Importance of Twitter and Final Post

As this is my last post for this blog, I thought it would be fitting to return to the topic of Twitter. Through Business of Media and writing this blog I have begun not only to experiment with Twitter, but understand its importance, relevance, and business potential. Jennifer Laycock lays out some of the biggest reasons why Twitter is a crucial social media tool. In her first two points Laycock touches upon what I personally find to be the most helpful and important aspect of Twitter: its ability to be a news source. Instead of checking off a list of interests on Digg, StumbleUpon and Netvibes, with Twitter the real life people I follow bring me the news that matters to me.

Laycock also points out how Twitter can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool. The re-tweet feature can essentially spread the word about a product, organization, event, etc. and because it is information that is being re-tweeting by people you are following, the information is more likely to mean something than had it simply come from the source itself. Twitter has been a fun experiment in not only learning how to use social networking sites, but in discovering how to reach a larger audience for my blog.

At the beginning of the year, I was incredibly skeptical about new and social media. Brave New Media was my attempt at gaining a greater understanding of this new media, but also critiquing it from a place of nostalgia and addressing the many privacy concerns I had. Over the course of this semester I think many of my fears about social media have been replaced by excitement. When confronted with new media I still find it necessary to ask the same questions I always have: is this new media needed? What old media will it be replacing? How will this effect my life? And, most importantly, does it fill me with a Skynet-type sense of dread about the future of technology and civilization? (Whenever the last answer is yes, I put more money away for stockpiling weapons.)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading and perhaps some of my excitement/ anxieties about new media and technology have rubbed off on you!

Boxee: A New Way To Watch Your Favorite Shows

The new beta version of Boxee was released the other day and if you are looking to cut the cable cord, this service will help you do it. Boxee reminded me a little bit of Qlipso except it has features I actually like instead of hate. I like Boxee because it is a new, interesting way to play digital media on your computer (or with the Boxee Box onto your TV) but it is still easy to use for those who aren't completely computer savvy. Boxee is also open source and completely free. Personally, I'm getting a little tired of watching TV on my computer so I'm not sure how often I will be using Boxee on my laptop. However, I am super excited about the Boxee Box which is supposed to come out in 2010. With this device, you can watch digital media from your computer on your TV screen and continue to share recommendations with friends on Twitter and Facebook.

Another cool feature that Boxee has is that users can customize it with a variety of apps like We Are Hunted. The addition of applications and sharing features like Twitter and Facebook, makes Boxee more than just another way to watch online videos. Boxee is exciting not only because it is free, but because it is a user friendly way to experience content with friends. I'm excited to see not only the Boxee Box in action in 2010, but the way TV broadcasters react to it.

The Internet Knows Too Much About Me

Advertising is a necessary evil. If I want to get to the entertainment I enjoy, I have to suck it up and tolerate the harassing adverts along the way. Sure, our ancestors had to make their own clothes, plow their fields and die of dysentery but we have to watch that stupid Luke Wilson AT&T commercial, then a Swiffer commercial, and then that fucking Luke Wilson commercial again! They had it soo easy. Luckily for us, the companies that are trying to shovel their products down our throats really do care for us. They want us to be happy and they know we'd rather get back to our VH1 reality show marathon than watch their dumb advertisements. Yahoo's new Ad Interest Manager is an advertiser's dream (and tries to be the internet user's as well). This privacy feature aims to help Yahoo users choose the type of ads they want to see and would be most receptive towards, while at the same time giving advertisers a more targeted consumer. It's a win-win!


Except it isn't, and I hate this. I realize that many media industries are hurting right now and that without advertising we wouldn't have a lot of the entertainment that we do. That hasn't stopped me from avoiding ads at all costs. I skip through them on my DVR, I open up a new tab when an internet ad comes on, and if I had more time and energry I'd probably deface billboards. For me, when it comes down to watching an ad for a product I love and watching an ad for a product I hate the experience is unenjoyable either way. I just don't like the idea of spending minutes, hours, days, months, and years of my life watching ads.* Also, I think it goes without saying that the fact that Yahoo has enough information about each of us to know which ads cater to our personal taste is pretty terrifing.

*This post will be really funny when I wind up settling for a job in advertising one day.

I'm Going To Pretend Someone Cares About My Life On Plancast

On my quest to discover new and exciting media, I have come across some fascinating trends. One trend I have noticed, is that people would really like to tell the whole world what they are doing at every second of the day. It isn't enough to change your Facebook status to tell others you are at work. Or to tweet that you are in just "like the longest Trader Joe's line everrr". Or to Foursquare that you are hanging out at Le Pain Quotidien. I don't want to be to critical, because I don't necessarily think these activities are a bad thing--it's just that it is a fine line. I'm not sure where using the internet to connect with friends in new and helpful ways ends and extreme overshare begins. So since I myself haven't really figured out where I stand on the issue I will attempt to refrain from snarky comments about Plancast in order to protect myself from appearing like a hypocrite in the future.

This basically says everything you need to know about Plancast, "The main idea is that while many people use Foursquare and similar location-based services like Gowalla and Loopt to share where they are, Plancast is about sharing where they will be." My first reaction to that quote was "Wow, this service sounds so unnecessary and stupid. I would like to cry now," but I decided to put my mockery aside in an attempt to be impartial. So I decided to give Plancast a try and as with almost all of these internet sites I try out, none of my friends are on it and it is unlikely any of them will join anytime soon. Broadcasting my plans feels sort of like tweeting did for me when I first started--like I'm yelling personal dribble into the vacuum of space. Fun! However, with Plancast I can tweet out my plans or send them as Facebook status updates to let my friends who aren't on the service know what I'm up to (let's be honest though, no one gives a shit what I'm doing).

