The App Bubble

May 28, 2011 By

bubble burstI well remember the first Internet Bubble. Companies were being formed right and left. You could get millions of dollars of funding for quite literally an idea scratched out on the back of the napkin. It did not matter how silly the idea seamed and few questions as to any actual business model. If it was cool, that was enough and everyone was sure they would figure out a way to make money eventually. Of course that’s why they call it a bubble. Bubbles are temporary and unstable. The Internet Bubble popped  and all of Silicon Valley imploded with it. I was there and it was ugly.

I can’t help but feeling we are inflating a new bubble, an app bubble. Cell phones are now smart phones, handheld computers really and a vast wave of applications are being developed for them. There are  getting to be too many apps and they are getting a little silly. Witness Dryer Bro, an application that tells you when your dryer load is done. You have to put your iphone down on the dryer and the accelerometer determines when the shaking has stopped and sends a text message to, well, your iphone which is sitting on the dryer. Actually the app says it sends a text to a group of “bros” you determine so I guess they can go get your laundry…or tell you that it’s done. You can see, this is where apps have jumped the shark. In the coming Internet of Things you don’t think dryers and washers will notify us of their status themselves? Seriously, where is the business model? The core killer technology? There’s just no there there. TechCrunch reviewed this app and gave it a rave review. Remember when we all bought into that Pets.com and Webvan were surely going to be the next great thing?

Apps are all the rage but many of them are just dumb or terrible. There will be another popping of this app bubble soon and it will be a good and cleansing thing. As the popping of the Internet Bubble shook the industry back into the reality of serious ideas and real business models so will the app bubble pop clear out the apps based on, dare I say, nothing but air? Hopefully we will be left with fewer apps that are more valuable and backed by solid technology.

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New Facebook Messaging Is Built For The 140 Generation

November 16, 2010 By

Facebook MessagingToday Facebook announced a new messaging system that represents a major overhaul to their current very basic system. Roumers flew in the week before the announcement that Facebook would be announcing a “Gmail Killer”. It turns out the new Facebook messaging system is something altogether different and quite forward thinking.

In explaining the rationale behind the new system Mark Zuckerburg talked about how high schoolers use messaging which is quite different than older generations. I am firmly myself in the Email Generation meaning I was brought up with email as the primary means of personal communication via computers. I am used to email, I like email and email is what frames my messaging perspective.

The next generation, however, is coming from a completely different place. This generation has been brought up with small, smart cell phones and the explosion of text messaging. Micro messaging systems like Twitter have also been a key part of their experience. For this reason, I call them the 140 Generation after the 140 characters that make up a Twitter message. This generation’s messaging perspective is framed by short, quick hit communications across a variety of devices.

This is exactly the framework Facebook is targeting with their new messaging system. But Facebook is smart and understands there are two generations overlapping, so this new messaging system is a slow play. It will work perfectly well with existing email systems as well as newer systems like SMS. Facebook sees their new shorter, less formal system as the future and it will be up to the 140 Generation to make this come to pass. No technology will in itself kill email, only users will by their habits and needs. Facebook will be there to pick up the pieces.

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Connected World Radio: The Power Of Local

October 15, 2010 By

On this edition of Connected World Radio we talk about the power of local. Topics of discussion include Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook Places, Google Places and the importance of the mobilization of society in general.

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Essential New Media Books

May 22, 2009 By

I just finished reading a fantastic new media book called Groundswell that I am considering to be an essential new media business book. That got me thinking about other essential titles. So here they are, the new media books I consider to be paramount and essential reading for any business professional in this new marketing age.

The Cluetrain Manifesto

Cluetrain is like the book of Genesis in the standard bible. This is the one that started it all. These are the most fundamental concepts of new media marketing. Unflinching and direct, this is the book to start with and if you only read one book on this list, this is the one to read.

The Long Tail

This is your economics lesson for new media. Filled with lots of research and data, this book explains how some of the most successful Internet companies actually make money. You will hear the phrase “long tail marketing” a lot in presentations, blogs and other books. Here is where you find out what it all means.

