tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74525101118032191962024-03-05T17:52:52.890-05:00Bitter/Better BlogEvery now and then we see things that are really great. Other times, we see things that aren't so great. Let's talk about 'em.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-25698514525948243412011-06-19T23:32:00.002-04:002011-06-20T13:21:41.002-04:00Joe's American Bar & Grill - BITTER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3-media4.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/zQEZaa8c1Zaw_kQlGCEuww/l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://s3-media4.px.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/zQEZaa8c1Zaw_kQlGCEuww/l.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Went to <a href="http://www.joesamerican.com/">Joe's American Bar & Grill</a> tonight for dinner in Paramus, NJ. It sucked, plain and simple. I'll give them this. The hostess and who I believe was a manager were super nice when I came in. They set up my family's table promptly and I was seated right away. If I had gotten up and left right away, I would have nothing but good things to say.<br />
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However, we went there to eat and so we stayed. Our waitress came out and took the drink order, read us the specials and then took our meal order very kindly. The drinks took a bit longer than I would have guessed and shortly after that she told us that she would bring out some bread for the table. Within a few minutes, a different woman brought a hot loaf of bread to the table, fresh from the oven and some butter. After she left, which was very promptly, we realized that we had no place settings on the table. It took us at least 5-10 more minutes to get the attention of our waitress who sighed when I told her we had no utensils or plates to use for the bread. She brought them out right away and apologized.<br />
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It would have been a whole different story if the bread was sliced for us when it was brought to the table. At least then we could have eaten it while we waited. I really hate that some places now make you cut the bread yourself. Again, it would be one thing if they brought you a bread knife. No. They don't do that. They want you to use an extremely blunt butter knife to slice through the hard crust of an otherwise highly compressible loaf of bread. When you are done cutting it, you get to hand off that smooshed mess to your family member who then tries to figure out where to put the butter on it!<br />
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One slice of bread cut and handed off and the food is delivered to the table. I couldn't help but laugh openly. The guy who brought the first 2 dishes (yes, now a 3rd person) was confused why the other 2 dishes were not behind him. He said that maybe the guy (I guess a 4th) must have gotten lost on the way to the table. I said, yeah, just like the plates. The food finally arrived and after I finished my piece of bread I decided to dig in to my Bacon Cheeseburger.<br />
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First, if you are going to serve a burger disassembled, serve it disassembled. Do not lay the top bun partially over the bottom. When the patron goes to remove the top bun to put the lettuce and tomato on the burger, the cheese usually sticks to the top bun and comes apart making a big mess. Second, use a bun that is at least 90% of the size of the burger. This burger was falling all over out of the bun. Third, invest in a bun that can actually support the weight of the burger patty that you are going to put in it. And lastly, if your burgers are greasy as hell, make sure the bun is dense enough to absorb some of that without getting soggy and flattened.<br />
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<a href="http://www.joesamerican.com/">Joe's American Bar and Grill</a> does not adhere to these guidelines and so I had a soggy, flattened, greasy as hell burger with a mess of cheese all over. Literally, when I picked up the burger there was a pool of grease on the plate.<br />
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My son ordered the buttered noodles from the kids menu. The kids menu item comes with a beverage. We ordered a lemonade. When his food was delivered he needed a refill on the beverage because in his estimation, the cup had so much ice that he finished it in one sip. I believe it was server #3 who brought him the first refill of the lemonade. He started eating the noodles and immediately complained about them. I took a bite and while it wasn't awful, there was something different about it. I don't know if it was real butter sauce or some kind of substitute, but there was a pool of it at the bottom of the plate/bowl.<br />
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When the waitress came to check on us, I didn't even bother telling her about my burger, which was now about 1/2 eaten. I did tell her about the kids pasta and she agreed to take it back and remove it from the bill. My son said he didn't want anything else, just another lemonade. The waitress then said in a soft voice that the lemonade does not come with free refills. Say what the heck now? So she let me order my kid a drink with his meal that does not qualify as a free drink with the kids meal. Then the next guy, Server #3, gives me another without a comment. Now, on the 3rd, I'm being let in on the secret. I told her that it shouldn't matter because they are overloading the cup with ice and it's barely a sipful in it anyway. She brought another lemonade and said I wouldn't be charged for the refill.<br />
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Then, and you know I've got a pet peeve about this from a previous post, she asks if we're going to be wanting to indulge the "D" word. I said, "well, my son (different one) had a meal that includes it, right?" She said yes and then brought us a desert menu.<br />
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Desert was nothing special and eventually the bill came. Guess what was not removed from the bill? That's right. The pasta was still on it. I handed over my card and mentioned it to the waitress who blamed it on the manager for not taking it off. Maybe an honest mistake but maybe not. I paid the bill and left pretty quickly.<br />
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On top of all of the above, we had the delight of sitting next to who I imagine was the girlfriend of another waiter and her friend. Someone definitely needed to tell these girls to go easy on the perfume. The overbearingness of it just compounded the wait time for our food so that another smell could attempt to overpower it. Not the restaurants fault, but they definitely just sat there hanging around because of the boyfriend, so I'll go ahead and mention it.<br />
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For bad food and lackluster service (on Father's Day, no less), <a href="http://www.joesamerican.com/">Joe's American Bar and Grill</a> gets a greasy BITTER.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-79753245434489634572011-06-13T22:49:00.000-04:002011-06-13T22:49:25.716-04:00Encyclopedia Brown Book Series - BETTER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nQx9dhdfL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51nQx9dhdfL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>When I was growing up in the 80's, I remember being introduced to a young detective by the name of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia_Brown">Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown</a>. He ran his own detective agency out of his garage and was so smart he even solved crimes for his dad, the Chief of Police. His stories were short and each had vital clues given to help the reader solve his mystery. Once you thought you had it figured out, you could flip to the back of the book and read the solution.<br />
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With a son of my own that is very fond of reading, I was shopping for Christmas present about a year and a half ago and came across a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0142409855/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0142409855">box set of the series</a> in reprint. I was instantly taken back to the joy of my youth reading these stories. I was even lucky enough to watch the HBO series of the same name. I instantly purchased the set and couldn't wait to relive this whole experience through my son.<br />
