Blogs + webfeeds + podcasting + iPod Shuffle = Business Solution

The guys at Infosential, a UK-based technology consultancy, have developed a great way to piece together some simple technologies (blogs, RSS, MP3, iPod Shuffle) in order to create a seamless competitive intelligence solution for a globe-trotting client.
Here’s the problem:

Our client is the classic Type-A personality, time-poor, stressed executive with too much to do and too little time to do it – he spends most of his life on planes in transit between meetings. He needs to keep up with the key developments in competitor intelligence, but gets very little opportunity to sit in front of a screen to browse through reports. Neither does he want to drag a large pile of paper around with him.

The solution, according to Tim Ducketts, starts by monitoring a variety of web-based information sources and recording the ones that may be of interest for their client. These recordings are made available as an RSS feed and the client can access these 3-4 minute recordings from anywhere in the world and then easily transfer them to an iPod Shuffle. The Shuffle measures 8.4 x 2.5 x 0.84 cm, which makes it pretty darned small.

This kind of a practical solution to a real-world problem validates the many hours of my monitoring and testing of new technologies, often without knowing where it will lead. In the end, I try to offer similar solutions that link a few of the right technologies with some innovative process and a little bit of insight in order to help somebody out. Well done Tim & Wayne.