Posted by Tattletech on May 30, 2011 in
Technology 
Recently I became the recipient of a shiny new iPad2 – yay for me. Two friends who already had iPads recommended applications that they considered must have – Zite and Flipboard. After installing them (both free), I spent a few hours playing with each one. On first blush, they seem very similar in terms of customizable content dependant on your interests. Each has a menu of categories such as world news, sports, finance, lifestyle (overused though that term may be), etc. that you can choose from to build your own personalized reader.
I like both applications, but Flipboard a bit more so due to the layout and better array of options and social media to choose from, as well as the pretty graphical interface and slick design.
Zite and Flipboard and their competitors are really nothing more than fancy, tricked out RSS readers, which is not necessarily a bad thing–both have very user-friendly interfaces, are easy to use, and can be customized up to a point-–but it is limiting. They serve as aggregators of articles and pictures based on what I tell them I’m interested in, but cannot go beyond that. Is it too futuristic of me to want the app to know what I want to read about, based on a few simple cues? To be clear, I’m not talking about the outmoded one-to-five star ranking that companies like Amazon and Netflix built their empires on, but valid recommendation technology.
News junkie is another overused term. I don’t think that any doorstep-delivery newspaper subscriber would have described themselves that way, but thanks to the plethora of information available on the Internet, let’s just say it can be very easy to get addicted.
For me, my drug of choice is U.S. national politics. Living in Italy, I don’t hear very much about politics in the states (Berlusconi is the only political figure on Italian television news, and not because people think he’s a great prime minister), so I end up reading a solid core of about 10 American political sites. I can easily include them on my Flipboard menu, but the interaction ends there.
If I consistently read about the 2012 U.S. Senate primaries, shouldn’t news about the upcoming senate elections in all 50 states be pushed to me? If my browser knows that I seek out articles on Supreme Court decisions, shouldn’t I have them all recommended to me, because I know there are probably plenty that I’m missing? Maybe it sounds too lazy, but why should I have to manually look for all the news that I consider fit to print?
Apps just look at what I read, and give me more of the same, thanks. Later on, if I also decide I want to read about the world snooker championship at the Crucible, I’ll let the Internet know, and that news can discover me, not the other way around.
Until this level of interaction is possible, Flipboard, Zite and the rest are just toys. Shiny, pretty and fun to play with, but toys, not tools. Although I do know a guy, Lucien Burm, in Amsterdam who is making it his life’s work to solve this very problem – curation. Maybe I should ask him…
– JWH @jimmus on Twitter
Tags: Apps, Content, Content Curation, Flipboard, IPad, Netflix, Twitter, Zite
Martin Ferro-Thomsen is a Co-Founder of the leading digital publishing service Issuu, a Time.com best website and twice a SXSW finalist that today serves 3,6 billion monthly pages & 47 million monthly users. He is currently Founder & CEO at Conferize, a stealth startup looking to become the main destination for all conferences in the world.
This week, I exchanged emails with Martin regarding the orgin of Issuu and digital publishing’s rise in popularity.
Tattletech: Everybody loves an origin story. How did Issuu come to be?
Martin Ferro-Thomsen: We wanted to do something around publishing. We had seen Youtube and Skype challenge the existing world in each their category. With publishing what you had back in 2006 was basically dull and heavy PDF files being emailed and downloaded. Or you’d pay a gazillion for a bad pageflip application that really didn’t look like publishing to us. So, we wanted to build the world’s best publishing solution that came as close to the real world as possible, with a few extra digital tricks up its sleeve of course. And then we’d give it away for free to empower anyone to publish online, other than just putting up blog or go on MySpace (which people did in the millions back then). We wanted to make print digital, so to speak. The ‘free’ part was hard to swallow for most investors, but eventually we found someone who shared our vision of things and they’ve backed us ever since.
Tattletech: So you killed MySpace! Did you ever think of charging for the service or was being able to offer it for free always a central part of the idea?
