Sources for this post are listed here
More than ever, 2011 will be all about location, location, location. Geo-location and augmented reality are finally hitting the US. Using your mobile to find out more about your location and to let your friends know where you are located has been popular in Japan and Europe for a couple of years now. Geo-location has finally started to take hold in the US.
Products such as Foursquare and Gowalla let your friends know where you are. Feeling the thrill of being the first to know always fills that basic human need for self-esteem. You can share your review or opinion about a location and post it on those services to guide others. The virtual rewards for number of check-ins at a certain place are fun. Just yesterday a friend of mine ousted another person to gain the title of "Mayor" of our closest bus stop!
Quora, a place where questions and answers on any topic can be shared, is tied to your location when you sign on using your Facebook login. Quora automatically has suggestions for question categories that might be of interest to you, based on your Facebook apps and location.
QR codes have also hit the big-time here in the US. QR codes are small squares that, when read with a mobile phone, tell you more about the location. QR codes in stores may give you a coupon. QR codes in libraries might link to the library's mobile site.
There is a flip, but interesting, side to this. Whether you are scanning a QR code, answering questions on Quora, logging in using a facebook login, or posting via Foursquare, your data is being gathered. This year Social Networking Analysis (SNA) is going to make big leaps forward. Organizations want to know who comes to a geographic area, where else they go and what their interests are. This information is vital to any organization's marketing attempts. SNA is going to make it easier than ever for organizations to give the right message to the right people at the right time. SNA will allow us to find more information about the customers that come to our buildings and to the system as a whole.
Expect to see a whole slew of SNA tools coming on the market. Consider using them to analyze your customers' demographics. You may find that a huge segment of your customers with mobile ride the bus, play Farmville, and spend a lot of time at the movie theater. Or maybe they tend to go to the zoo, are members of a religious group, and spend a lot of time at a specific sports bar.
Now imagine what you can do with this information. Would you dare promote the library at that particular sports bar? (I, personally, have always wanted to do a barfly booklist.) Do you and the zoo cross-promote? (Would it be possible to put a QR code on the lion's cage and have it lead to resources about lions in the library?) Is there room in your library for a Farmville-fan meetup? (Farmville collectibles not included)
Lots of opportunity for libraries. Let's get out there and analyze!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
What's Coming: Mobile
2009 was the year twitter took over the world
2010 was the year facebook took over the world
2011-2021 looks to be the decade of mobile.
While we may consider many things to be mobile computing, in this case we are mostly talking about 3G and 4G devices. Laptops, netbooks, and most e-readers rely on wireless signals. Mobility in the foreseeable future will mostly likely be defined as devices using 3G, 4G, and whatever comes next.
There are currently approximately 1.2 billion owners of mobile handsets world-wide. These handsets are increasingly becoming computers in their own right. Connectivity is of great importance to these handset owners. And more owners are soon to come. Remember: By 2020, most access to the internet will be via mobile or whatever comes next. Some predictions, including my own, see it coming much faster.
For mobile users, apps are the preferred way of interacting with organizations. Mobile websites are simply less desireable than an app. Customers want to get in and out of the interaction as quickly as possible. Squinting at a mobile site or waiting for it to load just does not accomplish what the consumer wants. Organizations with apps will have the upper-hand in the eyes of mobile customers. And remember, the number of users is increasing by leaps and bounds.
Expect to see a convergence between mobile handsets and the capabilities of tablets. While at this time we can not imagine making a call from a tablet, future innovation could make this feasible.
We're heading for exciting times with mobile connectivity. Be watchful and be ready to innovate.
2010 was the year facebook took over the world
2011-2021 looks to be the decade of mobile.
While we may consider many things to be mobile computing, in this case we are mostly talking about 3G and 4G devices. Laptops, netbooks, and most e-readers rely on wireless signals. Mobility in the foreseeable future will mostly likely be defined as devices using 3G, 4G, and whatever comes next.
There are currently approximately 1.2 billion owners of mobile handsets world-wide. These handsets are increasingly becoming computers in their own right. Connectivity is of great importance to these handset owners. And more owners are soon to come. Remember: By 2020, most access to the internet will be via mobile or whatever comes next. Some predictions, including my own, see it coming much faster.
For mobile users, apps are the preferred way of interacting with organizations. Mobile websites are simply less desireable than an app. Customers want to get in and out of the interaction as quickly as possible. Squinting at a mobile site or waiting for it to load just does not accomplish what the consumer wants. Organizations with apps will have the upper-hand in the eyes of mobile customers. And remember, the number of users is increasing by leaps and bounds.
