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When it comes to computer technology, I’m amazed how many people aren’t intimately familiar with two of the most important buttons on your keyboard. The awesome power of ALT and TAB comprise some of the most important productivity tips for anyone who uses a computer to promote or conduct their business. In other words: practically everyone now reading the Marketing Technology blog!

The Alternate Zone

To really understand the ALT+TAB combination, we need to begin with a discussion of the ALT key. You probably know that “ALT” is short for “alternate.” That means that this tiny little button is intended to change the entire function of the current user interface. Computer wizards sometime call this “mode switching.” Pressing the “ALT” key tells the machine to behave entirely differently than it does currently.

This may seem overdramatic. After all, the SHIFT key seems to do the basically same at first glance. But SHIFT merely changes characters from upper to lower case. An “A” is basically the same as an “a.” In fact, old typewriters actually contained both copies of letters. The “ALT” key takes your machine into a new world.

The Single ALT+TAB

It might seem like nothing happens when you hit ALT. Press and release the key a dozen times and neither a Windows or Mac machine will respond. But if you hold the ALT key down and then reach across and press the TAB key just once for just a second and release that TAB key, you’ll see a window appear. It will list all of the active applications, and you’ll find that the next one in the list has been highlighted. When you release ALT, you’ll instantly be switched to that program.

The power of ALT+TAB alone can create tremendous productivity improvements. You don’t need to take your hands off the keyboard and move to the mouse if you want to change between two open applications. Go and try it now. Spend a few minutes getting to know how ALT+TAB feels.

The Last Two

If you pay close attention to a single ALT+TAB, you’ll recognize that it actually switches between the current application and the last used application. That means that if you switch from say, your web browser to your word processor with ALT+TAB, you can switch back with another ALT+TAB. All of this switching back and forth might sound like a waste of time, but this is exactly what we all do when we are researching and writing. ALT+TAB is perfect for every day workflow.

Saving a few seconds moving your hand back and forth from the mouse probably doesn’t seem like much. Multiply that times hundreds of switches every hour. Consider that you momentarily lose your focus when you have to find the mouse with your peripheral vision and drag the cursor down to the bottom of the screen and back. Mastering the single ALT+TAB will dramatically change your productivity.

Advanced ALT+TAB

There’s far more than just the basics. If you hit ALT+TAB but hold down the ALT button, you’ll see all the icons of active applications. You can use repeated presses of the TAB key to circle back to programs you used a while ago. A combination of SHIFT+TAB goes the opposite direction.

If you’ve ever caught yourself copying data from one program to another with keystrokes, ALT+TAB can make your experience one of using only the keyboard. This can result in significant productivity improvements.

Take some time to learn ALT+TAB. You’ll be faster with the machine and able to get more work done. But more importantly, recognize that keys like ALT are really about changing the mode of the systems around us. ALT is like the difference between working at your desk and talking on the phone. It’s about switching to a different state.

Context-switching is the biggest cost in productivity. Every interruption presents the opportunity to forget what you were doing. Figure out what you do that requires you to change your focus, even if it’s from the keyboard to the mouse. You’ll find your workflow runs smoother and you’ll get more done.

Robby Slaughter’s firm, Slaughter Development, helps companies improve productivity and workflow. Reach out to them for more information.

This post was written by Robby Slaughter

Robby Slaughter has had a lifelong passion for information technology, spanning some twenty years of education, teaching, full-time employment and consulting. Robby is the Principal of Slaughter Development, a workflow and productivity consulting firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Seth Godin announced Squidoo’s latest venture this week. Brands in Public is, as I understand it, an aggregation of conversations about certain brands. Godin’s team has apparently developed a nice way to aggregate and parse out relevant conversation about various brands and put them all together in one big page. That’s not all that innovative, but how they’re going about it is eyebrow raising.

First, Brands in Public will aggregate conversations and create these aggregation points for brands without their consent or buy in. There’s nothing wrong with that. The conversations are public and no one “owns” them. However, in order for a brand to officially have a presence on the page and highlight their responses to certain issues, etc., they have to pay $400 per month or more.

At first glance, you just think, “So what? The brands can just participate in the conversations on the various social networks and they Brands in Public spider will pick up those conversations as well. Hopefully, Brands in Public isn’t doing anything shady by parsing out the brand participation and that theory will hold true. However, think for a moment of the power, reach and influence Godin has. If his idea takes hold (it probably will because on the surface it’s a good one) and he markets it the way he’s capable of, Brands in Public could be come THE place to go see the “unfiltered” conversation about brands everywhere.

