Are amateurs the experts on innovation?

This sounds like a handbook for #innovation. According to Jack Hitt, #amateurs aren't afraid of making mistakes or failing. And that freedom leads to progress.

Americans: A 'Bunch Of Amateurs,' And Proud Of It : NPR

In his new book, journalist Jack Hitt says America's amateur spirit goes back to the nation's origins — and it's nothing to be ashamed of. The Europeans viewed the Americans as an "unfinished people,"…

Felix Salmon of Reuters has an idea for Big Journalism. He suggests that news organizations release news and information first to premium paying customers.

Could the NYT make money from its scoops?

“It’s entirely normal, and perfectly ethical, for news organizations, including Reuters, to give faster access to the best-paying customers.” (via Felix Salmon at Reuters)

That is unless the news organization markets itself as a champion of the right to know, freedom of information and openness.

Sure this could work for private content producers. But newspapers are public institutions.

Nice try but no cigar.

This New York Times story is about building forts for kids. But there’s more to it than that. It’s about building our own spaces. Tight, closed in spaces. It creates a feeling of safety.

Lessons in the Art of Pillow Fort Construction

Constructing the perfect pillow fort. Cost: zero. Rules: few. Comfort of a cave: high. Cleanup: well, there’s that. (via New York Times)

And it’s not just for kids. They just don’t know they’re supposed to just use couch cushions for sitting. As we grow older, we seem to go into denial instead of home-made forts. Maybe this is why I like camping so much. I find the small, fort-sized tent comforting.

And maybe our cars are portable forts.

Why do you think we like to build forts?

The New York Times uncovers a trend of young authors – young being 12 years old and up – writing books that their parents pay to publish.

Young Writers Dazzle Publisher Mom and Dad – NYTimes.com
A growing number of self-publishing companies have inspired writers of all ages to bypass the traditional gatekeeping system for determining who could call themselves published authors.

Critics being critics don’t like the idea that someone can write a novel before hitting puberty. What do they know about living?
Yeah, give it a break.

For the most part, these books are collecting dust somewhere. Or not. Many of the deals are with print-on-demand publishers. So very few trees are killed in the process.

The way I see it, these parents are subsidizing an industry about as mature as their kids. Yes vanity press is nothing new. But the process is cheaper and easier than ever. So cheap and easy that teenagers have a couple books “published.”

So this gives self-publishing a little bit of capital and traction. Hopefully it makes it less expensive for the rest of us to get published.

When researching my first piece for AMEX Open Forum, I talked to two negotiators on the value of the ridiculous offer.

The ridiculous offer puts you in the best position to get the best out of a negotiation. The other party is on the defensive and probably emotional. And then there is the anchor effect.

6 Negotiation Mistakes That Can Cost You

Small businesses should avoid these mistakes to strike the best possible deals with their vendors.

This is the kind of incident that makes me wonder if we need some sort of official journalism labels.

I’m not advocating that we legislate truthiness. But audiences need to be aware that not every content creator is dedicated to telling the truth.

‘This American Life’ Retracts Mike Daisey’s Apple Factory Story : NPR

“The story became the show’s most popular podcast and inspired a petition, signed by hundreds of thousands, demanding better working conditions for factory workers. But, now, This American Life says Da…”

I love the WTF with Marc Maron podcast for three reasons:

1. By interviewing just about everyone in the world of comedy, it creates a fascinating look at the business of comedy and how that works.
2. Maron is one of those people who approaches his career (comedy) as a craft. He cares about doing it well and puts so much thought into it. He is able to articulate that – sometimes crudely – very well in the podcast.
3. WTF is a paradigm shift. It’s a show that happens without a network or expensive infrastructure. I hate to be trite by declaring this the future of broadcasting.

Forbes’ Jeff Bervocci has a great five-minute interview with Maron. In it he covers the history of the WTF business model and advice for turning a podcast into a business.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Do curation tools better serve our storytelling instincts better than content curation tools (such as blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)?

Everyone’s A Curator, Everyone’s A Content Creator

It used to be that we were all just consumers—or most of us were, anyway. We’d watch TV or read a book or listen to the music on the radio that was selected by others for us. But lately, there’s been …

Gawker thinks it can fix reader comments by letting the first commenter on a post police the subsequent comments.

Gawker Media must be privy to research that says the first commenter is never an idiot, jerk or someone with an agenda.

