Eric Ungs

January 2, 2012 – #01

Each week I want to share with you the interesting things I come across. It could be anything; blog posts, tech products, new apps, quotes, etc. If you’ve found any interesting tidbits or news, please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them.

First, Happy New Year! Can’t believe it’s 2012.

1. Gympact. Is your New Years resolution to hit the gym? Do you have a weekly gym goal? Are you willing to put money on it? This app is about tough love. Each week you develop a goal on how many times you’ll go to the gym. You then attach a price you’re willing to pay if you don’t meet that goal. The app works on check-ins. If you don’t meet the goal, you have to pay the dollar amount you had tied to that goal. If you meet the goal, you see some green from all of the other users who didn’t meet their goals. Gympact collects a 3% fee on these transactions. Read more of Mashable’s coverage. P.S – you can’t do drive by check-ins. You must be there for at least thirty minutes.

2. ToutApp. Curious on the activity within your email inbox? ToutApp is a pretty slick tool that produces data on your Gmail activity for all of 2011. It produces a pretty neat infographic with various levels of data – it shows you how many emails you dealt with (received) over the year and how quickly you responded to them. On the flip side it shows you how many emails you sent, to whom, how many were replied to, the time of month, day, etc. Read more of Mashable’s coverage.

3. Steve Jobs. I completed the tale of Steve Jobs written by Walter Isaacson. One of the greater books I have read. It portrays the true side of Jobs. It’s truly a tell all kind of book. Though the printed version may seem overwhelming by the thickness, you won’t be dissatisfied. As I was nearing the end of the book I wish there was more. It truly is fascinating the impact this man had on our society and the industries he flipped upside down. Simply put, he’s a genius. Check out my full review  here.

Now it’s your turn to share… Go.

January 10-16, 2011 – #3

Each week I want to share with you the interesting things I come across. It could be anything; blog posts, tech products, new apps, quotes, etc. If you’ve found any interesting tidbits or news, please share in the comments below, I’d love to hear about them.

1. PingTags – creates a QR code for your LinkedIn profile. Simply login using your LinkedIn credentials and it populates a QR code that you can put on any of your personal marketing materials; e.g. business card. Once the QR code is scanned the user can see any of your LinkedIn profile information. They’re also able to easily connect with you via email, a phone call, or click through to one of your profile links without having to input any data; it’s automatically populated. When you login into your PinTags account the dashboard displays analytics for your QR code; how many scans, what links were clicked, and what geographic location it was scanned.

2. 26 Tips to enhance your LinkedIn experience - Social Media Examiner recently put together an excellent list of how to enhance your LinkedIn experience; recommendations, creating a share of voice within groups, introductions, connecting, etc. Aside from this post, Social Media Examiner does an excellent job producing news on the social space for all experience levels.

3. AT&T vs. Verizon 3G Networks – With the recent announcement of Verizon taking aboard the iPhone, it leaves a lot of people wondering if they should switch or not. This piece, via Mashable, goes into detail on the underlining differences between the two networks and what may be the best option for you. I for one am still hung up on getting a 4G EVO (Android) or the Verizon iPhone.

January Read: Referral Engine by John Jantsch

Will you be purchasing the new Verizon iPhone? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo courtesy of Wired.

Amazon just recently put out some numbers that shows e-books are putting up a good fight with the old fashioned print book, and may be going for the knockout? This past month alone Amazon sold 180 e-books for every 100 hardcover books. What was the tipping point?… the price structure. Since bringing the price point down to $189 sales have shot through the roof. As the iPad lowers their price, the Kindle will have to continue to lower there’s to remain competitive. For just a basic e-reader, setting the price right under the $100 mark will be smooth sailing – but that’s for another time.

How is this going to affect publishing?

Here’s the thing, I don’t see e-books affecting the publishing companies as much as most people think. Yes, of course, there will be whiteboard sessions in finding ways to strategically reposition themselves, but this happens all of the time anyways. This new form of absorbing ‘book’ content is relatively new for the average reader. People are excited about it and are racing to the checkout lines to get a hold of the latest and greatest.  I want to assume that those who purchase e-book’s don’t necessarily stop purchasing the printed book. Which brings me to my next point…

There’s enough room for both the digital and print platforms.

The e-reader is excellent for the busy body traveler who already has too many gadgets to carry – so they’ll slim there reading material down to just digital, catching up on all of there publications by a click of a button.

Then you have those who find extreme pleasure in the emotions that come along with the printed edition. The feel, the smell, the colors, absorbing the beautifully designed cover, brushing your fingers across the page all nestled up on the couch in front of a fire. Harnessing the book’s they grew up with or their children grew up with. The experiences, memories, and emotions that connect with the print book is just simply irreplaceable.

What about the music industry from CD’s to mp3 files, that didn’t turn out so hot?

What about it?… The book publishing channel does not fall into that category, it’s created their own identity. The CD is completely different in the sense to fully enjoy the content within that platform you had to put the CD into a CD player, so you weren’t actually holding it, or smelling it, or touching it while absorbing the content. With the print book, from cover to cover, you are emotionally and physically absorbing that content, the book itself, along with the content, is always present.The emotion that’s connecting with the print book isn’t comparable to that of a CD.

Mashable did a poll this week that backs up my thinking fairly well. They’ve found, through their readers, that the printed book was in favor over the e-book by roughly 19%. What does this mean considering the DNA that makes up Mashable’s core audience (social media, tech savvy, geeky gadget lovers: fore the mos part). There’s something of value here and it may fall within the lines of the level of difficulty to replace that physical connected emotion that comes with reading a print book.

Not to mention, how do you go to book signings with an e-reader?

So, is there room for both an e-reader and the hardcover on your bookshelf? And if you purchase an e-reader, will that keep you from purchasing other print books?