Anyway, it’s still a good video that makes me think about how to lead others.

When I was at Wal-Mart, I met some really awesome people at Facebook– one of which was the program manager for Facebook Connect. Facebook Connect allowed users to get plugged into private content (normally with a login gateway) using one’s Facebook account. What that did was set the stage for the ability to map interactions off Facebook back into Facebook.

Now, in the Open Graph concept, it means that off-Facebook activity is even more heavily integrated into one’s Facebook account. I was reading Engadget today and I noticed the little “Like” buttons all over the site. If I happened to “Like” one of the articles I was reading, a feed would plug directly back into my Facebook profile (if I’m logged in) and tell all of my friends about the article. Well, this has major implications when you start playing around with my bread and butter topic: consumer products.

Without going into too much detail today, Facebook’s Open Graph concept will be the way future marketers target consumers. Interestingly, it may not even be Facebook that wins the Open Graph ecosystem– I know Google won’t go down quietly. Whoever the winner is, the Open Graph system may be the biggest tool for marketers since the invention of a database. The reason Open Graph is so remarkable is because it gives the most accurate portrayal of behavior. A marketer lives on three dimensions: demographics, psychographics, and behavior. If one assumes that Facebook and all activity on the web accurately reflects your psychographic (what sites you visit) and behavior (what hobbies you say you play or video games you buy on Amazon), then a marketer could potentially use all of it for targeted communication.

At this point, most people are a bit concerned with the “Big Brother” privacy issue. After all, if I happened to watch and “Like” Gillmore Girls, do I really want my friends to know OR see targeted ads for Season 1 DVD Box Sets? The way I reconcile the privacy issue in my mind is that an Open Graph allows one centralized data source to know all about you. Most of the information that would exist in an Open Graph platform exists anyway– it’s just all scattered. Our movie taste is in IMDB, our purchasing behavior is on Amazon and Walmart, and our food taste is on Yelp. Open Graph just puts it all together… and you might even learn a little about yourself.

On a personal level, I really wish I learned how to program better. As an MBA student, I’m supposed to figure out exactly what I want to do for the next ten years. And since our school is known for entrepreneurship, I’ve grown an itch to venture out into the startup world again (after graduating of course). Unfortunately for me, the best I can code is one mean Excel spreadsheet. I also need an idea that I’m passionate about. Well, Social CRM has always been that idea. When I was watching f8′s livestream today, I couldn’t help but think, “hey, this was what I was saying about the next phase of CRM.” Unfortunately, it does mean that a startup platform for Social CRM is no longer necessary; but I’m happy to know that it’s not just a catchy term that marketing nerds use to make themselves feel cool.

And now you know a bit more about CRM. Thanks for indulging me.

However, I immediately began thinking of the unfortunate Apple employee who left his iPhone on a barstool. Assuming that the Apple conspiracy theory is bogus, I think the real focus should be on Gizmodo, the “news” source that broke the story. I’m not an expert on the industry, nor am I privvy to every detail of the story, but I think Gizmodo really lost my trust (they probably don’t care anyway).

Our cohort just finished a course on Business Ethics and we talked about several ethical paradigms. One paradigm that spoke to me was the idea of the Golden Rule, where you do unto others what you want done unto you. Even in business, where ethics are a bit hairier due to complex stakeholder interest, the Golden Rule should apply.

If you don’t yet know why Gizmodo was on the wrong side of ethics, the Digg community’s comments give a glimpse into the backlash:
Digg’s Comment String

Gizmodo paid a reported $5K for the iPhone prototype. Media outlets pay for the scoop all the time, so Gizmodo was just being opportunistic– fair enough. The crux of the ethical issue is that Gizmodo revealed the guy’s name. That’s just wrong. Sure, Gizmodo might have thought to preemptively release the software engineer’s name because the guy who found the iPhone might sell that information to someone else (highly unlikely if he already made $5K on the prototype). Having the prototype should be enough.

The reason I see this as a general business ethics issue is that Gizmodo seemed to forget the Golden Rule. What if Brian Lam, the editor of Gizmodo, left a top-secret prototype (or perhaps a contract with a major content provider or M&A scenario) at a coffee shop? I’m sure he’d already feel horrible about the leak, but then sources reveal his name to add insult to injury. No one would ever want to do business with him again… or at least trust him with secrets. On a personal level, every one of his friends would tease him for the rest of his life (it’s funny to them, but probably not funny for Brian). It will define him… because of one stupid mistake.

One lesson I’ve been learning at business school is that those in privileged positions have an incredibly hard time filtering decisions through an ethical paradigm, whether it’s utilitarianism, the Golden Rule, or Aristotilian values. Those at Gizmodo are privileged enough to hid behind a corporation and they have no regard for the Apple employee’s life. I’m sure they will spin it in a way that makes the employee seem like he benefited from all the fame. Gizmodo did say to go easy on the Apple employee, but they posted the email string for the world to see. It’s as if they are patting themselves on the back publicly for “caring.”

