Apple Is A Cultural Phenomenon

Image via Wikipedia

Fortune: Apple's market cap tops $300 billion: Giving ExxonMobil a run for its money in the race to be the world's most valuable company ..... Apple has been the most valuable tech stock and the world's second most valuable publicly traded company -- after ExxonMobil (XOM) -- since it passed Microsoft (MSFT) last May.

It's astounding as to how far Steve Jobs has brought Apple in a dozen years or so. Apple could very well end up the world's most valuable company. That is just mind boggling.

The iPhone swept the scene. Before that it was the iPod. Wait, Steve first started with the Mac itself. Computers could actually be good looking. He did that. There was a Time or Newsweek cover I remember from years ago that said, iPod, therefore I am.

The iPad has created a whole new class in computing. And the Macbook Air has brought the price point to more achievable levels. The guy creates sleek.

Do You Qro?

Qro is a verb I came up with. I think I am the first person.

If you are active on Quora, you qro. If you are not active, you don't qro.

2011: Quora's Year?

Quora is up to something. I can't ignore it no more.

Getting Popular At PlanCast

Image via CrunchBaseIf the CEO of a hot startup himself emails you without any prompt, I think you have a right to feel a little popular. So I got an email from the PlanCast CEO a few days back. It almost felt like the emails I got from Mark Pincus in early 2009. Pincus has become big since, and he does not respond to my emails no more.

I came across PlanCast through Charlie O'Donnell's events newsletter that he sends out every Monday morning. One event linked to its page on PlanCast, so I RSVPd, and ended up discovering the site. I have been hooked since. It is a great place to find events.

I have not added any events myself yet, but that is about to change.

Getting Popular At Quora

Image via WikipediaI don't "get" Quora yet.

I mean, I get it. I see its importance. I see why it is hot. I see why it needs to survive and thrive. But I don't "get" it in that I am not an avid user yet.

It feels more like a way to rub shoulders with some top names in tech than anything else. But after a few years in New York City, you kind of get past that celebrity thing. Accomplished people make for interesting conversations, sure, but that is not true of all famous people. And there are famous people in all sorts of domains.

I have never owned a TV. I don't watch TV. So I routinely miss out on hit shows. I have been to a few parties where you get introduced to people who are apparently on some kind of a show, and you are like, you know, I am sorry, but we are just going to have to start with names. My name is. I mean, I don't know you, you come across as a pleasant person, so tell me more about your show, what is it about?

Fred, How About Some Money?

Image by Randy Stewart via FlickrCharlie O'Donnell At His Inspiring Best

Hi Fred. Looks like you are back from your Middle East Peace Tour, aka vacation. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26) And so this might be a great time to bother you. Chances are you are not cranky.

I am writing this at three in the afternoon but shall schedule post it for four in the morning when people are asleep, and no one quite sees it. That is how JFK first wanted to announce that it was Bobby for Attorney General: around midnight. He feared accusations of nepotism. If you do give me money, people might think it is because I am a member of the AVC community. Accusations of nepotism might fly.

100 Things To Watch In 2011

JWT: 100 Things to Watch in 2011

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Following/Worshipping

(Via TechCrunch)

FoodSpotting's Social Graph: FoodSpotting Day: January 15

I came across this Facebook update in my Facebook stream when I logged onto Facebook Monday evening. The screen image I took later when I started work on this post. Update spotted! I took a screen shot.

FoodSpotting's Social Graph: FoodSpotting Day: January 15
Going Backwards: FoodSpotting, FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook
Fractals And FoodSpotting
FoodSpotting Is The Next FourSquare
Instagram Magic
Checking In, Tweeting, Spotting, Updating
StartUp Anxiety For FourSquare?
Self-Serve Makes Sense For GroupOn, Also FourSquare
Fractals: Mandelbrot
Making Dick Costolo An Offer He Can't Refuse
Congrats Zuck
Jai Ho
Gender Talks
Soraya Darabi
Should FourSquare Be Scared Of Facebook?

I worked on my blog post about Facebook going into search in a big way after that, scheduled to be posted Tuesday at 8:00 AM. And I sent out this tweet. The tweet is to Amy who left a comment at my last post about FoodSpotting. She does social media for FoodSpotting, and has a great foodie blog of her own.

Facebook Could Do Well In Search

Image via CrunchBaseSearch is the core of what Google does. Search is where Google makes almost all its money. Google gives away Android for free because, well, it will make money off of search. And I don't doubt Google will keep innovating. When blogs first burst onto the scene, and Google search results were being seriously skewed in favor of blog posts, Google tweaked its algorithms. Google will similarly respond to the content farms and the SEOed to the hilt sites.

Baratunde Thurston: The Brain Behind The Onion

Baratunde Thurston is the brain behind The Onion.

If onions had brains.

Swallow, Sparrow

Swallow is a bird. Wait, no. Sparrow is a bird. Swallow is a Mashable writer: Erica Swallow.

The Twins Were Rowing Boats

Image via WikipediaThe twins were rowing boats and I want the money back. What these guys have been able to do already is a travesty to the spirit of entrepreneurship.

They have this attitude that since they were born into money - not money by Zuckerberg standards obviously - and Zuckerberg was merely a dentist's son, they could hire this guy to build them a billion dollar company.