December 2011
21 posts
Apps Are Media →
Except there already is a global market for digital media. They are called apps, and they represent the future of media in many ways. Apps are media. Not only are they a form of media in the way that consumer software and games have always been considered media (they compete with TV, books, and music for consumers’ time and attention). But increasingly, they are also subsuming other forms of...
92% Of Mobile Sales In Dec. Happend On iOS... →
The numbers across our retailing partners sites demonstrate just how powerful the iOS platform is enabling mobile web shopping and, while still below 5 percent in total conversion, mobile traffic’s doubling in eight months is a trend we only see accelerating.
Personalized Print Ads. The Next Special Edition... →
The issue was bundled with an outsert from Hewlett-Packard that greeted them by name and showed a scene specific to their hometown. […]
The ads contained issue-specific URLs directing the reader to an online contest they could enter to win an HP printer. There were also issue-specific QR codes in the insert that linked readers to more information on their mobiles.
This is a neat...
5 tags
The Condé Nast Of Websites? →
Say Media is scooping up sites to create website conglomerate using their special CMS, creation software and advertising engine, very recently one of my favs, ReadWriteWeb who wrote an awesome post about us a few months ago.
Big publishing companies buy up a bunch of indie mags and put them under their umbrella, and now the same is happening online. AOL is another obvious player in the...
Apps Vs. Web: Can't We All Just Get Along? →
apps which can link and exchange information across different services or devices are possible — even if there aren’t many of them right now
Leave it to Dave McClure to say something intelligent instead of:
compared [app] to the “interactive” CD-ROMS of the 1990s
This is a great read, highly recommend it.
I actually had my iPhone read it to me while I walked using the newly discovered...
3 tags
Lean Back 2.0 →
Unlike reading on a laptop, reading on an iPad or Kindle is a leisure activity. Unlike reading a print newspaper or magazine, you can access whatever the hell you like. We’re now combining the utility of modern tech with the enjoyment of reading as relaxation.
Yup.
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More On Kindle Fire For Muggles →
Apple would have never shipped a device like the Fire. It’s got way too many rough edges (sluggish touchscreen, magazine apps that don’t really fit the smaller screen, an easy-to-hit power button). And even little things like how the power cord jiggles when plugged in wouldn’t have made it past the demo room in Cupertino. But the Fire’s not made for Apple’s customers — or to win thumbs up from...
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IDC Report Shows Traction For Other Tablets, But... →
“Apple’s larger portfolio of tablet-specific apps, upcoming iPad versions, and growing physical store presence in key emerging markets like Asia/Pacific will help maintain its global leadership. However, an improving Android OS experience and lower competitor pricing in an environment with worldwide economic concerns should help Android to increase its market share,” said...
4 tags
The Dream Of A Netflix For Text Media →
You pay a monthly fee to your cable provider, and it all comes through the same pipes: the highbrow, the lowbrow, the middlebrow, and possibly the vile and unmentionable.
Isn’t this exactly how we consume news and commentary online?
So why can’t we have a similar subscription model? Why can’t I pay, say, $50 a month and get unlimited access to the New York Times,Sports...
Google Innovating, Oh Wait I Mean Copying, On... →
This is Buzz all over again. Just because you’re Google doesn’t mean you can bust into any market you want, copy the leading product almost exactly, and then win over the hearts of millions.
Where’s the original spin?? I will say, that for the Android contingency, this is great. But in a crowded market of Flipboard, Zite, blah blah, doesn’t Google have something cooler to...
Some Really Good iPad Magazine Posts/Reviews →
Two great posts from Justin Williams. I’m not sure what his involvement is in the digital publishing world, but I will say this: he’s right on just about everything.
He gives some really honest reviews of some top iPad magazine apps (a little snarkily-toned perhaps, but mostly deservedly so)
I want to meet this guy.
On Magazines and the iPad
More Thoughts on Magazines and...
More Kindle Stuff: Cannibalization of Android... →
But does Google care? If they are happy just licensing the software to Amazon, then no harm done.
But I really do think they want to brand Android tablets, not just to be the backbone of the Fire where 99% of people have no idea they are using an Android-powered device.
And if Amazon goes with a different platform at some point, or builds their own OS, then Android will be even further behind...
$100 Tablet Is No Joke →
Imagine this, a $100 tablet that is not an HP TouchPad on eBay.
The question is, at that price point, how badly will it suck? The suck/price balance must be just right for this to succeed as the first Android-branded tablet that actually sells, but for that price point, people will be willing to put up with a lot of suck.
This holiday season you could buy 1 iPad to share or 5 of these bad boys,...
Neilsen Says Fire Has "Miserable" Magazine... →
The area where Kindle Fire could shine—full-color interactive magazine reading—is where it’s a particular failure, Nielsen says. A couple of his complaints:
—Many magazines don’t have a no “homepage” where users can return after finishing an article.
—Headlines on magazine covers aren’t clickable, even though we’ve known that users want this since our first iPad studies in early 2010....
Kindle Fire Sales Down In December →
Every other product in the universe is up for holiday, and Fire is down.
Yes, pre-sales gave it a big boost, but still, iPad sales certainly did not drop month 2.
Maybe people started actually using them. Woops.
Kindle Fire is #2 Tablet, Beating Out Former #2,... →
Amazon went from 0% share in Q3 to 13.8% share (unit share) in Q4 - pretty impressive.
This is 100% impressive, I am not taking away from the amazing sales that Amazon is doing. But there is obviously going to be a big bang with such a high-profile release, and “market share” is loosely used here as it is still unclear if the Fire is in fact in the same category as the iPad at all....
People Want To Shop On Their iPads, But Retailers... →
Compuware also prepared a chart showing the top retailers’ sites, and whether or not they offered an iPad-optimized website. Surprisingly, none of them do, not even Apple.com. What’s worse, Apple is also among the retailers who don’t offer a native iPad application. (The iPhone Apple Store app runs on the iPad, of course, but it’s not a universal app). For shame!
If Apple is not on the ball...
Gowalla Founders Leave Investors in Facebook's... →
There’s a real issue of breach of fiduciary duty when a founder takes a side deal but doesn’t cut investors in.
Very interesting scenario, but probably not uncommon. Raises some great issues: what duty do founders have to their investors not to just quit?
Like if I gave up tomorrow and got a job somewhere else, what do I owe my investors? Very weird thought. I’d like to say that would...
3 tags
App = Software, not Website →
Understand what an app is. An app is a piece of software, more like a piece of computer software rather than a website.
I’m quoting myself here, not sure if that is a faux pas. It’s a sound byte from a panel I was on yesterday at Mediabistro’s Publishing App Expo. For anyone that wasn’t there, this is the thing I would most want people to walk away with.
Apps are...
Tech Incubator Bubble? →
The real question comes down to a personal decision amongst the founding teams as to whether they really need these programs and whether the price and time justifies the value.
There has been some talk this week about a “tech incubator bubble”.
I never really understood incubators. Seems like cheating to me. Maybe I’m a purist but it seems to me that an incubator is just...
