8 Questions to… Tony Fish

Tony Fish (@tonyfish): entrepreneur, investor and author who divides his time between his portfolio and board advisory work. Tony is known for delivery, probing questioning, clear decision making, simple no-nonsense attitude, robust financial views and governance controls. Tony enjoys an enviable professional reputation, has a wide and diverse network and brings a truly innovative flair.

Tony Fish B-Eng MBA C-ENG FIET FCIM is the author of “My Digital Footprint: a two sided business model where your privacy will be someone else’s business” Nov 2009 and has previously co-authored two books on mobile and innovation: “Mobile Web 2.0: the innovators guide to developing and marketing next generation wireless/mobile applications”, August 2006; and “OpenGardens, the innovators guide to mobile data industry”, December 2004.

1. What is your preferred gadget at the moment?

I use my Blackberry for Email, SMS and Voice, my iPhone for mobile web and my Sony Z with mobile BB for all other things.

Whilst working for BT in 1999 I lead the creation of a triparied agreement with AT&T and Microsoft to develop a single mobile device, as I believed at that time one device would work. Having travelling through the IPAC, Palm’s, P800, Psions, N9000 and many more mobiles and smartphones, netbooks, tablets and other semi-mobile devices – I am resolved at the moment to having the best device for the job.

2. Your currently most loved app, mobile site, mobile service?

Most loved app for the start of 2011 is a Firefox plugin LeechBlock which forces more thinking less gathering.

3. What are you reading and how (paper, ereader, smartphone, tablet…)?

I have just finished The Shallows by Carr (real book) and I am reading The Power of Pull by Hagel, Brown and Davison (real book)

I love my eReader and by own news feeds from RSS but I am learning that to read deeply and think I need paper (as screens allow for opportunity and distraction and bad for scribbling and notes) – everything else I use screen based services.

4. What’s from your perspective the biggest trend in mobile- The Next Big Thing?

The realisation that there is more value is taking your data off your mobile devices that trying to push more services onto your device. By this I mean, extracting data about you, your behaviour and your environment from your mobile devices. Location, attention, who you are meeting, time, routes, routines, temperature, noise, blood pressure, oxygen levels, pollution etc and using this data to enhance, improve all services on all screen based interactions.

Within all these valuable data set there is one that I believe will become increasingly important that will enable a new winner to emerge and that is “Local”.

5. Which hype annoys you? What is overrated today?

Please can I have two

The first one is a generic statement that annoys me; “Something is Dead, because something else is New.” Applications, services and products are part of a cycle of iteration. The old needs to adapt as much as the new needs to disrupt; they are not mutually exclusive.

My second is Rule 12 in my 33 rules. “Realise you ability to annoy everyone” I really don’t want to follow, join, sign up, know about, hear from everyone just because you can upload your contacts.

http://www.slideshare.net/tonyfish/33-new-social-rules-for-living-in-a-digital-age

6. Who (individual, organisation, company…) will change the mobile world?

Company – I am watching Microsoft as they are the wounded party following the 5 year war from 2006 to 2010 between Google, Apple, Nokia and Blackberry.

Organisation/ Eco-system – Andriod followers and the “open” world

Person – with over 10,000 mobile and digital professionals in my contact list it would be an injustice to pick one or a few. I do think that the local mobile eco-systems/ communities will enable key countries to take leadership positions. China, Germany, UK, US, Brazil and Spain are the ones to watch for innovation.

7. Mobile experts one should read, one should follow?

Here is my read universe http://www.netvibes.com/mobileweb20#Digital_Footprint_%26_identity

One to follow – Jeff Jarvis @ http://www.buzzmachine.com/

8. Who would you recommend to answer these questions next?

Leo Laporte (@leolaporte)

http://leoville.com/