I have been reading a lot about Amazon's new tech toy, the Kindle. Everyone at the press conference for its launch got one for free, how cool is that?! It seems a bit pricey for my poor college student budget to handle, but I am definitely thinking about saving up for one. It is a digital book downloading device, and one blogger describes it as an iPod for books. Plus it has wireless connectivity built in, so you can browse RSS feeds and preset Web sites that come loaded on the Kindle.
Here are some examples of articles on the device:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/19/kindle-first-impressions/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/11/amazon-kindle-meet-amazons-e-book-reader/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mQOQX2V7KT9ZY:m4H02MFJUILVP
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1079387
The last link is the news release from Amazon when they announced the Kindle for sale.
If you could see inside my head, this is what it would probably look like...
05 January 2008
Kinda Creepy...Pudding Media Targeted Ads on Phone calls
Y'all check this article out:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/04/pudding-media-raises-8-million-to-
serve-ads-against-phone-conversations/
I'm not sure what to think about this. I suppose it's very similar to social networks and gmail ads which survey the content of your site and messages to target ads to you, but it works on phone conversations placed over the Internet, instead. In some ways, I think it's marketing genius, but in other ways, it definitely smells of Big Brother!
But I do have to wonder if there is any possibility of hijacking this technology for PR purposes?
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/01/04/pudding-media-raises-8-million-to-
serve-ads-against-phone-conversations/
I'm not sure what to think about this. I suppose it's very similar to social networks and gmail ads which survey the content of your site and messages to target ads to you, but it works on phone conversations placed over the Internet, instead. In some ways, I think it's marketing genius, but in other ways, it definitely smells of Big Brother!
But I do have to wonder if there is any possibility of hijacking this technology for PR purposes?
Queen Elizabeth Embraces YouTube + The Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Ah, the power of progress! Last year, according to msnbc news, Queen Elizabeth released her Christmas Day address as a podcast and a television message. This year she further embraced the digital media era by releasing a viral on YouTube. Hmm...I wonder what Shane Watson would have to say about this? (see my post "I Don't Want To Grow Up for more details) If she thinks 30-somethings should no longer be using social networks because they need to embrace their adulthood, she certainly must be freaking out that her 81-yr-old monarch has her own channel on YouTube. I love it!
This is exactly my point about digital media: it reaches a much wider audience than traditional print and even broadcast media and is a powerful component in the public relations toolkit. Granted, once you put yourself out there on the social media, it is hard to control feedback, parodies, negative comments, etc. But isn't there some saying like there's no such thing as bad publicity? Sometimes all you need to promote yourself or product is to build awareness through discussion and debate. It doesn't necessarily matter what the content of each bulletin is...just that you are being mentioned. Hmm...I wonder where I can find research numbers on this...if you know the answer, I'd be happy to hear it...
As a sidenote on this particular issue, I am currently reading the fourth installment in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld (if you haven't read these books, go get them, they are awesome). It is called Extras and is set in a kinda post-apocalyptic future society obsessed with techno-gadgets and 24-hr viral newsfeeds and which is in recovery from a social revolution against mind-controlling governments...whoa! Anyway, the main character is a girl who is seeking to increase her facerank (fame ranking) by finding an mind-blowing story to release on her personal news feed. Which, really, is relevant to the current discussion in my random thinking way. Basically everyone gets their news from these viral feeds, which seem to be somewhat similar to a futuristic social network like Facebook, and the number of hits on your feed plus the number of times other people discuss your feed on their feed all increase your facerank in society, which is how people earn credits to buy things and rent apartments, etc. I.e...Shane Watson's worst nightmare society!!! Haha...
This is exactly my point about digital media: it reaches a much wider audience than traditional print and even broadcast media and is a powerful component in the public relations toolkit. Granted, once you put yourself out there on the social media, it is hard to control feedback, parodies, negative comments, etc. But isn't there some saying like there's no such thing as bad publicity? Sometimes all you need to promote yourself or product is to build awareness through discussion and debate. It doesn't necessarily matter what the content of each bulletin is...just that you are being mentioned. Hmm...I wonder where I can find research numbers on this...if you know the answer, I'd be happy to hear it...
As a sidenote on this particular issue, I am currently reading the fourth installment in the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld (if you haven't read these books, go get them, they are awesome). It is called Extras and is set in a kinda post-apocalyptic future society obsessed with techno-gadgets and 24-hr viral newsfeeds and which is in recovery from a social revolution against mind-controlling governments...whoa! Anyway, the main character is a girl who is seeking to increase her facerank (fame ranking) by finding an mind-blowing story to release on her personal news feed. Which, really, is relevant to the current discussion in my random thinking way. Basically everyone gets their news from these viral feeds, which seem to be somewhat similar to a futuristic social network like Facebook, and the number of hits on your feed plus the number of times other people discuss your feed on their feed all increase your facerank in society, which is how people earn credits to buy things and rent apartments, etc. I.e...Shane Watson's worst nightmare society!!! Haha...
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