Frustration Friday: You Know, You All Can’t Win

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So GameStop has a kind of approved/branded Tablet.  Amazon has a tablet.  Everyone else has a tablet.  And I just keep thinking . . .

. . . not everyone can win.  At least not everyone can be The Tablet.

I mean it's obvious, right?  But I the thing is that a lot of Tablets don't seem to be specialized, or pitched at a specific audience (even the GameStop tablet), but an attempt to create a Universal Device.  It's obvious that in a fight to be The One, not everyone can win.

Maybe some companies hope to be One of The Ones (in many cases that seems to be Google's plan), but I just get the intuiton that down deep people think their companies will "Win".

And not everyone can or will.  Worse I think the attempt to be The One may prevent some companies from achieving legitimate successes.

– Steven Savage

Late Breaking Geekery 9-14-2011

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And we've got a bit more news that rolled in . . .

Amazon has a content deal with Hearst.  If you think this isn't going to boost sales of the Kindletab (Tabkindle?  Kindlelet?  We need a nickname) you're not paying attention.  Hearst is huge and has access to a complete ton of content.  Takeaways:

  • Amazon has its fingers in big AND small publishing.  So they're covering a lot of bases.
  • This is a big deal and is free publicity.
  • Amazon should have your resume.

Wal-Mart acquires a mobile/social ad targeting startup known as OneRiot.  Sounds like they're interested in their data mining, but I'd note that WalMart is moving heavily into the social space – and having a mobile ad network can pay off in other ways.  Though I've waffled on the possibility of a Wal-Mart ecosystem, having the ability to, say, get ads on it could make it more viable.  Imagine if you will a free Wal-Mart tablet with ads . . .

– Steven Savage

 

Persona Branding For Progeeks #2 – Finding Your Brand

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Last week I discussed just why Personal Branding is important for geeks in their careers – and in some ways more important than usual for information-driven folks like ourselves.  So the question comes down next – how do you do it?

Well, I could point you at "Me 2.0", (which got updated), which you should read.  But I'd also like to share my philosophy on the subject.

So here's a quick-and-dirty guide to personal branding – as a Progeek.

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