💻 Selling MPS | The Hybrid Office | American Business | Hack On, AI💻

From Paper Jams to Power Moves: Unleashing the Magic of Managed Print Services

Managed print services (MPS) is alive and well. Actually, unbelievably well. We’ve talked about this before, and the wave continues. While dealers and manufacturers report a reduction in page volumes, an increase in MPS contracts highlights an area that dealers should be leaning into.

Despite its limited name, MPS is about more than just print. It isn’t just about cartridges or even cyber security, but it IS about supplies, purchasing, keeping data under lock and key, and even leasing. What’s more, with the move back to an office, cost reductions and increasing efficiencies hold a more prominent position.

Voice Over Text: Unleashing the Power of Spoken Queries

Your Voice, Your Search: Crafting Precision with Vocalized Queries

Greg's Words

The concept of a User Interface (UI) is as ancient as time itself, with only the face-to-face dialogue outdating our good old QWERTY companion.

The art of conversation.

A recent study uncovers a fascinating nuance - articulating your queries to Google yields more fruitful outcomes than the traditional method of hammering them out on a keyboard. The hypothesis is that those who choose to engage with their microphone give a tad more thought to their queries than their keyboard-bound counterparts.

Now, I remain on the fence about this proposition.

However, I can't deny the reality that transforming spoken words into digital text leans more toward convenience than anything else.

Yet, the Wall Street Journal seems to have a different perspective on this matter.

Send in the AI. It's Already Here.

Cirque du Futur: Juggle Imagination, Intelligence, and Light Speed

The transformation, my friends, is no longer a distant promise; it's in the very air we breathe. The traditional looms, once the lifeblood of creation, have lost their relevance, their utility overshadowed by the relentless march of progress.

The mechanics of content generation are irrelevant. The true essence of good content is indeed a subjective reality, judged in the eyes of its beholder - the discerning reader.

ChatGPT: The AI Muse Inspiring SoftBank’s New Direction

ChatGPT – not just a chatbot, but the creative catalyst in SoftBank's AI revolution!

Greg's Words

ChatGPT is a nifty tool that helps writers write.  Apparently, it also helps thinkers, think.

I've been a party to many 3AM "conversations" with the AI in the Sky - from Quantum mechanics to the social ramifications of Star Trek(TOS).  It is easy to be fooled into believing there is a sentient being on the other end of the ether.

But there isn't.

What lurks in that land of both Shadow and substance of things and ideas, what most people miss, is the entity you're querying is your digital doppelganger; your Modern Prometheus.  

When it's good, when it's really, really good, you are talking to yourself.  The oracle is you.

And so it is with SoftBank Group Chief Executive Masayoshi Son - he's discovered the power of self-reflection.  Of talking to himself.

His late-night intercourse with ChatGPT is not quite nirvana, more of a digital epiphany, which has led him to invest more in tech. 

“The time is approaching for us to go on the counteroffensive,” Son said at the annual meeting of the Japanese technology-investment company. “I want SoftBank to lead the AI revolution.”

I admire his passion.

Check out the hook.

Highlights:

1. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Group CEO, credits ChatGPT for reinvigorating his spirits and reigniting his aspiration to lead the AI revolution.
2. Son's interaction with ChatGPT has resulted in over 600 new ideas, underscoring the potential of AI in creative processes.
3. Despite past financial struggles, SoftBank's renewed focus on AI has led to a positive response in the market, with shares reaching a recent high.

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Deathbed Interviews, The Five Regrets of Life & Work From Anywhere -

A study from 2013.  Australian nurse interviews.

So, I found this article from 2013 - The top five regrets of the Dying.  

#1 - "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize until they no longer have it."

Now, today, view this thought through the post-fear-of-covid, work-from-anywhere, lens.

• 45-minute commutes
• empty face-to-face meetings
• irrelevant and ineffective managers
• 2% raises after 'check-box' evaluations...

In her work as a palliative care nurse, Bronnie Ware encountered the dying epiphanies of patients in their final days. 

The most common regrets she observed are as follows:

Copiers & Bourbon - Whiskey for the Ages Show

Okay, my friends - first The Greg Walters Show interviewed wine experts in France and Oklahoma, Edwin and Kevin.  We talked wine, bourbon, copiers, managed print services, and wine...and bourbon.

Then, Brian, the Ladies, and I talked for almost 3 hours about the copier industry, his journey from output to Bourbon, and lessons learned from each niche.

That wasn't enough -

I was most fortunate to be invited to share my bourbon adventure as it stands today, taste great pours with Brian, Hannah, and Elora and talk more about bourbon and #copiers.

The AI Surge: A Dot-Com Déjà Vu or the Dawn of a Tech Utopia?

In the high-stakes world of technology stocks, the potent combination of artificial intelligence hype and looming Federal Reserve decisions is stirring a dynamic debate among investors - are we witnessing a replay of the dot-com bust or the dawn of a sustained rally?

Greg's Words

There is so much activity in the technology realm, it may be difficult to concentrate on one issue.  

Follow the money.

There may be a wave of new hardware just over the horizon as AI-compliant/optimized chips hit the market.

Imagine every, single one of today's computing devices needing to be replaced to handle artificial intelligence.  The market is breathtaking.