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Bal, I have a question….

When I started this blog, it was very much to make it a two-way interactive type of blog…. what I mean by that is, I share my thoughts, and then readers would have questions, comments, views and thoughts.

Whilst most times, that’s worked – I feel there could be more ‘inter-activeness’.

I’m sure when you read this blog – be it any topic from Smart Homes to Folding Phones…. it would generate some thinking, some thoughts and hopefully get you thinking.

lets talk to each other more… and ask questions!

The purpose of this blog is to break down some of the latest technological advancements and share they in simple terms. Also discuss, do we really need some of this tech? Also how technology is impacting our every day lives, for example – let’s take the High Street – we know that on-line shopping is only increasing, do we need physical shops? – The answer I think is yes… we need a hybrid model of physical and on-line shopping.

Companies are working on a lot more – and offering us a lot more… in terms of technology, and especially how we relate and connect with them.

It’s not just a matter of having a break – it’s now share some details, look at some content, watch a video, interact with what i’m being told, etc…

Life is getting busy in certain areas. But technology is also enabling us save time – in certain areas.

One thing we must keep doing is understanding where technology is heading.

The last thing is, you don’t want to be left behind…

Therefore – happy to take questions, both on this blog (you can reply below), you can tweet me – there’s several ways to contact. But let’s have some more conversations…

There’s also the podcast! – new one out this week!!! – Had some great feedback – and happy to listen and take on board more feedback to make it better. Make it useful for you. And make it more beneficial to you.

It’s not just for me to moan – (well… that is an element of it), but to turn that moan around and look at opportunities and what can be done. And isn’t it great – when we all can look at opportunities and discuss together.

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Smart Dining Table

I was on a call the other day… with Bruno. We were talking, and I informed him, I’m recieving a new fridge soon – to which he replied, he’s getting a new dining table.

For some reason – my immediate question to him was – Is it Smart?

Now, firstly – does everything have to be Smart? – I think so!!

We’re in a connected world. And therefore, appliances and items around us – if they’re smart, help with the connectivity.

Habits are changing…

We are more on our devices. We are more involved and collaborative.

So how can a Dining Table, be Smart… Bal?!

Well… you’ve got your traditional table…..

You can get some in a funky design…

You can get some Clever/Smart ones… (by the way, when I asked about Smart – I was referring to Technology)…

With AR and VR… Mixed Reality… we can have sensors and projectors, tell us what to do and when….. especially, when it comes to cooking…

And let’s be honest – this is a great helping hand.

But I was thinking Smart in the sense – does the table have wireless chargers built in?

Does the table allow connectivity – in the form of sensors, detecting food is on the table, or have built in warmers – that keep the food/plate warm.

Yes you can get interactive ones… but personally, can’t see Bruno with one of these in his dining room…

So… thinking of getting something new? – See how Smart it is!

Even a dining table could be Smart!

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Poor Customer Service…

So, if you follow me on twitter… you’ll have noticed, that a company has ‘fobbed’ me off recently.

Have to admit, extremely disappointed with the whole experience of their so called, ‘customer service’.

Bal, who are they?

Yep – the ones who sell GAMEs.

Bal, what happened?

Basically… we went in there for some advice. Cut the long story short… we were mis-sold an item. It was an activation code for a games console.

When I rang their customer service, and emailed them – they’ve just ‘fobbed’ me off. Nothing they can do. We can’t exchange. Nothing we can offer. The usual…

What disappoints me the most is, they didn’t even try to make it up to me.

They didn’t even ask me for the details… They didn’t even try. That’s the worse thing about it. Not. Even. Trying.

Well.. guess what, they’ve lost a customer.

Not one customer. Several customers. My family. My friends. My blog readers. And.. many more.

It did make me think about the Enterprise advert… remember this?

How should customer service be?

That’s right- the power of customer service should be turning that frown, upside down!

Make the customer happy. They parted with hard earned money… and if they’re not happy… do what you can to keep them on side.

Have them on side – they’ll part with more money.

Don’t… and guess what, you’ll lose them.

Can I be the first customer they’ve done this to? – Probably not.

So let’s look at their share price…

Well…. look at that. Like most high street stores – share price has drastically dropped from January 2015 to July 2017… then just slowly decreased to date… (today it’s at 25).

I reckon… their poor customer service must play a part in their decline. Obviously there’s other factors… but poor customer service = less customers. Simple.

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Fitness and Airpods

Rumors are… there’s some new Airpods coming very soon!

