Erik Qualman's Blog, page 683

Steve Jobs Resigns, Apple Visionless

Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO. He will remain as Chairman of the Board. Tim Cook is Apple's new CEO. Jobs, 56, submitted his resignation to the Apple board of directors on Wednesday. Tim Cook is tabbed as his replacement.  In a letter announcing his resignation, Jobs asked to remain chairman of the board and an Apple employee.

"I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's C.E.O., I

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Steve Jobs Resigns as CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011

would be the first to let you know," Jobs wrote. "Unfortunately, that day has come."

While analysts indicate this shouldn't affect Apple in the short term, let me stress short term. It's my belief that someone like Steve Jobs isn't someone you can replace. Visionaries like Jobs only come along so often. Expect the long term to be a much more difficult road for Apple. We knew the day was coming soon when Jobs would step down, yet it is something maybe you can never prepare for. The silver lining is that he will remain on as Chairman so at least his vision will be there for a little more time.

I pull from Steve Jobs keynote to Stanford seniors in 2005, because I feel it catches the moment and epitomizes the icon that is Jobs. Jobs career and contribution to society will be talked about just like we talk about Rockefeller & Walt Disney.

Steve Jobs gave similar advice to graduating Stanford students:

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting. It wasn't all romantic: I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it.

And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example: Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

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Steve Jobs Resigns on his own terms: At the age of 30 Steve Jobs was asked to leave Apple. This time at 56 Jobs resigns on his own terms.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac.

It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking back ten years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking back. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

I was lucky I found what I loved to do early in life…

… This (cancer diagnosis) was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful, but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there.

And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now, the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited; so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Then somehow know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Related Articles: Steve Jobs Infographic, 15 Things You Didn't Know About Steve Jobs

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Steve Jobs: 15 Things You Didn't Know

Steve Jobs resigns!

It was tough to see Steve Jobs resign as CEO from Apple. The below is a quick infographic from onlineschools.org on 15 things you may not have known about Steve Jobs.

Via: Online Schools

Hats off to Ellie Koning for a great infographic design.

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One Tent & Facebook Group Bring Israeli's Together

When your landlord tells you that they are raising the price of rent, most people move or complain and pay up. Daphne Leef, a 25-year-old Israeli film editor who has been living in Tel Aviv took a different approach. She pitched a tent in the Habima Square in Tel Aviv, and created a Facebook page inviting others to join her in a protest against the sky rocketing prices of rent in Israel.

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Tel Aviv protest were assisted by Facebook

Leef, like many other Israeli's had had enough with unaffordable prices of rent in Israel, and had something to say about it. She started a campaign for the working middle class, for social justice, rent and better education.

When she first moved into her tent on Rotschild Street in the center of Tel Aviv, less then 20 others followed her. Today, there are thousands of tents all across Israel, and there have been three major protests and rallies across tiny

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but mighty country. On Saturday, August 6th over 250,000 people in the streets of Tel Aviv, closing some of the streets in the city, to bring awareness and show their support for bringing out social change in Israel. It is also important to keep in mind that Israel has a population of about 6 million, and "according to Comscore, Israel is ranked 37th in terms of the number of Facebook users, with 3.4 million Israelis – a whopping 46 percent of the population – on Facebook," according to Viva Sarah Press, published June 13th, 2011.

The simple act of moving into a tent, and using Facebook to rally the people not only has people in Israel doing something, but all across America as well.

"Israelis in the United States pitched tents in New York's Time Square, across the street from the White House and at a park in Los Angeles. About 200 ex-Israelis and supporters of Israel's housing protesters demonstrated in Los Angeles' Woodley Park Sunday, in a protest organized on Facebook, according to Ynet," according to The Jewish Daily Forward, published on August 8th, 2011.

