In the Future We’ll All Cater to the Rich

Perhaps we are entering the era of the self-starter. Prof. Andrew Caplin of New York University thinks so. He begins with the premise that in the coming global economy some people will succeed and others will not, and income inequality will grow. While it’s noble to focus on how to spread wealth around, he says that it might be wiser to think of ways the poor and middle class could cater to the economy’s biggest winners.

“Unfortunately, there will be income inequality,” he says, “but enough people will make money that those who don’t would do well, in as much as they understand the needs of that group.”

He says he expects a rise in what he call “artisanal services,” like cooks, nutritionists, small-scale farmers. He sees services emerging that aid the wealthy at the intersection of health and genetic science. He imagines a rise in technology services, too — experts who keep clients current about technology which can advance their interests in business, in the media, on search engines and so on.

Some Very Creative Economic Fix-Its [NY Times]

Sportswriting has gone to the Robots

This month, StatSheet unveiled StatSheet Network, made up of separate Web sites for each of the 345 N.C.A.A. Division I men’s basketball teams. Beyond statistics galore, each site has what the company calls “automated content,” stories written entirely by software, including write-ups of the team’s games, past and future. With a joking wink, StatSheet’s founder, Robbie Allen, refers to these sites as the “Robot Army.”

When the Software is the Sportswriter [NY Times]

Concise Definition of Content Strategy

I love concise descriptions of things with a good analogy thrown in.

For instance, the best description of Detroit Techno I’ve heard is credited to Juan Atkins who said Detroit Techno sounds like what would happen if George Clinton and Kraftwerk were trapped in an elevator.

The best one I’ve found for Content Strategy is “Content Strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design” coined by Rachel Lovinger of Razorfish.

Content Strategy: The Philosophy of Data [Boxes and Arrows]

The Great Urban Hack

Good write up on the hackathon event in New York City this past weekend. My only complaint with the coverage is neglecting to mention that a similar event happened in San Francisco at the same time. Maybe because the SF Folks built applications that appear to be more worthwhile.

The Great Urban Hack SF: Tenderloin [Gray Foundation for the Arts]
Hacking data all night long: A NYC iteration of the hackathon model [Nieman Journalism Lab]

TechCrunch Defines Meme

Richard Dawkin’s defined a meme in The Selfish Gene as “a unit of cultural transmission.” Like genes and diseases, the prevailing characteristic of memes is that they tend to replicate, just add humans.

TechCrunch then adds “The Internet, where replication is as easy as hitting “Like” or “Retweet,” is one big meme pool. Internet hipsters (people who spend a lot of time online – cough) now judge each other by whether they posted it before whatever it is it hit Buzzfeed.”

What is a Meme [Tech Crunch]

Mobile First

On a recent project a client wanted (demanded!) a companion mobile site for a promotion but only began development after the primary website was finished. The main desktop site had a great deal of functionality and most of that was not extended to the mobile site. It might have been interesting to take Luke W’s approach and begin the UX approach for the mobile site first.

Mobile First [Luke W]

Firefox Turns 6

It’s amazing how technologies, apps and websites that are so ubiquitous in our society are relatively young. On the occasion of the 6th birthday of the Firefox browser, let’s look at the birth dates of other “revolutionary” technologies and applications.

Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web (November 1990)
Google (September 1998)
Blackberry – First Model with Push Email (October 2002)
Facebook (February 2004)
YouTube (February 2005)
Twitter (March 2006)
iPhone (June 2007)
Android – First Handset with Android OS (October 2008)

Happy, Birthday Firefox [Mashable]

20 New York City Start-Ups You Need To Know About

If you’ve had the opportunity to attend the monthly NY Tech Meetups, you know there are a ton of startups and entrepreneurial energy in the NY Tech community right now.

That’s why I found this list of 20 of NYC start-ups you need to know about interesting. Also like the fact that Fousquare, a NY start-up, is so successful that it’s no longer considered a start-up.

20 New York City Start-Ups You Need To Know About [thenextweb]
NY Tech Meetup

Rockmelt: The New Social Media Browser

Rockmelt is this awesome new web browser everybody is writing about that you can’t have yet. Apparently it’s currently in limited beta and promises to better incorporate social media into its UI and core functions and is built on the same framework as Google Chrome.

Web Browsing Takes a Social Turn [NY Times]
Rockmelt: A New Social Browser [PSFK]

Courtney Love’s Battle with Search Engines

A nice, high profile example of a good SEO strategy to combat negative information or images that may appear when your name or company appears on the top of search engines. In this case, Courtney Love has a created a blog like website that constantly publishes new less unflatteringly photos of her.

This summer, while promoting a new album that revived the name Hole (but without the group’s original members), Ms. Love, who has avidly embraced social media, introduced a Web site dedicated to her style that is intended to offset all of the horrific images of Courtney Love that result from entering that name into a Google search: Courtney with scarring on her over-plumped lips. Courtney with eyes that don’t line up. Courtney with corkscrew hair extensions. The site, whatcourtneyworetoday.com, shows endless, flattering pictures of Ms. Love playing dress-up in borrowed gowns and jewelry.

Courtney Love: ‘I’d Like to Be Trusted Again‘ [NY Times]