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January 2007 Archive

Blogging out your Pie Hole

posted by DL Byron on January 30, 2007

Upset that Pagliacci pizza didn’t deliver to their neighborhood, some bloggers did what bloggers do and posted about. That led to more posts, some conspiracy theories, a Seattle PI article, and an official company response that disses another pizza joints.

What this blogging story can teach business, is that you’re in the blogosphere whether your like it or not and at the very least, you’ve got to monitor it. Teresa posted about this same topic, in response to a suspect study that shows 8% of Americans read blogs.

Blogs don’t matter, it’s just a technology, it’s the search results that do and business should Google themselves and their competitors to find out exactly why.

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Washington CEO Magazine on blogging

posted by DL Byron on January 29, 2007

While unfamiliar with the “high-tech seeding” term, thinking that’s a topic found in an Isaac Asimov novel about colonizing Mars, Marketing to the Masses from Washington CEO uses that angle to report on how Boeing, Smartsheet and other Washington State businesses are using social networking (blogs) to talk with their customers.

I’m quoted and it’s a good article, but they cut my response to the question that Boeing’s blog is boring. Being yourself and blogging what you know is not boring. That’s just who you are as a business and it’s also best to blog your own way.

As my blogging colleague Anil Dash often says, for business blogs, boring is good. Boring is safe. And while some may not care about 45nm fabrication or bigger windows in the Dreamliner, to others that’s damn cool.

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Hello Hugger Industries

posted by DL Byron on January 28, 2007

In-progress and launched, Hugger Industries is the new headquarters for our blogging properties and consumer products: Snow Hugger, Bike Hugger, other huggers, Clip-n-Seal, and more unannounced products. Textura Design, Inc. (TDI) is refreshing into an agency that’s focused on blog consulting, books, and related instructional media.

At ten years old (and amazing that we’ve been around that long — word), Textura Design has split into two separate businesses: consulting and blogs. For a brief history of TDI, check the about page. Going into 2k7, we’ve staffed up with exceptional talent, and will have an incredibly busy year.

At SXSW 07 this year, we’ll chat the huggers up, talk more about the work we’re doing, and give big props to Coudal. Putting considerable thought into how to express our brand, what pure TDI is, Coudal told me, “celebrate the diversity, all that you do,” be a creative force, an agency.

Right on Jim. That’s exactly what we’re gonna do.

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Somebody Pinch Me and My Phone

posted by DL Byron on January 20, 2007

Reflecting on the Genius of Steve Jobs and Apple, in his Ask Tog column, Bruce Tognazzini, reviews the iPhone cell-phone user experience, pinching gestures, the history of touch interfaces, and more. Didja know that “multi-touch gestural” have been around for 20 years? I didn’t, but it doesn’t surprise me.

Beyond the iPhone interface, and much like how iPod+iTunes helps a user manage music, what the phone will do (well, hopefully) is solve the syncing problem. The main reason I’ve kept my Sony T-616 so long, is that I got it working with Entourage, Address Book, and iSync and there’s nothing significantly better in 4 years. When the rumors of an iPhone first started, I could only hope and wait.

Where the MS apologists will default to iPhone FUD, will decry it’s “high-tech jewelry” and businesses will never buy it, they fail to realize how cool it is and how well it’ll work. As Tog says, “You can imagine Bill Gates’s frustration. He probably has a cadre of engineers ready to take it apart, put it back together with a couple of screws missing, and paint it brown.” And put some Windows Media on it.

Jobs and Ives have both said that they design the best products they can, with passion, and sales follow. They didn’t set out to build a phone that megacorp will buy for all it’s execs or an iPod for that matter. If you build a platform solely for work, you lose against the home and home and work collide. As Lenn Pryor told me in a conversation about Ballmer’s foolish iPhone diss, “I am tired of carrying two phones + ipod I want one that does it all and with style.” Ever try to browse with a Blackberry? Or wade through 3 voice mails to get to the 4th one?

I want to touch, pinch, and organize my new phone, as soon as I can.

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Lola Lights

posted by DL Byron on January 14, 2007

The fiery lights above the bar at Lola. We were there for my 40th birthday.

city merge

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iPhone and Cingular's Brand

posted by DL Byron on January 13, 2007

Interesting subtext to all the news on the iPhone is that AT&T is rebranding Cingular. 3 years ago, Cingular was AT&T Wireless, and now back to just AT&T. Considering the brand work they’ve got to do, does anyone besides investors know what AT&T does now?

In recent history, they were the last of the Ma Bells, had a famously well-done mark designed by Saul Bass, changed that for a while to the mark that resembled a condom package when they were a network company, then the Death Star mark, and now back to wireless. Maybe they’ll get back into the cable business as well and connect to Apple’s iTV?

At least, we’ll have one less doctom jumping man logo in the marketing world.

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January Birthdays including me

posted by DL Byron on January 12, 2007

This month, tomorrow to be exact, I turn 40. Joining me with birthdays, and being over 40, are Zeldman and Molly. Both have kindly assured me it’s sexy being 40 (yet to be proven for me at least, Molly absolutely sexy!). Both of them have also been very influential in my work and success. More importantly this year, besides that big age milestone, is Textura Design turns ten years old and I’ve got more posting on that topic to do.

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Ballsy Blogging

posted by DL Byron on January 12, 2007

As Jay Allen said to me in an instant message this morning, that’s seriously ballsy when you sue Apple over the iPhone, post about it AND leave comments on!

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Phone Home with your iPod

posted by DL Byron on January 11, 2007

Considering all the the buzz and blog posts leading up to Apple’s iPhone announcement, the instant message conversations I was having discussed the lack of excitement about another mp3 phone. The larger problem to solve is taking your “home” folder with you and that’s what Apple has done. Just like iPod + iTunes solves the problem of managing music, the iPhone is designed to solve the problem of staying in sync. Fantastic. I posted about how I can’t wait to ride with an iPhone on Bike Hugger.

On spec alone, it looks like the iPhone is actually a smart phone (a laughable marketing term describing a windows OS-based phone, which is anything but smart). Reporting from Macworld, Glenn Fleishman has written a thorough first review of the iPhone, including an update that the iPhone won’t ship with an SDK and you can’t read docs on it.

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Snow covered Ice

posted by DL Byron on January 11, 2007

Seattle is notorious for totally and completely freakin’ out when it snows. Today, with snow covered ice, it’s the real deal for bad driving conditions. Schools are closed, I hope Pam’s work is close, and everyone else that can stays home.

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The Jesus Mac

posted by DL Byron on January 02, 2007

Our first day in Maui and I was checking in, looking at the weather, ride options, and spilt nearly an entire glass of water on the keyboard of my black Macbook. With Ninja (and total panic) speed, I picked it up, turned it upside down, and watched water pour out of the keys. Before I could pull the power cord, and pop the battery out, the Macbook booted twice and then went dark. Despite all my efforts with a hair dryer, fan, and towel, the Mac didn’t boot again and I was sure it was dead. Seeing water flow into the LCD is sad indicator that your computer isn’t going to boot again.

I rush ordered a replacement from Apple, (as noted here, .mac saved my ass again), and while Pam was checking her email on it, I did a final check of the dead macbook and boom it boots with 3 angry beeps! Unbelievable — after 3 days, the Macbook was back, and I said to Pam, it’s the Jesus Mac. I rushed to the local Apple reseller, Maui Macnet, to get a firewire cable, connected the two and used Migration Assistant. I also made a disc image of Boot Camp in hopes that I could somehow recover that partition.

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