Stumbling about

Interesting articles

I read more than 100 articles a day, mostly related to business, technology, virtual environments, and education. I’ll keep a list here of those that really catch my attention. Please leave other suggestions in comments!
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Jack Dorsey On Charlie Rose: “It’s Really Complex To Make Something Simple.” by Erick Schonfeld – 1/11/2011

Jack’s main emphasis is on the art of simplification, and he points out that this is an area where he excels – shown through Twitter and Square.

Great quotes:

“One of the things I love about the iPad, for instance, is when you’re using the iPad, the iPad disappears, it goes away. You’re reading a book. You’re viewing a website, you’re touching a web site. That’s amazing and that’s what SMS is for me. The technology goes away and with Twitter the technology goes away. It’s so easy to follow anything you’re interested in. It’s so easy to tweet from wherever you are. And the same is true with Square. We want the technology to fade away so that you can focus on enjoying the cappuccino that you just purchased.”

“There’s so many ways Twitter could go, there are so many features Twitter could build. There’s so many features that Square can build. But there is only one or two going to bring us to the next level. So edit that to one, to get rid of all those inputs and edit to one cohesive story, one single thing we’re saying to the world and that’s what we do with product.”

The Collapse Complex Business Models by Clay Shirky – 4/1/2010

As companies grow, business models become naturally more complex. However, do they have to? I’ve seen first hand that complexity can lead to unnecessary bureaucracy which can lower execution and morale. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity.

Pivoting by Jeremy Liew – 1/10/2011

Good article pointing to a great video about when to shift positions in your company.

The Web as a Customer Service Medium by Paul Ford – 1/6/2011

Doesn’t really present new information, but has a different spin that is well worth the read. I’ve long been enamored at World of Warcraft’s homepage, and this article kicked those thoughts off again. The article doesn’t directly address WoW, but WoW’s homepage is completely about the product, the community and the users rather than the company – an interesting distinction with many other pages that I come across in that space. I believe that the WWIC is a concept is a great one that can be applied to many companies and many products.

John Sculley on Steve Jobs by Leander Kahney – 10/14/2010

Anyone who is interested in knowing how Steve Jobs thinks, which is pretty much everyone that’s every heard of Apple, should check this one out. It’s long, and worth every word.

The State of Social in Social Games by Aki Jarvinen – 10/19/2010

My company is not a full-fledged gaming company, but it is definitely a social company in the traditional sense – people sharing a sense of place and presence engaging with one another. This articles explores the current definition(s) of social that exist in games like Farmville, where there is no real-time interaction or conversation, but rather public sharing of information.

The Internet? Bah! by Clifford Stroll – 2/27/1995

This is a classic article from 1995 that discusses how the internet is just a fad that will never really take off because it can’t compete with the offline world. A classic example of dismissing innovation before fully understanding its purpose or potential. Also shows a lack of insight into people, how they think, and what they deem as important and why.