June 5, 2009: summarized from Time Magazine -- The one thing you can say for certain about Twitter is that it makes a terrible first impression. You hear about this new service that lets you send 140-character updates to your "followers," and you think, Why does the world need this, exactly? It's not as if we were all sitting around four years ago scratching our heads and saying, "If only there were a technology that would allow me to send a message to my 50 friends, alerting them in real time about my choice of breakfast cereal."
I, too, was skeptical at first. I had met Evan Williams, Twitter's co-creator, a couple of times in the dotcom '90s when he was launching Blogger.com. Back then, what people worried about was the threat that blogging posed to our attention span, with telegraphic, two-paragraph blog posts replacing long-format articles and books. With Twitter, Williams was launching a communications platform that limited you to a couple of sentences at most. What was next? Software that let you send a single punctuation mark to describe your mood?
And yet as millions of devotees have discovered, Twitter turns out to have unsuspected depth. In part this is because hearing about what your friends had for breakfast is actually more interesting than it sounds. The technology writer Clive Thompson calls this "ambient awareness": by following these quick, abbreviated status reports from members of your extended social network, you get a strangely satisfying glimpse of their daily routines. We don't think it at all moronic to start a phone call with a friend by asking how her day is going. Twitter gives you the same information without your even having to ask.
The social warmth of all those stray details shouldn't be taken lightly. But I think there is something even more profound in what has happened to Twitter over the past two years, something that says more about the culture that has embraced and expanded Twitter at such extraordinary speed. Yes, the breakfast-status updates turned out to be more interesting than we thought. But the key development with Twitter is how we've jury-rigged the system to do things that its creators never dreamed of.
In short, the most fascinating thing about Twitter is not what it's doing to us. It's what we're doing to it.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/qtvneh
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
U.S. Deals Blow To Online-Poker Players
LM Comment: This week's big news from the world of online gambling.
June 10, 2009: summarized from The Wall Street Journal -- In an apparent crackdown on Internet gambling, federal authorities in New York have frozen or seized bank accounts worth $34 million belonging to 27,000 online poker players, according to representatives for the players and account holders.
In an operation that began last week, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York froze or issued seizure orders for bank accounts in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Arizona held at Wells Fargo, Citibank, Goldwater Bank and Alliance Bank of Arizona.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment.
The accounts are managed by Allied Systems Inc., and Account Services, which handle cash for popular online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Though the money belongs to the poker players, it is held for them in accounts managed by the two service companies.
Account Services, which had an account worth $15 million frozen in its San Francisco bank, doesn't accept deposits, but writes checks to players who are cashing out, said lawyer for the company, Jeff Ifrah. As a result, thousands of players receiving checks from the company won't be able to cash them, he said.
The seizures come as a debate over Internet gambling heats up in Washington. Last month, U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) introduced a bill that would legalize and regulate Internet gambling.
Federal authorities say online gambling is illegal, but Internet-gambling advocates say it is a gray legal area. In 2006, Congress passed a law making it illegal for banks to processing payments for unlawful Internet gambling. Critics say the law is unclear.
Poker players don't consider poker a game of chance, but a game of skill, and argue that poker shouldn't be lumped in with sports betting, for example.
The government has prosecuted Internet gambling in the past, including sites that allow users to bet on sports and play poker. The massive seizure by the U.S. attorney is the first time federal authorities have targeted online poker accounts, according the Poker Players Alliance, a Washington-based lobbying group for online poker players.
The Alliance said there are 10 million Americans who play online poker for money, and estimated the market at $6 billion.
The Alliance "is disappointed that this unprecedented action has been commenced against law abiding poker players," said former U.S. Senator and Alliance Chairman Alfonse D'Amato in a written statement.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/n4rb6b
June 10, 2009: summarized from The Wall Street Journal -- In an apparent crackdown on Internet gambling, federal authorities in New York have frozen or seized bank accounts worth $34 million belonging to 27,000 online poker players, according to representatives for the players and account holders.
In an operation that began last week, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York froze or issued seizure orders for bank accounts in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Arizona held at Wells Fargo, Citibank, Goldwater Bank and Alliance Bank of Arizona.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment.