Gawker Will Deputize Commenters, Says Sheriff Nick Denton

Gawker plans to launch an ambitious new commenting model within the next couple months, said its founder Nick Denton at SXSW today.

Jeff Rivera has a pretty compelling interview with Seth Godin about how book publishing is changing.

He has a thoughtful point of view. But it goes a bit astray when Godin says, “When anyone can publish an ebook, anyone will.”

No they won’t.

Anyone can publish a blog, write a tweet, update a Facebook page or make a video. But they don’t. I know there’s an incredible amount of content out there – especially on YouTube. But the vast majority of content is created by a small minority.

The rest of the 99 percent don’t have the time, desire or guts.

Ebooks will just be another option that they don’t pursue.

I’m not sure how this impacts Godin’s other insights on book publishing. But he’s predicting a monsoon of ebooks that will make it economically unfeasible to keep the current business models.

I don’t know if there will be enough authors to make his predictions come true.

It seems like an obvious point. There are so many distractions on tablets, that using them for quality reading (ebooks) is practically impossible.

But has anyone done any kind of usability study on this? I would like to see if anyone actually is switching from ebooks to Angry Birds constantly. And would the same distractions occur if you give someone a book and a tablet. Do they keep putting the book down to check their email or play a game?

E-Books on Tablets Fight Digital Distractions

With diversions like e-mail, Twitter, YouTube and games a few taps away, the book-reading experience on a tablet is more like a 21st-century cacophony than a traditional solitary activity.

Because people never are rude when they're using their real identities

The Lewiston Sun Journal may have struck a huge blow for civility on the Internet. Last year they required commenters to disclose their real names. That meant readers had to register and wait for a LSJ staff member to call them. This was meant to discourage nasty people from saying mean things on the newspaper website.

Now the newspaper’s editors say civility has returned to reader comments but at a cost:

“The Sun Journal has spurred better online debate, but among fewer voices. What should happen now with its policy toward online comments?”

To their credit, Anthony Ronzio and Pattie Reaves say that this better online debate may be a less valuable debate. So they’re trying to increase the number of commenters without hurting the quality of debate. In other words, they don’t want anyone “saying things outside any definition of decorum.”

Some questions first

The column used to celebrate the respectful debate left me with a few questions:

• Does the Sun Journal moderate comments? Is anyone checking to make sure the comments are indeed respectful and civil?
• Despite the real identities, do readers and/or commenters still complain about any comments? I’m guessing there are still some issues that need a referee.
• What exactly do the editors think they’re missing? I’m just wondering there is something specific (besides volume of comments) that they think is not coming out in this respectful reader comments system.

I think the answers will reveal that there is still some uncivil comments being posted. Of course it depends on who’s definition of civility you use. Perception of what is appropriate to post online is a very personal concept. So I’m sure there are competing definitions of what is respectful. But I suspect it isn’t a big problem here.

Real identities do not improve the quality of reader comments

It simply doesn’t work that way. People who are insulting jerks will express their nastiness online whether they are anonymous or not:

“I’ve seen people who use their real identities be real jerks on Twitter and Facebook. They make uncivil comments when they’re using those media to broadcast their thoughts. They aren’t having conversations when doing it.”

But didn’t the Sun Journal just prove that the requirement of posting as real people create a forum of civil and respectful debate?

Right effect. Wrong cause.

The reason why debate is so nice is that there are fewer people writing comments.  In a nutshell, people tend to get along better in small groups. And it’s a small group because the Sun Journal has created a fair amount of friction to commenting. To leave a comment on a Sun Journal story, you need to:

1. Register
2. Wait for someone to find out if you are who you are
3. Write a comment

That’s a lot of resistance on the Internet. It’s laziness not fear that’s making comments more civil.

Honestly, I don’t see the problem with having fewer commenters. Even in the more liberal systems, most of the contributing is done by a small number of contributors. Think of them as the 1 Percent. And the Sun Journal should be careful about how it spreads the wealth.

How to make reader comments more civil

If you are bound and determined to bring some civility and respect to reader comments, there are some things that will help.

Small groups and discussions will do wonders for the discussion. If you hand someone a bullhorn in a crowded area, don’t expect a lot of Kumbaya moments.

Communities help. And I’m talking true communities of interest. Don’t just call your readership a community. It needs to be based upon common interest, interaction and real-world connections.

