Whos gives a S*** about Klout? Maybe you should.

Unless you have been living under a rock or took a week long vacation, there has been quite the uproar over the past week with Klout scores changing dramatically with the introduction of the new algorithm. According to Klout, these changes will being about “A more Accurate, Transparent Klout score.” It will be interesting to see what that really means but one thing is for sure, some people’s scores changed ALOT, and some people are either very happy or very mad.

Unfortunately,  I didnt even know the Klout scores changed until I saw twitter absolutely blowing up with angry people. This is because my score didnt go up or down. How boring is that? I mean at least east let me go up or down 1 point so I can either complain/cheer with everyone else. But no. I had to just listen to the endless nonsense from everyone else. Aside from what everyone else thinks about their scores, I think we should be considering a much bigger question, What is the role of Klout scores?

Essentially they mean nothing. Some company just gives you some score based on how influential you are in the social media world. Who gives a s*** right? Certainly that’s how some people feel. But for others, Klout has evolved into something much more than just a fun score. For some it means getting hired or not. And that is  certainly a reason for people to start caring. You see, if Klout becomes large enough and people actually put their trust in their system, then Klout scores will be the future of HR.

Think about it this way, if you were hiring for a marketing position, and you could see the Klout scores associated with your candidates wouldn’t that help you understand better who to hire? Every resume you might read people will tell you they are skilled at digital marketing, social media, SEO, and etc. But you and I both know thats BS. Anyone can say that. But if you could really see if they are what they say they are with their Klout scores, now that’s a different story.Then Klout scores will really have real meaning and certainly real value. My guess is that if Klout scores become as meaningful as they are on pace to be coming, Look for somebody like LinkedIn to maybe buy them and incorporate these scores into the site. Now that would make HR much more efficient!

The downside of all of this is, Do we really want this company to have that much power over hiring? Can we trust that they really are showing us who is really a better candidate? Is their algorithm better than the others in this area such as Peer Index? Certainly it would make for some good debate!

What do you think ?

Saving Blackberry from Death Row (In a perfect world)

If Blackberry were  a man he would be sitting in that chair right now, in the dark ominous room everybody has heard of but nobody likes to talk about. His arms and legs would be braced down, there would be a table sitting next to him with 3 long needles, and on  the opposite wall would be a large two-way mirror facing directly at him, with the staring faces of the millions of customers that had been let down over the years.

Yes Blackberry is sitting in the executioner’s chair on death row. It has been condemned to die after what started as a very promising venture. It’s amazing how things have changed so quickly. Years ago Blackberry ruled the mobile phone market. Now, it awaits its end, clinging to the smallest hope that maybe, just maybe, it will be granted a lifeline.

I’m here to give Blackberry that lifeline. My thoughts on this situation are certainly flawed, and probably completely unreasonable, yet this is what I would love to see happen in a perfect world, and I think somehow there is a chance for this to work if that perfect world were possible.

First, its time to for Blackberry to come to the realization that many others have already come to. Your operating system sucks. Your phones aren’t made for apps, web browsing, and sharing digital media, they are made for emailing and messaging, and more specifically for business. Unfortunately the Apple and Android operating systems work pretty well for business as well, and their other features far outweigh the small advantage Blackberry holds with its email features. Because of this, its time to make the choice. Here are your options:

-Die a long and slow death  by doing absolutely nothing to your current system of products and quietly fade out behind the other tech giants

-Die a slightly faster death by continuing to spend tons of money developing operating systems and phones that nobody wants.

-Survive and just partner up your phones with Android. Some People will always be qwerty keypad users and many longtime blackberry users will still use only the blackberry phones. The company may not ever be what it once was, but certainly it should be able to survive as it competes with the likes of Samsung and HTC to develop the Android market.

– (My Choice) Take a huge risk, do a complete 180 from the direction you are going now, and go for gold by partnering with Microsoft and the Windows phone.

Now before you call me an absolute lunatic let me get a chance to explain why I think this could work. (remember, perfect world) The new Windows phone operating system is BEAUTIFUL. Before you, send me 1029830289 comments telling me I am an idiot please go watch some of the videos on them. They are stunning. This system is probably already better than Androids system, at least appearance wise (I’m an Android user), and I would argue its even more visually appealing than Apples.  My point is, that Microsoft has actually got this one right I think. The problem, is they are their own worst enemies. They have managed to only hurt their reputation over the past 25 years and nobody trusts them to make great products other than Xbox and Microsoft office. Because of this, nobody even gives them a chance! People don’t build apps for the Microsoft platform, therefore nobody wants to use the platform. This is why I think Blackberry and Microsoft would make the absolute perfect marriage.

