Gadgets

The Twitter Tools I Use All The Time
Last week's article predicted that Twitter is likely to be in your future. In this article I'm going to share some guidelines and the best tools I've found to make your Twitter use easier and more productive.

The number of third-party tools available for Twitter is one of the best indications that the service is destined to continue growing in functionality and popularity. I tried many things and settled on a few that work well. Hopefully that list will save you some time. It is at the bottom of this article.

Twitter 101: The Basics.

Twitter can be anything you want it to be. If you only want to follow a few friends and keep things very social, that's okay. On the other hand, if you want thousands of followers and the ability to drive traffic to your website, it's still okay.

I've come up with some basic guidelines that work well for me. I'll share some of them with you here.

First, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. So make a good first impression. That means choosing the right user-name and picture to support the image you want. It also means that you should fill-in your one-line bio in a way that makes people want to find-out more about you. Try to use the key words that will help people find you
using search (or choose to follow you when they look at your profile).

Second, Twitter is not e-mail, and you're never going to read all of it. This was hard for me because I'm used to starting at the beginning and ending at the end. I like that kind of structure. However as the number of people you follow grows … the stream of information becomes overwhelming. It helped me to think of it as a stream. That meant I didn't have to drink all of it, but it was there for me to dip my cup into anytime I wanted.

Third, Twitter doesn't limit your ability to follow people for the first 2,000 people. For most people that means that Twitter doesn't put any practical limit on them. However, after the first 2,000 followers, Twitter restricts your ability to follow additional users using a simple guideline … you are limited to a 10% extension of your followers. So if you have 3,000 followers, then Twitter will allow you to follow up to 3,300 people. With very few exceptions, that means that I un-follow someone if they don't follow me back. A lot of people follow that rule. This brings me to the fourth rule.

Fourth, you'll end up with a lot more followers if you follow people back. Tony
Robbins and Bill Gates can get by following a dozen people and still
have 100,000 people follow them. I suspect that you and I won't be able to do
the same thing. At first, I spent a lot of time deciding whether I was
going to follow a certain person. Over time, however, I started to set
the bar much lower. It simply took too much time to filter. So now, I
follow back almost everyone, but I'm very quick to un-follow someone
whose messages are too frequent or too distracting. This was simply a
more efficient way of dealing with the practical realities of using
Twitter.

Fifth, this is social media … be social. For every two or three posts, have at least one with a link to an interesting article not by you. Also, study a few of the stars, thought leaders, and examples of your target customer. Note that they have different behaviors. Then match and mirror relevant behavior (follower/followee ratio, number of posts with external links, etc.).

Hope that helps.

Here are the tools I use to make working with Twitter easier and more productive.

Browsers:
- TweetDeck: Very nice, full-featured Twitter browser application. I keep coming back to this.
- Twittelator Pro: Complete iPhone Twitter client. I tried them all, this was the best for me.
- Power Twitter: If you use Firefox, then try this add-on. It works very well.
Search:
- Twitter Search: See what's happening – right now.
- Twithority: Comprehensive and pretty Twitter search by rank, time, etc.
- Twilert: Receive e-mail updates of tweets containing your brand, name, or any keyword.
Stats:
- TwitterCounter: Great graph showing your Follower growth, top 100 lists, etc.
- TwInfluence: Measures the combined influence of a user and their followers.
- Twitalyzer: reports on relative influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, & clout
- Twitter Friends: Lots of statistics about your Twitter behavior and contacts.
Looking for Trends:
- ReTweetist: Find the most popular items and people on Twitter.
- ReTweet Radar: Another trend-spotting service with Twitter word cloud.
Find and Manage Followers:
- Mr.Tweet: Very nice service that recommends followers and helps you connect with them.
- SocialToo: Reporting service shows who followed or un-followed you; lets you auto-follow back.
- Twitter Karma: Who do you follow but doesn't follow you back … and who aren't you following?
- Twollow: Auto-follow people on Twitter based on keyword matching in their posts.
Utilities:
- TwitterFeed: Easy way to send your blog's RSS feed to Twitter and other services.
- TweetBurner: Shorten & track URLs used in you posts (works with TweetDeck & Twitterfeed).
- TwitBacks: Custom Twitter background for your profile.
Finally, Here are some good posts to expand your Twitter horizons:
- Twitter in Plain English – a brief video answering the question Why? (Vimeo)
- Twitter Basics … and More! (James Dickey)
- Personal Branding with Twitter. Nice list of things to consider. (Sebastien Page)
- Finding the right Brand Voice on Twitter. Nice list to consider. (Mashable)
- Twitter Graphics for your "Follow-Me" Badge. (Sebastien Page)
- Twitter Background Images for your Profile Page. (Sebastien Page)
- Nice Twitter-related blog. (Twit Tips)
March 15, 2009
The Twitter Tools I Use All The Time
Last week's article predicted that Twitter is likely to be in your future. In this article I'm going to share some guidelines and the best tools I've found to make your Twitter use easier and more productive.

