Chrome Movement…

TechCrunch is reporting marketshare of Google Chrome to be more than 6 percent already, but let’s face it: The TechCrunch crowd loves all shiny things. Still, early returns of Nxtbook traffic show a strong upward trend.

.23 percent of Nxtbook users last Tuesday used Chrome to view the Nxtbook. The number bumped up to .52 percent on Wednesday and .65 percent on Thursday.

Curiously, our numbers agree with something else TechCrunch reported… at this point, the market share seems to be eroding from IE, not Firefox. Google also says a Mac version of Chrome should be available by the end of the year, at which point I’ll be able to actually run it at work, and not just write about it.

What does any or all of this mean for you? Not so much, other than it would probably be a good idea to make sure your website plays nice on the browser. So far, the biggest issues have been reported with sites featuring drag-n-drop features. Not that we’d advise redesigning your site for .65 percent market share… but it’d be good to know.

 

See You at Fipp/ABM or FOLIO!

Nxtbook Media is a proud sponsor of next week’s World Magazine Conference in NYC. If you’re in town, be sure to visit the crew.

And while we’re talking about shows, don’t forget to check out this year’s FOLIO: Show agenda — yet another action-packed event. If you’re attending FOLIO, don’t forget to join us for "We’re Running FOLIO," including a 3 or 5 mile guided running tour of Chicago — super, super cool!

 And if you’re going to FOLIO, don’t miss your chance for a FREE Nxtbook sample.

Just go here and fill out the form!

Our Customers are the Phelps and Bolt of the Digital Magazine World…

True, the Olympics are in the rear view windows, but hopefully you’ll forgive the analogy. Two Nxtbook Media customers were just named as winners in the 2008 ASBPE Awards for General Excellence in the Digital Magazine Category.

Congratulations to  LCGC - the Peak for taking the Gold Award (If memory serves, they won last year, too!) and to Veterinary Medicine for winning the Silver!

Nxtbook Customer Nominated For Digital Media Innovation Award!

We just received word that Nxtbook customer Bodas USA La Revista digital magazine was nominated for the Top Hispanic Digital Media Innovation Award, to be given out the Second Annual Hispanic Digital and Print Media Conference and Networking/Awards Dinner in NYC, Altman Building on Oct. 9. 

Congratulations on the nomination and good luck! You can view the Summer 2008 issue of the magazine (with a great intro video) here. 

The Fantastic Growth of Nxtbook Media

When you start a company, you don’t plan on being one of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. 

No you plan on working hard, being smart, growing your business, seizing opportunities, getting the best people to be part of the organization, listen to your customers, know your markets, and have fun doing it because it is your passion!

Really, how could you possibly worry with being one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S.? You are much too busy being engaged with all of the things I said above, not to mention all of the things that I didn’t bother to mention even though they are important, too. You really are just too busy trying to be the company you know you are capable of being.

Then one day you find out that WOW, all that hard work puts you on a very prestigious list. A list you weren’t working to be on but it sure is nice to find out you made it.

There isn’t much public recognition you get for doing the right thing in your business life.  A company grows, you work harder, it grows more, you work even harder, etc.  But here you have recognition, recognition those companies like Microsoft, Oracle and Timberland have also received as they moved up the long path of business life.  It is really awe inspiring to be held in that same company. 

You realize that there are a lot of businesses that start every day.  According to USA today, 85 percent of which fail in the first year, then heap on another 70 percent fail in the second year.  When you look at those daunting statistics you realize how fortunate you are, but in many ways you feel that “Yeah, but that doesn’t apply to me." “Those are companies that don’t have their act together, I never had a doubt." (It’s nice because I really never did.)

I think it is part of the entrepreneurial mind, it allows you to believe in what you do so much that you know it will be a great business , you see it, feel it, taste it with all of your being but yet you have the ability to see problems and know what will work and what won’t. (Usually)

The great thing in looking at this recognition is you quickly realize you couldn’t do this without your customers.  They believe in you and what you have told them.  They understand that you are a growing company that is completely immersed in their marketplace.  You will show them how to be successful in their endeavors; you will be there to help them and their customers.  Whatever it takes.  Thank you customers for the role you play in our success every day.

The people of Nxtbook Media, without all of you there is no Nxtbook Media.  You are the heart and soul of the organization.  You have the vision, you bring the daily excitement to do a wonderful thing, you work hard but you also have great fun at work as well.  Your concern for our customers, buyers and readers alike is just incredible.  Your commitment to customer service is unparalleled.  Thank you for all you do, every day!