The accounts are managed by Allied Systems Inc., and Account Services, which handle cash for popular online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Though the money belongs to the poker players, it is held for them in accounts managed by the two service companies.
Account Services, which had an account worth $15 million frozen in its San Francisco bank, doesn't accept deposits, but writes checks to players who are cashing out, said lawyer for the company, Jeff Ifrah. As a result, thousands of players receiving checks from the company won't be able to cash them, he said.
The seizures come as a debate over Internet gambling heats up in Washington. Last month, U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) introduced a bill that would legalize and regulate Internet gambling.
Federal authorities say online gambling is illegal, but Internet-gambling advocates say it is a gray legal area. In 2006, Congress passed a law making it illegal for banks to processing payments for unlawful Internet gambling. Critics say the law is unclear.
Poker players don't consider poker a game of chance, but a game of skill, and argue that poker shouldn't be lumped in with sports betting, for example.
The government has prosecuted Internet gambling in the past, including sites that allow users to bet on sports and play poker. The massive seizure by the U.S. attorney is the first time federal authorities have targeted online poker accounts, according the Poker Players Alliance, a Washington-based lobbying group for online poker players.
The Alliance said there are 10 million Americans who play online poker for money, and estimated the market at $6 billion.
The Alliance "is disappointed that this unprecedented action has been commenced against law abiding poker players," said former U.S. Senator and Alliance Chairman Alfonse D'Amato in a written statement.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/n4rb6b
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Marketers Bet on Games to Win Consumers
LM Comment: This one is a must read. The article touts the casino industry as proof of how powerful games can be as a mechanism for engaging and therefore influencing consumers.
June 1, 2009: summarized from AdAge -- "The future of all marketing is games," said Gabe Zichermann, who coined the term "funware" to define the application of game-like qualities to non-games and is author of the upcoming book "WebPlay." "It's a big statement, but I stand behind it.
Marketers who have played around with the concept are finding that it can create loyal consumers, increase sales or user adoption and garner plenty of free media. For marketers, the intrigue in the concept is its measurability. Unlike advergaming, which Jay Krihak, senior partner-gaming innovation at Mediaedge:cia described as a "brand-stickiness play," funware should draw a clear line to sales or user adoption.
A casino operator, for example, knows the yield of a slot machine to a high degree of certainty, said Mr. Zichermann. A marketer placing a static billboard can't be as certain about what that ad will inspire consumers to do. "Where possible, I would, as a marketer, prefer to put a game in front of my users, because I'll get more predictability, more engagement, more time spent," he said. "Games are a powerful mechanism for manipulating user behavior."
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/m47rk4
June 1, 2009: summarized from AdAge -- "The future of all marketing is games," said Gabe Zichermann, who coined the term "funware" to define the application of game-like qualities to non-games and is author of the upcoming book "WebPlay." "It's a big statement, but I stand behind it.
Marketers who have played around with the concept are finding that it can create loyal consumers, increase sales or user adoption and garner plenty of free media. For marketers, the intrigue in the concept is its measurability. Unlike advergaming, which Jay Krihak, senior partner-gaming innovation at Mediaedge:cia described as a "brand-stickiness play," funware should draw a clear line to sales or user adoption.
A casino operator, for example, knows the yield of a slot machine to a high degree of certainty, said Mr. Zichermann. A marketer placing a static billboard can't be as certain about what that ad will inspire consumers to do. "Where possible, I would, as a marketer, prefer to put a game in front of my users, because I'll get more predictability, more engagement, more time spent," he said. "Games are a powerful mechanism for manipulating user behavior."
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/m47rk4
White Paper: The Online Poker Sector - An Overview of Regulation and Markets
LM Comment: This white paper examines a number of market and regulatory developments, with particular emphasis on jurisdictions in the United States and Europe. Significantly, the online poker market is expected to grow 10.8 percent in the 2009 calendar year.
The Online Poker Sector - An Overview of Regulation and Markets
The Online Poker Sector - An Overview of Regulation and Markets
Research Report: The Mobile Difference
LM Comment: Considering the addition of mobile marketing into your mix? Here's some new research on the state of mobile adoption among US consumers.