If that scenario plays out, then the $400 or more fee Godin’s company plans to charge is, in a way, blackmail.

Or is it smart marketing? Step 1: Build a place people can see fair, unfiltered conversations about brands. Step 2: Market the place until it becomes a public resource looked upon as the place to go and see the true buzz about a brand. Step 3: Lease brand control of the page out for a fee and make money off the paranoid brand manager who insists on having “control” of the conversation.

Can a competitor pay to take over your page? Can a random person have the same access? Probably not, but is that fair? Everyone can participate in the conversation except the brand, unless they pay?

The only saving grace in this is that, I assume, Brands in Public will not adulterate the conversations aggregated to filter out the perspective of the brand. But are we all willing to assume that? I see accusations, controversy and perhaps even litigation coming on this one.

Godin’s company will make money off this. But will it be at the peril of decency?

A penny for your thoughts?

Related articles by Zemanta & Jason Falls

• Will Squidoo Kill Your Company’s Shot at (Free) Feel-Good PR on Twitter? (Fast Company Blog)
• Seth Godin Tries Out Brand Jacking (Lisa Barone at Outspoken Media)
• Squidoo Aims To Make Brands Pay For Dedicated Web Dashboards (techcrunch.com)
• Brands In Public: A New Reputation Management Tool (socialmediatoday.com)

If I were to tell you about a new technology that enables mobile phone users to take a picture of an ad, send it somewhere and then they’d get a coupon or some other interaction in return, you’d probably think I was talking about QR codes. However, I was recently introduced to a new technology and software platform that enables mobile user opt-in advertising interaction without the ugly bar codes on the ads.

Pongr bills itself as a mobile connection to the brands you care about for savvy shoppers. With your smart phone application (currently iPhone and Blackberry with Android coming) or with simple email, you take a picture of an advertisement or a logo of a brand you’re interested in, send it to Pongr and voila! Coupons, product information, sales materials and more is at your finger tips.

The catch is that the ad or logo as to be with a company that has used Pongr and allowed the service to build an image recognition benchmark from the company’s advertisements and logos. The technology recognizes images on file, then delivers the associated interaction to the user.

At first glance, it doesn’t appear much different than a QR code, but here’s what makes it both better and not as:

By removing the QR code and making the process as elementary as taking a picture of an ad or logo, you are removing a level of technical understanding and intimidation from the user experience. Image recognition is still being used, but on an image the end user understands and is familiar with. While average Joes and Janes can understand QR codes, they don’t.

Plus, the advertising creative directors always want the QR codes small to not intrude upon their “art.” This inevitably means users can’t take a picture of one that is in focus, thus ruining the experience.

Using similar technology on something more familiar to the average person, the process becomes instantly more understandable for the user.

Also, by offering up the applications on smart phones instead of asking users to just text or email the image, Pongr can technically remove a level of opt-in from the typical mobile interaction. While I am certainly not an expert in interpreting Can-Spam Act legalese, provided the information delivered comes through the Pongr application, simply downloading the app is your opt-in.

What Pongr has done is taken two potentially crippling steps out of the typical user experience for mobile marketing.

The challenge that Pongr faces is reach. Sure, their technology is going to wow some folks at ad agencies and on brand teams. But until they can build a critical mass of advertisers, there will be little reason for users to try the app and interact with the ads. Until they have a critical mass of users, they won’t be able to woo the advertisers.

Certainly, that doesn’t mean Pongr won’t be successful. I think the user experience alone could easily propel it beyond what most mobile companies are selling with QR and other two dimensional codes, and fast.

I downloaded the Pongr app on my iPhone last night. I took a picture of a Diet Pepsi bottle. There was no offer associated with the image I took. But if I’d gotten a “buy one 20-ounce, get one free” offer, or similar in return. I’d have cashed it in on the way to work this morning. (Wonder if Bonin Bough reads SME?)

If you’re with a brand or an agency, you owe it to your company or clients to look into technologies like this. Smart phones are moving toward 20% market share quickly. The types of mobile marketing interaction Europe and Asia have enjoyed for years is already in North America. As the consumer familiarity with it expands, so will the necessity for your company to offer mobile touch points.

If you’re a consumer, check out the app or learn more about how it works on Pongr’s website. My hope is that someone from Pongr might share some of the advertisers you can interact with now to get you started.

As you learn more about it, tell us what you think in the comments. And do you agree? Does image/ad recognition software indeed make it easier to grasp and less confusing an experience than QR codes? Please — the comments are yours.

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