Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Getting to know digital better

You know, people often ask me "Adam, how on Earth do you get so clever about all things digital". If you were to ask me, I'd probably say:

Don’t Make Me Think by Krugg, obviously.
http://mashable.com/
• Sign up to the e-consultancy newsletter (think requires becoming a basic/free member) and read stuff like Inexpensive tips to improve usability
• Some cute Flash games: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
• Review award-winning digital work like BIMAs awards (I stole one, once).
• Get a copy of Revolution mag; read their site http://www.revolutionmagazine.com/; follow them on Twitter http://twitter.com/andrewmccormick
http://www.ted.com/
• Wider picture at Economist Technology Quarterly: http://www.economist.com/science/tq/ e.g. this on off/online gaming
• Same for Guardian’s relevant bit each week: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/digital-media

But bigger than all that is: stop reading, start doing. It’s called interactive for a reason. Start a blog, start tweeting (and follow me), make yourself a 1-page website, share your shots on Flickr, buy an iPhone, explore the Facebook features you’ve always ignored, start a conversation on a YouTube channel, ask a question to your network on LinkedIn, edit an article on Wikipedia – any article!, choose a meetup.com group and turn up one night, create a Google maps mashup of past pet’s resting places, charge $1 a pixel for your homepage, start a new social movement. Get involved! That’s learning.