10 stories to read this week
After a brief break, this week I return with some great readings that involve Biggie Smalls, Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Google’s Larry Page and Amazon’s Kindle Fire. And just when you were feeling too smart, well, I got some news for you.
- The age of the consumer-innovator. Professor Eric von Hippel and others argue that companies have to bring customers into the creation process. I don’t necessarily agree with everything they say, but I do recommend you read this piece from MIT Sloan Management Review.
- What visual designers can learn from Biggie Smalls. This is my favorite post of the week, and I think the title alone is worth a click. Still not convinced? How about — “One line, one beat – over and over again.” Go read, already.
- How to launch and scale to a million users in a month. Great tips from Joseph Perla, former VP of technology at Turntable.fm.
- The Future of Book. Writer Sam Harris muses on the future of the book in the age of Kindle (s amzn) and constant connectivity. “When shopping for books, I’ve suddenly become acutely sensitive to the opportunity costs of reading any one of them,” he says. Also, Nicholas Carr on the Kindle Fire & The Book’s future and Antonio Rodriguez has a smart take on the Kindle Fire.
- Why do many smart people fail to lead? “As a smart achiever, your scorecard may be all about you. As a smart leader, your scorecard will all about what happened to the people who you led,” according to writer Raj Shetty. Another article to accompany this one: Are you too knowledgeable? by Mary Jo Asmus.
- Kids today need a license to tinker. Amen to this piece from the Observer (UK).
- Can Larry (Page) reboot Google? Dave Winer’s insightful post on Google (s goog), the challenges it has and the tough task for CEO Page.
- Why Jobs is no Edison. Vaclav Smil of the University of Manitoba argues pretty vociferously that Jobs and Edison are, well, different. Great piece.
- Information, Information Everywhere. Not a lot good it does. What a delightfully clue-full rant.
- How Facebook’s new Ticker could screw up your love life. It’s wicked, and it’s vapid. But I didn’t promise that all the posts would teach you.
Have a swell weekend all.