BREAKUPTEXT IS AN IPHONE APP THAT POKES FUN AT OUR CONNECTED CULTURE. BUT THE SCARY PART IS THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE (PROBABLY) USED IT.
Nobody wants to be dumped by text message, and not just because it’s impersonal. A text is inherently casual--a quick smattering of pseudo-thought cranked out on a whim--and to couple that with severing intimate emotions can be cutting to the core.
BreakupText app screenshot (Click Image To Enlarge)
With just a few quick icon taps--select guy or girl, serious or casual, and whether you lost interest, found someone else, or were eaten by a bear--this iPhone/web app can send an extremely long-winded explanation as to why you won’t be seeing someone anymore.
Don't let the world know you are breakup with someone by Tweeting about it on Twitter like Russell Brand and Katy Perry did in January 2012:
In pre-digital times estranged couples might return their wedding rings; these days they unfollow one another on Twitter. That's what Katy Perry did in January, telling her fans that "you guys have made my heart happy again" and warning that "NO ONE speaks for me. Not a blog, magazine, 'close sources' or my family." (Click Image To Enlarge)
Instead, your breakup text could look like this one (and it spanned five whole messages, to show how much you cared):
"My dear Johnny, I know you’ve been wondering where I’ve been. I don’t know how to tell you this, but you know how Sara always acts like an idiot when wasted? Well, on our camping trip we saw a bear and she antagonized it. I know you hate when Sara acts like that. Well, I do as well. Because that bear unhinged his jaw and shoved me into his stomach. So yeah, I’m stuck in a bear. Somewhere upstate, it doesn’t feel like this guy moves a lot, I’d ask you to come find me and cut me out but maybe this is for the best, you know? We were fighting all the time, I hated my job, my parents are still upset I didn’t become a lawyer…as I sit in this dark acid hole, I can’t think of enough reasons to punch my way out. So remember me fondly, make it sound like I died a hero. Love you. - Mark"
The app was created by Jake Levine and Lauren Leto, and it was originally inspired when a co-worker told Levine about his friends’ adventures in Hong Kong. They’d meet women at bars, exchange numbers, then see the impulsive relationships fizzle out when the sun came up.
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Levine explains.
“There was at least one time when the girl didn’t respond--which obviously happens when you pick up people at the bar. So they thought it’d be hilarious to send really long, emotional, dramatic breakup texts.”
Indeed, the app’s genius is its input-to-output ratio. It takes all of five seconds to send a 162-word breakup epic, which is an extreme ease-of-use scenario that doubles down on the vapidness of sending a breakup text in the first place. (And that’s entirely the point.)
Levin explains.
“As much as we did it as a joke, it has sort of captured a moment in time when tech is becoming more pervasive in our lives and relationships. Somebody wrote a post saying, ‘This app isn’t very good, my breakup texts are always a lot better.' Which I found sort of funny.”
Indeed, the only thing better than giggling at the hyperbole of BreakupText is knowing that there’s someone else out there who doesn’t see it as absurd at all. Or as Levine puts it:
“Here’s the scary thing. If five to ten thousand people used BreakupText on the web, and even half a percent used it seriously, that’s like a couple people who may have actually used it.”
Though to be fair, some contingent of the dating population does suffer from the occasional bear attack.
COMMENTARY: Sooner or later someone was going to solve the problem of breaking up via text message, and BreakupText has come to the forefront with memorable breakup text messages that you can be proud of. No more breakup guilt or post-traumatic breakup syndrome. This app really takes the anguish and pain out of breaking up. The human element and emotion of breaking up has finally been eliminated once and for all. Just tap that button on the app, and your worries are over. I don't now how many iPhone users have downloaded this app, but I can clearly see new business opportunities for app developers -- firing by text, marriage proposals by text, birth announcements by text, and you name it. Hell, I bet there's a VC firm just itching to use an app that sends out text messages telling you that you didn't make the cut.
The Hugvie robotic pillow allows people who are fr apart to feel like they are together (Click Image To Enlarge)
As more families rely on technology to provide methods of communication when separated, a roboticist in Japan is attempting to replicate the human connection lost in a long distance relationship.
Developed by Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, the “Hugvie” is a brightly-colored pillow in an extremely generic shape of a person. Within the large cushion, there is a pocket that’s designed to house a smartphone or regular cell phone during a call. According to Ishiguro, the Hugvie uses a micro-controller and two vibrating discs to “translate” the emotions of the caller’s voice into physical form. The two vibrators act in conjunction to replicate a human heartbeat. The speed as well as the intensity of the heartbeat is completely dependent on the volume and mood of the calle
The Hugvie robotic pillow works with your cellphone to produce a huggy-feelie sensation (Click Image To Enlarge)
The current iteration of the product is being targeted at seniors and children. For instance, a parent on an out-of-town business trip could speak to their child while the youngster was wrapped around the Hugvie. The elderly could use it when speaking to a distant family member or primary caregiver over the phone. Future iterations of the design may be specifically targeted to people in a long distance relationship.
