Uploads from lynetter, tagged onlinedevslides

future of search is verbs

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:01:25 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

I like the simplicity of this statement. It’s a catchphrase for the concept that most of the time people aren’t searching for information just for the sake of it, but because they want help in making a decision or carrying out some action.

Here’s the quote in full, as reported by Esther Dyson:
“Bill Gates uttered one of the smartest things he has ever said: “The future of search is verbs.” But he said it at a private dinner and it never spread. To me, the meaning was clear: when people search, they aren’t just looking for nouns or information; they are looking for action. They want to book a flight, reserve a table, buy a product, cure a hangover, take a class, fix a leak, resolve an argument, or occasionally find a person, for which Facebook is very handy. They mostly want to find something in order to do something.”
Via www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/dyson23/English

Image via Flickr CC thanks to Andrew Hefter www.flickr.com/photos/andross/3353830887/

community who will go online to figure out is larger than you think

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:39:51 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This comes from an article about an impromptu Twitter-enabled collaboration of strangers who lived in the same neighborhood, trying to figure out what caused a loud bang they heard in the night. It’s a great anecdote so worth reading the article, but this quote for me sums it up: “The community of people who will search for things online and go out of their way to try to figure out what’s going on is larger than you might think”
Via www.readwriteweb.com/archives/boom_tweets_maps_swarm_to_p...

Photo via Flickr CC thanks to Rob Holland www.flickr.com/photos/robh/142742990/

startling experiments are absorbed in a day

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 13:55:16 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This is a quote I came across 18 months ago, in a great article about the NY Times data visualisation/graphics team.
nymag.com/news/features/all-new/53344/

I saved it up to turn into one of these slides, as it’s a vivid yet matter of fact way of describing the whole online experience. So many things that we once would have been amazed by are now unremarkable. Someone said once that technology only truly goes mainstream when it becomes invisible - ie: taken for granted to such an extent that it isn’t noticed anymore. I understand this, but equally find it a little sad to lose that sense of wonder and appreciation of how far we’ve come (in both good and not-so-good ways).

Image Flickr CC thanks to Tyler via www.flickr.com/photos/trp0/132106776/

Replace book with Internet and this looks a lot like addiction

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:35:01 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This was an interesting perspective I’d not thought about before. It especially rang true, since as a kid I can remember often being told to “get your head out of that book and go outside to play”. I wonder how many parents say that nowadays.

The quote in full:
“A nice, long book with hundreds of pages, one so good you don’t want it to end. You are completely immersed, looking forward to the end of the day when you can lose yourself in it again, staying up past your bedtime for just a few more pages. Good, right? Our lost Eden, right? But now consider: what may be absorption and focus from one angle could be irresponsible escapism from another. What are you doing with yourself while reading that book? Hiding from your surroundings, spending hours of time alone and immobile, emerging to measure real things in your life by the imaginary story? Replace “book” with “Internet” and this looks a lot like addiction.”
Via niemanstoryboard.us/2010/07/09/short-attention-span-theat...

Now, you could argue (as a friend did when we were discussing this) that there is an inherent value in reading certain literary standards - Wordsworth was the example he used - a quality which the web cannot match. I get how he feels... but equally wonder if one day there may be things online that will be held in similarly high regard.

Maybe I am overly optimistic - but in the early days of paperback book publishing, it was dominated by pulp trashy novels... then along came Penguin. (Of course: I didn’t think of this counter at the time, it’s always the way!)

Image thanks to Julie70 via Flickr CC www.flickr.com/photos/joyoflife/2390294810/

humans generated more data in 2009 than in previous 5000 years

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:33:49 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This comes an interview with Cisco’s Chief Futurist, Dave Evans, as reported by ReadWriteWeb here:
www.readwriteweb.com/archives/cisco_futurist_predicts_int...

What’s most interesting about this isn’t the increase itself, but the filtering challenges it presents. The quote in full:
“Evans said humans generated more data in 2009 than in the previous 5,000 years combined, although a lot of it is useless - comparable to saving all 2,000 photos from your weekend trip to the beach. Therefore, filtering and sorting the exponential proliferation of data will become more and more important for computers, Evans said. And it will be even more important and possible for computers to interpret rich media such as photos and video. Google Goggles, an app that can recognize text, art and landmarks from images, is an early example”

Special thanks to Serge aka York777 for granting permission to use his copyrighted photo in this mashup. You can see his original here: www.flickr.com/photos/york777/3226369916/

this is the perfect moment for a tweet

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:50:50 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

I was struck by the first paragraph in this article by Peggy Ornstein www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/magazine/01wwln-lede-t.html Here it is in full:

"On a recent lazy Saturday morning, my daughter and I lolled on a blanket in our front yard, snacking on apricots, listening to a download of E. B. White reading “The Trumpet of the Swan.” Her legs sprawled across mine; the grass tickled our ankles. It was the quintessential summer moment, and a year ago, I would have been fully present for it. But instead, a part of my consciousness had split off and was observing the scene from the outside: this was, I realized excitedly, the perfect opportunity for a tweet".

