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For your convenience

From an AT&T FAQ for the Apple iPhone:

Q. I’m an existing customer. Can I swap out my current SIM card and start right away?
A. No. iPhone must be activated before it can be used. iPhone includes a pre-installed SIM card for your convenience.

Um, nope. Sorry AT&T… the pre-installed SIM card is for YOUR convenience. If something were done for MY convenience, it would be to allow me access to the SIM slot and give me the right to switch carriers at some point in the future when I deem it convenient for ME to do so.

Locked down, unreachable SIM cards… Is it just me, or do I smell anti-competitive behavior here? Surely as a consumer who has made an outright purchase of an iPhone (if, indeed, I ever did) meaning no hardware subsidy was needed, therefore no supposition for a strongly tied two-year contract, I should not be forced into using a specific network? Possibly a whiff of a class action lawsuit in there somewhere!

Posted 29 June 2007 § Marketing Dictionary ‡ Comments (0)

iPhone or not?

Is the Apple iPhone really innovative or revolutionary, or simply the next in an evolution of converging electronics?

I am a complete Mac-head with cash to spend but I am really, really struggling with the parting of $600 for a poor man’s computer on a network that actually does suck (compared with, say, a $600 table set that could ruin your entire patio). It really would be like buying a Ferrari with an 80mph speed limiter. Why would anyone do that? There’s no sense in that.

I am on AT&T today with a shiny BlackBerry Pearl (standard work issue) and EDGE is not fast on the BlackBerry’s awful yet minimal browser. It’s not even average. It’s downright slow.

So take that slowness on a lesser capable device, my expectation therefore is exceptionally low for downloading full pages to the iPhone. And what about all those other gorgeous features?

YouTube - maybe I’m one of the few human beings who visited that site once for an hour or two, then got bored and moved on with my life. YouTube on a phone? No thanks. It’s the same as watching America’s Funniest Videos. If there’s nothing else to watch on TV, put that on in the background while I do something useful. Not in my top 15 things I’d have on a portable Mac.

Google Maps - now this would have been cool if there was a built-in GPS device in the phone. No GPS… what use is Google Maps in a portable device other than a glorified phone directory?

Here’s a killer app - I can zoom into photos with my fingers. Yay. I zoom into photos in Adobe Photoshop to correct images. Why the hell would I want to zoom on an iPhone? And in glorious, color accurate, massive resolution. Um, no.

Then there’s the downsides too… can’t replace the battery yourself (read: $100). No slot for extra memory (read: 8Gb will do you for, um, three weeks? And how much space does your iPod have today?). Did I mention *yawn* EDGE? North America has always been notoriously slow for adoption of new electronic technologies… however 3G networks have existed for at least a year in this country. Why use 2.1G?

As much an Apple junkie as I am; in my view it is not worth $600 plus a minimum of $60 a month into a typically screw-over cellphone provider two year $170+ to leave, sign your life away contract. Do you know what phone you’ll want in two years time? What will Apple have released by then that you’ll drool over but can’t’ do anything about?

Oh, and you need a contract to use the iPod features… bend over and take one from AT&T early adopters of the world!

I’m waiting for the next generation of iPhone. Maybe the one after that.

UPDATE: Eating my words… I bought one on launch day. It’s actually much better than I thought it would be. Still not happy about the AT&T contract though. Two years sucks.

Posted 27 June 2007 § Decisions, Decisions ‡ Comments (0)

Ewins trouble

One of my more ambitious online purchases recently has been a full outdoors table and chairs set. Here’s the “Palermo Collection” 12pc Outdoor Dining Set we were sold from Ewins.com:

$600+ well spent? We thought so. Our existing powder-coated cheap set from Kroger two years ago had been ruining our new concrete patio with rust stains.

Time for a wood collection. You’d think…

The first set arrived damaged. Badly.

ewins_mess_delivered.jpg

Ewins.com done well to replace it within the week (thanks Heidi Hilder - you did a great job to turn this round with minimum effort and hassle).

When it arrived we put the new set up. And then it rained. We have yet to figure out how to clear up the dark brown stains that now make up our concrete patio that were created by the new patio set. So here’s what we were sold:

ewins_mess.jpg

Ewins.com says it’s the supplier’s problem. Supplier (STI) ain’t answering emails or voicemails. What grates me most about this is that we bought the goods from Ewins.com, not their supplier. Ewins.com should be fixing it with whoever they have to deal with.

Posted 26 June 2007 § All Pain No Gain ‡ Comments (0)

Sign me up. I’m ready for war.

In my nearly three years in the US, there is no marketing term that frustrates me more than ’sign me up’.
New cellphone? Sign me up.
Charity gig? Sign me up.
Sign up for the military? Sure.

Sign your life away. I can see that parallel. Sign: is a signature that important? Ironically yes, as I have learned (more later about cellphone contracts).

Wouldn’t it be nicer to be asked to join a new program? To participate? To contribute to a charity? To invest in a new idea or concept?

Nope… apparently not. Sign up. That’s all you can do with charities, churches, cellphone companies and banks.

Damn shame really as I’d prefer to contribute or invest.

Posted 25 June 2007 § Marketing Dictionary ‡ Comments (0)

New home. Or close enough.

Saving up for a future post… http://www.forest-brooke.com
The woes of buying a brand new home from Ryland Homes.
Six and a bit months on and they’re still not done. Oh, and did I mention the plasma TV incentive shortchanging?
Average of 80+ days to fix each problem. Not good, and more to follow…

Posted 25 June 2007 § All Pain No Gain ‡ Comments (0)

For sale - my details (apparently)

Let’s get this blog started then… going back to December 2006 I registered a new SkypeIn phone number while we were in-between homes (in an apartment until our new home was built). Nobody was given this number except for parents. Who live in Scotland.

Bought a washer and dryer from Best Buy. They asked for a phone number. Said no. Insisted on having a phone number; ostensibly in case of delivery being delayed or any extenuating circumstances related to my fairly hefty (for me) purchase. And that’s all the data would be used for… they promised.

Washer and dryer arrived on time. Hoorah! In the context of moving home, it is a small miracle when something happens when it should. We’ve had our issues with the goods (delivery guy didn’t adjust the doors to the right side, leaks, clothes torn on unfinished barrel etc.), but Best Buy did what they said they would on delivery and product.

Until March 2007. We started receiving phone calls to the number that only our moms and pops know about. And they are in another country, which means they wouldn’t know a Best Buy if it were to poop on their shoes right in front of them.

Would I like insurance? Would I like to make a donation? Am I satisfied with my mortgage? Call centers, including Bank of America’s, calling the number to attempt to sell me junk. I love call centers; they’re like an extract from the QVC channel in an audio only format.

On each occasion I asked where they got the number from. Common answer - don’t know. Unusual answer - it’s on my list to call today. When asked directly about a call list from Best Buy… two admitted it probably could be. Not from a purchase though but from their loyalty scheme. Interesting… as I was strangled-held into ’signing up’ if I wanted to see the discounts that they promised in the flyers.

No caller could 100% tell me where the data was sourced from. But I knew.

My question now is - if a company is selling my personal contact details, where’s my cut of the revenue? It’s my information therefore I am a stakeholder in the intended outcome of the data. We can talk about that after discussing misleading sales practices (read: lies) and inadequate (if at all existing) privacy policy for customers.

I know I’m not the first to be beaten with the blunt end of a Best Buy sales stick. http://www.bestbuysux.org/index1.html

Starting with an easy target is weak. It can only get better from here…

Posted 25 June 2007 § Privacy Policy ‡ Comments (0)