Drawsome Growth

Like so many others I was drawn into the Draw Something craze. What is shocking (aside from my terrible puns) is that the app is only 6 weeks old and has been downloaded 20 million times. This makes Draw Something is one of the fastest growing apps of all times. According to their CEO it's earning it's makers 6 figures per day. Not too shabby.

What can we learn as librarians from this version of what is essentially a digital Pictionary? Perhaps it's time to rethink some of the things we do that we take for granted.

How do we know what to target? Let's look at our statistics to see what services are currently less effective than we hope for or look to see what services show the biggest drop in usage over the last ten years. Most importantly let's ask our users. 

Here's the full story from Business Insider.

Image via Best of Draw Something

Update: OMGPOP the developer of DrawSomething was just purchased by Zynga for $180 million.

Now this could be fun.

Doodle Defense from Andy Wallace on Vimeo.

Books I read in 2011

For the last few years I've written a yearly "books I've read" entry and each year I feel like I didn't focus enough, or that I read too lightly. I'm guessing this happens because of my mindset at the time of authoring the post and not the time I'm selecting each read. So this time next year I will surely look back and think, "why did I waste time reading x?" One difference this year is the addition of books in formats other than print. I've begun listening to non-fiction audio books on my way to and from work, and reading public domain works on my Kindle (I've still not made real purchase with the Kindle (TAKE THAT AMAZON!)).

There are certainly some highlights in this list, most notably Lonesome Dove which is now easily in my top 5 favorite books of all time. As for non-fiction the Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography was spectacular.

Unlike previous years I am not setting any goals for myself in regards to literature vs nonfiction. I am just planning on reading a lot more great books.

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How far is too far?

Amazon has recently released a price comparison app for smartphone users that allow you to scan items to see if Amazon's price beats that of the store you're standing in. This is Amazon's way to allow you to browse a local bookstores shelves, take advantage of the knowledge and recommendations of booksellers, and then stiff them and your community.

But why would Amazon stop there? Now they are promoting this new app by paying it's users up to $15 on Saturday to not shop locally. As you can imagine this has upset a number of people (and rightfully so).

How far is too far, Amazon? What happens when you finish off Barnes & Noble, and more importantly  the remaining independent (book)stores? What happens when we are left with three choices: Walmart, Target and Amazon? What happens when every town and city is stripped of its character; its uniqueness?

Then what?

Industrial design, it's the little things

I've written previously, and ineloquently, about my switch to the iPhone 4s from a Droid Incredible. It was mainly about how quickly I adjusted to iOS 5 and the impact that the iPhone 4s has had on the use of my iPad. Now I'd like to talk a little bit about the design of the phone itself. In my opinion, the iPhone 4 and 4s are the most beautifully designed phones you can get your hands on. This statement is probably not much of a surprise given that Apple continually produces beautiful products.

Self proclaimed superhero Dustin Curtis recently wrote two blog posts discussing the placement of the speaker on the iPhone vs. Andriod phones and Apple's decision to keep a 3.5 inch screen which gives us a small look into just how much thought went in to the design of the phone.

This is not to say that the phone is by any means flawless. One problem I have is the tendency of the phone to slip and slide on surfaces that are even slightly off-level, for example the arm of a couch. A number of times this has sent my phone tumbling to the ground. I wonder if anyone else has noticed this with the slick glass back of the iPhone 4 and 4s. Apple has put design above functionality before (remember the antenna fiasco after the launch of the iPhone 4?) though I don't think this is really an instance of this.

If I mention my problem to a friend, or even if I use my phone in front of other people I'm often asked why I don't have a case for the phone. My answer that it "ruins the aesthetic of the phone" is often met with a bewildered look. Many people will not accept this answer at all, while others suggest getting a protective film for the glass because it won't alter the phone greatly. This bothers me for a couple of reasons.

The first is the expectation set-up by wireless carriers, and third party accessory makers that a case is necessary (this is my third touch-screen phone and So far I've encountered no problems being caseless) and how that expectation has been transferred straight into many consumers minds. My second, and perhaps most obvious objection is that it really does detract from the design of the phone. This annoyed Steve Jobs so much that the nifty magnetic cover was created for the iPad 2 in such a way that it had a minimal impact on the look and feel of the device.

To quickly summarize: Things are designed to look a certain way, and I don't feel the need to alter that. Especially when I feel it's driven by wireless carriers and accessory makers quest for cash. Also: Apple has made a damn good looking phone.