Online advertising gets a bad reputation because people get all jumpy around behavior tracking. To increase effectiveness, companies are tracking browsing habits and matching them with other marketing data to deliver targeted ads you’re more likely to be interested in. This is all well and fine (for most people), but its subversive and stalkerish, and [...]
Tags: advertising, data, Improvements
Since the dawn of time console gaming has (seemingly) been all about power: graphics prowess, processor speed, the latest digital media wrapper and more. Each generation war was marked by tremendous leaps in gaming hardware: reviewers coo’d over the pretty pictures and fanboys brandished their new purchase as the very pinnacle of scientific advancement. Sony [...]
Tags: gaming, innovation, interaction
I stumbled upon a few new smartphone apps: GetGlue allows users to check-in to their favorite movies, shows, books, and music and see what friends are enjoying, add comments and ratings, and receive personalized recommendations. Avoidr uses the Foursquare API to help you avoid exes and former friends. And Assisted Serendipity monitors guy/girl ratios at [...]
Tags: behavior, data, Improvements, innovation, interaction, metrics, mobile
My friend’s car has a neat fancy digital readout in the center of her speedometer. I asked her about it, and she said it tracks gas mileage. It even jumps up and down while driving based upon your habits, encouraging safe, efficient speed and acceleration. In what ways can we use this practice to influence [...]
Tags: behavior, context, interaction, metrics
I’m excited about the ipad. Apple has built its recent success on creating human experiences, on solving problems rather than adding features. iPod was not the first MP3 player, iPhone was not the first smartphone, and iPad is not the first tablet PC. But rather than creating me-too products, the company approaches the interaction with [...]
Tags: edgecrafting, innovation, interaction, mobile, storytelling
I recently had the opportunity to watch my first blu-ray movie on a brand new large screen LED TV. The experience reminded me of the uncanny valley. The framerate and fidelity were so high, the experience felt fake, cheap. I missed the soft glow of hollywood magic. Instead I was presented the harsh picture of [...]
Tags: content
Foursquare has the right idea: bring social gaming behaviors into physical commerce. The service lets you “check-in” to your favorite locales to tell your friends and earn badges, virtual achievements. If you’re the most frequent visitor, you may be named mayor and receive exclusive perks from the business. One thing the service lacks is metrics: [...]
In the early days of the web, search engines were fighting to be one-stop shops. Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask, Lycos, and more competed to add more content, more directories, more services, and more portals. The result was a chaotic mess and lack of direction. These additions added features, but didn’t provide solutions to its users. Google [...]
Tags: edgecrafting, Improvements, innovation
Physical media is dead. The epic battle between HD-DVD and BluRay was a colossal waste of resources. Streaming video is the future. Neflix built its empire shipping DVDs by mail, but its growing in power today with its streaming video. Half the company’s customers utilize the Instant Queue, and that number is set to grow [...]
Tags: distribution
I hate April Fools Day. As a maven I’m constantly reading new articles to keep abreast of the latest trends, and April 1st throws a kink in my habit. Every now and then, a company will utilize the holiday to present playful, imaginative new ideas like the Lost alarm clock from ThinkGeek. My favorite from [...]
Tags: interaction, web design
