Marvel, Digital Media, Comics and the Internet

Blockbusters like Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron man, and most recently the Incredible Hulk have catapulted the comic book genre into an entirely new category. Even with the amount of television and print ads, the Internet via online games, prizes, trailers, clips, and even personalized text messaging have sparked huge returns by selling out movie seats several weeks prior to a movie's launch.

What's interesting is the demand for more content. Fans are asking for more. Well, there's good news. Publishers like Marvel Entertainment are providing the technology to view all-time favorite comics on the Internet.

Read Businessweek to see how Marvel Entertainment is providing digital editions.

Gmail Separation Anxiety

I like free. Gmail is free. I like Gmail. We’re close. It keeps track of my email when I’m on the road. It does my laundry. Walks my dog, not to mention that it’s also very user-friendly. I’m a nicer person. I’ve become a friendly-user. Gmail has removed the pain, use and abuse of bad usability. I can love again.

Gmail. You complete me.

So what happens when friendly and free becomes an unusable commodity?

Yesterday a huge number of Gmail users were without email for about an hour. Gmail users literally cried on Twitter’s shoulders. Here's what some said, "How could Gmail do this to me? An entire hour? Gmail’s not allowed to do that. I checked my mail, but it wasn’t there. It even caused me to be unproductive." Tear.

So to remedy the monstrosity, Gmail engineers scrambled to get their services up and commented that it was due an upgrade of a feature in Gmail. They even offered an apology in hopes to mend hundreds of hurting users. Double tear.

When my grampa’ told me we’d be dating robots, I thought he was crazy. My how the tables have turned. Don’t believe me? Check out twitter and see all the comments against Gmail. Goes to show how dependent we as a society have become towards technology.

What do you think?

Name Brands Part 2

Thanks to all the people that sent in your votes. Seventy percent said they purchased luxury brands for quality and durability. Twenty five percent said it felt good to have while five percent said they purchased luxury brands because their peers had it.

UI design by Albert Einstein

Everyone turns into an artist once the art is done.

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein

Motivational Money

Show me the money. Follow the money. Opposite of those statements are thoughts from marketing guru Seth Godin on motivational money. I have to tell you, this is a gold mine. Here's a snippet from Seth Godin's blog.

"People need to understand motivation in order to make sense of a story. When we see a person or a business take action, our first move is to try to figure out their motivation.

The why. The what's in it for them.

We want to know why someone is acting the way they are. Your customers or your friends or your investors or your boss want to know what makes you tick.
And the reflex explanation is: money."

Read the rest here...

Seth Godin is an American author of business books and a popular speaker with appearances at Google, TED and a number of charities. His blog is one of the most popular blogs in the world. Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing.

Name Brands

A few weeks ago, I found myself in a conversation about name brands. The question was "why do you purchase luxury brands?". To let you in on the answers, I've posted a survey so you can participate. Enjoy!