Michael Sampson on Collaboration

Calendaring: Why Isn't It Just Like Email?

Investigates the lack of interoperability in calendaring systems, leading to difficulties in free-busy search across organizations.

"A shot in the dark from a blind-folded hunter has an extremely slim probability of doing anything but making noise. Yet for pretty much everyone involved in scheduling meetings today, we wear blindfolds and end up only making electronic noise. "Are you free at 10am on Tuesday to talk about the strategic review?" We write in email messages to the people we want to meet with, hoping against hope that it won't take too long to get a meeting arranged. Unlike the ubiquity and open channels for communication we experience with email, calendaring is stuck in the dark ages."

You can download the PDF (3.1 MB, 48 pages). The article starts on page 10.

Social Bookmarking

Looks at the use of social bookmarking in the enterprise. Explains the difference between taxonomy and folksonomy.

"The daily information tsunami facing managers and knowledge workers isn't showing signs of abating. There's new and different information to review, numbers to reconcile, and people to keep up-to-date. Managing this tsunami and retaining the relevant, while discarding the debris, is the personal and corporate information management challenge of our age. Classification is one strategy for doing so. It helps us to distinguish between different items, to organize what we know, and to analyze the relationships between multiple things."

You can download the PDF (3.1 MB, 48 pages). The article starts on page 20.

Palm Foleo: Falls Short of First Base, Let Alone a Home Run

Comments on the newly announced Palm Foleo device, ultimately concluding that its market appeal is limited.

 

 

"With its 10-inch screen and full-size keyboard, the Palm Foleo mobile companion connects wirelessly with your smartphone to help you do more on the go. Unfold it, press a button, and it's on instantly—while just one touch brings your email to the big screen.1 Use your Foleo to view attachments, type longer emails, or to get a bigger look at web pages and photos you'd normally view on your smartphone.2 And with up to five hours of battery life packed into such a compact design, you'll do big things wherever you go."

 

Read the article online, at Michael's blog.