As much as I’d like to be excited for Gizmodo for landing an insane scoop for this one (former) loyal reader, I think this issue with the Apple employee’s name bugs me to the core. Again, I’m sure Gizmodo could care less about what me and several thousand Digg’ers think, but I had to express my thoughts on principle. Well, I also want to clear my conscience for ratting out my little sister for breaking the tea pot when I was seven.

Conscience cleared.

I like the Move because it’s essentially the WiiMote, but with PS3′s high-def graphics. The concept of Project Natal is pretty awesome, but I can’t imagine playing without props, especially first-person shooters that the video mocks. Even for sports games like Madden or NBA Live, it would probably feel more natural if I was holding something. I’m sure Microsoft is on it, so I’ll just have to wait and see how it rolls out.

As for Nintendo, it obviously has the short end of the stick now because it loses its competitive advantage. And with PS3′s Netflix integration and more robust online gaming network, Nintendo loses out on positioning itself as a true “entertainment console.” I really do hope Nintendo comes out with something cool in the near future– I’d hate to see him hit the same lows as the GameCube days.

That’s my two cents on an industry that I no experience in. I just like video games.

My main concern with the product is that kiosks or hubs for data download will be obsolete once newspapers go completely digital a la Kindle or iPad. It doesn’t make sense for a kiosk since it’s essentially a glorified charger. I’d rather see this docking station in every Starbucks rather than an independent kiosk. Also, everything will be wireless so there’s little need to go to a centralized repository for media, whether it be e-books, movies, or even music. All three industries would have to coordinate on a massive scale to make this work.

But the reason I write about this is not because I wanted to comment on the product. It’s actually a great concept, but unfortunately, the use case is a bit limited. I think it brings up a bigger discussion. How will we consume information the future? And how will the value of information continue to be monetized?

I don’t have an answer really. I’m sure professors, entrepreneurs, and futurists across the world are trying to figure this out. My theory right now is that all information will be semi-free (no rights protection per piece of content) and the only way monetize media (books, movies, music, “TV” shows) will be through a telecommunications company. We will pay companies like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon for internet/”cloud” access and in return, they provide us restricted programming (i.e. whatever content provider they can sign).

We’ll see what happens!

Note: It’s impressive to see how fast this video has gone viral. Kudos to Grasshopper.com for getting their name out there in a super creative way.

For those of you who know me personally, the journey began with our own wedding extravaganza. My wife was the crafty Miss Eggplant on the Wedding Bee. At the time, there were only a handful for Bees out there, so readers got to know Kelly *ahem* Miss Eggplant pretty well. When our big day was finally over, Kelly put her creative energy toward her popular craft blog, The Sunset House. In over a year, The Sunset House built an incredible following (not to mention craft room) while I watched from the sidelines (tinkering with the site here and there). Unfortunately, Kelly had (and still has) a day job at a wonderful company, so we couldn’t find a way to make crafting a full-time gig with equivalent benefits. As many of you know, I’m notoriously frugal, so we couldn’t expose ourselves much to outside risk, especially because I had hogged up all our savings for business school. She had always taken a liking to photography, especially after having Apertura (the uber-duo) shoot our wedding. A year after we got married, Kelly got her first DSLR and two lenses.

Kelly continued crafting. She even found ways to combine her paper crafting with photography. Somewhere in the deep annexes of The Sunset House is an entry about how Kelly created her own mini-photography studio. My wife will never admit this, but she has one of the best creative eyes I’ve ever known. And since she’s the complete opposite of me (she is anti-self-promotion), I have no shame in saying that. I always tell her how I worked with creative agencies and designers for a living, and yet I rarely see a person with such innate aesthetic taste. I heard from her old college friends that Kelly always had a good eye, whether it be in fashion, home decor, crafting, and now… photography.

Her aspiration to do something “creative” never let down. Through her craft blog, she was doing wedding-related projects for internet strangers  once a month and even second-shot a couple weddings. By the time she told me about taking a lighting workshop at a local photo studio, I knew her true calling was in photography. Kelly had always said that she wished her parents let her study graphic design or art in college– but had she not studied economics, she probably wouldn’t have all that business-savvy.

If I had to describe Kelly’s professional style, it would be that she’s super resourceful. We don’t have much disposable income these days with mortgage payments and all, but Kelly found ways to sharpen her photography skills– learning post-processing on her own, teaching herself Illustrator/InDesign, and even learning how to code a bit of HTML! I think her perseverance is what makes her venture into photography so amazing. One of my favorite memories of Kelly during her initial start-up phase was when she made her home-made snoot! She didn’t want to pay $30 for an overpriced piece of foam, so she went to Michael’s and bought her own foam and velcro! When I saw her using it, I thought to myself, “My, how incredibly brilliant!” Now, if only she could use her skills to make DIY Canon “L” lenses.

