“On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it politic?” And Vanity comes along and asks the question, “Is it popular?” But Conscience asks the question “Is it right?” And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

via Seth’s Blog: Straight up.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 36,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 13 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

The first part of the evening detailed the findings of the study by Beyond and M Booth which examined how consumers interact with brands online and identified the channels that influence them.

The second part of the evening was a panel discussion with myself, Rick Silvestrini from YouTube, Carla Bourque from Buddy Media, and Drake Martinet from AllThingsD (a WP.com VIP) – and moderated by David Hargreaves and Josh Rosenberg.

We covered a ton of topics and one in particular was the question of where to author your content and on which of the various services.  I opened things up with the concept of  using an open source / open SaaS platform such as WordPress/WordPress.com as a digital hub (hosted on your own domain), where you author all the content and then smartly push it out to your YouTube/Twitter/FB/Instagram.

I think the entire panel agreed, although we are seeing some exceptions where brands are choosing to do Facebook only campaigns for example.  Later in the q&a, there was a great follow-up question on this topic of how to deal with services like FB who are trying to monetize your users and at the same time control every aspect of the platform, all the while providing an impressive social experience.  It’s a tough balancing act for brands, and I think it speaks to the advantages of a digital hub strategy, where ultimately there is a home for all the content and interactions which a brand ties back in from the various social services – and it removes the grasp of a single service controlling the entire  set of interactions with your audience/user base.

The evening discussion was also a kick-off of sorts to the San Francisco Social Media Week which will be held in February 2012 - and is shaping up to be a great event.  I’m an advisor and helping where I can — and if you are passionate about this area and looking to get involved or interested in becoming a speaker at the event, drop me a note — we’d love to hear from you.

Then I installed the Kindle iPhone app about a year ago, and my reading took off. The idea that you can sync your reading location was the bait — and then the ability to read in 5-10 minute bursts on the iPhone gave me the momentum that I needed. I read exclusively non-fiction, so not sure this would work with fiction where usually you want longer reading periods.

I’m now reading 4 or 5 books at once, and finishing nearly all of them, reading about 3/4 of the time on the dedicated Kindle device, and the other 1/4 on a combination of the iPhone, iPad, and even on the MacBook Air sometimes. Plus with the iPhone in hand, I’m buying books while in mid conversation with someone about a great book that they are reading, or while watching a book author interviewed on Charlie Rose or Daily Show — it’s awesome to have that 1-click experience.

So how does this relate to the Kindle Fire and not wanting to buy one ?

The Kindle Fire to me appear to be competing with the iPad with a lower price point (but no 3G, no camera, slower processor) – with the upside of the full Amazon goodness for e-books, videos, etc.

Maybe b/c it’s called a “Kindle”, I’m evaluating the Kindle Fire for reading books And not all that other stuff.

My big argument is that I think reading is so different than other experiences in it’s singular focus and strong requirement for a “distraction-free zone”, that I simply cannot understand why you would want a general purpose device for reading.

I love that the regular Kindle is a single app device, has a battery that last weeks and not hours — and more importantly that email, web browsing, and Angry Birds aren’t trying to distract me. I also find that working 16 hr days in front of screens, makes me enjoy the e-ink nature of the Kindle screen — just feels different and a bit easier on the eyes.

Of the new Kindle devices that are coming out, I’m excited about the Kindle Touch 3G – and will probably pick that up soon. I have the original 1st generation Kindle, and find the keyboard totally unused, and the overall button placements a bit odd, so a touch screen and a more streamlined design looks appealing.

It will be interesting to see if people’s reading habits change if they switch from a regular Kindle to a Kindle Fire and now have all these other things they can do.

It’s also true that historically software wins in the long run, and dedicated hardware eventually gets replaces or absorbed. iPod -> iPhone is a good example, but a different experience b/c of the lack of screen focus. If the screens get much better on these iPad like devices, and the weight comes way down — I could see changing my mind and learning some discipline to avoid distractions/work. But for now, I’m sticking to my guns that a dedicated reading app is a good thing.

Reblogged from Raanan Bar-Cohen:

I’ve heard about Nest, but hadn’t checked it out — impressive stuff, and could have a big impact:

Love the design of their site too: nest.com