This post is in response to yesterday’s article in The Guardian about Twitter, “Is Twitter the perfect way to network?”

The article set out to explain Twitter to those on the outside. It contained interesting facts, but in my opinion it failed to give insight into why Twitter is causing such a stir.

Firstly, Twitter is causing a mini-revolution in customer service. This was entirely missing from the article. It stated that “companies are latching on to the search facilities at Twitter to find out what people think of them”. Companies are not just stealthily dipping into Twitter, they have Twitter accounts. Dell have 28. They’re not eavesdropping, they’re having conversations. Sometimes they’re not having conversations, and that has been even more dramatic. An example like Motrin Moms would illustrate this and give non-Twitterers an insight into what’s happening.

Twitter is also causing a revolution in news. Twitter had pictures of the Hudson plane crash before CNN got hold of it.

Janis Krums, an average Twitter user was on a nearby ferry and posted a photo to Twitter. CNN and the rest caught up later. It’s in no doubt that traditional news organisations like CNN are now taking Twitter extremely seriously. None of this came across in the article.

The article compared Twitter to SMS, suggesting that with unlimited mobile data plans “Twitter will at least provide a free texting service”. SMS and Twitter serve totally different needs. Twitter can serve similar needs via its direct message function, but so could email or IM. It’s not why Twitter is important. In a previous blog post I explained the difference between Twitter and Facebook status updates. Once understood, I think this give a far greater insight into Twitter. Likening Twitter to cheap SMS allows people to miss far more important aspects.

There’s an awful lot of fuss about Twitter. It’s a social phenomenon. I felt that the article could have shared deeper insights than it did.

It seems that Hitler has a bad case of Twitter addiction …

It’s a common for people try Twitter and then give up. Here’s my 7 step guide to reaching Twitter nirvana …

• Post a few tweets on things that interest you e.g. an interesting article, a thought, joke etc.
• Use search.twitter.com or monitter.com to find people tweeting on topics that interest you. Follow a few dozen. Don’t worry, you can unfollow the psychos later.
• Some will check you out (hence step 1) & maybe follow you back.
• Message a few who look interesting. Ask them who’s worth following.
• Get some tools e.g. Twirl, Twitterfox, Twitterfon, Tweetdeck.
• Figure out the concepts of @Replies and Direct messages (DM), and retweet (RT).
• Enjoy … scan for interesting things, don’t feel you have to read about every bagel being eaten.

I was mulling call rejection functionality today, and made this little video mockup to illustrate my thought.

Click on the image to play the video …

(Or if you’re on an iPhone: Link to iPhone version).

iPhone – Call reject function from Tom Coombs on Vimeo.

This video shows “Little Boots” play and sing a Hot Chip song on a Tenori-on. It doesn’t look like the most intuitive interface to use, but she produces something amazing with it.

Tenori-on product web page.

Thanks @Tamlyn for this one.

I think the post title says it all …

Thanks to those who sent these to me, I can’t remember you all I’m afraid, but @Armano and @JeffreyJDavis definitely deserve a thank you.

Cool barcodes

Yep … the Japanese are being weird and wonderful again.

Burger Virgins campaign

I hate to say it, but an inspired campaign from Burger King. They took their taste test on the road with planes, helicopters and dog sleds to places where “they don’t have a word for burger”.

Jing

Jing is an amazinly easy way to record your screen and send out the result. Credit to them.

6 month exposure

This is an amazing story of a guy who does does 6 month exposures using pinhole cameras strapped to lampposts

Visual thinking from the Muppet show

This is brilliant.

Coffee on a napkin

One guy’s story of coffee, told in sketches, drawn on napkins with … coffee.
(thanks @Armano for that one)

Identikit

Build a face … and it’s quite compelling.

Klaus Mitteldorf portfolio site

This site starts a little crazy, and carries on a little crazy. It’s great.

Checkland Kindleysides

I think this company site is so gracefully executed.

Tokyo Plastic

The Nokia ad in the left hand red box. I love it. Can’t help thinking of the U-Switch guy.

AKQA Christmas microwaves

AKQA got 49 microwaves to play Jingle bells, then got a million plus people to watch the video. Double genius.

All streets

This is old, but if you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s a map that only shows roads, but somehow captures geography and population as well. By Ben Fry (of Processing).

Motorola 3D city

Somewhat cheesy, but interesting in that it uses video and interactive Flash very well together.

Prezi – a non-linear presentation tool

Tufte would wring the neck of powerpoint if he could, and here’s a presentation tool that tips traditional thinking on its head. It has many lovely features. You might be interested to know that it comes from Kitchen Budapest, which is where good things happen.

That’s it.