Plenty of juicy Apple news and rumors, find out what the bald-kid-free Avatar means for some companies, and learn that Kindle's best-sellers have a unique price advantage. Take two iTablets and call me when the release date is set, we've got career news for fanboys, geeks, fangirls, and more . . .
Predictions:
Venture Beat's predictions for 2010 – I agree with a lot of these, and there's some thought-provokers.
Career:
Ten reasons you have to manage your personal brand by Personal branding guru Dan Schwabel.
On a job search? Maybe you need a re-start.
Economics/Geekonomics:
A bust in credit coming – again? – A pretty good argument for it. And with declines in credit, that's declines in economic activity . . .
Media:
Just who were the true Masters of science fiction this decade? Chart-geek goodness that helps you think about who has had what influence. Plus it gives me the mind-bloing image of a Joss Whedon/James Cameron teamup . . .
It's not just sci-fi fans and people who like 10-foot tall blue aliens:The movie Avatar has been good for 3D Technology vendors. One of those things you may not think about when you see a hit movie – the influence the tech has on markets. Also Avatar broke IMAX records and raked in a lot of cash period.
Apparently Disney is looking at Marvel for Television properties, especially more obscure characters. I'm pretty sure Power Pack is going to appear in some form soon.
Mobile:
T-Mobile confirms they're doing some support for the Nexus One aka Google Phone.
Publishing:
64 of the top 100 Kindle bestsellers are free. Didn't know that, and it's something to remember as people talk about the future of e-books.
Social Media:
Facebook was the most visited site Christmas and Christmas Eve. Not surprising, but noteworthy.
LinkedIn reaches 50 million members. I'm sure that the economy has something to do with that – but also with people becoming more used to social media.
Technology:
It seems the new Apple tablet is possibly called iSlate or iGuide. From what the news-junkies at MacRumors.com can gather, it seems the Apple Tablet is focusing on being – as we guessed – a media device. However there may be confusion, as Apple might be doing it's own E-reader. All signs point to whatever the iFlatThing is, it's going to be media-heavy or part of a media-heavy series. I wonder if the rumors of a 10" and 7" iHaveANewThing are actually two very different devices. Keep watching . . .
Adobe the top Hacker Target for 2010? I'm not sure about the report entirely, with the widespread use of Adobe products there's room for concern period. This is also why, despite my use of Mac, I still use NoScript and FlashBlock. If you're in IT, read this report over and think a bit.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: At some point increase and interest in social media has to plateau – when will that be and why?
– Steven Savage