Obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.

See a 2002 article on piracy by O’Reilly, resurfaced in a post by Chris Anderson that says he’s happy his book has been pirated…. I love that.

My friend Matt’s take on a GigaOM post on social networking.

Social networking isn’t a website anymore, it’s a part of a generational habit related to how people want to interact with their media, it’s become the central nervous system - not the brain.

P.S. — Those are our Mii’s!

In a traditional game, I’d know exactly what I was doing: hitting the B button, say, while holding down the right trigger. Instead, my expertise with the shot has evolved through the physical trial-and-error of swinging the controller, experimenting with different gestures and timings. And that’s ultimately what’s so amazing about the device.

From Steven Johnson’s blog

Johnson makes a very interesting observation — a player’s control over the game has less to do with well-rehearsed button mashing combinations and is more about improvisation and trial and error. It emulates risk-free experimentation.

I’ve only really played my Wii 3 times so far — each time with my wife and at least one or two other people. But even in that short amount of time I fear developers won’t continue to push the boundaries of what can be done with gesture-based interaction.

One thing that will definitely happen: Microsoft and Sony will copy the wiimote. Nintendo has to do a few things to extract the value out of the Wii innovation:

1. Develop MANY MANY gesture-sensitive game titles
2. Create both virtual and real life social interaction methods via games, or game-like software
3. Keep innovating around gesture-based UIs
4. Create an upgradable system
5. Treat user gameplay as an asset

I think #4 could be a key differentiator. Design for obsolescence — not that users have to replace the Wii — but make processor, graphics card, and memory slots for easy upgrading. Is there a reason to design a system that must be fully replaced every 2-3 years when a better console comes out? I think you could create a much more “sticky” system by making it more modular.

Further, Nintendo could make the Wii more “sticky” by leveraging gameplay data. In Wii Sports there is already a tracking system for the games — keeping track of your “rating” from game to game. All movements players perform should be tracked and stored (in their Mii profile). Nintendo could then create an “exchange” for this data, incentivizing development around tools, games, and services for this information. More to come on ideas for that…