Expect to see a convergence between mobile handsets and the capabilities of tablets. While at this time we can not imagine making a call from a tablet, future innovation could make this feasible.
We're heading for exciting times with mobile connectivity. Be watchful and be ready to innovate.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Blogography for upcoming posts!
It's all about predictions and trends this time of year! With that in mind, I've combed my feeds to see what's going to be hot, hot, hot!
Just to be all official, and to allow you to probe further, here is the blogography for this round. Anything new I come up with along the way will be thrust into the current post, with apologies
Just to be all official, and to allow you to probe further, here is the blogography for this round. Anything new I come up with along the way will be thrust into the current post, with apologies
10 Biggest Trends in Web 2.0 in 2010 from iLibrarian
10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2011 from iLibrarian
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Social Media Trends for 2011, Part 1
Armano admits he is not always accurate. Who could be when predicting the future? Interesting ideas here.
It's The Integration Economy, Stupid
Companies will go even farther in their use of social media to promote their brands.
Tablet & Mobile Wars Create Ubiquitous Social Computing
24/7, real-time
There could be a real fistfight out there as tablet computing and mobile innovations hit the market
Facebook Interrupts Location-Based Networking.
Facebook has the data, they have the consumers, they could force geolocation services like Foursquare into the background
Average Participants Experience Social Media Schizophrenia.
Keeping track of all of one's social media personas may drive average users to distraction. Addiction may break out
Google Doesn't Beat Them, They Join Them
Google's attempts to become a social place haven't served them well. What they do very well is indexing. Apply that to social data and you've got real power for research
Social Functionality Makes Websites Fashionable Again
Existing websites add social capabilities to their sites
Six Social Media Trends for 2011 from Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog
It's The Integration Economy, Stupid
Companies will go even farther in their use of social media to promote their brands.
Tablet & Mobile Wars Create Ubiquitous Social Computing
24/7, real-time
There could be a real fistfight out there as tablet computing and mobile innovations hit the market
Facebook Interrupts Location-Based Networking.
Facebook has the data, they have the consumers, they could force geolocation services like Foursquare into the background
Average Participants Experience Social Media Schizophrenia.
Keeping track of all of one's social media personas may drive average users to distraction. Addiction may break out
Google Doesn't Beat Them, They Join Them
Google's attempts to become a social place haven't served them well. What they do very well is indexing. Apply that to social data and you've got real power for research
Social Functionality Makes Websites Fashionable Again
Existing websites add social capabilities to their sites
Six Social Media Trends for 2011 from Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog
Top Tens 2010, Part 2: The Most Contagious
Forgive me, Contagious. I have cited you below but I have also sometimes cut and pasted. I do encourage my reader to follow the link at the bottom of the post. Consumer trends create innovation. And there are some great innovations out there. How can you innovate using these trends?
Remember, innovation is not only technology. Sometimes simple training is enough.
Movements: Twisting the news, organizing the web
Real-time Less 360, More 365
Viral: Sites Worth Sharing
Stories: Narrative, transmedia and a thumping great yarn
Demos: Just tell us what it does
Devices: More than just mobile
Projects not Campaigns: Do something useful for a change
Facebook: World domination, one Like at a time
Remember, innovation is not only technology. Sometimes simple training is enough.
Movements: Twisting the news, organizing the web
- Newsjacking
- Members of the Twitter community take on assumed identities in order to pass comment on current affairs.
- The Web of Intent - apps that allow the user to customize their experience
- It Gets Better - people working in all social media to create messages that offer hope
- Soft paternalism - replacing the stick with the carrot in order to skew the decisions of the populace towards a favourable outcome.
- If you like something and it's not available, twitter the company and they'll send out more asap
- Talk to the Old Spice Man real-time on twitter
- TV No longer just the box in the corner
- Connected TV - "Imagine this – you're on the couch at midnight catching up with True Blood through an HBO app, simultaneously checking baseball scores through an onscreen MLB widget. You dive into two-screen mode to tweet a comment on the show's cliffhanger ending, then download the series for a friend via Amazon. You turn the TV off with your smartphone and go to bed. Pretty smart, right?"
Interactive TV
('scuse the formatting problem)
"If connected TV is content you want, when you want it, interactive TV describes the ways in which broadcasters, software developers and content providers are seeking to retain viewers beyond the half-hour broadcast slot, sharing content and buzz with peers through apps and check-ins to shows"
Experience: Connecting the online with the offline- Yes, people really do leave their computers and meet up with others
- In other words, brands that best tell their stories using multiple formats get a great ROI
- Video, please!