To my partners in the business, without each of you being there day in and day out Nxtbook Media would not be the place it is today.  Well done!

Finally, I think when you are writing your own personal business history, each event happens, you mentally write it down.  Then you turn the page and you are off to the next subject.  However, I think this page is pretty special so I’m going to stay right here and enjoy it for an extra minute.

Thanks again to all!

Michael

 

Mr. Magazine, Matt Kinsman and Some Other Dude on the Big Screen…

The magazine industry was covered on Fox today… Good coverage all around.

 

Rescalable and Green Screen Videos - INSIDE the Nxtbook

What will our customers (partnered with our developers) think of next?? Here are two cool ideas:

1) Green Screen video — have a host walk onto the cover of your digital edition promoting the content. Simply too cool.

2) The Rescalable video — Video’s great, but fitting the player nicely within a page layout can be tough. But it’s no problem with our new rescalable player. Just drag the lower right corner to see as much of the video as you’d like to. Best of all? This is the latest product enhancement to be made available at NO EXTRA CHARGE!

Cubicles for the Cool…

They say one way to make the Inc. 500 is to have offices your employees enjoy. As this story shows, we certainly have that at Nxtbook.

Each cubicle at Nxtbook flows into the next in almost circular, beehive clusters. The neutral grays, blacks and dark reds on the cubicle walls, desks and chairs give the office a tranquil, relaxed feel that complements the exposed brick, hardwood staircases and stripped-down appeal of the building.

Nxtbook Media Named to Inc. 500

We’ve just received word Nxtbook Media has been named to the Inc. 500. In a difficult economic period, we’re immensely proud to have weathered the storm so well and we are truly grateful to the customers who’ve trusted us to help them cross the digital divide.

Details:

We’ve been named the 303rd fastest growing privately held company in the US.
We’ve been named the 38th fastest growing company providing business services in the US.

In a very competitive market, we are the only provider of digital magazine services named to the list.

To make the Inc. 500 requires many things: great leadership, great employees, great timing and a great corporate blog. (Ok, I made that last one up.) But to make it as a technology company requires something else, too: a relentless commitment to reinvent your product as often as the market dictates (if not, before).

To showcase how far we’ve come technologically, I asked our Director of Development to hit me with some first and second generation Nxtbooks. We think you’ll agree they’re equally nostalgic and perhaps a bit frightening!

1) The first generation Nxtbook (er, NXTbook). (2003-2004) Holy HTML, Batman. Back then, full-page ads were brought in, but all of the text was re-flowed, one page at a time. Because it looked like a web page, it had the engagement times of a Web site. Then again, in 2004 who cared about engagement times? Or saving offline copies… or bookmarks… or permalinks, for that matter. If you’re on a PC using Windows Explorer, I think there’s a way to get the page to flip, but I’m not sure. In fact, most of the NXTbook ran better in Explorer than Firefox back then, but given Firefox’s small market share at the time, it wasn’t a big concern.

2) The first Flash NXTbook. (2004-2006) In terms of features and reader engagement, this version was a huge leap forward. In addition, this version brought with it offline saving and a version that played nicely on the Mac. That being said, things weren’t perfect. Notice how the standard back then was to link the entire ad, which was good for advertisers but awful for readers just hoping to zoom in. In addition, these books were invisible to Google and other search engines. Back then, little thought was given to sponsorship opportunities as publishers were only using the product to save money, not to make money.

3) The current Nxtbook. (2006-Present) Truth is, our current interface didn’t look this good when we first launched it. The LINK button was added within a year of it going live, RSS feeds were added several months later and other features were eased into the platform over time. But the key was that the interface had an inherent flexibility built into it that allowed it to grow as reader habits changed. And when publishers were ready to monetize the digital edition, the platform was easily adapted to allow for these opportunities, as well.

So that’s where we are today, as we sit at number 303 on the Inc. 500. Moving forward, we aim to do the same things that have got us here: provide our customers with superior service and improve our products at every turn.

 

 

 

The Nxtbook Robot Pen — In Action!

As we move into the fall tradeshow season, there’s always a lot of buzz at the Nxtbook farm (ok, inside my cubicle) about what our show give-away will be. There’s a fine line between cheap junk and cool stuff your kids will thank you for bringing home. We take that line seriously.

How will be know if our give-aways are a success? Easy: if somebody video-blogs their Nxtbook trinket, that’s a sure sign it’s a winner.

DISCLAIMER: I just found out about this video, which is more than a year old. Sadly, the robot pens are no more, though there is an underground movement to bring them back. Stay tuned!

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