M F-T: I think MySpace pretty much engineered its demise on its own. Well, free doesn’t pay the bills and eventually we ended up with huge hosting costs, literally serving billions of pages. Today it’s close to four billion pages a month. Who said people didn’t read? Happily lots of people were asking for special features and we introduced Issuu Pro that is selling really well. This week we introduced Issuu Reseller so you can actually make money with us. So we do alright. We also serve ads, or, I should say, ad, singular, cause we only have one ad per publication. But without ruining the reading experience. That’s pretty dear to us (unlike some competitors we know but don’t speak of here).
Tattletech: This seems to have been a spring of really good growth for you guys. Could you explain a bit of what you are trying to accomplish with Issuu Reseller?
M F-T: Well B2B is still a valid business model in the digital publishing space. We have publishers and businesses coming to us that used to pay as much as $1,000 per publication. Not kidding. Our Issuu Pro is $19 for all you can eat, err publish. That’s an incredible margin and the creative agencies and freelancers with publishing clients of course noticed that and wanted to create a business around that. And we’re not looking to hire a huge support and sales staff because we’re all about automation and scalability. So it was a no-brainer for us. With Issuu Reseller you can manage any number of accounts on behalf of clients and even get discounts the more you use it. The reseller can bundle our service with his special talents, e.g. more customization and support than we offer, and charge whatever he likes. Everyone wins! Although the product is less than a week old, we’ve already seen twice the adoption we expected, so it’s all good.
Tattletech: There is a dangerous conception that digital publishing’s goal is to kill of traditional “paper” publication. How do you see your relationship with other method of publication?
M F-T: It’s no more dramatic than the CD replacing vinyl, and eventually MP3 and lately the rise of streaming music on demand. It’s progress and that’s a good thing. In a decade or so, only the retro fetishists will use print, like with vinyl today. We know that all media evolution happens on a cumulative basis (I still listen to FM radio sometimes!). That said though, at Issuu we’re fanatical about print. I used to be a print editor and journalist. There’s still something about print that cannot be reproduced on digital platforms. It’s tangible, it’s mobile and durable, and it smells nice. Especially if it’s your own writing you see for the first time in print. Look at Google! They recently put out their Think Quarterly in print, which is hand delivered for free to special VIPs. There’s nothing VIP about an ebook, right? It’s also out in HTML and mobile web – and on Issuu. Reading is not going away, but reading itself and it’s vehicles are changing and multiplying. But it’s not the end of print, it’s the end of out of print (to quote Finnemann). And without print, no Issuu. Let’s never forget that.
– Jason Oberholtzer
Follow Martin on Twitter and check out his brain-children Issuu and Conferize.
Tags: digital publishing, Electronic publishing, Google, HTML, Issuu, Jason Oberholtzer, Martin Ferro-Thomsen, MySpace, Portable Document Format, Publishing, Q&A
Posted by Tattletech on May 17, 2011 in
Conferences,
Entrepreneurs,
The Markets 
Another great micro-event is the WhiteBull regional cocktail series called the Technology Entrepreneur series. A really great idea to go local and meet investors, start ups and others in the Venture ecosystem city by city. We like this idea a lot because it allows companies to take part in good networking and discussion but also doesn’t totally disrupt the work week with long travel and expensive plane rides.
The next White Bull Technology series is in Paris on May 31st. (you can request an invitation using that link) The evening event will feature cocktails and a panel discussion on the Exit outlook in the French VC ecosystem. It’s sponsored by UKTI, so that is a plus!
Also on the horizon is the annual White Bull, Pathways to Exit held in super sunny Stiges out side of Barcelona on October 5, sign up now and get HUGE discount.
Tags: Paris, Pathways to Exit, UKTI, venture capital, White Bull Summits
Posted by Tattletech on May 16, 2011 in
Things We've Learned This Week
Image via Wikipedia
Let’s just get right to it, shall we?
