cuene.com

Marc Andreessen on Why Software Is Eating the World - WSJ.com

With lower start-up costs and a vastly expanded market for online services, the result is a global economy that for the first time will be fully digitally wired—the dream of every cyber-visionary of the early 1990s, finally delivered, a full generation later.

Perhaps the single most dramatic example of this phenomenon of software eating a traditional business is the suicide of Borders and corresponding rise of Amazon. In 2001, Borders agreed to hand over its online business to Amazon under the theory that online book sales were non-strategic and unimportant.

via online.wsj.com

Worth reading again. And again. and again.

Blown up Articles? the Future of News Publishing?

A couple really good articles on the future of news publishing in a digital age to remind us of the power of our mental models.

Key point: we have to shake the mindset from print, when you only had one shot to publish something.

This article from Mathew Ingram sparked some challenging thoughts about how to reframe what it is we do. His message: the "article" as the atomic unit of the news is the wrong unit. 

The always thoughtful Jeff Jarvis is pushing my thinking hard via posts like this one, where he breaks down the "article" into it's component parts. It's part of his effort to rethink and, um, reimagine, what news will look like when we don't have to jam it into its old containers (like articles). 

NPR snags Brian Boyer to launch a news apps team (and they’re hiring) » Nieman Journalism Lab

This is pretty much the best job a coding news nerd could ask for. And, this is a sign that NPR is or has become one of the best news orgs in america.

Just Don't Call it "Content Marketing"; It's "Marketing"

For the last three or four years, the term "Content Marketing" has been bubbling around the fringes of digital marketing. Originally the domain of SEO guys, it's become clear to many that content does more than juice your organic rankings. It's key to building modern brands. 

Let's all agree to not ghetto-ize content by putting it into it's own marketing specialty. While we have to be strategic in how it's created, managed, and maintained, i don't believe we really need dedicated "content strategies". We just need good marketing execution. I don't want our brands thinking about a "content marketing strategy", i want them to understand that content is the blood of great brand building, and thus is a cricital consideration at the core of their holistic brand building efforts. 

The brands we all hold up as exemplars of great content are not doing it as part of a content marketing strategy. they are doing it because they've got a clear purpose, a reason for being. And values that guide their decisions. And act according to those values to acheive their purpose. Content comes out naturally, not as some effort to game the latest Google algorythm. 

Cabin Porn

My god, i love this site. Everything i need in a photo blog, but about cabins.

The Listserve: Such a Cool Idea!

This is an e-mail lottery.
One person a day wins a chance to write to
the growing list of subscribers. It could be you.

via thelistserve.com

This could be insanely great or a dismal failure. I'm betting on the latter. (via http://news.ycombinator.com/)

Andrew Sullivan: Christianity in Crisis - The Daily Beast

What were those doctrines? Not the supernatural claims that, fused with politics and power, gave successive generations wars, inquisitions, pogroms, reformations, and counterreformations. Jesus’ doctrines were the practical commandments, the truly radical ideas that immediately leap out in the simple stories he told and which he exemplified in everything he did. Not simply love one another, but love your enemy and forgive those who harm you; give up all material wealth; love the ineffable Being behind all things, and know that this Being is actually your truest Father, in whose image you were made. Above all: give up power over others, because power, if it is to be effective, ultimately requires the threat of violence, and violence is incompatible with the total acceptance and love of all other human beings that is at the sacred heart of Jesus’ teaching. That’s why, in his final apolitical act, Jesus never defended his innocence at trial, never resisted his crucifixion, and even turned to those nailing his hands to the wood on the cross and forgave them, and loved them.

via www.thedailybeast.com

Particularly powerful, well timed and sure to spark some challenging thoughts.

Sad: A Pinterest spammer tells all (via Dailydot.com

Pinterest is by FAR the easiest social network to spam right now. Quite possibly the easiest ever to spam. It requires almost no work to get started and no money to invest. You just have to know how the system works and how you can fix it to your advantage.

via www.dailydot.com

There's always someone. Worth a read though, as it helps to illuminate (a bit) some of the growth of pinterest. It's not all suburban mom's pinning pictures of the rooms they want to make for their kids.

Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix: Must Visit

This is a great, obsessive post about Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. I'm going to take a shot at this when we go out there next week. Might be a long, long wait, but we will probably try it.

Confessions of an Agency CEO | Digiday

I am big believer that, whether they want to admit it or not, agencies are defined by their clients. A client’s willingness or desire to do interesting or innovative work is what’s going to help you or hurt you in your attempt to create successful campaigns, build a portfolio, win awards and recruit new talent. The client’s culture invariably rubs off on the agency. It’s important to consider this going in to any new relationship. Good clients are secure and accountable individuals, who know what they need to do and can give clear direction.

via www.digiday.com

Worth reading twice.

I'd like to buy a franchise for this. http://tacocopter.com/

This will be my retirement business

Red Lantern Bicycles, a cycling shop that opened in July on Myrtle Avenue, has gotten its beer and wine license, making it the first area bike store that will not only grease your wheels, but also lubricate your social life.

via fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com

With luck, this could work here in MPLS.