The Truth About Disruption in Publishing
In publishing, every day it seems there’s a new upstart or three that’s going to disintermediate (or even better, KILL!) traditional publishers, but with the exceptions of Open Road Integrated Media and, possibly, Ruckus Media Group — notably, both are run by major publishing veterans and have partnerships with a variety of “traditional” publishers — you’d be hard-pressed to name too many others that have had any truly notable impact to match the hype surrounding them.
Amazon, Libraries and Ownership in the Digital Age
Basically, Amazon one-upped Barnes & Noble’s Read In-Store feature that allows Nook customers to “read NOOK Books FREE for up to one hour per day” in any of their 700+ stores, and put the exact same feature in every Kindle customer’s living room via 11,000+ public libraries, without the physical and timing limitations.
Amazon: Friend, Foe, or Scarecrow?
There’s an interesting comment buried in the beginning of the article, attributed broadly to unnamed Amazon executives, that perfectly sums up the true state of the publishing industry and Amazon’s position in it: “…they played down Amazon’s power and said publishers were in love with their own demise.”
Advertising Addiction will be the Death of Magazines (Again)
Most magazines, print and digital, are little more than advertising platforms whose readers are defined as “targets”, valued in quantity over quality, and when the advertising revenue stream dries up, the magazines usually fold, readers be damned.
If Your Business Model is Your Most Interesting Story…
What I most like about Wendig is not that he has one foot firmly planted on both sides of the fence, strategically taking advantage of self-publishing opportunities, while also working the traditional channels. It’s that he’s a good writer and gives good story. When that’s your starting point, business models are simply tools, not useless badges to prop up your sad little ego.
You Know What’s “Uninspired,” Prof. Galloway? (UPDATED)
In the pre-digital days, influential media brands like Cosmopolitan and Vogue were one of the primary gateways for marketers to connect with consumers. They offered an attentive audience that would have been difficult for most marketers to gather without investing heavily in staff and infrastructure. Today, those media brands are no longer primary gateways, and marketers aren’t nearly as reliant on them to reach their desired audience as they used to be as they now have cost-effective tools at their disposal to engage directly with consumers.
You Are What You Tweet
I love data, but the more complex it becomes, the less effective spreadsheets and Powerpoint charts are at presenting it. Enter infographics and the growing field of data visualization, perhaps best personified by Facebook’s hiring of personal infographics guru Nick Felton to work on the visual elements of their new Timeline feature.
Beer Tasting Class: Off-Flavors
I signed up for a class on “common off-flavors” in beers and it turned out to be a really interesting workshop on what can go wrong in the brewing process, and why. It was led by Mary Izzet and she covered seven off-flavors, using Miller Lite as the “control beer,” with all but the last off-flavor demonstrated with it.
A Little of This, A Little of That
Interestingly, after a brief dip in activity, I’m finding myself rejuvenated on Twitter, partly driven by my increased activity on Google+ where engagement is much higher and more substantial. Twitter surfaces the interesting content, while Google+ offers a platform to have real conversations. Facebook, meanwhile, is about 3-6 months from being completely dead to me, regardless of who continues to use it.
Your Facebook Timeline is a Funhouse Mirror
Nothing in life is free, and in Facebook’s case, you pay for the service with your data. As Kirkpatrick notes, the real question is have they finally gone too far and will users start to rethink their usage of Facebook as their Timeline reveals… what?