Amy Campbell’s Web Log

I just downloaded Larry Lessig’s Free Culture, How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity having found reference to it on Akma’s Random Thoughts (via DayPop 40) where, thanks to the Creative Commons copyright, you can also download MP3 files of the chapters performed and recorded by enthusiastic volunteers. This is cool. Larry rocks. The book looks (sounds) great… love the concept, love the design! And love how the Creative Commons attribution - noncommerical has not stifled, but encouraged innovation. Check out the growing list of versions spawned…

And I have a good feeling that Prof. Lessig will still make a little dough on this project. If you’ve got an idea to share (or a song in your heart), isn’t free culture a better way to go?

Jakob Nielsen’s latest study on e-newsletters, indicates they are still the most important way to communicate with customers on the Internet. In “Targeted Email Newsletters Show Continued Strength,” Nielsen explains that despite the adverse spam-laden environment , e-newsletters can be very effective as long as they are informative, convenient (require only a simple click to access) and timely. Because only 11% of e-newsletters are read thoroughly, design and usability plays a large role in running a successful newsletter. A common complaint about e-newsletters was that they arrive too often. A welcome social advantage: they allow readers to pass along relevant information to coworkers and friends.

For more about creating successful content-rich e-newsletters, see my article “Got Content? Leverage Your Web Content
Using E-Newsletters” on my Infoworks! web site.