Archives: April 2007

Wal-Mart Needs Another Business Model.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 25

Back in November, '06, I posted a view that Wal-Mart needed something different if it was to succeed moving forward. There was an avalanche of comment for that post. Now,...

The Truth About Web 2.0.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 25

I received this insightful comment off my post showing that only a tiny percentage of people visiting YouTube and other big social media sites actually create and put up anything....

Most Web 2.0 Users Are Really Just Couch Potatoes.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 22

A study by Bill Tancer, an analyst with Hitwise, which measures Web 2.0 audiences, shows that only a tiny fraction of people using social media actively participate. A miniscule 0.16...

TED Talks--Free Bono, Brilliant, Bezos, Bangle And More Podcasts.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 21

TED's new website has some extraordinary people podcasting away for free. If you have the time, listen to Janine Benyus on sustainable design concepts from nature....

How Old Is Your Brain?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 21

David Armano's terrific headline here on his Logic + Emotion blog raises a fascinating question about how young or old you think. As David suggests, it doesn't correlate simply to...

Earth Day In Times Square, New York.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 20

If you are in New York City on Saturday, get down to Times Square and check out the 185 banners by artists, designers, illustrators and other creative folks to celebrate...

London Is So Far Ahead Of New York--Even In Traffic.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 20

I moderated a panel on urban mobility at the last World Economic Forum in Davos and London Mayor Ken Livingstone was there and asked me "if Mayor Bloomberg can ban...

May Conference on Innovation In Chicago Will Be Important.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 18

Patrick Whitney's Illinois Institute of Design is putting on one of its terrific conferences on Design Strategy on May 17-18. Hasso Plattner, the cofounder of SAP and the man who...

Virginia Tech--Using Facebook To Deal With Tragedy.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 18

This is posted by Jessi Hempel, innovation editor, who will soon have her own blog. Shortly after shots were heard on Virginia Tech’s campus, sophomore Katie Olsen logged onto her...

Thanks Gawker For Setting The Record Straight--How Crowd-Mobbing Controls A Conversation.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 17

I'm all for parody so "Business Week Editor, Former Gang Member, Lives in Terror of Roving Packs of Lesbians" had me laughing this morning. This parody of what actually happened...

McKinsey Shows That Business Managers Are Wary Of Blogs And Wikis.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 17

Here's more information and analysis on why CEOs and top managers fear wikis and blogs. Let me quote from the author of the Mar. 22 McKinsey Global Survey, "How businesses...

Who Controls The Conversation?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 15

We have a full-blown conversation going on about the shape and direction of the conversation economy. This may be one of the most important developments of our time, having huge...

We Have To Redesign Our Jury System. We Need Designers To Do It.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 12

We need to train fresh eyes and new design thinking on our jury system. I just spent a second day on jury duty and the process of jury selection--voir dire--doesn't...

This Year's The Webby Awards--Go Vote.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 11

There are 60 cateories, 5 or more entrants each for the Webbies and I'm having fun going through all of them. Some sites are boring, some are dumb but so...

Mayor Bloomberg, Design a Better Jury Duty Experience.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 10

I'm on jury duty. It's an important duty and I do it every time I'm called. Juries provide one of the few opportunities for people from all over the social...

Free Great Podcasts! From PopTech!

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 09

Yep, Andrew Zolli tells me he has some great Podcast stuff. Since he's one of the best futurists I know, it's worth checking into. I just heard Carolyn Porco, head...

"Climate Pornography." Comment No. 4.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 09

If you are interested in design, sustainability and business, you must read Thackara's blog, Doors of Perception. Here's what he has to say about designing a more sustainable world. John...

Conversation Architecture--It's The Future.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 09

Check out David Armano's terrific piece on shaping conversations at the Innovation & Design site. This is one of the most important issues of our day. How do we deal...

Design For The Bottom Of The Pyramid.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 09

Cooper Hewitt in NYC is going to have a great exhibit in May of beautifully ugly products designed to help people in developing countries--things like water pumps and pots and...