Final verdict time--this could be something. The minor difference between Foursquare and Plancast seemed really silly to me at first, but after thinking about it and using it a little bit I realize that Plancast really does offer a completely different service. If you are looking for a way to organize an event or even just see if there is anyone who would like to tag along with you somewhere, Plancast would be really helpful. I plan on exploring this thin line between "hey anyone wanna..." and "OMG why the hell won't Chelsea shut up about her stupid plans?" In the end though, I'll probably just continue to ask people if they want to hang out the old fashioned way-- good old face-to-face text messaging.

Inbox2 is Not Quite What I Was Looking For

Today, I tried out an all-in-one email service called Inbox2 that promised to put all of my messages from Gmail, Twitter and Facebook in one easy-to-read place. Inbox2 also has a Facebook app that puts all of that information right into your Facebook page (private of course), which is kinda neat. When I first heard about Raindrop, I was really excited by the idea of having a service that organized emails and social networking messages and feeds for me. Unfortunately, after using Inbox2 I'm not so sure how convient that service really is. The Inbox2 Facebook app puts all of my emails, Twitter DMs and Facebook notifications for me in different folders. This also means that everytime I get an email or an @reply I get a Facebook notification telling me about it. Getting all of these as notifications is a little overwhelming and not really what I wanted.


Although I'm still excited to see how Raindrop will turn out, I'm not so sure having all of my social networking activities and communications feeding into one outlet is right for me. In keeping with the theme of yesterday's post, I've realized that I rather like keeping things separate. I think a big reason why I like checking and responding to email, Twitter and Facebook separately is because my interactions are very different for each one. If I put them all together I feel like I am loosing what makes each service unique. I also think email is just a completely different thing from social networking. When I was playing around with Inbox2, it just didn't make sense to have all of my website conformation and school related emails mixed in with Twitter and Facebook chitchat. So any opinions on these types of services? Do you think the future of the internet is to have everything we want to connect to in one place? Or will you continue to use services like email and Twitter separately?

Record Month for Amazon's Kindle

Goodbye old fashioned booky-things, the Kindle is taking off. November has been the greatest sales month for Kindle thus far and it appears as though consumers are ready to shell out the cash for this device. The e-reader has dropped to $259 (it might be that I am soul crushingly poor, but that's still way to much money for me to fork over) and seems to be in the lead of the digital reader competition. I haven't been heard any news in the way of the Nook, so it looks like Amazon has the advantage right now. I've even been seeing these tempting Kindle commericals,



These promising Kindle sales are big news for the publishing industry. If there was any doubt that digital readers are the future of publishing, than this is the proof. Actually, it isn't even the future we are talking about anymore. It's right now. I think Amazon has done a good job bringing WiFi and personalization (although there could always be more) to the Kindle. What I would like to see now, is publishers offering exclusive content and working to bring books, newspapers, comics, etc to e-readers in an exciting and innovative way. Honestly though, the Kindle is nice and I wish I could afford one, but they are a soon-to-be outdated step in the digital reader evolution. Once that Tablet comes along or once the iPhone can do everything you want it to do perfectly, having a separate device for a reader will just seem silly.

And here comes my nostalgia again--I'm hesitant about these changes. Yes, having an all-in-one would be convienant. Yes, I carry a digital camera, cell phone, iPod, and iTouch are with me because they all do different things. I know I should find carrying around all that technology annoying but I guess I'm just so used to it. Maybe it's that carrying a consolidated all-in-one device demonstrates a clarity of mind that I just don't have. Maybe some people like to feel confused, rushed and overwhelmed by all the balls they have up in the air, okay? Damn you technology for trying to simplify my life! I will never give in to your reasonable demands!

Oh, Aol. I Forgot All About You!

AOL, excuse me Aol., is back! Well they never actually left, their company just became so irrelevant we all forgot about them. On December 11th, AOL will finally be spun-off from Time Warner and they are looking to turn their separation into a rebranding opportunity. So as you can see above, Aol. (lowercase letters are waaay in with the kids) is revamping their image with a variety of new background designs to appeal to artsy people/ youth/ goldfish/ no clue.



This video makes me so angry. If anyone out there feels compelled to return to Aol. because of this pathetic attempt at rebranding, I hate you. Okay full disclosure here, I am not a media executive or an internet mogul. But it is my personal opinion that Aol. has things a little backwards. If it were me,

Step 1. Create/invent/innovate something new so that you are no longer "grandpa's internet company"

Step 2. Rebrand your company to reflect those changes.

It also seems to me that Aol. might have a few other financial problems to worry about before they start on this advertising campaign. Just a thought!

Well, Aol. so far you've been successful because at the very least, people are thinking about you as an internet company again--even if those thoughts are usually followed by chuckles. Now all you have to do is innovate the internet in a way that no other business out there has done yet and everyone will come flocking back. Good luck!

Netvibes Wasabi Will Unfortuantely Not Be Used By Me

A few years ago I started using Netvibes as my homepage. It was cool because Netvibes allowed me to personalize my page by adding on different widgets that could bring me personalize news. On my page I had widgets for news, weather, Digg, Flickr, Facebook, as well as different tabs where I could put even more widgets for all my different interests. The service did a pretty decent job of keeping me in the loop. It conviently put everything I would normally search for on one website. But I didn't use. Shortly after I discovered Netvibes I abondened it. I think I stopped using it because I already had my internet habits established and going to only one site for all the things I would normally go to many for, was too much to get used to.