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So what happened? He opened the gift rather indifferently and the books sat on his shelf for about a year. The one day when he was all finished reading the last of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_noss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dclub%2520Penguin%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%23&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Club Penguin books</a> and the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_noss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dclub%2520Penguin%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%23%3Furl%3Dsearch-alias%3Dstripbooks&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Scooby Doo books</a>, I suggested he give one of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_ss_c_1_18%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dencyclopedia%2520brown%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26sprefix%3Dencyclopedia%2520brown%23&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Encyclopedia Brown books</a> a try. Again, indifferently he indulged me. Once he started reading though, this kid was as hooked as it gets.<br />
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A few months later, he is through 12 books in the series and I now have a few more on order. He absolutely loves the style of the books and seems to have really taken to the mystery genre. Admittedly, I did have to explain to him what an encyclopedia is (or should I say was?) to give Leroy's nickname some context but that was fun too. As a child born with the internet, he had no frame of reference for things like reference books!<br />
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I think after we get through all of these books (twenty-something in all), he will be moving on to A to Z Mysteries at his own request. I couldn't be more thrilled that something from my own childhood could be bringing such joy to my own son.<br />
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If you want to encourage your young 1st to 4th grade child to start reading more, I would highly recommend the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb_sb_ss_c_1_18%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dencyclopedia%2520brown%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Dstripbooks%26sprefix%3Dencyclopedia%2520brown%23&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Encyclopedia Brown Series</a> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Sobol">Donald J. Sobol</a>. (My son even did a special school project on Sobol, now his favorite author!).<br />
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For sheer entertainment value, as well as bridging the gap between 2 childhoods 30 years apart, Encyclopedia Brown gets a BETTER.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-41035788887608184352011-06-12T23:41:00.000-04:002011-06-12T23:41:11.545-04:00Ronnie's Bagels - BITTER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/images_css/2logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/images_css/2logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/index.html">Ronnie's Bagels</a> has a couple of location in norther New Jersey. Apparently, they have been voted the best bagels in NJ. As far as service goes, hell to the no.<br />
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I should say that historically, I really like the food at <a href="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/index.html">Ronnie's</a>. They seem to take a long time to make everything, but they take the sting out by having free bagel chunks for you to snack on. My biggest beef is that they seem to operate against the customer. Here's what I mean.<br />
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A few months ago, I was in there and they had signs up around the place advertising a free beverage with any sandwich (or something like that). I ordered the sandwich and then when it came time to pay they cashier said nothing about my free drink. When I asked about it the reaction was like "Oh, yeah. You do get that. You know we've got to make you ask for it. We can't just give it to everyone." Say what now? Of course you can give it to everyone. That's why you are running the promo!<br />
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Same thing happened to me this weekend. I went it for my regular meal and saw the following ad all over:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/images_css/coupon-10percent-follow2.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/images_css/coupon-10percent-follow2.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Of course, when I was rung up, guess what? No discount. I didn't even bother asking for it this time. They can keep my dollar but it is the last one they are getting.<br />
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On top of that, <a href="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/index.html">Ronnie's</a> did another thing I can't stand. They raised the prices AND cut the food portions. I know I've ranted about food portions that are too large before, but when you take a normal sized sandwich and noticeably cut the meat by 50% or more, I take issue. Also, Ronnie's no longer gives you a side of macaroni or any other salad with your order. Come on now. I'm paying $9 for a sandwich. Throw in the darn 4 ounce tub of macaroni salad.<br />
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Like I said, I doubt I'll be going back to Ronnie's anytime soon. For poor service, a scam artists mentality, and sticking it to the customer on price, <a href="http://www.ronnieshotbagels.com/index.html">Ronnie's Bagels</a> gets a BITTER.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-7412897286028687772011-06-11T23:01:00.000-04:002011-06-11T23:01:47.731-04:00Canon 60D - BETTER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415wq0zCq-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/415wq0zCq-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I recently updated my camera from an older, albeit<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00132MMVE/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B00132MMVE"> HD Kodak EasyShare</a> to the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040JHVC2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B0040JHVC2">Canon 60D DSLR</a> and I really can't say enough about the thing. It is an amazing camera. I believe I tried a Canon point and shoot years ago and actually returned it without being too thrilled. This camera though is pretty amazing.<br />
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I did a <a href="http://canon60dvsnikond7000.blogspot.com/2011/06/canon-60d-is-better-than-nikon-d7000.html">whole blog post comparing (in layman's terms) the Canon 60D to the Nikon D7000</a> which I think covers my thoughts on the camera.<br />
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Once you read that one, you can come back and appreciate that I give the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040JHVC2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B0040JHVC2">Canon 60D</a> a BETTER.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-85820175453543300292011-06-08T02:04:00.001-04:002011-06-08T02:05:07.589-04:00Phillips Dual Screen Portable DVD Player - BETTER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KYUOKW-QL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KYUOKW-QL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>There's not much to say about this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ES54BU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B003ES54BU">great road trip accessory </a>other than that it is great. Why try to deal with a single screen DVD player jammed between the 2 front seats and all the screen glare that goes with it when you can have a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ES54BU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B003ES54BU">2 screen system</a> for not much more money? I've got one of these and it is awesome for longer trips in the car where the kids need a little entertainment. Even though both screens show the same movie, each screen has its own controls and volume. If you only need one screen, you can just use one of them. I had an older, cheaper portable DVD player that constantly said "invalid disc" 80% of the time I tried to use it. And amazingly, this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ES54BU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B003ES54BU">Phillips 2 screen system</a> takes less time to put in the car than the old single unit device. You literally just clip each screen around the front seat headrests and pull the straps tight. Then plug in the power cables and the AV connector and you are good to go. It takes about 2-3 minutes total!<br />