The number of third-party tools available for Twitter is one of the best indications that the service is destined to continue growing in functionality and popularity. I tried many things and settled on a few that work well. Hopefully that list will save you some time. It is at the bottom of this article.

Twitter 101: The Basics.

Twitter can be anything you want it to be. If you only want to follow a few friends and keep things very social, that's okay. On the other hand, if you want thousands of followers and the ability to drive traffic to your website, it's still okay.

I've come up with some basic guidelines that work well for me. I'll share some of them with you here.

First, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. So make a good first impression. That means choosing the right user-name and picture to support the image you want. It also means that you should fill-in your one-line bio in a way that makes people want to find-out more about you. Try to use the key words that will help people find you
using search (or choose to follow you when they look at your profile).

Second, Twitter is not e-mail, and you're never going to read all of it. This was hard for me because I'm used to starting at the beginning and ending at the end. I like that kind of structure. However as the number of people you follow grows … the stream of information becomes overwhelming. It helped me to think of it as a stream. That meant I didn't have to drink all of it, but it was there for me to dip my cup into anytime I wanted.

Third, Twitter doesn't limit your ability to follow people for the first 2,000 people. For most people that means that Twitter doesn't put any practical limit on them. However, after the first 2,000 followers, Twitter restricts your ability to follow additional users using a simple guideline … you are limited to a 10% extension of your followers. So if you have 3,000 followers, then Twitter will allow you to follow up to 3,300 people. With very few exceptions, that means that I un-follow someone if they don't follow me back. A lot of people follow that rule. This brings me to the fourth rule.

Fourth, you'll end up with a lot more followers if you follow people back. Tony
Robbins and Bill Gates can get by following a dozen people and still
have 100,000 people follow them. I suspect that you and I won't be able to do
the same thing. At first, I spent a lot of time deciding whether I was
going to follow a certain person. Over time, however, I started to set
the bar much lower. It simply took too much time to filter. So now, I
follow back almost everyone, but I'm very quick to un-follow someone
whose messages are too frequent or too distracting. This was simply a
more efficient way of dealing with the practical realities of using
Twitter.

Fifth, this is social media … be social. For every two or three posts, have at least one with a link to an interesting article not by you. Also, study a few of the stars, thought leaders, and examples of your target customer. Note that they have different behaviors. Then match and mirror relevant behavior (follower/followee ratio, number of posts with external links, etc.).

Hope that helps.

Here are the tools I use to make working with Twitter easier and more productive.

