Go here right now and ask Google to invest billions in Baltimore’s future.

Here’s the official write up from the BmoreFiber site:

I don’t understand.

People give me various email addresses to contact them. But more often than not I don’t get a reply for days. Sometimes weeks.

The excuse goes something like this…

“Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but you sent an email to my AOL/Hotmail/Yahoo account and I don’t check that very often.”

First of all – why did you give me an email address that you don’t check?

Second – have you ever heard of Gmail? It is Google’s version of email. Not only is it excellent for managing all the messages you get in your inbox, but it also allows you to manage all your other email accounts inside the Gmail account. I could go on and on about the virtues of Gmail. But I’ll just point you to a top ten list instead.

I currently use five different email addresses. I have an address for:

• personal
• business
• consulting gigs
• sharing with third parties
• bank accounts

If I had to manage all of these accounts separately I would go insane. With Gmail I can route them all through one account. I never miss an email, never feel like I am playing catch-up and am able to respond to opportunities and challenges quickly.

For the love of all that is sacred – Get yourself a Gmail account and route all your email through it. You will be doing yourself a favor. And me.

This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is where I ask questions while standing at the intersection of social media, podcasting, online video, marketing, PR, storytelling, life and leadership…. and what the heck this all means for my business and yours. If you like what you see – please subscribe for free. To join the discussion or to comment in real time follow me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

I am writing this post from the cabin of an Airtran Air flight to LA. Big deal. People have been taking laptops on airplanes forever.

But I didn’t write this post on a laptop – I used my iPhone.

I also published this from the airplane using the plane’s wifi network.

There are two key points I’d like to make about this.

1) Personal publishing has come of age. Armed only with my mobile phone I can post a message for a global audience. Johannes Gutenberg would be proud.

2) I am always connected. I have wifi seven miles up. My 3g network is available pretty much along any major freeway or in any city. I don’t need a desk – office – company – or computer to publish.

Powerful stuff. How will you and your business adapt? Do you have a plan to deal with an always connected – on demand – mobile customer base?

I have my plan and I’m adding to it by the day. Now if only they could serve more to eat than a 6.25 gram gourmet biscoff on this plane I would be in heaven.

What do you think about Stephen King and his embracing new technology?

Stephen King is one of those guys I really admire. He is a prolific writer. He’s an awesome storyteller. He’s been married to the same woman for over 30 some years and has raised three kids. He’s been forthcoming about his struggle with drug addiction. He’s survived a terrible car accident in which he was hit and almost killed by a van. King hasn’t moved to LA or New York and has chosen instead to remain in his home state of Maine.

I’ve only read three books by Stephen King – Bag Of Bones, Danse Macabre, and my favorite On Writing. He is obviously a gifted author and storyteller and has sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-400 million copies worldwide.

But what I really like about King is his willingness as a writer to embrace technology. He was one of the first mainstream bestselling authors to publish specifically for the web and make money at it. At the time it seemed like such a novelty to me.

And now he is part of the Amazon Kindle 2 launch happening today. King is already an avid Kindle user which again strikes me as progressive thinking from an author and former English teacher. Usually book worms don’t like to change their ways and embrace shiny new things. They typically prefer to relish in the old smell of dead trees.

But not Stephen King. He is one to embrace changing technology.

Walt Disney did the same during his time as Disney studio chief. He was the first cartoon producer to embrace color. When sound came on to Hollywood he also embraced it faster than any of the other studios. Stephen King seems to be cut from the same cloth. He has fully embraced Amazon’s wireless reading device.

To coincide with the release of the Kindle2 – King has released UR, a book written specifically for the new device. All of his other works are also available for the Kindle2.

What do you think about Stephen King and his embracing new technology? Do you agree that it is a good thing? Some fear the Kindle 2 may be the end of actual books  and we will miss some very important aspects of reading from paper. Thoughts?

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This site, Joel-Mark-Witt.com, is where I ask the questions while standing at the intersection of social media, podcasting, online video, marketing, PR, storytelling, life and leadership…. and what the heck this all means for my business and yours. If you like what you see – please subscribe to it for free. To join the discussion or to comment in real time follow me on Twitter.

Joel Mark Witt

* Photo by 24hourmoon

The iPhone has changed my life.
I’ve been using my iPhone like crazy to write this blog, post to Twitter, check and respond to emails, jot down thoughts and notes, text message friends, snap photos of my kids and send them to the grandparents, and sometimes (very rarely) hold an old fashioned verbal conversation.

And I’ve only had it for a week.

The iPhone has already changed how I do business and get work done.
It’s not really a phone. It’s more like a communication device. And I use it to communicate constantly. The ease of use and availability of always being connected to the web is incredible. I’ve gotten a lifetime of use out of it in a very short time.

I’ve been able to spend downtime actually doing something.
I am no longer tethered to my computer. I can be productive no matter if I’m waiting in lines – waiting for something to cook – or sitting in bed unable to fall asleep.

My Twitter use has skyrocketed. Before, I had to log onto my computer to engage with the Twitter community. Now with the iPhone app TwitterFon I’m always connected. I feel apart of the wider conversation.

In the past when blog writing ideas came to me during the day I would have to scramble for a scrap of paper to write them on waiting until I got home to blog them. Now with the free Wordpress application for the iPhone I am able to write blog posts all day as they come to me.

If I get a few minutes of downtime I can work on a new post or edit one that is ready to publish.

The iPhone is built for social media, marketing, and PR.
If you are serious about using social media for your business I would suggest you at least consider the iPhone. You can even get them used from Amazon. Now you can use Microsoft Exchange on your phone also to interface with your outlook email.

There are many people who have Blackberrys and other phones too. How has your life and business productivity changed by using a mobile device? I’d love to hear some thoughts.

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Joel-Mark-Witt.com is a blog about technology, blogging, social media, video, podcasting, and how you can use all these tools to grow your business, even if you know nothing about computers and the Internet. If you like this blog please subscribe to it for free by RSS or eMail.

Joel Mark Witt

*Photo by Nialkennedy

Not earth shattering I know. But I’m writing this post from my iPhone. Meaning that I no longer have
to be behind a laptop to blog.

I am able to write and publish from the line at the grocery store, or on the beach during vacation.

I’d like to hear your thoughts about mobile blogging. Do you think it will change the way we write and communicate? Will our content be more timely?