When I saw that Netvibes Wasabi was ready for beta testing, I thought I'd give it another go. Just to see if maybe this time it'll stick. Basically it is the same service but, shinier and with way more personalization options (which is a good thing). I really don't have anything bad to say about Wasabi (besides a few minor kinks that I think they are working out). If a homepage is what you are looking for, then it is probably for you. But, it ain't for me. I just can't get used to this service. I like going to 25 different websites for all my internet needs, damn it! Stop judging me.

Avatars Scare the Shit Out of Me

In order to share and watch online content with friends, I send them links through StumbleUpon, Facebook, or Twitter. I am not actually watching or enjoying anything with my friends at the same time, instead we give each other feedback sometime after through comments or tweets. So far, this system has worked pretty well. Qlipso seeks to expand upon the idea of sharing online videos with friends by giving them a platform to watch and share together--at the same time. Qlipso is sort of like a chat room where you get together with your friends and watch videos or play games. You can connect Qlipso to your other online accounts like Facebook, Myspace, or AIM so that you can easily find your friends and start watching together. To make the experience slightly more interesting/interactive/creepy users can have their own avatars that move around and interact with the video, like throw tomatos at the screen or flip around (..yeah).



Here's the thing, linking to content through Twitter or Stumble and commenting on it later works so well because not everyone is online at the same time doing the same thing. I love that my friend Christie will StumbleUpon funny sites while she's bored at work and send them my way. At the end of the day when I get home I have a bunch of cool sites to check out and I can write back to her about what I liked. If I could get five friends to not only be online at the same time, but to want to watch the same dumb viral video with me at the same time--as Qlipso is suggesting--my head would explode from the sheer unlikeliness of it. Also, avatars are fucking creepy. Mii's were cute for about a second before I wanted to run out of the house and as far away from technology as possible. Honestly, I just don't need a weird virtual representation of myself to watch online videos with me. I'm not that lonely, yet. There are just too many unanswered science fiction questions that are attatched to avatars. I'm not ready to accept them.

The Next Step in Search?

Fact Rank is a new search engine out from FacteryLabs. Rather than just organizing the results from a search, Fact Rank assumes that searchers only want the relevant information from websites and would rather not search through all of the results to find just the facts. So instead of displaying your search results in a list, Fact Rank pulls out the relevant "facts" from all of the pages that came up in your search. This way the user can see all the information instantly that would have taken multiple clicks at different websites to gather. Check out the video below to see Fact Rank in action.



Or try it out for yourself here. Honestly, this service is badass. It is like Wikipedia meets Google meets Twitter. With Fact Rank, I think search is moving one step closer to actually understanding what a user is looking for. As much as I rely on Google and will continue to use it for search (and a plethora of other services), Fact Rank understands much better what it is I'm really looking for on any given search. Google's page rank is usually incredibly helpful, but there are many times when I have to click on every website on the first results page and into the second to find what I'm looking for. Instead of going through all that, Fact Rank gives me a much more precise range of what I might be searching for. If you've been looking for something to trump Google, this just might be it.

Brizzly & Twitter Overload

In order to tweet I use Twitter, TweetDeck, TweetDeck for my iTouch, Twitterific, Listorious, Google Wave (Tweety), Get Glue, Twit This, Favit, and Nebul.us. And now Brizzly. For the record, I've been using a lot of this stuff to experient with new media and to see what works best, but it's still pretty excessive. So right now I'm experimenting with Brizzly. Brizzly is similar to TweetDeck in that it allows users to see updates from both their Twitter and Facebook accounts and users can update for both. Unlike TweetDeck you can't see updates from both accounts at the same time (you have to switch between the two) which I don't really like as much. It also doesn't give you any pop up notifications when people update (which depending on how connected you like to stay is either a good or bad thing). But with Brizzly you don't have to install anything so you can view all of your feeds from Brizzly's easy to use and chic website (a definite plus).


It is quite possible that Brizzly will be replacing TweetDeck for me and maybe I can even start to consolodate some of my tweeting. More to the point, congrats to Twitter on your popularity and expansion, and I'd like to say the more apps the merrier. But honestly, I'm starting to get a little exhausted.

New York Times: At Least They're Trying

I--like most people I know-- earnestly want the New York Times to succeed. Despite some of the problems I have with the way newspaper industry is trying to stave off extinction (paywalls, cutting newsroom staff, etc.), newspapers like the New York Times still cannot be beat in terms of in-depth, quality reporting. So I was very pleased to hear that the newspaper giant is working on a prototype reader tenatively title Article Skimmer . This app will be a bridge between the familiarity and comfort of reading a print newspaper and the ease and convience of online or mobile reading. You can try out the prototype of the new app here.

It is my hope that the NY Times will be successful in this endevour and create a new way to read articles that will revitalize the newspaper industry. Unfortunatly, it seems incredibly unlikely that any one thing will bring newspapers back from the brink. But it's okay, cause in the future there are no newspapers. Instead, government sponsored news reports are projected onto big screens near rundown factories. At least that's how it always goes in my dystopic nightmares...

People Paying For Content? Whaaa?

