Hello there Neeks, this is the first of what could be a new tradition for SOMM, a CrossOver Debate. When Lasha asked me to write a column about “why the iphone sucks as a business machine” due to my devotion of the greatest little business machine in the Blackberry, I gladly accepted the challenge. For those that don’t know me, my name is Frank and I am the Chief Creative Director/Editorial Director of Sliceofmymind.com. Lasha is a great friend of mine and my “to go guy” for anything Apple and I’m his techie for anything Windows related. With the formalities behind us, let’s get straight to the topic at hand.

You can call me a tech savvy person or geek for short given that I can’t keep away from anything technological, but when Apple first announced the iPhone I wasn’t floored like the majority of geeks. I’ve always been a lover of Research in Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry and the iPhone wasn’t going to create any voids in that relationship. I knew the iPhone was going to be killer device, but when I heard some of my friends calling the iPhone a BB killer, I quickly shouted foul. The BlackBerry as a business device is leagues ahead of the iPhone. There are many reasons why the iPhone can’t tackle the Blackberry as a business phone, but I’m going to give you my top five reasons….

Here’s a household item that could possibly change your life forever. Are you lazy to leave your house? Well, if you answered yes to that, this is the perfect (or not) product for you.

Once you manage to get this “treadmill” into your living room, consider yourself free of any whiney voices telling you to get off your behind and exercise a little. At a hefty $5,000, I doubt many people will be able to take advantage of it. For that price, you can get a (lifetime) memebership at a gym, plus a heck of a lot more fun than a table with a low-powered treadmill attatched to it. I’m a fan of Steelcase’s products but this is just…silly. What do you think?

By now, most of you have probably heard about the rumors of Steve Jobs preparing his retirement. Although we may never know whether or not this is true, it is clearly evident that changes are occuring.

So many famous moments have been recorded into the history books at these events throughout the years, primarily the iPhone. I wonder if Apple is going to do something HUGE for their last and final Macworld appearance, or if it will be a quiet departure.

Continue after the jump for the list:

When companies use efficient technology to operate their business, less people are needed to get the job done. Yes, I am referring to the recent technical specialist layoffs from Netflix due to the simplicity of Microsoft’s Silverlight video player. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to easy to use technology, but what’s next?

Good design, maybe? I think so. I firmly believe that good design is a major part of what makes something a pleasure to use. Whether it’s software or some kind of a device, companies will invest in producing better products to reduce support funding. Now, this isn’t exactly the best thing for the job market as it will reduce the amount of jobs for support specialists, but competition will surely be on the rise.

It’s too early to determine the exact direction companies will take, but it would be great to see an increase in the design & development departments, working to create better products. We will hopefully see a rise in the quality of products now that mass production does not work as well as it did yesterday. Things will eventually start to pick up again when confidence levels stabilize.

All I can say to the people running these businesses is this: Create, innovate, care, and pay attention!

A little over a week ago, I stumbled across something that had me in awe. Adobe is working on a video editing technology that brings object placement and integration to a whole new level. Instead of trying to explain it, just watch this:

Imagine all the possibilities this will unravel, and the amount of jobs that will be lost because of the ridiculous ease of manipulating objects. Nonetheless, I would love to see the technology implemented into future versions of After Effects and the likes. If you are into video editing, what are your thoughts particularly – is it a big deal, or no so much?

Microsoft, Sony, and Best Buy have joined the fight with Amazon against the terrible packaging! After all the struggling and the thousands of injuries reported by hospitals each year, major players in the technology retail world are joining the fight. Yes, we are all aware that it is because of the security reasons, but designers can invent clever ways of packaging products that won’t hurt us, or the earth!

I might even start getting into eco-friendly packaging design semi-professionally, just to help this movement. Plus, I love coming up with new ways of doing things. Death to steel-like containers!

I have been reading a lot of reports lately about how Facebook is headed towards financial issues, and how MySpace is just…you know, MySpace. Have you asked yourself what a lot of people’s lives would be like without them?

Over the years, Social Networking has turned into the “must have” of the online world like the almighty euphoric Tomogotchi of the past! The millions of accounts that have been created and the type of connectivity that has developed was simply unthought of just a few years ago. Now, it has grown to a point where it is the primary method of communication, getting in touch with old friends, event planning, etc.

Imagine if the 2 giants, Myspace and Facebook, were to fail. What would people do, go back to email? Not gonna happen. People will try to find the next big thing to bombard by the millions so they can maintain their dosage of social network morphine. After all, everyone is turning into online junkies for everything. Work? Online. Staying in touch? Online. Fun and Games? Online. Sexual pleasure? Online (how unfortunate). More after the jump…

I don’t know about you, but every time I get a chance to test something in its beta form, I’m psyched and excited to catch and squash every single problem! Apparently, this is not the case with many beta testers out there. This applies to video games, websites, software, and so forth. Yes, I know; you’re probably thinking about how many times you’ve ran into stupid problems with software that didn’t make sense.

I’m not the one to usually point fingers but this time, I will be putting together a list of applications, websites, and games that I encounter these problems in. A lot of problems include interface bugs, illogical layout design, bad placement of elements, lack of searchability, and so forth. If you’re interested to see what I’m talking about, I’ll post a list of things that bother me (and others) really soon.

If you’re a beta tester, I urge you to stop taking advantage and start paying attention to actually fixing and bettering the product you are testing. If not, STOP! You’re hurting the company and everyone else that will use the product.

Out of curiosity, I would like to see what annoys you guys about some websites, applications, etc. Thanks!

Sony’s true intentions with this marketing move makes me wonder. Clearly, their marketing teams are aware that they are over 3 years late on the whole “designed for…” accessory branding bandwagon. Maybe this was done just for the heck of it, to test the waters on what kind of response they would get. If exposure is what Sony is after with this new accessory tagging, they won’t be getting much of it with a 2% market share.

To put it straight out, Sony has been in the market long enough to make whatever business decision, and for it to be completely okay. Their experience in the field is extensive, but the current position is 4th from the top. Honestly, I have NEVER seen a Sony Walkman accessory in a retail store. Have you?

What does it mean to be a fanboy? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? And most of all, are you one? Lately, these are the questions I’ve been asking myself and others, young and old. Now, let’s get into the juicy stuff.

I am a fanboy, and chances are, so are you. Whether you like it or not, it’s natural for humans to prefer certain products from preferred companies. For example, my father is a hardcore Sony fan. No matter what you tell him, he will tell you that Sony makes the best TVs, camcorders, stereos, DVD players, and so forth. Why? Simple. In his lifetime, he clearly had great experiences with Sony products so getting everything with the Sony brand would lead him to believe that he’s getting top-notch quality.

Is it wrong to be a fanboy? No, but it’s certainly wrong to be an asshole – And this is something a lot of people confuse. In any given conversation, I’ve witnessed the expressions on people’s faces change because one person preferred a product or service that wasn’t the same as everyone else. Read on for more…