Google's Schmidt Cheering On Mobile

Among other interesting comments about the online ecosystem, the economy, Microsoft, Yahoo and Twitter, Google's CEO Eric Schmidt had this to say about Mobile while speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference:

The fact of the matter is that mobile devices are going to be the majority of the way that people get information. The argument is relatively simple: You already have them. They're called your phones.

Schmidt continues to predict growth in mobile pageviews faster than other research organizations like Nielsen and even the industry's own MMA. He maintains that revenue from mobile search will eclipse that of the web in a matter of years, not decades.

Change Has Come To Whitehouse.Gov

Any Obama supporters that are interested in the intersection of politics and technology should go check out www.whitehouse.gov. I think the reality of the new administration has finally hit me: we own their web site. Here's the first post on the "changed" whitehouse.gov blog:

Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog. A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

The rest of the post outlines planned features and resources. Much to explore here as governance opens up and becomes more inclusive at the highest level.

Just In Time For The Inauguration: Ustream iPhone Viewing Application Ready To Download

Just received this update from Ustream - the first streaming video application for the iPhone.

The Ustream iPhone Viewing Application was pending approval from Apple and was approved in time for the Inauguration. Now any user can watch the Inauguration from their iPhone. Presently, the Ustream application is WiFi only to ensure the highest quality broadcast on the iPhone, but stay tuned for developments. The application can be downloaded at this iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=301520250&mt=8 For updates and announcements, visit Ustream's blog site at http://www.ustream.tv/blog/ or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ustreamtv.

Off to go try it...

McCain Green Screen An Irresistable Call To Mashup

The We Cannot Turn Back Speech - Obama

Well, it took about 5 minutes for someone to email me the cynical, bitter and somewhat desperate column by David Brooks in today's Times. Yes, he even caps it with a reference to the now mostly forgotten Jeremiah Wright - which served as a reminder of how cheap and pointless opposition politics was last Spring.

Of course the 08 DNC convention in Denver was pomp and circumstance. Of course it was engorged with platitudes. But it would take a hard core cynic not to have been fascinated by the arc of the story and the event's denouement: the last few minutes of Barack Obama's convention-ending speech. I found the transcript and reviewed the sections that had impressed on first listen, and they come off well in print -- better on video replay:

>>

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America, they have served the United States of America.

>>

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We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This, too, is part of America's promise, the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

>>

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America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend.

>>

So to all the cynics that I know and love (you know who you are), call me naive. I see potential for progress in our unwieldy country by organizing what we essentially need and then harnessing the power of so many people and a competent administration and getting it done.

Obama VP Text Thing - Wrap Up

The campaign didn't disclose how many messages were sent, but Nielsen used it's resources to estimate that 2.9 million opt-in recipients were texted on Friday night. According to MobileMarketer, Nic Covey of Nielsen Mobile Insights had these fine comments about the whole thing: >>

“This weekend’s VP message may not itself give Obama a great edge, but the ability to communicate with supporters through Election Day, via a medium they can’t ignore, will serve the campaign well,” Mr. Covey said.

“Imagine how this impacts get-out-the-vote efforts on Election Day, for example,” he said. “Say voter turnout is low in a key DMA. They could conceivably text-message supporters in the target area code and remind them to call their friends.

Can marketers employ this tactic?

“While marketers may not have 2.9 million people waiting with bated breath for their next product announcement, they should consider what text-based value they can offer to consumers to build such a relationship with them,” Mr. Covey said.

>>

For a snarkier take on the whole thing, visit www.236.com...

Hey Look, It's Another Friggin Obama Text!

Oh Dear God, Now McCain's Texting Us

And That VP Text Message Drove CNN Crazy

The political satire site 236.com pulled together snippets of Friday morning's text-from-Obama vigil on CNN - worth watching for the last frame when a normal campaign email arrives via BlackBerry causing a small false alarm on camera.

Karen Krivit's Kape Kod

If Karen Krivit, or anyone else who may be interested, would click this link, she would see a custom map showing many wonderful places to go when she and her cool family come visit the Cape! >>
View Larger Map >>

The Candidates Olympics Outreach A Failure So Far

I agree with Jack Myers here - he really hits it on the head with this commentary.

