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What I’ve read this week (Christmas Eve)

Remember, there are still .6 shopping days ’til Christmas.

Need some conversation starters for your holiday get-togethers? Here are a couple of my favourite strange and funny news stories to help get you started, along with a reading list of things I’ve read. 

Start with MSN Search, Comcast odd news and Weird News.  Think of it as a small present to kick off your holidays.

Now, off to the reading list. Keep in mind that the descriptions come often are taken directly from the articles.

Happy Christmas Eve…

think denk: the blog of Jeremy Denk, concert pianist – Of all things, my six-year-old came across the blog of Jeremy Denk, a concert pianist in New York. Worth a read particularly for those interested in the everyday musings of a concert pianist.

Deirdre Imus: Missing the Mercury Threat: An appeal to New Jersey’s Governor – Politics on The Huffington Post — Deirdre Imus writes this week on her blog about the decision last week in New Jersey where members of the Public Health Council voted to mandate four new vaccines for children in 2008: two of the vaccines contain thimerosal (mercury).

Analysts wonder when Whitman will leave eBay – Verne Kopytoff, Chronicle Staff Writer, 12/22/07 — Early in her reign at eBay, Meg Whitman said she couldn’t imagine being in charge for more than 10 years – an anniversary that is coming in February.

Amazon.com: High-Definition 101 – High Def in a Nutshell: With up to six times the resolution and superior sound compared to traditional formats, high definition is the perfect way to watch your favorite movies, TV shows, and sports. In other words, you don’t watch HD–you live it.

Media Mechanics : Blinded by the Shine on Apple – “Companies are seeing the success of Apple and for fear of losing market share are going after them from many angles. Others can, and are, copying the design principles. In some cases blatantly ripping off the Apple look…

Max Builds a PC (Computer Science Teacher blog) – “My friend Max is building a PC from parts. Over at Channel 8 (First post in the series here) he’s looking for recommendations and suggestions about parts. Looks like a good conversation is taking place already but there is always room for more.

Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise : Steve Jobs on Software + Services – “For a while now I’ve been banging on about Software + Services being an industry thing not a Microsoft thing and then something odd happened. I was at Web 2.0 and someone showed me the Bill Gates/Steve Jobs interview from All Things D on their iPod Touch…

Windows Live Photo & Video Blog : Photo Gallery is now on Microsoft Update – Friday, December 07, 2007 10:39 AM by pixblog — This is a special shout-out to our BETA program participants! At our last estimate, the Windows Live Photo Gallery BETA was installed by nearly 3 million users worldwide. Our BETA testers give us feedback…

Office Offline blog: A few notes about reader-submitted comics 

Windows SteadyState

BetaNews | ‘PlaysForSure’ logo being replaced with ‘Certified for Vista’ – ‘PlaysForSure’ logo being replaced with ‘Certified for Vista’ By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews December 12, 2007, 6:24 PM Without much explanation, Microsoft’s PlaysForSure Web page, which had once been the meeting ground for its portable media technology…

BetaNews | Microsoft ends free software for monitoring giveaway – By Ed Oswald, BetaNews, 121207 — Microsoft pulled the free software offer from its Web site Tuesday, which made free copies of Vista and Office among other applications available in exchange for feedback.

BetaNews | Vista SP1 release candidate goes live – By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews — This morning, BetaNews FileForum was alerted to the availability of the latest release candidate for Windows Vista Service Pack 1, just released from Microsoft.

BetaNews | Microsoft bug deletes files instead of sharing them – By Ed Oswald, BetaNews December 11, 2007, 2:03 PM The company’s FolderShare application is intended to allow customers to synchronize files across multiple machines, but a bug has ended up deleting them.

BetaNews | IDC: Fewer desktop PCs to be sold from now on – By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews, 121107 — Emphasizing the declining role of the desktop PC form factor in worldwide sales, the analysts of IDC’s Quarterly PC Tracker now predict portable PCs will constitute 65% of US PC sales by 2011.

