Infographic by Voltier Digital (@VoltierDigital).
Also see our previous posts about viral marketing: “A Giant Wood Xylophone” and “Messiah and Viral Video.”
What viral marketing can Somersault (@smrsault) help you with?
On CNN (@CNN), Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable (@mashable), reports that our future may include flexible mobile screens in a variety of devices.
Last week, Nokia (@nokia) demoed a mindblowing prototype handheld device that lets you bend and twist the screen to complete actions like scrolling and zooming.
Meanwhile, Samsung (@Samsungtweets) said on an earnings call last week that it expected to debut phones with flexible displays in 2012 and that flexible tablets would follow.
The advantages of flexible displays are obvious: They're more durable, and they pave the way for new input methods, such as bending the display to zoom.
I think this technology will lead to the biggest breakthrough in mobile devices since the touchscreen. In fact, the next innovation in screen technologies may be an even bigger leap forward than touch displays.
Think not of a bendable display but of a foldable one.
See Somersault’s previous blogposts “Revolutionary New Paper Computer Shows Flexible Future for Smartphones and Tablets” and "Flexible and Dual Computer Screens to Prepare For."
How will you prepare your publishing agenda for the advent of flexible screens? Let Somersault (@smrsault) help. And stay informed about the news of the future with the Future tab of RSS feeds and resources on SomersaultNOW.
Humor columnist W. Bruce Cameron (@wbrucecameron) takes on the electronic ereader industry with this essay:
Move over, Kindle: Cameron Industries, a mono-national corporation headed by CEO W. Bruce Cameron (no relation), announced today it will soon be marketing the "next generation" of portable readers. Dubbed the "book," Cameron predicts it will take the world by storm.
As described by Cameron, the book will mark major advances in current reader technology. Among them:
Battery life: While some manufacturers boast that their reading machines can have as much as 150 hours of battery life, Cameron claims that the (pat. pend.) "always on" technology used by the book means the battery life is actually longer than human life.
It makes us think of another humorous look at the printed format: the Bio-Optical Organized Knowledge Device (BOOK):
Introducing the new Bio-Optical Organized Knowledge device, trade named B.O.O.K.
BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology; no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere -- even sitting in an armchair by the fire -- yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc.
Here's how it works.
BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. The pages are locked together with a custom fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs. Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now, BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain.
A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet.
BOOK may be taken up at any time and used merely by opening it.
“Steve was among the greatest of American innovators – brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.” President Barack Obama
Read the eulogies of other dignitaries.
Read, hear, see the news:
NPR: “Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs Dies At 56”
NPR: “Steve Jobs: The Link Between Machines And Humans”
BBC: “Steve Jobs of Apple dies at 56”
BBC: “Tributes for Apple 'visionary' Steve Jobs”
BBC: “Timeline: Steve Jobs and Apple”
Mashable: “Google’s Homepage Pays Tribute to Steve Jobs”
Marketplace: “An amazing legacy of innovation” [Slideshow]
Tech18: “The Complete Journey of Steve Jobs and Apple” [Infographic]
The New York Times: “Apple’s Visionary Redefined Digital Age”
International Business Times: "Lessons to be Learned from Steve Jobs' Leadership"
ClickZ: "Steve Jobs: 10 Lessons in Leadership"
Dr. Michael Milton: "Steve Jobs and the Great Commission"
Christianity Today: "The Gospel of Steve Jobs"
Quotes by Steve Jobs:
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me.... Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” [The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993]
"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them." [BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]
"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?" [The line he used to lure John Sculley into becoming Apple's CEO, according to Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple]
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” [BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]
“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.” [NBC Nightly News, May 2006]
Here’s an example of a video production that tugs at your heart without using words. It visually sells the sizzle while selling the steak. At its conclusion, you want to learn more about the World Wildlife Fund (@World_Wildlife). That’s effective marketing.
Let Somersault help you achieve success.
TED’s (@TEDTalks & @TEDNews) Chris Anderson (@TEDchris) says the rise of Web video is driving a worldwide phenomenon he calls Crowd Accelerated Innovation - a self-fueling cycle of learning that could be as significant as the invention of print. But to tap into its power, organizations will need to embrace radical openness.
Also read Warc’s (@WarcEditors) article “Procter & Gamble taps ‘collective creativity.’”
What do you think are the implications of Crowd Accelerated Innovation and video-driven content on the future and sustainability of publishing?
On O’Reilly Radar (@radar), Jenn Webb (@JennWebb) interviews Rochelle Grayson (@RochelleGrayson), CEO of BookRiff, (@BookRiff), a publishing start-up going live at the end of September. Jenn asks, “Ever want to compile your own cookbook, travel guide or textbook? Has your publisher edited out sections of your book you'd like to share with interested readers? BookRiff aims to solve these problems by creating new ways to access and compile content.”
Her interview explains how BookRiff works and how it can benefit publishers and consumers. Rochelle says her company is based on an open market concept, allowing publishers to sell the content they want at prices they set and consumers to buy and customize that content as they see fit; each getting a percentage of sales along the way.
A Riff is a remix of chapters from published books, essays, articles, or even one's own content. The concept behind BookRiff is to create an online platform that allows consumers and publishers to remix and to resell content, while ensuring that all original content owners and contributors get paid.
BookRiff’s target audience is “domain experts” who can curate — and perhaps even create — content that is of interest to a specific reading audience. This could include things like cookbooks, travel guides, extended “authors editions,” and custom textbooks.
How do you foresee this effecting your publishing/sales/distribution plans for the next 12 months?
In The New York Times (@nytimes) Janet Maslin reviews Just My Type: A Book About Fonts by Simon Garfield (@simongarfield), saying, “This is a smart, funny, accessible book that does for typography what Lynne Truss’ best-selling Eats, Shoots & Leaves did for punctuation: made it noticeable for people who had no idea they were interested in such things.”
Knowledge of fonts is essential to advertising, book publishing, professions (like law) that require thoughtfully chosen stationery and any written work that can be done on a home computer. Personal computers are the main reason that font fandom and do-it-yourself design have snowballed in the last two decades. Had Steven Jobs not taken a shine to calligraphy as a college student and decided to include a choice of fonts in computer software, we might not be having this conversation.
Mr. Garfield’s book overlaps with Gary Hustwit’s (@gary_hustwit) 2007 documentary Helvetica, which concentrated entirely on a single, unstoppably popular typeface. Is global proliferation of the very Swiss, clean, antiseptic Helvetica a welcome phenomenon, or is Helvetica the weedy, unstoppable kudzu of the design world? Mr. Garfield takes a somewhat jaundiced view of Helvetica mania, but he hardly limits himself to one narrow school of fontificating. A full look at font history, aesthetics, science, and philosophy could fill an encyclopedia, but Just My Type is an excellent gloss. Mr. Garfield has put together a lot of good stories and questions about font subtleties and font-lovers’ fanaticism.
Just My Type covers phenomena including how the fonts on road signs are tested for legibility and what the fonts used by various political campaigns subliminally communicate about candidates. It explains relatively arcane matters like kerning (the science of spacing letters)....And if it does nothing else Just My Type will make it impossible for you to look at logos, road signs, airports, magazines, and advertisements indifferently any longer.
Let Somersault help you in the page and cover designs of your books. And stay informed about publishing best practices with the SomersaultNOW dashboard, such as the content in the Editing and Innovation tabs.