When explaining a design that offers a higher level of interactivity, Ishiguro stated:
“We’d like to develop this into a robot with an internal frame. We could build in lots of vibrators and special sensors, so that when you hug it, the other person’s robot moves as well. So far, I don’t think there has been a really soft robot. If we make this one a bit more complex, we could create something that really feels like a person while you’re hugging it.”
The Hugvie costs approximately $60 and is currently on display at the Vstone Robot Center in Tokyo. Osaka University’s Professor Ishiguro is also responsible for the development of the Telenoid, a portable teleoperated android robot that simulates a physical presence for someone in another location. The built-in speakers within the Telenoid play the voice of the caller and the human-like face replicates the emotional state of the caller as the caller’s face is being watched through a webcam.
COMMENTARY: The first time that I saw the Hugvie robotic pillow I thought it was a bit creepy, but upon reflection, I think it's a fantastic novel idea that I think is going to catch on. It would be an ideal gift for couples and a neat way to pacify young children. Both would get a big charge out of feeling Hugvie do its vibration magic.
Courtesy of an article dated April 28, 2012 appearing inDigital Trends
Shortly after Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris ended their engagement in June, the Playboy mogul said Harris let him keep Charlie, their shared Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
The Puppy "Charlie"
Charlie, the Cavalier King Charles spaniel dog
But now, Hefner, 85, says he and his former fiancée, 25, are still going back and forth about who gets permanent ownership of the pooch.
Hefner told PEOPLE on Thursday at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.
"We both love the puppy. I told her if she wants to keep the ring and the Bentley, then maybe I can keep the puppy. I [hope] we will work it out."
Playboy July 2011 Cover
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The Ring
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The Bentley
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The Wedding Invitation
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The Wedding Cancellation
The Wedding Ring Auction
An unnamed source claims that
"Crystal couldn’t bear to look at the ring anymore because it brought back bad memories”
So naturally, the logical step is to put that bad memory up for a very public auction. While prior reports claimed Hefner paid $90,000 for the ring, Christie’s only set an estimate of $20,000-$30,000 on the ring. The lot description on the Christie’s reads:
A diamond ring. Set with a circular-cut diamond, weighing approximately 3.39 carats, to the circular-cut diamond hoop, mounted in platinum.
A diamond isn’t always forever, sometimes it’s only for 6 months, especially for Hugh Hefner’s ex-fiancee Crystal Harris.
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The Big Cry
Crystal Harris has revealed she called off her wedding to Hugh Hefner because she couldn't cope with the Playboy mogul's lifestyle.
The 25-year-old blonde, who was due to marry the 85-year-old at his mansion on Saturday, feels 'relieved' the ceremony has been called off but regrets 'disappointing everybody.'
In a tearful interview with America's Entertainment Tonight, she said: 'I wasn't the only woman in Hef's life. I didn't feel comfortable in my heart knowing that and getting married to him, because a marriage is between two people.
Click Image To Check For Tears
Crystal told Entertainment Tonight.
'That's not what our relationship was.'
Hefner has long been famous for having multiple girlfriends and it seems he had no plans to change his ways.
She also blames 'stress' of having to deal with legal experts for her shock decision.
She said.
"We had to deal with lawyers, I never had a lawyer for anything.I'm going to pre-nup lawyers and lawyers to do a show - we had a two-hour special on Lifetime underway - lawyer meeting contracts, all kinds of stuff.. it was crazy."
Pre-nups and nasty lawyers have a tendency to do that to some gold digger chicks.
"The View" Interview
COMMENTARY: The Pope warned the world during his traditional serman on the eve of Christmas about, "too much glitter during Christmas," which is why this article had to be my very first post-Christmas blog post. It's so apropos.
What a life of pure ecstacy and glitter. The Pope must've been thinking of Hef and the Playboy Mansion girls when he said there was just too much glitter during Christmas (i.e. the over-commercialization of Christmas) and that the problems of the poor, sick and down trowden are swept under the rug.
When the 85-year old Playboy mogurl Hugh Hefner became engaged with Crystal Harris, the 25-year old Playmate and live-in at the Playboy Mansion, I got visions of little "Hef" baby boy or girl running throughout the Playboy mansion, but it was not to be. Instead, the world was shocked to receive this Tweet from Hef:
"The wedding is off. Crystal has had a change of heart."
Crystal later reponded with this post on her website.
"After much deep reflection and thought I have decided to end my engagement with Hef. I have the utmost respect for Hef and wish him the best going forward. I hope the media will give each of us the privacy we deserve during this time."
Hef invited over 300 people to the wedding using Papeterie custom-made invitations (see above), which called for a pink Romona Keveza gown and Torrance Bakery strawberry cake.
If Hef and Crystal had beeen married, this would've been Hef's third marriage, and her first. Hef filed for divorce in 2009 from his second wife, former playmate Kimberly Conrad. He was previously married to Mildred Williams, whom he divorced in 1959.
Harris's manager Michael Blakey tells PEOPLE.
