Offline to Online

I believe Barnes and Noble made a noteworthy transition to the online world.  Not only do they still sell traditional books that can be shipped to the old-school customer, they have evolved with changes in technology.  They now sell digital versions of ALL of the books they sell, also known as eBooks.  Inspired by the eBook and evolving technology, they created the Nook, one of iPad's more affordable competitors.  Instead of being afraid to change, they gave customers a reason to stay loyal.

When you think of an iPad, it's hard to remember its other competitors.  Without research, the only other reading device that comes to the top of my head is a Kindle.  But to my surprise, I found SEVEN other "eReaders" that I had never heard of before.  While on the Borders website to see if they also sold digital books, I found that Sony actually has 2 eReaders on the market, on long with competitors I have never heard of like Velocity and Kobo.  The Velocity Micro Tablet is $300, touch screen, has built in apps, a built in accelerometer, and much more.  Can you find affordable iPad competitors???

barnesandnoble.com
www.velocitymicro.com/item.php?iid=4511

The Good & the Bad About Social Media

Businesses enter the social media world to benefit their company.  @AskAmex, American Express' Twitter Team, was created as a customer service tool to deal with questions and complaints in an efficient and cheap manner.  And in Boeing's case, they got the chance to provide a measly explanation of their cold-hearted behavior in response to Mr. Winsor's concern.  

But the risk of allowing employees to control the social media of big corporations seems to outweigh any benefits.  What it all comes down to: trust.  Will employees intentionally or unintentionally ruin the company's reputation?  Will they lose control of content being posted? Will the use of business social media lead to the use of personal social media on the job, creating a lack of productivity?

Companies used to completely ignore the social media existence by blocking them in the work environment.  But now the time has come where they have to embrace the new communication technology or get left behind.  In response to the risks addressed, companies need to develop risk management.  They need to assign one person to the social media project.  They need to learn how to control what can be said by employees, as well as visitors to the site.  As for the possible lack of productivity, it's been suggested to hold training sessions on order to educate employees on social media.  It's a nice thought, but will it work? Doubtful.

http://blogs.gartner.com/kristin_moyer/2009/02/09/risk-management-and-social-media-a-paradigm-shift/

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20007071-93.html