[ best ] Who said it was not about the tools?

If I had a nickle for every time someone said 'it is not the tool, it is what you do with it'... only to go into features of tools afterwards, well I'd have a few nickles. People are fascinated by tools and features and gadgets. I guess it belongs up there with other infameous statements such as 'it is not the size ...'. But in fact it is. I'm referring to the tools. It is the tools AND it is what you do with them.
Tools and apps have become even more important as there are many out there, in reach of consumers for little or literaly no money. We see increasingly people opting to use those tools for their work tasks, and why not?

So for the 'best' blog article of the past month, I'm nominating the Museum of Modern Betas blog. It has been part of my reader list for many years, and collects all those 'beta' sites out there. It even keeps yearbooks of the most popular beta sites. Some have grown into very popular sites. A few years ago half of the entries were tools that used the twitter API to make an even cooler twitter experience. Nowadays, the beta applications are all over the map. I use this feed to keep a pulse on all the new cool apps out there. Here are the few that I starred and/or tried out this month only:

PRESSJACK on pressjack.com
This free tool (premium features available for pay) lets you make a digital magazine out of an RSS feed. I tried it out. It is a very straightforward tools, with nice results. Here is the May magazine of my blog for example:

FLIPSNACK on flipsnack.com
This tool lets you make a digital flipbook from a series of PDF files. It is an easy 3 step process: upload the PDFs, select the flip book template and colors, publish it. Done. This tools comes with paying premium features as well, but the basic service is free. I also tried out this tool and here is the 'about the future' chapter of my book. I never published it on this blog I think. It is a fictional interview with someone from the future.





GOOGLE THINK INSIGHTS on http://www.google.com/think/insights/
The first sentence describes Google in ... well .... one sentence : At Google we believe data  beats opinion. It is a collection of data driven studies, with a special focus on smartphone.

PRESENT.ME on present.me
A site to record and share presentations. Haven't tried it out.


From this month's readings and experiences, add this to our 'buzz watch list':

• Gamification : using game techniques on real world problems (via Ralph)
• Gamestorming : I need to read the book first (via Tom)
• Slow learning : just like the slow food movement, but doesn't involve chewing (via Hans)
• Consumerism : tools of the consumer market used in professional environments (Employer : you can't go on this site on your work computer. Employee with iPad : Watch me.) (via Jane's book)