I've always had this belief that once something is free, there's no going back. You can't allow me to access online articles the next day and then put up a paywall the next day, newspaper industry. Nor can you expect me to accept paying for services like Gmail, Digg or Pandora after using them for free for so long. Well, it appears as though not everyone is as cheap and/or set in their ways as I (which may or may not be a good thing. I really don't know anymore). A report released today revealed which apps are making the most money from in-app purchases (when you decided to upgrade from the free version of an app to the paid one you are making an in-app purchase).


As it turns out, the three highest grossing in-app purchases applications were in games, social networking, and books. This information is really significant because it is a measuring stick for what people are willing to pay for more types of digital content. We already know most people aren't fond of paying for music or news when in comes in a digital format (or really any type of format at this point), but now we know that there are a few key things people will pay for if they want them bad enough. Social networking sites seem to already have a handle on how they can turn their free services into profit, but if I were in publishing or gaming (mostly publishing) I would take this as a sign that I need to make more content available for digital devices (and sooner rather than later). Consumers are excited about this brave new media whether companies are ready to take the next big step or not.

Location-Based Trends Coming to Twitter

Twitter's soon-to-be-released geolocation feature will allow users to search for trends by location (a clunky version of this service already exists through the app Trendsmap). As TechCrunch points out this feature will likely be incredibly helpful and popular with users looking for an easy way to see what's up in their area.


More importantly, as the New York Times articulates, in newsworthy and dangerous events--like the recent shootings at Fort Hood--Twitter's location based trends would enable users to see tweets originating directly from the area in question. We've all seen Twitter's ability to diseminate information quickly and by utilizing locations in that process, vital information will be able to reach people much faster.

Twitter is becoming a real pro at builiding upon its buzz and momentum by continuing to roll out exciting new features. That billion dollar valuation doesn't look so crazy now, huh?

I'm In Love With We Are Hunted

Everyone wants to discover new music. That's why sites like Pandora work so well and why Google's new music search is so helpful. We Are Hunted is a new music discovery service that integrates social networking sites like Twitter and Myspace to find the most buzzed about music on the internet. What I really like about WAH is that it keeps users in the loop about new music so much faster and easier than was previously possible. I don't have the time to see what music everyone is talking about on Twitter or what music videos are the most popular on YouTube right now, but with We Are Hunted the work is all done for me.

I'm excited about using We Are Hunted because I think it is an incredibly creative and practical use of gathering information off the internet. As I express in yesterday's post, I'm a little weary of sites and services that monitor the internet and sift through massive amounts of personal information, but I actually think that WAH is putting this technology to good use. So seriously, go check it out.

Some Thoughts on Nebul.us

Ever wanted to share your internet habits with the world? Or would you rather come face-to-face with a visual representation with how you spend your time online (Tsk, Tsk)? Well now you can! In short, Nebul.us is a service that visualizes how you spend your time online and allows users to share links with just their friends or the world. Nebul.us is both a type of social networking/sharing site as well as a site that helps you track your productiveness during the day.

Nebul.us is not only a way to procrastinate in and of itself, but a way to track ALL of your internet procrastination! Yay! I understand how the concept of productivity monitoring might be useful for some, but with well established link sharing sites like Digg, del.ic.ous and Twitter around, I don't think many will be clamoring to get on Nebul.us (if you are interested though and want a Beta invite, I have 15 left. Everything's worth a try, I suppose).

Now, on a more critical note: WHO WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING ONLINE AT ALL TIMES??? I'm pretty sure the government and the advertising agencies are already monitoring everything we do online, so do we really need to make it easier for them? Seriously folks, if you put the right paranoid spin on it Nebul.us is some scary shit.

Bringing Comics to the Small Screen

As someone who loves to read comics in magazine format, I've been dreading the transition to digital comics for a while now. My anxiety stems from the belief that as publishers switch to digital comics they will release comics in digital only, phasing out the magazine format, only offering trades for fans who prefer print. Despite my fears, comic book publishers NEED to make their comics available digitally.

On Sunday, Marvel--one of the biggest and most successful comic book publishers--began a partnership with Panelfly to bring their comics to the iPhone.

Through the iPhone app, you can read many new Marvel comics as well as older ones like the first issues of Spider-Man, X-Men and Ironman. Personally, I've downloaded Panelfly, Comic Reader Mobi, iVerse, ClickWheel and The Comics by ComiXology and the latter was definitely the best reader of the bunch. It's the easiest to use and if you haven't been looking forward to reading your comics on a small screen like me, the ComiXology app might help you warm up to the idea.

Now, it's just a waiting game before DC Comics jumps on board and I can start reading Batman on my iTouch.

Google: Helping Us Get That Song Out of Our Head Since '09

In quick Google news, the search giant unveiled on its blog today how users will be able to search for music faster and easier. Through this new feature, you'll be able to search for a song by just typing in a few lyrics, which as you all know, is incredibly useful in our daily lives (I'm not even being all that sarcastic. I probably need to do this 3 or 4 times a week). Once you've found the song or artist you've been looking for, Google will also recommend legal sites where you can download or stream the music you've search for. Watch the video below to see it in action or check it out here to discover music on your own.



Personally, I love this new feature and I foresee using it in excess. But I have to wonder: if the iPod represented a major shift in the way we listen to music, what does this type of snippet searching say about trends in music? Are we heading towards a future where the album is obsolete because people simply do not listen to one full length album at a time? Maybe artists will only release singles to accommodate listener's pick 'n' choose preferences. The future is full of maybes.

You Know What Would Be Nice? Not Paying For Cell Phone Service.

