We’re generally quite happy to say it’s the online revolution that’s killing print media. Sure, it’s had it’s effect, but the truth is that there’s (as there generally is with all things) more to the story. You see the downturn for print also came at a time when big print publishers (aka “newspapers”) were starting to get a whole lot more information to deal with. They had invested in systems that allowed them to get into some very extensive data…
I haven’t tried it yet, but there are reports from many sectors that Apple is offering free wireless access for Iphone users at Starbucks locations. Very strange when you consider that we have Edge network access and generally don’t need a regular wireless network. Here’s the method though: there is a minor hack that will allow PC or Mac users to access for free: all they have to do is fire up Safari and then going to Edit->Advanced checking off…
This is interesting, after so many years, Adobe has decided to open the FLV and SWF formats, which means that we’ll be able to do more interesting things with them now as developers. For those who may not pay attention, pretty much any animation you see on the web is in SWF format, and FLV is what is used almost universally for web-based video players, such as you see with YouTube. Adobe will be removing the licensing restrictions on all…
As readers know, I’ve been testing Twitter. It’s fun, but for me the jury is still out. One of the things I’m noticing is the preponderance of New Media Gurus inhabiting Twitter. And inevitably, many feel the need to constantly evangelize on the issues of Web 2.0. News flash: if you have to talk in broad terms about Web 2.0, Social Networking or Social Media, you’ve probably already missed the boat. This is not some abstract concept that is coming…
Okay, we all know that social networks are out there and that we should be making use of them. But how do you monitor what’s going on in the vast ecosystem of Twitterverses, MySpaceDoms and FacebookVilles? David Churbuck has been doing just that for Lenovo for the past two years and he’s sharing the lessons learned in this post: “Try to Detect It” which I consider a must read for any web marketing pro or business owner/senior manager. Free: yup….
After slapping Twitter around for the past year, I thought it was about time for me to shut my mouth and actually try it. So after a week, here are my initial impressions. First off, communications through Twitter are by their nature somewhat superfluous. I’ve really only had one discussion that’s actually meant anything. My impression is that it’s basically the Internet equivalent of the CB Radio. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. The means of communication is totally…
David Churbuck posts this morning on Blog Aggregation. We both did a blog aggregation project over at Reel-Time.com in 2003 which, as he notes, was well ahead of the curve (and probably the need). He’s got some excellent points, but I have a few things to add. The idea of a blog is something that many of us don’t fully understand. It’s basically an online journal that was designed to allow users without server level access to maintain their own…
I recently rolled out the http://www.powerupgeneratorservice.com site and in reviewing the initial search results are very interesting. To begin with, some background. Power Up Generator’s previous site was a single page, which hadn’t been optimized at all. They didn’t every turn up #1 when you searched on their own name. My initial survey of the site brought forward a problem for search optimization: they do business across New England. Yet no one searches for “new england” when they look for…
Mukund Mohan had a great post hitting on the comment by Jason Calacanis: “An absolute idiot with 10-20M users can make a ton of money. So, get to tens of millions of users and forget about money.” Mukund points out that while Linked In has the 10 million users Jason mentions, but it provides very little value to most of the members. I’d even go one further in saying that many of us see it as a total drag. I…
Tom Willmot of EdgeDesigns, one of our team lead developers posts on the launches of www.hotcars.com and www.dreamwheels.com last week. He succinctly sums up the niche social networks for those not familiar: A niche social network is simply a social network aimed squarely at a niche interest, be it wine or geeks. You take the classic social network components: user profiles, friends lists, user messaging, forums and groups; and then you tailor the experience towards your intended niche. Throw in…