Jack Dorsey Was Here

By Janet Dodrill

Jack Dorsey at Cleveland Clinic’s Ideas for Tomorrow Speaker Series.

Last week I was honored to hear Jack Dorsey speak in an interview with Toby Cosgrove, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Cleveland Clinic, at the Clinic’s Ideas for Tomorrow Speaker Series. Jack is creator, co-founder, and executive chairman of Twitter, Inc. social networking feed and the co-founder and CEO of Square, Inc., a device which enables mobile credit card payments via iPhone or iPad.

The one-hour informal talk gave us insight on Jack’s ideas that lead to Twitter, like an interest in mass transit and developing a means for emergency workers, taxis and couriers to communicate in real time. Jack’s early creativity included some formal training in art and design. He initially sketched ideas for Twitter’s process and Square’s user interface, and currently works at both companies, Twitter headquartered in San Francisco, and Square in New York City.

The Twitter name went through some early word-smithing, starting as Jitter and then Twitch. Did you know that Twitter is still banned in Syria, Iran and China? I believe in the usefulness of Twitter and have been tweeting nearly five years now!

According to Jack, only 8 million small businesses today can accept credit cards, and 26 million small businesses can’t. Square charges a flat 2.75% fee, which is less than most online merchant banks charge, and has created a huge opportunities for small businesses to use this product for their customers to make payments. I was at a holiday art bazaar a couple months ago and one vendor was using the Square on an iPad for customers purchasing their lama socks and hats.

Square currently holds a lot of potential for money-less and hands-free purchasing, and he gave an example, using Square Wallet app linked to a credit card and GPS, of walking into a Starbucks and our face and favorite coffee comes up on the register and is ordered before we have even reached the counter! A push feature could ask us about a tip. We could just give the cashier our name, and leave our mobile phone in our pocket or our purse.

He is active in community organizations, has about 1000 followers including his mom and her dog, as well as some authors, and tweets his breakfast most days to show his mom that he’s eating (she checks this)! I was inspired by Jack Dorsey and his brilliance. He was asked if he was more artist or entrepreneur, and he hesitantly answered, “Artist, but you can never really call yourself one, people have to look at your work!”

Jack Dorsey: Ideas for Tomorrow Speaker Series (Full Program) video

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Recent tweets by Jack Dorsey about a Cleveland Clinic video he was touched by:

@jack RT @ClevelandClinic: “Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?” – Thoreau | http://t.co/b8Sudtcqsv
Mar 4

@jack A brilliant video from @ClevelandClinic about empathy and putting the patient (or customer) first. https://t.co/T0C9jIYvs0
Mar 1

Instagram Free App for iPhone, and Soon Android

By Janet Dodrill

Instagram, www.instagr.am, is a free iPhone app (powered by Tumblr photo sharing service) with increasing popularity and a recent version 2.0 rollout. It allows you to turn your smartphone photos into visually appealing chromatic-like color-altered images through the use of live filters, instant tilt-shift and high resolution abilities.

According to Mashable Tech, it was announced this month that they are developing an Instagram Android (smartphone operating system) app. See Mashable’s “Meet the Top 15 Photographers on Instagram [PICS]“.

Instagram's blog archive

Their web site offers a link to the free iPhone app download. Instagram’s robust blog offers weekly featured “Instagrammers” (photographers), tips, InstaMeets links on Meetup.com (there are currently 745 Instagram communities with 3 in the Cleveland area), social media links to Instagram on Facebook where you can see hundreds of images, and Instagram on Twitter, who I follow are receive notices of news and featured image postings.

Twitter giants, Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, are avid Instagram users, with Jack posting random travelscapes like in “Found object“, and Biz enjoying his new baby son subject like in “He has my eyes“.

I am a fan even though I am awaiting the Android release to use it myself. Once on Instagram’s blog page, click on the clock icon to see the archive and spend some time acquainting yourself with the interviews, evolving news, user tips, and featured images by its established fan base.

Roku: Entertaining Tech Gadget

By Janet Dodrill

Recently, I obtained a Roku XDS internet TV box and my friends have been generating a lot of questions. I have been enjoying it from day one.

I cannot compare it to cable, as I am not a cable subscriber. I signed up for a one month free trial of Netflix streaming ($7.99 per month). The streaming selection is very limited, especially for new releases. However, in order to run it at the best quality you need to have an internet connection between 3-5 Mbps. Mine runs at 1.5 Mbps and the quality is acceptable but not good. On a large 720 or 1080p HD TV the quality may be unacceptable to some. The additional connection speed would cost me an extra $10-$15 per month. There is a quality meter bar with four circles which appears when retreaving a stream (four being the highest) and mine has not reached four yet. Some additional cables may be required to work with your set-up (I had to purchase HDMI and ethernet cables.). Despite these things, it is fun and easy to use.

Roku is available in three models starting at $59, which can accommodate customers with analog TVs and those with 1080p HD TVs.

The unit comes with a variety of view ready free and premium viewing channels. Add Roku channels in your online account at www.roku.com or once in the interface through the Channel Store. Find ways to add private channels (like at www.thenowhereman.com/roku or at the Roku channel database  www.roku-channels.com).

Recently, CNET reviewed Roku XDS vs. Apple TV. Play the video and click on the ‘Next Round’ button. Roku came out ahead overall as compared to Apple TV. Also, read the reader/user comments.

Fox news announced in a video that Roku has reached 1 million customers. Anthony Wood,  Founder and CEO of Roku says that 12% of their customers end their cable subscriptions and 12% reduce their cable plans, after purchasing Roku.

Some preparatory questions may be answered on the company’s support page, or type their name in Google to read some reviews. For those who already own a Roku, follow their Tweets and ‘Like’ them on Facebook to hear the latest news.