Despite the plethora of ways we can communicate with one another over the internet, we all still seem to be very attached to our cell phones (for now anyway). As we leave landlines behind we have begun to look for convenient and cheap ways to talk to one another. Even though we have changing attitudes about phone service, many of us are not making the switch to ditch our cell phones all together for internet based phone service largely because we feel it is not convenient enough or because we don't know enough about it.

Yesterday, Google announced improvements to their Google Voice service that would allow callers to keep their existing phone number, make conference calls, send SMS via email in addition to many other features. If Google Voice isn't enough, iNum announced today that it will be bringing HD voice calling to Skype. iNum is a global internet calling service that allows callers to easily make calls to and from all over the world. This news probably means that the "it's poor quality sound" reason why you don't save money by making your calls online, won't be a legitimate reason for much longer.



I have to admit I am incredibly cheap. I hate paying my phone bill. I've been able to stop paying for cable and I feel great about that, but I hesitate to ditch my cell phone. And for what? So that I can pay 55 bucks a month to worry about going over my minutes and text allowance? Or is it just because not enough people would be willing to ditch their phones with me? Well, fuck the phone companies! To hell with them! There is obviously no reason why I should be paying for their overpriced service anymore. Yeah, I'm getting rid of my phone... tomorrow. Or the next day. I promise.

Run For the Hills! Apple's Tablet is Coming!

The rumor mill has been working overtime today as news of the long-hoped-for Apple tablet appears to be surfacing. Some news sites are picking up the story that Bill Keller of the New York Times let the cat out of the bag during a speech where he mentioned wanting to deliver New York Times exclusives to the Apple Slate. Gizmodo even posted the rumor that 400,000 of these tablets could ship by April 2010.



Now, if we are following the chronology of science fiction movies the Apple tablet falls somewhere between laptops and small screens implanted in our forearms. Basically, it doesn't matter whether or not these particular rumors are true, because this technology is coming whether we like it or not. For me, thinking about the impending Apple tablet reminds of those ridiculous technology scenes in Quantum of Solace. It's something that I can laugh at as preposterous now, but I won't be laughing when the technology really does arrive and I have to learn to adapt to it.

Incredibly Exciting Developments Are Afoot

Remember when I said email was dead? Hehe, about that. The internet's heart skipped a beat recently with news of Mozilla's Raindrop and Google Wave. Raindrop is in the early stages of development and is designed to be the next generation in email. The Next Web's Martin Bryant said that, "Raindrop is based on the idea that email isn’t the only thing people need to check regularly. Many people now have multiple email addresses, Twitter accounts, a Facebook account, IM accounts and more all vying for their attention." Check out Mozilla's site to see news about Raindrop and a cool video about the service.


If you've been on Twitter recently you've probably noticed that Google Wave has been a popular trending topic over the last week. Google Wave is another in development service that is looking to drastically change email to better reflect how important multimedia has become in the way we communicate. To see Google Wave in action you must, must watch this:



Let's not even pretend Google Wave won't be awesome, cause it most definitely will (I requested an invite but haven't gotten one, anyone out there already doing the Wave?).

In a previous post about the death of email, I expressed my concerns about how the changes in the way we communicate are becoming less and less personal. But, as I follow the Google Wave and Raindrop developments closely and with more anticipation, I feel like these services will only benefit us and help us to better communicate with one another. As the internet and our interests become more fragmented, services like Raindrop and Google Wave will have a profound effect on our ability to bring all of the services we use together and enable us to communicate with our friends and contacts easier.

Enough speculation. It'll be months before any of us will be able to tell if Google wave and Raindrop are indeed the future of communication or just another giant, internet related time suck.

A Thousand Flowers Are Blooming For Twitter

I told you there would be more Twitter news to come! Twitter scored two deals yesterday with Microsoft and Google that lets both companies utilize Tweets in their search engines. Microsoft's Bing has already begun to use the feature (ugh, its ugly though don't you think?) while Google's is still forthcoming (and probably much nicer to look at).

This is good news for Twitter because it is opening up the door for revenue streams. Not only has Twitter been paid by Google and Microsoft for their tweets, but both companies are likely to start putting ads up on their Twitter search service is the near future, which would mean Twitter might see some advertising revenue sooner than previously imagined.

In addition to being good news for Twitter, it's good news for us as search engine users. For those not using Twitter and not familiar with it, they will be able to see informative tweets through Google or Bing (which will probably drive a lot of new users to Twitter) that they might otherwise not have checked out. Not only that, but with both Microsoft and Google (as well as others) working on ways to sort and search for great tweets amid the constant stream, it is hopeful that a really inventive and helpful service will be developed soon.

I guess the one big downside to all this is that we are one step closer to having chips put in our brains that constantly update us about every possible thing going on in the world--which is an inevitable bummer. Google and Microsoft might succeed at filtering this constant stream of news, but that still doesn't mean there isn't too much of it out there to begin with.

Foursquare

When I lay awake at night, it is usually because I'm thinking about the future of social networking. Now that I have discovered Foursquare I can rest easy knowing that the future is a competitive bar hopping game users play with their acquaintances (I should've guessed). Foursquare is a relatively new social networking site that asks the question "where are you?" rather than, "what are you doing?". Foursquare has some buzz surrounding it as well as financial backers that include Kevin Rose (Digg) and Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter) to name only a few. Similarly to Twitter, Foursquare is building upon this buzz in an effort to attract financiers and encourage people to try out the service. Unlike Twitter, Foursquare has some very promising revenue possibilities that include sponsoring from different stores like coffe shops or bars (locations where foursquarers like to meet up with friends).