Browsers:
- TweetDeck: Very nice, full-featured Twitter browser application. I keep coming back to this.
- Twittelator Pro: Complete iPhone Twitter client. I tried them all, this was the best for me.
- Power Twitter: If you use Firefox, then try this add-on. It works very well.
Search:
- Twitter Search: See what's happening – right now.
- Twithority: Comprehensive and pretty Twitter search by rank, time, etc.
- Twilert: Receive e-mail updates of tweets containing your brand, name, or any keyword.
Stats:
- TwitterCounter: Great graph showing your Follower growth, top 100 lists, etc.
- TwInfluence: Measures the combined influence of a user and their followers.
- Twitalyzer: reports on relative influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, & clout
- Twitter Friends: Lots of statistics about your Twitter behavior and contacts.
Looking for Trends:
- ReTweetist: Find the most popular items and people on Twitter.
- ReTweet Radar: Another trend-spotting service with Twitter word cloud.
Find and Manage Followers:
- Mr.Tweet: Very nice service that recommends followers and helps you connect with them.
- SocialToo: Reporting service shows who followed or un-followed you; lets you auto-follow back.
- Twitter Karma: Who do you follow but doesn't follow you back … and who aren't you following?
- Twollow: Auto-follow people on Twitter based on keyword matching in their posts.
Utilities:
- TwitterFeed: Easy way to send your blog's RSS feed to Twitter and other services.
- TweetBurner: Shorten & track URLs used in you posts (works with TweetDeck & Twitterfeed).
- TwitBacks: Custom Twitter background for your profile.
Finally, Here are some good posts to expand your Twitter horizons:
- Twitter in Plain English – a brief video answering the question Why? (Vimeo)
- Twitter Basics … and More! (James Dickey)
- Personal Branding with Twitter. Nice list of things to consider. (Sebastien Page)
- Finding the right Brand Voice on Twitter. Nice list to consider. (Mashable)
- Twitter Graphics for your "Follow-Me" Badge. (Sebastien Page)
- Twitter Background Images for your Profile Page. (Sebastien Page)
- Nice Twitter-related blog. (Twit Tips)
March 15, 2009
Social Media 101 – The Name Land-grab
Real Estate is about location, location, location. That's true on the web as well. Years ago, I watched people rush to register Internet domains. Well it's happening again; only this time it is on a wide-range of social media sites.

Before I go further, or before you decide to skip to the next article, here's a piece of advice worth paying attention taking; Register your name, your company name, and any other product or keyword you want to protect on Twitter.

I'll take that even further; register those names on other social media services as well. I'm talking about companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, StumbleUpon, and Digg. Even if you don't believe you'll use the service, you may not want someone else talking to the public using a name that they may associate with you. Here is a link to a service that helps you reserve your name.

I watched my kids use instant messages, texting from their phones, and
then Facebook. Slowly I've adopted these technologies. Still, it's hard
for me to believe that I'm using Twitter. If you're not using them
yet, you probably will soon.

The Big Three:

LinkedIn is the most corporate of the services. It's an enhanced resume with a clever algorithm to figure out how you can connect to someone else. So, if I wanted to contact Mark Cuban, it would tell me which of my director second level contacts have contacts with him.

Facebook used to be for college students, but has quickly become the most popular social media application. I'm amazed at how many business people use this as their primary form of keeping in touch with people socially. The Facebook platform is evolving quickly and is very easy to customize by telling it that you want to see you more of this and less of that.

Twitter is getting popular quickly; and it has a lot of business momentum. It drives traffic and is quickly becoming useful as form of search engine that shows trends and what's happening right now. I see more third party development and support for Twitter than the other platforms combined. I didn't "get" Twitter at first; but it is growing on me.

Here is a cartoon comparing the three services.
- On LinkedIn it seems like connections are made based on worthiness.
- On
  Facebook connections are based on how you know the other person
  (and
  it's common to have more Facebook friends been LinkedIn connections).
- On Twitter your follower list is more elastic; people will come and people will go
  (and it's common to have more Twitter followers than Facebook friends).
So go register some names, and next time I'll share some of the tools I use to make using social media easier and more productive.
March 9, 2009
Social Media 101 – The Name Land-grab
Real Estate is about location, location, location. That's true on the web as well. Years ago, I watched people rush to register Internet domains. Well it's happening again; only this time it is on a wide-range of social media sites.

Before I go further, or before you decide to skip to the next article, here's a piece of advice worth paying attention taking; Register your name, your company name, and any other product or keyword you want to protect on Twitter.

I'll take that even further; register those names on other social media services as well. I'm talking about companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, StumbleUpon, and Digg. Even if you don't believe you'll use the service, you may not want someone else talking to the public using a name that they may associate with you. Here is a link to a service that helps you reserve your name.

I watched my kids use instant messages, texting from their phones, and
then Facebook. Slowly I've adopted these technologies. Still, it's hard
for me to believe that I'm using Twitter. If you're not using them
yet, you probably will soon.