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This upgrade was well worth the expense, especially when taking a 20 hour car ride! For that, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ES54BU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B003ES54BU">Phillips Dual Screen Portable DVD Player</a> gets a BETTER.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-68619839021477155402011-06-03T00:24:00.000-04:002011-06-03T00:24:47.365-04:00Dunkin Donuts - Free Order Scam - Bitter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dunkindonuts.com/content/dunkindonuts/en/coffee/_jcr_content/centerPar/feature/image.img.jpg/1292276042033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="http://www.dunkindonuts.com/content/dunkindonuts/en/coffee/_jcr_content/centerPar/feature/image.img.jpg/1292276042033.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>So <a href="http://www.dunkindonuts.com/">Dunkin Donuts</a> has a sign that reads something to the effect of "If you do not receive an accurately priced receipt, your order is free." I noticed that the register worker was going so fast that he was not handing any receipt at all to anyone. When I did not receive my receipt I asked about the deal for my order to be free and if I should be getting my money back. I was told that the sign only applies if you actually get a receipt. That's total bull. They simply use the sign as a marketing gimmick knowing that no one will challenge it because of the same reason they aren't giving out the receipts. Everyone at Dunkin Donuts is in a rush. Anyway, I just thought I would point out this ridiculous practice.<br />
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For that, <a href="http://www.dunkindonuts.com/">Dunkin Donuts</a> gets a BITTER.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-74229299748726619742010-08-02T00:24:00.003-04:002010-08-02T00:40:54.553-04:00Insanely Large Portions - BITTEROK. I think we now have a real problem in this country with portion sizes. <a href="http://www.divinecaroline.com/79975/49492-portion-size-vs-now">Here's a decent article on the topic.</a> Go to Wendy's and order a medium. May sure you rent a hand truck to cart it away. After the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/">Super Size Me</a> literally killed the Super Size/King Size concept, everyone kept doing the same thing, only they just changed all the contents of small, medium, and large.<div><br />Anyway, I went to this pancake place the other day since I heard it was the best rated and always packed. I took the family and we ordered a bunch of different pancakes. I was told I could get 4 medium sized or 2 oversized pancakes. I got the 2 oversized and boy were they ever. These 2 pancakes were each the size of a small pizza. It was served to me on a platter and the pancakes were pouring over each side. No syrup here unless I wanted it all over the table. The kids also got food spilling over their plates and they barely touched it for the sheer impossibility of working with the food. </div><div><br /></div><div>I ate literally 20-25% of the food, about 1/2 of 1 pancake and then asked the waitress, "Has anyone...ever...actually eaten all of this?" She pointed to a wall of names. The busboys were walking around the restaurant with take away boxes for anyone that wanted, but I thought, "What's the point?"</div><div><br /></div><div>When I finally got up I started to notice everyone looking at my table. I let them know that I obviously had no idea what I was ordering.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think at a restaurant like this the wait staff have a responsibility to tell you if they have insanely large portions. Also, just asking if I want the over sized pancakes is not the same as asking if I want to super size it. People who eat a super size fries do not get their name on a wall. </div><div><br /></div><div>That may be the underlying problem after all. If I have the girth to be able to shovel two garbage can lid size pancakes down my gullet I get celebrated on a wall. In a few years, that wall is going to end up being pretty crowded by my estimation. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's an idea! Give a wall to the normal sized families with the normal sized kids that eat normal sizes meals and don't have a Coke with a vat of pancakes at 9am.</div><div><br /></div><div>Out of control food portions, you get a BITTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-46886279686240339862009-06-21T21:14:00.003-04:002009-06-21T21:20:02.986-04:00Traingle Shaped Crayons - BETTERThis will be just a quick one. Was having a nice Father's Day lunch out today and as most restaurants do these days, the hostess left some crayons for the kids to use with a little activity sheet. The different thing today was, the crayons were triangular, not round. They are especially designed for restaurants so that they do not roll of the table. I must say that this is absolutely brilliant. I don't know how many times we've had to pick crayons up off the (likely very dirty) floor under a table at a restaurant. This is a very simple solution to one of the biggest problems facing parents with kids out to eat. <div><br /></div><div>Whoever invented these triangular shaped crayons, you get a BETTER.</div><div><br /></div><div>While these were not <a href="http://www.crayola.com/">Crayola</a>, here is a link to some of their <a href="http://www.crayolastore.com/product_detail.asp?T1=CRA+52-016T&.">triangle s<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">haped</span> crayons</a> (which I had no idea existed until I searched on Google).</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-46789362427077239162009-06-09T10:03:00.002-04:002009-06-09T10:07:19.539-04:00Social Media's Trojan Farce - BITTER<div>An interesting thing is happening as of late. More and more people are getting their news online, especially from social media sites, instead of from TV and newspapers. There is an unfortunate problem with this that needs to be discussed, though. On the Internet, there are few editors. Anyone can write anything. And then someone comes along and takes an unedited, unchecked piece of information and propagates it as fact, often citing it in a blog or other article of their own.</div><div><br /></div><div>A recent example of this involves a blog post titled, "<a href="http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/05/riding_social_medias_trojan_ho.html">Riding Social Media's Trojan Horse</a>", by Alexandra Samuel via the Harvard Business Publishing website. In the story, she discussed 3 high profile companies, McDonald's, Hertz, and Walmart, that didn't fare well as the result of social media exposure.</div><div><br /></div><div>In each case, Alexandra goes into a brief overview of the situation each company faced, hyperlinking key phrases which link back to the original "news story". While these links make her story seem far more legitimate, each link merely points back to another blogger's post.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the McDonald's case, the source blog is riddled with guesswork and no fact checking to back it up. The author, Mack Collier, never indicates whether or not he tried to contact McDonald's to find out why comments were taking so long to show up on their blog (which means he didn't). So he just suggests that they are likely censoring it. But he doesn't know. Alexandra herself provides mostly facts in her description of the story, but it doesn't change the fact that she is republishing what are essentially another bloggers comments and assumptions as fact.</div><div><br /></div><div>The same goes for the Hertz incident. It gets a bit worse here because the video clip that she references in her post directly contradicts most of what is written. She mentions that the lone Hertz agent leaves the customers unattended, which is completely untrue. In the video you can see at least one other person working at the counter and at least one customer using one of the rental kiosks. The problem is, the guy who shot the video is aggressively narrating and tries to convince the viewer that you are not seeing what you really are are seeing. And he does a good job. If Alexandra has read the comments on that video, they go at least 50/50 with many disgusted with the way the person behaved toward the Hertz agent. Again though, the video itself is treated as worthy of reference as fact.