Despite the fact that the premise of Foursquare seems to limit its audience to urbanites, and that it needs to attract many more users, I think Foursquare could easily become incredibly popular (at least within cities like New York) and start generating revenue withing the next few years. Foursquare seems to be expanding upon the idea of Twitter, where users can let anyone know what they are doing wherever they are doing it, and focusing that information in a way that encourages ACTUAL SOCIAL INTERACTION (you might be too young to remember this). Instead of tweeting "I just drank one tasty cup of coffee. Be jealous" I can use Foursquare to let everyone I'm connected with know "I'm at Starbucks in Union Square. Come chill with me." This is a major difference, people. Foursquare is indeed the future of social networking because it is utitilizing the foundations of networking that sites like Facebook have developed and the easily accesible quick information Twitter has brought to the table to encourage users to bring these elements together and utilize them in a way that returns the "social" aspect of networking back to its interpersonal home.

I really hope that Foursquare can begin to garner more users (so that there are people using the service that I actually know) because I can see this service as not only becoming really popular, but incredibly useful as well. Especially for those of us who sometimes have nothing really to do and no one to hang out with (not me though because I'm super popular and cool and just don't even worry about it). I know that technology will one day rise up and kill us all, but I think I'm starting to like some of these new fangled techno driven ways of communicating.

E-Reader News Round-Up

The transition to digital books is shaping up to be one of my favorite topics on this blog. The reason why I have been focusing quite a bit on it is because, despite my own qualms about digital books, the e-reader is about to be a really big deal, really soon. The amount of news stories alone about developments in this technology indicates that we are on the precipice of e-reader ubiquity.

Firstly, Google announced today that it will launch Google Editions in the first half of next year. Readers will initially be able to buy half a million e-books from the site as well as hosted books from other retailers. Because it is Google (and because of my preference for Google products) I look forward to seeing a user friendly website devoid of any e-reader format bias.

Amazon has announced a price drop for the Kindle, down to $259. But the bigger news is that the latest version of the Kindle (available on October 19th) will be available to customers in over 100 country and have access to wireless.

Pictures of bookstore giant Barnes and Noble's e-reader are now up online. B&N have been working on their design for a few years now but it is possible that the wait might be worth it. "The layout will feature a black and white e-ink screen like the Kindle has—and a multitouch display like an iPhone underneath." In a kind of bizarre publicity twist Barnes and Noble will be launching the e-reader/ "major event" at the Chelsea Piers next Tuesday. I guess we shall wait and see how momentous this event really is.

Unlike Amazon and Google, who make their money online, Barnes and Noble has made a large amount of their money in-store. Is B&N ahead of the curve by trying to adapt to digital consumers? Will a successful e-reader keep their business alive after all of their retail stores have died off? Perhaps. One thing is for sure: it'll be a lot harder to get readers to pay 25 bucks for a digital book like they would have for a hard copy. Not only that but, Amazon, Google, and Barnes and Noble will have to compete not just with one another, but with piracy as well.

Personally, after reading so much about e-readers... they are starting to grow on me. If they get to the point where they have color, touch screens, connect to the internet, and get to around $100-150 I'd fork over the cash for that. Anyone else thinking they could go for one of these in the future?

The Polaroid Strikes Back

It was only a short while ago, when the world learned that the Polaroid camera business had become unsustainable and would be shutting down its business forever. The days of waiting for a picture to develop were truly over.

Apparently our prayers to the Lord On High have been answered, because Polaroid is poised for a come back. In an unexpected twist, it appears as though nostalgia has won out over technological superiority and the modern requirement of being able to put your photos up on Facebook. As Business Week reports, "Polaroid plans to cater to the nostalgia for a technologically less fettered era." Hey, I think Polaroid pictures are as neat-o as the next guy, but I'm not sure nostalgia can carry a business.

Unlike most of the other stories I have been commenting on, this development doesn't mark a transition from old to new in the media world. In fact, it's quite the opposite. But that's what makes it so fascinating to me. What brands or media will American consumers choose to hang on to out of nostalgia, despite the presence of something newer, better, and shinier? Why is Verizon so sure landline phones are dead, while Polaroid thinks that consumers might wanna give their cameras another go?

To be honest, I don't think a Polaroid camera revival is necessary or even a worthwhile product to spend your money on, but I genuinely appreciate the value of nostalgia. Because it is out of nostalgia for the media we are saying goodbye to that I write this blog. The times may be-a-changin', but it's good to know that there is still some amount of nostalgia rather than just technological innovation and convenience that has an impact on the media we consume.

Communication is a Fickle Friend

Gather round kids! I have a story to tell ya. I remember a time when I used to keep in touch with friends over an old fashioned method called email! And my messages would be paragraphs long, not sentences! Those were the days...

I'm only half kidding about my fond remembrances, because in reality the way we communicate has changed drastically in only a few short years. I haven't sent an email to a friend in probably three years. With Facebook, Twitter, Google Chat, and texting there really isn't much need to communicate through a format that is better suited for a longer conversation. Who has the time? This Wall Street Journal article discusses the end of the email era and points us in the direction of where the future of communication is going.

In a not surprising nutshell, it seems that we are heading down a road filled with briefer and briefer bursts of communication. In addition to this (considerably less formal) communication style, our way of getting in contact with one another also involves being able to take in a snapshot of a person's life at any given moment. Apparently email was too impersonal, cause with that service how could you tell what your friend's new favorite bands are or what she's planning on doing this evening? You couldn't! It was anarchy! With Facebook and Twitter we can know almost every mundane detail about a person, whereas email usually just got to the point.

