SeeNBSee?

Apple is frustrating sometimes.  The endless restrictions, the frustrating lack of information pertaining to new products, and the price...my god the price!  It seems as if one member of CNBC remained unaware to the Apple norm.  CNBC's Jim Goldman vented this week regarding the ban on laptop use by the media at the recent shareholders' meeting.  Apparently he hasn't gotten the memo.  It's probably been sitting on his desk for the past eight years or so.  

Tom Krazit seconds my sentiments in his article regarding the incident.  While Apple's requires more privacy detail at its meetings then Barrack Obama, its no reason to get bent out of shape over it.  As an Apple consumer (MacBook, iPod, iPhone) I know what comes with the territory.  I pay too much for an electronic product, then I battle through its incompatibility issues, and finally I watch as the battery eventually dies on me.  SIDE NOTE: Why is it that with most objects they either stop working or they break.  But batteries...they die.  So dramatic.  

Guess what though?   I still buy their stuff.  I feel like an abused wife on the Maury Povich show, I just keep coming back.  Apple's good to me.  My laptop is easy to use and runs as fast as the day I got it.  My iPhone completes me.  Its as if Steve Jobs took a newspaper, a laptop, and a cell phone, threw them in a blender, poured them in a glass and garnished with a little bit of love.  So, you just don't understand my relationship with Apple and you never will!

This brings be back to Jim Goldman.  I get it, Apple has your ***** in a vice.  But isn't it worth it?  Isn't it worth that special feeling you get when Steve struts up there, black turtle neck, sleeves up, and presents us with greatness?  For a great parody watch this Mad TV spoof.  Their OCD has everything to do with their success, why deny them that.  iTunes one of the, if not the biggest provider of downloadable entertainment on the web because of it.  Sorry Mr. Goldman that Steve Jobs doesn't need you to run an extremely successful enterprise.  But you sure as hell need him to write your article.  So take some advice.  Get a pen and paper, leave the laptop (that Apple helped pioneer) at home, and get the news out in an hour.  It can wait.  And also, check out the new App Store, it's great!

   At the price I pay, it should be made of gold.

...until death do us part

The internet has recently churned out another story with strong ties to our class.  Facebook (how apropo) has recently been fighting off protests from account holders over privacy issues (double whammy!).  The site, according to the AP,... 

backed down late Tuesday on policy changes that tens of thousands of users complained would grant the social-networking site the ability to control their information forever, even after they cancel their accounts.

Here's the deal.  Facebook changed their Terms of Service about a week ago.  Facebook's terms of service used to say that when you closed an account on their network, any rights they claimed to the original content you uploaded would expire. The new change would have altered this wording, and your info would be floating around cyberspace forever.

Luckily, the consumerist.com, a public advocacy group, got wind of this.  They put pressure on Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, and he reverted back to the old terms.  See his blog here.  

The new terms were created with complete disregard for us account holders.  And they knew it.  Otherwise they would have announced such a change publicly to Facebookers everywhere.  The battle here is over the legal rights of ownership to an entity's image and information.  Facebook hopes that they could cash in on the property of their members, through release of their profiles.  It's slap in the face to many, but let's look at it more closely.

I understand Facebook's position on this one.  They're a business, and the objective is to make money. Many sites collect and hold onto consumer information, so why should Facebook be any different? Pulling a fast one on you're consumer base?  Ok, I get it.  But they got caught.  Alex Rodriguez taught about what to do when you make mistakes.  Apologize, come clean, make reparations.   He did, they did, and it did.  So, I guess I don't mind the actions of Zuckerberg and his team.  I mean, we have this great FREE social networking site.  It has extremely limited advertising and an easy to use interface.  It's been the icebreaker in relationships, business partnerships, and friendships.  So I'm willing to cut the "book" some slack here.  But I will be monitoring what I put up on that site a bit more closely.

Similarities????

Doodle 4 Google

Google has grown leaps and bounds since its infancy.  Probably the only thing more iconic then the search engine's leading algorithms is its logo.  Recently Google chose its winner in the Doodle 4 Google contest.  Google sets up four divisions in the contest, organized by age.  What makes it neat is that these are kids creating the logo.  Also, Google creates a theme for the doodler to follow.  This year's "My Community" theme is about describing what community means to you.  Check out some of the winners from past years as well, some pretty amazing stuff.

Kudos to the kids who take part in this, sharing their vision through art.  But even greater praise should be given to Google for such a creative contest.  What a great way to engage children's minds and enhance the profile of your company.  There's nothing better then a true win-win situation.

