I like this idea. I have long wanted to make a website, more than a blog, but just full of the useful stuff I find out each day. Having it eventually massed into a coffee table book is very cool. Even just a pocket book if it's info based.

I like the publishing options associated with this idea. It is kind of in the same realm as answer services and "how-to" guides. Will need to have lots of features to ensure repeat visitors: e.g. blog widgets, myspace integration
+1

Briliant. Digg for short pieces of very usefull information.

thanks fellas. @psychsplash - yea, it's definitely ripe for a widget that allows people to submit this via their own blog. Check out what we built with www.McPing.com. I envision creating an MCD (microcontent definition) for a nowUtellme idea and allowing other people with the ability to generate structured blogging content (plugins for Wordpress and Moveable Type now that we wrote) to post via their own blog and have it flow into our system.

The physical publishing opportunities just entrench this whole thing further. The site promotes the book and the book makes the site visible amongst a mainstream crowd. This could crossover into TV media as well with the aformentioned "Worst Case Scenario" TV show that spawned from that book.

thanks for your feedback guys, keep it coming.

sean

Man scrollin, you have a lot of good ideas. FREAK! BURN HIM! Oh wait, no. The opposite. :)

See also Schott's Miscellany, a bestseller with all those sorts of facts in them. It spawned a bunch of copies, which sold moderately well around Christmas time, and have since disappeared off bookshelves.

Not sure how the whole "hindsight" thing works in - hindsight is very particular to a given situation. Although I guess if you know how to tell a good egg from a bad egg before you crack it open, then you don't have to deal with the smell.

I don't understand how hindsight factors into learning how to spot a hard boiled egg. The rest of your descriptipon sounds interesting though. Sounds like sharing your insider knowledge with people.

yeah cool.
You can actually add an archive of mistakes done,

so people won't do it again. :D

I really like the crossline aspect, in my humble opinion, the industry seems waking up to the value of crossline functionality, i.e., the ability to merge or synergize online/offline business functions. This why this concept is so "Sweet!" However when it comes to meeting a currently unmet consumer need, I'm not so sure of its sweetness, but Digg doesn't meet a currently unmet need. = ) It may be a winner if the marketing is done right.

I really like the crossline aspect, in my humble opinion, the industry seems to be waking up to the value of crossline functionality, i.e., the ability to merge or synergize online/offline business functions. This why this concept is so "Sweet!" However when it comes to meeting a currently unmet consumer need, I'm not so sure of its sweetness, but Digg doesn't meet a currently unmet need. = ) It may be a winner if the marketing is done right.

thanks for the input-
@motiggidy & aiden- perhaps "hindsight" is the wrong term but it IS nuggets of info you had no idea before someone told you and once you know, you think it's like a big secret you had been left out of. The psychological draw to buy a book of useful secrets that you feel left out of would be very strong.

The comments that the marketing would have to be savvy are spot on- again, look at that "worst case scenario" book that crossed over to TV.

Have you seen the white arrow in the FedEx logo? it's one of those things that once you know about it, you can't believe you didn't see it before. That's a useless example but tidbits of insight that are actually practical are what i'm after with this idea.

Just ask yourself if you would purchase such a book or not subscribe to that RSS of peer-approved nuggets.

sean

You might want to think about the age-group. or some other way of getting more focus in the topic of the book. For the rest I think it could work. having a 'useless/useful facts' book, could be the perfect gift for someone that you don't know what to buy for.

This has potential to become a series, either in print or within a giant umbrella website, or some other connected-type of structure.

Some of the things could be serious, others more lightweight.

E.g. "what to know before you start med school", "...before you go to see Snakes on a Plane", etc.

thanks all-
@jill - it's absolutely intended to become a series. It should theoretically perpetuate itself with coffee table book sales driving web site traffic and vice versa.
@Julius- yea, I dunno how to dictate the age group. my vision is more for a general compendium of practical tips that I would find useful and read about. somethign that would be a good conversation starter and you'd flip through if you found it on someone else's coffee table.

fyi: if you like this idea, you should check out the technology we released live today at www.JumpBox.com. This is a game-altering piece of software.

sean

I've read the posts and I'm still unclear about the concept. I'm also having trouble seeing how this could be useful to me? How about an example?

This sounds more like a toilet reader to me. Read a couple facts while you take care of business.

I think it should have a digg style voting for the submitted ideas so I only have to read good ideas. Although, there would need to be some mechanism to ensure unique ideas. If I saw the same ideas over and over it would drive me nuts.

The idea of selling a book of these facts is great. I think Ken Jennings on Jeopardy has taken these trivia items to a new height.

Worth following up, not only for fun's sake but also for helping people, particularly youngsters, learn from others' experiences. Most people would prefer learning from such books rather than being lectured to by their parents and elders.

I feel however that such books should not be restricted to coffee table editions only as their pricing then would put them out of reach of the masses. Also such books would necessarily have to be made available in several volumes published over a period of time to make them really useful and should therefore too be published as popular editions and not coffee table ones.