Having used Apple‘s products through most of my professional career, I was saddened to hear of Steve Job’s passing on October 5, 2011. Reflecting on his legacy, along with the multitude of Apple media and computer products I’ve used in my life, I felt an urge to pay small homage to his design insight with the following photo.

This grouping includes the older beige products developed prior to Steve Jobs' return in 1996 through the translucent cases and more machine-crafted parts (center-left)

Steve Jobs was ousted from the company he co-founded in 1985. Upon his return in 1996 he steered product development coupled with a clean design ethic that turned Apple, Inc. into the chic brand we know today. You can see the evolution of his influence, and great examples of key projects including a blue-and-white G3 Power Mac (1999), and the Power Mac G4 Cube (2000) and four different iPods (Classic’02, Shuffle’06, Nano 3G’07, & Touch’08), along with the iPhone 4 and the original Mac Mini (2005). Note the initial migration away from beige boxes as seen from the dark grey PowerCD (1993) unit to the QuickTake 200 camera (1997) and the black Powerbook G3 laptops at the left side of the photo. These later gave way to extensive use of translucent plastics and colors, and finally machined aluminum and polished glass. (The keyboards and mice from each era also reflect this transition – four of which are shown here.)

Curiously, all of the devices shown here still operate flawlessly, though most are defunct by nature of their I/O connectivity and inability to run current software.

Product Names and Timeline of Apple Products Shown Above

After months of speculation by technology aficionados, Apple, Inc. is expected to announce the details of the iPhone 5 when Tim Cook, the new CEO of Apple takes the stage on Tuesday, October 4th. The discussion has served as both the jewel and the bane of tech blogs and podcasts. Predictions, criticisms, and praise have been volleyed and the only sure thing at present time is that tomorrow’s media event will soon be followed by months of analysis and subjective observation as to whether or not the iPhone 5 is a successful product.

What most people fail to see, though, is that we already know more about the up-and-coming iPhone than we realize, if we just took a moment to understand that the majority of the tech writers are not asking themselves the right questions. They do not realize that the main reason the iPhone has been so successful to date is because Apple is a design-oriented organization and pushes itself forward through more of a holistic mentality. Instead of asking ourselves what we want the next iPhone to do, what specifications it should have, or what we want it to look like, we should simply ask ourselves “What does the iPhone want to be?” It is from this question that we can derive the future direction of the product line, because that’s the question that Apple likely uses to drive all future development of it’s products.

In my own humble, design-oriented prognostication exercise, here are a few key directions:

1. The iPhone wants to be UNIVERSAL. A cell phone is a useful tool, but only if it can be used wherever and however we want it. There are presently too many competing cellular standards out there, and I’m certain that Apple, Inc. would love to change that. The early days of railroads were plagued by the lack of standardized rail gauges and the present state of cellular communication is not much different. Apple has a vested interest in pushing for a more global standard in cellular service. The iPhone 4 was their first foray onto the Verizon network in the U.S., but to date it requires hardware that is not transferable to AT&T.

2. The iPhone wants to be SMALL. Cell phones are constantly with us, but they remain neither elegant nor convenient to carry and use. Their present form factor is either going to leave a bulge in our pockets, or get caught up in seat-belts if we strap it externally to our hip. The desire for a big, usable screen battles our requisite need to carry it around. The number one reason my wife feigns interest in owning an iPhone for herself is that until it’s available in a smaller form factor, she simply won’t want to tote it. In an era where LCD screens populate our living rooms, work spaces, automobiles, retail shops, and public spaces why do we need to carry more of them around? For those lucky enough to carry an iPad, do you still use your phone to watch movies, play games or go online? Probably not, since a larger screen in most cases equates to a better experience. Battery life to power these big screens has become a huge overhead in such a small device. Is it time that the interface begins to peel away from the flat, non-tactile glass that all smart phones sport these days?
photo credit: {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}

3. The iPhone wants to be USABLE. How many times have you missed a call because you couldn’t fish your phone out of a pocket or purse fast enough? How many times have you missed a message because the ring was too muffled from being stowed in your pocket or briefcase? Does this sound like good design for a device that is supposed to primarily serve as a telephone? Thankfully the implementation of Bluetooth connectivity has solved most of these challenges for me while driving — I never have to worry about which pocket my phone is in, or struggling to see the screen to dial out or answer an incoming call. Instead, this information is integrated into the environment around me as my radio mutes and the dashboard visually notifies me of the call details whenever I’m on the road. Shouldn’t this be the model for the rest of my user experience?