1. According to the great orb, Wikipedia, there was no reference to Friday the 13th before the 19th century, so I am fairly certain that some poncy British guy had a really un-kick-assy day and decided to pass that along to us for the next ba-zillion generations. However, if you check the great orb again (under Rate of Accidents), you will see that some smart pants Dutchies doing some math discovered that the “rate of accidents” is actually lower on that day. So, you know what I learned? Just get in your Audi and drive down to Positano and live it up Steinbeck style a la 1953.
2. Companies that “wing it” will never get far.
3. Agility only comes from being super focused. Also, less wine.
4. You can never go back, well you can but you will have to do some serious attitude adjustment.
5. Parents have Facebook but they don’t use it, rather they still send you 9,000 emails that include photos, stupid jokes with 1972 fonts and clip art.
6. The debate over content is just heating up.
7. Guest bloggers are super awesome.
8. You can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.
Tags: Audi, Clip art, friday 13th, Positano, Tattletech, United States, Wikipedia
Lot’s of conferences, so little time. Lots of tech and/or mobile start up conferences full of shallow networking and frat boy antics. Now, we have something better. Oresund Mobile Meet Up (yea we don’t have the funky little Swedish “o” letter)
One of the organizers, Johan Larsson, who also happens to be the editor of Mobil Business took time out of his busy kick-ass conference planning to talk to us about what has become affectionally known as OMM2011 (you got it #OMM2011 on the old Twitter machine). Also you can 1) follow Johan on Twitter @johanlarsson 2) Join the OMM2011 Facebook page and 3) just buy a ticket and attend!
Tattletech: Another mobile meet up? What makes this one special and why Malmo?
Johan Larsson: Well, the Øresund region (Malmo, Lund and Copenhagen) is a vibrant place where a lot of innovation is happening, especially in mobile. There is a presence in the region of industry giants with Sony Ericsson headquarters and RIM‘s newly bought product development unit TAT. So to arrange a mobile event here feels great. And, this is an event with a European and international profile and Malmo is close geographically to the rest of Europe. Oresund Mobile Meetup is a conference not just for the traditional mobile business, but people from industries ranging from media and entertainment to retail and transportation, and everything in between. For everyone who is interested in how mobile will bring changes to their business.
Tattletech: So you are the editor of Mobile Business in Sweden, what are you seeing as trends among the early stage mobile start ups coming out of the Nordics or Sweden in particular?
Johan Larsson: Sweden has a strong heritage in mobile and the startups frankly, are all over the place. We have quite a few interesting companies working with location-based marketing and retail and also good people doing apps and games. And then there is the more hardcore technology companies. Its a very exciting scene!
Tattletech: A lot of international VCs coming into this day, including the charming Katy Turner, Eden Ventures, Wolfgang Schuster, Vodafone Ventures and Francois Mazoudier, LD & A Global,what do you think this means for the mobile start up scene in Sweden? Or in the Nordics?
Johan Larsson: I think it will be a great opportunity to make new contacts and pitch to influential international people. But also for everyone to learn from each other regardless of being an entrepreneur or a VC or something else, because this will be a gathering of a very special and really cool mix of people, positions and competences.
Tattletech: Who doesn’t like cool people?! So, what do you hope the companies attending will leave with at the end of the day?
Johan Larsson: Hopefully they will leave with some new and inspiring ideas on how to utilize mobile opportunities in their own businesses. And, be super stoked to go out and do great stuff!
Tattletech: Most importantly, if you were a super hero, which one would you be?
Johan Larsson: Very good question! I gotta say Wolverine. Cant´t get much cooler than that. Or maybe that guy in Heroes who incorporates other peoples superpowers cause he´s good at empathizing with them. I like that (although that show was mess after the second season).
Tattletech note: how great is it that some someone says Wolverine? And then launches into a TV show critic? Super awesome.
Tags: Ciara Byrne, Eden Ventures, Francois Mazoudier, Gignal, Golden Gekko, Jennifer Hicks, Josh Mortensen, Katy Turner, Malmö, Natasha Saxberg, Oresund Mobile Meet up, Rim, Sony Ericsson, Sweden, Tradeshift, Wolfgang Schuster, Øresund region
Posted by Tattletech on May 13, 2011 in
Technology 
I don't have to show you any stinking badges!