There is still a lot to be done. We are in the process of getting her an LLC (via Legalzoom) and making business collateral (there are only so many ways you can make a price list intuitive, yet entertaining). However, I think with the progress she’s made so far, I know it’ll turn out perfect.

I would go into more detail about how Kelly gets into her “creative mood,” which is another interesting process, but until then, I’ll just leave this glimpse as a glimpse. I hope any reader who reads this will see that he or she, too, can start something. If Gusteau from Ratatouille was an entrepreneur, he’d probably say “Anyone can create!”

Tumblr has been around for a while now, but I think it’s hitting critical mass. It may be just me, but I am exhausted with all the maintenance from my social networks. I’ve been keeping track of my social network trends and here’s what I’ve found:

1) I visit Facebook 10X+ per day. I mostly log on to check updates and occasionally wish someone a birthday… even people I haven’t talked to in  years. Birthdays are a good excuse to jump back into the “friendship” zone.

2) I log into LinkedIn once a week. I used to spend more time in LinkedIn, but ever since I started business school, I haven’t felt compelled to keep up with the goings-on of my former colleagues. I do think the TripIt notifications are interesting. I didn’t know my network liked to travel so much!

3) I log into Twitter 4X per day. However, I don’t say much. In my opinion, Twitter is a place for one of two things: 1) really witty one-liners or 2) RT’ing random articles on how social media will change the world.

Sidebar: It may not be internet-prudent to say the following on such a public forum, but I’ll say it anyway… I think there are A LOT of expert wannabes on Twitter. Everyone (I mean this as a hyperbole) seems to be a Twitter expert or Social Media Maven of some sort. Last time I checked, you need a bit more strategic talent to become an expert at something. Just because you have a large following doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. I would never hire a consultant or agency who only has a Twitter presence. Sadly, I’ve heard of many people getting gigs from Twitter… it just breaks my heart. I haven’t been doing marketing for that long, but I know poo poo when I see it.

*off my soapbox*

4) I have a Tumblr account, but I just let it run on its own. I log into Tumblr once every three weeks. I’ll give Tumblr credit for having an extremely vibrant community. I see people interacting with stranger’s posts all the time. If only I had that much to say.

My general thought about social media is that we will one day combine all our networks into one. Some people say it will be Google Buzz. Others say it will be a Facebook + Google combo. My theory is that there won’t be a social network. In fact, I think we will all have some form of a RSS-like feed. In the future, there will be a standardized format for all feeds (like RSS) and it will be decentralized. Instead, we will use mini-platforms or browsers that will specialize in reading these feeds. If you want to keep up with someone, you’ll just subscribe to the feed manually. It all happens outside of a network (i.e. an environment that requires log-in access). I know privacy is the main concern, but as we approach the cloud (uh oh, more futurist lingo), it will be easier to turn access to a site on or off.

This entry had no point other than to entertain me for ten minutes. I also wanted to time stamp my thoughts and come back in ten years and revisit my antiquated ideas.

P.S. if you like social theory, particularly about technology, give me a holla

Oh well, so my stance on iPad… thumbs down. And what’s up with the name?

1) Monetization is the new Pandora’s box. I think this is nut that every next-gen media company is trying to solve. It’s a hotly contested topic and probably too complex for a blog entry, but I wanted to note that it was really interesting to know that even the “experts” don’t have monetization figured out.

2) Death of old media. I wanted to note that the conference coincided with a fundraising event that I attended for the Daily Californian, the student newspaper of UC Berkeley. The panels for both events believed that the death of push-media– the traditional media where the audience sat back while networks, publishers, and stations pushed content– would fundamentally change into pull-media, where people self-select the EXACT content they want. I think this notion is fairly intuitive for most of us in the Silicon Valley, but the key point is that all of the industry leaders, the panelists, believed the transition was inevitable. If the industry leaders say its true, the employers of these bright minds will surely plan around the transition.

3) The Cloud. I think my notes are getting pretty cliche. Monetization, old media, and the cloud are topics that are on TechCrunch every day. However, it is interesting to note that even the GM of EA Sports said that more content will be on a cloud and that the notion of consoles as a burning platform are numbered.

Random note:  The VP at EA Sports name-dropped one of his favorite gadgets of 2009, the  Roku box. I’m not really sure how this works, but by the time the conference was over, every techno-phile at the conference wanted one. From what I can gather through his description, the Roku box just sounds like an independent streaming movie service… I think my PlayStation has the same capabilities with Netflix– not sure what the hype is about. Maybe I’m missing something.

Well, those are three takeaways that I had. There is plenty more to write about– how brands use social media, the future of digital communication, and the evolution of user interfaces– but I’ll leave that for the TechCrunch people.