Monday, June 21, 2010

Attaching Digital Content In Places You'd Never Expect...

If you haven’t heard of the latest and possibly greatest in the social media world… then you need to check out Yes the company name and website may seem slightly dirty, but the company creates barcodes that you can “stick” anywhere. A few major corporations (such as Pepsi) have faith in Stickybits and it might just be the next big thing in social media.

I understand the idea of scanning barcodes with an iPhone or android may seem pointless… But I can see where they’re trying to go with this. Pepsi is going to attach fun “bits and stories” to their barcodes on all Pepsi products, allowing consumers to read fun facts and stories about their products, as well as the ability to attach their own.

This whole idea could also revolutionize the health industry, as well as the food industry. Think about this: You’re walking through the grocery store trying to find a quick snack. You’re faced with 18 different choices of crackers, and want to figure out which ones taste the best, are overall the best for you, best price, etc… Instead of trying to make an educated guess all by your lonesome, you can scan the barcode and see what other people have to say about this. No, I do not recommend this while shopping for your entire list of things, but for certain products it could be really helpful to those corporations who choose to embrace this early on.

Another unique, yet highly innovative use of these are for business cards (pic). You can create a simple business card on the website and they print a barcode on the back of it. What could you use this for? Well, since the website allows you to attach anything to these codes, it’s easy to attach resumes, cover letters, previous work examples, websites to the code. Instead of handing over all of these documents, all a recruiter or acquaintance needs is a small card and the rest of your documents are already there.

Even though this company is still in the beginning stages, I will definitely keep my eye on them and see how they progress and morph into their next stage. Innovators surely need to keep an eye on this company, as well as think a step ahead for what they would like to do with such a company.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Trending Now: Mobile Health

Think of any health topic you have ever had a question about... Diabetes? Dieting? Sleep apnea? We've all heard "there's an app for that" one too many times, but thanks to mobile health, there are tons of developers out there creating websites iPhone apps, Droid apps, smartphone compatible websites based on each health or medical question you may have.

Over the past few months I have had the pleasure of working with a mobile health company who is focusing on creating useful and helpful mobile apps for their customers and clients. I knew little about the mhealth world before I began working with them, and quickly found that mhealth can be a very general term for a wide variety of services and information. The mhealth community consists of all sorts of characters, such as doctors, health care practitioners, and those working directly in the medical community as well as advertising agencies, interactive agencies and marketers trying to find their place in the mobile health world.

Over the past few months I have read numerous articles about the possibilities, barriers, risks, and goals of all mobile health voices and can tell that this is the newest hot trend and industry to look out for. There are SO MANY ways that mobile health can go, and so many ways it can be developed. The ideas are endless and it has the possibility to lower health care costs, increase patient/doctor trust and interactivity, and spread information about prevention throughout the US, as well as the world.

Mobile health is definitely a topic to keep up on because the industry is literally changing every few weeks. There is always someone pushing the limits, going further than the last innovative idea.

Here are some fantastic resources to catch up on Mobile Health:






www.mobihealthnews.com
www.healthcareitnews.com
www.unfoundation.org/global-issues
www.imedicalapps.com

So, check them out and follow mobile health news and trends if they interest you because I can guarantee that in the next few years, even the next few months, mobile health will be taking the world and industry by storm.