Listening to Google CEO talk about the importance of a “new platform” while noting that “enterprise-focused” engineers are a small percentage of the company’s engineering team, I flashed back to 1984.

When Apple introduced the Macintosh with that Ridley Scott commercial, the company was making a statement about the “cultural implications of personal computers.” Apple’s deliberate shunning of IT departments, Steve Jobs’ goal of democratizing technology, the 1984 slogan “The Computer For The Rest of Us”, the 1998 slogan “Think Different” — each are examples of a company positioned as the alternative to “the enterprise.” Read more…

Twitter search has a FriendFeed-like boost that will enhance its usefulness while providing context: you can see a “conversation”. This enhancement suggests Twitter isn’t going to roll over and play dead even though Google and Microsoft are elbowing their way into real-time search. It also shows us how many Tweets are one-offs (not conversations), but that’s another story.
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In the wake of DePaul University’s announcement about its forthcoming journalism class focused on Twitter, John Cook at TechFlash has written about the University of Washington’s graduate-level summer course focused on Twitter.

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In England and New York City, The Economist is testing a program where customers can order a copy of the magazine by 9 pm on Thursday and have it delivered to their home before 6 am on Friday. The price? The same as the newsstands, which don’t receive the magazine until 9 am on Friday.

According to AdAge:

New Yorkers who have signed up for weekly texts announcing each issue’s topics will also receive a URL for a web page they can visit to order the issue. [...] The Economist’s on-demand delivery service aims to make it easier for occasional readers to buy on demand. [...]

Overnighted copies cost $6.99, just like newsstand copies readers have to go get themselves. The Economist says the resulting circulation revenue is just as profitable because the delivered copies don’t require giving cuts to retailers or wholesalers.

I’m a member of the “print isn’t going away soon” school, although I also believe that digital delivery is the direction. When Kindle/Sony eReader figure out how to “loan” and “sell used” copies, then that medium will take off.

I think it’s great that TheEconomist is experimenting with new distribution models. I don’t know TheEconomist sales per issue versus sales by subscription ratio, but it would be an interesting data point. Anyone? Disclaimer: I’ve been a subscriber to TheEconomist since graduate school.

Update: Twitter Case As Countersuit

On Monday, a Chicago realty company sued Amanda Bonnen, a (reportedly former) tenant, $50,000 for libel. The cause? She posted a tweet in May that the company considers defamation:

According to the Chicago Sun Times:

Jeffrey Michael, whose family has run Horizon for more than 25 years, said: “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization.”

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In Britain, Rupert Murdoch’s empire has paid $1.5 million to silence three public figures whose telephones were illegally tapped. In addition, private investigators hired by Murdoch’s newspapers “[unlawfully accessed] confidential personal data, including tax records, social security files, bank statements and itemised phone bills.”

In California, Michael Arrington published confidential documents stolen from Twitter. The worst-case scenario under state law appears to be be one year in jail with a $10,000 fine. For the thief, not TechCrunch.

If ever there was an example of law not keeping up with the times, this may be it.

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Using four iPhone apps, CameraBag ($1.99) Melodica ($0.99) Brushes ($4.99) and Banner ($0.99), Richard Koci Hernandez produced a 3:25 “movie” that uses 54 photos to document 54 days of riding Bus 54 in Oakland, CA. Content produced entirely on the iPhone. I’m unclear on how he turned the content into the video. (I’ve asked.)

Hernandez is an Emmy award-winning video and multimedia producer; for 15 years, he worked as a photographer at the San Jose Mercury News. Also viewable as Facebook VIdeo.

You know Twitter is a Hot Topic when the opinion of one 15-year-old British teen is presented by a U.S. bank as “fact” — and the MSM jumps all over it. Without caveats. Shame on you, Bloomberg, because as a wire service, you helped this story go viral.

Matthew Robson, I believe that the execs at Morgan Stanley used you as PR fodder. (Which succeeded, probably beyond the wildest dreams of their marketing/PR folks.) Enjoy your 15-minutes of fame!

In the “I can’t believe that they really said this” category (it may explain the sorry state of banking in the U.S.), Morgan Stanley execs reveal their total disconnect with reality: Read more…