Things of note for the week ending Friday October 28th, 2016.
TWO HUNDRED.
HONESTLY. TWO HUNDRED.
What started out as a 2011 round up and then a moleskine-based hobby to the mammoth newsletter it now is (hello subscribers!) has made it to its second century. Scha-mazing.
Enough navel-gazing for now though (mainly because as ever, I’m short on time and a) I want this to go out on time this week and b) the idea I had for an elaborate slow-motion gif of me popping party poppers in an endless circle of celebratory enjoyment got killed (and by killed, I mean I forgot to do it) and I’m annoyed about it) and onwards!
To the things!
1. ‘I GOT FAMOUS FOR LEAKING INFO FROM TOYS R US’
This article, from Kotaku, is a first person perspective of what it meant to be a super leaker back in the early noughties. Imagine a SUPER LIGHT version of ‘As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster’ – it’s that, but for video game price leaks.
AND JUST AS COMPELLING.
Ahem:
In the 15 years I worked at Toys “R†Us, I sometimes leaked information about video game sales and posted them on message boards. I even took games home early to try them and then post impressions, which was very much against the rules. I did this because I’ve always been excited about video games and because, frankly, when your job is a grind, you will take chances if you know it’ll get your fellow gamers online to like you.
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2. MI MIX
So, this is bonkers. Introducing the new ‘concept’ near-bezel-less phone/phablet from Xiaomi, The Mi Mix.
According to The Verge (emphasis mine):
‘Nothing says sci-fi like a bezel-less screen, and Xiaomi’s newly announced Mi Mix Android phablet is very sci-fi with its 91.3 percent screen-to-body ratio. This 6.4-inch device has just been announced as a concept phone by the Chinese company, but weirdly enough, it has a price, Â¥3,499 ($516), and a release date of November 4th in its home country.’
Just. Wow.
Richard Lai has one and has been Tweeting the occasional photo with/of it.
With rumours afoot that the new iPhone will just be one sheer piece of glass, and the Mi Mix ‘concept’ (I mean come on, it’s actually going on sale; it’s clearly a test bed to gauge interest for future devices) out in a little under a week, we could be seeing the next evolution of mobile hardware design.
At last.
What do you think of the Mi Mix? Want one? I mean, I’d love to play with one. But I’m wedded to my Pixel now (I mean, come on, the photos are incred) and I can’t see me moving for some time…
Ps. If you have questions about the Pixel, shoot.
Pps. If you have one, you can now use IFTTT with the Google Assistant. Woop woop!
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3. INSTAGRAM: GOING LIVE
July 2016. Facebook earnings call. ‘We see a world that is video-first with video at the heart of all our apps and services’. Over the past month or so I’ve been presenting a work in progress of the Ogilvy trends document for next year. This statement from Facebook is on one of the charts. At this point in the presentation I take time to explain exactly what ‘all our apps and services’ means. In short: not just the Facebook platform.
Last week, screenshots of something called ‘Go Insta’ appeared.
Which, to me at least, means Instagram is testing Live Video in its Stories feature. Expect this to land within the next quarter. By the end of the year, at best. This, combined with Facebook actually launching a HUGE ad campaign specifically for its Live product further compounds just how much Facebook believes that LIVE is its future.
What social platform do you think of when you think of ‘live’? I’ll give you a clue, it’s blue and its logo is a bird.
Facebook is coming for the last piece of the puzzle.
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4. GO FOLLOW 100 WOMEN
No, not like that. Weirdo. I meant: on Twitter.
Here are 100 Women in Tech and Founders to Follow on Twitter.
What a great list!
Go on, off you pop.
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5. VINE DIED
Here’s a link to the news.
Here’s a link to my best vine (by loops).
Here’s a link to my best vine (by opinion).
A lot has been said (eg: this is pretty good). In fact, here’s a bunch of stuff I wrote on it earlier (I think the comments are being used for a trade and I’m probably being quite naughty publishing the whole thing here but hey, it’s Friday):
“Let’s get one thing out first: the shuttering of Vine is incredibly sad. Creators and businesses have been born on the service and many of those will now either pivot or find new platforms to produce/create upon.
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For something that Twitter bought in 2012 for a rumoured $30m (mix of cash & preferred stock) and ultimately failed to monetise, it’s quite the costly mistake. Furthermore, the recent trade press about Twitter’s courting (and subsequent loss) of potential suitors for a sale have to be seen as a contributing factor to this closure. In short: Twitter is cutting costs and buttoning down for rocky roads ahead.
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As the industry, the influencers and creators on the platform will move on (if they haven’t already – the rise of influential Snapchatters and Instagrammers of this world now far outweigh those on Vine) and brands and audiences will move with them.
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Twitter will be flooded with ‘look at the amazing vines we’ll lose!’ cries right now. But in six months from now, who will remember? The interesting thing here is what’s next? Six months ago, I wrote that Twitter has changed and the industry should change with it. Twitter is still changing – it’s simplifying (something that arguably is long overdue). For example, now that Twitter has brought ‘Go Live’ into the main app – does this mean Periscope will be next?”
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If it is, Twitter should move quickly. Facebook is stepping up its attempt of owning ‘LIVE’ and, combine this with the focus on one-to-one messaging with brands via Messenger, is encroaching on Twitter’s heartland once more.
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In December last year, Ogilvy Digital Trends 2016 put forward a theory that Twitter’s place in the digital ecosystem could be eroded by its competitors. We didn’t want to be true then. We don’t want it to be true now.Â
So yeah. In social media years, Vine lasted a lifetime.
But I guess, for now at least, its six seconds of fame will soon be over…
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Bonuses this week are:
- I didn’t just catch gastroenteritis in Cairo, I also gave a keynote on the three trends that are incoming for today’s consumer. The trends themselves are pretty work in progress but the finished article(s) should appear at the end of the year when Marshall and I publish our next edition of the Ogilvy Digital Trends deck. So look our for that. In the meantime, here’s a picture of me stood next to a chart.
- Do you use or are you considering using Snapchat for your business? Here is a REALLY QUITE BLOODY HANDY super guide to ‘Snapchat for Business‘ via Hubspot. Save. Add to bookmarks. Delicious. Whatever.
- Obama on AI.
- Occupants vs Pedestrians
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I’m not going to dick around. The only thing I should say, really, is: thank you, to all of you, that read this inane writing every week. The links are just stuff I find [interesting] and the growing list of subscribers, combined with the weekly emails, tweets, and general conversation starters that happen the week after, always make me smile.
So sincerely, thank you
Here’s to the next two hundred, I guess.
Whatley out.
whatleydude.com 