Write more effective e-mail using these six quick tips

Think about how quickly you decide whether or not you want to read an email. Most people decide if they are going to open an email based on their relationship with the sender. If your email recipient doesn't know who you are or has a poor opinion of you, then getting them to open an email is a challenge. Here are six easy steps to get more of your emails read whether you know your email target or not.

1) Unless the sender knows who you are, the most critical piece in any email communication is the subject line and even there you need to get to the point quickly.

2) Personalize it. People want to know that it's them you care about not "to whom it may concern." And while you're at it, make sure you have the recipient’s name right.

3) Get to the point quickly. You may not be able to tell the whole story in the first paragraph, but you better let them know what's in it for them if you want that to continue to read.

4) It's not about you. What you need only matters if they care. Point out what the benefit is to them.

5) Be brief. Email isn't the medium for novels or long essays. If what you have to say is going to take a while, give them a link and make sure there are pictures.

6) Include a call to action. At the end of the email the reader should know exactly what you want them to do or at least be moved to look for further information.

When will Apple fall?

In the world of technology, it's not if the mighty will fall but when. There are to be sure, a few exceptions to this rule: IBM, Sony, Oracle and a couple handfuls of others to name a few. But it's a small list, and not one is growing by exponential measures.

If you don't think declines possible, look at Microsoft's history.

There was a time when the government and everybody else wanted to break up the big evil Redmond. Bill Gates and company were brilliant. They came up with this idea of having tollbooths on the places where we did most digital commerce. they owned the operating systems on the computers were used and we paid them for that. They owned office productivity software where did all our work and we paid them for that. The almost did it with web browser by wedding Internet Explorer with Windows operating system, but then came along Firefox and Google.

So you say that IBM is well, but there was a time when Big Blue was scheduled to be broken up into little parts just like the original AT&T. Then, a funny thing happened on the way to the disassembly party, IBM got a new CEO who thought better of the idea. Yeah, they sell off some parts, like the PC division. But for the most part company still in tact, but with a higher reliance on high-margin products like services.

My point here is this, if you can't trust Big Blue or big evil to stay at the top of the who can you trust?

I'm not saying that Apple will inevitably go downhill. I hope not. We have three iPhones in my family and I love the iPad. And apple has always been a company that gave consumers what they wanted not what they asked for. But there are no sure bets in technology, so invest in Apple, but make sure you buy little Exxon-Mobile stock as well.

The Upcoming Wireless Patent War

In an odd story that most consumers will bypass this morning comes the news that Apple, RIM and Microsoft recently bought a block of patents from the once Internet darling now defunct Nortel networks. Why should we worry? Well, many are concerned these companies will use the patents to thwart Google Androids attempt to take over the wireless market. Already, more smartphone run on the Android platform than any other smartphone technology.

Remember the company that held RIM hostage with a vague but eventually enforceable patent and the U.S. government had to step RIM from being shut down. Expect more patent suits rather less in wireless space. See here for more background on mobile patents and who is suing who.

I bring this up because we are headed for an era where patents are being used to protect turf in dubious ways that do not benefit the consumer. Usually consumers lose out in these battles as companies try to use patents to block the rise of technology not foster it.