"I heard the sad news today this morning. The split was a mutual decision and the two remain good friends."
The Final Talley
So just how much did Hugh's relationship and engagement to Crystal Harris cost him? Here's a rough estimate:
Playboy Mansion room and board from January 2009 to October 2011 ($10,000/mo) - 22 months x $10,000 = $220,000.
Weekly Playmate Allowance ($1,000 per week) - 96 weeks x $1.000 = $96,000.
Playboy Playmate fee - $1,000,000
Playboy travel and entertainment for things like dinners, trips, parties, etc. ($2,000 per month) - 22 months x $2,000 = $44,000.
Engagement ring - $90,000
Bentley Continental GT automobile - $170,000
Gifts and other goodies - $50,000
Wedding costs and reception - $150,000
Attorney's fees - $25,000
TOTAL: $1.750,000
I was very conservative with the cost estimates, and I left out the costs of music and singing lessons, recording, etc. that Hef paid to help out Crystal pursue her music career, so Hef probably paid out about $2 million just for Crystal when it's all said and done.
Here's the video of Crystal Harris' debut album "Club Queen." Was it money well spent?
On the positive side of the ledger, the July 2011 "Runaway Bride" issue sold 450,000 issues at the newstand at $4.95 per issue for total newstand sales of $2.250 million. After deducting printing and distribution costs, Hef netted about half or $1.250 million, so he only lost about $750,000 on Crystal Harris. The publicity he got was worth at least that, and probably more, so when it's all said and done, the engagement was a win-win for Hef and Crystal. Crystal got her music career launched and Hef sold more Playboy mags.
I did find the following video of Crystal at a pool party at the MGM Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, dancing and drinking champagne with another very beautiful and curavacous Bunny friend. Notice that they are leafing through a magazine, probably the Playboy "Runaway Bride" July 2011 issue.
Anyway, Heff is a whole lot happier now, with his two new girlfriends, and attendant harem. What a life.
Courtesy of an article dated December 26, 2011 appearing in CNN
An invention that could save a lot of couples from the astronomical pain, not to mention the cost, of a fussy, traditional wedding.
The average American wedding costs $24,000. The larky contraption you see here lets you say “I do” for $1.
AutoWed is precisely what it appears to be: a vending machine that performs instant marriages, infusing the Big Day with all the romance of a fire hydrant. Insert money, and it’ll mumble through your basic wedding rites (press one for “I do” or press two to “escape”). Then the 8-foot-tall gadget, which designers UK-based Concept Shed describe as “part parking meter, part Cadillac and part cathedral with a little steam punk thrown in,” spits out a pair of plastic eggs with rings inside and a personalized wedding receipt. It finishes up by offering a 10% discount on AutoDivorce.
Cyn-i-cal! Even by the measure of our cold, black hearts. Obviously, this thing is a big, silly joke. (Concept Shed sold the machine in these photos to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Detroit.) But if it were for real, it could actually save a lot of couples from the astronomical pain, not to mention the cost, of a fussy, traditional wedding. $23,999 could buy you one hell of a honeymoon.
COMMENTARY: What a cool machine. In pink too. It doesn't perform real "legal" marriages, of course, but it's a whole lot of fun. I can easily see the AutoWed machine in every single's bar and disco, hotel lobby's (just in case you hit it off in Sin City), airport waiting areas, shopping malls. It's a fun way to express your love.
The AutoWed wedding machine instructions are relatively straight forward. I love it when the AutoWed says, "Please select your union. Press "1" for straight, press "2" for gay, press "3" for lesbian. AutoWed is destined to piss off the anti-gay/lesbian marriage lobby.
A buck doesn't go a long way any longer. You can't buy a candy bar or wash or dry your clothes for that amount of cash.
It's time to credit the young, professional product design and creative team of Concept Shed. They are experienced in design, education, electronics and engineering. They have designed some pretty unique and cool stuff.
They enjoy creating simple and effective solutions in the following areas:
Esmé Maylam BA Hons. Qualified teacher & early years education specialist.
Sarah Howe BSc. Project administrator, accounts & organiser.
Paul. model maker & fabricator.
One slight improvement to the AutoWed: I would've added a built-in camera to take pictures of the "married" couple, that would then dispense the wedding certificate with a picture of the couple. Thanks guys!! You made my day.
Want to stalk a potential love interest on Facebook? There's an app for that.
A new app for the popular social networking site allows users to pick "friends" whose Facebook relationship status they'd like to monitor.
When that status changes, the stalker … er – user, is notified via email.
Beverly Hills-based software programmer Dan Loewenherz noted on a discussion board that he mostly created "Break-up Notifier" as a joke at the behest of his fiancée and her mother.
"I wasn't even sure if it was work at first," he told the News. "Yesterday I submitted it to a bunch of friends on Facebook and it just exploded."
Loewenherz crafted the app in about four hours after he overheard his fiancée and her mother seeking a suitable mate for his bride-to-be's sister. Their first choice was already in a relationship and Loewenherz asked (he claims jokingly) if they wanted a way to find out if he ever became single.
