These days it seems as if asking a stranger on the street simply if they have the time is a gross underutilization of the potential for information accumulation—why not have someone tell you who pitched the final game for the American League team in the 1948 World Series at a seemingly small increase in cost over checking their watch or phone for the time (a quick Google search tells me that the answer is right-hander Bob Lemon for Cleveland Indians).

In the last decade or so, the “improvements” made on devices that formerly held only one function have momentously increased the amount of information that we can literally bring to our fingertips. Nevertheless, the novelty and wonder attached to any statement about the “great ease of access” of information today is far less novel and wondrous to anyone who is conscious of the fact that they are living in the ostentatiously titled “Information Age.” However, when you take into account where we have come from regarding technology ownership and where we are now, the proportion of easily available information and the number of devices that can provide this information begs the question: how much is too much?

It has been recently published that what scientists are calling an ancient “computer” may have been used to set the dates for Olympic games as 776 BC. The device used an “intricate set of bronze gearwheels, dials, and inscriptions” to calculate the dates for the ceremonial Greek games. Today, some people may struggle to accept this device as any sort of “computer” considering you can’t even email with it, let alone check baseball stats. Now, these features are available on things like wristwatches and pens when traditionally wristwatches were made for telling time and pens were made for writing.

In 2007, it has been independently reported that 80% of Americans own personal computers and 82% of Americans own cell phones. While it is certainly not the case that computers and cell phones provide the same features, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to find a phone that just makes phone calls (and doesn’t allow text or instant messaging, music playback, or email and internet browsing), neither of those statistics take into account iPod and other MP3 player ownership, or iPhone ownership statistics (a device that combines computer/internet access, MP3 player capabilities, and telecommunication into one handheld device). If someone is sitting at home with a PC (“for work and school”), an iPhone (“for talking”), an iPod nano (“for exercise”), a wristwatch (“for telling time”), and a slide-rule (“for nostalgia”), what do they use to tell the time? To calculate taxes? To communicate with friends? To listen to music? To check the news?

So many devices can provide the same types of information that the utility of owning a personal, multi-media device could soon reach its saturation point. Sure, you can do a lot more than ask someone for the time if you want to know more, but for multi-device owners there may be an excess of informational opportunity when thinking about the necessity for all of their devices in economic terms. A device like the ancient Olympic-date-deciding-computer may seem like such an antiquated, highly useless object to someone today when you can easily perform the same function with a calendar and a calculator or an internet-capable computer. But when someone may own 4 or 5 different devices that could also do the job just as efficiently, what’s one more “portable” piece of rusted gears and metal to add to your collection to do just another job.

The multi-functional, multi-media, multi-everything devices that flood a buyer’s technological market may seem at first like a gift among gifts to anyone who thinks they appreciate an “insert number here”-for-1 bargain. However, what is really happening is that this diffusion of specific operations across many gadgets is not only perpetuating a cultural motion of conspicuous consumption and wanton necessity, but is also confusing and diluting the previously clearly drawn lines of technological specialization.

While it may make things easier for people to have access to all sorts of information and operations in one “convenient” place, people will tend to favor certain uses of a device over others which can lead to a general phasing out of certain functions, like replacing phone calls with text messages and instant messaging. Therefore, by increasingly relying on or favoring very particular operations in favor of others, when a plethora of alternatives are available, we may see negative effects on certain things (like phone calls or even email communication) that we may not be ready to give up.

As we reach the point when wristwatches are no longer relevant and have effectively been phased out of common usage, it’s interesting to see how formally dressed men are adapting, and whether watches will completely become a nostalgic, symbol of fashion or whether they’ll soon be replaced with fashionably-constructed iPhones or Bob Lemon baseball cards.

*Photograph courtesy of http://regmedia.co.uk/

Wpromote’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Division has reached some new highs and started to explode with great rankings and a lot of new clients.

Our feeling is that it is time to:

STAND UP AND FIGHT for your rankings.

The internet is the newest jungle out there and it is bigger then the Amazon, hell even Amazon.com is getting close to the size of its own jungle!

SEARCH                      ENGINE                                    OPTIMIZATION

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SUCCESS STORIES

Plastic Products Manufacturing,  who specializes in the creation of brochure holders and various other plastic products, has been enjoying their rather successful blog management campaign from Wpromote.

A sound proofing expert client, has been displaying #1 Google results for terms such as sound engineered drywall, sound proof plywood, sound engineered drywall, sound engineered ceilings and more.

www.ShreddingHouston.net - On-Site Shred is currently ranking much higher for desired terms, is ranked #1 in GOOGLE for Houston Paper Shredding, Shredding Houston, and Onsite Shredding.

Our Playground and Playsets client has been ranking #1 for the very broad and difficult to target term ‘swings‘.

ScanDigital.com, whose expertise in Photo Scanning and Digital Video Conversion, has been doing extremely well in their highly competitive search space. Things just keep getting better and better for ScanDigital!

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Team SEO News at Wpromote: The addition of several new clients (including some interesting car products and golf pro sites) has necessitated an expansion of our SEO team. To accommodate this necessity, we’ve added some new rockstar writers: Amir, our amazing intern Brett, and the newly helpful John. With Christian holding up the fort for most of our off-site SEO and link building efforts, and my nerdy attention to detail with regards to the on-site implementation and overall direction of our team, the new growth of Wpromote’s SEO division is looking more promising then ever. Though, if you really want to get excited,  you should definitely stay turned to www.wpromote.com/seo.

