What I Learned 2/1/2010

So here are the ground rules I'm laying for myself. On days where I don't have a full entry I'm going to have a "What I Learned" post. Each such post will contain three bits of information I learned that day, ideally relating to media, marketing, or tech (or all three these days.) I'll also post some of my own thoughts or reactions to each tidbit to train myself to think critically about what I am reading. To my loyal audience (both of you) by all means toss in your own comments and opinions about whatever I end up posting. So without further ado:

What I Learned Today

1) Bravo TV is teaming up with FourSquare to get people engaged with the network. When people go to certain locations significant to Bravo TV shows they get special badges and potentially some benefits/coupons from certain advertisers. Seems like a neat way to drum up interest in the network though I'd imagine it would only really speak to people who were already loyal Bravo watchers. Still I'd be interested to hear how it works for them and I am ALL in favor of media companies making use of Social Networks intelligently. Would set a good precedent and gets people thinking of new ways to utilize these resources.

2) The overwhelming bulk of literature suggests that people find hard copy text easier to read and more understandable than electronic text. To have a study worth doing I'd need something new to contribute to this body of work and I am not entirely sure yet. I WISH I had an e-reader or funding to use one. I'm willing to bet there's little to no research done on those...or at least none published yet.

3) Steve Jobs is very unhappy with Google and their Nexus One phone. As a Google fanboy that makes me laugh. I'm still waiting to see what the shakedown between the iPhone, Droid, and Nexus One will be. Currently I'd want a Nexus One on principle alone since I trust Google to deliver a good product even if they are sniffing at all my packets. Of course nothing is going to happen until they all get a deal with Verizon (and I get the ability to pay that monthly bill.)