Blog skyhook logo Skyhook Holiday Reading List: Must-Read Industry Books to Gift this Season

Dec 9, 2014 12:00:00 PM

Skyhook Holiday Reading List: Must-Read Industry Books to Gift this Season

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The holidays are quickly approaching, so it's time to get cozy with a great book. Are you looking for your next great read on the latest in context or devices? Or if you are in the midst of holiday shopping and not sure what to get a colleauge? Lucky for you, we have put together a reading list of some of the Skyhook favorites, including topics of customer/user experience, gathering context, connected devices and the history of location technology.

Check out our top picks below: 

1) Age of Context: Mobile, Sensors, Data, and the Future of Privacy variety_shot-5book

81nyYfuLujL._SL1500_Accurate location integrated with layers of venue and demographic context represent the holy grail for advertisers. The data gathered from wearable devices and mobile apps today better enables the gathering of context on their audiences, resulting better targeting for brands, more relevant content for consumers, and higher value for the same ad impressions. Advertisers can improve user engagement by reaching their audiences with relevant, higher value content where and when they are ready to make a buying decision.

Buy Age of Context by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

 

2) Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers to the Center of Your Business 

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You need your customers more than they need you. This simple fact often gets overlooked in the day to day of most businesses, yet in the increasingly customer-centric age we are heading in, the weight of this statement is arguably more important now than ever.

With rising customer expectations, game-changing competition, and accessibility of social media to share the experience of dealing with your company, it’s hard to hide behind old methodologies of doing business, regardless of the industry. Understanding and optimizing the customer experience now has tangible results to your bottom line, which is the core message of the book.

Buy Outside In by Kerry Bodine and Harley Manning

 

3) Enchanted Objects

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“Enchanted Objects” was a fascinating, well researched book that not only identified some forward-looking wearables and “Internet of Things” companies, but also took a step back into human motivation to shed some light on why we would want to use these new devices.

So if you are designing the next great wearable and looking for some solid ways to differentiate, this is definitely worth the read to understand more about how and why we will engage with these types of connected devices now and in the future.

Buy Enchanted Objects by David Rose

 

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4) You Are Here: From the Compass to GPS, the History and Future of How We Find Ourselves

If you are interested in the history of location, we recommend picking up a copy of this book published earlier this year. Written by Hiawatha Bray, a reporter for the Boston Globe, the book is a compelling read depicting the technology of location and can shed some light if you are curious about who some of the key players have been over the years in the continuing development of location and mapping technologies. 

Buy You Are Here by Hiawatha Bray