- "Think of it this way – how many times did you hear friends or colleagues declare allegiance to specific devices, with their own proprietary formats, this year? "
- Brands partner with non-profit organizations to improve their image - and benefit the non-profit.
Facebook: World domination, one Like at a time
- 2009 was the year twitter took over the world
- 2010: Facebook
Top Tens 2010, Part 1: Social and Searching
Some of these are counted by number of views, some by keyword, and some by "fastest rising" (aka: trending) and you can be pretty sure each source has its own unique algorhythm
Youtube Top 10
#1: Bed Intruder Song
#2: Tik Tok Kesha Parody
#3: Greyson Chance ‘Paparazzi’
#4: Annoying Orange Wazzup
#5: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Old Spice)
6: Giant Double Rainbow
#7: This Too Shall Pass OK Go
#8: The Twilight Saga Eclipse Trailer
#9: Jimmy Surprises Bieber Fan
#10: Gymkhana Three, Part 2
Twitter
1. Gulf Oil Spill
2. FIFA World Cup
3. Inception
4. Haiti Earthquake
5. Vuvuzela
6. Apple iPad
7. Google Android
8. Justin Bieber
9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
10. Pulpo Paul
Google
chatroulette
ipad
justin bieber
nicki minaj
friv
myxer
katy perry
twitter
gamezer
facebook
Yahoo
BP Oil Spill
World Cup
Miley Cyrus
Kim Kardashian
Lady Gaga
iPhone
Megan Fox
Justin Bieber
American Idol
Britney Spears
YouTube 2010 from Stephen's Lighthouse
Youtube Top 10
#1: Bed Intruder Song
#2: Tik Tok Kesha Parody
#3: Greyson Chance ‘Paparazzi’
#4: Annoying Orange Wazzup
#5: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like (Old Spice)
6: Giant Double Rainbow
#7: This Too Shall Pass OK Go
#8: The Twilight Saga Eclipse Trailer
#9: Jimmy Surprises Bieber Fan
#10: Gymkhana Three, Part 2
1. Gulf Oil Spill
2. FIFA World Cup
3. Inception
4. Haiti Earthquake
5. Vuvuzela
6. Apple iPad
7. Google Android
8. Justin Bieber
9. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
10. Pulpo Paul
chatroulette
ipad
justin bieber
nicki minaj
friv
myxer
katy perry
gamezer
Yahoo
BP Oil Spill
World Cup
Miley Cyrus
Kim Kardashian
Lady Gaga
iPhone
Megan Fox
Justin Bieber
American Idol
Britney Spears
YouTube 2010 from Stephen's Lighthouse
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
E-Readers and the People Who Use Them
Lots of end-of-the-year buying advice and a little bit about the e-book market
***************************
BSIG has discovered that heavy readers tend to be dedicated e-readers also. This is even affecting paperback sales.
The The New York Times finally caught on to the fact that e-books and romance readers are a match made in heaven. Romance sales are the fastest growing segment of the e-book market. When “Maybe This Time,” by Jennifer Crusie hit the market, Amazon sold as many e-books of the title as they did hardback
Even with the bad press about iPad as an e-reader, surveys are showing that it may outsell Kindle this year. It will be interesting to check after the holidays and see if this is true. On the other hand, I suspect that iPad buyers are wanting a dual-use device. Ereading is only one of the things the iPad does
*********************************
Oh snap! The New York Times estimates 1.3 million e-readers will be sold over the holidays. I tend to agree with those who say the dedicated e-reader may only be an interim device but WOW what an impact!
And get this: eBooks Ready To Climb Past $1 Billion sold. Is this moving faster than MacDonald's hamburgers in the early years?
The Association of American Publishers reports that e-books amount to 9% of trade book sales. This is a 112% increase over last year
***********************
NookColor
Tim Carmody at Wired.com's Gadget lab says: "Nook Color is the only “reader’s tablet,” straddling dedicated e-book readers like the Kindle and multipurpose tablets like the iPad. I was expecting tradeoffs. I wasn’t expecting its advantages."
Sarah, at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, has noted that the iPad (10") was difficult to use as a daily commute reader because of its size and heft. Carmody has found the 7" NookColor to be much easier to handle than an iPad. He also noted that the keyboard is the easiest to use of any software keyboard he has used.
Books are easy to buy from Barnes & Noble. Even better for libraries, the device is compatible with Overdrive. If you want to read a magazine, you can get full color, including ads or read only in article mode.
