As I walked along a trail that paralleled a stream bed I was struck by the number of frogs crossing the trail in front of me in both directions. They are so busy, I thought to myself. They called to mind the streets of midtown Manhattan at lunch time: no one is on the side of the street they need to be on, and masses of people are streaming past each other to get where others have come from.

Further down the trail I stopped to admire a beaver pond. The water was glassy, the beaver lodge a sturdy dome of sticks and logs constructed at the far end of the pond. The scene was quiet and the air still, but I could hear the sounds of tiny creatures: the high-pitched sound of insects seeking food, and beyond that, the lower-pitched sound of bees pollinating clover.

When you stop and listen, what passes for tranquility is actually a workplace teaming with activity.

A hawk gliding overhead seems to be loafing. But he's working too, surveying a vast terrain, and choosing his moment to strike at vulnerable prey.

Hard at work, but in harmony with the world and well matched with the task at hand, even busyness can feel like tranquility. That's what I learned about work in the woods of Maine.

A bit of Jupiter history. Jupiter was founded by Josh Harris in 1986 as Jupiter Communications. In the 1990s it adopted the syndicated research and advisory business model. It went public under CEO Gene De Rose in 1999 (I joined that year) and merged with Media Metrix in 2000, forming Jupiter Media Metrix. In 2002 the syndicated research business was sold to Alan Meckler's INT Media Group, which renamed itself Jupitermedia. In 2006 we were acquired by MCG Capital, which merged us with Kagan Research, briefly forming JupiterKagan, until the Kagan business was sold in 2007. And now we find ourselves in the affectionate embrace of our erstwhile competitor, Forrester.

Jupiter folks have looked at Forrester, which was founded in 1983 by George Colony, who still leads the company, with begrudging admiration. We have competed for mindshare, influence and clients in the arena of Internet business research and strategy.We have not always seen things the same way, and we have scoffed at times at some of Forrester's market forecasts and bold pronouncements on the future. But Forrester has a lot of smart people, and has gotten a lot right. And they have executed their business strategy masterfully.

As strange as it may seem, I am excited about this news. I know that the expanded, combined organization will have the resources to provide our clients with even greater insight and advice as well as access to Forrester's broad range of products and services.

Jupiter's employees are also going to benefit from the combination with Forrester. Forrester execs have enthusiastically expressed to me their respect for the quality of our staff and are eager for us to become part of the expanded company. Jupiter folks will reap the benefits of being part of a larger organization, with its rich resources, track record of effective execution, and commitment to employee growth and career development.

In the coming months we'll be working hard to continue providing Jupiter's clients with the high-quality research and service they have come to expect. At the same time, the two company's research, sales and client services teams will come together, and we'll be at work on an improved set of products and services that incorporate the best of what both companies bring to the table.

Stay with us, and watch what we do!

"Some scientists worry that the fractured experience typical of the Internet could rob developing readers of crucial skills," she writes.

Some of the worry is about the impact of Web usage on the brain itself. "Neurological studies show that learning to read changes the brain’s circuitry," she says. "Scientists speculate that reading on the Internet may also affect the brain’s hard wiring in a way that is different from book reading."

In duly balanced New York Times fashion, Rich also cites opposing views--that the Web might actually be enriching users' ability to process information. "Web proponents believe that strong readers on the Web may eventually surpass those who rely on books. Reading five Web sites, an op-ed article and a blog post or two, experts say, can be more enriching than reading one book.

'It takes a long time to read a 400-page book,' said Mr. Spiro of Michigan State. 'In a tenth of the time,' he said, the Internet allows a reader to 'cover a lot more of the topic from different points of view.'”

Apart from the intrinsically interesting question of whether Web use is making us dumber, I wondered why people should care, especially if their own kids (like mine) are avid readers of linear paper media. Along with other surprise benefits of the Internet, such as the destruction of popular culture, perhaps the Web creates an opportunity for those of us and our offspring who have retained cognitive skills to out-maneuver the e-nitwits in our competition for the best jobs and richest resources in a dumbed-down world of the future.

Then I read, in today's Times, David Brook's column, cites new research on stagnant educational attainment in the United States, saying that as a result the country's long-term prospects are in jeopardy. But Brooks extends a compelling benefit to those who escape the dumbing down envisioned by e-nitwit hypothesis: In a dumbed-down world, "The relatively few skilled workers command higher prices, while the many unskilled ones have little bargaining power."