>>
The Olympics accomplish what our leaders should at least try to do: they inspire us; they encourage us to believe that we can all get along; they impose a positive and uplifting spirit on a global stage. I expected the McCain campaign to focus on polls and newly implemented negative campaign strategies. The resulting commercial ("The Real Obama") achieves its negative goals by questioning Obama's ability to lead and capitalizing on the pop culture spin generated by his worldwide popularity. We expected a Rove-trained cadre of operatives to deliver such a message.

But what has become of Barack Obama? What a stage for Obama to counter that message and reinforce the positive aspects of his unique ability to lead, to bring us together as the Olympics bring us together. What an opportunity to reinforce his strengths as a global leader -- yes a celebrity -- who might actually retain the Olympics spirit into his presidency. Instead, his handlers placed too much reliance on polls that establish energy as Americans' top concern. Polls are focused on the past, and Obama's strategists should instead be looking to the future. They should understand that the medium is often the message and used the Olympics as an international stage to reinforce his popularity and the unique opportunity we have to elect a president who can lead our nation in the spirit of the Olympics. Obama's Olympics commercials could have and should have emphasized his leadership, his belief in family, his belief in himself and in our nation and world in very troubled times. They could have elevated the political debate. They could have reinforced that Barack Obama is the personification of the Olympic spirit at the very time voters are most receptive to hearing that message. They failed.
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Yahoo's Shared Search Resources Yielding Cool Apps

Yahoo's BOSS program was designed to give developers less-restricted access to their search technologies and resources, and was expected to facilitate a great deal of exciting search engine front-end innovation. It's working.

Obama Camp To Baloon SMS Database with VP Pick Alert

The Obama Marketing Team (aka his campaign) seems to have learned something about SMS opt-in lists that most advertisers have yet to discover. The biggest news of the pre-convention summer will go public via text message, in a bid to heighten the effect of the announcement and giant-size the opt-in list. Illustrating the team's increasing mastery of marketing 2.0, it chose the highly anticipated VP pick event as a catalyst for lightning viral spread of their traditional-media-bypass strategy. Here's the message sent to supporters Sunday night to announce the strategy:

Barack will announce his VP candidate
choice through txt msg between now
& the Conv. Tell everyone to text VP
to 62262 to be the first to know!
Please forward.

Here's the response message:

Welcome to Obama Mobile. You will
now be one of the 1st notified when
the VP candidate is selected. Text
HELP for help. Std charges apply.
Please forward.

New DMA Report Examines Mobile Marketing Offers and Results

The new DMA report is good news for SMS text-based mobile marketers, indicating that people recall and respond to SMS offers at a comparatively high rate. Here's a quick list of the most common business categories that sent mobile offers, according to the surveyed consumers:

• entertainment/music/video -- 44%
• food/beverage -- 21%
• telecommunications/mobile -- 21%
• beauty/personal care -- 15%
• automotive/transportation -- 12%
• business services -- 12%
• consumer electronics -- 12%
• financial services -- 12%
• vacation/travel -- 12%
• healthcare/pharmaceutical -- 7%
• real estate -- 7%

A nice summary of findings is posted at Colloquy.com, a collection of resources for Loyalty Marketers

SMS Coupon Company Gets Some Local Props

The local papers love this stuff - SMS coupons from a new Florida text messaging company. Read the article in the Seminole Voice online, here. The provider is called PlumReward

Yes in deed in fact,...

Yes in deed in fact, Jott is better in typing than I am by far. listen Powered by Jott

Jott is a Pretty Sweet Mobile Application

Have you tried Jott.com yet? Jott allows you to also set up links to other online applications so you can send info to them from your cell phone. The next post was published by calling Jott and speaking into my cell phone. Jott is better at typing than I am.

Obama Buzz Spreading With The Aid Of Digital Artists

A top politician is reaping the rewards of widespread online digital expression, and a growing wave of artists are connecting to the campaign through their own creative efforts with fantastic results. This post provides some good commentary and links to see for yourself. That the combination of poster art and politics is as old as the printing press is not the point - viral spread and participatory engagement is. Nevertheless, this NYTimes blog post discusses the novelty (or lack thereof) of modern design in political campaigns. Here in the Philadelphia area, we're the beneficiaries of this political season by-product, with Shepard Fairey digital art campaign posters plastered on the side of bus stop shelters - a real visual treat.