Curious Voyager - Live like you mean it!: Books

We Need To Keep Re-Inventing The Wheel

Many people have often repeated Bod Dylan's song title from the 60"s "The times they are a changin" and I for one have used it over and over. After reading the article below from Knowledge@Wharton it reflects on just how long we take to realize that something isn't just quite right.

In today's world what we know today from what we learned yesterday will not be that valuable tomorrow. We don't need Moore's Law to tell us that. Look at what you did today and think "will my customer tomorrow want something different?" Are you doing what you do because it is what you know? Do you need to see what you do from the user's perspective? Is your product's value dying off?

Could that be what is happening to the movies? To the music?

This story that I have linked too has so many really good thoughts. Read it slowly.

What's Wrong with This Picture: Kodak's 30-year Slide into Bankruptcy - Knowledge@Wharton

When new technologies change the world, some companies are caught off-guard. Others see change coming and are able to adapt in time. And then there are companies like Kodak -- which saw the future and simply couldn't figure out what to do.

via knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

February 01, 2012 at 09:18 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Film, Music, Science, Television, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

How We Get Our News and The Changing Consumer - One Person's Perspective

We all get the news in many different ways. Some still read the newspaper (it didn't take long yesterday, not much there), some watch the news on TV, and then there are those of us who go to the Internet in one form or another.

I get my news in a variety of ways, early and all day - or as long as I want to look for it. For sure it is not once a day. Those who called this a "Fad" are in the stage of "Fade".

Where do I start? My Google home page for openers. I have a page set up to reflect up-to-date offerings by news aggregators that I follow; i.e. TechCrunch, TechDirt, CNET, and a few others. You can do this at other sites also, Yahoo, AOL, and many others.

I also get a NY Times news email update daily as well as a few tech news briefs; ComputerWorld, Slashdot and again TechDirt. I also have an additional Google page that gives me CNN, BBC, USA Today and the Wall St. Journal headlines. On that same page I get my local news headlines via the Cincinnati Enquirer.

This morning I received my Linked In email update for news. I found a link to an article on Best Buy that appeared on the Forbes website. It looked intriguing and along the lines of my interest in customer service or user experience and therefore followed it and read the article.

This is how I get my news, follow a link, read, make notes, and move on.

So now instead of handling these large tabloid pages scanning for headlines, getting printers ink on my hands, I let my eyes do that on a computer monitor where I can read as well as make notes. I can capture things for future reference (clip to Evernote) as well as make a note to pass along some information to others. I stay up-to-date easily. I can even annotate the pages using the Scrible toolbar and then save the pages to my Scrible Library. You have to check out Evernote as well as Scrible.

I can actually do some of this on my Android phone or iPod - if I am inclined to. Thanks to a friend I have the Pluse app on my phone and have added things to it that I can read. I also have the USA Today app, the ESPN Scorecenter app, and a Newspaper app that will allow access to many other world newspapers.

I follow certain blogs as often noted here, The Eponymous Pickle, Seth Godin, TechCruch, Huffington Post and I can read them on my phone, my Kindle or my computer.

I am not at a loss for news or information. This is why I linked to the article from Forbes that I was led to via Linked In. I have an interest in customer service. It would appear that Best Buy is out of touch with what is happening - the silent digital revolution.

Could this also be changing the way we think about our purchasing?

We are changing our habits in the ways we acquire information as well as in the way we buy products. This is also affecting what our expectations are of those who want to do business with us. More openness and better communication. Not only is your customer service (or lack of) showing but it could be making headlines.

Why Best Buy is Going out of Business...Gradually - Forbes

Electronics retailer Best Buy is headed for the exits. I can’t say when exactly, but my guess is that it’s only a matter of time, maybe a few more years.

via www.forbes.com

More links below that show the changing world of news and how older publications are updating their plans and thoughts re: the new Internet thing. Forbes is now working with Facebook and Google - that is interesting.

