June 14th, 2008 | by Tommy | published in Books, Business, Design
Well this sure looks like an interesting book:
There is no single methodology for creating the perfect product—but you can increase your odds. One of the best ways is to understand users’ reasons for doing things. Mental Models gives you the tools to help you grasp, and design for, those reasons. Adaptive Path co-founder Indi […]
May 19th, 2008 | by Tommy | published in Books
Following on the huge success of The Tipping Point and Blink, Gladwell’s publisher has announced his third book: Entitled Outliers: Why Some People Succeed and Some Don’t. According to the Amazon description:
In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”—the best and the brightest, the most […]
May 12th, 2008 | by Tommy | published in Books, Email Marketing
Ordered myself a copy today of Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks. Can’t wait for it to arrive. I realize how important forms are to business development, lead tracking, and communications. But if I am honest with myself I don’t know enough about them and tend to just throw them together at the last […]
January 30th, 2008 | by Tommy | published in Books, Branding
Duncan Watts has an interesting article at Fast Company calling into question the theory that a small group of influential people are responsible for triggering trends as outlined (and made famous) by Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.
If society is ready to embrace a trend, almost anyone can start one—and if it isn’t, then almost no […]
July 1st, 2007 | by Tommy | published in Books, Culture, Gaming
One of the underlining concepts of Steven Johnson’s Everything is Bad is Good for You is the Sleeper Curve. Taken from Woody Allen’s mock sci-fi film, Sleeper has a sequence where scientists from 2173 are stunned, amazed even that twentieth-century society failed to realize the nutritional merits of cream pies and hot fudge.
Johnson builds off […]
October 28th, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books, Design
Although I spend a ton of time online because I work for a virtual company and blog I still have close to a thousands books. Even in a busy week, I usually read at least one if not more books. In fact, I have a single room with six bookcases. They’re a hodgepodge of colors, […]
July 19th, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books, Business
A few days ago I started rereading Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People and the below list struck me as some of the most intelligent advice (yet simple and straightforward) I’ve read in a long time.
Six Ways to Make People Like You:
Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile.
Remember that a person’s name […]
June 3rd, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books
I noticed on John Battelle’s blog a while back that you can pre-order his next book, The Search: The Inside Story of How Google and Its Rivals Changed Everything. Even though I do some SEO for work, purchase Adwords, and own a few shares of Google, normally a book on this topic wouldn’t interest me […]
May 30th, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books, Culture
Steven Johnson’s new book, Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, is creating a lot of buzz. I’ve not had a chance to read it, so I must in good faith refrain from commenting in detail. But his basic thesis is that popular culture (video games […]
April 26th, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books, Branding
Reuters and AP are reporting that Apple has retaliated against the publisher of an upcoming unauthorized biography about Steve Jobs by removing dozens of other technology books sold by the publisher from Apple stores around the world.
Apple removed the books last week from all 104 of its stores after failing in a month long attempt […]
April 2nd, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Advertising, Books
This may be the most detailed account of the life and death of an agency/client relationship ever written. Randall Rothenberg, using the reporting skills he learned while an editor at the New York Times and Esquire, was given almost unfettered access to chronicle the short-lived relationship between Subaru and Wieden & Kennedy.
It is a relationship […]
March 20th, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books, Branding, Business
Seth Godin’s new book, to be released in May of this year, is called All Marketers are Liars. In a PDF he has posted about the book he says, “Successful marketers don’t tell the truth. They don’t talk about features or even benefits. Instead, they tell a story. A story we want to believe.”
Telling a […]
February 15th, 2005 | by Tommy | published in Books
While out of town on work (and some playing) I had to chance to stop by one of my favorite books stores and browse for hour upon hour. Many future hours of joy were purchased. Books reviews for each will be forth coming.
A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
The Lexus and the Olive […]
December 16th, 2004 | by Tommy | published in Advertising, Books, Marketing 101
Below is Amazon’s ten best selling marketing books. Although there isn’t a bad book on the list, but I only agree with two of them. The Amazon’s List (as of 12/16/04) includes:
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
How to Become a Rainmaker: The Rules […]
