Apple iPhone – whats the verdict?

I am an Apple fan. I dont have the privilege of owning a Mac, but I do have an iPod, and I love it. Not suprisingly, Apple knows that millions of people love the iPod too and have recently launched the iPhone. I have taken a look at the iPhone and have to say, I am not sure what to think. The user interface seems pretty cool, but it is quite a big phone. Tapping out an SMS seems to be a bit labourious, but some of the other interfaces like voice mail seem relly unique. I will have to go and take a look at the phone LIVE, but from the website it seems interesting. Take a look at Apples website to find out more.

The moleskine man

In and excerpt form the blog “church of the customer” i have copied and pasted an interview that they had with Armand Frasco about his Moleskine site being bought out by the manufacturers of the diaries. Below is the blurb, but also pay a visit to COC’s website, they have some great ideas and stuff going on there.

The blurb:

Since Armand is one of the people profiled here, we asked him this weekend about
the acquisition and what it means for Moleskinerie.com and its 150,000 monthly
visitors.

What does it mean to be “acquired?” What are the
terms?
A: Kikkerland Design Inc. now owns the domain name
“Moleskinerie.com” and rights to the blog. Essentially it is a transfer of
ownership. I will stay on to run the site for at least one more
year.

How much did Kikkerland pay for
Moleskinerie?
A: Regretfully, I’m not at liberty to discuss this
aspect of the acquisition. Suffice it to say it was fair and consistent with the
time and effort I have invested on the project.

Are you now an employee of Kikkerland?
A: They’re a cool
company and I wish I was but no, I’m not.

How did the acquisition come together? Who approached whom and
why?
A: As the blog grew, site housekeeping and maintenance required
more of my personal time. Just responding to readers’ emails and media queries
takes almost a whole morning. The rest of the day is spent on site housekeeping
and tending to our Flickr and Google groups. As I’ve been saying, it was still
fun but it had also become a full time job. I had to ask for donations from
visitors to the site and many came forward. It was very touching and I wish the
proceeds would cover a year’s maintenance. It came to a point where my personal
finances became a factor so I explored the possibility of transferring ownership
to Kikkerland Design Inc, the official Moleskine distributor to the U.S. and
Canada. We signed the agreement last month.

You’re transitioning from a volunteer citizen marketer to something
of a paid community manager for Moleskine. Is that a fair
assessment?
A: I would agree with that. Very early in this blog’s
three-year existence, I realized how significant the site and the communities it
engendered had become and what loss it would be if I lost interest (or worse)
and just left the blog to whither away. They may be a thrilling joyride for a
while but in the end, I believe product sites belong with a company not
individuals.

It’s interesting that a fan site is acquired by a company associated
with that fan’s object of evangelism, but how much does it change the idea of
amateur fandom and its authenticity?
A:  Simply put, it was a
tradeoff between survival of the blog and the dreaded “selling off”. Fortunately
we have a happy compromise with Kikkerland CEO Jan van der Lande. With a company
that deals with designers and other creatives all the time, Jan is committed to
respecting the independence of the blog much like Modo & Modo (Moleskine’s
previous owner) co-founder Francesco Franceschi. Believe it or not, I don’t keep
mailing lists and addresses and they have not required me start keeping them
either.

As in any other dealings in life, as long as there is honesty (disclosure of
ownership and purpose in this instance) mutual trust and authenticity will
remain. Our audience is among the most creative people I’ve met and I don’t see
anything that would keep them from expressing their art and opinions in our blog
and affiliated communities.

What, if anything, can we expect that’s different on Moleskinerie in
the months ahead?
A: Nothing much, really. Both Modo & Modo/SGS
and Kikkerland have maintained cordial relationships with Moleskinerie for the
past couple of years and have kept us abreast with latest developments from the
company that would interest our audience. Both companies have also been
forthcoming with quality control and other recent product-related issues.

What’s your plan for a disclaimer on your site about the relationship
with Kikkerland?
A: At the moment, I have updated our “About Page”
with a note explaining the acquisition. A more detailed disclaimer will be up
shortly citing the new ownership and standard decency regulations in submissions
and participation. I’m proud to say that “Moleskiners” have always been a
civilized bunch.

A whole new meaning to High Society – Dinner in the sky

Just when you thought there could be no new trends, the high society (high being the operative word here!) have found a new way of spend their extra cash…..by having dinner in the sky. No, its not dinner in a plane, its not dinner on a rooftop, it is dinner suspended from a crane 50m above the street and whats more, you can have it wherever you want it or wherever a crane can be taken to.Take a look at Dinner in the Sky’s website for more info. For the measly sum of 7900 Euros (Thats over R 70 000.00 for us South Africans) you can have dinner with 20 of your closest friends and family, or even do a brainstorming session up there, the sky is the limit, literally! But hey, dont drop the cutlery….hehehhe amazing, great concept, wonder if it will take off (scuse the pun)

Virgin Mobile launches

Virgin Mobile South Africa intends to have 300 000 subscribers within 18 months from its joint venture with Cell C according to a business report article. So Richard strikes again, this time in the soft underbelly of the cell phone market in South Africa, a highly lucrative business if you look at the profits of the current incumbents. However we all know how he does things, in his usual casual attitude he intends to shake up the market and offer people a service that is useful and show them all the hidden costs and also bring in some innovative ideas like monthly contracts as opposed to the current 2 year ones. They wont be offering free handsets however, but customers will be able to pay off the handset over time. Of course, the handsets and service will be sold and distibuted through the current Virgin Active outlets and this will add yet another quiver to the growing Virgin empire in South Africa.

