Plenty of bloggers have debated whether to look forward or back as the new year approaches. Some like to focus on revelations of the past 12 months,  while others eschew past history and make predictions about their space for the upcoming 365.

Theme, thesis, hub, pivot, emphasis, issue, cornerstone

Recognize these words? They are all synonyms for something I’ve rarely had in my life: focus. If anything, 2009 became the year that I developed focus, and 2010 will be a year to refine that focus.

My gaining focus is not because of any revelation or moment of great clarity. My focus developed because I have spent the last two years talking to people about their goals for learning computer tasks.

“I’d like to build a website,” begins the conversation.

“Really,” I say in response, “what is the purpose of the web site?”

Cue blank stare, then “Well, I have an idea for a business,” the learner says.

What follows is another 20 questions about goals, messages, and audiences, much of the discussion new to the aspiring web entrepeneur. Literally, we talk for 20 minutes before we open the program for building web pages.

The more I did that with customers, the more I realized that I never did it for myself. So I looked at different areas of my life, and started asking questions. For example, I decided this year to start looking for a condo to be financed and purchased by myself (first time in nearly 20 years, mind you).

Do I want a condo or a townhouse?

Is this something I’ll stay in for a while or use as a short-term investment?

What town or area do I really want to live in?

Condos in my price range are extremely limited in features, what features are important to me?

You get the idea.

In August I attend a social media conference for the first time, and find I am woefully unprepared to even talk to someone while sitting at a table for lunch. But being around all those well-connected social media thought leaders inspires me, and I decide to take six months to evaluate my knowledge and capabilities, and define what it is I do.

The end result? Well, I won’t bore you with details. Lets just say I’m in the fourth month of that six-month evaluation. I’ve discovered much about the space, and about how to define my role in it, but there is discovery yet to be made. In February, I’ll assess what I’ve found, and define the next steps.

Arts and culture
Over the past few years, I’ve blogged about various trips to the opera, fine arts museum, and other activities. While these cultural junkets have been few and far between over the last few years, I’ve decided that in 2010, they will occur at least once a month.

That will take some research and pre-planning on my part, but in keeping with this year’s theme of refining my efforts to focus, I think I am up to the task. I even started a spreadsheet targeting one music or art event per month (how’s that for using my computer skills).

So there it is, a quick survey of my personal growth over the last year, and view of what I hope to accomplish in 2010. What say you friends, bloggers, tweeters, and social media colleagues?

With the recent release of a new iTunes version, Apple created a new distribution model called “iTunes LP.” The premise of this new model is that it gives you all the same information we used to get on a traditional LP album, neatly packaged in clickable html links, available within the iTunes bowser.

When you download an iTunes album, a link to the html package sits within the song list. Simply click on this link, and iTunes turns into a hyperlinked browser full of html goodness (or click on the small icon when hovering over the album cover). Through this interface users can choose which song to play, read liner notes content such as artist info, bios, and productions notes, access photos, or accomplish any another browser-supported activity. An “x” in the upper left corner of the iTunes window brings the user out of the html interface, back into the iTunes’ regular song list or album view.

The roll-out of “iTunes LP” has either been rather quiet, or more realistically, has yet to create much media or web notice. Perhaps Apple intended to spawn some buzz with the release of a free iTunes Christmas sampler in the new format.Yesterday, a free Starbucks compilation memed its way across Facebook, exposing the new format to millions.

If it doesn’t catch on, it won’t be the first iTunes feature that fails to hit the mainstream. Buried deep within the personal iTunes account interface is a feature allowing users to embed an iTunes widget on personal websites. I’ve yet to see that widget anywhere, except for my own website.

It’s unknown how Apple plans use this distribution model. Close to two generations of music buyers have passed since the days of the traditional LP and its liner note goodness. Do current music buyers even want the extra content?. Will buyers have a choice to purchase extra content via the iTunes LP? Will all albums eventually follow the iTunes LP model and provide extra content as a matter of course? All of this remains to be seen.