Open up your mind and say, ahh...

Photo: Cambridge Consultants

One of the odd questions I keep being asked about the iPad is “Where do you plug in USB stuff?” It’s a sister phrase to the weird criticism oft thrust at Apple’s device, “Ah, it’s too limiting for me: I can’t plug in USB sticks.” This is weird because other makers, notably Apple’s biggest competitor, Samsung, follow the same proprietary connector path and because I’ve never once thought about plugging a stick into the iPad. Maybe, soon, most people won’t think like this either–because the USB memory stick is very swiflty about to be obsolete.

To understand why, you’ve only got to look at how ubiquitous they are now. They’re a handful of dollars at your convenience store, novelty designs compete with austere ones, and they’re thrown around like confetti as promos at tradeshows. Any tech that’s got to this level of commodity is due to be banished to the history books. It’s just the way of things.

I jest, but USB memory stick tech hasn’t really advanced ever, even while it’s flourished like crazy to fill a technological need–moving files swiftly and easily between computers, faster and with more convenience than burnable CDs. That’s partly why it’s got so cheap so fast. But this also means that a bunch of other technologies have been advancing, and are about to make the USB stick obsolete.

It’s all about the mobile computing revolution, which has done two very important things: introduced people to the idea of accessing wireless data on the go or anywhere they could imagine and also changed how people think about computer files.

What’s A USB Stick For, Anyway?

USB sticks are useful for two things: Storing files temporarily, and sharing with another computer user. To drop a file on your USB stick you use your computer’s file manager, then you pop it in the new computer and access it.

Dropbox, an app that’s used by 45 million people who upload 1 million files every finve minutes, is at the forefront of revolutionizing this entire idea, and it works wirelessly: To drop something into your Dropbox storage you simply do that … and it’s accessible on any computer you log into anywhere, and also on hordes of mobile devices like iPads, iPhones or their Android, Windows or RIM equivalents. You can even share access to the files you’ve got temporarily stored in your Dropbox with your friends, all with a click of an email.

With free tech like this why would you hunt down your USB stick, fiddle with files, wait while it transfers, disconnect it, stick it into the new device … and so on? Isn’t it easier to drop your data into Dropbox and then access it anywhere and anywhen?

Dropbox is actually part of the cloud computing explosion because when you drop a file into it it’s stored “in the cloud” ready to be accessed anywhere you need. iTunes Match does something similar, as does Spotify: Both are cloudy-tech, using slightly different systems, but both allow you as the end-user to access your files–music ones in this case–wherever you are. The Amazon Kindle tech is similar, because you can access your same book files on the Kindle e-readers or other devices anytime you like and your bookmarks and such are shared among them. In a similar sense apps like Instagram or Facebook or Twitter do the same for your photos and videos, with Flickr and Picasa being overtly for this use: You almost don’t need to “store” photos on your smartphone once you’ve taken them, as long as you upload them to a cloud-ish storage service like these, ready to access them anywhere.

Systems like this are becoming a standard way of accessing many of your most important files on different platforms. Meanwhile apps like Instapaper offer a similar trick for reading online articles later on–instead of having to save that long-form Sunday Times article you found on your desktop PC onto a USB stick so you can read it on your work laptop on a coffee break, you simply pop it into Instapaper and it keeps tabs on the article for you, so you can read it later on your laptop, tablet, or even your smartphone while commuting on the metro.

The Mobile Revolution

That’s the point at which devices like the smartphone or tablet enter the argument because as part of the design of their systems they really do make you think differently about files that you used to think of as “yours.” For example, all the photos you painstakingly load into Facebook on your home PC are instantly accessible via the Facebook app on your phone without you having to do anything, and ones you snap on your phone are instantly reachable at home.

Subtly the smartphone, which means mainly the iPhone, has changed how we all think about using mobile data and mobile Net tech–previously it was rarely accessed, and now we all do it all the time so its price has dropped (and it’s use is poised for a huge growth). These devices also seamlessly connect to Wi-Fi networks and thus are online pretty much all the time…which is absolutely key to enabling the kind of wireless file sharing that Dropbox enables or the wireless streaming that Spotify relies on.

We haven’t even mentioned Google’s rumored “Drive” system yet, either: A system that will carry all of Google’s brand might with it, as well as being seamlessly wound throughout Google’s other offerings, and presumably letting you access your files wherever you like for what maybe zero cost (as long as Google can sell you adverts). Nor have we mentioned iWork, Apple’s cloud-based business productivity suite that lets you work on documents stored in the cloud, or Microsoft’s Office 360 apps which let you do the same.

