“ What we tell ourselves about the blogosphere - that it’s open and democratic and egalitarian, that it stands in contrast and in opposition to the controlled and controlling mass media - is an innocent fraud.
Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog: The Great Unread
Designing Innovations
Todd Walker's design, innovation and creative strategy ephemera. Read, enjoy, share, discard.
“ How often do these consultants tell their customers that everything is fine and no action is required? Almost never. In fact I’m tempted to say “absolutely never” simply because I haven’t heard of such an instance, but I’m playing it safe here.
I, Cringely
“ Try lacing your hands together,” Ms. Markova says. “You habitually do it one way. Now try doing it with the other thumb on top. Feels awkward, doesn’t it? That’s the valuable moment we call confusion, when we fuse the old with the new.
Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? - New York Times
Interestingly, this is the first place I’ve seen the Japanese concept kaizen used outside of a business operations context.
“ despite impressive growth, Twitter’s universe is small. Estimates for the Twittering masses range between half a million and one million active users. Even if this undercounts the number of those who post their tweets through cell phones or other sites, Twitter is still pint-size…
The jury is still out, with me at least, on whether Twitter is just a super-sized echo chamber for the digerati or a tool that will eventually be as important to everyday folks as email or instant messenger. But this article raises the potentially important issue of reach versus relevence. Twitter’s pool of users might be small, but for those marketers to whom tha tpool is relevent, it’s importance may be hard to overstate. On the flipside, the chasm between the twitterati and the rest of us may never really be bridged.
“ Microsoft needs to shift the culture from planning the exact features to planning a set of possible features, and letting customers guide us.
Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect
Richer by the Day » Chrysler Gas Card
Interesting analysis of Chrysler’s innovative, but ultimately disingenous, “Let’s Refuel America” promotion where they lock in $2.99/gallon gas for three years.
Information Design Patterns. A reference site for various, well, information design patterns, naturally. Not so thrilled with the nested scrolling blog section, but the individual entries for each pattern or approach are pretty great.