Some 39% of Americans have positive and improving attitudes about their mobile communication devices, which in turn draws them further into engagement with digital resources - on both wireless and wireline platforms.
Mobile connectivity is now a powerful differentiator among technology users. Those who plug into the information and communications world while on-the-go are notably more active in many facets of digital life than those who use wires to jack into the internet and the 14% of Americans who are off the grid entirely.
- 8% of adults use mobile devices and broadband platforms for continual information exchange to collaborate with their social networks.
- 7% of adults actively use mobile devices and social networking tool, yet are ambivalent about all the connectivity.
- 8% of Americans find mobility lighting their information pathways, but have comparatively few tech assets at home.
- 16% of adults are active conduits of content and information for either fun or for personal productivity.
- 61% are anchored to stationary media; though many have broadband and cell phones, coping with access is often too much for them.
The Mobile Difference
Some 39% of Americans have positive and improving attitudes about their mobile communication devices, which in turn draws them further into engagement with digital resources - on both wireless and wireline platforms.
Mobile connectivity is now a powerful differentiator among technology users. Those who plug into the information and communications world while on-the-go are notably more active in many facets of digital life than those who use wires to jack into the internet and the 14% of Americans who are off the grid entirely.
- 8% of adults use mobile devices and broadband platforms for continual information exchange to collaborate with their social networks.
- 7% of adults actively use mobile devices and social networking tool, yet are ambivalent about all the connectivity.
- 8% of Americans find mobility lighting their information pathways, but have comparatively few tech assets at home.
- 16% of adults are active conduits of content and information for either fun or for personal productivity.
- 61% are anchored to stationary media; though many have broadband and cell phones, coping with access is often too much for them.
The Mobile Difference
New Twitter Research: Men Follow Men and Nobody Tweets
LM Comment: Some more research on Twitter and how its being used.
June 1, 2009: Summarized from Harvard Business Publishing -- Twitter has attracted tremendous attention from the media and celebrities, but there is much uncertainty about Twitter's purpose. Is Twitter a communications service for friends and groups, a means of expressing yourself freely, or simply a marketing tool?
We examined the activity of a random sample of 300,000 Twitter users in May 2009 to find out how people are using the service. We then compared our findings to activity on other social networks and online content production venues. Our findings are very surprising.
Although men and women follow a similar number of Twitter users, men have 15% more followers than women. Men also have more reciprocated relationships, in which two users follow each other. This "follower split" suggests that women are driven less by followers than men, or have more stringent thresholds for reciprocating relationships. This is intriguing, especially given that females hold a slight majority on Twitter: we found that men comprise 45% of Twitter users, while women represent 55%.
Even more interesting is who follows whom. We found that an average man is almost twice more likely to follow another man than a woman. Similarly, an average woman is 25% more likely to follow a man than a woman. Finally, an average man is 40% more likely to be followed by another man than by a woman.
Twitter's usage patterns are also very different from a typical on-line social network. A typical Twitter user contributes very rarely. Among Twitter users, the median number of lifetime tweets per user is one. This translates into over half of Twitter users tweeting less than once every 74 days. At the same time there is a small contingent of users who are very active. Specifically, the top 10% of prolific Twitter users accounted for over 90% of tweets.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/kouaf9
June 1, 2009: Summarized from Harvard Business Publishing -- Twitter has attracted tremendous attention from the media and celebrities, but there is much uncertainty about Twitter's purpose. Is Twitter a communications service for friends and groups, a means of expressing yourself freely, or simply a marketing tool?
We examined the activity of a random sample of 300,000 Twitter users in May 2009 to find out how people are using the service. We then compared our findings to activity on other social networks and online content production venues. Our findings are very surprising.
Although men and women follow a similar number of Twitter users, men have 15% more followers than women. Men also have more reciprocated relationships, in which two users follow each other. This "follower split" suggests that women are driven less by followers than men, or have more stringent thresholds for reciprocating relationships. This is intriguing, especially given that females hold a slight majority on Twitter: we found that men comprise 45% of Twitter users, while women represent 55%.