The next day, he made the app.
The free app attracted more than 100,000 users in less than 24 hours – from mostly the U.S., but as far as India and Belgium, Loewenherz said.
"I'm kind of shell-shocked," he added.
With the quick popularity, Loewenherz said he may begin to monetize his instant hit.
His early plan is to allow users to monitor two friend for free, then to charge $5 to keep tabs on up to seven people.
"I just really hope people use it for good, not evil," he said. "It's really a practical thing. If you're going to refresh someone's page 20 times a day, why not have an alert on it?"
When he's not creating Facebook stalking tools, Loewenherz said he quit his day job to work on another startup site – letscrate.com – which simplifies file sharing. Just recently he said, that site began to bring in revenue.
Other than that, he said, he's just a normal Yale grad living in Los Angeles.
"I think a lot of people out there think I'm some sort of weirdo Facebook stalker," he said. "But I made this mostly as a joke and like I said before I'm just blown away how many people are using it."
COMMENTARY: It never ceases to amaze me that a "Breakup Notifier" app would get so many downloads in a single day. I often advice entrepreneurs that their venture must fill a real need in the marketplace. Looks like Dan Loewenherz found that need. Congrats Dan. You can download the app for free HERE, but Dan warns this is could change in the future. That's the entrepreneurial spirit.
As crazy as it sounds, this app could be used to track all kinds of events that might occur:
Get a head start on a new job - Someone announces on Facebook, "I just quit my software engineer job at Google"
Get a head start on selling your Ferrari sports car - Someone announces on Facebook, "I think I am going to trade-in or sell my 2001 Ford Mustang, and get a new Ferrari"
Get a head start on a bet - Someone announces, "I just bet $1,000 that the San Francisco Giants will win the World Series, does anybody want to take that bet?"
There is no limit to what despiration can do. When will this silliness end?
You'll be surprised to see who values marriage the most in modern America.
American marriages have never been more precarious. But why do marriages fall apart, and how are families changing as a result?
The following infographic, by Tiffany Farrant and PromotionalCodes.org.uk, casts a piercing eye on the institution. Based on the annual report by The National Marriage Project, it paints a picture of marriage becoming a less and less relevant factor in the way American's live and raise children. The short version: Marriage is simply shrinking as a cultural value; where 66% of women over 15 were married in 1960, the figure has shrunk every decade since.* Now, it's just 51%:
But perhaps the most surprising fact is who is getting married -- and staying married. Conservative pundits will gleefully tell you that the educated elite are busy destroying every last thing that America holds dear, with family values being at the top of the list. (At the same time, when Levi Johnston first promised to marry Bristol Palin, this was held as some sort of ideal. How'd that work out?) But the fact is that being educated, making more money, waiting on kids, getting married late, and being religious are the most reliable indicators that your marriage will last.
Now, to say that marriage is disappearing isn't to say that people are opting to remain single. Rather, it appears that couples are living together in presumably monogamous relationships without getting married at all, while child rearing has become more and more disconnected from the institution of marriage.
*You might think that one very small reason is the fact that the legal age of marriage has changed over time, but the researchers have controlled for this using statistical methods.
COMMENTARY: I have known about this for sometime when I spoke with a wedding planner, and she told me that her business was down about half. The subject of marriages came up and she revealed that marriages were down about 25%, which correlates with decline in the institution of marriage.
I am not the best person to give marriage advice, but I believe that there are several reason's marriage is on the decline:
Dramatic generational changes that have occurred since the 1960's. Women work, have careers, and are more self-sustaining, and not dependent on their husband in the event of a divorce.
Co-habitation is in. It's the best way to "test the waters", and determine if your partner is someone you want to spend your life with. 50% of marriages fail within five years. That's not a very good batting average, no wonder couples prefer not to marry.
Open and casual relationships are much more common, with partner's ending a relationship at the drop of a hat. Males and females alike often have several casual partners either for dating or sex.
Mel Sampat's girlfriend was getting jealous of his iPhone. Once a Microsoft program manager loyal to his company's wares, Sampat left his job last February and became an Apple convert, buying a veritable catalogue of products—iPhone, MacBook, Nano. By early April, his new fetish had become contentious. At their dinner table in San Francisco, Sampat's girlfriend would complain he was too busy playing with his gadgets to pay attention to her. "Can't we talk about us?" Sampat recalls her saying. "Can't we talk about Desperate Housewives?"
As their bickering escalated, Sampat, 31, reached a breaking point. "I said, 'Maybe I'll date someone who will talk to me about Apple stuff.' " As he left the room to cool off, Sampat had an epiphany: Was there a woman out there with whom he could share his love of Apple products? Someone to make iTunes playlists for, someone to watch him play Angry Birds on his iPhone? In that moment, Sampat conceived a matchmaking site specifically for amorous fans of the company headquartered in Cupertino, Calif. "I didn't wait around for market research or some consultant to tell me if it was going to work or not," he says. And so Cupidtino was born.
