Smaller Thoughts

Song of the Day: “Headlines” by Drake.

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:23:25 -0700

Song of the Day: “Headlines” by Drake.

The Content Licensing Industry Is Broken

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:05:51 -0700

Tonight I logged on to Amazon.com to order Chris Guillebeau’s awesome book “The Art of Non-Conformity”, since 3 separate people recommended it to me in the past week. The first choice I was confronted with - Kindle or Paperback?

What is wrong with this picture???

It costs $10.17 to print a new copy of Chris’s book on dead trees, bind it with glue, put it in a box, and drive it across the country to my door in a gas burning mail truck driven by a real human being.

The Kindle Edition delivered instantly over the internet costs $12.99. WHY?!

Because Penguin Publishing says so, that’s why. In fact, if you click on the Kindle price, you’ll see the following note:

This price was set by the publisher. Amazon actually goes out of the way to tell us that Penguin has specifically mandated higher Kindle prices for many of its books. We can see the same situation with lots of other popular Penguin books, for example (not affiliate links):

Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help” - $9.00 in paperback, $9.99 on Kindle
Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love” - $10.17 in paperback, $12.99 on Kindle
Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” - $9.38 in paperback, $13.99 on Kindle

There are plenty more examples you can dig up yourselves. The bottom line is this - the content licensing industry is broken. Consumers want cheap, clean, instantly delivered digital content. The days of paper, vinyl, and cellulose are coming to an end. What practical reason is there to make the far less environmentally impactful digital version artificially expensive?

This is a telling microcosm of how broken the content licensing industry is as a whole (books, music, movies), as well as how much work still has to be done to adapt content creators’ business models to the digital age. I hope it happens quickly.

"When your friends are goofing off, that’s when you catch them. So every time you watch your..."

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:23:42 -0700

“When your friends are goofing off, that’s when you catch them. So every time you watch your friends goof off, pick up a book. Because they’re resting, hunt them down.”

- Bill Nguyen

The Secret to Advertising URLs on TV

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:21:15 -0700

URLs are everywhere. Just turn on your TV - it seems like almost every commercial is trying to get you to walk over to your PC and visit their website to “learn about this season’s great offers”, or “see the unrated version” (thanks GoDaddy). In fact, I recently read a stat that 61% of all TV ads include a URL.

But there’s a problem - I don’t think television marketers understand their audience, or how users translate what they see on the screen to what they type into their browser. My mom doesn’t watch TV with a laptop on her lap. Instead of immediately typing “http://chasesapphire.com/preferred” into her location bar, she’s got to quickly write down or remember that URL before it disappears from the screen.

Mom is much more likely to walk over to her computer a few minutes later and type “chase sapphire” into Google, or even more simply, just go to Chase.com and look for a link to the Sapphire card. Both of these methods play to the strength of advertising - getting images and brands to stick in your head. 30 second flashy slides are good at communicating ideas, not creating retention of specific information like a URL.

So how can advertisers do things better?

Two ways:

Make sure the thing you’re advertising is easily “googleable” - once your brand sticks in people’s minds, this is how they’re going to find it.
If you’re paying thousands/millions of dollars to advertise something…PUT IT ON YOUR HOMEPAGE! If I all my mom can remember is that she’s interested in that new Chase credit card, she’d better be able to find it front and center on Chase.com.

Maybe this stuff is obvious, but if you watch TV you’ll see it happening all the time. The same thing happens with other media people consume when they’re not directly in front of a computer - billboards, magazine ads, etc. If you’re going to pay to advertise something, make sure people can find it!

Taken with instagram

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:20:37 -0600

Taken with instagram

Hanging out on LoDo enjoying the sunshine and free wifi. Not a...

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 15:23:26 -0600

Hanging out on LoDo enjoying the sunshine and free wifi. Not a bad Sunday. (Taken with instagram)

Annnd, dinner is served. Greek/Hawaiian shrimp w/ pineapples....

Mon, 16 May 2011 20:24:02 -0600

Annnd, dinner is served. Greek/Hawaiian shrimp w/ pineapples. Boom shakalaka. (Taken with instagram)

Low key Friday night, saving up some energy for Derby day...

Fri, 06 May 2011 21:48:45 -0600

Low key Friday night, saving up some energy for Derby day tomorrow. (Taken with instagram)

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey - where the good stuff is...

Wed, 04 May 2011 17:35:41 -0600

Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey - where the good stuff is aged (Taken with Instagram at Stranahan’s)

Colorado Mammoth Playing to clinch a playoff berth (Taken with...

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:52:35 -0600

Colorado Mammoth Playing to clinch a playoff berth (Taken with Instagram at Pepsi Center)

Deep powder - big day for me on the snowboard - finally hitting...

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:49:40 -0700

Deep powder - big day for me on the snowboard - finally hitting the trees with confidence. (Taken with Instagram at Beaver Creek Ski Resort)

austinkleon: If you hit this sign you will hit that bridge by...

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 20:02:49 -0700

austinkleon:

If you hit this sign you will hit that bridge by under exposure

Sez @sparehed:

Good UX is making sure people know in advance what to expect

Highest lift in North America (Taken with Instagram at...

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 14:14:35 -0700

Highest lift in North America (Taken with Instagram at Breckenridge Ski Resort)

Six Banjos. Six. Banjastic. (Taken with Instagram at Boulder...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:56:43 -0700

Six Banjos. Six. Banjastic. (Taken with Instagram at Boulder Theater)

Todd Snider - easy money… (Taken with Instagram at Boulder...

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 23:46:33 -0700

Todd Snider - easy money… (Taken with Instagram at Boulder Theater)

All this for “free” at the drugstore - emptying out...

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:26:24 -0700

All this for “free” at the drugstore - emptying out the FSA. Pedialyte, Advil, and eye drops - prepared for a whole year of hangovers. (Taken with instagram)

First day on the mountain at Breckenridge. Beautiful. (Taken...

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:17:50 -0700

First day on the mountain at Breckenridge. Beautiful. (Taken with instagram at Breckenridge Ski Resort)

Nuggets/Clippers from the cheap seats. (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 23:06:16 -0600

Nuggets/Clippers from the cheap seats. (Taken with instagram)

Me and the Hosting.com guys with MC Hammer (Taken with instagram...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 13:49:27 -0600

Me and the Hosting.com guys with MC Hammer (Taken with instagram at Hosting.com Headquarters)

Get Financially Organized – A 20 Something’s Guide to the Real World

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 12:02:13 -0600

Get Financially Organized – A 20 Something’s Guide to the Real World:

My younger brother just graduated from college this year and is getting settled into a new job, life on his own, and financial independence. Along with his first paycheck, he’s also been bombarded with a lot of new financial choices and a lot of acronyms (IRA, 401k, etc). Everyone knows they should be saving money, but the reality is that nobody ever tells you exactly how to go about it short of stuffing cash under your mattress. The above link isn’t an in depth discussion of what stocks to buy or how much of your net worth to put in bonds – rather, it focuses on the mechanics of how to organize your finances as a single, newly independent young adult in order to set yourself up for prosperity and success.