The Big Three:

LinkedIn is the most corporate of the services. It's an enhanced resume with a clever algorithm to figure out how you can connect to someone else. So, if I wanted to contact Mark Cuban, it would tell me which of my director second level contacts have contacts with him.

Facebook used to be for college students, but has quickly become the most popular social media application. I'm amazed at how many business people use this as their primary form of keeping in touch with people socially. The Facebook platform is evolving quickly and is very easy to customize by telling it that you want to see you more of this and less of that.

Twitter is getting popular quickly; and it has a lot of business momentum. It drives traffic and is quickly becoming useful as form of search engine that shows trends and what's happening right now. I see more third party development and support for Twitter than the other platforms combined. I didn't "get" Twitter at first; but it is growing on me.

Here is a cartoon comparing the three services.
- On LinkedIn it seems like connections are made based on worthiness.
- On
  Facebook connections are based on how you know the other person
  (and
  it's common to have more Facebook friends been LinkedIn connections).
- On Twitter your follower list is more elastic; people will come and people will go
  (and it's common to have more Twitter followers than Facebook friends).
So go register some names, and next time I'll share some of the tools I use to make using social media easier and more productive.
March 9, 2009
Does the Kindle 2 Make Sense?

The world is changing quickly. Just because you made money a certain way for a long time doesn't mean that this is how you'll continue to make money in the future. In fact the practical realities of time and technology suggest that this is not the case. In this environment, you have to adapt and re-invent yourself.

Creative Destruction in the Publishing Industry:

Think about what has happened to publishing in the past decade. I'm talking about: television, movies, and music … but also newspapers, magazines, and the book industry.

Personally, I read more than I ever did before; but I hardly ever go to a bookstore. I buy a lot less magazines than I used to; and I have to think hard to remember the last time I purchased a CD.

That doesn't mean people aren't making money in these areas. I suspect it just means that different people are making the money. The industry is changing. It's a new game, with new rules, and new opportunities.

How the Kindle Changes Amazon's Business Model:

I've had the new Kindle 2 for about two weeks; and I like a lot.
I'm impressed by the machine, but I'm more impressed with the business platform that Amazon is creating.

Yes, they're going to sell a lot of books on the Kindle. Amazon will build a base of brand-loyal Kindle users.

Plain and simple, though, the Kindle is going to change Amazon's business model.

Right now
bestsellers cost $9.99 (which I suspect is a loss leader because they still have to buy the book from a traditional publisher) and certainly
cannibalizes their business of selling paper books.

They are signaling that they expect to make money differently in the future. That is part of the reason I like Amazon's decision to invest so heavily in the Kindle platform. It's a subsidized campaign to bridge to a new business model.

You Will Have Access to New and Extended Forms of Content.

More avenues will open to profit in different ways. For example, I expect that Amazon will soon sell a paper copy of the book along with an
electronic version for premium price. And you'll also soon have the ability to unlock more features. That means that you'll be able to pay to consume what you
choose (whether that's a one-time viewing, a permanent license, the
right to print, share, or listen to the audio version or watch the
multimedia presentation version of the content).

They have an opportunity to re-define what you consider a "book" as well. And I predict that it won't be
long before you can buy a book that is electronically enhanced with expanded content. Here is how I envision that might work. For example, let's say you buy a book on
blogging. It might describe how to set up an account with TypePad or
WordPress. The enhanced version of the book, which you paid extra for,
could have links and setup wizards to do a lot of the heavy lifting for
you. Do you want to allow search engines to index your new posts?
Here's how to do it, and click this button to have us set it up for you.

Think
about how many areas would benefit from this marriage of content and
skills transfer what about a book on trading that helped you build the
pattern recognition or money management rules into your charting
software or trading platform?

Trojan Horse Strategy: This Will Turn the Publishing Industry Upside-Down.

I think the bigger opportunity is the Trojan horse that turns the publishing industry upside down.

Think about how hard it's been for a new author to get a book published. Even before that, they had to find an agent. If that happens and they withstand the countless rounds of rejection, then the publishing house decides if one and how the book is released and the artist gets perhaps a dollar per book.

In the near future, an author who understands social media and generating buzz published their book or pamphlet through Amazon's Kindle channel and keep the majority of the money. It's faster, frictionless, and more lucrative.