The winning submission: 14-16 year olds

Mashup

The mashup that I found was called Map Sex Offenders.
It takes information from the National Sex Offender Registry and combining it with Google Maps. This is an extremely useful tool if you're a parent worried about the safety of your children. You are able to visually see where these people live. The only thing that sucks is that it costs money. I guess Map Sex Offenders doesn't care about your kids that much.

Apples to Blackberries

It's been a rush to keep up with the iPhone lately.  For consumers, a new Application is released every ten seconds.  Business partner AT&T is constantly changing and updating its rate structure and business model around the phone.  And now it seems, Verizon and Blackberry are pumping extra cash into their latest baby, the Storm, to compete with Apple.

With the Storm now costing $203, technically the phone is being sold at a $4 loss.  For more pricing info go here.  However, the real story here is the lengths to which competition is going to compete with the growing popularity of the iPhone.  When Apple introduced the iPhone, AT&T sold it at a loss as well.  Now obviously they are making serious bank on the data plan, but Apple itself has something going for it that the Storm and its manufacturer don't.  That is the cash cow that we call iTunes.  The App Store is selling applications faster then programmers can create them, and Apple is getting much of the proceeds.

While 1 million Storm's have been sold, Verizon has little chance of ever matching the iPhone's popularity.  And right now they're paying for it, literally.

Analog: Analogous to Dumb

I have a hero.  A loud, flamboyant man in interesting dress. He is neither Liberace nor Elton John.  His name is Matthew Lesko.  While his teachings are tailored to the common man, his motto has recently been adopted by our own government.  But instead of our politicians funding the hard-working entrepreneur, they are spending our money on covering up their own inefficiencies.  What else is new?

Point being, this switch from analog to digital television has been one of the most embarrassing gaffes of recent memory.  Three days ago,

Obama called for a delay largely because the federal program that subsidizes converter boxes for those viewers hit a $1.34 billion funding limit this month (AP Article).

They hit their limit?  Fine, I can handle that.  Now consider that an estimated 10 million people have not switched as of yet.  This has been a program running for almost two years!!  Think of five friends.  Now twenty (if you have that many), how many have rabbit ears coming out of their tv sets?  If you said more than none, you're lying.  Who are these people, more importantly...where are they?  If thirty years ago Mike Teavee could get sent through time and space using television signals, a la a Wonka Bar, surely there are citizens in these modern times smart enough to realize that life offers more than four channels.

Now as the Feb 17 transition date looms, the politicians are starting to get antsy.  Obviously, spending more money on cheesy commercials and ridiculously expensive coupons is the way to get the other five percent of the country on board.  Obama and the Democrats are pushing hard for a transition delay set back to June 12th.  I guess they believe that in five months they can "convert" the same people the last twenty-four months of spending haven't touched. 

 Luckily, the few Republicans left in the Senate were able to band together and block said bill.  I would like to say that the transition date will remain as scheduled.  But it's hard to see through all the static.

Facebook: The Biggest Whopper Virgin

Facebook recently quashed the dreams of another inventive marketing campaign when it decided to make subtle changes to the new WHOPPER SACRAFICE page. See the story here. The muscle behind Burger King's recent surge of brilliant marketing campaigns was at it again. The application allowed users to receive a coupon for a free Whopper hamburger by unfriending 10 people on their Facebook accounts. The best part is that the app sends a message to the recently dumped friend explaining that 1/10th of a hamburger is more important then them, crushing their self-confidence into a flame-broiled heap. The application was a great service to me, personally. I was able to kill two birds with one stone, knock out a few unwanted people, and get a delicious treat. Kind of like Happy Gilmore winning the gold jacket, beating Shooter McGavin, and getting his Granny's house back.

So what happened? Facebook, in all their infinite wisdom, decided to disable the defriending portion of the application. That's like Mr. Miyagi telling Daniel-son not to use the "crane kick" against Johnny Lawerance in Karate Kid. Burger King, humbled by the decision, discontinued the application all-together, immediately after.

Where does Facebook get off? This a website that let's teenage girls post scantily clad pictures of themselves for all to see (especially me, keep up the good work Facebook), but won't let America's capitalistic spirit tho thrive? Any I challenge you to find anything more American then stabbing a friend in the back for free fast food. It makes me wonder if Facebook is allergic to exposure. They could have really embraced Whopper Sacrifice, aligned themselves strategically with Burger King, then made a quick buck.

Facebook has yet to comment on the reason for their actions. Something tells me it may have to do with the "feelings" of their members. Boo-frakking-hoo is what I say. Facebook could have decided to make the defriending part of the application temporary...like a week or something. Hell, I'd defriend family members if that was the case. A free burger and a week without having to see my sister posting on my wall? Now that's a win-win situation.