Simplicity Rules

Adam DuVander on keeping it simple

Save My Finger post-mortem

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Almost a year ago, I mentioned Save My Finger. It was a certain link-bait scenario. Pretty sleazy, really. There were plenty of people, myself included, who rubber-necked at the accident.

In April, we learned what we already knew: Carl, scheduled to lose his finger, was fictional. It was a viral marketing “experiment.” Using that word is another way of saying it wasn’t an out-of-the-park hit. The site didn’t make it to the two million unique visitors that it needed to save Carl’s finger.

Yet, SaveMyFinger guy calls it a success:

My point in this experiment was to prove that it IS possible to open up a website and within days if not hours be receiving massive traffic. Internet marketing is a numbers game, regardless of what you are selling or how you are monetizing your website, Traffic is KING!

Egads. Anyone ever built a campfire? With a match and newspaper, it’s easy to get a flame. It doesn’t last long. For that you need wood. You need patience. You need to do good stuff.

I wouldn’t write off viral marketing. There will always be hucksters and used car salesmen doing it badly, burning the newspaper, and catching the momentary attention of the rubber-neckers.

I hope I have the patience not to be one.

Everyday innovations in Meatspace

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Weird Al’s new album (meta-photo by toxickaty)

Nothing could get me down on the day that Weird Al’s new album hit stores. Not even the difficult-to-open CD packaging stopped me from boppin’.

Weird Al, like many artists, has been worried about people stealing his songs. He didn’t embrace some fooey digital rights management stuff, though. He started releasing special stuff with the physical CD. Thick booklet, sure, but he’s also had movies, photos, and lyrics.

This time he’s got a Dual Disc, which is a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. Even the case is pretty cool, with a rounded edge and a li’l button to open it up.

But what’s with the clear tape they use to seal the CDs? It took me most of the train ride home to get into it. Tiny piece by tiny piece, I picked my way down, like Tom Robbins in Shawshank Redemption.

It’s been ages since I bought a CD, and I’ve had this same issue every time. In the mid-90s, I actually bought a CD opener, a special piece of plastic that pokes holes at just the right places. (My Internet was also at 28.8Kps). Where’s our innovation? Why do I still need a CD opener?

They soup up the case. They snazify the disc. But all I remember is how long it took me to open the damn thing.

Ten questions for self-made billionaires

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The Forbes 400 richest people list is out and it’s made entirely of billionaires. The magazine picked out 14 who are self-made and asked them ten questions.

One of the questions hit on something I’ve written a lot about: Idea or Execution?

I was surprised to see three chose the idea, but didn’t elaborate much. Six sided with what I’d call the obvious choice, execution.

Most enlightening is that, despite being asked to choose one, five of the billionaires still picked both. Are they rich because they never take no for an answer? Or, are they demanding because they’re rich?

Other good questions:

  • What was your biggest mistake?
  • What motivates you?
  • If you could be anything else, what would it be?

Read them all at Forbes.

The two types of APIs

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Two weeks ago we had a good Web Innovators meeting. There were only four of us: Jacob, Marshall, Ryan, and me. The smaller group made for an in-depth discussion about APIs.

We kept coming back to a distinction between whether the API is authenticated or public. Am I getting at my own data or am I going for something aggregated?

Most mashups make use of public APIs. Indeed, data is usually more valuable and useful in aggregated form. That stops some sites from offering APIs, because they fear giving away all the stuff that makes their site tick. Of those who do open up, many use authenticated APIs, which limits the result-set to only stuff associated with one user’s account.

No matter which a site chooses, the question that needs to be answered is how they take advantage of being open. The video-sharing behemoth YouTube has an API, but the biggest way they grew was by allowing people to embed their movies. Somehow the link back to their site made traffic snowball. Pretty amazing. So, while they give away videos on other peoples’ sites, they end up getting more direct visitors through that branding. (Mark Cuban isn’t convinced this is a good idea).

Is the secret to have a widget that is used along-side the API? That’s what Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo! do with their maps. But what do these big companies get out of providing such a valuable service for free? I guess brand recognition and free research from mashup makers is enough.

Ryan said something like, “A good use case for APIs is to ask whether it’s letting users make your service better.” This is definitely a reason for authenticated APIs. Let a user get at the data in their account in new and innovative ways.

At the same time, the authentication ties you to the originating service, much like a widget would in the public example. It’s a partially-open approach, but it seems to work, and you get credit for your service. And that’s really what it’s about, right? If you relinquish some control, you should get something in return. If you’re a mashup maker, that means you should be giving something back. Isn’t that the goal of being open?

APIs, APIs, everywhere – Portland Web Innovators September meeting

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Hey Portland Web geeks! The Portland Web Innovators are getting together for our September meeting tomorrow (Wednesday), September 6. Check out the details at Upcoming.

The topic will be APIs: what are they? how are people using them? how can you offer them with your service?

If you are interested in using or offering an API, we’ll bring together some Portland people who share your interests.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006, 7 p.m., at Equator Coffee Cafe.