If someone told me I’d listen in to the Facebook f8 developer conference, I would have laughed at them. I’m glad I did as it was very enlightening. I could easily see the developers that would thrive and the ones that would fail.
Unfortunately there was a lot of hype and unrealistic false hopes spread at the conference. One of the necessary skills for running a business is being able to realistically access a situation and come up with an solid plan of action. You can’t fall for the hype.
Apple recently announced their intention to start a mobile advertising network called iAds. One of the potential changes in policy would restrict existing ad networks from passing on information needed to serve targeted advertising, which is the main reason why companies are interested in mobile advertising. Targeted ads are supposed to be more relevant to the viewer.
I take a closer look at why I think Apple is making this move, along with other decisions Apple has been making recently.
Apple recently made the decision to restrict the applications that can be used on their devices. Most people are seeing the obvious diss to Adobe, who created software to convert other formats to iPhone/iPad/iTouch compatible formats. I think there is a larger problem Apple is trying to resolve.
If their current iPhone/iPad/iTouch applications became cross platform, that opens the doors wider for competition to take away their market share. The truth: the iPhone is Apple’s money maker and they have to do what they can to protect it.
Homer and I pick continue to discuss the iPad, HTML5 and Flash from our previous discussion. Some of the topics discussed were myths concerning Flash and HTML5, the strengths and weaknesses using them, what the iPad is, what it can be used for and who should purchase the iPad.
It’s been a while since I’ve done an podcast interview. Since I had loads of questions about web design, I asked Homer Gaines if he would mind answering some questions. One the main topics we discussed was whether it was okay to use templates instead of having a custom design made. We also talked about the iPad’s upcoming release and the technologies missing from it.
I read an article about a guy getting his Mom an iPad. His motives for getting an iPad rubbed me the wrong way. He wants to escape the “oppressive chains” of being the one in the family that can fix computers. This led me to think about disloyalty, lack of appreciation, how selfish people can become and (when asking people their thoughts on the article), how easy it is to hurt someone unintentionally online.
Customer or reader loyalty is something companies strive for. In truth, the true goal is for customers or readers to be loyal to the company brand not the product or service. If the loyalty is to the product or service, if something better comes out, the customer or reader will move on. Loyalty to the company is a stronger emotional bond. Unfortunately, many sites online are inconsistent with their marketing efforts, and this results in them diluting their brand.
When you go into a business venture it is important to begin the journey with the right frame of mind. Those that want to get rich quick usually do not succeed. Knowing the history of the community can give great insight on your odds of success for getting rich quick or getting rich off of another company’s IP.
People blog for different reasons. Some blog for the fun or as a hobby. Many blog with the intention to make money or monetize the blog/site. For those people, a blog can be a tool to reach the final destination, not the method of monetizing.