It’s a great illustration of the unintended - and not necessarily always welcome - consequences of embracing digital. Once you’ve developed an instinct for something, it’s hard to switch off.

Image via Flickr CC thanks to aptmetaphor www.flickr.com/photos/aptmetaphor/2473681347/

true nature of technology seen by what enthusiasts do with it

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:43:58 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

Interesting idea this. Broadly I agree. You can plan and theorise all you want, but it’s not till technology gets into the wild, and in the hands of users, that you can really see what it offers. And it is often the enthusiasts who lead... the ones who experiment, who knock off the rough edges, who show what is possible.

But on the other hand... there’s a risk of confusing ‘enthusiast’ with ‘early adopter’. Early adopters by definition aren’t necessarily representative of the mainstream. The original enthusiastic users of mobile phones were cashed-up businessfolk and road warriors. It wasn’t until teens got their hands on them that mobile took off in its current data-driven form.

Still, I like the quote. :-)

By the way, I’m not sure how old it is - I only just stumbled across it when it was (re)tweeted recently by Tim O’Reilly
twitter.com/timoreilly/statuses/18736755249

Photo via Flickr CC thanks to Mr Thomas www.flickr.com/photos/exalthim/2906798130/

its possible to think of internet as positive and negative

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:56:48 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

Another great quote from Clay Shirky, as noted by Russell Brand (UPDATE: oops, I mean Russell Davies! :-)
russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/2010/07/clay-shirky-bl...

Clay has a real talent for summing things up in an eloquent, yet down-to-earth, way.

Photo via Flickr CC thanks to Christine
www.flickr.com/photos/bigpinkcookie/22716359/

in future metric of success may be if 10000 people read it

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:35:25 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

I like the concept of this - ie: metrics adjusting to reflect new realities. Plus it's nice to have an eg that is not so advertising centric. I suspect this is all a *long* way off happening though. :-)

Image via Flickr CC thanks to EJP photo
www.flickr.com/photos/ejpphoto/3426669486/

no medium has ever survived indifference of 25 year olds

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:02:51 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This pithy quote comes from an interview with Clay Shirky in The Guardian a few days ago...
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/05/clay-shirky-int...

Image via Flickr CC thanks to Slab City Gang www.flickr.com/photos/danar/4754848305/

3/4 of time mediating conflicts that began online

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:59:21 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

I read this article in NY Times a few days ago and was absolutely staggered. I am *so* glad that nothing like this was around when I was at school.
www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/style/28bully.html?pagewanted=all

Image CC thanks to furiousgeorge81 www.flickr.com/photos/furiousgeorge81/95137658/

a car is not merely a faster horse

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:20:36 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

Let's see if I can get back into the swing of this...

This comes from the master of catchy phrases, Seth Godin.
sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/06/a-car-is-not-mer...

Image CC thanks to Chris Denbow www.flickr.com/photos/mojodenbowsphotostudio/2408750389/

Realtime taps into consciousness - Search taps into memory

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:16:32 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

Image from Flickr CC www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/117037943/ thanks to B Tal.

This phrase was attributed to Edo Segal by Techcrunch www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/26/the-real-time-search-dilemm... It’s the best summing up I’ve seen for why things like Twitter are so strangely compelling, despite - or perhaps because of - their sometime inanity.

online readers compose their own beginning middle end

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:57:17 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

Image from Flickr CC www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/322023870/ thanks to ecstaticist.

The idea for this slide came from a recent article in the NYT about how the internet is impacting literacy:
“Clearly, reading in print and on the Internet are different. On paper, text has a predetermined beginning, middle and end, where readers focus for a sustained period on one author’s vision. On the Internet, readers skate through cyberspace at will and, in effect, compose their own beginnings, middles and ends. Young people “aren’t as troubled as some of us older folks are by reading that doesn’t go in a line,” said Rand J. Spiro, a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University who is studying reading practices on the Internet. “That’s a good thing because the world doesn’t go in a line, and the world isn’t organized into separate compartments or chapters.”
www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.html?pagewante...

growing up assuming you can publish is going to make people different

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:34:58 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

Image from Flickr CC www.flickr.com/photos/ourcommon/2455614297/ thanks to ourcommon.