BetaNews | CNBC: Apple preps sub-notebook for Macworld – By Ed Oswald, BetaNews December 7, 2007, 1:29 PM With just a little over one month before the yearly meeting of the Mac faithful, the rumors of an Apple sub-notebook have started to appear.

A Long, Long Wait for a Wii (businessweek) – Nintendo says the shortage is costing it big time, but some analysts say it’s all part of the buzz machine by Cliff Edwards

BetaNews | MovieBeam to shut down on December 15 – By Nate Mook, BetaNews 120607 — One of the first online movie download services is calling it quits after failing to make its business model work despite over $100 million in funding.

Smooth Sailing for Software Stocks – S&P likes the Systems Software subindustry’s stock-price momentum and positive fundamental outlook. Among its top picks: Microsoft and Oracle, by Sam Stovall, From Standard & Poor’s Equity Research

For Managers, Ignorance Isn’t Bliss (businessweek) – December 9, 2007 — Not knowing one’s own faults and weaknesses—and being unaware that they even exist—is dangerous for top executives. Look no further than Zoe Cruz, by Rick Wartzman

Big Shoes to Fill at Adobe (businessweek) – Valley Girl December 10, 2007 — Chizen will be a tough act to follow. Can Narayen, with an ambitious plan to remake how we gain access to the Web, fit the bill? by Sarah Lacy

Billion Dollar Innovation (businessweek) – December 7, 2007 — A Finnish study profiled twelve U.S. companies to give insight on how successfully applied service innovation can bring in the big bucks, by Jeneanne Rae

Home Theaters: Less Is More (businessweek) – Home Theater December 7, 2007 — The minimalist look popularized by the Apple iPod is finding its way into your living room, by Cliff Edwards

Leadership Is About Doing, Not Saying (businessweek) – Marshall & Friends December 4, 2007 — Don’t waste your time on crafting motivational messages if you can’t back it up with action. Leaders must walk the walk as well as talk the talk, by Marshall Goldsmith

How to Write a Winning Business Plan – The founder of 18-employee Seahorse Power details the process behind the company’s award-winning business plan—and uses an annotated version of it to offer advice by Kerry Miller

Plasma vs LCD – which is best? | APC Magazine – There are many claims and counterclaims about the merits of each, so we decided to test out a selection of the latest plasma and LCD sets from companies such as Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, LG, Philips, Grundig and Pioneer… saved by 14 other people … on dec 11

Dealing with Microsoft Haters (Microsoft Certified Professional) – Microsoft may be the world’s best-known brand, but it’s not necessarily the best-loved. Here are ways to overcome deal-busting objections, by Anne Stuart, July 2006

Employee Communication: 3 Ways To Create Transformation In Organizations (Best Syndication) – 121007 — “There are two distinct ways to use employee communication; one is to inform employees about what is happening in an organization, the other is to engage employees in the process of change. In this article we are going to highlight 3 case studies…

Microsoft Leads Accessibility Effort (eweek) – By Darryl K. Taft, December 10, 2007 — Microsoft is heading a group of technology companies that will collaborate on creating IT products for the disabled, chartering an initiative called the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance…

Fixes for Windows standby and sleep problems | Workers’ Edge – a productivity blog from Dennis O’Reilly – CNET Blogs – Courtesy Lifehacker: “If you’re familiar with putting your PC in Standby or Hibernate mode (and hopefully you know the difference), you probably know that both are anything but a sure bet.

The Virtues of Virtualization (businessweek) – S&P says spending on virtualization software and services is likely to skyrocket by Kimberly Castro

Behind Chavez’s Defeat in Venezuela – Chavez had predicted that he would win the Dec. 2 vote by up to 20 percentage points and promised to step down if he lost. He also threatened to cut off oil to the U.S. if Washington interfered in the vote. He didn’t comment on either pledge…

Inviting the hackers inside | CNET News.com – By Ina Fried, 1/04/07 – Editors’ note: This is part two in a series examining how Microsoft’s security strategy has evolved over the past decade.

