1. The days of an SEO-only content strategy are over
A great thread by Mordy Oberstein, who highlights something that I have been saying for a while: SEO should not define and lead your content strategy. This doesn’t mean SEO is unimportant or of secondary interest to publishers – it is still going to account for the majority of your traffic after all. But the days when it was the be-all and end-all of determining what you should create are over, and a strategy which focuses on meeting keyword needs rather than human needs will fail. Reach should take note.
2. The iPad is 15
A little under fifteen years ago I met a bloke in Basingstoke train station’s car park and bought an iPad. It wasn’t available in the UK at launch but there was no way that I wasn’t going to get one as soon as I could. He had been over on a trip to the states, and bought one back for sale -- and it didn’t really cost me much more than retail, which was nice.
I’m not sure how I feel about the iPad, still. Om Malik has written a pretty good summary of his feelings about the device, and I concur with much of it. Meanwhile, Federico Viticci has bounced back to using an iPad Pro full time. Even though my needs are relatively limited, and all of the apps I use on a daily basis are on the iPad, I don’t think I could do that. It is, though, pretty tempting.
3. Does Google really think it will win this one?
Google is back in EU court, this time appealing against its €4.1bn fine to the Court of Justice. This is the last chance — there is no higher court — and it seems unlikely to win. Why it’s bothering, I don’t know. Perhaps it thinks The Donald will ride to the rescue.
4. Pronouns are banned, now
One of the most amusing genre of TikTok video is the “what are your pronouns?” format. You ask a conservative American what their pronouns are, they answer “I don’t use pronouns” and you laugh at their inability to realise that “I” is, itself, a pronoun. Honestly, go look them up, they’re hours of fun.
I never thought, though, that I would see the US Federal Government make the same mistake. But this is an administration run by idiots, who seem intent of seeing quite how much they are drag the country into a well of stupidity before things collapse. Which, sadly, probably won’t be long.
5. Bookshop.org now sells eBooks
I’ve used Bookshop.org to buy my print books for a while, and now it’s started selling ebooks too. Only in the US for now (unless you have a US-based credit card), but I’m looking forward to it expanding to the UK at some point.
6. The computer is my friend. My only friend
So much of this Reid Hoffman article on “making AI work for us” reads like someone who didn’t have any friends when they were a child and now wants a robot friend who is wise, kind and doesn’t try to steal their lunch money. It would be sad if these guys weren’t bending the world to their will.
7. Pebble is back!
Kudos to Google for open sourcing the Pebble operating system. And I’m really looking forward to getting a Pebble this time round
8. Everyone’s a winner (except you and you and you)
One of the dirty little secrets of modern capitalism is that finance largely revolves around gambling rather than genuinely supporting businesses or individuals. In the case of the UK, lending to companies and individuals engaged in the production of goods and services amounted to just 3% of total lending. As John Lanchester puts it, “lending money where it’s needed is what the modern form of finance, for the most part, does not do.” It’s a great long read, and you should spend the half hour it will absorb you for.
9. Oh David
10. Wall of stupidity part two
Sadly Lina Khan is gone from the FTC, but on the way out she fired a broadside at private equity and warned of the risks to the US economy if it’s not controlled correctly. Which of course Trump is not going to do. So long Lina, and thanks for at least giving it a go.