots.

"Danger, Danger...Will Robinson..."

Peter Sheahan - "Rule The White Spaces"

"no, no, no..its THE Death of the Copier..."

Page Coverage.

In our little industry, one can live or die on the difference between 3% and 8%.  

The white spaces between the toner, Fact and Fiction, Vision and Reality.

Between all those Silo's.

I first saw Peter's presentation online,  from the MPS Conference in Barcelona.

My impressions were, "...who the hell is this guy? A shorter version of T. Robbins only from New Zealand?"

I know, its Australia...and everyone is shorter than Anthony Robbins.

I jest!

Peter's conversation was geared toward innovation, technology and miscalculations.  He talked about how our beliefs and more importantly, how our successful past, holds us back.  He talked about the silo's that keep us separated and how the cracks present the best opportunities.

That's cool.

"Hay Wire" - the female Jason Bourne?

And yes, the leading role, also played "Crush" on American Gladiator.

iPad-Head-Girl and Cosmo for Men

There is something here - a bit creepy, and yet..alluring.

It's a marketing stunt promoting the new iPad App for "Cosmo For Men" - Cosmopolitan for men.

Sometimes irony needs to hit you right in the middle of the forehead - but do you see it here? Or should I get the "2x4 of Awareness"?

It's an advertisement, on iPads, for an app, for what used to be, and still is, a print magazine...!

Full, flippin, circle.

And don't get me started on the more than apparent 'stealth' application...

"I love you, Miss. Robot..."