Stuck in the 80’s

I work full time for a big local company. Our company is very successful in almost all measurable ways and is considered a very stable, growing entity. Today at work there was an announcement about a customer retention program aimed at identifying disgruntled customers and helping to resolve their issues. There are several layers of people who will look at this customer’s issue before it’s finally resolved, and  there’s really nothing wrong with this whole thing, but it really got me thinking.

People are becoming accustomed to having their issues resolved quickly (or instantly) through the use of electronic media such as email or Twitter. While the process our company is putting in place will likely solve customer issues, it will take time to complete the process. It will also cost money, in the form of company resources (human and otherwise). Will customers wait? The program is supposed to boost customer retention, but I wonder if it will drive customers into the hands of companies willing to answer their questions instantly using something like Twitter. 

Our company has no real presence on Twitter or Facebook or any social media site. Although it’s not surprising given the culture of the company, it’s surprising given how little money and other resources it would take to get things set up. A small group of folks in the company could easily handle Twitter and Facebook and other social media in a way that provided customers with quick and efficient service. 

Why not implement a social media program alongside the program the company is implementing now?  Again, the costs would be minimal. I have looked at Twitter from time to time and seen some unflattering things posted about our company. I have also seen some very positive things posted. Seems like a waste to let such valuable feedback go unnoticed. 

Although a little unusual in the company, I think I will send the architect of the customer retention program an email asking if she’d like to hear my thoughts about putting in a social media component to the program. The worst she can say is no and who knows, maybe she will want to pick my brain a little. 

New York Senator Schumer is After Facebook

I’ve lived in upstate New York most of my life so I speak from experience when I say New York is a political disaster area controlled by special interests and powerful unions. Young people flee the state every year and we continue to lose jobs at an alarming rate. 

Thankfully New York Senator Charles Schumer has decided that the FTC needs to start policing what information social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can sell to other companies. 

Is it a slow week in Washington? Does the good senator have nothing better to do while real problems continue to drag the once great Empire State through the gutter? People who use Facebook and the like need to be educated about what information those sites are collecting and what is done with that information. Once again it seems like the government wants to step in and play the role of over-protective parent. Rather than hold users responsible for their own safety online, why not let the FTC handle it for us? That way we can brainlessly surf the internet safe from all the bad things out there. 

New York is a mess with job loss, a very unfriendly environment for small business, sky-high property taxes, and a government that seems to think that the state has a bottomless money pit somewhere in Albany. I wish Senator Schumer were as concerned about all the young people who are fleeing to other states. Or maybe he could help figure out a way to lower our outrageous property taxes. How about trying to give the state back to the people who live here and taking it away from the powerful unions and special interest groups that own Albany? 

Clearly something should be done about personal information being sold to companies on the internet, but it seems like a low priority issue compared to the very real threats the state faces. 

Because Senator Schumer has decided to take on such a small issue at a time when New York is on the brink of destruction, I’ll assume he has some motive other than protecting the public from Facebook. 

So thanks Senator Schumer. 

Am I ready for an Ipad?

Now that the Ipad has been out for a week, I think I want one. As I’ve said in previous posts I’m really not a fan of Apple, but the Ipad really excites me as a perfect device to have around the house for the family to use. 

Right now we have a desktop and a laptop. All my family does on the computer is check email, surf the internet, and watch an occasional youtube video. Nothing special. Our desktop is getting old and will need to be replaced sometime this year and now I’m really thinking I will replace it with an Ipad. From what I’ve read, it will do everything the family needs, and it will relieve me of the headaches of maintaining a Windows desktop. 

There are two things that make me hesitate with the Ipad: 

• apps: I get by with my Ipod touch using free apps and a few paid games. My tastes are pretty simple. Will the Ipad induce me to pay for lots of apps for the family, especially the kids. I’m afraid my $500 purchase will end up costing me $1000 or more when I start buying apps. It’s reasonable to think there will be a flood of amazing apps as developers get the hang of the Ipad. Could be a money pit.
• Itunes: I wish the Ipad (and my Ipod touch) could download and update itself without having to plug it into a computer with Itunes. I’ve owned an Android phone for a year and never plugged it into my pc, not once. Every update I need, including the Android system updates are downloaded directly on my phone. This annoying problem means I still have to maintain a pc of some kind so that I can keep my Ipad updated. Seems kind of silly.

Although I don’t hesitate to be an early adopter, maybe it better to wait with the Ipad. I wonder if some kind of camera will appear in it down the road. It would be awesome to do a skype-type phone call from an Ipad. 

I’ll have to think about it more – I imagine there will be an Ipad in my house sometime in 2010, but I think this time I will not be among the first into the pool. 

