Here are five things in technology that happened in the past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?
1 – These are the best Chromebook deals according to PC World.
Tech website PC World recently shared its picks for the best Chromebook deals. The best budget Chromebook deals include the Lenovo IdeaPad3 for $159.99, Lenovo Chromebook 3 for $89.99, and the Asus 14-inch Chromebook for $179.00. The best midrange Chromebook deals include the Asus Chromebook Flip C433 for $246.98, Lenovo Flex 5I for $299.99, and the HP Chromebook x360 for $499.99. You could read all the choices and details here. (Source: Computer world)
Why this is important for your business:
Will this be the year I finally buy a Chromebook? I’ve always resisted because I travel and sync a lot of my local files with Dropbox. But is this really necessary? I’m almost always online anyway and even when I’m offline, a Chromebook still gives me some storage capacity. Considering the prices above, it’s not a big gamble.
2 – Here are the top 7 productivity improvements Apple has made in 2022, according to Computer World.
Computer World recently shared its pick of the top seven productivity improvements Apple introduced in the past year. They include Lockdown Mode, which helps protect against various cyber-attacks, project planning and brainstorming tool FreeForm, improvements to the Focus feature, the new Reminder feature in email, and more. Read about all the top picks here. (Computer world)
Why this is important for your business:
There are more, I’m sure. The problem is that we buy these devices and never get fully trained on them. This is a great piece that you should share with your Apple users because the more productive they are, the more profitable you are.
3 – The pros and cons of using free VPN services as a remote worker.
Those using free VPN services when working from home should be aware of the pros and cons, according to the online technology publication MUO. Some of the pluses include decent security and data privacy, the ability to use free apps instead of VPNs provided by your company, and the ability to bypass geo-restrictions and firewalls. Disadvantages of free VPN services include the requirement to watch ads, the ability to have data sold to third parties, weak encryption, and slow internet speed. (Source: MUO)
Why this is important for your business:
Whether you pay or get the service for free, you and all your employees should use a VPN, especially if you’re traveling or connecting to public routers. VPNs encrypt data. They won’t really protect you from malware. But they help keep hackers from stealing your credentials.
4 – Legal tech startup Lexion uses GPT-3 to help lawyers write summaries and suggest edits.
Lexion — a Seattle-based legal tech startup — recently started using the language model GPT-3 from conversational AI nonprofit organization OpenAI. The software developed by Lexion helps lawyers understand contracts and is now – using GPT-3 – able to make any edits and prepare full summaries. GPT-3 will also help Lexion propose contract changes or efficiently provide clause language summaries. (Source: GeekWire)
Why this is important for your business:
Given all the hype surrounding ChatGPT, I’m going to be paying special attention to specific companies of conversational AI tools like this one in the coming years. You should too.
5— Mastodon has gained millions of new users since Elon Musk bought Twitter.
Mastodon – an open-source alternative to Twitter – recently announced that it has gained millions of new users since Elon Musk took over Twitter. According to the announcement, Mastodon’s active users went from about 300,000 a month to 2.5 million from October to November. Many of the new users include more actors, writers, political figures and journalists. (Source: Mashable)
Why this is important for your business:
Let’s be clear: Mastodon is NOT Twitter. It’s a bunch of servers linked together to allow people to have conversations with the groups of people they want. To me, it’s more like Reddit with a Twitter-like interface. It’s good for companies that want to create their own communities, with rules, and allow people to share ideas, etc. Because there are rules, the experience can be much less toxic. But it takes some time to set up a “server” and build a community there. Mastodon might be a good place for your business. It’s worth trying. Now if you are interested in learning I found this post from Saritel Abbaszade be very helpful.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.