Permission Marketing

Seth Godin is revered in marketing circles and his books are among the most popular business books. This is one of his earliest but possibly most important work. None of Seth’s other books make any sense without understanding Permission Marketing. The concept is also one of the fundamental pillars upon which all of new media marketing stands on. As a bonus, Seth’s other fundamental book is Purple Cow

Don’t Make Me Think

An unusual choice as this book is primarily about website design and usability, but way to many businesses that I deal with still make too many mistakes on their websites. All the new media tools aside, the most important business tool is still your website and it’s critical you get it right. You can actually learn a lot more than just web design and usability from this book. The concepts apply just as well to presentations and even advertising layout. If nothing else, you should ask any web professional you work with if they know this book. If they do, your in good hands. If not, give them a copy and tell them to read it before they work on your website.

I would love to hear from you about your essential new media books. What would you recommend not being without? Leave your choices in the comments to this post.

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Connected World Radio: Celebrity Twitter

May 8, 2009 By

Celebrities have invaded twitter, but are they getting the most out of it or missing out on a golden opportunity to connect with fans?

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Gary Vaynerchuck – Professor of New Media

January 8, 2009 By

Gary is one of the preeminent people in the New Media world. If you aren’t watching his videos and following him on Twitter, you should. The teachings in this video alone are staggering. Watch it and you’ll be on your way to getting a masters degree in New Media Marketing.

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Bubble Anxiety

April 28, 2008 By

Kara Swisher over at All Things Digital wrote a nice piece about Twitter and how many people she found outside the tech bubble who had no idea what it was. This kind of shock and disappointment is common for people who don’t come up for air often enough.

Last Christmas I asked the members of my family about various aspects of technology. I didn’t even bother with things like Twitter. I was probing mostly about RSS. Some knew of it. Fewer had a good idea of what it did and none used it. They all read blogs directly from the websites, no aggregation. Shocking. The Internet, like the entire Silicon Valley, is a giant reality distortion field. If you don’t check things out from a different point of view, you can get a very inaccurate notion of what is true.

As Kara so aptly points out, while Twitter looks like the hottest thing since sliced bread, when you take off your reality distortion lenses, you realize we’re not even close to being there yet.

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I Dig Sprout

April 27, 2008 By

Web widgets are one of the hot topics of 2008. Sprout is a company I found recently that makes creating and publishing widgets super easy. Everything is based on Flash technology which gives your widget a lot of power and flexibility. The interface for creating sprouts couldn’t be easier and there are built in components that make adding things like rss feeds, Twitter and audio files easy. The program also does everything needed to prepare the widget for publishing on a wide variety of web sites. I love tools that empower the common person to harness the Internet in more powerful ways and Sprout certainly fits that bill in the widget category.

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iJustine Speaks The Truth On Flickr Video

April 10, 2008 By

I love iJustine. She’s gorgeous, smart and funny. If I wasn’t already happily married I would probably be a stalker. Anyway, here is a great video about the complaining going on in some circles about the new Flickr video features. Personally, I think the video quality is stunning and the integration is fantastic.

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What ever happened to Joost?

April 6, 2008 By

It’s never a good thing to have a story about your company begin with “Whatever happened to…” but in this case I have to ask it. When Joost launched in beta it was the hottest thing going. Everyone wanted an invite and many thought the newest creation by the guy who brought us Skype would surely be a hit. High quality online video with commercial content and interactivity, how could it loose?

I had an early Joost beta account and I had high hopes as well. While the downloadable client application was slick, there was virtually nothing to watch. Someone once said content is king and with regards to Joost it was never more true. Months and months dragged on. There were announcements from Joost about content deals, but I never saw anything compelling in my client. You only have so much time to hit when you announce yourself in the Web 2.0 world. There are so many things happening so fast, if you don’t get some traction, the next big thing will wash ashore and you’ll be all but forgotten. What ever happened to…

Joost had every reason to succeed. They were formed by known entities with a proven track record. The weberrati were ready and willing to embrace it. But content really is king and if you can’t deliver the goods, it doesn’t matter how slick your client is or how good your business plan is. At his point, Joost is stuck with a large, heavy desktop application while the rest of the online video world has moved to web distribution. The real nail in the coffin was Hulu. Hulu does everything Joost purports to do but does it on the web and actually has high quality content.

There have been stories this week about a Joost restructuring, a new plan that includes US only distribution. Paidcontent.org has sources that say that’s not so.  Either way, I don’t see how Joost recovers and becomes important again. They’re way behind the curve and all the mojo has drained out. With enough money they can hobble along for awhile, but mark this one down as a success that should have been. I guess you can’t win them all.

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