by Al Urbanski, Senior Editor, Direct Marketing Excerpt Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s blog post this week heralding the end of the 140-character limit on tweets was met with surprise and consternation from most quarters. Isn’t the succinct electronic message the thing that defines Twitter? Perhaps, but it does nothing to define what need the network filled for marketers overwhelmed with choices, according to observers. Brian Solis, Altimeter Group analyst and author of a new book about customer experience called X,…

by Jennifer Van Grove, LA Times, excerpt You may not have unwrapped a robot on Christmas, but your new year will be filled with artificial intelligence. The digital gift comes courtesy of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies, large and small, that are making rapid advancements with virtual personal assistants that can solve problems and even complete tasks. The assistants, sometimes referred to as “chatbots,” represent noteworthy advancements to computer programs that simulate conversations. Chatbots are not new — perhaps…

via Ed Sessions, Excerpt The modern world has an increasing ability to make information accessible to people from all walks of life. Each technological advancement, in some way or another, leads to a greater access to information for people as a whole. Is this really a good thing for us to come up against? Or is it something that could turn out to be a perilous problem for all who are involved? Brian Solis: Relevancy We each face many different…