The New Utility Belt

November 1, 2009 · Comments

Batman I was thinking about utility belts. You know, Batman style. I’m thinking about this in two ways. In the first way, we could talk about the gear that people (like myself) use in this modern media making age. For instance, in my backpack, I have the following items (amazon affiliate links for some):

That’s one way to think about the new utility belt, as if it were the gear that connects you to the web.

Another way to think about it is like this: what software and methods for using it would best keep you equipped while navigating the web in doing what you’re doing. For instance, if you’re a salesperson, maybe your utility belt looks like this:

  • LinkedIn – for networking, and for answering questions.
  • Batchbook – for simple CRM.
  • Radian6 – for competitive data (Radian6 is sometimes a sponsor of NML events)
  • Google Maps – for finding places on visits.
  • Google Docs – for keeping spreadsheets, sales docs, forms, etc.
  • Twitter – for informational pulse.
  • Socialcast – for internal company chatter.
  • YouTube plus a blog – for lead generation materials.
  • Flickr – for a visual database of your prospects, for sales materials, etc.

We could do this many other ways, and for several different organizations. We could think about how these tools allow us to navigate and parse and funnel and select. There are lots of ways you could see rolling different types of utility belts. For instance, what would a journalist’s utility belt look like, both physically and otherwise?

These are just thoughts along the way towards ways to make tools more useful to the human business. What do you think?

photo credit chanchan222

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  • When I traveled to IZEAFest in October my utility belt contained the following : Compaq CQ60 laptop, Verizon Blackberry Curve (Would die without this), Seagate Free Agent Go 500 GB external HD, Nikon D50, Vado, Flip HD, and my iPod touch and Twitter of course. LOL. That is alot of stuff for me.

    Thanks for the cool post!
  • alisoncreamer
    Twitter – for informational pulse. Or for some that would be Twitter – for informational impulse's
    LOLOLOLOLO
  • digiphile
    By the late 90s, my "Bat belt" had a cellphone & iPod on it. Maybe a GPS and a digital camera, too, if I was going hiking. Like you, I've slimmed way down to a device that combines all of those, an iPhone.Just about every corporate IT savant or business person has a BlackBerry or the like. It's hard to imagine a world without cellphones and yet that was largely true less than a generation ago. Then again, the level of pervasive computing that exists now was straight out of science fiction.

    In terms of your last question, a journalist’s utility belt still includes a pen and pad, for backup, but now includes an audio recorder, laptop, cellphone, and, more and more, a video camera. An Internet connection is tough to go without as well. In fact, I can think of few journos who wouldn't be quite happy to operate with your rig, Chris.

    Moving beyond the physical to virtual, however, and I think the online services that last month's Public Media Camp listed for curating the real-time Web are a good starting point. The list from the PBS & NPR unconference included:

    Google Moderator for call-in shows
    Gigya.com
    Addthis.com
    The NPR API
    Google Analytics
    Etherpad
    Disqus
    Publish2
    Yahoo Pipes
    WordPress
    Drupal

    Good start. I've found Voice Memo useful. Adding a webcam with accounts on Livestream.com and uStreams has been helpful. And I'm looking forward to seeing how news organizations use embedded Google Waves on their sites.

    Check out http://publicmediacamp.org for more on that unconference's sessions.
  • The favorite tool in my utility belt is a $20 magnetic white board to capture my thoughts & ideas!
  • Great post. My toolbelt consists of an MBP (and lot's of apps), iPhone, Canon Vixia HD30, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, NetNewsWire, iCal, Mail, Evernote, GMail, my blog, ping.fm, and other assorted SaaS and Mac apps. As long as I have power and Internet I'm good to go with three pieces of hardware and a metric ton of software. As you say though, these are all just enablers of work and conversation. My best tool is me and my drive to get out there and Crush It. Keeps me going.
  • Way too long a list of hardware. The iPhone 3GS can replace the digital voice recorder (built in), the Kindle (free app), and the Verizon air card (use iPhone tethering; currently requires a hack in the U.S., but it works). See how much weight that saved?
  • I'm just not an all-in-one guy. I have the 3GS, but never took it out of the box. I think the voice recorder is great, but the filesize and format aren't easy to edit (mp3 is easy). I think the tethering is only for jailbroken phones, right? And I'm not a fan of the Kindle in squint mode.
  • # LinkedIn – for networking, and for answering questions.
    # Batchbook – for simple CRM.
    # Radian6 – for competitive data (Radian6 is sometimes a sponsor of NML events)
    # Google Maps – for finding places on visits.
    # Google Docs – for keeping spreadsheets, sales docs, forms, etc.
    # Twitter – for informational pulse.
    # Socialcast – for internal company chatter.
    # YouTube plus a blog – for lead generation materials.
    # Flickr – for a visual database of your prospects, for sales materials, etc

    Missing: A listening tool and dedicated person to monitor for and reward loyalty. Good for big brands. Sinfully missing from big blogs,
    and smaller companies who want to earn growth.
  • You mean like Radian6, the 3rd tool?
  • I think you may have missed one tool... that nifty thing inside your noggin called the brain!

