Only 1 out of 10 Londoners know who Steve Jobs is

Apparently only one out of every 10 people on the streets of London who were asked who Steve Jobs is knew he's the CEO and co-founder of Apple. More thought he's a trade union leader. Three percent thought Bill Gates was an American comedian.

Would love to see this survey done in North America, to see if recognition of these major American players in the IT industry is any better on this side of the pond. Nonetheless, it's humbling to hear that names I hear every day in my industry are a mystery to nine out of 10 Londoners. Read the full story on Computerworld: http://bit.ly/5nqbwE

Putting a fresh 'spin' on advertising

Ran across AArrowads.com while looking up the company of someone who said something smart on a LinkedIn discussion today. Was struck by the freshness of their approach: they've turned humans bearing street signs into performance art, and in doing so have managed to draw attention not only to the clients buying their "sign spinning" service, but to themselves, winning spots on such venues as The Today Show. Well done, fellas!

Check them out on YouTube:
http://bit.ly/84LJMV

No new revenue model for journalism?

The news businesses, foundations and journalism schools need to abandon efforts to find new funding models and concentrate instead on cultivating and studying innovation in news gathering and production, Robert Niles writes on the Online Journalism Review. That means the industry should quit looking to print editors and broadcast station managers for leadership, he says. Instead, they should study online publishers and editors who are making nascent efforts work. http://bit.ly/74taeY

The paradigm shift for journalists

Being a journalist in 2010 means you can no longer write something and wait for someone to read it, warns Robert Niles says at the Online Journalism Review. Now you have to become a community organizer: http://bit.ly/82cCmJ

You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier

In his new book, Lanier says the web started having a negative impact on our lives instead of a positive one with the rise of "Web 2.0" designs that valued the web's information content over individuals. "It became fashionable to aggregate the expressions of people into dehumanized data ... Here’s just one problem: It screws the middle class. Only the aggregator (like Google, for instance) gets rich, while the actual producers of content get poor. This is why newspapers are dying. It might sound like it is only a problem for creative people, like musicians or writers, but eventually it will be a problem for everyone." http://amzn.com/0307269647

Pepsi pulls out of Superbowl to go social

Pepsi's taking a huge gamble by abandoning a multi-decade, multi-million dollar Superbowl opening ad position. Instead, it's launching a $20 million social campaign:
http://bit.ly/7w7Ihr

Phoney sheep

This is a bit off the media path - but art is content, even in three dimensions. And talk about incredible found art - this artist has created sheep from old phones and their cords. They are spectacular! http://bit.ly/6TTBvt

Finding 1,000 True Fans

The long tail is a money-maker for big Web content aggregators - but it's a mixed blessing for Web content creators - artists, producers, inventors and makers. Kevin Kelly's The Technium post describes how creators can reach an audience that can sustain them through such tactics as finding 1,000 True Fans: http://bit.ly/wBoag

The PayPal Wars

The right people are more important than the right digital strategy: we can learn from the success and stumbles of PayPal, writes Eric Jackson in his new book The PayPal Wars. PayPal almost went under before its marriage with eBay, but the main thing it did right was to have smart and fast-thinking people on its team, he says: http://bit.ly/8y8kEC