I want to know who it was who was sitting around and asking himself (herself) the question, “How can I leverage prison inmates’ obsession with poker to solve major crimes?”  We may not know who asked the question, but the question has been answered: By issuing playing cards that highlight unsolved murders.  The approach has already led to one arrest.  What an idea!

Walt Mossberg has a great article in the Wall Street Journal about the stranglehold that wireless telecom companies have on the mobile phone business–limiting choice and stifling competition.

A shortsighted and often just plain stupid federal government has allowed itself to be bullied and fooled by a handful of big wireless phone operators for decades now. And the result has been a mobile phone system that is the direct opposite of the PC model. It severely limits consumer choice, stifles innovation, crushes entrepreneurship, and has made the U.S. the laughingstock of the mobile-technology world, just as the cellphone is morphing into a powerful hand-held computer.       –Walter Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal

Mossberg also makes the great correlation between cell phones/wireless service and PCs/Internet Service.  Competition would bring better products to the market at better prices for the consumer.

“And, yes, it probably would give us perverse pleasure to say ‘f*** you’ to this decaying business model.”–lead singer Thom Yorke in the Telegraph

The Telegraph reports that Radiohead’s recent gamble has paid off famously. Unbelievably, they chose to offer their latest album, In Rainbows for download for whatever price you choose. That’s right, $0 to whatever. “I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one,” lead singer Thom Yorke told Time soon after the band’s contract ended in 2003.

My initial thoughts when I first heard of the plan earlier this month was that most of the downloads might be to people who were choosing to pay little to nothing for the album, but that the press attention would go a long way toward getting enough downloads to make it possible to profit at least as much as if they had chosen to go the traditional record label direction (not to mention spread their music and make new fans). But remarkably (and I have to admit to being shocked myself), the average person downloading the album is voluntarily choosing to pay approximately the amount that a regular CD would cost. Additionally, many people are choosing to purchase the limited edition boxed set (that includes vinyls!) at a whopping 40 British pounds. Wow!

[update: Purebuttons has just paid $1,000 for the album to support Radiohead's challenge to the music industry...and here I am doing free advertising for them. Good job.]

[update: Silicon Alley Insider reports 1.3m downloads as of yesterday (Oct.12)]

My [brilliant and beautiful] wife made a simple observation revealing a generally truth that we all intuitively know: “It’s All Marketing.” From the product that we decide to create to the market we choose to target. From each and every design decision we make to each and every word we use to describe those decisions. When we decide to be socially responsible (or not), when our salespeople dress and talk a certain way, when we choose our locations, our buildings, our desks. When we treat our employees a certain way and create a certain company culture (after all, nothing is totally internal anymore), we are marketing ourselves. So, in every action, in every decision, choose thoughtfully.

Yes, as a person that has spent the past 22 years in one form or another of sales, I have done cold calling. I have even called people at home (though it made me feel dirty). And, of course, I have also received my share of such calls. The federal DO NOT CALL list was an answer to prayer for millions of Americans, but few realize that, as of Sept. 15, their registration on the list began to expire. That’s because there is a 5 year limit, after which people must re-register for another five years.

Newsweek reports that less than one-third of those who need to re-register on the Do Not Call list. According to them, marketers are ready to pounce. Chris Houchens makes the great point that people who didn’t want to be called 5 years ago, don’t want to be called today. I doubt there are many sitting around, saying to themselves, “I miss those calls…I feel so lonely.”

For those of you who do make those calls, keep in mind that you will rarely be seen as a person that wants to help the consumer solve a problem. You will never be seen as a consultant. Instead, you will spend most of your time trying to change the prospect’s (if we can really call them that) first impression of you as a rude intruder.

“May the bricking begin!” Yes, that’s right. To you morons (including me) who first paid full price ($599) and told everybody you knew to buy one, telling everyone that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, more ground breaking than the spoon (the eating utensil not the cuddle), more groundbreaking than [enter YOUR FAVORITE THING here], further spreading the iPhone virus around the world, making Apple untold millions of dollars…

To you idiots who then had the price reduced by $200 (because it makes good sense for Apple to reward those who have yet to buy in favor of those stupid enough to stand in line to buy), but still held your head up high, customizing your iPhone and, yes, still telling everyone you know to pony up for the greatest tech gadget on God’s green earth…

to you, oh Mac Geek, oh tech god and early adopter, Apple says, “[enter favorite explitive]“

As many of you already know, the most recent firmware update that Apple has produced for the iPhone will, if you have dared to place any third-party applications on your device, “brick” your phone. In the words of Monty Python, your iPhone will be “dead,” “bereft of life,” it will “cease to be.”

This blog is not aimed at those who unlocked their iPhones so that they could use another wireless carrier. A good deal of Apple’s profits are from the sharing of the monthly service fees with AT&T. Not that I am in agreement with Apple on this point, but they are not the target of this blog. The more remarkable thing is that Apple, by targeting those who will ad third-party apps., is actually taking aim on those who are most passionate about the iPhone (and their entire product line).

It is the geeks, the technophiles, that spread the word and blog about the product. These are the same people that Apple should be courting and trying to please so that they can continue to share the gospel of Mac and its products. By offending them, Apple is instead mobilizing a powerful force against them. And now it is only a matter of time before the mainstream media begin to give them a louder microphone.

Mona Shaw of Bristow, Virginia, went at her local Comcast payment center with a hammer, smashing up some items, all the while asking, “Do I have your attention now?” After being arrested, the 75 year-old with a heart condition complained that the company had begun to switch over her phone service, then left it for four days and her without a phone. Apparently after many attempts to get the issue resolved, she resolved to take things (like a hammer) into her own hands.

As the world changes and as customers begin to have more choices, this kind of behavior will only come from the fading oligopolies (and few monopolies–check out Seth’s Blog) of the world.

If you have time for a bit of humor, check out Kramer’s rather elaborate cable man revenge scheme from one of the greatest series ever…

You should also check out the making of the video. Enjoy…

I am not sure that its viewers are all rushing out to buy submarine sandwiches, but using a human (along with 150 t-shirts) as a flipbook is definitely a remarkable idea.

I was just thinking about an example in the Tipping Point of a company that understands the importance of early-adopters.  Apparently just after Toyota started its Lexus line, they realized that they had made a mistake with the first 400LS model (so small that most companies would have ignored it), their flagship car.  Instead of ordering a massive recall a-la most auto companies, they personally called every owner, apologized for the inconvenience, then offered to have their dealerships to all the necessary upgrades.  They even ended up sending an L.A. mechanic to Alaska because there were no local dealerships to do the job.  Why?  They understood that these people who bought before the product was fully tested by the marketplace, were the people that were spreading the word about their cars.  They were the “mavens”, as Gladwell puts it, and they should be treated as such.

I am still a bit surprised that Jobs didn’t intuitively know this, that he didn’t take it into account before the price reduction.  Sure, he offered a great letter and rebate to the early-adopters, the “mavens”, only after the backlash (though, I admit, he reacted very quickly).  Seth’s blog has some interesting suggestions for Apple of his own.

Peace,

Brandon