Morning Reading: 7/21/10

Every morning I read Fast Company, Mashable, Culture By and All Things D on my way to work. Not to worry, I take the train and the bus. I also read the blogs on my Kindle, so there can sometimes be a full day back of articles to catch up on. It occurred to me that I should post the more interesting things I come across. I also may switch over to Pulse or something that will cache the blogs on the iPad so I can draft these posts in transit. Of course, I still really prefer reading on the Kindle. I don't know if I'll manage this daily, but here's a start.

Flipboard iPad App

All three blogs (Mashable, FC, AllThingsD) covered this story in the past day, with Mossberg specifically calling out how cool he is, because he's had the app for over a month. I dowloaded the app as soon as I got to work, but Flipboard seems to be a victim of its own success right now, because I got a notice that it was over its limit when I tried to customize it.

The Big Deal: It presents your social media streams as a slick iPad digital magazine. First to do this, or at least do this well. It provides a totally new, totally iPad way of interacting with your social networking sites.

Facebook Sucks, but we can't live without it
All three blogs (Mashable, FC, AllThingsD) also covered the new survey that points out the obvious -- we don't trust Facebook, but we don't trust it so much that we're willing to dump it. It's like that guy you dated that flirted with other girls too much, but you were kind of sure wasn't cheating on you, plus he was an awesome cook and gave great back rubs, so you weren't willing to just dump him -- wait -- that might have just been me. I bet this survey could be mapped over the RTCRM Brand Experience Scorecard, and you'd see a very similar pattern.

The Big Deal: HUGE vulnerability for Facebook if anyone else comes up with a more trustworthy option, and makes it easy to switch.

Audio Landscape Google Maps Mash-up
This only appeared on Fast Company, but I thought it was really interesting. Members of the public can upload the soundscape of a particular area. Not just a general area, but it is pinpointed on the map. I especially liked changing over to satellite view and zooming way in, then listening to the sound. According to the "about" page, this project is trying to answer two questions: 1) what does the UK sound like today and 2) what impact do these sounds have on our lives?

The Big Deal: Another innovative application of digital tools for real-world research, and utilizing crowd-sourcing for data collection.

“The iPad Is Shaping Up to Be the Tickle Me Elmo of the 2010 Holiday Season."
This was a headline on All Things D today. Frankly, I picked it out because it made me laugh.

The Big Deal: Apple better hope this isn't true. Because if it is, it means the iPad will be an irrelevant relic by February.

Why QR Codes are Poised to Hit the Mainstream
This article from Mashable states a hypothesis why the mainstream public may be ready adopt QR codes (Quick Response), those small smart-phone friendly bar codes that have been around since 1994, and started to appear in mainstream use around 2006. QR Codes, like RSS Feeds, have been the little technology that could -- but didn't. They are both great ideas that normal people don't seem to know anything about.

The Big Deal: QR Codes are currently a mark of hipster-geeks, and oddly are getting huge adoption from the fashion industry. As smartphones and major brands continue their adoption, it really is possible these may move into the mainstream. If they do, they will provide a fabulous new response mechanism for print and out-of-home advertising.

Matchmaking by Book Preference
This is a story from Mashable. I thought Steve Jobs announced that nobody reads anymore as a way to bash the Kindle -- wait -- that's before he launched his competitor iBook. But that's not what this story was about. It's about a new dating site that matches you to people based on what you read. My husband's not a huge reader, so this would not have helped me meet him!

The Big Deal: An interesting approach to preference-based personalization, and really the first innovation in online dating we've seen in years. I can imagine a great Netflix opportunity for growth here if they copy this for movies and even a possible opportunity for Amazon.com.