A White rapper had the hottest Super Bowl commercial, a Black tech startup accelerator changes the Web tech startup space and a homeless man gets his dream job because a YouTube video went viral. The year 2011 was epic in terms of showing how much impact technology has on our culture and has changed the way we communicate, launch businesses, and become informed about current events. As the final days on this year count down, I decided to take a look back on some of the great (and not-so-great) moments in technology for 2011. —Hajj Flemings
A White rapper had the hottest Super Bowl commercial, a Black tech startup accelerator changes the Web tech startup space and a homeless man gets his dream job because a YouTube video went viral. The year 2011 was epic in terms of showing how much impact technology has on our culture and has changed the way we communicate, launch businesses, and become informed about current events. As the final days on this year count down, I decided to take a look back on some of the great (and not-so-great) moments in technology for 2011. —Hajj Flemingsmore
BEST BOOK OF 2011:Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. This biography chronicles the life and work of Apple Computers founder Steve Jobs before his death on October 5, 2011. An inspiring book about one of technology’s great minds.
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BEST KINDLE BOOK OF 2011:Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup. This was one of the top business books downloaded on the Kindle. Eric’s centers around helping startups create new ideas under extreme uncertainty.
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BEST SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL OF 2011:
Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit†commercial, which debuted the new Chrysler 200 and featured Detroit rapper Eminem. It was a great business move that instilled pride in the downtrodden city and promoted the idea of domestic job creation.
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BEST DOCUMENTARY OF 2011:CNN’s Black In America 4: The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley. This documentary chronicles the journey of eight entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley in an industry where less than 1% of venture capital (VC) backed startups have African-American founders.
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BREAKOUT STARTUP OF THE YEAR: The NewMe Accelerator. The first minority-led tech accelerator launched in June 2011 with the first class of 11-startups and helped shine national light on the fact that there are African Americans making strides in the tech sector
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BEST NEW SOCIAL MEDIA SERVICE OF 2011: Crowdtap, which is a crowdsourced service with researches that give you the ability to collaborate, cost-effectively within short timeframes.
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BEST TABLET APP OF 2011: Flipboard, which is a social magazine for your mobile device (iPhone or iPad) that allows you to aggregate your content from your social networks into a magazine format.
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BEST BRANDED MOBILE APP OF 2011:Domino’s Pizza, which brought home $1million in sales through their mobile app in one week.more
BEST HASHTAG ON TWITTER IN 2011: #OccupyWallStreet: This hashtag started a moment known as the 1% versus the 99%, centered around a non-violent protest against corporate greed and the U.S. banking system.
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BEST INFOGRAPHIC OF 2011:The Anatomy of a Fan (Facebook): This infographic created Moon Toast clearly communicates the engagement of fans and brands on Facebook.
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BEST TWEET OF 2011:Bill Gates about Steve Jobs’ death: “For those of us lucky enough to get to work with Steve, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.â€
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BEST VIRAL VIDEO:The Man with the Golden Voice. In the midst of being homeless, Ted Williams finds a job when a video featuring his smooth broadcaster’s voice goes viral on YouTube. The clip currently has over 17 million views.
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