Why not just ask your customers what they want?
February 7, 2014 Leave a comment
I’ve seen the future of video games and it is awesome
January 28, 2014 Leave a comment
In this game, one player wears Oculus Rift, the others do not. The guy wearing OR can see the bomb and interact with it, with tools. The other players have bomb diffusing manuals. Without seeing the bomb, and relying only on the first player’s description they have to talk him through disarming the bomb before it explodes.
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes:
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I wish I did that
December 20, 2013 Leave a comment
Two simple and beautiful ads for a bookstore in Brazil.
Via the blog I Believe in Advertising
How eBay is trying to fuck me
December 19, 2013 2 Comments
After 14 years as a loyal eBay fan, buyer, and seller, I’m pretty surprised at badly they’re trying to fuck me. So much for company loyalty. And once again, I’m reminded of how little companies understand about Customer Lifetime Value. Or how customer service is really marketing function (especially these days).
Here’s the story.
When I upgraded my phone I sold my iPhone 4S on eBay. People in foreign countries pay a lot for these old phones so they can jailbreak them and re-sell them. I’ve done this with every old phone I’ve ever had, and even sold phones for friends and relatives. Never had a problem.
So I sell the phone. The buyer pays for the cheapest shipping, USPS First Class International. No tracking. No delivery confirmation. Nothing. Apparently she’s a gambler.
Fast forward a month and she files a complaint with eBay saying the phone never arrived. eBay immediately sides with her, saying that since there is no tracking, she must be telling the truth. So they refund her money and send me the bill.
She has a 4 month, 4 purchase track record. I have a 14 year, unblemished track record with multiple dozens of positive comments in feedback. But they side with her.
I have receipts showing I shipped it, showing the customs declaration numbers, date of shipment, payment. But they side with her.
Now after several phone calls, emails, and lots of time spent on hold, they’re still telling me I have to pay them for the money they reimbursed her.
Well, good fucking luck with that.
First it was about the money, but now it’s about a principle. And when it comes to principle, I am a stubborn, stubborn man.
So you can get your $327 dollars eBay. When you pry it from my cold. dead. hands.
The time Newsweek predicted the Internet wouldn’t catch on
December 19, 2013 Leave a comment
I wish I could take credit for discovering this classic gem, but I found it on Reddit. Still, for those of you who don’t know a TL;DR from a TIL, behold the wonderful ignorance that was 1995.
Why the Web Won’t Be Nirvana (Newsweek, Feb. 26 1995)
Here are my favorite quotes:
“Do our computer pundits lack all common sense? The truth in no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM (I linked this term, in case you are too young to know what one is) can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.”
In response I give you NYTimes.com, Khan Academy, and Facebook.
“How about electronic publishing? Try reading a book on disc. At best, it’s an unpleasant chore: the myopic glow of a clunky computer replaces the friendly pages of a book. And you can’t tote that laptop to the beach.”
How many of you are reading this on a tablet, smartphone, or ultralight laptop? That’s a trick question, I know that no one is reading this (I have the data) but in theory you COULD be reading it at the beach on one of those devices.
“Lacking editors, reviewers or critics, the Internet has become a wasteland of unfiltered data. You don’t know what to ignore and what’s worth reading.”
“Then there’s cyberbusiness. We’re promised instant catalog shopping—just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts. Stores will become obselete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet—which there isn’t—the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.”
The salespeople? That’s what we’re going to miss? Minimum wage retail jockeys? Are you kidding me (and I can say these things having spent A LOT of time working retail)?
The next time you’re tempted to poke fun at a new technology, just remember that your comments will be archived for nerds like me to make fun years in the future when you’re wrong.
Unless we’re talking about Snapchat. I’ll never understand that (outside of sexting).
Nope, THIS is the worst thing about Facebook
December 18, 2013 Leave a comment
Serious. What the fuck, people!
Is this the worst part about Facebook?
December 18, 2013 Leave a comment
Sorry Foley, but seeing your customer service transactions in my newsfeed is strongly pushing me towards deactivating my account.
Remember when Facebook used to be cool?
And now, your social media fail of the day
December 17, 2013 2 Comments
Not only does Mt Gox (a BitCoin exchange) have their Twitter account set to auto-reply (a big no-no), the auto-reply message is basically just telling you to fuck off. AND THEN, the message is more than 140 characters!
Maybe they’re too busy watching their BitCoin valuation shoot the roof to care about something as silly as Twitter. That’s okay!
But if that’s your plan, why use Twitter at all?
Probably, because internet.
What motivates you?
December 16, 2013 Leave a comment
Thanks to Andrew Teman for passing this my way.
My favorite quote from the piece is this:
“It is better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way.”
It is narrated by Alan Watts.
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