It's all about the magic!

Just before Christmas, I gave myself a present:  a Motorola Cliq--"the first phone with social skills " 

As I compare my old phone to the new one, it is amazing how much technology has changed in two short years.  With this purchase, I went from a small boring mobile phone that I would just as soon leave at home to a magical device that I take everywhere with me.  Not only can I make calls on it, but also I can watch live TV, play DVD movies, discover what's playing at the local movie house, drive or walk to an unknown address, find where my car is parked, see the weather at my next vacation spot, play amazing 3-D games, surf the internet--and so much more.  I can even click one app that tells me all of the restaurants and entertainment in the immediate area where I am driving. 

If you can dream it, guess what?  There's an app for that.

Coolest of all is the Shop Savvy app.  The app lets me takes a picture of a barcode.  Then it displays a list of the lowest prices for that product locally vs. on the Internet.  Another click takes me to a map of the metro area, and plots all of the specific locations where that product is in stock, along with the price.  A different click lets me find the lowest price from Internet retailers, too, right to the website to buy it.  This new smart phone is not just a phone; it's a window to the world!

All of us have the good fortune to be surrounded by amazing technology today.  In a click, we can we can choose from a whole array of technology designed to help us communicate, collaborate, and connect with people anywhere in the world.  What wonderful choices--interactive web conference technology, HD tele-presence conferencing, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, and so many others.  As a virtual communication expert, I am astounded by the fabulous choices.  I am equally as astounded at the great and poor ways that people use them.

Here's my point.  Just because we have access to great technology doesn't mean that it will help us communicate, collaborate, and connect effectively in the virtual space.  How people USE the technology is what makes it magical.  Magic is what this blog is about--how to use a wide variety of virtual technology to connect on a human level with people anywhere in the world.