How strange is it that email now seems to be a long forgotten method of getting in touch with someone? With the rapid pace at which technology has developed it seems as though email has become the new letter. It might just be because I'm turning 20 next week, but I really feel fucking old.

Should We Ditch the Comforts of TV? Hells, Yeah!

I watch less and less TV these days, but with more purpose. That is to say I no longer put the television on just so see what is on, but instead have a handful of shows that I make sure to fit into my schedule each week. In our increasingly scattered and hectic lives this is a common trend, no? So, as TV watching habits change I have to wonder: why do so many of us still choose to pay for cable?

There is a great article on Gizmodo today about just how easy it is to live without cable or satellite TV. Sean Fallon offers up a variety of solutions from websites: network websites, hulu.com or watch instantly on Netflix; affordable DVD renting (Netflix, Blockbuster); and hardware if you want to get your internet TV back onto your flat screen: Apple TV, Vudu, or Roku. If more and more people decide to ditch cable TV--like they have with landline phones-- perhaps the trend could put enough financial pressure on cable and satellite companies that they might finally be willing to offer some form of a la carte television. But, that's probably a lot of wishful thinking on my part...

This article made me rethink the position we as consumers find ourselves in. I have felt that due to the oligopolistic nature of the cable TV industry, there would never be enough competition to drive down prices and give the paying customers what they really want. If it isn't a criminal lack of competition within the industry how else would you explain why there still remains no a la carte system in place? But now, thanks mostly to the internet, there are alternative options available to us. My hope is that consumers will be able to break free from their cable service providers, pursue these other options, and create real competition for the industry. Who's with me?!

Look At This Awesome Marketing Tool! Er, I Mean App!

Apps appear to be one of the major selling points for the iPhone. They offer users useful (or trivial) content that can satisfy a wide variety of interests:



Apps are also advertisements that suckers pay for.

New York Times writer Roy Furchgott explains, "Behind the land rush to apps is a belief that they may be some of the cleverest advertising devised. They are, after all, advertisements that people voluntarily choose to watch and share with friends." This is the kind of thing that has turned me into a tin foil hat-wearing recluse. Apps go far beyond--the already pretty scary--realm of product placement because with apps the advertisement has become the content. So is this one of the signs that the apocalypse is upon us and that we are on the brink of becoming mindless drones? Cause, not to sound to alarmist here, but I'm pretty sure we just reached a point where we are willingly paying to play the Pizza Hut app game while we wait for our order to arrive. My tin foil hat just burst into flames.

E-Books, Piracy, Publishers & You

As the popularity of e-books grows, pirated copies will become an increasingly larger problem for publishers. New York Times writer, Randal Stross asks "Will Books Be Napsterized?"; unfortunately for the publishing industry it isn't really a question of will but of how. Stross predicts that the publishers will struggle with piracy as readers make the transition to e-books. However, I see a big difference between the two. Napster and other forms of music piracy became popular before the music industry had caught up with how to sell MP3 players and music to consumers. With e-books, it seems that the publishing industry and technology are becoming the driving force behind the transition to reading books digitally. My question is: is it possible that this difference will have an effect on whether or not consumers will pirate books?

Despite my belief that people will always choose free over paying (regardless of legality) I believe that the publishing industry is in the position to potentially curb readers from pirating. Because e-books are so new and the publishers are at the forefront of selling this technololgy to consumers, I think they have the power to quickly establish a paying culture with e-books. By offering customization, add-ons, apps, and low prices sellers of e-books could quickly establish quality differences between purchased and pirated e-books. No telling how this will all turn out, but I'm hoping that the threat of piracy and the lessons learned from the music industry will force publishers to give readers the best deal possible.

Hmm, Blockbuster News? Okay.

After hearing reports about rental giant Blockbuster's uncertain future, I thought the company had only a few real options: scale down and maybe find a niche market to cater to or continue to try and compete with Netflix and fail. It turns out Blockbuster's last stand to remain relevant and vital in the movie rental business will take place on our cell phones.

The chain has plans to begin offering movies and possibly TV shows on Motorola phones. With the availability of some TV content on Verizon phones through their V Cast service and the fact that iPhones have made watching video content on a cell phone easier and more enjoyable than ever before, Blockbuster's expansion into the territory of mobile phones seems like a natural progression. But Blockbuster's success in this venture rests not on whether consumers want to watch movies and TV on their phones, but whether or not they will pay for the service. And I seriously doubt that they will.

The fact is, those in search of video content have gotten pretty good at finding it for free. There is Hulu, YouTube, network websites, as well as a plethora of illegal streaming or file sharing websites (you know the ones). Does Blockbuster think that after having perfected the art of finding free movies and TV on the internet that consumers are now going to pay just to be able to watch a higher quality verison of Transformers on their small cell phone screen? Seems unlikely. However, I'm sure there is a segment of the population who feel the need to get digital content legally (but I kinda thought they were already using iTunes to download movies and TV shows...).

Time will tell whether or not Blockbuster's cell phone movie rental plan will be successful (it still seems unlikely that it will return them to a position of leadership in the rental industry), but can I say that I think watching movies on cell phones is really, really silly? I know it is 2009 and we have turned into fast-paced, on the go kinda people; but I just refuse to believe that watching The Office on a 3.5 inch screen on my subway ride is an enjoyable viewing experience. I know, I know, this is the future and I must comply with getting all of my entertainment in mini version. Resistance is futile and all that. But does anyone else have similar apprehensions about this or am I the only one just using my cell phone for communication purposes only?

