Facebook, App Platforms, and Game Theory

In this post, I explore how Facebook manages viral channels and how a little game theory might be applied to better manage their platform for developers and end users.

Why Amazon’s Facebook Integration Revolutionizes The Recommendations Space

I’ve publicly stated previously that social recommendations generate far higher engagement rates than many other recommendation techniques. When I was at Loomia back in 07/08 we launched a product which was the first Facebook powered social recommendation service for media sites, called SeenThis. It was a widget that you could put on your web site which [...]

The Kindle: A World Travelers Best Friend

I just returned from some extensive travel around Eastern Europe, and one of my challenges is keeping connected when I’m in out of the way places. I have an unlocked iPhone and collect SIM cards in various countries to save on roaming fees, and I’ve found this is a great solution if you’re in more [...]

Just in case you wondered where Apple’s revenue comes from

Today, Silicon Alley Insider released their excellent chart of the day for Apple’s latest revenue figures. Note that Apple receives most of their revenue selling devices like the iPhone, not software. But they spend a heck of a lot of software and content (iTunes) in order to stimulate demand and differentiation for their hardware products.
From [...]

iPad User Tests: Kids, grandparents, moms, and more try it out

I continue to be fascinated with the iPad, which was just released on Saturday. I think this is because it’s a new kind of device — not quite a laptop, not quite a smartphone. And previous attempts to create a tablet market have failed pretty badly and at great expense. Just 2 days ago, I posted some [...]

The iPad faces the Mom Test

I was on the phone with my mom today and she mentioned she had been to the Apple store to check out the iPad.
I’m a bit of a product geek and so I thought to myself, what a perfect opportunity to see what her perspective is on the highest profile tech product launch in recent [...]