And Amazon can start to cut-out that pesky middle-man. Why deal with a publisher, when you can let the author believe they are the publisher? With this model, there is more margin for everyone (except the old-line publishers, who better be re-inventing themselves with a new value proposition).

It's Not Just About the Publishing Industry; They're Out To Change Your Industry Too.

As Amazon builds up the infrastructure to run their business,
they've decided that they're willing to sell their excess capacity to
you with a new product line of Amazon Web Services. It's on-demand technology capacity that is flexible, state-of-the-art and cost-effective.

Yes, there is still a need for humans. So it's no surprise that Amazon has a new line of business they call the Mechanical Turk. And it's a marketplace for humans to do the work you want to outsource. It leverages Amazon's marketplace catalog and is another example of how they're becoming vertically integrated and well-positioned for the future.

As a consumer, I like what I see; and it's only going to get better.

Bottom Line: Amazon's competitors and suppliers are going to have to adjust their business models.

But the real point wasn't just about Amazon's foresight or skill. It's a challenge and a a wake-up call-to-action for you to look at what you do, and what you need to do … and for you to figure-out
what your future company and the future you is going to focus on and do
to succeed. The environment is changing. It is time to adapt and re-invent yourself.

March 8, 2009
Does the Kindle 2 Make Sense?

The world is changing quickly. Just because you made money a certain way for a long time doesn't mean that this is how you'll continue to make money in the future. In fact the practical realities of time and technology suggest that this is not the case. In this environment, you have to adapt and re-invent yourself.

Creative Destruction in the Publishing Industry:

Think about what has happened to publishing in the past decade. I'm talking about: television, movies, and music … but also newspapers, magazines, and the book industry.

Personally, I read more than I ever did before; but I hardly ever go to a bookstore. I buy a lot less magazines than I used to; and I have to think hard to remember the last time I purchased a CD.

That doesn't mean people aren't making money in these areas. I suspect it just means that different people are making the money. The industry is changing. It's a new game, with new rules, and new opportunities.

How the Kindle Changes Amazon's Business Model:

I've had the new Kindle 2 for about two weeks; and I like a lot.
I'm impressed by the machine, but I'm more impressed with the business platform that Amazon is creating.

Yes, they're going to sell a lot of books on the Kindle. Amazon will build a base of brand-loyal Kindle users.

Plain and simple, though, the Kindle is going to change Amazon's business model.

Right now
bestsellers cost $9.99 (which I suspect is a loss leader because they still have to buy the book from a traditional publisher) and certainly
cannibalizes their business of selling paper books.

They are signaling that they expect to make money differently in the future. That is part of the reason I like Amazon's decision to invest so heavily in the Kindle platform. It's a subsidized campaign to bridge to a new business model.

You Will Have Access to New and Extended Forms of Content.

More avenues will open to profit in different ways. For example, I expect that Amazon will soon sell a paper copy of the book along with an
electronic version for premium price. And you'll also soon have the ability to unlock more features. That means that you'll be able to pay to consume what you
choose (whether that's a one-time viewing, a permanent license, the
right to print, share, or listen to the audio version or watch the
multimedia presentation version of the content).

They have an opportunity to re-define what you consider a "book" as well. And I predict that it won't be
long before you can buy a book that is electronically enhanced with expanded content. Here is how I envision that might work. For example, let's say you buy a book on
blogging. It might describe how to set up an account with TypePad or
WordPress. The enhanced version of the book, which you paid extra for,
could have links and setup wizards to do a lot of the heavy lifting for
you. Do you want to allow search engines to index your new posts?
Here's how to do it, and click this button to have us set it up for you.

Think
about how many areas would benefit from this marriage of content and
skills transfer what about a book on trading that helped you build the
pattern recognition or money management rules into your charting
software or trading platform?

Trojan Horse Strategy: This Will Turn the Publishing Industry Upside-Down.

I think the bigger opportunity is the Trojan horse that turns the publishing industry upside down.

Think about how hard it's been for a new author to get a book published. Even before that, they had to find an agent. If that happens and they withstand the countless rounds of rejection, then the publishing house decides if one and how the book is released and the artist gets perhaps a dollar per book.

