My WIRED magazine subscription got delivered on the same day as my iPad. I still haven’t opened the paper version. I know several entrepreneurs whose attempts to charge for online content succeeded about as well as King Canute’s wave management. iPad apps might possible turn the tide against free content because the experience is so good.

I don’t often post other peoples’ content. But I thought this was such a great presentation about why “online” continues to be a disruptive technology. It encompasses beautifully why putting “eLipstick” on the pig of a fragmented legacy organisation doesn’t meet customers’ service and experience expectations.

A folding plug won the Brit Insurance Design Awards in the UK this week. As gadgets get smaller, Britain has the largest plug in the world. The traditional British plug was invented in 1946. Why did it take 64 years to invent a better one? More importantly, why didn’t any of the rest of us have that idea?

In March 1876, the New York Times trumpeted the birth of the home entertainment industry. It would be powered by the telephone. It (mostly) never happened. Exactly 134 years later Facebook became the most visited website in the USA, pulling in more visitors than Google. There’s a connection between these facts. We’re learning what the web is really for.