I love this shot.

Taken from the wonderfully insightful Whitehouse flickr stream, I like the 'emptiness' and how the picture suggests a kind of a fresh start mood, illustrated by the fact that there's none of BO's 'personal stuff' on the desk or anywhere in the office.

Obviously GB had packed up his cardboard boxes of memories before he vacated the room, while the new President's stuff was yet to be uncrated.

Cool. And hint of Apple making a larger tablet in editorial.

Top draw scribing:

No, I don’t have shares in Apple. I came so close to buying some as an act of defensive defiance in the early 90s when every industry insider and expert in the field agreed that Apple had six months to go before going bust. But I didn’t. If I had done I could now afford to buy you all an iPad. Yes, I do like and have tried to champion OpenSource software. How can I square that with my love of Apple? I’m complicated. I’m a human being. I also believe in a mixed economy and mixed nuts. I love our National Health Service and the National Theatre, but I also love Fortnum and Mason’s and Hollywood movies.

A very intelligent, very well written look at the iPad after SF's return from SF.

Saturday Morn in office.

Been messing around shooting whiteboard as I work with remote on camera.

Extra large 'original' size on flickr reveals secret plans for where I'm hoping to take DigitalAgency and clients in social media, ish. ;-

Of course in some respects what I'm advocating is old news, and I didn't invent anything, rather I rediscovered a bit of social media history from one of the most visionary people in our business.

Way back in 2007, Hugh MacLeod had a brilliant original insight into what he described as 'social objects'.

It had a profound effect on me, even more so today. Because way back then, and indeed in the years that followed, not enough people, particularly brands were/are taking notice.

Luckily, some clients are beginning to wake up, yay!

But maybe not enough know about Hugh; Boo!

In my small way I'd like to rectify that.

Wannbe social media stars, if you didn't know already, I urge you to check out Hugh's site here.

Online social networks are changing the way people communicate, work and play, and mostly for the better, says Martin Giles (interviewed here)

Jan 28th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

Illustration by Ian Whadcock

 

via economist.com

 

Apple Competitors Voice Pessimism About the iPad

In the immediate aftermath of the Apple iPad announcement, high-ranking executives at notable companies — Apple competitors in some aspects — are publicly voicing their pessimism about the device.

 

Executives at Netflix, Nintendo and Microsoft are among the notable figures already weighing in on the iPad — which has split the Twitterverse — and their words are far from kind. Even Amazon is taking Apple to task — with fourth-quarter Kindle figures.

This is a very, very big deal.

IMHO.

Oh, and did I say I think it's a big deal.

My feeling is that it will not only encourage more people to sign up and use social sites, (because the Google search returns will act as a kind of 'ad' for the benefits of engaging more in sm.) But also brands will see how they benefit from this and the whole aspect of trusted sources.

Consequently more brands will 'get' sm and community management, and ramp up their engagement in the social space.