I have been living in Sweden for almost a year now. What a coincidence, I have been using Spotify for almost a year, too. It’s not that hard to fall in love with this online music service. Yep, those swedish guys didn’t reinvent the wheel, true. They just made it easier to roll.

Ever since I logged in for the very first time I have been one of those “free” users. I didn’t feel like paying some 99 SEK a month, so I have been listening to those annoying ads just like you. Today one of them made me follow the link to Spotify’s website–it introduced Spotify Unlimited. It is just like Spotify Premium, except that it costs 49 SEK.

Having options is cool.

This video has been played 136K times since Sean uploaded it two days ago. The video is awesome, purely awesome. I just watched it for the sixth time.

Anyway, go check it out. How many of those, let’s say, more than 100K unique witnesses of this guy’s fantastic experience have thought about buying the Canon 5D mkII? I wonder how many of them will actually leave, if not already left, a store with this camera in hand.

By the way, Jónsi’s album Go is worth your time too.

Alright, let’s face it. The way we communicate has changed. We have changed. Now we can share tons of information about whatever with any number of people. And that’s great. I like sharing because through other people’s suggestions I have read some great stuff I would never have found otherwise. Well, yeah, I am still struggling to find a better way to share certain stuff with certain people, but mailing always does the trick.

I hate people complaining for the sake of it. You log in to your Facebook account just to feed your cows. Then you read an article on the web saying how bad Facebook is. And then you realise that all of it is true. Your very private pictures and, and, oh, yeah, your mood messages might be visible to everyone on this virtual planet.

May I ask you something? How many people have seen your childhood pictures? Yeah, the ones you are naked on? Not many. Why? Because they are not posted on your front door, that’s why. Pretty simple. Common sense, people would say. And it’s not like you haven’t thought about that. You like “Tokio Hotel”, but you don’t want other people to know you do? Just don’t then, they are disgusting anyway.

Now it’s advertising’s turn. People seem to be afraid of all those really well targeted ads. Companies know you like red socks and offer you some from the sidebar, be it Facebook’s or any other’s. Do you click on them? Do you even see them? I guess not. I hope not. Because, otherwise, you belong to this surprisingly big group of people who do click on random links. So long as this group of people is that big, companies will still use those boring methods of attracting attention and driving sales. And, hey, why do you add information about yourself anyway? Do you really need to have it there, under the “Info” tab? Nope.

What I am afraid of is the so-called “herd behaviour”.

Thing is, you always have a choice. However, if you want to live in a cave, don’t look for one on Facebook. As far as I know, caves are not available in FarmVille either. Yet.

If you are a good programmer, build a better Facebook. If you aren’t, you still have plenty of options. Sharing of pictures? Print and deliver them to the door of your friends. On foot. Just don’t be narrow, please.

Last weekend during Startup Weekend in Lund I talked with a guy from Imperiet about cars. I have a thing for cars and it’s not just because I love driving.

This time it was about SAAB. There was something he said that struck me. If I recall it correctly, back in time, the company had the idea to expand production in Malmö because of the great consumers’ interest for 900 turbo and 9000 turbo.

Why would you intentionally diminish your brand’s strength? Cars are a status symbol and we all know it (now I sound a bit like John Locke). Let’s say your present and potential clients can be divided into two groups. Those from the first group are there for you because your cars are not a typical mass-produced four wheeled thing. Their purchase decision is assisted by high involvement and boosted by the somewhat exclusive nuance of your brand. The others are looking for a reliable nice car.

Would you risk the first group of clients leaving you?

Here we go, another good example of a small company that tries to change an industry. I love these stories.

If you stumble upon a problem, look for a solution. Don’t be afraid to offer what others don’t and your efforts will pay off. This guy didn’t reinvent the wheel, he just found another way to roll it. What is more, he focused on building customer relationships, something big companies offen fail to do.