Sampat launched the site later that month, a few days after Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad. With Mac lust spreading all over the digital grid, Sampat e-mailed the link to a few tech blogs. One recipient was Michael Arrington, the influential Silicon Valley blogger, who was immediately moved to post an alarmed note on his site TechCrunch. "The thought of them breeding and creating little Apple fans, a whole family of hard core hipster Apple lovers, is just not a good thing," Arrington wrote. "On the other hand, making sure that Apple fans only date other Apple fans is a good way of stopping them from spreading their Apple fan genes to the general population, I guess. So maybe this site isn't all bad." A day after the launch, more than 5,000 users had signed up. Sampat's girlfriend learned of the site's existence by watching him discuss it on the local news.
In less than a year, Cupidtino has grown to more than 27,000 registered "Machearts"—all of whom must sign up through the Apple-created browser Safari. The site's simple interface resembles a Mac desktop, with icons for favorites, gadgets, and messages hovering over a toolbar at the bottom of the screen. Users can name their favorite iTunes songs and display their favorite iPhone apps. They are prompted to fill out a form that asks both typical dating-site background questions such as "What do you do for a living?" and more specific ones like "When did you become 'a Mac'?" The site doesn't hide its premise. "Diehard Mac & Apple fans often have a lot in common," it declares on its home page, "personalities, creative professions, a similar sense of style and aesthetics, taste, and a love for technology. We believe these are enough fundamental reasons for two people to meet and fall in love."
While Cupidtino keeps its demographics private, a perusal of the site reveals that users tend to be male and largely West Coast-based—some of whom gamely pose with their favorite gadgets. While users can send initial messages for free, they will be prompted to pay $4.79 per month if they get a reply. The price is pegged to the cost of a Starbucks (SBUX) venti latte. "When Starbucks raises their prices, we'll raise ours," says Sampat. "That's how we adjust for inflation."
According to Alexa.com (see below), an online web analytics service, Cupidtino's members lean towards those 18-34 years of age, predominantly male, not college educated, childless, and browse from school or work.
He won't reveal how many Machearts have paid for the service but claims the site, which Sampat runs with the help of two interns, makes a small profit. Cupidtino rents shared office space in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood, but Sampat prefers to work from a café or even his bedroom. Cupidtino does not yet accept advertising, and Sampat and a partner—who remains anonymous to maintain his programming job at a major e-commerce company—are paying themselves modest salaries.
COMMENTARY: Cupidtino, which was initially available in a free "beta" version but starting Wednesday, January 26, 2011, will begin charging users about $5 a month to read messages they've been sent, has snagged 27,000 Apple fanboys and fangirls since it launched in early June. It's usable only on a Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, naturally. Your browser lets Cupidtino know what operating system your computer uses, so if you try to access it on a PC it will lead you to a page that apes Apple's popular "I'm a Mac" ads and lets you know Cupidtino is off-limits from Windows. And you can only sign up on a Mac or iPad; Cupidtino quickly disabled iPhone signups because users can't upload photos from the device.
I love the exclusivity to Apple fans, but I believe that this young man Sampat will quickly learn than there are people out there that own PC's plus Apple devices like an iPhone or an iPad. So why not open membership to everybody? Zuck started by making Facebook exclusive only to college students, but within a year or so, opened membership to everybody. How else are you going to grow? Sampat, talk to me youngman.
With the small number of active members, it may be difficult to find anyone near you. The site only lets you filter users by country and, in the U.S., by state. Sampat said he and two unpaid stakeholders are working on more features, as well as Cupidtino iPhone and iPad applications.
I know that Sampat would not want to hear my advice, but he needs to determine the potential size of the Apple universe, how many are single, and so forth. Cupidtino's membership is peanuts compared to other dating options available today (see below chart) and you can log into them with an PC or Apple. I am also concerned that Cupidtino leans heavily towards high school students and males. Where are the gals. He has his work cut out for him, but in the end if he wants to grow, he will open the gates to us PC users.
For now I will give Sampat the benefit of the doubt. I predicted, as well as numerous other technology experts, that the iPad would not make it in the marketplace, and even predicted that apple would sell 6 to 7 million units, not the 1o million that Steve Jobs forecasted for 2010. That was a bad call, Apple sold 14 million in 2010, and could end up doing 25 million in 2011.
With this week’s “invitation-only” launch of Google+, the search giant unleashed its latest attempt to stake a claim in the social networking space. But can Google successfully take on Facebook?
Critics point to Google’s underwhelming experiences with previous social networking applications, including Buzz and Orkut, as examples of the company’s inability to accurately assess market needs and respond effectively. But others point to Google’s deep pockets, previous successes in search and strengthening Android mobile platform as reason to believe the company can make an impact in the social media sector as well. Google+ also has the advantage of learning from Facebook’s shortcomings — for example, the new service allows users to be selective about which information is shared with different groups of followers.
“Just because it is Google doesn’t mean that [Google+] will have instantaneous success.”