4. The iPhone wants to be INTEGRATED. Steve Jobs first publicly described Apple’s overall desktop strategy as a digital hub back in 2001. Much has changed since then, but the need for a unification of our communications is more imperative than ever. Our smartphones have become our window to the world. They video conference. They keep us up-to-date with social networks. They push our calendars to our co-workers. They identify the pieces of information that would otherwise hold up casual conversations around the world such as the name of an actor or lyrics to a song. They find the closest gas station. With continuing development of cloud-based services, it’s safe to declare that the digital hub will continue to push ever further into our lives, and that devices such as our cell phone will become more omnipresent than they already are.

5. The iPhone needs to be SECURE. It only takes one negative instance to turn your user experience into a distrustful one. Apple knows that and to date has taken its share of criticism for restricting its iOS environment so tightly. When cell phones are used as our digital wallet, the stakes are at their highest. Ongoing development of the iPhone platform will undoubtedly carry further security mandates to anchor its reputation as dependable in both the consumer and corporate economies.

So what will the next iPhone look like? The only thing we know for certain is that Tim Cook will be sporting a highly finessed device that is designed to integrate with all the rich media hardware that Apple has worked so hard to create. As a designer, I look forward to seeing what form factor that becomes.

Instagram is one of the fastest, most popular social photo sharing services available. With a reported 4.5 million users in its first 7 months, this iPhone app has quickly become a best friend to us “wanna-be-photographers” with its user friendly filters that turn bland photos in to retro-hipster works of art.

With a released API in recent months, there have been a number of developers who’ve extended this service in to other creative applications. I came across Shelly Kramer’s post from V3 Integrated Marketing which detailed one of these many applications and intrigued as towards to possibilities of using Instagram as an interactive, fun and engaging part of trade shows and events.

There are a number of other apps that have made a splash with Instagram’s API that have showcased the limitless possibilities and creativity. There are numerous ones designed to enhance the Instagram viewing experience, but a couple stand out as having fun and interesting potential for use and events and trade shows.

Screenstagram

What is it: As shared by Shelly & V3, this Mac download turns your built in screensaver in to a photo wall streamed from you and your friend’s profiles. A simple setup process displays and transitions images beautifully, in true Instagram fashion.

How it can be used: Engage attendees pre-event and onsite and invite them in to your Instgram circle. Have them take and share photos of each other. Challenge them to a photo scavenger hunt. For trade show exhibitors, having a large display with updated photos is a great way to bring attendees back to see photos of themselves and other users.

Instaprint

What is it: Instaprint brings back the Polaroid days and turns your digital photos in to a remote printing station. Photos are printed based on location or hashtag, making it perfect for events.

How it can be used: What a fun idea for a private event or trade show! Bring the old time photo booth back and let attendees engage with each other or other photo ops you have integrated.

As we continue to observe the increasing trend in mobile applications to the world of business and the trade show world, we’re happy to announce today that Tradeshow Insight has released an advanced web-app version, formatted for the iPhone, iPad and other mobile platforms. Powered by WPTouch Pro, this “hybrid” between an app and mobile website optimizes our blog and articles in a format that is fitting for the mobile environment and its ever changing landscape.

Some features included in this update:

• Web-App Enabled – Bookmark and use from your home screen. Enjoy a “browser-less” experience, with the latest HTML5 & Javascript technologies.

• Native iPad Use – Touch, scroll and swipe as you would a normal app. You already know how to use it!

• Support for future Tablets – As the “tablet war” grows, Tradeshow Insight will continue to adapt to the newest and brightest of the pack.

• Commenting – Fly in comments make reading and creating discussions a breeze – and fun!

• Real Time – Built on AJAX technology, comments are show immediately after posting.

• App Menu Popups – Browse pages, recent & popular articles along with tags and categories.

• Flickr Integration – Peek at recent photos from the trade show world from within a menu popup – Without leaving your article.

• Smartphone Support – Download the web-app for your iPhone and get the same features – on the go!

• Wide Platform Support – Tradeshow Insight Mobile now supports Android, Blackberry, Palm OS and Samsung touch mobile visitors.

To use a mobile formatted version of this site, simple visit tradeshowinsight.com and follow the on screen instructions to enable the web-app! Then, come back and tell us what you think!!