Reading isn’t dead, but it’s changing - The Domino Project

What does your gut tell you about this statement: “Kids in high school read more books for fun than their parents.”

via www.thedominoproject.com

This, from Seth Godin and the Domino Project, is worth reading - if you believe reading is good. There are some interesting facts here on the changing reading.

I know it is changing when I see that I am not the only one at McDonald's with a Kindle. The Kindle app for the PC is great for taking notes and the Kindle Fire is also really good.

I would trade in my old Kindle for a Kindle Fire just to be able to get to the magazines. My wife has one and she loves it.

Publishing is changing and because of it reading will change. I encourage everyone to read something educational at least 30 minutes a day - no less. It can be about your industry, your hobbies, or just to learn something new, READ!!

And follow Seth Godin....todays blog post is really great - Trading in your pain.

January 03, 2012 at 04:21 PM in Books, Current Affairs, Software, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Future of Publishing Point of View

As most of those who read this blog know that I like to read most everything that Seth Godin writes, books, blogs, and his recent Domino Project. More on the Domino Project at the end.

Now the real reason I started this post is it's always interesting when I find someone else who likes to comment on something Seth has written. Below I have linked to first Seth's blog on How the long tail cripples bonus content/multimedia and then I link to comments by Glyn Moody which I discovered via TechDirt this morning.

I think Glyn's post is as important as we go into the future. Quality will always win over quantity and this effect is going to work against all forms of publishing and media in the future. We are going to have more choices and I am in favor of that. I also believe that with our ability to have more information we will quickly put an end to quick-to-market bad replica's of today's great idea's.

First Seth's blog:

How the long tail cripples bonus content/multimedia

Well, the long tail has hit the book business, and hard. The number of ebooks published in 2012 is going to exceed a million, easily. That’s more than 8 times as many books as were published to the public a year ago, and many times the number twenty years ago.

Now for Glyn Moody's post.

Even In The Age Of Abundance It's Quality, Not Quantity, That Counts | Techdirt

Seth Godin is nothing if not prolific. As well as publishing a string of popular marketing books with catchy titles like "All marketers are liars", "The big moo" and "Small is the new big", he writes short but smart blog posts every day, some of which are rather obvious, but many of which contain real gems of insight.

via www.techdirt.com

From the Domino Project I purchased and just finished End Malaria by Michael Bungay Stainer on the Kindle - it was really good. Since I purchased it on the Kindle the total paid for the book went toward the End Malaria Project. You can read a small article on the project here at Wired Magazine and from Seth's blog another write up.

December 31, 2011 at 10:47 AM in Books, Current Affairs, Software, Web/Tech, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Peggy Noonan On Steve Jobs And Why Big Companies Die - Forbes

The article from Forbes that I have linked to below is so good it is worth reading twice - maybe even three times. I am thinking of subscribing just to read the leadership column.

Peggy Noonan On Steve Jobs And Why Big Companies Die

The salesmen who led the companies were smart and eloquent, but “they didn’t know anything about the product.” In the end this can doom a great company, because what consumers want is good products.

via www.forbes.com

I don't know how many places I have been over the years where the sales people do not know anything about the product they are selling, or at best very little. Sales training today does not include product knowledge.

Everyday we pick up the paper or read the stock market report and we see companies being killed, or being put to sleep, by leadership interested only in cutting costs, increasing sales, and their investors. There is an overall lack of drive to produce the best product or service as well as know their customers. They talk a good game but the results are always the same - a lack of excitement for their products by the consumer. Advertising tries to create excitement but all I get is that their advertising is very trying. Some don't even advertise or promote.

Business today is all about the money, its how the players measure their success. We suffer with less than good (definitely not great) products and services.

Then a Steve Jobs and an company like Apple appears. It succeeds because someone cares about the product and about excellence and demands that of everyone involved. In Walter Isaacson's book Steve often says "It's not about the money". It was about excellence and the consumer experience.

While you are at Forbes you might also want to read the following. Steve Jobs and the One Trait All Innovative Leaders Share. It is also very good and interesting. I also strongly recommend the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson - great reading (even on the Kindle).