He points to some of Google’s previous failures, including Google Wave, which was intended to take on Microsoft Outlook and instant messaging services by offering a mix between chat and email. Then there was Google Buzz, which was seen as an attempt to go after Twitter and Facebook. Reibstein says those misses came because Google did not fully understand “what all is involved in those businesses … basically, not understanding the customer well enough.”
Kartik Hosanagar, a Wharton professor of operations and information management feels differently.
”Google’s advantage is that it has a lot of cash and it can afford to build, learn, fail and restart. Clearly, Orkut and Buzz have not worked out as well as planned. But Google can afford to restart. More importantly, as a late entrant, Google+ has the advantage of learning from Facebook’s mistakes and delivering a product without those deficiencies.”
Hosanagar says that the biggest user frustrations with Facebook have revolved around privacy concerns and contacts management.
“Google+ is specifically focused on fixing these issues.”
Features of Google+ include the ability to create groups or “circles” of contacts, such as circles for friends, family and acquaintances; users can choose what information and updates they share with each circle. In addition, Google+ offers video chat and group-texting applications, and allows users to instantly upload photos and videos from Android smartphones. The service also has a “+1” button that is similar to Facebook’s “Like” feature. (For more, CBS has compiled a roundup of Google+ reviews from across the web.)
But Google is moving forward cautiously with its latest effort. Vic Gundotra, a Google senior vice president, told the Wall Street Journal that
“Fundamentally we believe online sharing is broken. We’re not going to nail it on our first attempt, but we’ll work as long as it takes.”
According to Reibstein, Facebook “ought to be able to very easily respond” to the Google+ “circle” feature, if not others.
“The question is how sustainable is any advantage coming out of Google+, which means something not easily replicable.”
He adds that with its video chat capabilities, Google+ may deliver a strong challenge to Internet phone service Skype, a possibility also noted by Om Malik, founder and senior writer for technology trends site GigaOm.
“Google has to play to its strengths — that is, tap into its DNA of being an engineering-driven culture that can leverage its immense infrastructure. It needs to look at Android and see if it can build a layer of services that get to the very essence of social experience: communication.”
He predicts that Facebook is safe for now, arguing that “the only way to beat Facebook is through a thousand cuts.”
During a discussion on social media at last week’s Wharton Global Alumni Forum in San Francisco, panelists were asked why Google has had such difficulty in developing a social networking application with staying power. Panelist Ethan Beard, Facebook’s director of platform partnerships and former director of social media and head of new business development at Google, noted that the companies have two distinct cultures.
Beard said.
“There’s a fundamental difference [between Google and Facebook] in how the products are designed and in how the design process takes place. Google is very academic…. Some of the greatest thinkers in computer science now work at Google. The design process … is focused on building a really cool back end that sifts through the data and pops out the result.”
On the other hand, Beard described Facebook as having more of a “hacker culture,” in the sense that
“instead of working on the back end and throwing up any front end, we start with the designers and say, ‘What if a user saw this [on the front end]?’ and then ‘OK, that’s good, now go build the back end as fast as you can so we can start to play with it.’”
Cultural challenges aside, Hosanagar is optimistic about the prospects of Google+ Hosanagar said.
“There’s nothing in Google’s DNA that prevents it from building a good social product. Given how big the social space is, and how much bigger it will be, Google is doing the right thing by trying for a third time.”
In the end, much depends on how many “+1s” Google+ gets from users.
“Whether Google+ will stick will depend to some extent on the whims and fancies of unpredictable consumers."
Hosanagar notes. But Reibstein says the imponderables lie elsewhere:
“I am not at all confident [Google] has a real feel for understanding what the marketplace needs.”
COMMENTARY: I have often made outrageous fun of Google's attempt to crack into the social networking space, and it's not just the cultural differences between between Google and Facebook, but it starts at the top with the leadership. Here's what I am talking about. Google launched its new social network Google+ on a limited by-invitation basis only a few days ago, and guess who the most popular individual on the new site? That's right, it's ZUCK!!
It has to be somewhat embarrassing for Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page and co-founder Sergey Brin. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has been listed as the most popular user on Google+.
According to the Google+ statistics, the Facebook CEO has 21,213 followers compared to Google’s co-founder and CEO, Larry Page who has only 14,798 followers and another Google co-founder Sergey Brin with 11,629 followers. Here's a screenshoot of Google+ statistics:
Google+ Statistics creator Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten explains the Facebook CEO’s unlikely popularity thus,
“He has the most friends in the world, they made a movie about him, and he is more handsome than the Larry and Sergey.”
Larry Page and Sergey Brin both have Facebook pages, but neither has more than 10,000 fans. By comparison, Zuck has over 4.6 million fans. If you wanted to see a difference in cultures, that is proof positive. The Google co-founders are not social networking butterflies. It it's any consolation, Larry Page, Vic Gundotra, Senior V.P of Engineering and Sergey Brin are #2, #3 and #4 respectively and have a combined total of 40,210 followers, but not a single friend. The latter is truly embarassing.
