“The opinions expressed in Random Rants are solely those of the author and do not represent the opinions or viewpoints of NAIOP Minnesota, its leadership or its staff.”

Thanks for the live-blogging!

Apple has truly captured the “friendliest user experience” award for all of its products since the first generation ipod. In my opinion, this is the greatest contribution it has given to the tech world. While personally I operate in both an Apple and non-Apple world (i’ve owned both Blackberry and iPhone smartphones, as well as Macbooks and PC’s – and my next laptop purchase will almost certainly be a PC), the ease of use for Apple products has been significantly higher than with PC competitors. And, one could argue, has set the bar very high for all Apple’s competitors to make using technology easier for everyone.

Regarding innovation, it appears Apple, Inc. continues to set the standard here. You say that the “innovation has stopped,” but in the minds of many, Apple, Inc. has created new markets for both touchscreen smartphones as well as tablet computers. And although I am not an owner of a tablet computer like the iPad2 or the Motorola Xoom, they appear to be the way of the future for not only personal enjoyment (music, movies, browsing the web, news, pictures, etc.) but business as well. In fact, at the ICSC national conference this year I observed more tablet computers than I could count being used by brokers, developers, contractors and investors. All of a sudden 500 page building plans are all easily accessed with a small tablet, or an extensive marketing piece for a new development could easily be configured to attract an investor’s eye. Crain’s Chicago Business even profiled top-business applications (apps) in their paper today, (http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/issue02?date=20110716). You’ll notice one of them comes from a tenant rep broker who wanted to increase efficiency and mobility by going paperless with his business, and has found success with the strategy. Reading articles like these are great because they help all of us understand why this new technology can be so helpful to all of us, especially in the business world where if a new technology doesn’t make your job easier you won’t use it.

I understand your annoyance – people are constantly on their phones these days and seem disengaged with the rest of the world (whether it’s checking Facebook, reading the news, or listening to music). But this is part of moving forward: some people will be bothered with the “new ways of doing things,” and some will embrace it. Ultimately, we all move forward either way.