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Not Consumers, but Customers
Last week, Ars Technica and Gawker Media realized that the role played by so-called “consumers” has been changing. The simplistic web advertising models they rely on worked great when visitors had no choice but to consume the advertising “impressions” loaded on every page. As people take back the power to be customers instead, even normally…
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Thinking About the Cultural Shift
This article by Mike Masnick is a bit of a long read, but it goes along with some things I’ve said far less eloquently. Yes, the internet, corporations, and globalization make for bigger hits (think Oprah joins twitter), but at the same time it enables powerful subcommunities (Oink.me.uk, game modders). It’s fascinating, especially because as many of us have seen…
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Silly AMCAS
Remember how the AMCAS med school application website doesn’t work with any modern browsers? How I can’t upgrade Firefox past 3.0 on my Mac at work because there are no other supported OSX browsers, and at home I can only use IE 8 in compatibility mode? They haven’t fixed it yet.What’s even more frustrating is…
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A Little Customer Service Goes a Long Way
The mantra of running a successful business in the 21st century is to “connect with fans and give them a reason to buy.” Successful companies take the time to provide quality service to each of their customers, knowing that building loyalty is more important than short-term bottom lines. Zynga, the startup responsible for the majority…
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The “Right” to Get Paid?
The concept of an artist’s “right to get paid” for their efforts inevitably arises in any discussion of filesharing and the future of the web. The thought is that artists have worked hard for what they’ve produced and as a result, should be guaranteed some kind of compensation. Following this is the idea that if…
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Terminator Sacrificed for Dollhouse
As a follow-up to my previous post, Dollhouse’s companion show, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, has been canceled instead. According mouthpiece Kevin Reilly, “It was not an either or [with Dollhouse]…ultimately, we made the bet on Dollhouse, so that’s it for [Sarah Connor]…” Of course, that’s doublespeak for “We had a choice between two failing…
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Why Cancelling Dollhouse Might Not Have Been Such a Bad Thing
Don’t get me wrong, I’m almost as happy Dollhouse got picked up for another season as are the acolytes of Joss Whedonism. It had some real downers (I’m not sure I could really accept the “blind girl with camera eyes infiltrating a cult for ATF and FBI” plotline), but I think all but the querulous…
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On OnLive
Apparently at the recent Game Developers Conference, OnLive was revealed as the future of video games. Rather than buying consoles or upgrading your computer, you just pay for the service. They run all the latest games on powerful computers out in “the cloud,” and pipe the content directly to your TV screen through the magic…
Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.