Let's look at some of the differences in lifestyles of Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg:
WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS:
Here's Mark Zuckerberg and long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan:
Larry Page and his wife Lucy Southworth on a private jet during their honeymoon trip to Hawaii :
Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojciki:
WHERE THEY LIVE
This is Mark Zuckerberg lives with his longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan in a newly rented two-story, 3,800 square foot home in the College Terrace neighborhood of Palo Alto, CA. It's very nice looking house, and it looks like Zuck loves to watch TV and wireless judging from all the satellite dishes.
This is Google Earth view of Larry Page's multi-million dollar estate located at 92 Waverley Oaks, Palo Alto, CA:
Was unable to locate Google co-founder Sergey Brin's residence in Silicon Valley, but three year's ago he purchased this $8 million very modern contemporary condo in New York's Greenwich village:
WHAT THEY DO ON THEIR SPARE TIME
Mark Zuckerberg spends a lot of his with longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan.
Larry Page goes out to sea on his $45 million dollar mega-yacht 'Senses' during his leisure time.
What does Google co-founder Sergey Brin do on his spare time? He wears weird looking shoes with five goes:
Sergey recently plunk down $5 million towards a $35 million trip into outerspace on board a Russian rocket.
Now let's look at the companies Facebook and Google side-by-side for some hint as to what makes both companies so different.
There's more:
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK
Distinguished author Stephen Levy interviewed about his new book: "In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives":
Zuck had a Hollywood film made about him, "The Social Network", enough said:
I don't know if you got anything out of this, but I find Mark Zuckerberg a whole lot more social and approachable than Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and that is the key difference. Zuck lives a very simple life while the Google co-founders live the life of billionaires. Oh, one last thing, Google has had over 7,200 book titles published with the name Google on the tile. Facebook only has 3,800 books with the word Facebook in the title.
Courtesy of an article dated July 1, 2011 appearing in Knowledge@Wharton, an article dated July 5, 2011 appearing in CompuTechGadgets
Here's one of those stats that makes you sit up and take notice: Facebook was identified as "the 'primary source'" of evidence in divorce cases by fully two-thirds of divorce lawyers surveyed by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. This figure is especially incredible when you consider that Facebook didn't even exist ten years ago -- a testament to how quickly technology and social change can advance in our mad, modern world.
That said, it's not totally surprising that Facebook is playing such a prominent role in divorce proceedings: I've written about earlier AAML surveys which found 80% of divorce lawyers saying they have seen an increase in the number of divorces involving social media, and collecting evidence of infidelity from online photo albums, profile pages, wall comments, status updates and tweets. The AAML also found that many divorce attorneys have begun using a site, Flowtown (more commonly used by marketers) to uncover social media profiles by searching for an email address.
While two-thirds is an impressive number, I think it would be a mistake to conclude that Facebook is somehow causing marriages to end up on the rocks. As I have argued in the past, at most social media is just another way for individuals to pursue extramarital affairs; the basic deciding factor, as always, is the will of the individual -- either to stay faithful or to stray outside of marriage.
Indeed, it's worth noting that the AAML also reports no significant increase in the overall divorce rate, which "appears to be unaffected by the advent of social media." On that note, according to academic sociologists, the number of divorces per 1,000 married women in the U.S. has dropped from a peak of 23 in 1979 to 20.9 in 1990, 19 in 2000, and 16.4 in 2009 (I suppose it's possible that spouses are more forgiving, so fewer cases of infidelity end in divorce, but I've seen no evidence to suggest social mores have loosened that much in the last two decades).
In other words, Facebook and other social media appear to simply be taking, how to put it, "infidelity market share" from other cheating channels like telephones, cocktail napkins, and business trips (as well as working in combination with these tried-and-true methods).
Of course, infidelity isn't the sole cause of divorce nowadays -- and I imagine it probably isn't the only transgression documented on Facebook. I'd be curious to know how much of the Facebook evidence cited by divorce lawyers relates to infidelity, and how much is used to demonstrate, for example, intolerable cruelty (nasty wall posts?) or emotional growing apart (different interests and groups of friends?).
It should also be remembered that matrimonial lawyers aren't the only professionals prowling social media for evidence of marital shenanigans. At the federal level, the Department of Homeland Security has been using social networks to ferret out fake "green card" marriages between U.S. citizens and immigrants for the purpose of obtaining residency or citizenship for the latter. And this quote is so good I have to post it again: according to internal government documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Narcissistic tendencies in many people fuels a need to have a large group of 'link' to their pages and many of these people accept cyber-friends that they don't even know. This provides an excellent vantage point for [the Office of Fraud Detection and National Security] to observe the daily life of beneficiaries and petitioners who are suspected of fraudulent activities."
COMMENTARY: I've been through that circus. Going through a breakup or divorce? Planning on breaking a relationship? Looking for a new partner? No problem. I've got you so covered it's sinful. My best advice is read my blog entries about relationships and marriage right HERE.