Blackberry has traditionally been the phone of the businessmen. Microsoft on the other hand, is the computer of the businessmen. Why is there no way to make this integration possible. The household consumer is already sold on Apple and Android. But there’s still a large untouched market in my opinion. The business market. I believe if Microsoft made itself the  next great operating system for business, and Blackberry were able to redesign its hardware to match it, that it could be a home run for both sides. Apps could be developed specifically for business, and Blackberry’s well-known email security could become part of every Windows phone. Keyboards could be featured on some phones, and not on others. This would allow current Blackberry users a far easier transition to using a new OS if they wanted. Despite its slow decay, there are still many Blackberry users out there that haven’t made the switch yet. If the two sides could somehow win those customers it would be the boost needed to make this OS take off.

Now naturally this may make people skeptical as both these companies have failed recently when it comes to mobile. I think Microsoft and Blackberry would have to take  big hit upfront and distribute these to as many businessmen as possible, at little or no cost. Maybe even Microsoft could give some phones away with every set of Windows. If the two are integrated right it could create traction. They have to get people comfortable with the OS and show them its beauty and simplicity rather than just tell them their systems are great. They just don’t seem to get that people no longer trust them. This is all about creating LIFETIME customer value. If you can hook the everyday businessman to a phone and an operating system for years to come, it will  become much harder for them to switch in the future.

So that’s my completely crazy theory to save Blackberry, and give Microsoft the boost it deserves. What do you think?

Blackberry’s Self-Imposed Death Penalty

I don’t think that anyone can debate the fact the Blackberry has done nothing more than lose market share and piss off its few remaining customers over the last year. This past week was a prime example of the debacle that is RIM. Unfortunately these service issues are not new for RIM. In fact, its almost becoming a sort of annual event. Here is a brief timeline of the MAJOR Blackberry outages since 2007 via CIO.com

1) April 17, 2007

This outage took place on a Wednesday night (ET) and lasted into Thursday morning, leaving millions of BlackBerry customers without e-mail. Because the service issue occurred overnight and not during business hours, most North American businesspeople weren’t all that concerned, though many were still frustrated.

Most of the news reports on the outage took a lighthearted stance, and many BlackBerry users joked that the service disruption actually gave them a welcome reprieve from work.

RIM said a data center software update was to blame.

2) February 11, 2008

The BlackBerry outage of February 2008 started in the late afternoon (ET) on a Monday and lasted only a few hours, but millions of BlackBerry users across all U.S. wireless carriers were affected. RIM blamed the outage on problems during an expansion of its network infrastructure.

3) November 16, 2009

On Monday, November 16, 2009 a significant BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) outage caused large numbers of BlackBerry users to lose e-mail service for at least a few hours. It’s unclear whether the outage affected regions outside of North America, but BlackBerry customers in the United States on wireless carriers including AT&T and Verizon Wireless reported service disruptions. RIM did not release information on the cause of the outage—at least that I can find.

4) December 17 and December 23, 2009

In the wee hours of Thursday, December 17, 2009, millions of BlackBerry users in North American lost BlackBerry e-mail services. RIM didn’t release an official explanation as to why the service was unavailable—at least that I can find–but around 2 PM ET, the company issued a statement saying the problem was resolved.

Then, less than a week later, on the night of Tuesday, December 22, RIM was hit with another major service issue that last roughly 8 hours, until early Wednesday December 23. Users in North America and beyond reported issues. RIM said this outage was likely related to a bum BlackBerry Messenger update.

5) October 10, 2011

RIM made it through 2010 without any major BlackBerry outages, but the company made up for it the following year with the most significant and longest lasting outage in its history, beginning on Monday, October 10 and lasting through today, October 13. The outage started outside North America, but by Tuesday, October 11, pockets of North American users were experiencing outages. And on Wednesday, millions of BlackBerry users in the United States and Canada were without e-mail, BlackBerry Messenger and more.

Absolutely ludicrous and unacceptable. RIM has basically given itself the death penalty.  The only reason people still use Blackberry is for business, and even more specifically business email. Yet with this outage, Blackberry was unable to deliver on its only  relevant feature. To make things worse, all RIM has done after these mishaps is play the blame game. The once dominant phone manufacturer, who has been struggling over the past years to keep  pace with the Iphone and Andoid operating systems, is surely expediting its way to bankruptcy. And I’m sorry RIM, but offering 10 predetermined free apps to people as a way to make up for the damages you did will not save you. And who’s idea was it  to give away “Bejeweled”. Remember who your audience is, BUSINESSMEN. Not 8 year old girls. As a former Blackberry user and advocate, it is sad to see how far they have fallen.

I’m curious, how much longer do you think Blackberry will last? Have any solutions? I will give you my solution later this week.And I’m warning you, its a little out there.  Stay tuned.