    Besides that, my best tool in my toolbelt is a trust old notepad and pen. I sketch most things out on paper long before they hit the web.
  • alexgrogan
    OMG Chris - give it up. The economy is going to tank. No money for social media. Go home and spend time with your family, that's what really matters. You know this. Feel the funk. Nuff said.
  • The economy has positively impacted my business.
  • richlaburn
    As a wildlife filmmaker who is putting his stuff on the net every few days, all I need is my video camera, macbook pro, tripod, internet connection and leatherman. The rest I tend to leave up to nature.
  • Just curious. What type of video camera?
  • richlaburn
    Usually a Canon Powershot SX1IS HD. Small, compact and great HD quality, especially for the web. If you would like to see an example of the quality, check out bit.ly/17X3AH . To be honest though, its not a hugely functional camera for wildlife filmmaking. The Sony XDCam HD range is more suitable, but much more expensive and a lot bigger. Hope that helps
  • Thanks! I am thinking about purchasing a Canon PowerShot SD780IS because this is my missing tool from my utility belt.
  • richlaburn
    Thats quite a cool functional camera with good reviews. haven't tried it out yet, so let me know how it goes. I like the fact it is so slim and easy to carry around.
  • I will do! Are you on twitter? Because you can follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/lifenotion
  • richlaburn
    Thanks will do, im @northpridemale
  • Hey Chris,

    I suppose I have both a Bat Cave and.. then have to choose what goes on the utility belt given the mission?

    My bad cave is madness I tell you!!!

    8 core 2.8 GHz Mac Pro with the 2 24" displays running.. Digital Performer, Ableton Live, Reason + Record + ReCycle, Liquid Mix, Audio Ease Suite, Native Instruments Komplete, Kore 2, and Maschine.. Vox's vocal effects bundle, compressors and EQs from IK Media, Melodyne Studio.. delays for PSP, stuff from Virsyn, Omnisphere.. an APC40, guitar, bass, keyboard.. Then you got your Adobe Bundle, you're Final Cut Studio you're Cinema 4D, you're Aperture.. Motu 828 audio interface.. drobo.. art tablet.. a couple condenser microphones.. a reflection screen to help avoid the natural ambience of the space getting on the audio...

    The utility belt is a MacBook with some of the above software.. some of the hardware.. depending on the situation.. some Korg Mini controllers.. a Canon 40D with a couple of lenses, a flash, guerrilla pod, etc.. a hard drive just for the mobile shtick... and a really nice HD video camera.. and I don't go anywhere without my iPod for podcasts (gotta go classic on that, cause nothing else will fit them all)

    And yeah yeah yeah.. all the social web blah blah blah apps are all that and a bag of chips.. but.. I mean.. I just don't know how that can compete with all the wonder that is media arts goodness!!!... I mean seriously!!!

    Actually, thanks to a grad class I'm taking in the DMI program at Mass Art.. thats a bit like the MIT media lab.. but more design centric.. I'm starting to work on developing my own "special" tools. A little augmented reality perhaps? Mmmm yummy!
  • Interesting concept. I never realized the connections I walk around with on a daily basis. My MacBook Pro is the newest update in my arsenal of tools. It also seems as though each day, the ability to connect to social media is becoming easier and more portable to do.
  • I would definitely add an iPhone Charger cable and a MBP charger to the utility belt. They are needed in the most crucial times. :)

    Great list. I think I'll share a few thoughts about "my" utility belt on my blog.

    ~Joe
  • Jeana Lawrence
    What do you think of Gist? Do you think it's a competitor to BatchBook?
  • You talk about utility belts for organizations, but as a recent college grad the business I'm currently representing is...me. To help the business of 'me' find a job, my belt is comprised of social networking sites as: linkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & even a personal blog to help me network, engage and gain industry insight. They've proven to be helpful, oftentimes I'll come across a job opening with a click of the refresh button and am sitting in the interview chair the next week!
  • Guest
    You talk about utility belts for organizations, but as a recent college grad the business I'm currently representing is...me. To help the business of 'me' find a job, my belt is comprised of social networking sites as: linkedIn, Twitter, Facebook & even a personal blog to help me network, engage and gain industry insight. They've proven to be helpful, oftentimes I'll come across a job opening with a click of the refresh button and am sitting in the interview chair the next week!
  • My utility belt contains the usual Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But the real tools are within those networks. For instance, the groups in LinkedIn is where I hang out the most and am the most productive.
  • I like how you tied the the physical world items (Kindle) into the software world items (Twitter). I think professionals need to be equipped with both to succeed. I actually wrote a similar post Social Media Utility Belt that focus on web 2.0 and collaborative technologies.
  • Chris,

    I agree that our toolbelts will continually evolve as media changes, but I'm not sure it's terribly novel to suggest that tools are getting more useful for the human business.

    For example, we've had discussions about the evolution of mobile phones from the box kind to the smart kind—all of which are fueling the advance of human connection. We've also had discussions of the evolution of blogs from LiveJournal and Xanga to Wordpress and Movable Type.

    Maybe rather than summing up our current toolkits we should think about those things we don't have yet. What tools don't we have that would make human connection easier.

    To put my money where my mouth is, I'll name one: wireless charging (like wireless internet) for mobile devices, a concept @MsHerr introduced me to at #140conf

    What don't you have yet that you want?
  • neilkevin
    I think you're kind of missing the point of the story. We're just looking at a bunch of goofy gadgets and tying them together. I mean, do I think Batman is shopping online for a palm-sized helicopter toy? No, not really

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