FourSquare is the first Web fad… er, technology that made me feel old.
I consider my internet cred fairly solid (and by cred, I mean age). I swapped files via BBS. My first email address, 1991. I sent my mail via Bitnet. My first first Web browser, Lynx. I was active on LambdaMOO in the early 90s. Razzmuzzen, my net handle inspired by Frank Black, dates to my first webmail account in 1997. I installed Pointcast (to complete the joke, see Wired 5.03).
I starting using twitter back when it had something to do with SMS. It did right? Linkedin sent me a nice email confirming my early adopter status.
Foursquare though… Foursquare was my undoing. Check in? The first thing I did when I got my iPhone was delete the “Sent from my iPhone” signature. “Sent from my iPhone” means I am not at my desk. Letting someone know where you are not is one step away from letting them know where you are. (Contrast: “sent from my Blackberry” means I am an over paid global executive. Of course I am not at my desk.) I wasn’t going to do my parole officers job for her. So for the first time since my introduction to the internet, I said “no thanks” to the next big thing.
Then earlier this year, I noticed my 23-year-old colleague was checking in. A lot. Then I learned a friend became mayor of my favorite cafe in CPH. I couldn’t let that go. Gamification hooked me. I needed some stinking badges. I signed up and started checking in.
The backlash was immediate. “You are checking in now?! pshaaaw…” And the backlash all came from twitter. Ok and Facebook.
The negative reaction made me feel like Dylan playing electric the first time. My peers had reached their conceptual limits. I was leaving them behind on a journey to the future.
But there was also a disconnect. It’s ok to ‘communicate’ via a medium who makes me use the word ‘tweet’ but checking in is not acceptable? And wasn’t everyones complaint about twitter in the early days that it was primarily used to let everyone know what was for lunch? In other words, check in.
The colleague that turned me on to FourSquare, conversely, has open contempt for twitter. “What are you doing? Re-tweeting”? Guffaw. No one his age, he insists, uses something as lame as twitter. Twitter is for old people.
It is like Dr. Seuss‘s Sneetches. Except in this case, everyone thinks they have stars upon thars. It is also pointless because all evidence suggests that no one actually uses either service really.
Some one with access to Twitter’s API has made some actually kinda damning observations about the services actual penetration.
Digital consultancy, Beyond, has some equally volume challenged observations of check in culture.
It appears it is media attention as much as users that animate these companies.
I am not going to stop checking in. I see it as cool tool to subtly announce my presence at exotic locales. For example, it is way cooler to “check in” at Davos than it is to tweet: Dude! I am at Davos!
And if FourSquare survives, like twitter before it, the way we use it now will not be the way we use it in three years.
About our guest
– Josh Mortensen has 15 years of marketing experience on 3 continents. A founder of GlibHippo, he is originally from Colorado, USA. He co-founded what became LOVEFiLM DK in 2003. Starting in 2007 led Denmark, making it the fastest growing territory. He was responsible for LOVEFiLM’s nordic product: website, pricing, & packages for three territories. He has bought more online advertising in the last seven years than he cares to think about. Josh has an MA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin and, for some reason, can speak Arabic. You can follow Josh on Twitter @GlibHippo of wherever he checks in, but it won’t be Davos, more like 7-Eleven CPH
Posted by Tattletech on May 12, 2011 in
What makes good news,
web design 
We found one. TrueCPH out of Copenhagen. Try them out. They have an open house tomorrow, May 14 at 14:00 in their new digs. Follow them on Twitter @TrueCPH or their founders Jan @JanLigaard or Mark @enterthemark (he loves the Gap Band)
Tags: Design, Jan Ligaard, TrueCPH
Image by trainman74 via Flickr
Keeping it real, we decided to do a little Hot Seat live on Twitter today – we are calling it TattletTweet (it’s a working title) and our first volunteer was TrueCaller. These guys are based in Stockholm and decided that enough was enough and created TrueCaller which essentially does three main things: detects and blocks caller spam, offers caller ID on your mobile and dishes up a universal address book that The White Pages wishes they had. You can follow them on Twitter @TrueCaller.