BetaNews | Microsoft: Firefox users in danger due to more frequent updates – By Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews November 30, 2007, 4:39 PM The author of a controversial white paper comparing Firefox’ security integrity with IE’s has released an update, which now makes an even more contentious claim than the original.

A way to avoid phone tree hell | Seattle Times Newspaper – A way to avoid phone tree hell By Craig Crossman, McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

Lawyers: Vista branding confused even Microsoft | CNET News.com – By Tom Espiner, 11/28/07 — Lawyers for plaintiffs in a case brought against Microsoft over Vista’s marketing have claimed that even the software giant’s marketing director was confused by the prelaunch campaign in the U.S.

Protecting Your Precious (Intellectual) Property (Redmond Channel Partner Online) – It’s almost impossible to be too cautious about safeguarding your company’s creative assets — and it’s never too early to start taking defensive steps. November 01, 2007

The customer and the CEO (indiatimes.com) – While many factors including brand equity, pricing, service and quality play an important role in maintaining a brand’s success in the marketplace , in an increasingly competitive scenario, customer service has become a distinguishing tool.

Costco boss bucks Wall Street by being generous to workers, customers – to retail marketing strategy management customerservice … on nov 30

HP expands PC market share lead over Dell in 3Q07, says iSuppli – Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the third quarter continued to expand its lead over rival Dell in the global PC market, shipping 13.1 million PCs, a 32.7% and 3.2 million unit increase from 9.9 million in the third quarter of 2006.

Taiwan market: Toshiba and Sony to launch new blue-laser drives (digitimes) – Jimmy Hsu, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES 11/30/07 — There will be a promotion competition between the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) standards at the IT Month expo in Taipei, which will run from December 1-9…

Dell moves 40,000 Ubuntu PCs | The Register – By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View, 11/30/07 — Dell agreed to ship PCs and laptops with the Ubuntu operating system after more than 130,000 people promoted the notion on the company’s IdeaStorm web site.

BetaNews | Microsoft shows off Windows Mobile update, but not 7.0 – By Nate Mook, BetaNews, November 29, 2007, 3:58 PM — Two dozen invited attendees to Microsoft’s Mobius event in Amsterdam this week got a first peek at the next update to Windows Mobile. It’s not version 7, code-named “Photon,” but the reviews are positive…

Zune 2.0: Playing Tomorrow’s Tune? (businessweek) by Stephen H. Wildstrom, 11/28/07 — It won’t catch the iPod soon, but it may be a harbinger of the subscription era. One thing you can say for Microsoft (MSFT): It doesn’t give up without a fight.

Mike Walker’s Ramblings about Industry Architecture : How NOT To Use PowerPoint – “This is a bit off topic but I thought it was pretty funny. Since I do a my fair share of public speaking I thought I would share some comedic wisdom with you after this long holiday weekend.”

Microsoft gets better at carrying a Zune – International Herald Tribune – By David Pogue, Nov 29, 2007 — “Microsoft might finally be getting the hang of hardware. The company’s overall track record for designing gadgets is pretty awful. Remember the Smart Display? The Spot Watch? The Ultra-Mobile PC? The original Zune? Me neither.

The Day the Video Games Died (extremetech) – By Joel Durham Jr. , 11/29/07 — A reviewer’s view of Sony and Xbox replacement policies for impacted hardware. “So I’m down two consoles, one of which I had to replace by dropping $180 on a new one (and wait for the online stop to ship it to me).

RAID Class Terabyte Hard Drives Reviewed–Western Digital WD10EACS and Seagate Barracuda ES.2 (extremetech.com) – For this article, we’ve tested and reviewed a pair of enterprise RAID class terabyte hard drives, and also compared their performance with a few desktop terabyte drives.