This, coupled with some upcoming announcements, and soon to be available downloads from the creations of our magnificent programming team makes the future keep looking brighter and brighter here at the best place to work in California (that I know of), Wpromote Inc.

You should watch for us on the big screen while we all watch the Dodgers beat Florida tomorrow night from the stands. Or, just watch the game and support our LA team. Luckily the Dodgers are in a league separate from the Blue Jays, because if they weren’t, there would be some serious problems.

Till next time,

Aaron Kronis - SEO Director at Wpromote Inc.
www.wpromote.com/seo

Ahhh, the information age! Everything you’ve ever wanted to know is just a wireless cafe away, and no stone was left unturned! If you’re subtle with an iPhone, you can absolutely dominate Trivial Pursuit or impress family and friends watching Jeopardy (please note: you made need a 3G for this–results may vary). What could possibly go wrong?

I wouldn’t dare infer that I was the progenitor of the idea, but for years I have grumbled about the detrimental effects the internet has had (and will have) on people, culture, and society-at-large. Perhaps I’m just a cynic–or maybe I took Brave New World a bit seriously–but sometimes it just feels like we’re rushing (read: being propelled?) towards some catastrophic end. As our access to information has skyrocketed in the past decade, our retention of knowledge has plummeted. At least that’s what I’ve observed in my tiny sliver of the pie chart that is life.

Well, I’m glad to say I finally found sweet vindication in an article published in this month’s issue of The Atlantic written by socio-tech-business extraordinaire Nicholas Carr. Bluntly titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” the article outlines many of the dystopian proclamations I myself have championed over the years, but also provides a superb historical context for these issues. Ever wonder how people reacted to the introduction of the typewriter, the printing press, or even the written word itself? How about the mechanical clock? Carr cites intriguing contrarian opinions on them all.

It may be too late for any of us to seriously contemplate the ills we endure using Microsoft Word or wristwatches; after all, we were raised under their influence. Now that our younger friends and siblings are coming of age with an ingrained relationship to Google, Myspace, YouTube, and beyond, we are in a unique position as the last generation capable of comparing a pre-Google society to a post-Google one. Do we still have the attention span for that?

It usually takes a violent revolution for new regimes to take power, but a shift in ideology or societal norms is far less conspicuous. In 2004, Google co-founder Sergey Brin told a Newsweek interviewer “Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off.” Just last year, co-founder Larry Page was quoted saying that Google is “really trying to build artificial intelligence and to do it on a large scale.” Personally, I find it alarming that this infinitely influential duo embraces such controversial views so openly.

Mr. Carr acutely articulates the fallacy in that line of thinking, stating: “It suggests a belief that intelligence is the output of a mechanical process, a series of discrete steps that can be isolated, measured, and optimized…there’s little place for the fuzziness of contemplation. Ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed. The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive.” Personally, I find it alarming that this infinitely insightful article will fly under the radar of the majority of internet users.

This probably all seems a bit heavy handed. You might ask yourself, “Does an angel die every time i click the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button?” while others may decry this little blog as a bunch of doom and gloom. (In reality, most of you probably didn’t make it past my Jeopardy link in the first paragraph, further illustrating my point) The easy response is: “If you think Google is making you stupid, stop using it.” Well, sure. I could jump off the Google train, and spend years coughing up the dust it sprays in my face as it goes barreling off in the name of Progress… But I always have such a difficult time with those green wedges!

Google, in its never ending quest for web dominance has just announced its new algorithm designed to index flash content. This comes as a huge delight to many web developers who develop websites in Flash, since previously; flash content was not indexable by search engines. In the past, developers had to present content in a variety of different ways to ensure the site was properly indexed, if they chose to develop the site in Flash. This new algorithm will be able to index textual content contained within SWF files, such as Flash menus, buttons and banners, and self-contained Flash websites.

While this is obviously a great enhancement to Google’s already substantial indexing algorithms, I feel that a complete reliance on flash degrades the overall quality of a site. Don’t get me wrong, Flash can be spectacular, but in and of itself…not so much.

As cliché as it is to say, regarding web design the best route is generally everything in moderation. A well rounded site with solid textual content in addition to Flash content designed to enhance the aesthetic aspect of the site is going to benefit from this new algorithm. The problem arises with sites which rely completely on Flash content. Flash should never be a substitute for good old fashioned text based content, but rather, an additional aspect to a site’s overall content. A completely Flash site can now be expanded, by creating comprehensive SWF text files essentially describing your Flash content.

Flash has become an integral part to successful web design and this implementation by Google is going to further help the Flash community grow. This is a great addition to Google’s arsenal of indexing tools and it will be interesting to see this play out. I wonder if there will be significant changes in organic listings under certain search terms due to the inclusion of Flash content to the indexing process. This could definitely throw a wrench in the gears of small business sites because they may not have the expertise or financial ability to create/add Flash content to their sites. The importance of Flash content and how it factors into an overall ranking is yet to be seen, but there is no doubt that “the times, they are a changin’.”