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This is not the first time that Facebook has been utilized successfully to bring a nation or group of people together as a call to action. As we saw earlier this year with the Egyptian Revolution, which also began with a Facebook group. "The page, titled " We Are All Khaled Said" in remembrance of an Alexandria man murdered by police last summer, was founded in June and snowballed into one of Egypt's most influential activist sites," a quote from the World News published February 24th, 2011.

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Sources:

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=israel+protest+2011&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=576&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=rUXGUTsrUPIBzM:&imgrefurl=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/israel-and-palestine/110803/foreign-press-protests-media&docid=BfoSbuAh1Eoi_M&w=360&h=240&ei=rxdMTtH9B8PZsgbWhLmyAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=458&vpy=98&dur=151&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=152&ty=106&page=1&tbnh=137&tbnw=183&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0
http://www.forward.com/articles/141065/
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/02/24/middle-east-uprising-facebooks-back-channel-diplomacy.html
http://www.israel21c.org/briefs/israelis-top-users-of-facebook

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Chris Hughes' Jumo is GOOD

[image error]Chris Hughes one of the founders of Facebook and mastermind behind Barack Obama's winning election campaign provided this recent announcement around his social network Jumo:

I'm thrilled to share with you the exciting news that Jumo is combining forces with GOOD to create a powerful online content and social engagement platform. This is an enormous opportunity for our talented teams to build a single community of like-minded people and mission-driven organizations.

When we started Jumo over a year and half ago, we had a simple mission: to use technology to help everyday people have a meaningful impact on the world. We've long believed that the best way to facilitate positive change is to connect individuals to outstanding organizations working on the ground in our communities and around the world.

Today, we are one step closer to fulfilling this goal. GOOD brings to the table a vibrant community of three million monthly users who read and interact with their dynamic content. Jumo brings a network of motivated activists and nearly 15,000 socially driven organizations.

The marriage of these two organizations lays the foundation for us to form the most extensive network of people, organizations, and opportunities in the social sector. Nowhere else on the web will you find as many committed people or high-performing organizations as you will on the GOOD/Jumo platform.

As our teams combine, you will see the emergence of a single, vibrant online network on GOOD.is. I will be teaming up with GOOD's CEO, Ben Goldhirsh, to help grow GOOD and Jumo through an important stage of development. And in the spirit of our heritage as a non-profit, we will be open-sourcing our own codebase to enable other social entrepreneurs to use our progress thus far for their own endeavors.

We're looking forward to continuing our work in pursuit of global change over the years to come.  We would love to hear from you at contact@jumo.com. Stay tuned!

Chris Hughes

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Improv Everywhere: Gotta Share! Video

Improv Everywhere social media musical (Gotta Share Musical)  is already over one million views on YouTube:

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

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Athletes Can Drop the Ball When Using Social Media

Many of us who follow the sports world have read or heard about some of the Twitter gaffes that professional or collegiate athletes have made in the last few years.

Mistakes, in fact, that have led to crack downs by teams or schools, who in many instances now warn athletes that their actions are being monitored and taken seriously.

Among some of the notable messages (tweets worded as they went out over the Internet):

Steve Johnson Buffalo Bills wide receiver blames God for game winning dropped pass – "I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…"
San Diego Charger's Antonio Cromartie's Food Tweet – "Man we have 2 have the most nasty food of any team. Damn can we upgrade 4 str8 years

the same ish maybe that's y we can't we the SB we need."
Marlon Williams of Texas Tech Tweeting about his coach being late – "Wondering why I'm still in this meeting room when the head coach can't even be on time to his on meeting."

While none of those tweets were offensive as far as any racial slurs etc. against any individuals or groups, they did not win any favors either from their employers or college officials.

 

Think Before You Type

For athletes using sites like Twitter, it allows them to be closer to their fans and fellow athletes as they share details regarding their personal lives. Going viral, however, does have its shortcomings, especially when a tweet is perceived as a slam against an individual or group.

