Sam Harrelson

TechCrunch is reporting on a new set of Facebook Apps from Amazon.com. First, let me say that I absolutely love Amazon.com and it has changed how I buy everything from toilet paper to music (the DRM-free mp3 store kicks iTunes’ butt) to toys to electronic gear.

In no small way, that game changing is due to the feedback and product reviews from actual purchasers and users. They still make a big difference if I’m torn between two competing products. Even if I’m at a physical store like Best Buy, I’ll often browse to Amazon on my mobile and do some quick research on the fly before a purchase.

So, it would be killer if Amazon could or would integrate its associate program with this new Facebook app…

Amazon’s Latest Product Launch is a Couple of Facebook Apps: “Amazon has now officially joined the Facebook craze. It has launched two of its own Facebook applications: Amazon Giver and Amazon Grapevine.

Amazon Giver shows your Amazon wishlist on your Facebook page. Of course, there are more than a dozen apps on Facebook that already let you do that, but only Amazon Giver lets your friends actually buy those gifts for you without leaving Facebook. Ah, distributed commerce. Your friends can also click on a recommendations tab that creates Amazon product recommendations based on interests reflected in your Facebook profile. So if you are ‘fan’ of The Killers, it might recommend one of the band’s CDs. If you are a ‘fan’ of a soccer page, it might recommend a soccer ball. It also provides recommendations for your friends, conveniently listed by closest birthday.”

Think it’ll happen? I’m not so sure, but this would be a very steady revenue stream for Amazon and influencers who use Amazon and Facebook.

I’m chalking this one up to a possible “affiliate marketing future” paradigm, even if it is the old skool Amazon program.

I’ve been in the beta of Hulu for the last few months, and I have to say that I’m loving the service. New shows, old shows, rather new movies and old movies…. fantastic.

Between this, bittorrent, Joost (they are carrying March Madness live this year) and Apple’s iTunes movie rental service and ability to download Lost, I’m seriously considering canceling cable. Now if Nascar would only go online…

Here’s a clip from The Jerk, which I’m watching now:

http://www.hulu.com/embed/HsIOWOOx6OKr1bnfM0uNjg

The ability to share, create a profile and embed stuff from Hulu is really nice and will help with the adoption. I just wonder if they’ll keep that around since I could basically just embed entire movies here.

The age of having to watch or listen to a program at a certain time is over. I rarely listen to FM music anymore with my ever growing collection of music and iPod. I do have a thing for AM radio, but there’s a great app for the Mac called Radioshift which allows you to rip AM from the stream. Add to that the two dozen or so podcasts that I actively listen to and I just don’t have the time or need for scheduled programming.

Amazing times we live in, folks.

James Omdahl asked me to take part in the “8 Random Things About Me” meme. Although I hate these memes, I like James so I’ll play along.

1. I cut my finger off just before I entered 9th grade. I was on a boating trip with my parents the weekend before school started and got my hand caught between the edge of the boat and the dock when another boat sped by and knocked our boat against the dock. I got my left hand out in time, but my right hand wasn’t fast enough. I ended up slicing off the end of my ring finger (from the top knuckle up) and crushing my other fingers. We actually saved the finger and it got re-attached. However, I have no feeling in it, so typing “L’s” and “O’s” on a keyboard is a pain.

2. Speaking of fingers, I can bend my pinky fingers all the way back. I have a rare condition called Ehlor’s Danlos that results in “hypermobility.” Basically, I’m like Rubber Band Man.

3. I love scifi book and movies. I’m reading 5 or 6 scifi books at anytime. Edgar Rice Burroughs (Martian Tales and Tarzan) is my favorite author. I’m also a huge Robert Heinlein fan. Science fiction is the last bastion of theology and philosophy in this post-modern age.

4. I’m working towards a PhD in Assyriology. I should be finished by now, but I started the program at Yale in 2000 and moved back to SC with my wife in 2002 so that she could attend medical school. Looks like I’ll be finishing around 2050 or so at this rate. I did, however, get a book published by Yale Press on Assyriology in 2006 called Asia Has Claims Upon New England. I was proud.

5. I met Ravi Shankar at an Anoushka Shankar concert in Newberry, SC a few years ago. I’ve never shaken hands with someone so awe-inspiring.

6. I want to be a teacher. I’ve been an 8th grade Science teacher and a Religious Studies Prof at a small univ in NC. Both were great experiences but I realized that you can be a teacher in whatever capacity you serve… even in marketing.

7. Macaroni and cheese (Kraft out of the box with way too much pepper and skim milk) is my favorite food.

8. When I graduated college with a Religion degree, I had every intention of becoming a minister (did the Pre-Ministerial club and everything) because of my experience in the AmeriCorps. I went to seminary for two years and realized that I was a heretic and got out with a master’s degree in Religion and Ancient Art. Jesus still loves me (I think).

Thanks for the nod, James… that ended up being more fun than I thought it would be.

Just got this in my inbox. Nice way to wake up 🙂

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

I’ve said over and over that I hope Twitter doesn’t go down the route of being acquired by Micro/Hoo/Goo. Even an ad deal with one of them seems a little troublesome to me (but it’s a business, so they’ve got to pay the bills).

I think Twitter has the potential to become a platform to compliment pop3 or IMAP with open 2 way API’s.

Yahoo & Twitter Ad Partnership in the Works?: “I just signed up for a new Twitter account today and my first Twitter generated friend was Yahoo! or Yahoo Search Marketing’s YahooAdBuzz Twitter profile…”

This probably doesn’t hint at anything substantive, but it does make me nervous.

http://btre.blogtalkradio.com/74_91493.mp3

Download – Cinch from (803) 413 – 6834 on Sunday, March 09, 2008 9:37 PM