Ready? Q. Spam sucks, so what does #TrueCaller do to help me eliminate that on my mobile?
@
tattletech – @
TrueCaller offers an extensive filter which protects you from fraud, spam, expensive collect calls and annoying salespersons
@
tattletech – (cont) Also with @
TrueCaller numbers that repeatedly are deemed unwanted by others are marked in your display
Q. Ok so why hasn’t anyone come up with this before? What happens if they try and call me again? #mobilespam
@
tattletech What separates @
TrueCaller is that we have a maintained list in addition to the crowd-sourced one, worldwide!
Q. Can we Autoblock calls on all those platforms with the free version of #TrueCaller?
@
tattletech You definitely can! #TrueCaller Call filter functionality is completely free!
Tags: Caller ID, Mobile calling spam, Social Networking, spam, TattleTweet, TrueCaller, Twitter
Posted by Tattletech on May 11, 2011 in
TV
Image via Wikipedia
Yea, we actually like to watch the online advertising space sort of get its act together right before our very eyes which is we like to poke fun of mobile advertising since in reality, no one has actually gotten on line advertising right (yet). So this post from the start up GlibHippo and their charming, quirky, mostly smarmy named blog, The Hippo Files, got our attention.
We like their recent post Channeling Shirky, The Web is not Passive for three reasons 1) it’s about TV which we have been writing about a lot lately 2) addresses the issue of the lack of passivity of the web and 3) they used the phrase hackneyed lament, which we like.
But, although the blog goes into some excellent & intelligent reasons why online has to change, the company never quite says what they will do the make that change. Yea we know, TV.. it’s not your fathers TV anymore, but now what? LOVE the diatribe, but now just wanna know what they know and have learned; also, less preaching.
Follow GlibHippo
Tags: Advertising, Mobile phone
Posted by Tattletech on May 11, 2011 in
Cable,
TV
Image via Wikipedia
We got a press release last night about splice-on connectors. Not entirely sure that whose are, but the sub-head in the release made us feel a little better:
Assures performance levels are met when factory termination of a fiber isn’t possible
Now, I’m pretty sure that in no way are our readers gonna be involved in any fiber activity and so we are actually wondering why we got this, but then again, so many companies just do that. Fire off a release to a mass list and hope it spreads, like a virus. We digress.
So apparently, a company called Clearfield Connection who says they are a specialist in fiber connectivity and management solutions for Fiber to the Premise (FTTp) deployments, announced the addition of CraftSmart Splice-on Connectors (SOC) to their product line portfolio. Excited? Want to read on?
Ok.. according to the release the CraftSmart SOC joins the newly introduced (cause its not enough it was introduced, it also has to be “newly introduced”) CraftSmart product line, a full line of above- and below-grade field enclosures that provide full optimization of fiber deployment when used alongside Clearfield’s FieldSmart platform of inside plant fiber panels, outside plant cabinets and wall boxes.
And their COO a Mr. Johnny Hill (does that name sound oddly suspicious?) says that their clients throughout the broadband marketplace depend upon us to assure performance and protection throughout their passive infrastructure and then some other stuff you find in all product quotes about how thrilled, excited and proud they are. Good, we are proud of you too.
We also got a lot of product details from them like field restoration of a broken fiber or if the customer wants to cut the fiber on his own to his own length, the point is what for? What does it enable? What does it cure? Does this help customers get internet or TV all the time? I get the X and they Y but where is the story?
Oh and for fun, there is an “informational” video presentation, we just had to put in here. But when you click to it, you get not one, but seven videos to choose fun. Go crazy.
PS they are a public company traded on NASDAQ: CLFD, so clearly their business model works and their tagline is kinda nifty, “solving the fiber puzzle” which could mean so many things.
Tags: Clearfield Connection, Fiber, random, SOC, splice-on connectors, Tattletech