Three-Way Music Software Comparison featuring Cakewalk, ACID Music, and MAGIX Music – By Joel Durham Jr. 11/28/2007 — “Who needs a band? If you can jot down a few lyrics, wield a mouse, and maybe bang some keys on a MIDI keyboard, you can create your very own music. The process can be as simple as dragging a few readymade loops onto a timeline.

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$2 per month and other reasons why I’m leaving Blockbuster for Netflix

Thinking about a great last-minute gift that doesn’t require going to the mall or waiting for the FedEx driver to find your house?  Give a subscription to a DVD-by-mail service.


Better, give a Netflix subscription.  This from a for-the -moment Blockbuster Online subscriber.


Here’s the full story.


I like the ability to go online to the Blockbuster site and pick out movies for family viewing.  When we first signed up, we considered the monthly fee on par with about what we spend on visits to the retail store, on top of the video game rentals and miscellaneous purchases we make. And we chose Blockbuster as we already have a local store that the kids enjoy carousing through as they make their selections for a weekend evening movie night.


But the proverbial straw has landed on my back, and I’m about to contribute to what the industry calls “subscription churn.”


Translation: I am leaving Blockbuster “Total Access” online, DVD-by-mail service for Netflix.


In case you missed the news, Blockbuster is raising prices for their online service, which will mean an increase in the monthly cost for many (MSNBC estimates that increases of up to 40 percent will impact current customers and all new customers).  And the way the message was delivered to me was quite extraordinary:



“We know that during this busy time of year the convenience of BLOCKBUSTER Total Access is especially important to you. Have your movies delivered right to your door. If you want new movies right away, exchange in-store. And with free shipping both ways and no late fees, it’s easy to enjoy all the movies you want for as long as you want.


“To continue to bring you the unmatched convenience of both online and in-store DVD rentals, your monthly subscription fee will change slightly from $9.99 to $11.99.”


Uh, hello?  Care to explain what I am getting for the 20 percent jump?  No lament about the rise in processing and labour costs, postage increases or price of recycled paper in China?  The only thing I see in the mail is that it’s the same service, it just costs more.


It will be funny to see what impact a two-dollar-a-month increase will have on customers.


If my cable bill rose by 20 percent in one month, I might be prompted to move to an alternative.  If my mobile phone service rose by 20 percent, I might consider changing carriers.  


I’m surprised by this move after learning that Blockbuster lost in the neighbourhood of 500,000 online customers last calendar quarter. I enjoyed the privilege of being able to return movies back to my local store for a free exchange, but the additional cost outweighs the benefit when I think of the few times we actually used the service.

Also, no note in the email to me from Blockbuster of the options I have as a Blockbuster customer to downgrade my subscription to subscription-by-mail only. On the blockbuster site, I found references to the current $8.99 per month fee for mail-only, and read in the above article that the “basic plan that lets subscribers keep one DVD but doesn’t entitle them to free in-store exchanges will drop from $4.99 to $3.99 per month.” (After posting this entry, I found on the Blockbuster customer service page has more info on the price restructuring in order to learn more about the price increase.)

One of those may be better for us.  But I get a sense that this is a beginning of a slippery slope, and that the momentum and popularity of Netflix is added justification to make the move.

Not to mention that Netflix offers DVD by mail in addition to live customer service and movies over the Internet.  And with the hiring of my previous boss, Anthony Wood of ReplayTV fame, I expect more great things as Netflix looks for more innovative ways to deliver movies via the Internet, with rumours recently that the company is considering a $50 set-top box.



“Netflix has all but said that it will introduce some type of set-top box to get video to the TV. The company hired Replay TV founder Anthony Wood as its VP of Internet TV in April and in May, CFO Barry McCarthy said the company has been working on a solution for the last two years but wouldn’t discuss it’s “box strategy” until later this year or next.”


(Hmmm… CES is just around the corner… perfect timing for a Vudu-Netflix acquisition announcement.)

As much as I would rather see Xbox Live be the set-top box in our living room that provides over-the-Internet movies, I think that this will continue to be first and foremost a gaming platform, leaving a breadth of broadband movies to Vudu and companies like Tivo, DirecTV and Echostar. 