In the near future, an author who understands social media and generating buzz published their book or pamphlet through Amazon's Kindle channel and keep the majority of the money. It's faster, frictionless, and more lucrative.

And Amazon can start to cut-out that pesky middle-man. Why deal with a publisher, when you can let the author believe they are the publisher? With this model, there is more margin for everyone (except the old-line publishers, who better be re-inventing themselves with a new value proposition).

It's Not Just About the Publishing Industry; They're Out To Change Your Industry Too.

As Amazon builds up the infrastructure to run their business,
they've decided that they're willing to sell their excess capacity to
you with a new product line of Amazon Web Services. It's on-demand technology capacity that is flexible, state-of-the-art and cost-effective.

Yes, there is still a need for humans. So it's no surprise that Amazon has a new line of business they call the Mechanical Turk. And it's a marketplace for humans to do the work you want to outsource. It leverages Amazon's marketplace catalog and is another example of how they're becoming vertically integrated and well-positioned for the future.

As a consumer, I like what I see; and it's only going to get better.

Bottom Line: Amazon's competitors and suppliers are going to have to adjust their business models.

But the real point wasn't just about Amazon's foresight or skill. It's a challenge and a a wake-up call-to-action for you to look at what you do, and what you need to do … and for you to figure-out
what your future company and the future you is going to focus on and do
to succeed. The environment is changing. It is time to adapt and re-invent yourself.

March 8, 2009
First Impressions of the New Kindle.
Frankly, I didn't think I would love it. I was wrong. Perhaps more important than just "loving it", I like using it.

It's thin, light, and easy-to-read. At first I wasn't sure it felt right … But, at first, I didn't buy the leather cover. Believe it or not, that made a big difference. I like that it now feels like a "book" in my hands. There is a lot to like, and I got used to it very quickly.

A Mini Feature Review: Here are the basics.
- Terrific Display: it uses fast and crisp E-Ink technology;
- Huge Capacity: it will hold over 1,500 books;
- Wireless: it has built-in free access to Sprint's data network;
- Great Battery Life: it lasts for more that 4-days worth of reading, even with the wireless on;
- Built-in Keyboard: to annotate text, or to use search capabilities and the Internet;
- Text-to-Speech: surprisingly well done and useful while driving or doing things.
Looking Good Is A Good First Step. While I was waiting for my Kindle to come, I guess the thing I questioned most was whether I'd actually read on it. Right out-of-the-box, my first impression was that the Kindle had a great display. I took it outside, and it still looked terrific, even in the bright sunlight. I did have to adjust the font size for it to feel "right" to me. However, it was easy to figure out what felt
natural (and here is a hint for the older readers … at night, a slightly bigger size is what feels natural to
me).

Having Lots Of Things To Read Is Nice Too. Carrying a bookcase full of books in pencil-thin package is pretty cool.

There's over a quarter million books available for the Kindle, and that number is growing rapidly. Many best-sellers are just $9.99, which is much cheaper than the paper versions. In addition to books, Amazon has made it easy to read web and blog content with the built-in browser and free Sprint data network. Also, you can convert and transfer Microsoft Office and PDF files by e-mailing them to your Kindle's e-mail address.

Cheap Is Good, Free is Better. To get you used to reading on the Kindle and using Amazon's store to get the content, they've made an impressive amount of books free. The first book I downloaded was a free copy of the Bible. I heard it was a Good Book. That's good business on many levels.

Download Sample Chapters To Make Sure You Like It. Taking that concept a little further, Amazon also makes it easy to download a few sample chapters of many books to your Kindle before buying. This has already changed how I use Amazon, and it adds a key benefit that the storefront bookstores relied on, browsing several books to find the one that suits me. Now, I can do that anywhere and anytime.

And once the sample is on your Kindle, it's only takes one-click to get the whole thing. It's all very fast, very convenient, and very clever marketing.

Yes, I sense
it's the future. And I'm a gadget guy who loves to play with the future
early. However, I'm also a gadget guy who has a pretty big gadget graveyard for
things that didn't work so well. The Kindle works well. I can tell
because I'm using it more, not less.

