I love David Lynch’s view on being open to ideas. I’m reminded of an interview I heard where a writer recounted that he lived upwind from a more successful author – and he liked to keep the windows open in the hope to catch passing ideas before ‘that bugger got them’.
David Lynch on Where Great Ideas Come From from The Atlantic on Vimeo.
10. A Whatsapp client for Mac
9. The Instagram app to allow multiple accounts
8. Twitter to let good developers use the APIs again (we love Tweetbot)
7. Apple Messages to play properly with SMS
6. The FT to make friends with Apple and release a native app
5. Zynga to fix the bugs in Words with Friends
4. An Apple TV app store
3. Pocket/Instapaper to allow offline video capture
2. iTunes to get a proper redesign
1. Things 3 to finally be released
On my cycle home, I pass one of the locations for Chelsea Fringe every evening and have been meaning to post about it. Chelsea Fringe – what a great idea. The Edinburgh Fringe is now the gem of the Edinburgh Festivals and started, I believe, as a response to the more traditional Edinburgh International Festival with its impressive, but elderly tattoo.
Gardening is and should be more accessible that just the rarefied experience offered by the Chelsea Flower Show, so the notion of a Fringe adds, at a stroke, a hint of cool and modernity – and increases the overall appeal and accessibility.
What else could do with a fringe? Ideal Home Fringe? The Proms Fringe? Glyndebourne Fringe? Henley Regatta Fringe?
Some good slides and links here, so worth a read, though I wonder what’s really new. Whatever, it’s a groovily-branded (growth hacking! lean marketing!) reminder to have a rounded product/marketing mix and to pay attention to loyalty management.
Nice iconoclasm from John Willshire
Netflix’s company culture
…and the world changes and keeps evolving. And new potential arises, but these people who are settled in don’t see it.
Steve Jobs Interview Computer World from Tim Sparke on Vimeo.
It’s snowy in London. Like everyone else, I pass homeless people with a feeling of helplessness. I’ve heard that giving ‘spare change’ is not advised, but feel saddened to do nothing. Of course, that feeling passes and nothing gets done.
If only I could do something right there and then to contribute. Not vaguely like a big cause, but to someone who might help this person I’ve seen here. But who do I give to? And how?
Here’s my idea. Imagine there was an app called something like HelpNow. You’d see a person in trouble on the street and open the app. It would geo-locate charities in the area and with one tap you could donate and report what you saw. The app would know where you saw it and there may be times when attaching a photo is appropriate too.
The message, and money, would be relayed to the charity worker’s version of the app and they could take appropriate action. The donor could easily be contacted later to update them on progress.
This would be a great app for a big company to sponsor/create for CSR. And all charities would need to do is sign up and download the app.
This probably needs refining, but seems like a simple way to empower people to help at the moment they are motivated to do so. The recipients don’t just get Random donations, but information on who needs help and where.