Nearly two years ago I predicted that as consumer broadband installations increase, subscription music packages (Rhapsody, Zune) would increase at a faster rate than online music sales (iTunes).  In that vein, I would like to see a monthly subscription video programme from Xbox Live, perhaps in combination with a company such as Netflix.  Full disclosure: Reed Hastings is on Microsoft’s board, and ‘though I have no insider knowledge of any such deal, it would be super to have a Netflix page on Xbox Live. 😉

It appears that the article in the Times was right: Netflix customer service is a strategic weapon against your DVD-mailing service… 


“Netflix’s decision to eliminate the e-mail feature was made after a great deal of research, Mr. Osier said. He looked at two other companies with reputations for superb phone-based customer service, Southwest Airlines and American Express, and saw that customers preferred human interaction over e-mail messages. “My assessment was that a world-class e-mail program was still going to be consistently lower in quality and effectiveness than a phone program,” he said.”


… And now, so is the price.

(A side bar: Netflix chose Oregon as the location for the customer service call centre as one exec “found Oregonians to be polite.”)

In defense, I should say that I have found the representatives at my local Blockbuster to be super helpful, once calling and holding for us a new, popular movie once it was returned by another customer.  But unlike Netflix, you can’t talk to a Blockbuster customer service agent, just send them an email through the Blockbuster online customer service web page.)

I agree with Thomas Hawk who wrote on his blog…


“Blockbuster has been in liquidation mode…

“For every store that goes out of business, it creates a big opportunity for Netflix to expand into their market. Blockbuster might be able to move some of these customers online, but the loss of the higher transaction revenue will certainly be felt as Antioco & Co. continue to dismantle the company piece by piece.”


Another sign of this: Shane Evangelist left Blockbuster Online for U.S. Auto Parts Network as Chief Executive Officer (as reported in this PR). Mr. Evangelist previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Blockbuster Online until this past October.  The role for managing the online business now falls to CIO Keith Morrow (as noted here), so he understands why a previously enthusiastic customer (one who also rented and purchased product in your retail stores) is leaving Blockbuster for Netflix.

BTW, interesting to note that Mr. Morrow is on Facebook (as am I).  Care to poke him with your opinion of the price increase? 😉


Tags: Microsoft, Customer Service, Customer Support.


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Happy holidays

Happy holidays to readers and those of you who stumbled upon my blog.


 


In this holiday season, I trust that you are able to the time with your friends and family: please remember that time is a precious thing. Never waste it.


http://blogs.msdn.com/mthree/archive/2007/09/30/time-is-fleeting-093007.aspx

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Bill Gates outlines the skills you need to succeed… which includes listening to customers and partners

Thanks to sriram over on channel8 for a pointer to this article from Bill Gates on “The skills you need to succeed.”



This is an article written by Bill Gates himself for the BBC Service,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7142073.stm


Related BBC Report may be found here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7143417.stm



“This article by Mr. Gates highlights the needs of the workplace. The power of software has made dramatic shift in the way we do business or just about anything else. Collaboration, team work and analytical skills need to be matched by IT Skills for success in your workplace. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, “lifelong learning is a key to success”.


Essentially it comes down to one’s ability to software effectively, including a “solid working knowledge of productivity software and other IT tools,” an understanding of math and science, communication skills, continued education and learning, reading lots of books… and working well with others. 

Says Bill…


“A lot of people assume that creating software is purely a solitary activity where you sit in an office with the door closed all day and write lots of code.

“This isn’t true at all.

“Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs.”


Innovation is not invented in a vacuum.  It comes through a deep understanding of what customers really want and what they think of your products. 

As I’ve noted in previous posts, we dig into what customers want through semi annual customer surveys (we’re getting in new results now) as well as through continued discussions directly with our customers and partners. Our worldwide Customer and Partner Satisfaction Survey helps up glean what customers form all audiences and segments think about Microsoft.  (You can find more about the survey in this Computerworld article from last May.) Through this research, and combined with other “listening systems” at the company, we identify the top drivers of satisfaction amongst our customers and partners. 

