Of Note

Why The Movie Industry Can’t Innovate and the Result is SOPA « Steve Blank
Good question..."Why does the movie business think their solution is in Washington and legislation?"

Thin, metal Ultrabook laptops ready for takeoff - CNN.com
The Ultrabook form factor is certainly where a lot of laptop design is headed. There is a cost to that thin and cool look however...unlike traditional laptops, things like the CPU aren't upgradable in Ultrabooks, making them less environmentally friendly and field repairable. MPM

The Critical Difference Between A/B and Multivariate Tests
A/B split testing and Multivariate testing of website pages can be an advanced topic, but can also be done fairly simply. While this article doesn't go into depth on the 'how', it gives a good overview of the 'what' and is a good introduction to website optimization. -MPM

[priv] 10 Tips for Better Content Marketing | Blog | Daily Dose | Entrepreneur.com

What's Hot and What's Not in Content Marketing for 2012 | Entrepreneur.com
"All marketing initiatives in 2012 should feed off one another, surrounding consumers with content and experiences from which they can select how they want to interact with the brand. Whether Facebook contests, mobile campaigns or simply in-store signage, all roads should lead back to a single brand promise and a central online destination, such as a company website or blog."

The Movie Industry Can't Innovate - the Result is SOPA
"SOPA gives corporations unprecedented power to censor almost any site on the Internet. History has shown that time and market forces provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology is a video recorder, a personal computer, an MP3 player or now the Net. It's prudent for courts and congress to exercise caution before restructuring liability theories for the purpose of addressing specific market abuses, despite their apparent present magnitude."

How Google Tweaked Its Search Algorithms In December
"Google's monthly search improvement digest is a whopper this month, describing 30 highlighted changes to the way Google search works. This month, Google has started adding code names to make the changes easier to remember and follow."

First Test Results: Is Google Unwiring the Web for Google+?
Big SEO implications - MPM "Wednesday in ReadWriteWeb, Jon Mitchell posted a very pointed opinion on how Google's social network, Google+, is leading to gradual, though noticeable, adjustments in how all of Google's services work."

How to Design an Ecommerce Site to Maximize Sales
"When designing your ecommerce website, keep in mind there are three basic steps in an online shopping experience. First, a user must find the product she wants. Second, you must showcase the product well. Third, you need to seal the deal with a seamless checkout process. Read on for more details."

B&N Considers Spinning Off Nook Business Amidst Record Sales
“We see substantial value in what we’ve built with our Nook business in only two years, and we believe it’s the right time to investigate our options to unlock that value,” said CEO William Lynch.Of course, the fact that Barnes & Noble is exploring this option doesn’t necessarily mean it will ever happen, but with Nook growing to a $1.5 billion business this fiscal year, it might be the right time to turn it into a separate business entity.

How to Create a Viral Sweepstakes With Social Media | Social Media Examiner
"Are you considering using a sweepstakes or contest for an upcoming social media marketing campaign? Ever wonder exactly how a social sweepstakes ties in with the idea of “viral” marketing?"

Is Netflix in Trouble for 2012? | Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog
I've been a loyal Netflix customer for many years and my wife and I have switched our viewing habits to almost entirely streaming. In-fact, we don't even use our DVR anymore. I watched the Netflix share price skyrocket and was in awe of their blundering in 2011. For me, watching the Netflix drama play out is almost as interesting as watching a streaming movie. It will be interesting to see how they approach their challenges in 2012. MPM

Freakonomics » Freakonomics Quorum: Can Amtrak Ever Be Profitable?
Amtrak’s ridership and revenue has been steadily increasing over the last 10 years, and 2011 set a new ridership record with 30.2 million passengers, and $1.9 billion in ticket revenue. But, even though it took in $1.42 billion from Congress last year, it still manages to lose $1 billion annually. This is hardly a new development. Amtrak has a long and storied history of functioning at a loss despite government subsidies. So, as we enter what appears to be a new era (maybe?) of government austerity, it seems worth asking if Amtrak can ever turn a profit without government help. We rounded up some people who pay attention to this issue and asked for their ideas to fix Amtrak, if it can be fixed at all.

How Path is Making 'Small' the New 'Big' in Social Media
Path set out to be something different, a network in which you and 50 of your closest friends interacted and shared personal messages and photos.

CES 2012: What to Expect
Is this the end of CES? That’s one question I’ll be trying to answer as I walk the acres-long trade show floor. I’ll also be searching for the one true thing: that awesome product that makes the whole endeavor worthwhile.

The First World Consumes While The Third World Produces
In the U.S., 68% of social media users are "joiners," which means they maintain a profile on a social networking site and visit social networks. 73% are "spectators," or users who mostly just read blogs, online forums, customer ratings/reviews and tweets, listen to podcasts and watch videos. This number is strikingly similar in Europe (EU-7 countries, to be specific), with 69% of users classified as spectators and 50% as joiners.

Death By Smartphone: How Mobile Photography Helped Kill Kodak
The company, which was long known for selling film and other photography-related products, had tried everything from branching out into more modern offerings to using its trove of patents to sue others. Alas, the times have caught up with Kodak.

Dead? Social Media's Explosive Growth is Only Beginning
"Social media, types of media where everyday people can publish and subscribe to what one another publishes, have changed the world. At least in the United States, though, their rapid expansion through acquisition of new users may be over."

Is Windows 8 Too Late?
"Since its very inception, Microsoft's business model has been about leverage. It uses its established foundation in one popular platform to extend another. The advance of the tablet had been announced further ahead of time than Margaret Thatcher announced the surge on the Falklands. It's not like Microsoft didn't see this coming. But in 20/20 hindsight, it's remarkable to see now how the company appears to have actively worked to thwart that advance, to slow it down, by introducing potential form factors that could deflect interest in tablets - for example, an embedded device that could reveal the weather forecast and present your e-mails, that could be sewn to one's luggage."

9 Surprising New Facts About Social Media in America | social media strategy | Social Media Consulting - Convince & Convert
"Social media is growing up fast. No longer a niche plaything of the digerati, social media is firmly entrenched as a societal game changer of historical importance. For many, social media and social networking are so ubiquitous and pervasive that we presume we have it figured out, that we have a finger firmly on the pulse. But we don’t. Data about how social media really works, who uses it and how, continues to surprise."

Brands Ignore Nearly 50% Of Consumers' Facebook Posts [Infographic]
"A new study-turned-infographic from Mr Youth suggests that social media interactions influence consumer purchasing tendencies. The data was collected during the three-week period of time leading up to, and including, Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Yet despite glowing percentages about social media users - 65% of users recommendations led to a purchase, and recommendations by social media users were twice as likely to lead to holiday gift purchases - brands apparently are not responding to consumers on social media sites."

The 10 Best TED Talks of 2011
"Watching videos online is usually considered fun, but generally a waste of time. Not so with TED videos, which are uniformly interesting, educational, inspiring, and enjoyable. If you haven't spent much time (or any) checking out TED videos, you should – and to help with that, I've compiled what seem to be the very best 10 TED videos of 2011.It was a grueling task, combing through the cream of the crop on the TED site, but somebody had to do it."

Gunning For Starbucks, Coffee & Power Expands to LA
Coffee & Power has opened its first official workclub in Santa Monica, CA. It's the first expansion of the "meta-company" outside the San Francisco Bay Area. The new workclub is hosted in the offices of Sparqlight, an app for making business workflows more automated and social. The expansion wasn't even Coffee & Power's idea; after hearing about the site, Sparqlight asked to be involved.