Archive for the 'Business' category

Renting From iTunes? Not so fast.

Mar 25 2008 Published by under Business, Craziness, Gadgets, Technology

Mrs. Quip is heading out on a trip and decides to download a couple of movies from iTunes. She’s got her iPod all set, purchases a couple of rentals and starts the download at midnight. Her flight is at 6:00 AM, so she’ll grab the laptop on the way out the door, transfer the files to the iPod at the airport, and be all set for the flight. Sound great, right?

EXCEPT, iTunes rentals don’t work with just any video iPod. They only work with the current generation. If you’ve got the old 5G iPod, you’re out of luck. But how can that be? The iTunes movies work with the older iPod, so why not the rentals? Any difference between the formats should be a function of software, right?

Well, I was surprised to say the least and went trolling Apple’s site. Surely, given the millions of 5G devices in the hands of consumers, there would be warnings and caveats all over the site and iTunes store, right? Well, no. I found one reference buried at the bottom of this page.

Rentals to go.

Movies you rent from the iTunes Store transfer to your iPod1 or iPhone to watch on the go. Either device remembers where you stopped watching on your computer and picks up where you left off.

Notice that little subscript “1″? That points you at a footnote in about a 6 point font way down at the bottom of the page.

1. Movies rented on the iTunes Store will play only on the current-generation iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod touch.

The best part of this little story, though, is buried even further down the hole. If you view the source code for the page, and look at the CSS style for that disclaimer, the style name is… wait for it…

sosumi

Read that as a disgruntled customer who finds they just downloaded useless movies might and you get, “So, Sue Me!”

Not that I don’t appreciate Apple’s sense of humor at my expense, but it really is pretty crappy thing to do. Release a new function, limit it to only the current devices (despite the fact that it should be a simple software fix to enable it on the old ones), and force people to buy even more expensive hardware. It’s a brilliant move for a corporation, and one I would expect from Microsoft. Congrats, Apple. You’ve become everything you used to disdain.

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Ridiculous Ideas Never Die

Mar 20 2008 Published by under Business, Craziness, Marketing, Stuck On Stupid, Technology, The Internet

About 8 years ago, a company called Digital Convergence Corporation had the idea to place bar codes in magazine ads. When you scanned the bar code using a CueCat, your browser would automagically go to a website where you could get additional information. This was welcomed with a huge yawn by people who realized that typing a url was actually less work than picking up the CueCat, pointing it at said bar code, getting it to read, and then waiting for the browser to respond. Honestly, how many people digest magazines when they’re sitting at the desktop anyway? If you could turn my toilet into a scanner/smart terminal, maybe I’d pass the occasional magazine in front of it.

To nobody’s surprise, Digital Convergence eventually failed and most thought the CueCat was lost to the annals of goofy technology history.

Apparently, however, there are still people who think this is a pretty neat idea – not the least of them is Microsoft.

Microsoft’s new multicolor bar code will enable the inclusion of more data in the code itself, as well as the ability for consumers to interact with it by scanning the code with webcams and, eventually, cell phones with color cameras.

Of course, Microsoft’s new bar code was developed to aid in anti-piracy efforts, not advertisers. That hasn’t stopped still other companies from trying to fill the CueCat void.

Enter MyClick

MyClick allows consumers to instantly access exciting promotional opportunities and discounts, and provide ROI feedback, simply by taking aim and shooting at special images on ads and products with their mobile device cameras.

That’s from an e-mail I received from MyClick earlier today. The message touts MyClick’s ultra-cool new offering. From their website, here’s how it works.

Visitors simply log onto www.myclick.hk with their mobile phones and download the MyClick software. Upon taking a photo of the MyClick framed Carnival logo at the MyClick game booth next to the Giant Wheel in the Carnival, attractive prizes including PS3, xBox, Vista gifts and Go Cart race cash coupons are just one click away.

Now I can hear you saying two things to yourself. First, “why would I want to go through that process just to get some goofy prize or a coupon?” Most of MyClick’s clients are advertisers like Lipton, Pepsi and Pizza Hut, and most of their efforts so far have been coupon delivery. They somehow have convinced themselves that I will install an application on my phone specifically to get MORE useless coupons delivered to me.

That brings me to your second question – “Isn’t this even worse than the CueCat example given that it’s just as difficult to install/use, but less useful ultimately because I could currently achieve the same thing with short codes and standard text messages?”

Well, yes, that’s right. First you have to download their app, then you have to take a picture of the add, then you have to wait for the image to be processed and get the response back. The MyClick folks should be commended for the fact that they took a really unappealing process (read magazine, grab goofy cat looking scanner, aim at magazine, wait for browser) and made it even more complicated.

Pizza Hut could just as easily have put a tag on their posters that said, “Send ‘High Five!’ to 55555 to get a coupon or win a prize.” It requires no download and very little time to complete.

All of this just goes to show that a really bad idea is still a really bad idea when applied to different platforms.

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Funniest Conversation Ever

Mar 11 2008 Published by under Bloggers, Business, Craziness, Free Speech, Miscellany, The Internet

I thought I’d share a conversation I had with a lawyer a few minutes ago. It was particularly amusing for what it reveals about the view some people have of what we do.