Bill Gates announces his resignation

Its true, Bill Gates, probably one of the most famous and richest boomers has announced his resignation from Microsoft Corporation. Whilst this will only take place in the next two years, it certainly is a significant time in the life of Microsoft and the computer and software world. In a Fast Company article, a Microsoft employee is quoted as saying it is the end of an era and this is certainly very true considering the impact Microsoft and more particularly Bill Gates has had on the industry. The article states that Bill will be focusing on being more involved in his Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and using its $29 Billion to accelerate vaccine development to combat malaria. So, who knows what Bill Gates will be better known for in 50 years from now.

Is print dead? – Long live Print!

In an interesting debate on the Fast Company Website, an email debate (not fax debate) took place between Jeff Jarvis (Former print editor, now blogger and consultant at BuzzMachine)  and John Griffin (President of National Geopgraphic Society’s magazine group) Both these men put forward interesting cases for whether print is dying or not. I wont go into the detail here, but take a look at the online debate here!
What do you think? is print here to stay or will it simply morph? What about newspapers in 20 years from now, will they be around? Interesting times and questions….enjoy!

Slow down on those fast foods

We all do it, our busy schedules and run around lifestyles mean that we eat more take away and fast foods now than we ever did…ITS TRUE. How many times after a busy day, do you just say ” I think I’ll just grab something on the way home”. Its jsut the way it is, but we will pay in time for this. According to a New Scientist Article, fast foods even in moderation are dangerous. Why? According to research done on monkeys, diets high in trans fats (the kind of fat found in fast foods) caused the subjects to grow bellies faster and to become insulin resistant, a first sign of diabetes. However, and this is the interesting part, other monkeys were fed the same amount of calories but the fat was from mono unsaturated fats and had gained significantly less weight. So, in this fast paced time, think twice before you stop off and indulge in some of that deep fried, fat saturated and sauce basted take away. It could mean the difference between diabetes or not.

New book size PC

Microsoft has been tight lipped for some time about its latest offering in the PC realm. They finally took the wraps off this week and presented the latest PC offering at CeBIT. The computer is calld the ultra mobile PC, why you may ask. Well it is about the size of a paperback novel but runs full version windows XP. Weighing about 1 -1.5 kg, the 1-inch thick device sports a 7-inch touch-sensitive screen that responds to a stylus or the tap of a finger.

Device looks great, and it is expected to retail in the US for between 600 and 1000 US$, so it could feasibly be under R 8000.00 locally. What about the specs you ask, well it will have up to a 60 gig hard drive and battery power of up to 2.5 hours…it is being pushed as a replacement for lugging a laptop around. Note to self, must get one of these soonest, for more info, take a look at some of these websites and be careful not to drool on your keyboard!!

http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS3801638897.html

KFC Gets it!

I was fascinated on Tuesday while reading through my local Caxton newspaper to see a brochure from KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) on their latest offering….oven grilled chicken. WOW!!! In a world marinated (literally) in junk foods, fast foods, flavourants and the like, this is an interesting new strategy from the colonel. What I find most interesting is that they are punting the new option as “a matter of taste”. This may be a marketing faux pas, it does imply that their other offering (deep fried, cholesterol filled, artery hardening option..) doesnt taste as good, but whatever the case this is an interesting move on their part. So what would be the reasoning:

• They have realised that people are more health conscious and hence have made the change?
• They dont want to become a target of Michael Moore’s or Morgan Spurlock’s (Director of Super Size me) latest movie in the next year ?
• They realise that their food is not great for people who eat it on an ongoing basis and hence want to offer an alternative to the deep fried offering so when someone does sue them (as is the case in the US with McDonalds) they can say they did try to offer a “healthier” option?

Whatever the case, I say well done to KFC, they are starting to get it, people want food that gives them valuable nutrients and not just great tasting fats and flavourants. Now all they need to do is get rid of those pesky fizzy drinks.

Web2.0 and other stuff

We all know that blogging is big right? Well, if you dont, you should. Th main thing behind blogging is the interactivity and it has show how the web has evolved. The main purpose of this blog is to look at the technologies and ideas that are pushing Web 2.0 forward and how you can harness these ideas in a meaninful way for your business. So, keep on visiting, you wont be disappointed.