Earlier this year, I shared a few iPhone Apps that would be perfect for the tradeshow environment. With the introduction of the iPad, many immediately saw the value of this niche product for the event world. With a few months for a library of exclusively design apps to accumulate, I’ve decided to follow up with a list of my favorite applications.

Why the iPad is perfect for tradeshows:

The iPad goes where your laptop can’t and it’s size is advantageous over the iPhone. It’s the perfect “in-between” device for both attendees and exhibitors to be productive and share information with each other. The brilliant and beautiful screen display is perfect for demos and presentations and it’s speed and integration with other progressive products and software makes it an impossible display to ignore.

bCards Pro ($1.99)

Most business cards are thrown away within the first 24 hours of exchange. Many of those are due to the inconvenience of manual data transfer. Business cards scanners are great for obtaining your attendee info, but nearly as important is ensuring YOUR info lands in your attendee’s address book.

bCards Pro will send your contact info, in a vCard format, via email or Wifi transfer directly to your attendees smartphone – instantly. Be creative – leave a personalized note in your contact details or a friendly ‘thank you’ for the time they spent with you.

(also available for iPhone)

Simple Job Proposal ($4.99)

So you’re nearing that deal on the tradeshow floor. Using Simple Job Proposal, you can create a customized proposal for your customer, on the spot. Using an iPad stylus, you can even pull signatures into your proposal. No need to print documents. No need to fax a copy. Simply email the document to your customer and end the paper trail before they leave your exhibit.

Dropbox (Free)

One of my personal favorites, Dropbox is leading the way in cloud based storage and document management. With your free account, you can view and manage photos, videos, documents and presentations from your iPad. Furthermore, your Dropbox account allows you to synchronize between your computer and other mobile devices.

Developing a directory of tradeshow collateral with Dropbox makes sharing brochures, product specification sheets, presentations, photos, demos, videos, etc. extremely convenient. You’ll also free yourself from the expenses of printing and shipping materials, which can be easily shared with anyone right from within the app.

(also available for iPhone)

Conference Pad ($4.99)

A large advantage with the iPad is the high versatility with a fairly competitive cost. If you’re giving a presentation at a tradeshow, you can simultaneously control your demo on any number of iPads, iPhone or iPod touches. By passing out devices to attendees or strategically placing them throughout your exhibit or conference, you can deconstruct the projection screen and customize your presentation around your environment. All devices respond as you do – slide changing, pinching and zooming, even a laser pointer function – all adds a touch of user interaction.

Popplet ($8.99)

Add an interest and level of interaction with your attendees with creativity from Popplet. This app is a visual idea sharing organizer. Create an idea board based on a topic or question and let your attendees add their own responses to the board. Incorporate photos of attendees or their experiences throughout the event.

(a Lite version is also available)

Are you using the iPad at your tradeshow at events? What creative apps or uses have you come across to utilize this new piece of technology? How do you think it will effect the tradeshow industry in the future?

I recently had a chance to attend the worlds largest hospitality technology show, I had this opportunity thanks to two of Echelon’s newest clients Cetis, Inc. and Intelity who were exhibiting.  Cetis, Inc. is a leader in hospitality and enterprise phones, you can trace their roots back to 1983 (who doesnt love the 80′s).  Intelity is a fairly new technology company that gives guests of the hotel the capability to order any and all services offered by the property through the use of your iPad, iPhone and other devices.  Simply put, you can order room service, valet service, etc all with one touch on your favorite device.

The Cetis exhibit was a custom rental that we designed to be warm and inviting, a place that you might want to sit down and hang out in.  We accomplished this by including a raised conference/meeting area, using rich colors, large fabric identity sails, an architectural wall and a large product display area.

Intelity is also a custom rental, our goal was to attract attendees to the exhibit with the use large story board graphics and highly visible demo areas.  We provided a overhead hanging sign, a conference space on the interior, and six custom kiosks that were used for product demonstrations and provided excellent space for large graphic murals.

I enjoyed working with both teams and was pleased to hear great feedback about the show in general as attendance was up from the 2009 show.

I’ve been personally intrigued by the development of foursquare over recent months and it’s increasing potential for usage at events. Back in January, Intel partnered with foursquare during the CES event and offered unique badges for check-ins and special events. This took an effort from both parties to achieve. While it opened the possibilities for the future of foursquare and event marriages, it without little doubt requires the compliance from (and and open wallet) the developers at foursquare to make a campaign of similar correlation possible.