Me: Hey, did you get a chance to review that document I sent you yesterday.

Lawyer: I sent it to a couple of other people for some additional feedback. I’ll get it back to you shortly. Refresh my memory, what was this for again?

Me: It’s a post for the blog.

Lawyer: Oh, yeah. Right. I forgot about that. That’s a really stupid idea – that blog. People parse every word in legal filings that nobody ever reads and then we go say any damn thing on a blog. (Apparently he senses my shock at his comment) Sorry… I know the blog wasn’t your idea.

Me: Actually, it was.

Lawyer: Oh. Forget it. What do I care. I’m retiring anyway.

So there you have it. The world we occupy and the way the rest of the establishment sees it. Damn the man! Save the empire!

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Florida And Michigan Refuse To Accept Responsibility for Primary Debacle

Mar 10 2008 Published by under Business, Craziness, Democrats, Elections, Politics, Republicans

[Florida Governor Charlie] Crist and [Michigan Governor Jennifer] Granholm have called on the party chairman to seat their delegates.

“It is reprehensible that anyone would seek to silence the voices of 5,163,271 Americans,” they said in a joint press release.

If anything more clearly demonstrates the problem with people today, I haven’t seen it. This short passage from an article about the situation facing Florida and Michigan as they try to figure out how to pay for a second round of voting demonstrates a complete failure to take responsibility for your actions.

Florida and Michigan had been told last year that moving their primary date in violation of party rules would result in their delegates not being seated. They did so anyway, apparently believing the threat was a bluff. Granholm has continually voiced her belief that they will be seated anyway – despite Howard Dean’s assurance that they will not.

The parties have a real quandary on their hands. Ignore the votes of millions of people, or send a clear message to 48 other states that you can violate the party rules and fear no consequences. It’s a tough position, and one I’m surprised two partisans like Granholm and Crist would get behind. Their obstinate refusal to listen when this could have been resolved without a huge public mess created a situation. Now, their refusal to acknowledge that they screwed up may cost millions of their citizens a seat at the table.

What do they do to save face? They demand to be seated and refuse to accept the consequences of their actions.

As a partisan, I say screw them. Let their voters be disenfranchised and let these two governors pay the price at the ballot box when they come up for re-election.

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Parting Thoughts On The Cookie Mafia

Mar 07 2008 Published by under Business, Craziness

After my rants earlier this week about the girls in green – otherwise known as the cookie mafia or the Girl Scouts, I sent a letter asking why their Internet sales policy seemed to be so incredibly ridiculous. It just didn’t make sense the reason for banning Internet sales could really be online safety concerns. As it turns out, I was correct.

I received the following e-mail in response to my inquiry. Everything in bold is my emphasis, not their’s.

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your concerns and taking time to write about them.

We have a number of issues, one of which is the fact that our councils (around 200 plus right now and moving down to 109 in 2009) each contract individually with the cookie company of their choice. Individual boards set cookie prices and choose cookie companies. (We have prices that run from $3-$4 across the country.) Although GSUSA provides the guidelines and overarching licensing agreement with our two cookie companies (and other vendors) and control the GSUSA brand, we do not sell cookies, our girls do as part of our girl program, and each council does it in a slightly different way.

The initial issue was girl safety online, which can now be handled in a lot of different ways (Paypal, Kinera, etc. as models. You have an excellent point in comparing current Internet Safety for sales to door to door and both sales. The next issue is girl involvement (it really is a girl entrepreneurial activity–and we were advised to keep it that way by the IRS) and there are lots of ways to incorporate the online business into girl-driven activity.

Currently the greatest issue to rear its ugly head via our lawyers is selling across council and state lines and figuring out how to regulate that internally. I think it could be done with zip codes with the increased sophisticated levels of programming, but it has opened up a whole new kettle of issues, including interstate trade, price fixing, etc. Until we get the legalities straightened out, we risk losing our IRS tax exempt status and might face some potential legal issues.

Despite our reputation, we are not primarily in the cookie business. Our “business” is creating opportunities for girls to develop “courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.” And yes, I agree, we need to be exposing girls to business online.

Our National Board of Directors passed a guideline when the Internet became a big thing that we are working to change to allow us more flexibility. Currently we are testing an online program with magazine subscriptions which seems to be working well, but unfortunately, comparing our cookie program to magazine selling is like comparing apples to oranges.

Believe me, there are a lot of us trying to move in that direction…and I too, hope that by the time your daughter is old enough, we are able to allow girls to sell online. I am going to share your note with folks around here…

Sincerely,

So there you have it. There are a whole bunch of reasons the Girl Scouts don’t sell online, but it sounds like the absolute least of them is child safety. Above that on the list is the IRS tax exempt status, lawyers, and business deals. I guess those don’t sound as good when you write it out in your FAQs, though.

I’ll be writing back to share some thoughts on how technology can mitigate most of the concerns outlined in their letter. Who knows, maybe if I keep up the discussion this ridiculous policy may get changed before Baby Quip is old enough to start peddling sugar.

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