</div><div><br /></div><div>It is more of the same again for Walmart. While this story does seem grounded in basic fact, one has to be concerned when reading that media mentions went from positive to criticism. The media site that gets linked to for the criticism? Wikinomics. I was expecting maybe USA Today or CNN. Wikinomics is not mentioned by name, though, as it is relatively unknown and will likely detract from the believability of the story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's face facts. Most readers will not follow any of the links from this story. The mere presence of hyperlinks gives the blog post more implied credibility, as does it being published on a site with Harvard in the name. Does it really have credibility? I don't think so. Neither Alexandra nor any of her sources seems to have many any attempts to contact the companies being discussed to get a balanced view of any of the situations being presented. The 3 companies are vilified and the court of public opinion adjourned. Funny enough, I think that is the real point of the blog post. It tries to talk about how social media can burn a company that isn't ready. However, I'm not sure Alexandra really meant to be pushing the problems with social media to the next level.</div><div><br /></div><div>Could each of the companies have done a better job? Absolutely. I just don't think any of them have been treated fairly here in a blog post masquerading as a well researched news story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Somehow, we are letting the people who normally get interviewed by reporters on street corners become the reporters themselves. What we end up with isn't reporting at all. It's commenting. And that's what most blogs are (including mine). They are usually just some person's comments. That's not really news, is it? But that's how it is received and most readers are none the wiser.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since this blog post was published, it has been tweeted over 100 times, bookmarked about half that, and cited in other blog posts that have since gone on to be pushed out by some high profile Twitter users like <a href="http://www.twitter.com/guykawasaki">@guykawasaki</a>. In the end, this "article" has been sent to hundreds of thousands of readers, most of whom will implicitly trust it as valid and trustworthy news.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bloggers masquerading as reporters (you know who you are), you get a BITTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-49010378176979875832009-05-29T00:29:00.003-04:002009-05-29T00:39:58.615-04:00Cheesecake Factory - No Children's Menu - BITTERIn today's day and age, there is simply no excuse not to have a children's menu at a restaurant, especially at a family friendly restaurant like the <a href="http://www.cheesecakefactory.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Cheesecake</span> Factory</a>. The menu that they do have is in the ballpark of about 15 pages, and not even 1/2 of one page is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">children's</span> menu. They have 2 full pages of cheesecake flavors, and no children's menu. They are doubly at fault for not having children's sized portions of either meals or deserts.<div><br /></div><div>So I was there last weekend and when asking for a children's menu I was told that they had "kid-friendly" items on the regular menu like chicken fingers. Great. I ordered that for my 4 year old and was told it would be the appetizer portion. OK. That should be somewhere near appropriate. Right? No. They served a large bowl (yes, a bowl) of chicken fingers to a 4 year old child who would normally eat 4 small chicken nuggets. 90% of what was in that bowl got thrown away on my dime.</div><div><br /></div><div>When it came to desert, same deal. No children's portions. So instead of getting 4 deserts, we got only 2. And since my 4 year old doesn't like cheesecake, that meant I didn't get to eat cheesecake since we had to share. And after sharing? We still threw half the cake in the trash because of how ridiculously big the portions are.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the point. It is just plain lazy and completely ridiculous that the <a href="http://www.cheesecakefactory.com/">Cheesecake Factory</a> has no children's menu. They get a BITTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-32583107977953858012009-05-22T22:00:00.005-04:002009-05-26T21:47:00.692-04:00A BETTER Funeral HomeUnfortunately, I found myself spending a couple of days at a funeral home recently. All other things aside, I came across something quite unique when I went inside with my wife and children. Right off the main entrance was a special children's play room. It was decorated straight out of a Pottery Barn <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">catalog</span>, really nicely taken care of in every way. There was a bookshelf full of puzzles and books, a mini kitchen, Etch-a-Sketch, toy vacuum, toy fish tank, and various blocks and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Lego's</span>. In all the various funeral homes I've ever visited, I've never come across anything other than basic sitting rooms full of chairs and tissue boxes. It was definitely a Purple Cow in a sea of tradition. <div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-4396501995588645912009-04-25T21:49:00.003-04:002009-04-25T22:12:39.925-04:00Scott's Turf Builder - Shame Marketing - BITTER<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGunzbl54dFhdC9lvUXRJA6Xj29XxeKZscfkE2PSC81mpbwKVuPed38cdvR-uaSAp6_5LWBcKyRu8YnWqux2eWN2U91gk3yXZfEkiSk2qNmIxIOYCvR4-G-ZPCO0DGfjlo_BvM2o306SM/s1600-h/TurfBuilderWaterSmartNorth_std.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328817264625467378" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 140px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 233px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglGunzbl54dFhdC9lvUXRJA6Xj29XxeKZscfkE2PSC81mpbwKVuPed38cdvR-uaSAp6_5LWBcKyRu8YnWqux2eWN2U91gk3yXZfEkiSk2qNmIxIOYCvR4-G-ZPCO0DGfjlo_BvM2o306SM/s400/TurfBuilderWaterSmartNorth_std.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://www.scotts.com/">Scott's</a> is running a commercial for its Turf Builder product right now which I really don't like. It falls into a category of ads I called either "stigma marketing" or "shame marketing". (Dan and Chip Heath did <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/a-dirty-shame.html">a great piece on this concept in Fast Company</a> last year.) These ads try to create a problem to make the viewer feel ashamed or embarassed.<br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>In this particular commercial, a husband and wife are discussing the tradgic problems they had with their lawn. It was riddled with dandelions and they were the bain of their neighborhood. They felt awful because they never wanted to be "that neighbor". Finally, though, after using <a href="http://www.scotts.com/">Scott's Turf Builder</a>, their lawn was cleaned up and perfect. They profess that, "now the neighbors wave at us" as if prior to "perfecting" their lawn they were treated like the scum of the earth. Its the equivalent of trying to make all women think they need to be a size 4 to be accepted. Truly ridiculous.</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>At what point did someone decide that dandelions were the worst things in the world? I have small children and, at one point, was a child myself. These were actually the greatest things in the world at the time. Free flowers you could pick and attempt to cultivate in a paper cup. Spores you could try to blow out like birthday candles. This is living to a child. When did the lawn become the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div>When I eventually do have a front lawn of my own, I fully intend to go natural with it. No chemicals fertlizers or weed killers. Just hopefully a lawn without any big missing patches and hopfully a few of mother nature's beauties for the kids to bring in to their mother.</div><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://www.scotts.com/">Scott's</a>, for trying to make all of us feel criminal, you get a BITTER.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-67089540962826571992009-04-11T00:45:00.004-04:002009-04-11T00:49:53.962-04:00No Turn Signals - BITTERWhile I'm on the subject of driving, what's up with nobody using their turn signal anymore. People don't use it making a simple turn and they don't use it when they change lanes at 80 miles per hour in front of you. I've recently heard this regarded as the single biggest danger on the road today.<br /><br />There's a great scene in the film, "Shoot 'em Up", with Clive Owen where someone cuts him off without using a turn signal and he instantly goes into a tirade about it. It's what we've all felt I think. Unlike the rest of us, he catches up to the guy and runs him off the road. If only.....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-22115033831861697392009-04-04T23:30:00.003-04:002009-04-04T23:40:55.756-04:00A BETTER Traffic LightIs there anything worse than sitting at a red light at midnight for a minute or two when there isn't a car in sight? OK. Of course there is. But when you think about it, the whole thing is really silly. You, sitting there at midnight, with no cars around. That's not why they put the traffic light there is it?