Best Buy Layoffs and A Sign Of The Future?

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Best Buy Lays off 400+ people, closes stores.

I know, I’ve been of the opinion Best Buy is in trouble.  I’ve agreed with those various analysts on the issues.  So on the surface, the fact I’m not surprised by this is, well, not surprising.  I figured it was coming.  In fact, I figure more will come.

But what is interesting is how Best Buy seems to be putting more focus on Best Buy Mobile, smaller, “Kioskesque” stores.  A focus on smaller stores, more on mobile and related gadgets?  There’s a lot to that . . .

  • First of all, this seems like a viable strategy.  Focused, organized, standardized stores that are small and cheaper to run make sense.
  • Secondly, these stores could be easily resupplied from a central location (suggesting to me that, much like the Safeway delivery service, stores could serve as warehouses).  This could mean big stores being repurposes may be a logical focus (and may limit layoffs).
  • Third, these smaller stories could get more easily set up or torn down as needed.  Limited risk, faster adaption, and faster to take on rivals.  These stores could even be piloted easy.
  • Fourth, and this may seem out there, but in an age where you have vending machines with iPods and DSes in them, I could see experiments with a Best Buy vending system.  If we’ve got automated convenience stores, Redbox, and iPod dispensers, this isn’t too outrageous.  Oh, and it’s 24/7 . . .

– Steven Savage

Promoting Professional Geekery #31 – Revive And Repurpose

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When doing research for my books, I’ve found the internet is a kind of necropolis of dead and inactive sites.  Sure they’re out there, they’re visible, but nothing is happening, updates haven’t been made in years, no one is paying attention.  They’re frozen, mummified, and mounted on the sides of servers for us to see as we pass by.

You’re probably nodding – many people have “dead sites” that are visible, just with no signs of life.

There’s also plenty of other dead things in our geeky and professional lives; the con that faded away, the column that’s no longer updated, the career book that has no sequel.  In the age of print-on-demand, instant-blogging, and ez-post technology it’s surprising how much is just dead.

You’d think that great career blog would be easy to restart, or you could suggest to that author that maybe that sequel to that job guide come out . . .

Yes, I’m challenging you to look at dead sites, books, columns, cons, etc. that were really great for progeeks.  Ressurect them.  Be a geek necromancer*

(Or if, say it’s a con, resurrect it WITH some more professional tracks.)

If your mind isn’t already reeling back to that awesome blog that you realized hadn’t been updated in 4 years, or that con you miss, you’re not trying hard enough.  Go have some coffee and get back to me.

So, why resurrect a geeky career site or publication or event?  Think of it this way:

  • Name recognition.  If you get it back and running, you get all the old name recognition, which instantly helps promote your efforts.
  • Attention.  When a band gets back together or a game gets re-released it’s free publicity.  You could get this on a smaller scale – or with a little smart PR work, make it as big as anything.
  • Past work.  That dead site you’re resurrecting, that book whose author you’re bugging, all have plenty of material already there.  You get to build on that (which calls attention to it and saves effort).
  • Learning.  You’ll learn a lot digging into the past of a website or publication.  Some of it may be depressing, but it’s still educational.
  • Staff and allies.  Bringing an old con or book series back to life for progeeks is also going to give you allies new and old.  You might be surprised what you can do – and who will help.
  • Re-focus.  Maybe a con or publication had some good career stuff – the “revived” version can do even more.

Sure I’m all for new stuff.  But if you’re looking to give your fellow professional geeks a hand career-wise, maybe the old stuff is where you look first.  There’s plenty of advantages to be had.

– Steven Savage

 

* That would also be a good name for a band.

Pottermore: Harry Potter Ebooks Out!

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The long-promised eBooks (and more) are available at the site!

So of course, you can bet we’re going to watch this one – because there’s not much out there like “Pottermore”, so it’s kind of a giant lab experiment.

Thoughts:

  • I think there will be attempts to do more “Pottermores” no matter what the success of the site – the model is interesting enough and amorphous enough for people to give it a go.  If it works is a bit of a question.
  • Meanwhile GigaOm chimes in with a great article on what publishers can learn from Pottermore, and points out DRM *is not your friend*.
  • Building on that issue, one of the flamingly, neon-bright obvious things from Pottermore is that people respond to a good property, a place to gather, and response.  The entire “walled garden” model of publishing is missing the fact you have an economy/culture building on connectivity.
  • The Pottermore site may seem complex, but consider how fast sites can be put together these days – so it may be easy to create “lesser Pottermores.”
  • I could see people building web/media careers on creating “Pottermore” like sites.  Of course, if someone founded a business to easily make these central sites for indie media properties . . .
  • Pottermore represents a multimedia exploration that is only just starting.  What if a site with books tied into an MMO?  Films?  DLC?

– Steven Savage