All-in-all, I'm impressed. Next time, I will talk about the business implications of the Kindle on Amazon and its customers, competitors, and suppliers. Till then, here are a few other links worth exploring.
- Amazon's Kindle 2 Page With Pictures and Demos
- RadarFarm's News Links about the Kindle 2
- MobileRead's Wiki Page for the Kindle 2
March 1, 2009
First Impressions of the New Kindle.
Frankly, I didn't think I would love it. I was wrong. Perhaps more important than just "loving it", I like using it.

It's thin, light, and easy-to-read. At first I wasn't sure it felt right … But, at first, I didn't buy the leather cover. Believe it or not, that made a big difference. I like that it now feels like a "book" in my hands. There is a lot to like, and I got used to it very quickly.

A Mini Feature Review: Here are the basics.
- Terrific Display: it uses fast and crisp E-Ink technology;
- Huge Capacity: it will hold over 1,500 books;
- Wireless: it has built-in free access to Sprint's data network;
- Great Battery Life: it lasts for more that 4-days worth of reading, even with the wireless on;
- Built-in Keyboard: to annotate text, or to use search capabilities and the Internet;
- Text-to-Speech: surprisingly well done and useful while driving or doing things.
Looking Good Is A Good First Step. While I was waiting for my Kindle to come, I guess the thing I questioned most was whether I'd actually read on it. Right out-of-the-box, my first impression was that the Kindle had a great display. I took it outside, and it still looked terrific, even in the bright sunlight. I did have to adjust the font size for it to feel "right" to me. However, it was easy to figure out what felt
natural (and here is a hint for the older readers … at night, a slightly bigger size is what feels natural to
me).

Having Lots Of Things To Read Is Nice Too. Carrying a bookcase full of books in pencil-thin package is pretty cool.

There's over a quarter million books available for the Kindle, and that number is growing rapidly. Many best-sellers are just $9.99, which is much cheaper than the paper versions. In addition to books, Amazon has made it easy to read web and blog content with the built-in browser and free Sprint data network. Also, you can convert and transfer Microsoft Office and PDF files by e-mailing them to your Kindle's e-mail address.

Cheap Is Good, Free is Better. To get you used to reading on the Kindle and using Amazon's store to get the content, they've made an impressive amount of books free. The first book I downloaded was a free copy of the Bible. I heard it was a Good Book. That's good business on many levels.

Download Sample Chapters To Make Sure You Like It. Taking that concept a little further, Amazon also makes it easy to download a few sample chapters of many books to your Kindle before buying. This has already changed how I use Amazon, and it adds a key benefit that the storefront bookstores relied on, browsing several books to find the one that suits me. Now, I can do that anywhere and anytime.

And once the sample is on your Kindle, it's only takes one-click to get the whole thing. It's all very fast, very convenient, and very clever marketing.

Yes, I sense
it's the future. And I'm a gadget guy who loves to play with the future
early. However, I'm also a gadget guy who has a pretty big gadget graveyard for
things that didn't work so well. The Kindle works well. I can tell
because I'm using it more, not less.

All-in-all, I'm impressed. Next time, I will talk about the business implications of the Kindle on Amazon and its customers, competitors, and suppliers. Till then, here are a few other links worth exploring.
- Amazon's Kindle 2 Page With Pictures and Demos
- RadarFarm's News Links about the Kindle 2
- MobileRead's Wiki Page for the Kindle 2
March 1, 2009
Getting More Out of Outlook
Here is a great tool I use to manage e-mail better. It works along-side of Outlook. It is called Nelson E-Mail Organizer. It works great for me.

An Easy Way to Save Time. I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time managing and dealing with e-mail during a normal business day. So, on one hand, it's something that I take for granted. While, on the other hand, it's an area where I'm most likely able to save time or benefit from improvements in the tools or process that I use.

Over the years, I've tried many different tools to help me search and organize information better. The Nelson E-Mail Organizer (or "NEO Pro") is the best I've found so far. By that, I mean that it's a complete whole product solution (not just a utility) and I use it every day.

Rather than just listing all the things I like about it, I put together a two-minute video that highlights the features I value most.

Here is the direct link to the demo video.

