Daily Archive for September 26th, 2002

Interview with Watson Developer

Published on September 26, 2002 in macintosh. 0 Comments

Derrick Story has posted a terrific interview with Dan Wood of Karelia Software, and chief architect of Watson:

I think Apple has a long way to go in terms of developer relations. Apple has helped some companies build themselves up, but others they have harmed greatly. From stories I’ve heard from other developers, the Sherlock/Watson issue is just the tip of the iceberg. I respect Steve Jobs’s desire to make the Mac the most useful tool it can possibly be, to win over converts from the Windows side, but instead, Apple seems to be nibbling at their own developer community. Perhaps there needs to be a better agreement that both parties enter to avoid these situations. Apple should be thinking win-win in terms of developer relations–helping companies build great software so that both Apple and those companies will succeed–but the reality seems to be “We’ll provide you some help to make a product, but we might just bundle your ideas into our OS or our next iApp.”

If you’ve ever wondered about Apple’s relationship with their developers, but haven’t been able to get close enough to a developer to ask about it, go read the interview. It’s an amazing insight.

Great music for mellowing out

Published on September 26, 2002 in life stories. 0 Comments

blue skiesI love this tune:

Snowing On Raton by Pat Green on the album George’s Bar.

It’s a kick ass song by Pat, and Mindy Maines (from the Dixie Chicks) sings with him on it.

Great tune.

Apple iPhone article laughable

Published on September 26, 2002 in macintosh. 4 Comments

Yes, Jim, you’re right. This Apple iPhone report is laughable on so many levels, the best of which is that MacNN picked it up as if it were news… (copying the MacNN report, in case they change it … which they’re prone to doing)

Apple cell phone in the works?

Thursday, September 26, 2002 @ 5:30pm

An ePrairie article talks about a rumored Apple cell phone, pictures of which were obtained by ePrairie. “It would fit with Apple’s whole digital universe strategy in which the PC is the hub of your digital universe and the iPod (Apple’s mobile MP3 player) is a peripheral,” said Kevin Hunt, a research analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners. “Apple has been very vehement that they wouldn’t get into handhelds because they think handhelds will go away and blend into a cell phone, so it would make more sense to come out with a cell phone.” Both Apple and Motorola refuse to comment on the rumored device.

And who the hell is ePrarie?

[disclaimer: I worked for MacNN for a short period (of 4 years, or so) till I woke up to how idiotic the owner was and decided to move on.]

Absolut, Nike and NASCAR — common thread

Published on September 26, 2002 in marketing + advertising. 1 Comment

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has published a great report that summarizes some of the successes, and the reasons for those successes, that Absolut, Nike and NASCAR have had in building their brands.

It all seems to come down to “Continuity and Passion.”

Doesn’t it always?

Advertising Tracking with Technology on the Rise

Published on September 26, 2002 in marketing + advertising. Closed

i love brownDuh. Show me one marketer that’s figured out the internet.

Just one.

Can’t do it can you?’

The internet is such a trackable market, and yet, Forester Research is telling us all something we already know, but they’re doing it in a round about way:

Not one marketer really truly ‘gets the internet‘ yet. (yes, that includes me).

We’re all spending more on software and solutions for tracking data, and I think that’s because they realize that they don’t get it.

“The survey revealed that 83 percent of ANA members found it difficult to measure the effectiveness of campaigns across different media — but 81 percent also agreed that technology could be useful in solving the problem.” – IAR

“…half of the firms surveyed in the Forrester/ANA study plan to spend more than $750,000 this year on marketing automation applications.” — Forrester

“More data, processing power, and analytical tools have emerged that allow marketers to monitor actual consumer behavior, not just attitudes. These tools also enable marketers to track effectiveness of media, promotion, and advertising programs, and stick only to initiatives with proven results.” says Jim Nail @ Forrester

My comments on that statement: No Shit Jim™.

The IAR cover’s the report quite well, telling us a little more data than the Press Release does. The most interesting tidbit I see in the IAR’s coverage is that people seem to be bringing things in-house more in the future, which sounds good to me from a ‘job market’ perspective, but has to scare the ASPs out there.

Also, Media Buyer’s Daily is covering this report too, but it costs $4 to read the article.

Quick Windows XP tip

Published on September 26, 2002 in windows. 7 Comments

HOW TO: Quickly Lock Your Desktop by Clicking a Shortcut on the Taskbar in Windows XP

Summary

You can create a shortcut on your taskbar that immediately locks your computer. When you click this shortcut, it is the same as pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then clicking Lock Computer.

Create a Shortcut on the Taskbar

1. Right-click the desktop, point to New, and then click Shortcut.

2. In the Type the location of the item box, type %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation, and then click Next.

3. In the Type a name for this shortcut box, type lock computer, and then click Finish.

4. Drag the new shortcut to the Quick Launch toolbar that is located next to the Start button.

NOTE: If the Quick Launch toolbar does not appear, right-click an empty area on the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and then click Quick Launch. If you right-click an empty area on the taskbar and you do not see the Toolbars command, click Lock the Taskbar.

(ed. site looks like ass in Mozilla 1.1 on a Macintosh… just wanted to point that out — not really sure that I expected it to look good, but at least to be readable)

[via Robert Scoble]

I love the Motley Fool(s)

Published on September 26, 2002 in life stories. 0 Comments

Just read some great quick tips on TMF:

Got Debt? Get Busy – quick read about facing your debt daemons er, demons.

Owners and IPOs — Q. When a company issues shares of itself in an initial public offering (IPO), how do the people who owned the company retain ownership? Do they quickly buy up a lot of shares? [Go read it for the answer -- hopefully, I'll have this sort of problem some day]

And the fools have unveiled their new The Motley Fool Credit Center which looks quite interesting.

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