Disney: Teaching Children to Read the New Fashioned Way

Today Disney launched a new site that houses digital versions of hundreds of their books. The site is a subscription-based service that charges parents $79.95 a year and aims to teach children to read in a variety of interactive ways.


Disney's latest venture is a creative move to begin making money through digital media and in an area --children's book publishing-- where Disney would like to see sales greatly improve. Despite my personal feelings for Disney as a whole, I have to applaud them for targeting the e-book format for children and for boldly offering it on a subscription-based service and thus leaving out the middle man.

However, I must admit my reservation is yet another old fashioned one: teaching children to read through a computer is wrong! And weird! And it's not how I learned! I can't help but think that a child should be taught to read by a parent or teacher and that the child must do a fair amount of the work in order to learn this most valuable skill. Will having a disembodied voice read The Little Mermaid from a digital page on a computer screen really be that much better or cooler than having it read from a real book by mom?

It might not be a hovercar, but the joy of learning to read via Disney Digital Books sure feels like the future.

Bye Bye Old Timey Phones! I'll Sort of Miss You.

Out with the very old, in with the newish.

We always knew that someday landlines would be a thing of the past. But Verizon's CEO Ivan Seidenberg declaration that their company no longer concerned itself with saving their landline business, seems to confirm that telephones connected with wires are indeed a modern relic. This announcment, despite being rather obvious, does prompt a few questions for me. How long will tranditional phone service continue to be offered for? Will there ever come a time when they get rid of landline service completely and just force those Jitterbugs on seniors who never learned to use a cell phone?

Only the future will tell.

Soon to Be Empty Bookshelves

There is no stopping the digital revolution. iTunes has made the CD irrelevant and the internet has given us up-to-the-minute news that makes buying a newspaper seem like an anachronism. But books? Digital can't take my precious books too! Who doesn't like to curl up with a good book, flip through its pages, and see book covers on your shelves? As someone who loves to read and has spent time and money acquiring books, I'm finding the impending e-book revolution a little hard to swallow. Will it really happen? Will consumers like reading their favorite novels on a screen? Most importantly, will I ever get used to it... or even start to like it?

What makes the transition to digital reading inevitable is simply that we have been through this process before with the iPod, and we all know how that one turned out. When the iPod debuted it was imperfect, clunky, and expensive. As Apple worked out the kinks and the prices went down, consumers began to abandon their portable CD players and invest in the convenient MP3 player. Right now digital readers are going through a similar stage in their development. Amazon's Kindle is currently $299, there are few readers available that offer color screens, and there are a variety of format issues. But as our iPod example suggests, as soon as the price comes down on an easy to use digital reader, people will begin to buy it.

And why shouldn't they? Consumers are no longer willing to pay more in order to have physical copies of their favorite entertainment. This trend towards convenience over all else (while not for everyone) is not only less expensive and convenient, but better for the environment as well. There will probably always be consumers like me who favor CD box sets and vinyl over MP3s and oversized hardcovers of our favorite books over a digital copy. But in the next couple of years the majority of consumers (er, the ones that read anyway) will have made the switch over to e-books. Perhaps the switch and the convenience of it all will even encourage a return to reading! One of the most encouraging aspects of the e-book revolution that I have read about, has been regarding how library users will be able to use their reader to access a digital library. Being able to access the NYPL at any time of day? Only truly great things can come of that.

It might not be the year of our Ford 632, but it sure feels like the future. I have to wonder though, what will we put on our shelves when all of our CDs, DVDs, and books are gone?

Hijacking Twitter Trends

This might be the understatement of the year, but it appears as if Twitter is the next big thing. Yes, I know. I'm arriving at this conclusion a little late. The thing is I really believed that Twitter was just a trend and that it would inevitably go the way of Myspace. And I'm not completely convinced otherwise, but what has made me stop and really give Twitter a second look is its potential to actually make money. After hearing the TechCrunch report that Twitter could possibly sell for one billion dollars, I realized that there are some business savvy people out there who believe that Twitter has the ability to make a lot of money. But how can a company with no advertising and no subscription fees be worth one dollar let alone one billion?

Twitter is the natural next step in the evolution of social networking. It allows users to post short messages that their friends--and the world-- can see and discuss. With an internet culture that revolves around blogs and personal profiles it is obvious that people really like sharing who they are and what they think. Twitter recognizes this desire within the internet community and has become a popular tool for those who want to express their thoughts and ideas (as well as uninteresting tidbits about one's personal life) to anyone who will read them. Twitter clearly has a following, purpose, and a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding it. But does it have the ability to make money?

A recent AM NY article outlined one possible way for Twitter to become a viable (but unfortunately shady) marketing tool. Spammers have begun to utilize what is known as "hashtag abuse" so that tweeters will accidentally stumble upon their spam. In order for spammers to get tweeters to see their messages, they post their message with hashtags of popular trending topics. As more tweeters go to check out what is trending on Twitter, they stumble upon a spammed tweet rather than the latest 140 character comment on Gossip Girl.

Spam is an unpleasant part of the internet that I have no real desire to defend, but its emergence on Twitter is important because it is an indication that real money can be made through Twitter. It remains to be seen what other creative ways of marketing and advertising will sneak onto the site and whether or not Twitter will become like its (finally) money making predecessor Facebook or if it will continue to hemorrhage money a la Myspace or YouTube. Stay tuned as Twitter updates are most definitely on the horizon.