****************
Lots of evaluations and suggestions for e-reader purchases out there. It is expected that Kindle will remain the most popular for quite some time to come. I can't help but wonder if we are promoting our e-collections enough. If we did, and somehow noted tactfully that Kindle can't be used with Overdrive, if the Kindle would remain on top?
Recommended ereaders:
The Digital Reader:
For the book-buying public: Kindle
If the reader wants to be able to use library e-books as well as purchase books: Nook or Sony Reader Daily Edition PRS-950 are recommended.
Teleread
For Kids: NookColor
For Adults: Kindle 3 or Sony Daily Edition
Both sources clearly do not recommend:
Nook - software still has kinks, Kindle is cheaper
Kobo - if you only want wifi, it's good. Teleread expects the Kobo to improve, so keep your eyes out
Sony - Anything other than the Sony Reader Daily Edition
iPad - heavy, limited battery life, and hard to use outside. The bookstore is also limited
eReader holiday guide
The New York Times estimates that over 1.3 million ereaders will be sold over the holidays. Are you ready? Do your patrons know which ones are compatible with your service
Holiday Gift Guide To eReaders – eBookNewser
NOOKcolor: Hands-On Review and Thoughts for the Future
Dedicated ereaders the choice of heavy readers, says BSIG study
“Which ereader device should I buy?”
Survey shows Apple iPad will soon be bigger than Kindle for ebook reading
***************************
BSIG has discovered that heavy readers tend to be dedicated e-readers also. This is even affecting paperback sales.
The The New York Times finally caught on to the fact that e-books and romance readers are a match made in heaven. Romance sales are the fastest growing segment of the e-book market. When “Maybe This Time,” by Jennifer Crusie hit the market, Amazon sold as many e-books of the title as they did hardback
Even with the bad press about iPad as an e-reader, surveys are showing that it may outsell Kindle this year. It will be interesting to check after the holidays and see if this is true. On the other hand, I suspect that iPad buyers are wanting a dual-use device. Ereading is only one of the things the iPad does
*********************************
Oh snap! The New York Times estimates 1.3 million e-readers will be sold over the holidays. I tend to agree with those who say the dedicated e-reader may only be an interim device but WOW what an impact!
And get this: eBooks Ready To Climb Past $1 Billion sold. Is this moving faster than MacDonald's hamburgers in the early years?
The Association of American Publishers reports that e-books amount to 9% of trade book sales. This is a 112% increase over last year
***********************
NookColor
Tim Carmody at Wired.com's Gadget lab says: "Nook Color is the only “reader’s tablet,” straddling dedicated e-book readers like the Kindle and multipurpose tablets like the iPad. I was expecting tradeoffs. I wasn’t expecting its advantages."
Sarah, at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, has noted that the iPad (10") was difficult to use as a daily commute reader because of its size and heft. Carmody has found the 7" NookColor to be much easier to handle than an iPad. He also noted that the keyboard is the easiest to use of any software keyboard he has used.
Books are easy to buy from Barnes & Noble. Even better for libraries, the device is compatible with Overdrive. If you want to read a magazine, you can get full color, including ads or read only in article mode.
****************
Lots of evaluations and suggestions for e-reader purchases out there. It is expected that Kindle will remain the most popular for quite some time to come. I can't help but wonder if we are promoting our e-collections enough. If we did, and somehow noted tactfully that Kindle can't be used with Overdrive, if the Kindle would remain on top?
Recommended ereaders:
The Digital Reader:
For the book-buying public: Kindle
If the reader wants to be able to use library e-books as well as purchase books: Nook or Sony Reader Daily Edition PRS-950 are recommended.
Teleread
For Kids: NookColor
For Adults: Kindle 3 or Sony Daily Edition
Both sources clearly do not recommend:
Nook - software still has kinks, Kindle is cheaper
Kobo - if you only want wifi, it's good. Teleread expects the Kobo to improve, so keep your eyes out
Sony - Anything other than the Sony Reader Daily Edition
iPad - heavy, limited battery life, and hard to use outside. The bookstore is also limited
eReader holiday guide
The New York Times estimates that over 1.3 million ereaders will be sold over the holidays. Are you ready? Do your patrons know which ones are compatible with your service
Holiday Gift Guide To eReaders – eBookNewser
NOOKcolor: Hands-On Review and Thoughts for the Future
Dedicated ereaders the choice of heavy readers, says BSIG study
“Which ereader device should I buy?”
Survey shows Apple iPad will soon be bigger than Kindle for ebook reading
eBook Sales at 9% of Trade Book Sales from No Shelf Required
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