Basically wireless, mobile, and cloud-based tech are outpacing the humble USB stick faster than an avalanche racing down a mountain.

Daddy, What’s A USB Flash Drive?

That’s not to say USB sticks going to entirely disappear tomorrow. Wireless file-sharing or cloud storage isn’t yet completely flawless or super-accessible, and there are many users who will for a while prefer to use physical media like USB sticks to share data (and users who have to, such as between corporate computers that cannot be connected to networked services for security reasons). USB sticks are also a significant percentage of the business of big firms like SanDisk.

And there are specific super-smart uses of USB sticks that’ll stay around for ages yet–like GigMark’s updatable marketing ones. GigMark’s been in the business since 2008, and has some patented tech that makes the humble USB stick really clever: Their IFD, or interactive flash drive, is similar to a normal one, except it has a bunch of hardware on it that means it phones home when plugged in to see if there’s an update to its content available. It’s designed to launch customer-personalized desktop apps that present the brand in a high-tech way, and it can deliver critical user analytics back to the parent brand so they understand user’s needs more clearly. It’s basically a branded USB stick par excellence.

According to CEO Parker Frost the trick is it lets customers of GigMark tech “get that user-level analytic data without having users log in to websites” at the same time that the IFD itself and its software is “powerful, clever and engaging.” GigMark can even design custom packaging for the stick to match customer uses and the real strength is that if they’re used for storing catalog information, the client can update the catalog for, say, 2012 on all of its pre-distributed IFD sticks and they’ll also work offline–infinitely better, cheaper, and more reliable than printed catalogs.

This tech is supremely innovative, and no doubt is a hugely potent tool for marketing and for some specific use cases.

But we’re still poised to ring the death knell on the USB flash drive. Its use will persist in the same kind of role that GigMark has carved out because the physical drive itself can carry a tactile marketing message in the way an app on your smartphone can’t. But before long all your USB sticks will be gathering dust on your shelf because you’ll have changed how you access data, as well as having more powerful cloud-based alternatives for file transport, and will be used to transparently accessing your files on a host of different platforms. After all, Apple’s already decided that the USB stick’s predecessor, the burnable CD and DVD, are goners…so you’d better start letting go of notions like “I saved my file on my desktop” and “copy it from the stick to your c: drive.”

Image: Flickr user Kai Hendry

Dorothy Parker said, “I hate writing. I like having written.” I know many people who are like that about their business, their trade. I know many more people who love to fantasize about what life will be like when they make it, but they like to skip over the part with the hard work, or they give it a sentence or two.

Here’s a hint: the work part is what brings the money part.

In the world of smartphones, Windows Phone 7 is barely a blip. It has, by some estimates less than 6% market share. Android now owns half the market and iOS about 26%. This isn’t right. You see, the Windows Phone 7 is a good — possibly great — mobile platform. It’s better, in my opinion, than Android and nibbling at the heels of my favorite, iOS and the iPhone.

To understand why things are so out of whack and why I believe they could change, we need to take a closer look at a Windows Phone—which I did.

It’s now been a couple of weeks since I started using the HTC Radar 4G from T-Mobile. It’s one of the new Windows Phone 7.5 or “Mango” phones. As a phone, it’s good; calls come through loud and clear and the 4G is nice when I can get it. It’s not a beautiful or particularly striking handle like the iPhone 4S or Motorola Razr. Yet the somewhat dull combination of pearl, bushed aluminum and one-too-many rounded corners quickly fade into the background as soon I start using the phone.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone Metro interface is a malleable tower of hubs that brings more sense to your mobile world than virtually any other platform. Yes, it looks good. Windows Phone 7 features one of my favorite mobile interface color palettes–second only to the iPhone’s gray, rain drop speckled backdrop and consistent, brightly colored app icons.

Like the best smartphones, Windows Phone can use what you tell it to organize your friends, family, e-mail, appointments and more. It does a lot of what I like to call “connecting the dots” and creates a variety of serendipitous connections to your disparate world. The “Me” hub is one of my favorite innovations not only because it’s all about me, but because it brings together everything that matters and relates directly to me in one place.