Finally, recognize that nothing will be perfect. It’s best to understand what you want to gain from reader comments and concentrate on narrow goals. Accept you won’t please everyone.

Back in 2000, I suggested something like this was possible to a group of non-journalists. They were horrified that reading habits could be tracked and used to suggest stories.

Have we gotten to the point where people are comfortable with this?

Washington Post Launches Personalized News Aggregator Personal Post – 10,000 Words

Washington Post Launches Personalized News Aggregator Personal Post

This is a great Marketplace/Freakonomics report on employee morale. Love the part about using the number of Dilbert comics posted on walls as a way to determine morale.

So why not ban Dilbert as a way to improve morale?

If you think that’s stupid, then why is it any smarter for a company to tighten it’s sick-day policy? (as illustrated in this radio story) It isn’t. Because employees still found a way to use FMLA to get out of work.

The problem didn’t go away.

The hidden side of keeping employee morale high | Marketplace from American Public Media

Freakonomics Radio takes a look at alternative indicators of office morale, and the unintended consequences when companies try to keep employees happy.

Deirdre Fleming takes a look at the state parks that are playgrounds for crosscountry skiers. Conditions vary and there are groomed trails. But I have a lot of fun in the ungroomed parks.

My favorite is Rangeley Lake State Park. It’s isolated and far enough north that it gets decent snow cover. There is no formal grooming of trails, but snowmobilers use the land to access the Lake. Which is a plus and minus. They pack down the snow for nordic skis but are a bit annoying.

We didn’t see many snowmobiles Sunday when Elaine and I visited.

The trip started in the snowmobile tracks on the main road into the park. Then we turned onto the Moose Country Corridor Trail that was well beaten by snowshoes.

That’s not recommended terrain for skis. But we’ve done this trail before on backcountry skis. It can be tricky. A couple tight turns and fallen branches required careful navigation. Plus I committed the cardinal sin of following trails. I followed the tracks in the snow instead of the trail markers. The previous party wandered off trail. I followed until the tracks stopped in the middle of nowhere.

I love skiing snowshoe trails. It’s a fast, almost effortless way to cut through the woods. It takes a little more skill than skiing groomed trails. It’s worth it to be in the middle of the woods in the deep winter. It’s a beautiful sort of isolation.

Short story is that we found the trail again and made our way back to the park roads. We enjoyed the sun and the mountain views while drinking hot chocolate.

We stuck to the snowmobile-groomed roads to get back to the car. Though most of the trip was uphill, it went smoothly. I was in the groove (not literally) and my body was happy to put forth the effort. The last 200 yards was downhill. A reward for making the effort. It was less thrilling than the Hudson Highway at Saddleback but still made me smile.

Why we do this

Winter is a challenge. The cold needs to be managed. Travel is harder if you’re not into motorized recreation. But the reward for doing something few people are willing to try is a sense of accomplishment and mastery of the elements that beat the adrenaline induced by speed. And it’s better for the soul.

Sarah Kliff rounds up the ICD-10 coding controversy in a way that really bugs me in The Washington Post blog. She cites parrot injuries to demonstrate why ICD-10 codes create so much controversy.

If you read my work at ICD10Watch.com, you will learn why it’s not my favorite tact.

But Kliff deserves credit for quoting me in her post.  Nice research.

Bob Garfield is skeptical about the profitability of hyperlocal news sites. He may be partially right. I don’t think you can apply the same business models that newspapers use to such sites. Successful media organizations will have smarter advertising models and curate/aggregate/consolidate hypertopical content niches. #hyperlocal #news #revenue

When Google launched “Search Plus Your World“ (SPYW) it took a big step toward becoming the company that everyone loves to hate. By integrating search results from the Google+ network into your regular search, plenty of people cried foul. And not just the ones working for Twitter and Facebook.

via “Focus on the User” inserts competing social network links into Google search results | Techerator.

Nice execution on a great idea. It should simplify self-publishing. I'm looking for a Terms of Service page though to make sure copyright issues and such are defined.

Hugh McGuire on the Future of Digital Publishing and PressBooks

My Media Hacks alum, Hugh McGuire stopped by to tell me about his interesting new company, PressBooks, a new tool to let authors and publishers create books via WordPress and some other magic. Hugh&#3…