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We're about to scratch the real-world data itch
March 10 2010
Folks in the web world are accustomed to granular information, yet brick-and-mortar businesses are still largely in the dark on the data front. But what if business owners could gather hard data? What if they could use that information to entice customers and adapt their offerings? Mobile location tools are… read moreThe state of open government in Canada
March 09 2010
David Eaves, a public policy entrepreneur and a speaker at this week's Gov 2.0 International online conference, discusses the rise of open government in Canada's cities. He also looks at the country's federal inertia, and he explains how a beta mindset could benefit government projects. read moreThree lessons from the Chipotle iPhone app
March 08 2010
The iPhone app from Chipotle, the restaurant chain best known for its burritos, is an interesting mix of simple design, e-commerce functionality and location tools. Digging into the app's development reveals three aspects that could prove useful for businesses and programmers pursuing their own mobile paths. read moreMobile phones and smartphones are not the same thing
March 08 2010
Comparing a basic mobile phone to a spiffy new smartphone is like comparing a circa-1993 desktop computer to a Macbook Pro. They're related in a basic sense, but the... read moreMySQL migration and risk management
March 05 2010
Ronald Bradford has been guiding DBAs through key aspects of database integration for years. In this Q&A, he discusses the pros and cons of migrating from Oracle to MySQL (hint: it's not just about cost savings). He also weighs in on how Oracle's acquisition of Sun will shape the future… read moreThe implications of a money-making Android app
March 03 2010
Success stories were an important (if overblown) part of the iPhone App Store's development. Now that one developer brought in more than $400 per day with his Android app, it looks like the Android Market could be following a similar path. read moreFoursquare wants to be the mayor of location apps
March 01 2010
Dennis Crowley cut his teeth on location services at mobile pioneer Dodgeball. Things didn't work out there, but he used his Dodgeball experience to shape Foursquare, an on-the-rise app that blends mobile, location awareness and a clever points system. In this Q&A, Crowley discusses Foursquare's revenue streams, its unexpected adaptations,… read moreFebruary 26 2010
It's interesting to chart technical developments in the publishing industry against TOC's brief history. As Andrew Savikas notes in the following video, things like ebooks and mobile have evolved... read moreAn expert view of unicorns and digital rights management
February 25 2010
Kirk Biglione, principal at Oxford Media Works, was tracking the Apple tablet / iPad way before other analysts. I believe he was one of the first to dub it... read moreAuthor, sell thyself (but in a good way)
February 24 2010
Authors who want to jump into Twitter, Facebook and all the rest should pay heed to Chris Brogan. He's spent years -- more than a decade -- carrying on... read moreThe future of publishing lives on and around the web
February 23 2010
Richard Nash is passionate about the web's ability to connect audiences and authors with the topics that excite them. Connections can be fleeting and the revenue model is in flux, but there's a lot of opportunity in this model. What Nash discusses in this short video interview could very well… read moreThe e-reader growth spurt of 2010
February 23 2010
As TOC 2010 is held this week in New York, it's clear e-reading devices are hitting their stride. This once-niche category is growing quickly. Publishing expert Liza Daly discusses the current e-reader market -- Apple vs. Amazon, iPad vs. Kindle, etc. -- in this video interview. read moreThe chaos and the opportunity in Arab publishing
February 23 2010
Egyptian publishing is far more chaotic than its Western counterparts. ISBNs are used fleetingly and book rights are a moving target. But that same chaos also breeds opportunity, particularly in... read moreWeb community is messy in all the right ways
February 23 2010
When you run into Richard Nash, founder of Cursor, you're encountering the embodiment of TOC enthusiasm. He's the anti-curmudgeon. As you'll see in the following interview, Nash is passionate... read moreSearch is the Web's fun and wicked problem
February 19 2010
We may think of search as static and mature, but it's a tool in flux. Developments in mobile, augmented reality, and social graphs signal big changes ahead. In this Q&A, "Search Patterns" author Peter Morville shows how experiments at the periphery and weird ideas will shape search's future. He also… read moreRecent Posts | All Posts