<div><br /></div><div>They put it there to manage traffic at rush hour most likely. If you drive the road any other time of day, you'll just be inconvenienced a little.</div><div><br /></div><div>There isn't one person reading this who hasn't contemplated running the red light if only they knew they wouldn't get caught. Why? Because we all know it's ridiculous to sit at a red light when there is clearly no danger.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm of the basic opinion that all traffic lights, at least on purely 2 lane roads, shift over to blinking red and yellow signals after say, 10pm. One side is typically the busier side, so it gets the flashing yellow. The less travelled way gets a blinking red, which means drivers have to stop, but then can go if there is a clear roadway. </div><div><br /></div><div>Sure, some traffic lights do this. But doesn't it seem like this is a rather arbitrary decision when the light is put in place? I'm just asking for a little coordination and a standard policy. It could make life just a little bit better for people who actually have to be out driving late at night.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-62187053677361588142009-04-02T01:16:00.004-04:002009-04-02T01:21:39.300-04:00Service Charges and Tipping - Better or Bitter?Here's just a very quick post. When getting food via delivery, many restaurants now charge a delivery fee. I'm not sure if this started when gas prices were spiking, but it's here to stay. At the same time, I still tip anyone who delivers food to my house. <div><br /></div><div>The question is, should you tip someone if there is a service charge? We have become accustomed to tipping people like waiters and waitresses because their pay system is primarily based on the tips. Would you feel the same way though if you got the check and there was a line item for "Food Service Charge"?</div><div><br /></div><div>I tend to feel that the delivery charge has nothing to do with the delivery person, so the tip is still necessary, but I just thought I'd reach out for your take on it.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-3563985511202152722009-03-27T21:51:00.010-04:002009-03-27T22:54:21.641-04:00Kawasaki, Scoble and Tweet-Spam - BITTERSo I'll admit that I'm not the biggest user of <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a> but I've started getting my feet wet. I have my criticisms of course, which I've posted in a previous entry. I realized though, that there are definitely some offenses within Twitter that I would call worse than others.<div><br /></div><div>I will preface this whole segment by saying that I really like both Robert Scoble and Guy Kawasaki. One of the first "professional" books I ever read was Kawasaki's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/088730995X?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=088730995X">Rules for Revolutionaries</a></i>. I read Robert Scoble every month in <i><a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/">Fast Company</a></i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>My problem with how both of them operate their <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a> accounts is that they are about 20%-30% personal (meaning either observations, pearls of wisdom, or the comment about breakfast) and 70%-80% random reposting of links to various web articles or pages. Kawasaki, for example, has tweeted 54 times thus far today. About 40 of those tweets were just random articles such as Hubble's Greatest Hits and Crimes Most Stylish Crooks. When I add Scoble's 39 tweets, 20 of which were article/page reposts, you can imagine how difficult it gets to find anything else, especially when you follow dozens of people.</div><div><br /></div><div>In my previous post I referred to Twitter as being like "listening to 100 collective streams of consciousness all at the same time, unfiltered." Now imagine that a few of the 100 are screaming. These users have what could be referred to as "twitter tourette's". </div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>"Sitting down at lunch, but they are serving breakfast....... 30 Funniest cats! Fast electric cars! Who likes horses?........ lunch was good...... New Microsoft ad campaign! Twitter for Moms!...... shit.bitch.fart."</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>If I were <a href="http://www.digg.com/">Digg</a>, I'd be taking notice. I'd be trying to sell "guy.digg.com" and "scoble.digg.com" right away. That would really make much more sense. At least there, we could follow an organized, structured list of the pages/sites/videos/images that our favorite "publishers" wish to share. Because that is what I see in Twitter. I see the full swing shift from 90% monotonous posts about cats and teeth brushing to 90% republishing of other materials, which is what Digg already does. </div><div><br /></div><div>On <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a>, I'm much more interested in personal pieces of information. In Scoble's defense, he actually has a decent share of tweets today about more personal iPhone problems that he and others were having. Buy for Guy Kawasaki, I would much rather get less as long as it was things Guy wanted to say. That's why I'm actually in the middle of reading <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591842239?ie=UTF8&tag=none0c3e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1591842239">Reality Check</a></i> right now.</div><div><br /></div><div>Someone who really seems to have it nailed down is Tony Hsieh from <a href="http://www.zappos.com/">Zappos</a>. He tweeted twice today and both were messages very relevant to his tribe of followers. One was about a pizza making vending machine that he suggested might find its way into the Zappos offices and the other about a book he just finished reading that he was adding to the Zappos library. A couple of very relevant updates. </div><div><br /></div><div>I know. I know. If I want to, I can just stop following people who basically spam my <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a> feed. I may have to do that. I did it with the feed from <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/">TechCrunch</a> already. It's just tough when I know that some of the tweets will be really meaningful to me from these individuals that I have followed off of Twitter. Add to that the fact that I've seen other big names figure out a really great standard of messaging on Twitter, and I guess I just wish for the best of both worlds.</div><div><br /></div><div>Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scoble's overuse of <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a> as <a href="http://www.digg.com/">Digg</a> gets a BITTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-89498396633629535882009-03-24T20:27:00.006-04:002009-03-24T20:53:17.755-04:00Best Buy Plots Against Price Match Guarantee - BITTERJacqui Cheng at <a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/best-buys-anti-price-matching-policy-revealed-in-lawsuit.ars">ars technica</a> reported yesterday that a class action suit has been filed in the state of New York against <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy</a> "alleging false advertising and deceptive practices" relating to its fullfillment policy on the "price match guarantee". This guarantee reads as follows from the Best Buy website:<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana;font-size:11px;"><span class="Body-Subhead" style=" font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><blockquote><span class="Body-Subhead" style=" font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11px;">BestBuy.com Price Matching/Price Guarantee</span><br /><img src="http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/global/misc/spacer.gif" alt="" border="0" height="10" width="1" /><br /><a name="top"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">If you've made a BestBuy.com purchase and discover a lower price offered on our Web site or at a Best Buy store on the same available brand and model, let us know and we'll match that price on the spot, tax included.</span><br /><br /><b>Exclusions:</b><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The BestBuy.com Price Guarantee does not apply to competitors' offers; third-party offers; online auction sites; shipping charges; clearance, Outlet Center and open-box items (when price matching with a Best Buy store); items for sale November 27th through 29th, 2008; special offers or promotions such as mail-in incentives, gift-with-purchase and financing offers; services such as installation; or typographical errors. Best Buy stores in Puerto Rico have their own price match policy.