Windows Phone is full of sensible touches and navigation that should make sense to the both smartphone veterans and neophytes. You can swipe up and down to see all of your tiles (or hubs), and once you’re inside a hub, you’re usually scrolling left to right you see different facets of information for that hub. Yes, you can add and remove tiles. I added Gmail and Twitter.

Things don’t disappear on the phone because they often bubble up to one of the hubs. The ever-present picture tile means my photos are one tap away, my always updating e-mail box (which automatically groups emails by sender) means I can find new messages in a tap. The People hub is an ever-rotating patchwork of smaller pictures of the people who are active in my social/digital world. In other words, I can learn a lot with very little effort.

That kind of one-click-away M.O. is evident throughout the phone and it points to Microsoft’s larger strategy: to simplify the smartphone experience. All Window Phones have a Windows Phone home button, a Bing search button and the ability to bring up the camera simply by holding down a physical camera button for a second or two. If I want to share a photo, I simply tap on the eclipses that appear at the bottom of each, picture, I can then share it on Facebook or Twitter, both smoothly integrated into the Windows Phone system.

For the most part, this simplicity matches much of what you can find on the Apple iPhone—which is my main phone, by the way. iOS 5, for example, integrates Twitter, just as smartly as Windows Phone does and the act of capturing—double tap the home button—and sharing out an image feels not dissimilar across platforms. It is notable, though, that the Windows Phone places your pictures not on Twitter’s photo sharing service, but on SkyDrive—the Microsoft’s cloud-based storage and file-sharing service (Apple now uses iCloud and photo stream). And this points to another important, growing similarity between Apple and Microsoft’s mobile platform.

The ecosystem. Yes, with Microsoft Windows Phone 7 you enter what appears to be an impressively well thought out ecosystem, driven largely by your Windows Live or Hotmail account. Once you use this, the Windows phone will bring in whatever contacts, calendar and more it can from your account and then weave it all together with other phone services (like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn). Windows Phone is also, naturally, a perfect companion for anyone who lives in Microsoft Office. Office files you save on the phone are automatically saved to your SkyDrive account. From there you can share them via e-mail or directly from your SkyDrive account. It smart, and well integrated with the broader Windows Phone and Microsoft cloud ecosystem.

This ecosystem, however, is not a perfect circle yet. Windows Phones will still, for example, default to funneling your App purchases through the wireless carrier, unless you proactively add a credit card to your Windows Live account and then choose to use it. With the iPhone, my iTunes account is set-up offline and once I log in with my phone, it knows who I am and who to charge—the carrier never comes into play. I’m certain, though. Microsoft, will eventually match Apple on ecosystem simplicity.

Windows Phone 7.5 is not an iOS 5 doppelganger. The screen metaphors are all different. The keyboard, for instance, has a much sharper, almost sterner look. I’m just as poor a typist on it as I am on the iPhone’s virtual keyboard. The way each phone handles typos differs as well: instead of autocorrect, Windows Phones suggest words in a bar above what you’re typing (I prefer this). Text selection is different and, in some ways, more precise than on the iPhone—no magnifying bubble, just a cursor that sits above where you’re pointing. However, nothing in Windows Phone 7.5 should confuse any current iPhone or Android user.

Microsoft would be happy, I think, being a solid number three in the smartphone marketplace — behind Android and iOS — but why settle for #3? I actually prefer Windows Phone to most any Android device I’ve used and I think the Microsoft Windows Phone ecosystem, though still clunky at times, offers a better, smoother, more extensible experience than anything found on the multitude of inconsistent Android devices on the market today.

It’s true, Microsoft and its partners did a terrible job positioning and promoting Windows Phone over the last 12 months, and it still makes dumb moves. My biggest peeve is the lack of screen capture. Microsoft figures only developers and media folks like me care about it. That may be true, but how do you think we’re going to spread the word on those gorgeous Windows Phone screens if we can’t grab a good copy and post it online? I’m sure this is something Apple considered when including the feature in the iPhone.

Despite this, Microsoft’s approach to marketing Windows Phones is clearly changing. It’s undertaken and aggressive campaign (they threw a huge, day-long-bash in Herald Square New York) and I think the carrier partners may finally be getting behind the platform. Plus, there are now a number of excellent, lust-worthy and super affordable Windows Phone 7.5 devices on the market. The time is ripe for Windows Phone 7.5 to grab the spotlight. Now, are you ready to grab a Windows Phone? Let me know in the comments.