If you are looking for more insight as to what it takes to succeed, there are many books and sites dedicated to the topic.  One of my favourite holiday gifts to give is a book of essays about life by Robert Fulghum, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten.”


“All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.

“These are the things I learned:


  • Share everything.
  • Play fair.
  • Don’t hit people.
  • Put things back where you found them.
  • Clean up your own mess.
  • Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
  • Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
  • Wash your hands before you eat.
  • Flush.
  • Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
  • Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
  • Take a nap every afternoon.
  • When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
  • Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
  • Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup – they all die. So do we.
  • And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned – the biggest word of all – LOOK.

“Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.”


For more details, visit Fulghum’s website at http://www.robertfulghum.com.


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An unexpected letter from Santa Claus at the North Pole just arrived

Yes, children, there is a Santa Claus.

A couple of weeks ago, our youngest son wrote a brief letter to Santa Claus, outlining what he wanted most for Christmas. His list consists of a single toy, and he said that he wanted to send it to Santa’s workshop for consideration this holiday. 

So we gave him an envelope and he simply addressed it to Santa Claus care of the North Pole. On a lark, I looked up the zip code of such a place, and found that the North Pole in Alaska is 99705.  So, our son sealed up the letter, took a stamp and insisted that he mail it himself.

Visions of the dead letter office at the US Post Office from Miracle on 34th Street (can you believe that movie was made sixty years ago?), we watched as he excitedly sent the letter on its way courtesy of a big blue metal mail box.

And he waited.

Then, yesterday, our son received a letter from Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole. In Alaska.

Letters From Santa at the North Pole - Santa's Mailbag

We didn’t pay Santa any extra incentive to have one of his elves send a letter back to out little boy. Turns out that this service has been going on almost as long as the venerable movie of 1947: the elves have been at this in Alaska since 1953. Who knew?

This was an example of great unexpected customer service. Our expectations was that we would not see a letter from Santa until he leaves his expected annual reply on Christmas Eve for our boys, after devouring Christmas cookies and mile left by our children for him next to the tree. It’s like the bonus snail mail that kids receive from Disney’s Toontown every month or so: for the kids, completely unexpected and a bonus to their on-line gaming fun, filled with posters, cards and newsletters.

You can read the complete history of the service here…

Santa’s Mailbag started in 1954, when the city of North Pole, Alaska, incorporated and the United States Postal Service began using the North Pole, Alaska postal cancellation. The idea for Santa’s Mailbag was formulated by six Air Traffic Controllers working at Eielson AFB, Alaska. The plan was to mail letters from Santa to the Children of men and women in the armed forces stationed overseas. Before Santa mailed out the first letter both military and civilian children were on Santa’s list.

During Christmas 1954, Santa’s Mailbag answered about 160 letters from children sent to Santa. Over the years, the number of letters received by Santa and his crew of elves has steadily grown.

The North Pole responds to tens of thousands of letters that they receive each year.  And it turns out that there are different ways to get your own answer from the North Pole, and it’s not too late (as of today, Dec 15).  Check out the way to get letters from the workshop here, either a postmarked letters sent via U.S. Mail (which is neatly hand addressed and personalized… incredible), letters you can print out on Santa’s stationary (Santa and his elves provide a dozen different letters available for download), or even pre-order letters for next Christmas.

To send an email letter to Santa, do so today by going to http://www.santasmailbag.org/writetosanta/.

Santa reports on the site that this year he expects to see as many as 150,000 letters, better than the alternative of all that mail sitting dead lettered in a New York postal warehouse waiting for a ruling on the validity of Santa’s identity. Santa encourages parents to order a letter at http://www.santasmailbag.org, and donations per letter are requested. The site says that “these funds, along with contributions from those who support our effort, go help thousands of children receive a letter from Santa.”

Sounds like a good investment. 

Have a good weekend.