</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Apparently, an internal </span></span><a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Best Buy</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"> e-mail was used in the court filing detailing examples of how employees should try to not honor the policy. You can read exerpts on the </span></span><a href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/best-buys-anti-price-matching-policy-revealed-in-lawsuit.ars"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">ars technica site</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">. </span></span></span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, I am not surprised by this lawsuit in the slightest. I have tried to price match at <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy</a> in the past and indeed been met by these excuses and walked away without the policy being enforced. Of course, when the policy was first enacted, I price matched many times successfully. I think a lot of people were doing it and management likely decided to start trying the tactics described in the lawsuit.</div><div><br /></div><div>The mistake that <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy</a> makes on a daily basis is that they use their customer service policy as a marketing campaign with no plan to follow through. Not good, especially when their biggest competitor just went out of business. And that doesn't mean Best Buy can get comfortable because stores like <a href="http://www.walmart.com/">Walmart</a> are jumping right into the ring in home electronics.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy</a>, for my own personal experiences that seem to jive with the allegations in this lawsuit, you earn a BITTER.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-58570561387384710342009-03-23T22:16:00.005-04:002009-03-23T22:30:51.343-04:00The Container Store Sliding Drawer Organizer - BETTER<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjKdJDsKbUw2JKtx2oLzOhJ_hSe1RkXqdF2JwihCtliHu_5JCtAs-cdSRE_GDvbDmggUyyd3O2vUuqtZ4Mjh11O3oNv1HrZan_Vc1ogzDiNYRkjkwR6OdI3-ZimgE8CYunkx2WyvzTyv3X/s1600-h/container.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 296px; height: 55px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjKdJDsKbUw2JKtx2oLzOhJ_hSe1RkXqdF2JwihCtliHu_5JCtAs-cdSRE_GDvbDmggUyyd3O2vUuqtZ4Mjh11O3oNv1HrZan_Vc1ogzDiNYRkjkwR6OdI3-ZimgE8CYunkx2WyvzTyv3X/s400/container.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316574736239972418" /></a><br />So the best thing in my kitchen might actually have cost about $15 at the <a href="http://www.containerstore.com/">Container Store</a>.<div><br /></div><div>Many a night I spent frustrated at how little space I had in my silverware drawer in the kitchen. I always looked around at stores like Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a better drawer organizer but never found one. </div><div><br /></div><div>When the <a href="http://www.containerstore.com/">Container Store</a> opened, my wife and I were browsing around when I found the most amazing drawer organizer. It is <a href="http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=182&PRODID=60266">something like this</a>. It is 2-tiered. That means there is literally a bottom section that is the full width of the drawer and then a top piece that is only half as wide that slides back and forth. Sheer genius. You can hide the stuff you don't use every day like the serving pieces and ladels under the one side while everything you normally use is plainly accessible.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's amazing that will all the gadgets and electronic appliances in the kitchen, the coolest thing I have is a little piece of molded plastic.....</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.containerstore.com/">Container Store</a>, for offering a much wider array of storage options than most, AND solving my kitchen drawer problem, you get a 2-tiered BETTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-25949303338812553212009-03-22T20:05:00.003-04:002009-03-22T20:15:24.552-04:00Paramus Miniature Golf - Phone Says Open. Padlock on Gate Says Closed. - BITTERSo I thought it would be nice to take my boys to play miniature golf today since the weather was pretty good. I called up the Paramus Miniature Golf course to check if they were open. Yes says the recording on the phone. 10am - 10pm 7 days. Sweet. I headed right over. <div><br /></div><div>After the 15 mile drive I was psyched to see it wasn't busy like I thought it would be as I pulled up. Then I got closer and noticed a padlock on the gate. It wasn't open after all.</div><div><br /></div><div>My younger son started crying, of course, as he had been quite keyed up to do some golfing. I'm not really sure what happened here. I'm guessing it was just laziness in not changing the phone message.</div><div><br /></div><div>Paramus Mini Golf, I'll probably go back because you have the nicest course in quite a distance, but today you earned a BITTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-79385801079559645292009-03-17T21:42:00.007-04:002009-03-18T06:50:27.695-04:00Twitter BITTER and the Social Network Bubble of 2009Social Networks. More than likely you belong to one at this point. They seem to be popping up everywhere. Your friends are on them, and they invite you to join yet another. Newscasters mention them, celebrities, and athletes are now using them. The problem is, there are simply too many of them to keep up with, to keep updating, and to keep straight in your head. My theory is that 2009 will be the year that we start to see some social networking backlash. I could be wrong, but....<div><br /></div><div>In it's most basic history, the first MAJOR social network to catch on was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><a href="http://www.myspace.com">MySpace</a></span>. It started as a way for unsigned, independent musicians to promote their music without a major record label. That changed, though, and millions of people had <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Myspace</span> pages. There are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MySpace</span> business pages, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Myspace</span> bullying, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">MySpace</span> court cases.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next MAJOR social network to really catch on was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a></span> (even thought it was created about the same time as <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">MySpace</span>). It started out with college students only, but soon opened up to anyone and everyone. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Facebook</span> was more structured, though. It wasn't overloaded with crappy backgrounds and non-stop music restarting with every press of the back button. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">MySpace</span> has been retooling, but <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Facebook</span> got hold of people's attention pretty good. Besides, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Facebook</span> lets you send virtual drinks to your friends! Who wouldn't switch social networks for that?</div><div><br /></div><div>I believe that today, the fastest growing social network is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/">LinkedIn</a></span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">LinkedIn</span> was originally meant to be about creating high quality professional connections. If someone was listed as a connection, you could be guaranteed that the two <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">connectees</span> knew each other well enough that if you asked one to introduce you to the other, they could. Not so today. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">LinkedIn</span> is all about the number of connections, quality be damned. This is a basic point that all the networks fall victim to. As soon as you make the number of friends/connections/followers public, it turns into a competition to get the highest number.</div><div><br /></div><div>And then we get to what I'll call the peak of the bubble, <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a>. Twitter is referred to as a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">microblogging</span> tool that allows you to broadcast out short messages to you legion of followers. It has become the mainstream face of social networking. It is mentioned on the news, people like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Shaq</span> are using it, and even President Obama made major campaign announcements over it. I remember being introduced to Twitter by the online news show, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Rocketboom</span>, quite a while ago. The host, Joanne Colan was trying to do the newscast but kept getting interrupted by <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">inane</span> little blips, called tweets, on her cell phone.