Everywhere I look there is consternation surrounding social networks. Recently Facebook made changes to the user interface of the site and those changes have been met with a resounding “say what?”. Twitter is hitting the mainstream and the newbs or the uninitiated don’t seem to get it. It got me thinking again about what these social networking sites mean to those who have or should have a broader identity online. For some, Facebook, MySpace and others are the sole place they reside online. They may have no desire to express themselves beyond the confines of their profile page, and that’s OK.

However, entrepreneurs, creatives, and others typically make use of personal sites to exercise greater control over their content and have a place online that is truly theirs. That makes Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn outposts (as Chris Brogan put it) on the web that ultimately drive traffic back to your own site. Each of these places can be extremely important to your brand but they are there to attract the eyes of those that may never have seen you otherwise or to engage in conversations that might have never happened.

Remember that you get out of these outposts what you put into them. For those serious about building a brand or expressing their creativity, they are just tools, not the be-all end-all.

written by JM

Over a year ago I wrote my thoughts on the first Kindle and now Amazon has its successor. From all the reviews it sounds as though it’s an improvement, although slight, over the original. My first “review” was pretty critical and admittedly made without ever actually having held a Kindle. Not much has changed in that regard especially since you can’t jump in your car and head over to Best Buy to check one out and I don’t personally know anyone who owns one.

I REALLY want to like the Kindle. However, my criticisms remain. On the other hand the Kindle does a lot of things right. I won’t rehash the specs here but instead I want to focus on what I think this means for books in general.

What’s Next

I said in my original article that the Kindle 1 wouldn’t be a runaway hit or even a modest success. So far, I think I’m right on the first and maybe not so much on the second. Amazon doesn’t release figures on Kindle sales but estimates put the number around half a million for the first model. This number seems high to me but even if it’s relatively close, I suppose you could call it a success. When you read the tech press as I do it’s hard to know when something has penetrated the tech echo chamber. I believe e-book readers will become more and more popular as time goes by, but they have a tough road ahead.

Perhaps selfishly, as a graphic designer I want to see more control over what’s possible in terms of design. The reason for not having that control comes down to smaller file sizes no doubt. It’s virtual portability is one of it’s greatest strengths and perhaps among it’s greatest weaknesses when it comes to graphics. It’s absolutely convenient but potentially closes a segment of the book market where designers are needed.

The Revolution

For publishers, the Kindle and even other e-book readers are an opportunity to stay current in the ever-changing digital landscape. Where the Kindle bests others lies in the Amazon infrastructure. They made an Apple-like move in creating the hardware and developing the format of the content. It’s not a win for open standards but the best solution doesn’t always rest there. For now, they have the best solution out there.

As I write this, Amazon has released Kindle for iPhone. This is an interesting move (a move they mentioned was coming when the Kindle 2 was announced) and one that I’m going to have to think on. I have downloaded and tested it and my gut reaction is that it doesn’t increase the chances of me buying a Kindle for the time being. Perhaps the device itself isn’t the revolution they’re after.

written by JM