The Social Analyst is a column by Mashable Editor-at-Large Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space.

It’s safe to say that AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has had a pretty awful couple of weeks.

When AT&T announced its blockbuster acquisition of T-Mobile, it seemed as if a fundamental shift in the wireless market was inevitable. Even with opposition from Sprint, many assumed AT&T’s strategic planning and lobbying dollars would win it approval for the $39 billion deal.

All of AT&T’s plans are out the window now, though.

Late last month, in a surprisingly swift move, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to block the deal. The DoJ filed a civil antitrust lawsuit backed by the FCC, drastically reducing the chances that the wireless giant could complete the merger.

AT&T and Deutsche Telekom (parent company of T-Mobile USA) quickly moved to downplay the decision, claiming that they were “confident that this merger is in the best interest of consumers and our country, and the facts will prevail in court.”

Since then, two more parties have gotten involved on each side of the debate. On one side, 15 Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Obama urging his administration to resolve its concerns about the deal and “approve the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA.”

On the other side, seven states this week joined the Department of Justice lawsuit. California, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Washington are now parties to the case. Their entry doesn’t bode well for AT&T.

The Possibilities

1. DoJ wins its case and blocks the AT&T merger.

2. AT&T wins its case and the merger moves forward.

3. AT&T withdraws its acquisition before a decision is rendered.

4. AT&T and the DoJ settle the case, and the merger moves forward with conditions.

Of the four, #2 is the most unlikely. The DoJ doesn’t like picking antitrust fights it cannot win, and AT&T would definitely have to find creative ways to convince a judge that a T-Mobile acquisition wouldn’t hurt competition. Outcome #1 is also unlikely — we believe that AT&T would withdraw its acquisition before suffering an embarrassing defeat in court.

That leaves either a settlement or a withdrawal of its acquisition. It’s clear at this point that AT&T is hoping to find some way to settle with the DoJ to get the deal done. “We have been and remain interested in a solution that addresses the DOJ’s issues with the T-Mobile merger,” AT&T said in a statement when the news broke of the seven states joining the DoJ’s case.

In the end, this could all be posturing by the DoJ to get concessions out of AT&T before approving the deal. More likely though, this is the DoJ putting its foot down on a deal that many (including me) believe to be bad for consumers.

AT&T’s arguments that the deal will not hurt competition sounds like convoluted drivel from desperate spin doctors. One of the company’s big arguments — that the merger would bring 4G LTE coverage to rural areas faster — was quickly destroyed after a leaked letter revealed AT&T could make the same 4G LTE upgrades for $3.8 billion, a fraction of the cost of T-Mobile.

The bottom line is this: The merger is anti-competitive no matter how you slice it, and there was no way the DoJ could let this deal pass.

It’s not the outcome Randall Stephenson was hoping for. AT&T is going to experience a lot more pain before the outcome of this case is finally decided.

One thing I know: we never learn something until we’re ready to learn it.

I learn slower than others, believe it or not. I think the reason that it takes me a while to learn is that I learned at an early age to question the status quo and to question authority. Instead of just accepting what was, I’d have to believe it for myself. Parents know this experience well, don’t we? “Don’t move that or it will fall and break.” Moments later: crash. That was me. That is me. I learn mostly at my own hands.

Jeff Pulver once counseled me on a price change I intended to make in a conference. The price of the event was at something like $1295, and I wanted to make it $595. I said, “I can get many more people to buy at $595, because more people can afford it.” Jeff told me, “Believe it or not, it’s better to get fewer people to buy at $1295, and it takes just as much effort to do either, so you might as well do it for the higher ticket price.” Impossible, I was sure. Of course, I was wrong. I failed miserably. (To his credit, Jeff allowed me to fail, even though that meant making his company less money. This is a huge lesson to business owners, insofar as that lesson will forever be with me.)

Teaching and Learning

Most of us are better at teaching than learning. I know that I am. It’s because we know what we know, and we feel comfortable teaching that to others (most times). Learning is different. We don’t like that feeling of not knowing. Sometimes, we are embarrassed by admitting our ignorance in front of others. When I first started at my wireless telecom job, I remember that a lot of people were talking about a “NOC.” I had no idea what it was. I thought it was a piece of technology. So, I just stayed mum for quite a while during the conversations that involved the word. One day, I finally mentioned “NOC” in the appropriate point in a conversation, and it was immediately obvious that I had no idea what it was. Someone walked me down to the room known as the “Network Operations Center,” where a bunch of people monitored our wireless network. Ugh.