</div><div><br /></div><div>With <a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a>, we are starting to see people with thousands of followers, even hundreds of thousands. I'll bring it down to about 100 for what the average person might contend with. Now, the best way I can illustrate what Twitter is like would be if you stood in a room with 100 people and had to listen to their collective streams of consciousness all at the same time, unfiltered. It really can be quite difficult to manage. And some people tweet more than others. I thought it would be a good idea to follow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">TechCrunch</span> on Twitter. They completely overwhelmed my "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">newsfeed</span>" (to borrow the term from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Facebook</span>) with 10 times as many tweets as anyone else and I had to stop following them.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">CNET</span> has an article online about <a href="http://cnettv.cnet.com/8301-13415_53-10191009-11.html">getting started with Twitter</a>. It recommends that you should not just tweet every little detail of your day as was the norm in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">Twitter's</span> early days. Here's an excerpt:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 19px; font-family:verdana;font-size:13px;"><blockquote>Finally, what should you write? Literally answering "What are you doing?" may get boring fast. At least to folks following your time line. Some of the most enjoyable posts are witty observations, breaking news, and links to interesting stuff, like Web sites and pictures.</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">How many people do you know that can consistently provide you with short, witty observations? I tend to think that many people are signing up to see what it's all about but in the end will simply be lurkers (people who are basically idle, listening but not contributing).</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">If you look at the complete <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">over saturation</span> of information that the average person has to deal with and will have to deal with, you'll get the idea. On a given day, you might start off by checking your e-mail and your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">Facebook</span>. Then you go over to check your Twitter account (unless you've got them tied together). Perhaps you check your blog and respond to a couple of posters, or you read a blog you follow and post there. Then you check your cell phone and there are more text messages on there that need to be answered. And THEN, you might actually have to check your voice mail and talk to someone. E-Mail bankruptcy is already upon on. The average person simply doesn't have the mental capacity to handle much more and it is increasing exponentially.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">We've already seen networks fading away this year. <a href="http://www.secondlife.com/">Second Life</a>, once quite popular and touted as the future of online is retooling and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">repurposing</span> as a distance learning application. My prediction is that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">LinkedIn</span> will be next. Users might not start cancelling their accounts en <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">masse</span>, but I bet that their growth will crash and few professionals will regard it as anything of value.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">In all honesty, if you are out at a sporting event, shouldn't you just be enjoying the event and not worrying about telling everyone at that exact moment where you are and how much you're enjoying the event??? </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">And here is the real problem with social networks, born out of their greatest value (in my opinion): the power to turn dormant friendships into passively active ones. This is where people you haven't talked to since high school or college all sync up on a social network. Everyone is following everyone and so you get tons and tons of updates every day from people you have not seen and may not see for years. This can have a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">dilutionary</span> effect in the long run because you will start paying less attention to your <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">newsfeed</span> and maybe miss the really good stuff from the ones we're closest to. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">I suppose the question that will really be the deciding factor will be how much the human brain can handle and get through in given day. I think we're already exceeding capacity.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-16988498583556001632009-03-17T00:30:00.004-04:002009-03-17T00:41:24.136-04:00Domino's Pizza Part 2 - Still BETTERI hate doing a follow up to the Domino's post so quickly, but they've done something that warrants it (and not just as a comment on my last post). In the mail today, I received a letter from the Manager of Domino's Store Operations thanking me for being a great customer. Also enclosed was a little card entitling me to a free pizza with no strings attached. This is likely about a $7 value. Not much, but it is the gesture that really matters here.<div><br /></div><div>This is just really good, personalized service. I didn't have to join a loyalty program at Domino's to get this service. Yes, I saved a profile online so that I could order pizzas over the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">internet</span>, but that's it. Domino's figured out based on my order history that I am a regular customer and acted upon that in a very localized way. I'm not naive. I know it likely was a form letter churned out to all customers matching a certain segment. That doesn't really matter.</div><div><br /></div><div>What does matter is that I got something personalized, that reflects my wants. It's not just another newspaper insert or mass mailer. Further, the Manager of Store Operations included his cell number in case I had anything to say as well as a special e-mail address to write to with comments. That's bold service.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, this was a perfectly executed marketing campaign. Domino's Pizza has amazingly earned another BETTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-64785373696561603452009-03-15T18:27:00.003-04:002009-03-15T18:44:26.196-04:00TV Network Programming Directors - BITTERI'm sure over the last 5 years you've noticed a little change in the programming lineups of the major TV networks. No, I'm not talking about the steady decline in the quality of shows on network TV culminating in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">NBC's</span> decision to replace the grittiest hour of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">prime time</span>, 10pm, with more watered down Jay Leno fare. I'm talking about the mysterious change in scheduling that has some of the more popular shows running 32 or 62 minutes. <div><br /></div><div>Are the TV shows longer? Nope. This was exposed years ago when NBC started running its Super-Sized 40 minute long episodes of Friends. Those were just filling in more ads. Why the change now then? I have a basic guess: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">DVRs</span>. </div><div><br /></div><div>I theorize that this entire change in programming strategy was designed to screw with first generation <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">DVRs</span>, which a lot of people still have. By <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">first</span> generation, I mean that it can only record 1 show at a time and has no program overlap protection (clipping). By running shows 2 minutes long, it means that the viewer at home cannot record a show on NBC let's say at 9pm and then another show on ABC at 10pm. You can so it, but it would involve setting up a manual recording that will actually force you to start the 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">nd</span> program at 10:05pm. Setting up manual recordings was the thing that most people had trouble with when <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">VCRs</span> were popular, and I think the network heads know this. The plan is to screw up the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">DVR</span> so it can only record the first show.