Nevertheless, I was inspired today by an article from Scott Bishop that gives new hope to event planners. There are some reasonable and relatively simple ways to incorporate foursquare and encourage audience participation at your next event.

The Setup

For current and new users, I recommend setting up a new profile that reflects the name and details of your event

Next, you’ll want to set up a venue. However, this “venue” is again going to be setup with event details. Be sure to include proper address, contact information and Twitter handle.

Add your event details and assign it a category. You’ll likely want to use the ‘Home/Work/Other‘ category, with the subcategory of ‘Event Space‘. You can also add tags and adjust the map pin to accurately reflect your event’s location.

The Incentive

While you won’t have the ability to create a custom badge unless you are able to partner with the foursquare folks, you can still offer benefits to your attendees for checking in to various locations or functions at your event. Give your mayor a treat. Offer a private gathering for your users. All of these bonuses can be managed as ‘Tips‘ and can be easily setup. Add these periodically throughout your event and give your users a basis for frequent check-ins and updates. Make your missions fun and tie them back to as many of the other meetings and events that surround.

From your venue, click ‘Add Tip’ and simply add the details.

The Participation

Not only will foursquare users be able to check in and follow the tips surrounding your event, but they now have a community to connect with other users. Furthermore, encourage your event participants to add their own tips. Allow exhibitors to offer their own incentives for a visit to their booth. Give speakers a chance to encourage new audiences.

The Before and After

Much like the Intel example, set up a private landing page weeks in advance of your event and offer a tease towards some of the tips and incentives for their participation. Offer early incentives for ‘friending’ the event profile and develop a community ahead of time to ensure an army of participants during the event.

Once your event concludes, be sure to clean up what you’ve created. While foursquare allows users to add tips and venues freely, removing unnecessary clutter is important to keep these features available to us. Simple delete your tips and ‘Flag your venue as closed‘.

Foursquare and geolocation services are one of the hottest social tools and the development and integration of businesses and events will be exciting to witness. Community and participation will continue to drive face-to-face meetings, so give your next event a shot in the arm for your members.

“Go-Green.” What had started as a revolution in aiding our environment, the crusade has since grow in to a multi-billion dollar cash cow of an industry, often times muddied by false claims and a multitude of unverified green products. The tradeshow industry has been largely targeted by the movement, with green exhibit displays, promotional items and even green tradeshows themselves moving towards the forefront of the industry. Whether you support a green tradeshow, as a means to assist the environment or as a strategy to reduce costs on non-essential materials, how can you ensure that your green strategy is legitimate?

Last month, I talked about a few iPhone apps that could enrich your next tradeshow experience. One app that intrigued a number of people, myself included, was a new app from Digital Collateral. As you’ll see, there’s little doubt that this simple, yet powerful technology, could dramatically reduce a dependancy on traditional paper products, and set the trend for an honest, green, tradeshow.

How it works

1. Exhibitors Upload Their Documents

Exhibitors upload PDFs of the documents they’d normally print, ship, and hand out at a show.

2. Exhibitors Print DC Barcodes

We generate a barcode and an SMS (text message) code for each item, which Exhibitors can print out on standard 8.5″ x 11″ paper and display at their booth. Click here to view a sample Barcode.

3. Attendees Scan those Codes

Attendees scan Barcodes of items they’re interested in with our free iPhone app. Download the free app from iTunes.

3.5 …or Send a Text

If attendees don’t have an iPhone- or don’t want to install the free app- they can simply text the DC Code to 50500.

4. Log in, View, and Share

After the show, attendees can log in here to view, download and share their collateral. Users of the iPhone app can view and share PDFs right from their phone- forwarding the stuff they really like to anyone in their contact list, instantly.

While QR technology has been around for a couple years, Digital Collateral is the first to utilize the technology targeted heavily at the tradeshow industry. And why not? The app is universally functional for both attendees and exhibitors. Attendees lose the need to carry catalogs, brochures and other literature in bulk and, most importantly, nothing is thrown away. For the exhibitor, time, cost of printing and cost of shipping materials are all significantly cut. Beyond that, Digital Collateral provides the exhibitor with measurable statistics, not only for the number of scans, but the number of downloads and forwards their information receives.

