Archive for March, 2007
Twitter, a New Form of Isolation
This BusinessWeek article identifies one of the most irritating things about Twitter:
Twitter really caught fire, though, at the South by Southwest music and digital conference, held Mar. 9-18 in Austin, Tex. Obvious cleverly prepared the ground, setting up two 51-inch plasma screens next to the conference registration desk and in a hallway where panels let out. As [...]
The Pepsi Re-Generation
Admittedly, I was never much a part of the Pepsi Generation to begin with. And I’ve so aged out of any demographic that Pepsi appears to be interested in with it’s new More Happy campaign, all revolving around re-designs of the Pepsi can. Which are all connected to their very own web-sites and, for lack [...]
A McRose, by Any Other McName
I’m not surprised that the folks at McDonald’s don’t like the term “McJob,” which refers to a crappy, low-paying job that leads nowhere and from which you can be fired at any moment. But their reaction to it is not smart:
The UK arm of the fast food chain is starting a campaign to get British [...]
Amazing Web Dysfunction at Britain’s National Rail
I usually avoid writing a general “wow this site is bad” post, but this is a case where the site is just so bad… and it comes from someone with the resources to do better (as in, have basic functionality work) that I have to point it out.
I’m about to go to London and [...]
Spam or Not Spam? How to Pitch to Bloggers
In a pair of posts, Chris Baggott talks about pitches he gets from PR types looking for him to write about their clients on his blog. (If you’re a blogger, you probably have gotten these too.)
In the first there’s a bad, bad pitch in which a PR type says, “Go read this blog post!” Chris didn’t [...]
Jitterbugged: a little out of synch
In the latest Atlantic Monthly, I saw an add for a simple cell phone that does nothing more than be itself: a simple cell phone. The phone cum service is called Jitterbug, and I posted on it over at Pink Slip yesterday.
The phone looks like a very nifty idea, especially for the parents of aging [...]
A New Niche in the Home Market
Architects and homebuilders are noticing a new trend in housing: separate bedrooms for couples:
Not since the Victorian age of starched sheets and starchy manners, builders and architects say, have there been so many orders for separate bedrooms. Or separate sleeping nooks. Or his-and-her wings.
In interviews, couples and sociologists say that often it has nothing [...]
Good Samaritan Marketing
Over on Vario Creative Blog, Mark Cahill has a post that has nothing - and everything - to do with marketing.
Mark’s post is ostensibly about his woes in trying to dig up from under the storm that blasted New England this weekend. It was one of those snows-followed-by-rain that turned nice fluffy snow into slush [...]
We Gotta Get Out of This Cell Phone Contract
… if it’s the last thing we ever do…
I’ve been beating up on cable companies this week, but let’s look at mobile phones. Here’s a thought: if the only way you can keep customers is with handcuffs, something’s wrong.
Cellphone companies do not make it easy to break two-year contracts. But it can be done through shrewd negotiating [...]
Twitter: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Online
Recently I was talking with someone who’s single after more than a decade of marriage and finds herself figuring out how to navigate the dating world of the 21st century. That means, of course, online dating, and she is running into this phenomenon: she chats with someone who seems interesting and compatible online. The discussions (via [...]
