The new world of twitter… and maybe google.

Rumors of last night are that Google is close to acquiring Twitter… see Techcrunch if this rumor matters to you. I opened my TweetDeck late last night (as I often do). And saw acquire as a trending topic. I clicked on the term… some 30 minutes old… and watched it grow over the next couple of hours before the country went to bed (when traffic tailed off). The social trifecta is very much alive…

Interestingly… I see twitter and similar technologies as a new trending and buzz tool… there has been speculation that Twitter is the next generation of "search" — I question search versus aggregation. Twitter aggregates thoughts, ideas, and loosely conversation. It is tools through their API that have enabled search, albiet with their API limits, this makes it really hard to be overly innovative. Until this data is opened up or more free … we will not know the gems locked within. Strategically, we may never see this data on a public API and this may be where the true value is locked for Google.

I still do not think that twitter can ever be a true corporate or enterprise tool… (or really get to be a true crm tool, even though some companies use it that way..)… most people are focused on how do they advertise within Twitter… Twitter has long been relegated to a feature … NOT A PRODUCT. And I still very much see it that way, but as with most things Web 2.0 – buzz drives excitement, excitement drives interest, interest and eyeballs are success. Then sets off the easy part of the business plan (or so they say) … then we can just monetize the eyeballs.

Fair warning, the social web does not work that way. We have to get back to the basics of what I have dubbed as the social trifecta (more on this in future posts). The crash course of the trifecta; ethos, pathos, and logos. The social web is persuasive or rhetorical media. Unlike the media of old where you broadcast… (traditional radio or tv theory). This is about establishing credibility, appealing to emotion, and providing logical thought.

We see this over and over; peole dont want to be advertised to on Facebook (that and most Facebook ads are really bad). The guys who get slaughtered in this arena are the people who’s opening bid is to "buy my product" or "let me sell you something"… "check out my get rich quick scheme" … interestingly corporate identities also loose credibility. Social web-goers prefer to deal with individuals, even if that person is representing a company. And you have see the growth of the personal brand. An employee being the embodiment of the corporate brand. Marketing is changing boys and girls. Don’t be a dinasuar… 

Unlocking the Blackberry Perl 8100

My Blackberry Pearl was recently out of Warranty, I was considering using it for future international travel. I called ATT and told them I was planning International travel and needed to unlock my phone. They placed me on hold and eventually came back and had the code.

The process they described on the phone was slightly flawed, I wanted to share the correct process;

1. Turn off the Radio

2. Navigate the menu Options -> Advanced Options -> SIM Card This should say something like ID: (long number)

3. Press M E O O D (no spaces) This will display a new list of options on the phone’s SIM Card menu. Personalization: SIM Disabled Network Enabled Network Subset Disabled Service Provider Disabled Corporate Disabled

4. Press M E O O 2 (On the Pearl this requires Alt-T = 2, once again no spaces) At this point you should be looking at a box asking for a code. Note: You are typically limited to 10 tries, don’t mess this up. If you don’t have a code don’t even try this.

5. Enter the code ATT (or other provider gave you), click the pearl to select Now where before the list said "Network Enabled" should now say "Network Disabled" and you are good to go.