Wednesday Linkfest « Scott Berkun

Wednesday Linkfest

Here’s a gaggle of links for this week:

Take criticism like Trump. The weird thing about modeling anything on Trump is how random his decisions on his TV show often are.
The post windows era. Articles like this have been written for 15 years. The thing is Windows will be around for another 15 years, and will probably be a billion dollar business for that long just on inertia. Windows might be less relevant each year, but it will still sell. Frankly Windows has always been less relevant to people than the apps that run on it and that was true before the web.
Reality of a Times bestseller. People are really surprised by how little writers get paid, yet at the same time people have no hesitation borrowing or going to the library instead of paying money to get them.
Liner notes from the game Spore. This stuff is just cool – it’s a bit technical, but I always like behind the scenes stuff from people who were not the head honchos.
Your business card is crap. Beyond explanation. I just hope this is a joke.
Why discuss project failure?. Nice little list that dovetails well with why designers fail.
Great interview with David Simon, creator of the Wire, by Bill Moyer.

Posted Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 9:54 am

in linkfest | 12 Comments » |

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Steven - April 22, 2009 at 10:14 am

Lending books to each other and going to the library is bad? I think the model must be broken if it can’t support that. The site is down so I can’t read it.

I bought Making Things Happen, but I’d feel no guilt about lending it to someone. It would probably end up getting another copy sold some way or another.

Digital copies… that’s a whole other story.

Scott Berkun - April 22, 2009 at 10:38 am

Hi Steven:

I’d never ever ever suggest there is anything wrong with libraries and lending books. I use libraries and borrow books very often myself.

My only narrow point is that if you a) wonder why authors don’t make much money, and b) you typically do not pay anything for the books you read, you should connect those two dots as they are related.

Scott Berkun - April 22, 2009 at 10:43 am

To make the point another way:

When I borrow a book, and it turns out I enjoy it, I wish there was some donation box somewhere I couldn’t donate money to in return for the quality of the experience I had, for free.

In approximation, I have bought copies of books I loved, after reading them first in the library, and given them to people.

I deeply feel there’s something broken if I enjoy something someone else spent a long time making and do nothing in return. Either in terms of cash. Writing a review. Recommending it to friends. Giving copies to people. Something to reward the creation of things I like or that had an impact on me.

That’s really the spirit of the a vs. b gap above.

Scott Berkun - April 22, 2009 at 1:32 pm

Joson: yeah. I’m not sure heartbreaker is the right word, as the whole world spins on selling used things where no money gets back to the dudes who made the thing.

But it is just something I think about as a writer. If there was a donation jar to put 50 cents in if I read a used book I enjoyed, I’d pay it.

At least that 50 cents would go straight to the author, whereas buying a book through a store, and through a publisher, sees most of what you plunk down go to those necessary middlemen.

Steven - April 22, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Scott: I understand your point now. Now that I can read the article, he gets 64 cents per book, the donation jar makes a lot of sense since you’d probably save a lot more than that getting a used copy.

Tisha - April 23, 2009 at 6:54 am

Re: “Your business card is crap” What are your recommendations for business cards? Obviously we can’t all afford $4 per card, die-cut, etc., etc. This guy seemed pretty full of himself.

Scott Berkun - April 23, 2009 at 8:44 am

I don’t use business cards. I’ve found they’re unnecessary. My URL is my name and as long as people remember that they’re good.

Also the books make better giveaways to people, and worst case they can usually remember the name of one of the books.

That said I think the best way to go if you do think you need them is:

- Simple
- not cheap (get expensive stock, it’s really not that expensive)
- Don’t go for distinctive or original unless you are a designer

Really all a card does is serve to remind people of whatever conversation you had with them and give them an easy way to follow up with you. That’s all it needs to do.

Tisha - April 23, 2009 at 11:57 am

LOL if I ever write a book, I’ll be sure to keep some on hand for giveaways; thanks for the input. Also, just finished Making Things Happen, I am planning to go through it again with a highlighter, tons of great info in there! Myths of Innovation was also a great read.