Technology
Fidipidi: Cool concept maybe launched too soon
I thought I had finally found a solution for my HBFS [holiday and birthday forgetfulness syndrome]…
Being notorious for buying greeting cards I never get around to mailing, I was excited to hear about Fidipidi™, a new online application that allows users to create personalized and printed greeting cards in Facebook. They’ll print the card out and mail it in an envelope for you for about five bucks.
That sounded good to me, so I went to take a look. All-in-all a pleasant site. The cards they offer are nice-ish but, as templated cards usually are, generic and impersonal. Not a single Hallmark moment among them. They’ll let me design my own card and pull in photos, but I was hoping for more card categories and sentiments, and less of “your customized message here.” There’s also no brand experience in either the cards or the transactional site…which might be a wasted opportunity to drive maximum customer lifetime value.
On the Facebook side, they do show that one of my friends has a birthday next week. However, she’s not getting a Fidipidi™ card, because like many of my social network contacts, I don’t know her physical address.
I will be interested to see how Fidipidi™ evolves. Until then, I’ll probably just keep having good intentions. In fact, right now in my bag, there’s a beautiful Mother’s Day card that never got to fulfill its destiny. I take comfort in the fact that it was printed on recycled paper.
Pantone Color – CMYK or RGB
Panto
ne did it again. They came out with yet another cool app. When was the last time you were working with PMS colors on your printed brochure and the client asked for the same palette for their website? You know the PMS color, you don’t have access to a Pantone Book, but you need the RGB breakdowns for the web. Well, now you can just pull out your iPhone and click on the myPANTONE X-Ref app. Click here to learn more.
I only need one and it needs to be personalized
Years 
back, we would have said “Are you crazy?”. But now, with the old 4 – 8 color presses being replaced by the digital presses – your wish is their command! I remember seeing a printed piece from one of the earlier digital presses when they first came out. I saw color shifts and even banding on the same form, and I was thinking that they had a long way to go to catch up with the big boys. But, with recent improvements, they are gaining fast.
It’s amazing when you can print a 24-page brochure with variable copy and images, and not faint when you are asked to print only one. Now, when you compare a piece that was printed conventionally vs. digitally, you can hardly tell the difference.
Just remember, there is a lot of up-front organization that needs to happen with the variable data and art files before you press the print button. So please, work closely with your printer/letter shop to make sure your piece is printed beautifully.
Coming soon to my living room
My husband can’t help it. He’s an obsessive first adopter gadget guy. So I could see the writing on the wall when I saw Fast Company’s May 13th article about Litl’s innovative product that “solves the problem of creating a rich, easy Web-browsing experience, while sitting on the couch and watching TV.” Honestly, I didn’t even know I had that problem.
Check it out here: http://www.fastcompany.com/1646754/litl-will-release-tv-internet-product-webbook
We’ve been hearing about the eventuality of web tv, and it’s finally here. With mobile also finally taking off, online advertisers and online media channels need to be thinking about the future role and value of the traditional banner ad.
Social Media Feeds Winter Olympics Addict
I admit it. I’m a self-confessed Winter Olympics addict and always have been. This year NBC has been feeding this voracious habit across their networks sufficiently enough that I actually know the channel numbers for MSNBC and CNBC on my cable box. I’m DVRing the daytime events, staying up late to watch the extended coverage. And if that’s not enough, my iPhone has yet to leave my side; NBC has created one of the best iPhone apps I own.
Though they have been able to simplistically organize all the info you would expect on a deep website into an app easily negotiated on a mobile device, they have also put us in the same room to eavesdrop on the star-studded athletes thoughts and for fans to respond with encouragement and accolades. Continue reading
Universities Champion Economic Revival
Leveraging every dollar of appropriations to generate ROI has always been a core goal for most state universities. But in light of today’s economic downturn, many colleges and universities are stepping up their efforts to do even more. That is, they are relentlessly focused on turning around struggling state economies.
One extraordinary example is taking place in Michigan. The University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University have joined forces to make available their tremendous resources including faculty consulting, laboratory equipment, research facilities and more to assist business development. What’s more, they are relentlessly exploring innovative opportunities to develop new technologies, research emerging industries such as alternative energy and transform the internet to be speedier, more secure and spam-free.
