October 15th, 2009
Appeared originally as a comment on MJ Newham’s wonderful blog at http://martin.newham.ws on a post called Future Of Print.
There are two types of readers: situational and experiential.
I happen to be both so I understand why dead archives are needed as well as digital files. My solution: bamboo. Bamboo is stronger than tree paper, only takes 2 years (give or take) to grow to maturity, and still retains the tactile sensibilities that tree paper does.
I feel that Kindle is the wrong direction. What Kindle is trying to do is recreate a book experience in digital format. The digital format is something separate and needs to be treated as so. The whole point of a digital library is to be able to take many “books” with you at once. Kindle doesn’t make this easy. Plus, it’s not aesthetically pleasing. That’s aim number one with a bookjacket.
The iPhone trumps the Kindle in many ways with the Stanza app. This app isn’t trying to recreate a book reading experience in digital. It makes your reading experience as easy as possible for the medium that you are using. It’s size makes it easy for me to read on the go, which speaks to the whole issue of portability. If you’re concerned with text size, don’t be- there is a feature where you can increase the text size to whatever suits you. I personally would rather read less on a “page” to gain more space in the physical world. I am a man and do not always carry a bag. I don’t want to be seen carrying some unfortunately huge thing when I’m going out, yet I always want to read AND listen to music on my way to some place.
Dead plant books will still be around, just like cds & dvds will still be around. They will all exist in a special limited edition collectors format for those who really need to have a physical copy of something to cherish. Remember, we like having physical copies of stuff. It adds to our definition of who we are. Not everything that we consume should make the cut though.
Digitization is the implementation of zen Buddhism in our physical lives.
*addendum: vook.tv along with the mythical Apple iTablet will most likely bring us a more truer digital ‘book’.
Tags: book, book experience, book reading, books, business, collectibles, collectors item, design, digital books, digital library, digitization, ebook, ebooks, edition collectors, ereader, ereaders, functionality, iphone, kindle, limited edition, paper books, physical copies, portability, reading experience, sensibilities, stanza, technology, wrong direction
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May 20th, 2009
I usually don’t reblog anything but sometimes I come across something that is so on point that there’s no need for me to say it any other way. The following about core values is from the United States government National Park Service training website:
The core values of an organization are those values we hold which form the foundation on which we perform work and conduct ourselves. We have an entire universe of values, but some of them are so primary, so important to us that through out the changes in society, government, politics, and technology they are STILL the core values we will abide by.
In an ever-changing world, core values are constant. Core values are not descriptions of the work we do or the strategies we employ to accomplish our mission. The values underlie our work, how interact with each other, and which strategies we employ to fulfill our mission. The core values are the basic elements of how we go about our work. They are the practices we use (or should be using) every day in everything we do.
- Govern personal relationships
- Guide business processes
- Clarify who we are
- Articulate what we stand for
- Help explain why we do business the way we do
- Guide us on how to teach
- Inform us on how to reward
- Guide us in making decisions
- Underpin the whole organization
- Require no external justification
- Essential tenets
- Operating practices
- Business strategies
- Cultural norms
- Competencies
- Changed in response to market/ administration changes
- Used individually
By Way of Comparison
By way of comparison, here are examples of Core Values identified by other organizations.
DISNEY – to make people happy.
- Nurture and promulgate wholesome American values.
- Creativity, Dream, Imagination.
- Preservation and control of the Disney magic.
- Absolute, meticulous attention to detail
MERCK – to preserve and improve human life.
- Corporate social responsibility.
- Unequivocal excellence in all aspects of the company.
- Science-based innovation.
- Honesty and integrity.
- Profit – from work that benefits humanity.
SONY – to experience the joy of advancing and applying technology for the benefit of the public.
- Elevation of Japanese culture and national status.
- Being a pioneer, not following others, doing the impossible.
- Encouraging individual ability and creativitiy.
U.S. ARMY
- Courage – Face fear, danger or adversity.
- Duty – Fulfill your obligations.
- Honor – Live up to all Army values.
- Integrity – Do what’s right, legally and morally.
- Loyalty – Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers.
- Respect – Treat people as they should be treated.
- Service – Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own.
Our Core Values are a statement of the framework in which we accomplish our Mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, we pursue our mission. When we are challenged in fulfilling our mission, our Core Values sustain us and guide us in meeting the challenge. - National Leadership Council, 2001
Tags: american values, basic elements, benefit, brand, branding, business, business processes, business strategies, collectibles, communicating, communication, core values, creativity, cultural norms, experiences, experiment, follower, government politics, guide business, happiness, imagination, integrity, interaction, interactions, justification, life, marketing, merck, meticulous attention, moral, national park service, nurture, organization, personal relationships, personalities, personality, politics, politics and technology, profitability, relationships guide, responsibility, social, strategy, technology, Tenets, united states government, Value
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April 22nd, 2009
© dbking
Is your brand outstanding or just standing out in the cold?