Jaxon Repp, CEO of Digital Collateral, “We decided to target the trade show industry because that environment is specifically designed to hand out printed materials to an interested audience. More-so, we wanted to start with a focus on B2B shows, where adoption will benefit from the fact that collecting stuff is the attendees’ actual job, and the benefits of sharing the stuff they collect with the home office immediately rather than once they get back are so obvious.”

Launched in January 2010, Digital Collateral made its debut shortly after at the Go-Green Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center, January 22-24. A natural environment to pitch the eco-friendly service, the universal mobile platform availability proved successful, as 100% of all attendees responded positively to its introduction. With the help of its introduction at the event, the app has received over 1,000 downloads.

“This is an expensive ecosphere, and our product has always focused on delivering value as much as saving the environment- every company likes a good “Green” PR angle, but they like saving thousands of dollars on printing even more.”

Throughout the event, Digital Collateral displayed their ECO-METER™, which provided realtime updates on the amount of resources that were saved in favor of the digital downloads. The ECO-METER™ will be prominently featured on both the Digital Collateral site and in the latest version of the mobile app, which was released just this week.

Not only is the service free to the attendee, but there are no up-front costs to exhibitors who choose to upload their content. Instead, the Digital Collateral system allows you to purchase credits for as little as 20 cents each, with each distribution counting as one credit and distributing a folder of unlimited assets counting as two credits.

Repp illustrates the dramatic savings this system offers.“A folder with three catalogs that cost $5 each to print can now be distributed for as little as 40 cents instead of $15.00.”

Though venturing into the event world initially, Digital Collateral is reaching beyond the tradeshow market and proving it can be valuable in almost any industry looking to reduce material dependancies. There are no commitments and little startup efforts. Simply create an account, upload PDF documents to your library and share your codes. New accounts are given 25 free credits to start, a $10 value.

Digital Collateral will be utilized at the Go Green Expo in New York this weekend, March 19-21, 2010. Beyond, they will have a physical presence at 24 shows in 2010.

“Learning first hand from the Attendees, Brands, and Producers is how we can make the system better,” says Repp.

While the app is currently available only for iPhone, Digital Collateral is scheduled to roll out support for Blackberry and Android devices later this month.

Want more information on Digital Collateral? Download the “DC Scanner” on your iPhone and scan the barcode below to receive an e-brochure. Don’t have an iPhone? Simply text “DC Setup” to 50500.

Digital Collateral on the web

We’re proud to announce the official release of our Tradeshow Insight app, keeping all the latest blog info, news, photos, videos and network updates at a touch.

Features

News - Take the latest articles from our blog wherever you go. Have access to full articles and share your favorite information via Twitter or email, right from the app.

Twitter/Facebook - All of the latest info from Echelon Design’s Twitter and Facebook networks are fed right to the app.

Movies - Our latest videos can be viewed from our YouTube channel, again, all without leaving the app.

Photos - See a gallery of the latest Echelon installations and photos from past exhibits and designs.

We are looking forward to rolling out a number of new features in the future. For now, you can download the app for free from  iTunes. Please give us your feedback and comments!

The iPhone has opened numerous doors for increased productivity on the go and as apps are introduced with little end in sight, there are seemingly more possibilities to shuttle that productivity to the tradeshow industry – as an exhibitor or attendee. Here are a few that you may want to consider before your next big event.

Business Card Reader

The name & image about says it. Take a photo and the text recognition software built into the app will import your contact’s details into your address book. Also, a built-in browser makes it possible to import LinkedIn profile details, without ever leaving the app.

Ustream Live Broadcaster

For exhibitors, Ustream Live Broadcaster can allow you to run live demos & announcements to be viewed by other app users as well as non-attendees. For attendees, it’s a great resource to share live information with off-site team members and colleagues.

Whiteboard Capture Pro

This handy app can easily be employed during event meetings and can be utilized as a simple organizer for written notes from you or others.

2Do

One of the overlooked functions of the iPhone is the calender. Seemingly unchanged since the device was launched, your meeting organizer gets a big boost with the addition of push notifications for tasks and synchronization with this app.

DC Scanner

Relatively new, Digital Collateral is an intriguing app for a Green tradeshow. Simply scan a barcode from an exhibitor, and all product information (brochures, etc.) are digitized to your iPhone, creating a paperless environment and alleviating shipping and printing of materials. Look for the first official DC-enabled event at Go Green Expo, January 22.