Fascinating. Really important to watch as Facebook moves to the next billion users - which is applicable to the platform and account setting here. Also marks the importance of attention to user funnels and onboarding - clearly something facebooks knows well.
Experian released 2012 online traffic data for Thanksgiving e-commerce compared to the prior year. Across teh board, Thanksgiving day traffic was +71% - an astounding increase. And it was 46% greater on Thanksgiving day versus the prior day (Wednesday).
Three takeaways from Experian's chart (shown above):
1. Amazon is #1, Walmart #2 (and not too far behind). #3 and #4 combined are smaller than either. Big gap.
2. Of the top 5 retailers, Amazon did not see a huge jump day-over-day. Meaning their traffic was more stable / consistent: 16% growth versus 80-104% jumps. Could also mean that Walmart, Target, etc are more reliant on marketing promotions to drive awareness / traffic.
3. The bottom line reads: "note: rankings based on weekly data that does not include mobile traffic." I will make an assumption that this impacts Amazon more than others. More importantly, as mobile and mobile commerce grow, this is a noteworthy, impactful omission.
For what its worth, Thanksgiving was the 3rd most trafficked day in 2011 behind Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
It's election day. Go vote.And Facebook, Google, Quora and others are here to help how best they can. Three screenshots from those three companies because they have put together really great, on-brand and on-experience products to assist: 1. Facebook's social vote campaign. As only Facebook can do, encouraging voting in a social way.
2. Google's Election hub which is outstanding. Polling info. YouTube streams. Candidates information. It is really outstanding. As only Google can do, a robust search and content hub across Google's properties and the web.
3. Quora's election themed digest - as only Quora can do, delivering great Q&A relevant to the election.
After using the iPad Mini for 48 hours now, I wanted to get some quick thoughts down that answer the most common questions I have heard:
1. Is this just a shrunken iPad? Yes, it is a shrunken iPad. But what's important about the Mini is that it's more than just a smaller screen: it's a perfectly sized device: screen, weight, bezel, thickness, etc. If it was merely a differently sized screen - the Mini would not be as fantastic to use. It's hard to explain just how beautifully it is built until you hold it and play with it... with just one hand. It seems ridiculous to say: but after an hour or two with the Mini, your iPad really feels clunky.
2. How does it fit into my ilife? Simply said: I haven't had a need or desire to pick up my iPad since getting the Mini. With exception of:
3. Is the size really better? Unless you use the iPad as a movie consumption device, I believe it is a better size. Reading is easier. Typing is easier (counter intuitive but true). And the weight makes a huge difference. I have owned the Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7 - and I have always believed that the 7" tablets were more versatile and usable than the iPad. The Mini's form factor is the icing: weight, thickness and edge-to-edge screen are as important as the 7.9" screen. It always makes the Mini more versatile in that landscape mode is instantly as usable / useful as portrait mode.
4. What will you travel with? Short travel: iPad Mini. Long travel: iPad Mini + Macbook.
5. How about the screen? This is the single biggest complaint and indeed its the single biggest flaw. However, the Retina display will surely come soon. And, the screen is really adequate because the small size relieves some of the pixelation. Furthermore, it is only acute in fonts - graphics are actually quite crisp and clear.
I love this graphic / splash page for Amazon's new Cloud Drive Photos for Android application. Beautiful and really, really well done:
"Cloud Drive Photos for Android lets you protect your photos in the cloud and puts your albums at your fingertips from any Android phone or tablet. Start using your 5 GB of free Cloud Drive storage today. Get the app from the Amazon Appstore or from Google Play."
Really like this post from Facebook's Facebook + Media page: "Top-10 Shared Terms by people on Facebook in the U.S. as of 10 AM ET"
Here is Amazon's homepage - aggressively positioning the Kindle Fire HD against the forthcoming iPad Mini. It compares pixels, speakers, and video quality... but what will really matter to consumers: the price. (Of course Apple would position the two alongside iTunes and form factor).
I still believe this experience is magical. And as I've written before, I still believe the power of Siri (or Google Voice, Microsoft sync, etc) is dictation.
The power of pricing: “Wednesday was the $199 Kindle Fire HD’s biggest day of sales since launch and up 3x week over week" - AllThingsD