If Tumblr really had to sell, I would have much rather seen Twitter as the acquirer. In many ways, Tumblr and Twitter are incredibly compatible. David Karp and Jack Dorsey are both creative leaders who have proven they care about user experience. Tumblr’s diverse content posting platform would be a perfect way for Twitter to fill in support for all media types in its growing Twitter cards platform. Tumblr has recently started making money through native advertising techniques that replicate Twitter’s monetization— promoted posts and promoted accounts— and both platforms approach the advertising with careful restraint, which is greatly appreciated by users as compared to Facebook. Twitter and Tumblr also both have the respect of a younger audience, which means their loyal fans would probably not be appalled and run for greener pastures if the acquisition took place (which is a major fear should the Yahoo! acquisition go through). Both companies use tagging and topic pages to tell cover events and tell stories through the power of their users.
Foursquare check-ins are starting to show a lot more content & metadata— klout, sound tracking, sonar, Instagram all attached to this check in.
In contrast to the aspirational noisiness of other sitcoms, this was a show that celebrated the smallness of everyday life, the quiet indignities and tiny failures that mar our days and the shy smiles, raised eyebrows, and harmless pranks (well, mostly harmless) that give us the resilience to do it all again tomorrow.
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Great article about the significance of The Office, on the eve of its final show
The end of ‘The Office’ - Grantland
No one in the entire world would want this!”, shouts one site. “It’s the next Segway!” shouts a dozens others. “But at least they’re trying something crazy,” shouts pretty much no one.
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I love the fact that Google, and Sergey Brin in general, continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible, to never say it can’t be done, to dream big dreams. Even if may not work out.
Larry Page Wants Earth To Have A Mad Scientist Island | TechCrunch
Loading up on Brooklyn outdoor eats spots courtesy of BK Mag and the Foursquare chrome extension
soundcloud:
SoundClouder Sasha Tsereteli just sent us this photo, dubbing it ‘SoundCloud in real life’.
We’re fans!
Very cool moment of recognition being illustrated here
(via fred-wilson)
Traffic to VineViewer (our Vine search engine) is increasing week after week. I’m especially excited about the increase in returning visitors, which signals we’ve built something valuable, not just shiny. We’re expanding into new territory with features like branded event pages for the New York Auto Show. And people seem to enjoy searching for Ryan Gosling.
http://www.vineviewer.co
Poncho, the daily personalized weather report email built by BetaWorks, keeps getting better. First it was a weather report for the moments that matter in my day— the exact time I head to work, grab lunch, head home and even go running in the evening (all in nice “plain english”). Today I was greeted with a notice that the train I usually ride to work has expected route delays. I’m also told pollen warnings and parking alerts are included when they matter to you. I can’t wait to see what Poncho brings next to help me navigate my day before I leave the house.
http://poncho.is/
Facebook didn’t realize just how important widgets, docks, and app folders were to Android users, and that leaving them out of Home was a huge mistake. That’s because some of the Facebookers who built and tested Home normally carry iPhones, I’ve confirmed. Lack of “droidfooding..
TechCrunch has an interesting article about how Facebook Home was largely built and tested by a culture + team that uses iPhones. That lead to a product that completely stifled all of the great things Android can do that iOS can’t. Things you won’t really know or appreciate until you’re using a phone as your daily device on a regular basis. Here’s the exact reason I switched to Android this year, and why I’ll continue to spend time using both leading platforms simultaneously.
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