I know – some folk will be thinking – why the excitement? What’s new about them? What else could you do with them?

Well.. for starters, we know that Apple are serious about fitness.

We’ve seen this in the iWatch. We’ve seen this in all the latest Apple gadgets. And we’ll see it in the new Airpods! That’s right – they’ll have a wellness sensor which adds to the whole Apple Fitness Ecosystem.

There’s also wireless charging, Siri functionality and a few other tweaks – mainly to the speakers to make the sound, sound better.

We are becoming more ‘wireless’. We are becoming more ‘fitness’ and health aware. With new devices, they encourage us to focus on the right things in life. Our health.

In the future – we’ll see more and more devices monitoring our health – and I don’t just mean our steps, which yes – are important but there’s more to us.

There’s reports of glucose levels… which would be awesome for diabetic folk. There’s reports of other readings that could be taken that could help folk with other conditions that need monitoring.

And how much will they be? – indeed… they won’t be cheap!

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How old do you feel?

Okay, how old are you?

Well Bal – I’m not going to tell you… but I feel 21!

It’s not fair me asking how old you are. But great to hear you feel 21!

The folk that read this blog – are a great age range! No, honestly, there’s some young folk… and there’s some old folk. And some of the old folk struggle with modern day technology… we’ve seen the video’s, we’ve seen with our own eyes probably…

And let’s be honest – technology has advanced so much in recent years, it can be difficult to keep up on occasions.

But ever thought, how a 17 year old would react to an old device?

It’s funnier than you think! – that’s right… watch this video where two youngster are asked to use an old phone and dial a number… (Finally a chance for the senior folk to laugh at the youngster’s!)

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CES 2019

It happens every year. I reported on it last year. And I’ll share some of my highlights from this year.

Yep – it’s CES 2019!!!! – the biggest, baddest and (one of the) best Electronics show in the world.

Happens in January of every year and all the top electronic companies around the world come to Vegas to show off what they’ve been doing, what’s coming in the pipeline and what’s going to be the future!!

Ok.. let’s get started… for me, first up…. TV.

Well, when I say TV… I mean screens. Screen technology.

Panasonic turned up with a very good, 4K screen (in various sizes – going up to 65”). Then we had Sony… showing off their 8k screen. Samsung with their inter-connecting screens (basically, tiles you connect and it forms a large screen). But for me, it was LG. The rolling screen!

That’s right! – it’s a sound box, screen… everything in one! The screen roles out of the box! How brilliant is that.

I saw the rolling screen at LG a few years back, in their Innovation Lab. It’s great to see what they’ve done to it and how they’ve applied it.

Ok… up next…. Food related!

That’s right folks… 2019 is the year of ‘Bal’s Kitchen’. And what better way to ensure I’m sure the latest technology in my kitchen!

So we have… Pepper! – A connected food scale!!

It can be connected to Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant which claims to detect the nutritional value of every ingredient… how awesome is that?!

Now, this is very new… and they’ll be starting their crowdfunding campaign on kickstarter very soon….

Now there were lots of robotics… Samsung had an air purifier robot, there was a mouse robot for cats to play with, and much more.

Being an ‘electronics’ show… and we now have ‘electric’ cars… we have a number of manufactures showing of their latest offerings.

Ford, GM, Kia, Tesla and many more were there, showing off their latest and greatest vehicles. There was also Harley Davidson showing off their electric bikes…

The final item… for this blog post… and to share with you, that was on display at CES was from Lamborghini.

That’s right. The Italian car maker turned up, with a few cars.. but also this,

That’s right folks, it’s a chair. Not any old chair… one that will totally transform you as a person. Totally relax you… and let’s be honest, you wouldn’t expect anything less from these crazy Italians!

So I leave you with some highlights. Technology is great, isn’t it…. transforming how you watch your favorite shows, how you cook in the kitchen and how you sit down… or rather, what you sit down on.

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Robots delivering food…

Let’s be honest Bal, this isn’t really new is it? I’ve heard it before – and probably seen it on social media.

Yes, you’re right. We’ve seen robots being trialled in restaurants where they’re delivering food.

And following on from my post earlier this week – about having a lean process – and the missing piece is the robots delivering the food…. well, you would need some human intervention to ensure the customers are okay… and if there’s any problems or complaints, there’s a human on hand to deal with the situation.

Well, let’s be honest… depending on type of restaurant – you might want to talk to people! You might want to go out to a restaurant purely because of the people that work there and those that serve you! It all depends on the type of restaurant – if you want it quick, then you may not want the whole human interaction.