Finding A Needle In A Haystack. Nowadays, it is easy to suffer from information overload. For example, I keep my mail in different files.
- My corporate mail resides on a server.
- I also use personal e-mail accounts that are web-based from services like Google and Hotmail.
- And I archive old mail separately in files that I keep on my computer.
That makes finding what I'm looking for more difficult than simply using Outlook's built-in search capability. Luckily, NEO Pro works just fine under these conditions. It gives me a unified view into all my e-mail.

It's Not Just A Search Tool – It's A Better Way to Organize Your Information.

There's a difference between a simple search utility and a tool to allow you to organize and filter what you're looking at in useful ways. An easy way to understand this capability is based on time. For example, show me all mail I got today, or this week, or this month. That's useful, but there are so many other ways that I may choose to interact with my mail.

Distinguish and Deal With Direct Mail Differently Than Bulk Mail. One of the most useful filters, for me, is to see direct mail from people I care about – separately from the bulk mail and subscriptions that make up most of my message traffic. NEO Pro makes this effortless, and this feature alone would be enough for me to use it every day. What this means is that I can come back in from a meeting and instantly see the things that are important for me.

Use Categories. Another way to filter information is to categorize mail in ways that make sense to you. So, I use categories like Technology Newsletters, Hedge Fund News, and Market Commentary. Of course, you can create categories that make sense to you; so you can read what you want, when you want.

Find Everything To or From a Person. Another feature I really appreciate is the ability to see all mail to or from a particular person in one place (even if they have multiple e-mail addresses). In NEO Pro, there is a view lets me do exactly that. Even better, I can access it in one click from any other view.

In addition, here's a link to their tutorial page where you can investigate other features and benefits.

Another tool worth looking at is Xobni (which is Inbox spelled backwards). Learn more here.
February 15, 2009
Getting More Out of Outlook
Here is a great tool I use to manage e-mail better. It works along-side of Outlook. It is called Nelson E-Mail Organizer. It works great for me.

An Easy Way to Save Time. I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time managing and dealing with e-mail during a normal business day. So, on one hand, it's something that I take for granted. While, on the other hand, it's an area where I'm most likely able to save time or benefit from improvements in the tools or process that I use.

Over the years, I've tried many different tools to help me search and organize information better. The Nelson E-Mail Organizer (or "NEO Pro") is the best I've found so far. By that, I mean that it's a complete whole product solution (not just a utility) and I use it every day.

Rather than just listing all the things I like about it, I put together a two-minute video that highlights the features I value most.

Here is the direct link to the demo video.

Finding A Needle In A Haystack. Nowadays, it is easy to suffer from information overload. For example, I keep my mail in different files.
- My corporate mail resides on a server.
- I also use personal e-mail accounts that are web-based from services like Google and Hotmail.
- And I archive old mail separately in files that I keep on my computer.
That makes finding what I'm looking for more difficult than simply using Outlook's built-in search capability. Luckily, NEO Pro works just fine under these conditions. It gives me a unified view into all my e-mail.

It's Not Just A Search Tool – It's A Better Way to Organize Your Information.

There's a difference between a simple search utility and a tool to allow you to organize and filter what you're looking at in useful ways. An easy way to understand this capability is based on time. For example, show me all mail I got today, or this week, or this month. That's useful, but there are so many other ways that I may choose to interact with my mail.

Distinguish and Deal With Direct Mail Differently Than Bulk Mail. One of the most useful filters, for me, is to see direct mail from people I care about – separately from the bulk mail and subscriptions that make up most of my message traffic. NEO Pro makes this effortless, and this feature alone would be enough for me to use it every day. What this means is that I can come back in from a meeting and instantly see the things that are important for me.

Use Categories. Another way to filter information is to categorize mail in ways that make sense to you. So, I use categories like Technology Newsletters, Hedge Fund News, and Market Commentary. Of course, you can create categories that make sense to you; so you can read what you want, when you want.

Find Everything To or From a Person. Another feature I really appreciate is the ability to see all mail to or from a particular person in one place (even if they have multiple e-mail addresses). In NEO Pro, there is a view lets me do exactly that. Even better, I can access it in one click from any other view.

In addition, here's a link to their tutorial page where you can investigate other features and benefits.

Another tool worth looking at is Xobni (which is Inbox spelled backwards). Learn more here.
February 15, 2009