A business‘ full visual identity is what sets it apart from its competitors. With a landscape full of copycats, fakes and mundane bussinessmen, it’s your duty as an exceptional entrepreneur to set yourself apart from the rest. Getting an amazing business card is only one part of the equation. Receiving multiple business cards from different people at the same company is when you realize a brand is truly special. Here’s why your brand is sucking at making a lasting impression.
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Tags: blog, brand, brand identity, branding, business, business card, business cards, card portfolio, clever design, cohesion, collectibles, colors, communicating, communication, communications, competitor, copycats, core values, design, designers, differential, digital space, entrepreneur, excitement, fakes, feelings, fight club, gift recipients, gimmick, grouping, lasting impression, marketing, media, organic matter, organization, productivity, science, social media, twitter, unique snowflake, update, Value, visual identities, visual identity, visual translation, visuals, words
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April 9th, 2009
By Lisa Hickey (@lisahickey)
© Arturo de Albornoz
There’s been lots of talk about the “death of advertising” and the increasing ineffectiveness of the media. There’s a tremendously well-researched, insightful and informative Bob Garfield post in Ad Age, with lots and lots of numbers supporting his version of “Apocalypse Now” for the ad industry. There’s no doubt that there’s agency layoffs, and client cutbacks and fear and uncertainty. So who am I to be the bearer of even an ounce of good news for the ad industry?
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Tags: authenticity, benefit, brand, branding, collectibles, consumer, consumers, conversation, etiquette, Facebook, friends, garfield, hyperlinks, jargon, layoffs, little music, martha, media, music, musical, network, networking, no doubt, ounce, palms, paragraph, productivity, radio commercials, radio dramas, second stories, selling, soap opera, social, Television, tv commercials, twitter, uncertainty, Value, video, words, youtube
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January 20th, 2009
Customer value, not control, is the answer in the digital economy. ~Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams in Wikinomics (p.143) Value Shmalue. I have noticed many people speaking of value lately but no one speaking of what exactly is value. I decided that before the word “value” goes to the 2.0 
hype graveyard like many others have (see: the cloud, Whatever X.0) I would get to the bottom of it all. I asked my followingers what value meant to them in order to get to some basic tenets of why they valued something. Needless to say this all took place early in the morning whereupon i did forgo sleep to see where this line of questioning led me. I ended up valuing a lack of something in gain of something else, which speaks to the myriad of answers that people gave. The following are my conversations broken down with people based on person and categorized into points each person contributed to the discussion on value. While it is not the end all be all definitive go-to guide to delineate value, it is a start:
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Tags: amp, brand, branding, business, categorization, chat, clue, collectibles, communicating, communication, communications, conversation, Conversation Ecosystem, conversations, customer value, design, designers, digital economy, discussion, don tapscott, downloading, experiences, experiment, follower, fool, generalities, graveyard, hype, interaction, interactions, iTunes, knowledge, left hand side, life, limited, listening, live journal, marketing, media, mediums, myriad, network, networked, networking, Peers, perception, permanence, personalities, personality, plans, Principles, reading, reply, responsibility, signs, sleep, social, social media, streams, Tenets, thoughtfulness, tweets, twitter, uniqueness, Value, visuals, weirdness, wikinomics, word value, words
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January 14th, 2009
The following is a candid conversation I had with a good friend of mine, Carl Gucciardi. The topics range from pornography to music/media downloading and piracy to companies purchase of your mindspace to freemium models of business. If you can not handle an open honest and frank discussion about these topics I suggest you stop reading and stop interacting in the world today. But I’m sure since you’re here you have an open-mind and are intrigued to learn what we have touched upon and how it will spur your own growth to rise to new heights. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: about, brand, branding, business, buying in, candid conversation, carl gucciardi, cd, chat, collectibles, consciousness, consumer, consumers, conversation, Counting Crows, creators, discussion, downloading, dvd, eve lawrence, event, experiment, Facebook, freemium, friends, gay, Ghosts, good friend, growth, guilt, half.com, i have dreams, In Rainbows, interaction, interactions, iPod, katie morgan, knowledge, life, limewire, marketing, media, mentions, mindspace, mp3, music, music media, musical, network, networking, networking applications, NIN, pearl jam, piracy, porn, porn video, pornography, present, productivity, Radiohead, reading, record companies, selling, social, social networking, subscribers, The Blood Brothers, Value, video, viewpoint, vivid video, wallet, world today, youporn
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