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, this only really worked for the first network that decided to do it. Once everyone was doing it, it stopped being an edge and even the first network was just as likely to have their shows <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">manipulated</span> out of viewership by the new system.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks to companies like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Tivo</span>, we can now record multiple shows at the same time, partially fixing the problem. In addition, if a show runs 2 minutes over, the next show will start promptly 2 minutes in, automatically. Since usually this 2 minutes is the opening credits and the "previously on...." you don't miss much. The whole convoluted system just ends up being a pain in the ass that really has no benefit but that lots of people have to spend millions trying to fix for us, the home viewer.</div><div><br /></div><div>Whoever was the first person to come up with concept and to all those who followed, you get a big BITTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-40778386414480399682009-03-13T20:05:00.002-04:002009-03-13T20:14:30.636-04:00A BETTER Way to Wait in LineIf your establishment has multiple registers, it would seem that there are 2 ways to setup the customer lines:<div><ol><li>Individual lines at the registers. Let the customers decide which one to get on.</li><li>One line for all registers. The employees call the next customer in line.</li></ol>For me, the clear choice is number 2. Having a single line eliminates all the anxiety of trying to choose the fastest line and all the analysis of the clerks and the people waiting on each line and how many items they have that goes along with it.</div><div><br /></div><div>When you are waiting on "the slow line", nothing burns more than watching someone get on "the fast line" well after you and then seeing them leaving while you're still on line. If everyone is on the same line, there is no decision to be made and the line actually seems to move faster because someone is always moving up to a register.</div><div><br /></div><div>The store that comes to mind as a winner in this area is Kohl's during the holidays. Normally they operate under scenario #1 but in the holidays, when everyone is particularly stressed and their lines are very long, the switch over to scenario #2.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everyone who ever got burned on the slow line, especially by the deceptive looking person with only 1 item who is actually holding the place in line for a person with 50 items, let your voices be heard below! If you know of stores/restaurants/etc. that have great line setups, please post them.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-89367135278717671952009-03-12T01:20:00.009-04:002009-03-12T14:53:03.750-04:00Domino's Pizza Online Ordering - BETTER<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThaQYpxWoaEtas3gLFpFwCHjQRbNuYVydAGzyz67dnVaAC1O5PKuxxn-I_vtXMHiB5OrXoXMigg_sc9QuCKn_TyMDM0Ro8YXj7x25kVGjRN4SDoJRT0zdyWjLPHedK1HPQnFl6T9Jzhoz/s1600-h/dominos-logo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThaQYpxWoaEtas3gLFpFwCHjQRbNuYVydAGzyz67dnVaAC1O5PKuxxn-I_vtXMHiB5OrXoXMigg_sc9QuCKn_TyMDM0Ro8YXj7x25kVGjRN4SDoJRT0zdyWjLPHedK1HPQnFl6T9Jzhoz/s200/dominos-logo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312179885236768466" border="0" /></a>In 1997, I remember going to the <a href="http://www.pizzahut.com/">Pizza Hut website</a> to check out some experimentation they were doing with online ordering. It wasn't widely available and it didn't really take off. At the time I remember thinking that the process was probably e-mail and couldn't possibly replace the phone order. Oh, how times have changed in a decade.<br /><br />It wasn't Pizza Hut, but <a href="http://www.dominos.com/">Domino's</a> that really stepped up and made online ordering work. Like many things online, it really does take longer than picking up the phone but there is a level of control that you just can't replicate by having a conversation. I've happily spent 15 minutes ordering pizza on the <a href="http://www.dominos.com/">Domino's website</a>.<br /><br />The first really cool feature is the pizza builder. The original release just allowed you to build your pizza without seeing it, although a more recent release changed that. As a customer you can really "have it your way" to take a slogan from Burger King. An example of a pizza I frequently get: "Thin Crust, half plain cheese pizza, half with no cheese plus pineapples and ham". I almost always get a follow up phone call on that one because <a href="http://www.dominos.com/">Domino's</a> wants to be sure I didn't make a mistake. I placed that order tonight and got a phone call within 1 minute. That's instantaneous response in my book.<br /><br />As if being able to build my order, apply coupons, and even pay for delivery pizza on a credit card wasn't good enough, <a href="http://www.dominos.com/">Domino's</a> took it to the extreme by adding a "pizza tracker" to their website. This is an online display that tells you whether your order is in one of the following stages:<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGkd5QOBp_vimiCNd1yFRoezFx2NbkRcayyAjmn9e4Icg5BH5I5aSnkYJtqwYJsp7gcX-zMf7kV3XACNwRGGyelpBIoihdxR8FBGPy2QSw7xIxDHUYyRfblQ87Zu0lWvvd-Xw83RQBiPB/s1600-h/pizzatracker2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGkd5QOBp_vimiCNd1yFRoezFx2NbkRcayyAjmn9e4Icg5BH5I5aSnkYJtqwYJsp7gcX-zMf7kV3XACNwRGGyelpBIoihdxR8FBGPy2QSw7xIxDHUYyRfblQ87Zu0lWvvd-Xw83RQBiPB/s320/pizzatracker2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312177747282043234" border="0" /></a><ol><li>Processing</li><li>Prep</li><li>Baking</li><li>Boxing</li><li>Out for Delivery</li></ol><p>It even tells you when it left on delivery and who took it. I love it and my kids love it. Whenever I order from Domino's (sometimes I really want pizzeria pizza), I leave it up on the screen so that my oldest can watch for the changes in status. It really does what Domino's intended for it to do, which is to lessen the anxiety over how much time it has taken between the order and the receipt of the food.</p><p>Did you know that inside <a href="http://www.dominos.com/">Domino's</a> they have a video screen that shows them how they are performing in customer service against all other Domino's restaurants in real time? Good committment right there.</p><p>I should point out, in case I get feedback from Pizza Hut saying they offer similar features, they do. It looks like they tried very hard to copy what Domino's did, but they fell far short. The website was sub-par and unreliable. I could not be bothered with it after 2 failed attempts on separate occassions.</p><p><a href="http://www.dominos.com/">Domino's</a>, for mastering the online ordering process and actually turning it into "an experience", you have won a loyal customer away from Pizza Hut and get a BETTER.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7452510111803219196.post-50621269546345702352009-03-07T21:11:00.000-05:002009-03-07T21:27:20.024-05:00Zappos.com - BETTERMy wife has ordered shoes from <a href="http://www.zappos.com/">Zappos.com</a> in the past and I never heard of any problems, but I'd never actually ordered anything myself. <div><br /></div><div>So this past week I had a big professional event to attend in New York. The one thing I realized with just a few days to go was that I really needed to get a new pair of shoes. I was literally getting ready to go out and hit Macy's when my wife said I should just go on to <a href="http://www.zappos.com/">Zappos' website</a>. She told me they always give overnight shipping and I would have the shoes on time.</div><div><br /></div><div>I went to the website and it is pretty easy to use. They have great filters by size, color, style, and others that really narrow down the options for you. They also make it very clear that they have a "free returns" policy to break down that barrier of fear most people would have buying shoes they have not tried on. I was a bit nervouse myself since my shoes are a 10 1/2 but my sneakers are 11 1/2.</div><div><br /></div><div>I actually found 2 pairs of shoes I liked and ordered them both. The shipping said it could be 5 days or so, but again my wife reassured me. I figured I would get both, see which one I liked once I had them, and I'd send the 2nd pair back.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sure enough, I did get the shoes the next day. I picked a pair, which I actually think I owned once before, and everything worked out.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.zappos.com/">Zappos.com</a>, for having the foresight to break down barriers for customers and allowing them to essentially mimic the in-store experience in their living rooms, you get a BETTER.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1