OpenAmazing
2) Your audience and customers are people that use Twitter for business - small businesses, marketing departments, ad agencies, etc. Take a look at other firms in that space (SEOMoz, Buddy Media, HootSuite and see how they do things. Right now your language is geared towards consumers that like Twitter. Change that. Your website needs to explain to a small business how you can help them make more money.
3) It IS a good idea. Social media filtering is a big problem. You are just selling it to the wrong people.
If not, you should change your logo and website design fast. Possibly your name too.
What's up with that?
As the article points out, the gym wants you to come once (not have fun) and then not come back - but continue to pay the monthly membership fee.
If the gym was fun, and every member came in regularly, the gym would go out of business. Their goal is to make the gym seem like something you should have a membership for (lots of high-tech looking machines and posters about health and attractive staff), but actually not fun enough for you to come more than a few times a month.
This is why there is a rise in the small group-focused workout clubs (that emphasize fun).
Love it.
Everyone here should read this a few times through.
If you distribute software to non-programmers, check your stats for # of downloads started vs. # of applications started (or new users). My guess is that they are way off:
Most computer users do not know what a "Downloads" folder is.
I started getting customer support requests complaining that the "Download window could not be clicked on and was stuck to the web page".
Turns out users thought that the explanatory screenshots were the ACTUAL download dialogs and they were trying to click the images in the web page. Oops.
Turns out I needed to resize the screenshots and discolor them slightly so it was obvious they were the REAL buttons to click.
Lesson learned.
Is the Party Already Over at Turntable.fm?
This is exactly what Gruber is referring to. If crazy videos like this are being used to determine budgets, then the company is being led by fools.
Any manager that would watch this video and then declare "Yes! Build me that!" doesn't understand how products get made and should not be let anywhere near the Product team.
Dwelling type, of course, is immaterial. I was illustrating a group of people who have extremely poor judgement, children being only one of them (i.e. you shouldn't be renting a giant TV if you can't pay rent or provide for your children).
It is incredibly sad how many children are put in front of a TV all day. And not Sesame Street or even cartoons - but Soap Operas, Jerry Springer, Cops, Fox News etc. Picture a dirty trailer home, behind on rent, no job, fast food for every meal and a rented 52-inch rear-projection TV that is on all. the. time.
When health care professionals make statements like this, the bad parents are who they are picturing in their head. They know the good parents (like the ones that read HN) can make informed decisions for themselves. But the bad parents have to be told "absolutely no TV" because there is no concept of moderation.
(1) These are pre-loaded with your Amazon.com account (the one you bought it with). You don't have to sign in to it, it already knows who you are.
(2) The first ad I saw was a "local deal" for a massage near where I live (for Ballard, in Seattle). This is minutes after first turning on the Kindle. No data entry. I was curious what the user experience was so I opened the ad. There was a Buy button for the massage ($26 for a 20 minute massage). I'm working on an order path / checkout flow for work right now so I was curious to see how they did it on the Kindle. I clicked the Buy button (again, I have yet to do any keyboard data entry on the device) and... I had bought. "Thanks for your purchase" read the screen and my iPhone beeped with the confirmation email.
The Kindle comes pre-loaded with your Amazon account and everything is set up for one-click purchasing.
Genius.
(I debated forward the email to my wife, but just cancelled the order instead).
Colbert's short little clip here (especially the very powerful ending) and the Onion's article are the two most touching pieces I've read on Steve Jobs.
It reminds me of the Onion's "Holy Fucking Shit" piece after September 11th. That did a lot to snap Americans back to reality and help us mourn.
Has it always been the case that the funny people are the best at helping us (group, nation, community) mourn? Or is just that, these days, the wisest and people (in media) happen to be comedians?
edit: grammar
My First Computer (what was yours?)
Most of the applicants to YC have a near zero percent chance of success. With or without help.
For business-to-business products, the early adopters are often the underdogs (small or losing companies looking for any advantage against the market leaders).
For consumers, look for the hardcore fans of your market. The people that get an intellectual or emotional high from products in your space. Look for the crazy obsessed people.
Journalists are not early adopters (even ones that cover your market).
If Apple had announced they were going to spend it all to make Steve well again, would would have protested?
Somewhere in here is a lesson on the price of immortality.