Test Your Volume

I don't watch much television for a variety of reasons. It's not that I don't like a lot of what it has to offer... there are a lot of shows that could keep me occupied. There is just so much more I want to do with my time, so watching television falls pretty low on my priority list. To manage, I only select and watch things that I have recorded...it makes my world a lot more enjoyable. I get to pick and choose on my own timetable. If you think about it, it's the way we like everything in our lives. We want to do what we want, when we want to do it and how we want to do it. And then we change our minds and do it completely different, should we choose to.

Recording television shows allows me to be terribly efficient by fast forwarding through commercials, but I also really enjoy some commercials. Because I don't see commercials very often, I find that in fast forward speed something catches my attention and I slow down and watch. So it's not that I dislike all commercials. What I do dislike about a lot of commercials is how they often jolt me out of my seat at a sound level seemingly way above normal, forcing me to reach for the volume control on the remote. This calls for active watching and diligent volume control. It's somewhat of a sport.

Volume control is an important concept in business. We need to operate at a volume that resonates well with the people we're trying to communicate with. While I'm not only referring to tonal levels and frequency, choice of words, or the most important part of communicating...the unspoken...all of which play a role, volume is vital. I was reminded of this the other day when in a meeting. Everyone seemed to turn the volume up every time they wanted to get their point across. Now mind you, I tend to work with a lot of passionate achievers and so I have some patience, but seriously we should be careful.

I find it useful to think about messaging volume when it comes to using various technology and tools. Anyone who is passionate about their product, service, company, deal, project, or endeavor has to be really careful to turn themselves down, or others will simply fast-forward through the message. I felt a little bit this way about the iPad. There was a whole lot of noise on high volume. While I was interested (of course, still am), it seems the people with them are enjoying a certain smugness with eyes that scream "look at what you don't have". Maybe it's just me, but I fast forwarded through much of the commercial. I turned down the volume.

I know I will soon use something exactly like the iPad, but it will have a detachable keyboard and a built in phone. Then I'll really be mobile, which is the Holy Grail for business these days. I will get a device that is all in one - an eBook reader, PC, and cell phone because it will be smart for my business and because it improves the experience of those who want to do business with me. There are plenty of good things to like about the iPad, but as we know and history always reminds us, when we stray from the wisdom, there are some bugs in the first offering of most anything. Combined with the fact that future updates will be a little less expensive with better features for my money, and I hope for yours, we let the volume modulate a little bit higher.

Some would say I'm a serial gadget addict and I really do love process and technology, so maybe I'm just maturing a little bit and that's why I haven't bought the iPad. Or maybe it's a tightening of my financial belt that has me being a little bit more discriminating. The truth is I'm never one to be first in line to get something new and cool, but I do get a certain rush with new, but these days I seem to be turning down the volume and making more tough choices. Choices about how I spend both my time and my money, given that both are indeed finite. I know that the right solution for mobility for me is a device that combines the simplicity and connectivity of smart phones with the power and usability of laptops. Whether we call it a slate, tablet or pad, it's the new direction for mobile computing that will make me happy. In the meantime, I'm going to smile nicely and ooh and aah when sitting next to someone with the iPad. While using my yellow pad to write and update my to do list each day, I'll try to drown out the commercial volume in my own head which is saying..."Get a smartbook. There's a cool app for to do lists." I'm going to remember not to look the shiny, sexy, uber-cool iPad direct in the eye when encountered and I sure won't touch it. That way I'll manage the volume until I can't resist any longer and I get my dream machine...which probably hasn't been built yet!

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