But this blog post isn’t about having an end to end process with no human intervention.

This blog post is about a story I came across – where it’s using folk who have limited use of their body, to command and instruct robots!

Dawn, is a cafe in Tokyo, Japan. The robots are developed by Ory, a startup that specializes in robotics for disabled people, the OriHime-D is a 120 cm (4-foot) tall robot that can be operated remotely from a paralyzed person’s home.

Even if the operator only has control of their eyes, they can command OriHime-D to move, look around, speak with people, and handle objects.

A true and inspirational marriage of technology and humanity!

Yes – it’s all about technology.

Yes – it’s all about a lean process.

However… when you inject some humanity, it all becomes emotional – and more importantly… helps to involve those, who would otherwise, would not be involved.

Don’t forget… It’s all about Process, Purpose….. and, People!

Here’s a video showing how it works… (apologies, it’s in Japanese – but just by watching it… you’ll understand!)

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Lean Process + Digital Enablement = Efficiency!

Efficiency – it’s what we all want, right?

From a customer perspective – we want a quick and easy process. We don’t want to waste time…

From a business owner perspective – where ever we can reduce cost, and save time – it’s only a good thing!

Unfortunately, I feel we don’t do enough of this Lean Thinking.

What does that mean, Bal?

Well – look at a process, understand the steps – and have a look how we can reduce the time from the moment the customer orders to the moment we’re paid.

Take the restaurant industry…

When the opportunity came to introduce digital payments – for example, pay by card – they were able to ‘save time’ by not having to spend time to count the money at the end of the day – ensure the books balanced, etc…

It was easy for the customer. Not having to carry cash. Just tap the machine or put in your 4 digit pin and done.

There’s now – as I’ve shared previously (available at Weatherspoons and many other restaurants), where you can order and pay via the app, whilst sitting at the table! That’s right – taking the whole process and making it even more ‘leaner’ using ‘digital’.

So now you don’t need people to take payments. You don’t need people to take orders. You just need people to bring out the food – and soon, you could have a few robots do that!

I appreciate, there’s some restaurants where the whole experience is based on the people working there… but then there’s times, where you just want to go in… order…. eat…. pay….. and go!

All industries should be doing this. Not ordering at tables…. but looking at the process… and looking at what digital tools are available to make it more efficient! – saving money and time!

And that’s the whole point of this blog of mine… to share experiences and highlight where this could be done.

It could be in the airline industry. It could be in the motor industry. There’s so many industries that can leverage the whole ‘digital enablement’. Have you looked at the processes that surround you recently?… not sure where or how to start?

Start by writing down in steps… what happens.

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His Masters Voice has gone Digital…

Well, Firstly, Happy New Year! – Hope you had a fabulous break over the festive period and were able to do what you wanted to do! – I wanted to relax, spend time with family and eat lots. I did all three – so I’m happy!

Also – I’m hoping you were able to listen to my first podcast, which was titled as… My First Podcast. It’s available on all major platforms – you could open up your podcast app if you have an iOS device, search for Think Lean Get Digital – and my podcast will appear! You can do the same for Google, Spoitfy and many many more.

And on my second podcast coming next week – titled (for the moment) My Second Podcast, I’ll be talking a little more about skills and jobs. How they’re changing – but more so how you don’t have to go down the traditional route – which is usually, school – college – University – Job – work – retire.

And this leads to me how behaviors are changing. Shopping behaviors – but also, our general behaviors for example, how we listen to music.

That’s right – you may have seen or heard, HMV (His Masters Voice)…. is closing.

Why?… well, simple really. When was the last time you bought a CD? When was the last time you went on the high street to buy a DVD?

These habits are changing.

We stream our music. We have so many platforms to do it on. Even YouTube now have a music/stream app – where you can listen to music.

It effectively means – we don’t need to own music. We don’t need to have the space for it. We don’t need to own a physical copy.

Indeed – there’ll be some DJ’s, musicians, etc… experts in the field that will own, that will want the physical copy… and that is absolutely fine – as that is their ‘bread and butter’. But they’ll soon shift to the on-line streaming behaviors of the consumers. Similar to how photographers moved from 35mm film to Digital.

I’ll continue to share updates of the high street – and how digital, how technology and how thinking lean – is changing our environment. I’m sure we’ll have more and more well known names from the High Street disappear over 2019….

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Happy New Year!!

New Year. New Start… wish you a Very Happy New year – hope you have exciting plans for 2019 – and that all your dreams turn into reality.