Mirth of a Nation – This Week in Aducation October 8, 2010

Apple is projected to become the world’s most valuable company as it closes in on Exxon Mobil and the number one spot on the S&P 500. [MSNBC]

I thought more people would be talking about Twitter CEO Evan Williams stepping down from his position, but I was wrong. He’ll still be involved with product strategy. COO Dick Costolo is taking the lead now.

Internet browser analytics firm Statcounter reports that Internet Explorer’s market share has fallen below 50% for the first time (FINALLY). Which browser gained? Google Chrome, of course.

Finally, Gap finally revealed their new logo design. It screams out: Generic typeface (Helvetica), Generic logo, Generic clothing. And pretty much everyone hates it.

I mean, everyone hates it so much that it got its own [parody] twitter account (@GapLogo), which has garnered 3,705 followers in just two days.

[Bad] ID of the Week

More Google news: Everyone is laughing at Sony’s Google TV controller. Sure, it’s probably more functional than Apple’s iTV remote, but it just looks bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Does Sony not know how to balance aesthetics with functionality?

This week in Aducation September 17, 2010

Global branding consultancy Interbrand releases its annual list of top 100 global brands. The top 10 are Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, GE, McDonald’s, Intel, Nokia, Disney, and HP in that order. Not surprisingly, huge tech giants dominate the list. Toyoto (#11) fell out of the top 10 this year, but that’s what happens when you have faulty brakes. Apple saw the largest increase in brand value (#17 with a 37% increase YOY) while BP saw the greatest decrease (they’re not even top 100 anymore).

Austin-based tech giant Dell is reviewing for creative agencies, which means Y&R San Francisco could be losing a $4.5 billion account. This is really bad news for the agency as they just recently lost Dr. Pepper Snapple Group’s 7Up brand to New York’s mcgarrybowen without a review.

Going back to Google, this bit of news was marked as “BREAKING NEWS” by cnet.com: GOOGLE JUST SAW A DECREASE IN MARKET SHARE according to marketing research company ComScore. Their share dropped to 65.4% from 65.8% between July and August. WHO TOOK THAT .4% FROM GOOGLE? Yahoo! And Microsoft, apparently.

In the social media space, we’ve got this thing called Diaspora (www.joindiaspora.com), which could maybe potentially compete as a legit rival to Facebook. Two of Diaspora’s differentiators: it focuses on maintaining users’ privacies, and it’s open source. I want in.

ID of the Week!

MORPH by Nokia

Nokia has concepted this phone of the future that they call “Morph,” which shows how nanotechnology can possibility affect the design and utility of future mobile communication devices. Though it looks really really cool, this is light years into the future.

This Week in Aducation! September 10, 2010

After two bad years of declining advertising, SNL Kagan predicts that U.S. ad spend will grow 3% to $210 billion in 2011. Cable television, online search, and mobile advertising will likely see the most increase while business/trade publications and newspapers will see sharp declines in ad spend. No surprises there. [Adweek]

Speaking of newspapers, The New York Times says they expect to stop printing physical papers sometime in the future. [Mashable]

I actually picked one up for the first time yesterday since probably before summer started. I hate to admit this, but I focused more on the ads than on the articles. I mean, it was because ALL the ads in it were luxury consumer brands: Mercedes, Prada, Gucci. And I got really sad because, as a poor college student, it felt as if I didn’t fall into the  Time’s target demographic anymore and therefore shouldn’t even be reading it. For being such a highly circulated newspaper, the ads within target such a small number of people.  But I guess it’s because these brands are but the select few who can afford the high rates anymore. It’s quite sad.

But to wrap up on a much lighter note, this bit of news made me quite happy.

The Auto-tuned version of the internet meme “Bed Intruder” (aptly titled “Bed Intruder song”) made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 last month. Also on the list for that week? Eminem, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and more Katy Perry. [NYTimes] Watch it!

ID of the Week!

Microsoft announces it’s new Arc Touch Mouse, which features a really fascinating design that flattens when you want to put it away and pops up when you need to use it. The insight for this design according to Microsoft user experience director Young Kim? That people who are constantly on the go don’t like carrying a mouse around due to their inconvenient bulky shapes (honestly, I’ve had this problem before; I hated every time my laptop bag would bulge at the front because of my mouse). BUT ALSO that people in general would prefer to use a mouse instead of the trackpad on their laptop. The product solution? The Arc Touch Mouse, of course.

Watch Young Kim go through his design process.

This Week in Aducation – July 16th July 16, 2010

You have to hand it to Steve Jobs.  Today Jobs conducted a press conference about the Iphone 4 antenna and he basically gave smart phone fingers a big “go f*ck yourself, we are Apple deal with it.”  Here are a couple of the more entertaining quotes:

“There is a problem with dropped calls, but that problem is affecting a very small percentage of users, he says.”

“This has been blown so out of proportion that it is incredible.”

“I talked to Ruben and Ruben says it’s total bullshit, too.”  In reference to this Bloomberg article.

Basically, Jobs wanted the Iphone 4 to have a sleek design so they created an stainless steel antenna, but now you have to buy a rubber bummer which cancels out the sleek design.  Sounds like a plan.

News of the Week:

SI is able to switch out covers at the last second for their Ipad edition. (Mashable)

What is the best way to gain ground in the App Market, make it easier to build an app.  (ComputerWorld)

Two words that shouldn’t be in the same sentence in regards to Microsoft.  Mobile & Strategy. (Wired)

Google thinks that this social marketing thing might be more than a fad. (Mashable)

The NY Times is pissed that Google is stealing their news and traffic, so they want Google to be regulated (Search Engine Land)

This sums it up pretty well… January 25, 2010