Courtesy of an article dated March 10, 2011 appearing in MediaPost Publications The Social Graf
Valentine's Day is the perfect time to ask: What's love for? The age-old answer, of course, has been marriage. (And the purpose of marriage, of course, is to produce kids.)
This infographic from GOOD and the Pew Research Center blows that truism to bits. Simply put, marriage is increasingly irrelevant to the choices that people make with their partners, whether that's living together, raising kids, or generally living happily ever after.
It's no surprise that there are a growing number of single-parent families, and that people are getting and staying married at lower and lower rates. But you might be surprised at how vertiginous the trend is. For example, the number of households composed of a spouse and children has cratered: In 1960 it was 47% and now it's just 27%; in that same period, the number of people over 18 who are married has gone from 72% to 52%:
Notice that little yellow bar chart at the bottom: The number of children living with an unmarried parent has risen from 3.8 million to 4.5 million in just eight years.
But what continues to surprise is just who exactly is getting married. Once upon a time, in the 1960s, marriage was seen as a way for working-class couples to bootstrap themselves into the middle-class, thanks to the cost-savings associated with sharing a house. And among the educated, marriage was seen as a gilded cage for bourgeois women.
Today, curiously, the educated are the ones who seem to cling most dearly to marriage, while the less educated appear to be abandoning the institution post haste. Among those with a high-school diploma or less, marriage rates have fallen from 69% to 48% in the last 50 years, as the line chart to the bottom left shows. Meanwhile, the chart in the upper right shows that cohabiting (i.e., unmarried) couples have doubled in just 18 years, to 6.2 million.
Now, you might adduce that the trend against marriage is associated with some kind of social breakdown--that we're all pining for traditional family values. Certainly, this is what much conservative rhetoric has been dedicated to in the past, especially in regards to the gay-marriage debate.
But the fact is that only 29% of people think that the profusion of modern living arrangements is a bad thing--a whopping 66% think it's either a good thing, or that it makes no difference. Which is probably the most telling stat of all: Marriage isn't just dying away because of the pressures of modern life and the inability of people to commit. It's dying because people fail to see its importance.
COMMENTARY: I want marriage to die as soon as possible, because the vow, "to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part." has no meaning anymore. Here's why.
The majority of husbands and wives cheat. It's a fact. Sometimes spouses have extra-marital affairs with the approval of the other spouse. That's actually not a bad idea. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. After the first year or so, sex becomes routine and it's no longer very pleasurable. Spouses want to get the obligatory act over and done with as soon as possible.
The above statistics do not surprise me at all. What is really incredible is that many individuals don't want gay couples to enjoy the same rights of marriage (and divorce). Some couples claim that gay marriage is tearing the very fabric of marriage, and religious types say "the Bible forbids marriage or intercourse between members of the same sex". What bigotry. If you ask me, heterosexual married couples are doing a pretty good job of tearing the institute of marriage themselves.
I blame societal pressures: lousey jobs, working overtime, too damn many kids, loss of a job, the rise of gas and food prices, too many distractions (i.e. iPads, iPods, iPhones, Facebook, Twitter,YouTube and thousands of porn sites) that do not allow couples an opportunity to develop a balanced and happy marriage. Boredom eventually sets in. You know that I am right about this. Yes, you do. Don't lie.
The helpless victims of broken marriage are the little ones. 50% of marriages end in divorce within five years. Half of them have young children in the household. The breakup occurs when children are the most emotionally vulnerable. The little ones ask, "Why is mommy and daddy fighting?" and "Why can't mommy (or daddy) live together anymore?" Couples fight over custody. They fight over community property. They fight over the family pet. They fight over the car or SUV. The only winners are the attorney's who represent the spouses in a divorce proceeding. And, it seems that the fighting continues for years after the divorce. Husbands are often cheated out of visitation time with the kids. Wives bitch about that child support check or electronics fund transfer that did not arrive in the mail when it was supposed to. And, crazy as it sounds, former spouces get jealous if you bring your new love interest over to visit the kids.
Having said all of this, I think the solution is really quite simple. Don't get married. If you co-habitate, make sure you are not doing it solely for self-interest like sexual pleasures. Love at first sight is just a theory. That wears out too, and probably quicker than being married.
If you didn't breakup before Christmas or Valentine's Day, you missed your window. Checkout my prior blogs on why marriage is disappearing and how to breakup, for some great advice. It's good reading, people.
On the otherhand, if you are looking for a partner and own an Apple product (i.e. iPad, iPod, iMac, etc.) and would like to hookup with someone who is like minded and doesn't use a PC or Microsoft product, check out Cupidtino. Some Indian entrepreneur dude seems to think Apple evangelists need this service. Jobs, see what you created. On the other hand, if you are on the prowl, eager to find a mate for a longterm relatinship or someone for a "one night stand", and want to find "hot spots" check HERE. Yes, there's an app for that too.
I'm not making any money off of this, people. I am only trying to help you out before you make a relationship or marriage mistake. Please, share this information with your friends. They will thank you for it.
Courtesy of an article dated February 14, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design
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