Today's catchy stuff from the web

Verizon + Apple = new iPhone-ish device - Looks like Verizon and Apple are in talks to partner with some kind of Verizon/Apple hardware similar to an iPhone.

Portfolio magazine folds - This post from TechCrunch makes some great points about print media and the competition with web-based media.

How do you communicate?

Today I was reading an article/interview in Businessweek about Research In Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry mobile devices. Basically, what I gleaned from the article (and what everyone seems to know already) is that the Apple iPhone seems to be the smartphone that every communication device maker tries to emulate. The iPhone has enjoyed enormous success - remarkable, since it's only supported by one wireless carrier (AT&T) and the BlackBerry is supported by several. I started wondering: why isn't RIM more of a competitor?

I realized that the whole idea of a BlackBerry revolves around mobile email access, and that the devices really aren't much more useful than a bare-bones wireless device. In fact, I recently discovered an application that essentially turned my bare-bones wireless phone into an email machine - it even alerts me when I have email - much like a BlackBerry.

So what's the problem?

I realized I hardly ever send email anymore. In fact, in the past week I've sent exactly 18 emails. Of those, five of them were to myself (I tend to use email when I need to remind myself of something to do later).

So in the past week, I've used email 13 times to communicate with other people. This got me thinking about my communication habits, and my curiosity got the best of me: in the same week I've sent 124 text messages, and used my phone 20 times to call people. I estimate that in the same time, I've posted 15 updates on Twitter, and the same on Facebook. I've probably used Facebook another 20-30 times to communicate directly with people.

I realized that in the age of Facebook, Twitter, and widespread wireless integration, it's possible that email and traditional voice calls have been largely replaced by more flexible, more interactive, or even more simple forms of communication. Twitter allows us to update or call out to people on a massive scale. Facebook allows us to be interactive - to use photos, songs, or event invitations to communicate. Texting allows us to get in touch with people on the fly.

So what's this mean? What it means to me is that if other people's communication habits are anything like my own, then the BlackBerry isn't really a competitor to the iPhone. The iPhone is designed to run applications - if you visit the iPhone App Store, you can find an application for just about anything, including email. The difference between the iPhone and the BlackBerry is that one device is marketed to those who use email, and one device is marketed to those who want flexibility in what their phone will do.

Only recently has RIM figured out what Apple has known for a long time, and they've opened their own application store: BlackBerry App World. I'm sure this will bring RIM more in step with what consumers want and need these days, but what about the bigger question: how are people's communications needs changing? What are the trends? Who are going to be the innovators who accurately predict how people will communicate in the future? Is this the end of communication innovation, or is something new going to evolve that takes us beyond the smartphone? And how will the effectiveness of our communications evolve or suffer as a byproduct of using the technology? (see concerns expressed in the anonymous comment in my voicemail post)

What do you think? What are your communication habits?