Not too long ago I was hiking back down from a trail on Mount Rainer and a man’s cell phone rang. I was on a trail covered in snow, there was a mountain goat not far back, and this man had cell phone reception! I was shocked. Then I was awed. Now I think- can you imagine what you could do with that?! I could keep friends posted on how far up the trail I had made it in an hour by jotting to Twitter. Or share what I learned about perseverance on a cold and rainy hike by jotting to Life Journal.

I am always amazed at the new ways to use Jott Links, and Jott in general. I hear from customers all the time about new ways they have incorporated Jott into their lives, like blogging while participating in a bike race, or sending new song melodies and lyrics straight to their email.

Got any great ideas of ways to use Jott? We’d love to hear them!

Our friends in the blog world have been hard at work, and the payoff is almost here! We can hardly wait for this new Jott Link.  

Check back later this week for details.

 An Interview with Nick

Q: What do you do at Jott Networks?
A: I am the minister of product design. Shree gave me that title, I like it.

Q: What is your favorite part about working here?
A: The people I work with, loving what I do, and making people’s lives better. What could be better?

Q: If you were a Jott, would you be a Jott to self, a reminder, or a Jott to someone else?
A: Jott to self. I’m an introvert with bad memory.

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only send one Jott, what would it be?
A: I am stranded on a desert island, and this is the only Jott I am sending. Bye.

Q: Do you think our office kitchen needs better coffee?
A: Less coffee. More beer.

Q: Pirate or Ninja?
A: Ninja with a boat.

I just finished reading the article about Twitter founder Evan Williams in this month’s Technology Review. He spoke about how the simplicity of both Blogger and Twitter are keys to their success.  He talked about how staying in touch is the common thread that draws people to blogs and microblogs.  People like to connect with other people, and they love simple products that allow them to do that. We couldn’t agree more. 

Making that possible from just about anywhere is why we love Jott Links. We wanted folks to be able to step away from their desks, go outside, move around, and still be able to share with friends, family and coworkers exactly where you are and what you are doing. The world is a mobile place, and as long as there are people like Evan Williams creating Twitters and Bloggers, we’ll keep creating ways to Jott to them.

We love the simple message behind it all- get up, go out, and stay in touch.

It is a big day for us here at Jott Networks! Jott the Vote now has a comment feature. Respond to other jotters and let them know if you agree or disagree with their point of view. Comments won’t be sent to the political campaigns, they are just there for our Jott community. Enjoy the debate, but please remember to be kind to your fellow jotter.

The word is out! Jott the Vote has hit the blogosphere, and we’re psyched about its reception.

For us, being a voice-to-text service has more to do with being a life tool than being a neat technology trick. As Jott Networks learns and grows, we’ll continue to release new projects to provide avenues for public participation with Jott. And participating in Jott ventures is really about being involved with the world around you.  We’re really proud to be a tool that keeps our users connected with their work, their families, and their friends. Jott the Vote is another extension of our general sentiment: you can stay actively engaged in the world with just two simple steps. Call. Speak. 

At Jott™ we are all about participating in life, and that means being an active and engaged citizen. That’s why we are so excited to introduce you all to Jott the Vote!

Ever wanted to send your thoughts or opinions to one of the current presidential candidates? Just try finding an e-mail address to follow through. Tough huh? To make it easier we did a little hunting and found the e-mails. So with the use of the Jott technology we just launched Jott the Vote™, a free and politically nonpartisan service that lets our Jott users easily send an email message directly to a presidential campaign.

When asked, “Who do you want to Jott?” say a candidate’s full name and leave a message that will be emailed to their campaign. Unlike your normal jotts, these messages will also be made part of a public conversation on Jott the Vote. You can follow jotts to your candidate of choice by clicking on the individual candidate pages, viewing the polls page, or downloading a Jott the Vote™ widget.

Visit www.jottthevote.com to let your voice be seen and heard.

Greg

Jaiku is fast becoming a popular service! So popular in fact, that Google just bought them. Jaiku was one of our first Jott Links, and we’ve seen first-hand how fast its popularity has grown. Being able to Jott to Jaiku by speaking into your cell phone while you are out and about has definitely caught on! For now it looks like Jaiku is not accepting new user sign ups, but you can request an invitation to use their service while it is still in Beta. For all you current Jaiku members, check out our Jott Links and start posting to Jaiku from your cell phone.