Quote is slightly paraphrased from an article Russell Davies wrote about Clay Shirky’s book “Here comes everybody”:
As he put it: “Growing up with the assumption that you'll always be able to publish whatever you want to say, to whoever you want to say it, is going to make people different. I don't normally hold with all those Gen This, Gen That generalisations but in this instance it might be true. We're going to need to tweak all sorts of things to get the most from a generation that's used to these expressive possibilities. We'll need to examine how we relate to them as employees, as customers, as colleagues, as voters and as leaders”.
russelldavies.typepad.com/advertising_practitioner/2008/0...

in quarter of homes only one person can control technology

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 10:47:10 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

I’m only surprised it's not more common. :-)
Stat comes from a Logitech survey reported back in March: blogs.zdnet.com/ITFacts/?p=14166

Original image thanks to BURИBLUE via www.flickr.com/photos/burnblue/1029723412/

if the news is that important it will find me

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:59:28 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

I love this quote. It apparently was uttered in a focus group by a college student, and I find it really resonates to explain how the mechanics and attitudes via which people stay in touch are altering.

I first came across it via Matthew Ingram’s blog and he in turn found it in a NYT article. As Matthew says, the article “does a great job of describing how digital word of mouth…has become a dominant means of news delivery for young people in a way that I’m not sure old geezers like myself quite grasp”. In other words, as the NYT article puts it, people “are replacing the professional filter — reading The Washington Post, clicking on CNN.com — with a social one”.
www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/03/27/if-the-news-is-impor...
www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/us/politics/27voters.html?_r=1....

Original image thanks to Razorfrog via www.flickr.com/photos/maxelman/2246217877/

paid vs earned media - on internet is fair fight

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 03:39:45 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This paraphrased quote comes from a March Ad Age article and is attributed to Matt Freeman, head of Tribal DDB. It isn’t a new point to make but I liked the simplicity of explaining it this way.
adage.com/abstract.php?article_id=125741

The article is written from the point of view of brands and where companies should invest their marketing time and money. But of course it isn’t only true for companies and that’s what’s so wonderful about the internet. If fame and attention is what you want for your pet project, for yourself, whatever… it’s still hard to get, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to spark via the internet than any traditional route.

Original image comes thanks to Gabork and can be found here: www.flickr.com/photos/gabork/8735503/

wikipedia is like a community leaf raking project

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:30:27 -0700

lynetter posted a photo:

This quote is slightly paraphrased but comes from a great recent article in The Guardian about Wikipedia by Nicholson Baker. www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/10/wikipedia.internet

The article posits that Wikipedia has become a world wonder, and I agree. In a few hundred years, when we look back on the wonders of this century, how many of them will exist in the purely digital realm?

What I also like about the article is it was written by a guy who isn’t just a journalist reporting from the outside, but who is intimately involved. It thus brings a different perspective than what you commonly see in the press.

One day I can imagine I could get hooked on Wikipedia contributing. So far I’ve only submitted one article (it was for my old job and was basically just a boring profile of a company) and it was a great experience… It got marked for deletion within about 10 seconds by two people, so I posted to ask what I needed to do to justify it warranting an entry, and they told me. I worked that evening and found more links and rewrote it to fit the guidelines. The next morning not only had they agreed not to take the entry down, someone else had gone to the trouble of fixing the formatting and added a summary. I was blown away by how efficient,effective and collegial the process was.

Image thanks to Forever Souls via www.flickr.com/photos/foreversouls/4633378/

PS: sorry I’ve been away for so long. I’ve been caught up in other “stuff” but making a concerted effort to get back to it now.

consumers treat advertising like trains

nobody@flickr.com (lynetter) — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 07:22:32 -0800

lynetter posted a photo:

At my old agency we used to sometimes talk about “the immunised consumer”. The point we were trying to make was that the practice of ad avoidance isn’t just to do with tools that people employ to block out ads - be it the fast-forward button on a DVR, pop-up blocker, etc. People have now evolved to have a kind of subconscious filter in place as well. They might not even realise it, but they’ve just become better at honing in on what’s important to them and blocking out all the surrounding (ad) noise.

The quote on this slide I think is a more straightforward way of making the same point. It comes originally from a November AdAge article: adage.com/mediaworks/article.php?article_id=122092

It’s taken me a while to find the right image to accompany it. Finally I stumbled across this one which I think is perfect. I also love the image generally as it’s just such a real ‘slice of life’ but yet so unique to a particular city and style of living. It reminds me of living as a student in NYC when I hung laundry on the fire escape. :-)

You can see the original (copyrighted) image here: www.flickr.com/photos/38394157@N00/307477270/
Special thanks to mr_555 who kindly granted permission for me to use it in this slide. :-)