Even more interesting is who follows whom. We found that an average man is almost twice more likely to follow another man than a woman. Similarly, an average woman is 25% more likely to follow a man than a woman. Finally, an average man is 40% more likely to be followed by another man than by a woman.
Twitter's usage patterns are also very different from a typical on-line social network. A typical Twitter user contributes very rarely. Among Twitter users, the median number of lifetime tweets per user is one. This translates into over half of Twitter users tweeting less than once every 74 days. At the same time there is a small contingent of users who are very active. Specifically, the top 10% of prolific Twitter users accounted for over 90% of tweets.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/kouaf9
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Slotmaker: Baby Boomers, Seniors Still Gamble Most
May 24, 2009: summarized from MercuryNews -- Slot machine maker WMS Industries Inc. says older people still gamble the most at casinos, but young players and minorities are the future of the industry.
The results of a company effort to profile active casino patrons also show customers are less patient and feel more time-crunched than ever, the vice president of marketing for the Waukegan, Ill.-based company said.
"When people have zero tolerance for anything going wrong, it raises the game," Rob Bone of WMS said. "It's important for us to think through the minutiae of what that means."
WMS and marketing and research firm Ypartnership surveyed 2,000 people who had visited a casino at least once in the past year, finding that 48 percent feel they do not have enough time in general while 41 percent feel they do not have enough personal time.
It also showed that baby boomers and seniors make up more than 60 percent of all active gamblers, while minorities make up less than 10 percent-far less than their population in the United States.
Bone said those results show that casinos and slot machine makers will have to find ways to attract minorities to casinos in order to grow. He also said that casinos face a tricky transition between older gamblers who make up most of the market and younger patrons who want different kinds of experiences in casinos.
"We need to realize there's a firm stake in the ground happening and a huge opportunity," Bone said. "How are we going to evolve our business and are mindset for them (young gamblers) to be key slot players in the future?"
Bone said that one thing that might help a transition is that the survey found that gamblers are not as resistant to new technology as is commonly thought.
"We always think of active gamblers as not as astute and that's not the case," he said.
The survey said that gamblers more often than the general population said they had Internet access at home.
WMS earned $24.4 million, 43 cents per share, in its fiscal third quarter as its revenue surged 30 percent from the same three months one year ago despite the recession. Its revenue increased 5 percent to $180.8 million.
During the quarter, the number of machine units sold by WMS dropped to about 6,400 from about 7,800 a year earlier, but the average sales price rose to more than $14,800 from nearly $12,600.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/n4wvdd
The results of a company effort to profile active casino patrons also show customers are less patient and feel more time-crunched than ever, the vice president of marketing for the Waukegan, Ill.-based company said.
"When people have zero tolerance for anything going wrong, it raises the game," Rob Bone of WMS said. "It's important for us to think through the minutiae of what that means."
WMS and marketing and research firm Ypartnership surveyed 2,000 people who had visited a casino at least once in the past year, finding that 48 percent feel they do not have enough time in general while 41 percent feel they do not have enough personal time.
It also showed that baby boomers and seniors make up more than 60 percent of all active gamblers, while minorities make up less than 10 percent-far less than their population in the United States.
Bone said those results show that casinos and slot machine makers will have to find ways to attract minorities to casinos in order to grow. He also said that casinos face a tricky transition between older gamblers who make up most of the market and younger patrons who want different kinds of experiences in casinos.
"We need to realize there's a firm stake in the ground happening and a huge opportunity," Bone said. "How are we going to evolve our business and are mindset for them (young gamblers) to be key slot players in the future?"
Bone said that one thing that might help a transition is that the survey found that gamblers are not as resistant to new technology as is commonly thought.
"We always think of active gamblers as not as astute and that's not the case," he said.
The survey said that gamblers more often than the general population said they had Internet access at home.
WMS earned $24.4 million, 43 cents per share, in its fiscal third quarter as its revenue surged 30 percent from the same three months one year ago despite the recession. Its revenue increased 5 percent to $180.8 million.
During the quarter, the number of machine units sold by WMS dropped to about 6,400 from about 7,800 a year earlier, but the average sales price rose to more than $14,800 from nearly $12,600.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/n4wvdd
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