Stay away from technology, if you want to be productive

von | Feb. 25, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

According to Wired News, we’re less productive using tech:
„We think we’re faster, smarter, better with all this technology at our side and in the end, we still feel rushed and our feeling of productivity is down,“ said Maria Woytek, marketing communications manager for Day-Timers, a unit of ACCO Brands.

Only 51% of Workers now still claim that they feel very productive – 1994 that was up at 83%.

I haven’t been working in 1994, on the contrary, I was a student and just getting used to computers. But what they say in that article sounds realistic…

I am going to switch of this computer right now.

(not)

Paying for Podcasts?

von | Feb. 22, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

As I just found out, the Ricky Gervais show on podcast now charges money for their podcast. Up to $1.95 per episode. That will be a nice little revenue stream for them, as some of the episodes have been downloaded more than 250.000 times (even though this number is now most likely to decrease a lot).

I don’t think I will pay in order to continue to listen. There are so many other podcasts – may be not as good, but at least for free. We’ll see.

This will be the start of a whole new debate: how much can you charge for a podcast? How much for a show done by professionals, but sounding rather improvised – like amateurs podcasts (which is how I perceive the Ricky Gervais podcasts)?

And, from a users perspective: how good does a podcast have to be, in order for you to willingly dish out $2 per 30 minutes?

I have no answers, as I only now thought about these questions myself… May be later.

Better than Google Earth or Maps?

von | Feb. 16, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture, Digital Marketing, SEO / SEA

Google Earth is a brilliant tool, no doubt. And the only one I have seen even web-agnostics use. Clearly, Google wants to sell location-relevant advertising. But it doesn’t do that in Germany, yet. So another company came along – one that originates from the yellow pages industry:
GoYellow.de now created a map of Germany that includes satellite images, which are at least as good quality as at Google. And, most importantly, GoYellow put all their yellow pages entries on the map, including a function to contact the location. You enter your phone number, and GoYellow will call you back to connect you with that retailer, restaurant or whatever it is you were searching for.

Another add-on: you can enter where you currently are, and German Rail will tell you how you can get from your location to the location your were searching for.

This is great stuff, whenever I find tools like these on the net, I am more than ever convinced, that in a few years there will be only little added-value left that traditional media can provide compared to these kind of things. Something like being „accessible“ even during a power-outage (when all batteries happen to be flat at the same time), for example.

It doesn’t happen often, that web-related news from Germany make it abroad (except for the recent and utterly stupid „Klowand“ debate, mabye). But this one apparently even fascinated Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine

Blogs to Riches – The Haves and Have-Nots of the Blogging Boom — New York Magazine

von | Feb. 15, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

New York Magazine has a rather long story about A, B and C list bloggers and how some earn serious money, while other (such as this one) just cost a lot of, well, mostly time.

What’s more, a blog is like a shark: If it stops moving, it dies. Without fresh postings every day—hell, every few minutes—even the most well-linked blog will quickly lose its audience.

Looking at how much I posted this year, it’s no surprise that this is no A-Blog.

But: if it needs that much posting to be an A-Blog, I don’t think I would want to be that in the first place. Just go to that article and read about the amount of work and paranoia some these people are putting into it – and not all of them get good money out of it.

Blogs are (public) conversations, almost like a giant party.

von | Jan. 17, 2006 | Blog, Digital Culture

Simon Dumenco writes, that a Blogger is just a writer with a cooler name.

Now, I would like to discuss with Simon, whether „blogger“ is such a cool name in the first place.

But since Simon „posted“ his article in the so called „traditional way“, even though already in the digital space, I can’t comment on what he wrote. I can only email him, leaving everyone else out of this conversation.

Neither can I leave a trackback on his post in order to show him that I am writing within my own blog about his points. (Will someone point him to my blog?)

I can’t have a simple public conversation with him. I could only ask him to join me in a discussion board or forum. But I can’t argue with him on the „digital street“, as I walk by, figuratively speaking.

Taking this thought one step further:

  • Traditional Media Publishing is like one person giving a speach to a large auditorium. You read it, then you discuss with your friends. Maybe you write a letter to the editor (like asking a question in a large auditorium – how many people do that, really?)
  • The forums and discussion boards are on the other side of the scale. After a short time, people tend to know each other very well and often it’s hard for strangers to join into the mostly well advanced conversations.
  • Blogs allow for discussions „en passant“. Comparable to a smalltalk party. You klick past many blogs, do some commenting here and there, engage in some discussions – and sometimes you find topics that capture your interest for a little longer so you stay (or come back often).

    • (btw, thanks to Steve Rubel for pointing out a whole lot of other factors why blogging isn’t quite just plain writing.