It’s important to be aware of this, though: we teach what we know, and we’re afraid or embarrassed at times to learn. Because two problems arise from that. On the one hand, we look with our limited perspective on problems and believe that we have the answer and can even teach others with the answer we understand. On the other hand, if we’re shying away from learning, we’re shying away from growth. Neither is a great place to be, and MOST OF US do this all the time, whether or not we’re conscious of it.

Another Potential Sin: Preaching

When one learns something new, the BEST way to learn it even better is to teach it to others. But there’s a danger to this. If you teach because someone’s interested in learning, that’s great. If you PREACH because you suddenly feel enlightened, then you’re in jeopardy of angering and frustrating your friends and loved ones. It’s a very fine balance. You’re trying to practice what you’ve learned, but in so doing, you might accidentally cross a line into preaching at someone, instead of sharing learning.

Remember, people don’t immediately agree to being taught. You don’t, most likely. That said, if someone asks, that’s another whole matter, right?

Learn When You’re Ready

Learning and lifelong learning are part of how I succeed at what I do. But I’ve come to realize that I can only learn certain lessons when I’m ready to learn them. It’s never on someone else’s timetable, even if that’s what would be best. Learning is so very important, but you as a learner have to be open to the lessons.

What are you learning these days? How open are you to learning? Are you willing to accept that what you’re teaching is “old” and that maybe there’s some learning you could devote yourself to that would grow your capabilities?

Nintendo may have started the motion controller phenomenon with the Wii, but Microsoft and Sony are taking the console wars to a new level. This holiday season, there will be a three-way war for supremacy of your living room.

On November 19th, 2006, Nintendo launched its seventh-generation console, the Wii. The device was unlike any gaming console ever created, due to the wireless motion Wiimote controllers. While some ridiculed it for its lack of processing power or HD graphics, its tremendous sales and reach among casual gamers have made Nintendo the top dog in the gaming market.

Now Microsoft and Sony are putting the focus on motion controllers with the Kinect and the Playstation Move respecitvely. But how will this three-way battle play out? Who will remain standing after the dust clears?

Proactive vs. Reactive

Even though the Xbox 360 came out first, the Nintendo Wii has been the undisputed winner of this generation’s console wars, at least thus far. Over 70 million units have been sold, compared to 40 million for the Xbox 360 and 35 million for the PlayStation 3.

Nintendo took a major risk with its Wiimote system. Nobody had seen anything like it before in gaming, and nobody was sure that Nintendo’s focus on casual gamers would succeed. Its proactive approach though has paid off beautifully, and Microsoft and Sony are playing catch-up.

Sony and Microsoft are tackling motion control in completely different ways, though. The PlayStation Move (which I’ve tried) uses a Wiimote-like controller and pairs it with a PlayStation Eye camera, which tracks your movement and puts it on the screen. But as I said back in March, Sony played it safe with the Move. My assessment is that it’s just a fancier and more accurate Wiimote.

Microsoft, on the other hand, realized that it couldn’t win by just improving on Nintendo’s innovations — it had to go a step further. I’ve heard nothing but excitement surround Kinect and its controller-free technology. It essentially turns the Xbox 360 into a new console by reinventing the gaming experience.

It’s Still Nintendo’s Game to Lose

In a few month, the PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect will be out in store shelves, along with the Wii and the Wii MotionPlus, which provides more a more accurate motion control experience. You can expect a huge amount of interest from consumers in all of these motion control devices. You should also expect the motion controller wars to last for years, not months.

Nintendo has a huge lead. People still want Wiis and they still fly off shelves, especially around the holidays. The buzz and excitement around Xbox Kinect is going to hit fever pitch before its release. The PlayStation 3 has been recovering from its weak start with a “slim” version of the console, released last September.

Overall, the landscape is becoming more competitive, and the technology involved in motion controllers is still young. However, while the PlayStation Move should fare just fine, don’t expect Sony to win the motion controller war — you don’t win by playing it safe.

The ultimate battle will be between Nintendo and Microsoft, and it will last until the next generation of consoles emerges (prediction: Nintendo will come out with a new console first).

It’s Nintendo’s game to lose, but Microsoft is going to put up one hell of a fight. It should make for some incredible games.