Design Journalism Sucks. Are Designers The Enemy of Design--Comment No. 3: Tim Brown/IDEO.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 08

This third comment to the Parson's speech Are Designers The Enemy of Design by Tim Brown provides a powerful argument to why Design Thinking is perhaps the best hope to...

Are Designers Focussing On Simplicity--Or Do They Love Lots Of Features?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 08

A recent conference called on interface designers to pay more attention to simplicity and ease of use, especially for the growing older population. Here are some quotes: Panelist B.J. Fogg,...

Are Designers The Enemy of Design--Comment No.2.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 07

We're running through all 50 comments to my Parsons speech--Are Designers The Enemy of Design. Here is No. 2 by Tony Fry, Design Consultant Founder, EcoDesign Foundation Director, Team D/E/S...

A Manifesto On Sustainability In Design.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 06

Allan Chochinov at Core77 has written an important Manifesto on Sustainability In Design that should be read by business people and designers alike. Let me quote just two of many...

Chinese Education Opts For Innovation--US Education Opts For Rote Leaning.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 06

You can't miss this insightful piece in the New York Times on how the Chinese are trying to transform their education system to teach students how to be more creative...

Are Designers The Enemy Of Design? The Global Conversation.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 06

Get set for a real treat--a truly global conversation on the future of design that was triggered by my provocative speech at Parsons--Are Designers The Enemy of Design? 50 folks...

Is Bill McDonough The Next Adam Smith? His Cradle-to-Cradle Paradigm May Be The Next Phase of Capitalism.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 05

Bill McDonough has opened a San Francisco office because he is getting so much architectural work from the likes of Google, VM Ware and other Silicon Valley companies who are...

No Impact Man And Me.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 04

No Impact Man's Colin Beavan writes in his blog that my dichotomy between "hair-shirt" live lightly on the land environmentalism and cradle-to-cradle, go-go growth sustainability doesn't hold. They are part...

Corporations Like Web 2.0 But Not Blogs. They're Afraid Of Their Own People.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 03

McKinsey is out with a Global Survey that shows business execs love user-driven collaboration, especially peer-to-peer networking, web services, social networking, podcasts, wikis and RSS feeds. But execs do not...

Snakes In the ....Google's Office.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 03

For a look at the Python that escaped from Google's New York office and made the news, check out the official Google blog. They found Kaiser the snake and all...

More On Enemies of Design.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 03

GK VanPatter over at NextD is asking 25 design gurus what they think about the Parson's speech--Are Designers Enemies of Design? He'll publish the results in the next issue. So...

America In Decline?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 03

Two factoids that may make a very important trend: 1- Europe has moved ahead of the US in stock market value for the first time since WW 1. Add up...

Poll Results Are In--Are Designers The Enemies of Design.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 03

Check out David Armano's poll of what people (designers mostly) thought of my provocative speech at Parsons--Are Designers The Enemy of Design. David's poll shows 35% of the folks agree,...

Apple, EMI And The Death Of DRM

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 02

Only Steve Jobs could pull off something like this but today was significant in ending restrictions on music sharing (digital rights management restrictions). The deal between Apple and EMI ending...

Who Locked Up Newsweek's Twitter URL?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 02

David Armano points out that the Twitter URLs for CNBC, MSNBC, Newsweek and Business Week are registered by someone with an email address that goes by "pleasantcreature." Remember all those...

The Best Products For 2007--Here's The Design Jury.

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 02

It's rare to have the design genius Richard Sapper (think Thinkpad) jury a contest but he's joining an amazingly talented group to pick this year's winners for the Industrial Design...

Starwood Loses Its CEO--Is It's Innovation At Risk?

Posted by: Bruce Nussbaum on April 02

Starwood announced that its CEO Steve Heyer is retiring at the request of the board of directors and I'm hoping the dispute is about his management style rather than the...