Ipad Invasion

Not surprisingly, the Ipad has monopolized the news for the past several days. I’m not the biggest Apple fan in the world, but I am in awe of their brand. How many other brands inspire customers to stand in line for hours (or days)? How many brands have customers that buy their next best thing simply because that company produced it, irregardless of the customers actual need for the product? I think it’s possible that Apple has the strongest brand on the planet. Off the top of my head I can’t think of another brand that inspires such rabid loyalty. 

As I’ve mentioned previously, I own an Ipod touch and I consider it to be the coolest gadget I’ve ever owned. That’s high praise from someone who played on the first Nintendo, owned the first VCR on the block, and listened to the first Walkman. That being said, I don’t feel compelled to run out and get an Ipad. I would like to, and if i had $500 burning a hole in my pocket I think I would. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I need an Ipad, and I’m not willing to part with $500 for what would be a real luxury item (for me anyway). 

Not only do I not need an Ipad, I’m curious about other reports that are surfacing about possible Ipad ‘killers’. Of course most will be pretenders, but tonight I was reading about an Ipad killer that HP is working on that sounds a lot more appealing than the Ipad. Of course there aren’t any reliable reviews of it yet, but I’m hoping the Ipad is just the beginning of a new generation of computing devices. More information about the HP Slate can be found at:

 http://mashable.com/2010/04/05/hp-slate-price-specs/

Clearly the Iphone was a game-changer on many levels. I will be curious to see if the Ipad has the same effect. I’m sure it will play amazing games and early reports say it is super fast, but would it really be a competent replacement for a laptop? If not, it just becomes one more device to have laying around. As it is many people already have numerous devices taking up space from phones, to laptops, to Ipods to netbooks. Is there room in the average house for yet another specialty device? From the early sales reports, it looks like the answer might be yes. It will be fun to watch how the Ipad sells during 2010, especially as the Christmas season approaches. 

The Ipad is new and exciting, but I fear I’m going to hit Ipad information overload before the end of the week. It seems like every other tweet I see is Ipad-related. The tech talk shows and blogs are all filled with Ipad reviews and insights. It’s exciting, but the possibility of Ipad burnout is clearly visible. 

Digg launches their Android app – finally

I own an HTC G2 Android phone. Overall I have been pleased with it and it seems to be getting better every day as new apps are added to the marketplace. The Digg app is no exception. 

I visit Digg often and up until now I was forced to use the browser on my phone. To be honest, the Digg site doesn’t render terribly well on my phone, but it is useable and it’s not so bad that it makes me not want to visit. 

As soon as I saw the announcement that an Android app was being released today, I jumped on it and I am not disappointed. Many apps overpromise and undeliver, but not this one. Now Digg is easy to read and fits beautifully on my phone. And best of all, it fit exactly into my price range – free!

The app is missing some features, like not being able to save articles, and you can’t share articles on Facebook or Twitter. On the upside, you can read articles in landscape mode, which can make reading much easier. 

The biggest downside (if you want to call it that) to Android is that high quality apps like this one have been slow coming out. Of course this makes sense as developers have focused on the more popular Iphone, but it nice any time a company shows a little love to those of us willing to live on the fringe with Android phones. 

As Android phones grow in popularity, I hope more companies and developers will build quality apps that make the Android experience better. 

More information about this app can be found at http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AndroidAppsOnly/~3/acO9xGa_ZxY/digg-launches-android-app.html

Why aren’t there more videos in blogs?

As I visit various blogs around the internet, I notice that the vast majority are text. Given the ease with which one can post a video to the internet, I’m surprised more people don’t post blogs as videos. When I decided to try and establish a blog and some websites, the first thing I purchased was a flip cam. I was absolutely amazed that for $100, I could post a good looking video on the internet in almost no time and with almost no editing. I really believed that video was the best way to get a message across on the internet. 

But then it hit me, why wasn’t I seeing more videos on the internet?  Ironically, this thought came to me while I was listening to a video while surfing the net in another tab in my browser. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don’t have the time or patience to sit and watch most videos. 

I listen to podcasts all the time and I listen to videos all the time, as long as I have something else to do.  I wonder if this is true for many people and that’s why most blogs and other sites are mostly textual?  Is the internet user attention span too short to sit and absorb a video? 

Although I apparently don’t have the attention span to watch a video, I think it’s a shame. I really like watching a video, or at least parts of it. I love to see a face behind a blog or a message. Many videos are creative and engaging and interesting to watch. Perhaps the key is to keep it short. I notice that I will watch a short video, maybe two minutes max. Beyond that, I will start to wander. 

These thoughts have given me pause about how to get my message out. Not only am I posting to this blog, I am also trying to start a bigger wellness related site with a friend. As we begin to populate our sites with content, I am conflicted about how best to present it. Video, text, audio? Perhaps a mixture of everything. Or perhaps I need to see how our community prefers to consume content.

I guess there are no hard and fast rules when producing quality content except to deliver quality and let the community dictate what form it takes.