t's profileThomasGoddard.comPhotosBlogNetworkMore  |  Tools Help |
|
|
February 06 Starbucks Howard Shultz and the Hear Music Media Bar
On the left is Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz. I'm on the right. The store to the right is the store that just opened in San Antonio.
A man came in to the Starbucks on the Promenade in Santa Monica, CA, where I was working on the HP Media Bar. He was dressed in a pink oxford shirt and looked like a swanky business man. It was brought to my attention that it was The Man himself. I walked up to him and introduced myself as the Lead Solutions Architect from his partner company, HP, and explained that I had helped to get this store operating smoothly.To my surprise, he grabbed my hand in a hearty handshake and introduced himself as Howard Schultz, the CEO and Founder of Starbucks Coffee Company. He was interested to continue our conversation, get my thoughts on the project and ideas about the solution. He bought me a coffee and we began our conversation down the Promenade.
In turn, he answered some of my questions, like how he got his start in creating one of the largest and most profitable Global corporations. He has written a book on the story and says that he had been able to gather capital for the first Starbucks from money he raised at the JCC and his basketball chums. Although his idea was a success, he continues to in turn lend funds and be a Philanthropist and friend to the Jewish Community. Being entrepreneurial myself, I see the value in the lessons he shared that day.
The Hear Music Media Bar is a great vision that brings something new to retail. The Miami store opens next week, according to sources at Starbucks ;-). Look for more stores in places like New York. I think solutions like this which use vector based UI with a web services backend will continue to be the trend in kiosk solutions. September 14 Starbucks HearMusic expanding coffee housesBack when I worked for HP Media Solutions - Consulting & Integration, I took part in the solution architecture and design of the Starbucks Hear Music media bar. It was an awesome project to be a part of. It's great to see it expanding into new markets in Miami and elsewhere. We don't have one here in Palo Alto yet but some day, I hope... >Click here to see it expanding...  TV 2.0I don't know if any of you have heard the buzz about TV 2.0 these days and where TV is going but I am sure we all have a good idea. With my last post about sparkle, 3d, media, and programming you can infer many things about where the rich digital media platform is going. Everything from your photos to your favorite TV shows will all be available anytime and anywhere. But what is even more important to the user is how that information is presented and how easily it interoperates between applications.
So have you heard of Microsoft IPTV? You might want to take a look at it... It's the next generation of your TV/cable/internet/phone. It's a single, unified entry point, to everything from buddies all the way to TV shows. I have an extensive video editing background working with Media 100 on Apple and Strata 3D before it hit Windows. These tools combined with the detail of programming in C#, will give developers the abiliity to create content that reacts to user interaction and compells the user with every click. It's crucial to realize the potential of this new toolset. By embracing these technologies it no longer becomes a question of how well you develop applications but more about how much your users 'feel' your applications. Hence the word expression in this new product suite. |
|
|
