The Apple iPad. Greatest thing since iSlicedBread?

It is a week after all the hubbub around the Apple press conference. Things have now cooled down a tad. Now its time for me to interject my thoughts…

Here they are:

The iPad is nothing more than a glorified IPhone, only bigger.

Yes, you heard me. That is what I think of it. Now, before you start calling me out on twitter, let me say a couple things. (Yes I know about all the jokes, but I am not posting them here)

First off, Scobles’ 16 year old kid agrees with me! Secondly, Paul Colligan, the tech guru that he is, ran the numbers on the iPad which proved to be quite interesting. Third, a college friend of mine has 27 reasons against the iPad. And finally, my good friend Harrison Painter thinks that the iPad will soon be coming to a WalMart near you!

Oh, and I haven’t even launched into the jokes yet! (Don’t worry, I’ll be breaking them out at the end)

In all honesty, lets go back to my original quote. It does everything the IPhone does, why do we need another thing to lug around? And by lug, I do mean lug! Don’t worry though, you won’t be getting flatter abs or bigger biceps with this thing anytime soon.

I am not convinced. I was really looking forward to what would happen with IPhone’s exclusivity deal with AT&T. And I REALLY didn’t like the fact that to add insult to injury that Apple goes ahead and throws in 3G on AT&T.

Now that you’ve heard the bad, here is the good side.

What I did like about the iPad was the option to have a bigger screen to see more detail. The 3G option is pretty neat as well. I did look at Verizon’s netbooks when they first came out but realized I would max the bandwidth usage in an hour with that I do, so the iPad just might be the answer to that problem. If only it had an iBall camera though!

I could see this device finally making use of the RPG gaming apps in the app store. Now you can actually see detail on a larger screen and have more options than be squished between your two thumbs.

I also liked the fact that this takes us another step in the digital media distribution medium. Looking forward to the day when we no longer read inewspapers, as “neat” as they once used to be, and iwalk around with a little tablet thing with all the news we need at the touch of our finger. That and the podcast options too.

If I do get my hands on the iPad, it very well may be version 2 or 3.0.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

iDone.

Need Graphic Work Done?

I know many of you out there are interested in getting graphics of some kind done for your online presence. From twitter backgrounds and blog templates to podcast logos and ebook covers, the list is endless. There are many graphic designers out there, yet the good ones are even rarer to find. To make this process easier for you, I will reveal who I use for my graphic design.

The banner you see above and the logo used on my podcast are all the result of Podcast Designs. Becky, who does all of the design work, was referred to me by a fellow podcaster for getting a good logo done for my podcast. She blew me away with what she came back with, and I fell in love with it immediately. Not only does she do logo’s, but also ebook covers, website templates, and any other graphics work you need done.

Podcast Designs comes highly recommended by me, so be sure to tell her that I sent you when you need graphics done.

May 2010 be your most prosperous year yet!

-Taylor Marek

Note: This is one of those rare posts where I recommend someone I use on a regular basis for work they have done for me. I am not compensated in any way, other than good will, for recommending Podcast Designs, I am merely sharing a resource that I use and works well for me.

5 Thoughts from a Veteran Podcaster

With the last month of 2009 upon us, and after floating around numerous expos and events, I thought I would share some thoughts about our industry as a whole.

1. Our Industry is Maturing

Yes, I know this is kind of the obvious one, but it needs to be stated. We can reminisce back to the days podcasting was in its infancy, and how we loved those days and long for them to return, but podcasting is now a tad older then a toddler, if you want to take it in literal years. Remember when Podcast Pickle hit Time Magazine in 2006? We were making headway then. Remember when we hung out and chatted with fellow podcasters, content in our little world? Now the door is wide open. Remember when “social media” was nonexistent? We worked our butts off in the forums, blogs, podcasts, and elsewhere to have our voices heard.

Oh how times have changed. Our little baby is growing up. And as hard as it is, we need to switch gears now.

2. Stop Swearing

I’ve heard just about enough from others in our industry who think they can just swear and get away from it. I know the typical responses too, but with an audience comes a level of professionalism. This may be where my part of the hammer hits the hardest, but it needs to be said for both of our sakes.

I’ve listened to enough people older than me to know the typical story. As a teenager, things are always changing, and as such you are in the midst of many life choices. If you picked up swearing around this time, you probably had it beat pretty hard out of you in your twenties and thirty’s to know to keep your mouth shut. “Grow up” was a pretty typical phrase during this time. I’ve spoken at length with many of my friends and mentors in this space, and we have come to the same conclusion:

If you expect to be taken seriously as an industry, drop the profanity and inappropriate jokes!

3. Focus

If we want to make the impact on the world that we know we can make, we need to stop distracting ourselves with “other things”. We need to hunker down and focus.

4. Monetization

This has always been brought up time and again. There are many ways to monetize, and if we expect to make a business out of this, we need to find our strategy and go with it. Enough floating around in the water waiting to see what will happen, it ain’t going to do you any good. Find the strategy that works, and go with it. I think Chris Brogan mentioned something along those lines as well when he said, “Podcasting isn’t exactly dead.”

5. Engage your tribe

Stop talking about yourself, this is not all about you. This is about your tribe. They found you and are listening to you because you provided them with something of value and earned their trust. No one cares about a self-centered person. Actually, they find it more entertaining to drop you like a bag of rocks and find someone else. Nurture their trust by sharing information with them, and talking to them. Find out their likes and dislikes, share stories. Build a tribe that way, and they will never want to leave.

Am I missing anything? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Follow Friday Challenge, Week 1 #FFwk1

I’ve had this idea in my head since the beginning of the week, and am totally pumped to release it to the world!

What I want to do is give you a FREE 30min consultation with me. I will be giving away one spot every week on Friday in conjunction with the “Follow Friday” meme brought about through Twitter. What will it be on? Social Media, New Media, Podcasting, Personal Finances, or Small Business/ Entrepreneurship. You choose the topic you want. I’ve been involved in Social Media/New Media for the past 3 years, and Personal Finances/Small Business for at least 8. I want to share with you the knowledge I know, and help you out. I want to see you succeed.

Now, the all important part. What do you need to do to win this? I need you to answer the following question below:

“How has the economy affected your life/business?”

If you answer it on twitter, use the hashtag #FFwk1. Otherwise you can leave a comment. You are allowed one blog comment entry and one twitter entry at maximum. At 8pm CST I will close the challenge. I will then group both the twitter and blog comments together and pick a tweet/comment at random. I will announce the winner over twitter, and will then contact them privately to setup a consultation time.

How much is this worth? I charge $200/hr for a private consultation. If I were you, I’d be banging down the door right now. How bad do you want it?

Writing a Book

This is something I am seriously considering doing. It has been on my mind a while, on and off since last year (2008). I’m not going to self-publish it, I plan on getting it to a publisher and go the more traditional route of writing and publishing a book.

What would it be on you ask? It might be either New Media, Podcasting, or Young Entrepreneurship. I’m still debating on it, and would love to hear your thoughts on what you would most enjoy reading. I have a couple pretty good book titles for either, but I’ll keep those a secret until the book nears completion.

What would the format be? I’m thinking a how to book. Possibly bringing in some experts in the space that I choose and interview them to be included in the book.

But then again, its not up to me. Its up to what you want to read and what you would most enjoy. Tell me what you think, lets get a conversation going around this…

8-13-2009 Update: I will be writing a book for Young Entrepreneurs. Title is in the works and I am busy fleshing out the idea…

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