Former Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson was hit a while back with a two-week suspension after using an anti-gay slur on his Twitter account. In light of that, Johnson switched his account over to private, meaning individuals had to gain his approval before being allowed to read his posts.

That being said, some athletes are actually tweeting up a storm on Twitter, with New England Patriots and former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco tweeting on average more than eight times each hour.

In order to make for better experiences on sites like Twitter, some professional and collegiate teams have hired social media consultants to work with athletes, meaning that what they're saying online will not come back to haunt them or their organizations/schools.

The bottom line is that athletes who take to tweeting need to remember that those messages can become viral time bombs in such a short period of time.

Even if there is an apology to a message they made, the athlete can suffer repercussions for some time to come. Among those problems can be suspensions, fines and loss of pricey endorsements.

As social media continues to evolve, and as athletes continue to want to express their feelings about their games, careers and life in general, those who employ such individuals (while athletes are not technically employed by colleges, they do represent the schools) will likely be monitoring what they say.

Remember, it just takes one tweet, Facebook share or other electronic communication for an athlete to drop the ball.

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Social Media Club Chooses Socialnomics

Socialnomics named August Book of the Month

What an honor to have  the Social Media Club (318 clubs in 49 countries) select Socialnomics for their August reading. Thanks for all of the kind reviews to date btw.  Many have asked about the Social Media Club and it is truly an incredible movement. I've been fortunate to speak at several of their chapters. You know I love infographics and the Social Media Club was kind enough to supply the below (can't believe it's already been five years!).

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Twitter Tips Infographic

Get 10x more followers on Twitter by adding your picture. We thought some of your friends that are new to Twitter might find this type of information helpful. So our friends at Twiends put the below infographic together. Enjoy!

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Staying Centered in a Hectic Life

I remember the days of sipping my coffee quietly, relaxing with a good book, and enjoying a lazy Sunday morning. The key word there was "remember." Those days are on hold for now as my husband and I are energetic exhausted parents to a sweet 2 year old boy (a.ka. "The Human Tornado") and a 7 month-old daughter.

I stay at home with my children, and while that time is precious (read- good days and bad) it's easy to get overwhelmed. That relaxing cup of coffee has turned into frantic chugs to stay awake, the relaxing book is now reading the expiration date on the coupon for diapers and that lazy Sunday morning has developed into dodging flying Hot Wheels. Even typing this on my laptop is proving challenging as my son has delicately plucked 6 keys off my keyboard. That's fun right?  I digress.

Everyone, whether you work in an office or stay at home, experiences stress. It's a go, go, go society. So the other day I was driving home from running errands. My daughter was letting me know it was lunchtime with her sweet ear drum bursting screams and my son was kicking the back of my seat with fierce force. I was tuning them out when ironically the channel was discussing a social media site called Intent.com (www.intent.com).

Intent.com is the brainchild of Mallika Chopra (yes, that is her dad). The site is designed somewhat like Facebook but with a more zen approach.

Intent.com's motto is "Dream It. Share It. Achieve It. What's Your Intent?" The site allows you to type in your intent (similiar to your Facebook status). In doing so, it allows you to take ownership of your goals for the day. I don't mean "I intend to do 4 loads of laundry, finish my book club book, and rescue a kitten from a tree..in that order" . Intentions are more or less related to staying focused and centered. For instance, my intent for the day is to stay centered, stay focused and enjoy the now.

The site allows you to "support" (basically"Like") someone's intent as well as "reintent" (similar to "retweet"). You can also read blogs from fellow members, read inspiring quotes, link the site to your Facebook and Twitter accounts and track your goals/intents.

In a world where it's easy to get stressed or unfocused, Intent.com allows a little piece of zen. What's your intent today?

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Social Network Users Statistics

Facebook is rapidly approaching 1 billion users, but keep an eye on Badoo. Badoo primarily connects teens that want to hook up and is based in Soho (UK). Its not popular in the US, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

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Chart courtesy of Italy's Vincenzo Cosenza

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