So whether you care about declining educational attainment, or whether surging Internet use is developing or crippling cognitive skills, depends partly on whether you you take a narrow, self-interested perspective, or a broader one, which by necessity must consider the the plight of many of us who depend on rich resources of human capital to run our businesses. What will we do if the wells run dry?

Congratulations to
Bobby Tulsiani for Competing with YouTube
Nate Elliott for Branded Social Networking Pages
Ed Kountz and Mark Best for US Mobile Payments

If you are a client, make sure you read those reports. If you're not and these topics are important to you, drop us a line and talk to a Jupiter account rep about how you can get access to this research.

The article quoted quoted MIT's Carlo Ratti, who directed one of the studies, as saying, "You can take information from the cellphone network and see how the city lives and how it moves. It's a bit like globalization in real time."

On the stage:
- David Bohrman (SVP & Washington Bureau Chief, CNN): Moderator
- Steve Grove (Head of News and Politics, YouTube)
- Nadira Hira (Writer, FORTUNE magazine)
- Michael Scherer (Washington Bureau Correspondent, TIME Magazine)

Steve Grove pointed out that videos posted on YouTube by Obama supporters got far more views than those posted by the candidate's team; that the enormous popularity of Obama's now-famous 37-minute speech on race shattered the myth that only short video clips find an audience online. And he suggested that the Obama campaign may have benefited from analyzing the comments that official video posts attracted to shape subsequent speeches.

Nadira Hira showed good humor in accepting the role as interpreter of young folks, and folks of color, for Fortune's readers, observed that Facebook lit up with conversation during the conclusion of the presidential primary season last night.

Michael Scherer (who also blogs at Time's Swampland) noted that the Internet is "not a community of activities--it's a tool that anyone can use" and credited the Obama campaign of appealing early to a "new online populism." Scherer also echoed Jupiter's view that news products are being deconstructed, and that news organizations are competing story by story. (A series of research reports by Barry Parr paint the picture, here, here and here. And here's a recent one on politics specifically.)

This is the second time in two years that a firm founded by Jupiter alumni has met with success in the market and been acquired on terms favorable to the founders. Several other Jupiter folks over the years have gone off to build successful start ups.

In our recruiting of analysts, we are sometimes asked about the career path of a Jupiter analyst. I like to talk about how Jupiter analysts have unlimited opportunity at Jupiter to build their profile and extend their industry influence as they are help to drive our continued growth. But for some, Jupiter is a great place to spend 3-5 years before changing the world outside our walls.

If you want to make your mark on our industry, consider a career move to Jupiter. Current job listings here.

What if your product is physically indistinct (like a lot of consumer packaged goods), physically repulsive (like your first puff of a cigarette), or if you need a more economical alternative to giving consumers first-hand experience of your product? You can create an "experience" and convey it with media. Share the experience of a loving mom caring for her family by tending to their laundry; or experience the manly thrill of galloping across the mesa surrounded by snow-covered mountains and enjoying a smoke at the end of a challenging day.

What if media is losing its ability to influence consumers? This is the question that came to mind listening to Clark Kokich, CEO of Avenue A | Razorfish, at the company's client summit this week in New York. He called on marketers to move beyond talking to consumers, beyond focusing on creating perceptions, and toward creating real experiences. [Update: I got his slides. He said, "Less 'saying things' & more 'building things'"; "messaging replaced by brand immersion"; "digital experience becomes part of the product"] What this means in the digital world is moving beyond banners and paid media and toward creating immersive, interactive, participatory digital experiences to reach and engage online consumers where they spend an increasing amount of their time.

Now, digital brands (online retailers, search engines, portals) are experienced online and the expression of the brand and the experience of the brand can be one in the same. Off-line brands have to break new ground and create digital "experiences" and not just perceptions for online consumers.

Why is this becoming necessary? There are many reasons, but surely one is that consumers become habituated to everything, and it takes novelty and a new levels of intensity to reach them. If you are from a quiet place and come to New York city, you are hugely impressed by the energy of this place. But even transplants from Lincoln, Nebraska get used to it here. If you are old enough to remember your first color TV, you probably remember being wowed by the experience. Or your first game of Pong. The bar is higher today. And marketers need to aim higher than ever before to connect with consumers.

[For an analysis of online engagement, a look at best practices, and recommendations for marketers, see Emily Riley's recent research report on the topic.]