golden apple

It seems that everything Apple touches now turns to gold.

This was found here.

The above pictures were spotted here.

To keep up with demand, Foxconn (the Chinese manufacturers of iPhone; and yes, your iPhones are made in my glorious motherland by unfairly-treated and overly-stressed workers) are planning to hire 1 million robots to work in their plants. Talk about robotic armageddon eh?

But that's beside the point.

What I want to talk about today is the disillusioned people that are nonsensically buying into this apple plot to take over the world.

Let's not talk apples for now, and focus on oranges.
Imagine walking into a dealership and you see someone insistently asking for a particular car.
"I want that new car I heard so many great things about. I don't care whether it's a v4 or a v6. Horsepower is irrelevant. I just want it because it's the latest thing"
Sounds stupid right?

I get furious and irate when I hear people say, "I want a new phone - oh, maybe I'll just wait for the iPhone 5 and get that". It's insane, these people doesn't even know how the phone looks like (let alone the phone's innards) and they are sold on the idea of purchasing it already.

Frankly, there are many, many phones out there that are equally good as (if not better than) the iPhone 4 and people still mindlessly get drawn in by the whole distortion field.

But this also brings up a very valid point in consumer behaviour. This is a case in point for the emotional aspect of the purchase decision-making process. Consumers (particularly the ones highlighted in this article) are ingrained with strong emotional ties to the brand and the product. It is this emotional attachment that can cause the purchase decision to be heavily influenced by the emotional processing centre of the brain rather than the rational centre.

This also can be seen in car sales.
The whole purpose of the test drive to allow you to get emotionally attached to the car. The idea of ownership and envisioning yourself driving/owning the vehicle can be a strong subconscious leveraging point even most sales people aren't aware of (I may revisit this idea with an interesting article).

In hindsight, apple deserves to the top dog. Utterly brainwashing people into believing their elegant design and unique (read: enclosed and dictatorial) ecosystem is worth the premium you are paying (not only that but you're getting a good deal).

/Apple rant

unlimited power!

One of my favourite internet meme:

The Star Wars wiki is awesome. Check it out.

UNLIMITED POWER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiCznGaex2c

Okay, there is a strong relevance to this post.
In that movie the balance of power of the light side and the dark side becomes strangely disturbed.
A similar tipping of the balance of power between consumers and the big corporations happened a few years back. That is of course only possible with the advent of web 2.0.
No longer do the big corporations, with their big wallets, push ideas and concepts into the consumers' minds through advertising. The ball is now in our courts (so to speak). Let's not fumble or turn it over.

Web 2.0 enables users to create and edit content. Things such as blogs, comments, and product reviews were born. These and many more, combine to give the consumers the power to express their opinions about the big corp's products.

Think about it, when you make a big purchase decision, how would you gather your information?
Often our search for information about our purchase is a mixture of online search, close friends'/relatives' recommendations and opinions, information from advertisement, and what is readily available at the store.
But back in the days, online search wasn't an option. Especially those handy dandy customer review websites. Or those blogs about the product you're looking at.

Yea, now we can form our own opinions about the products. Companies that make inferior products will be exposed extremely quickly through the blogosphere and customer reviews.

Consumers now can take advantage of this technology to make more informed choices.
But this is also advantageous for the big corps.

First thing is transparency.
To avoid negative stigma, being transparent with communication is key.
Remember back a few years there was a scandal about manufacturers of certain electronics hiring people to write positive (biased) reviews?
This creates distrust. Distrust is bad when these are the people buying your products and, in the end, paying your salaries.

Next, you should encourage more feedback from your customers.
Provide incentives for your customers to provide these reviews.
This adds to the perception that you've got nothing to hide, which will inspire more confidence in your products.

With the encouragement to provide feedback, you've gotta make these reviews accessible and easy-to-do. No point in having a ton of positive reviews when no one can access them. As well, if the process of posting reviews is overly convoluted, people won't do it.

Product reviews and other web 2.0 tools can be leveraged by the consumers and companies. Use them wisely.

Writing this while having a migraine wasn't easy.
I hope you have more fun reading it than I had writing it.

EDIT
There's a point I failed to make during the first seating at writing this.
Consumers, do keep in mind that the reviews are usually on either extremes of the spectrum. That's because the people motivated to take the time to write a product review are usually either extremely satisfied with their purchase or extremely dissatisfied with their purchase.
Hardly ever will you find reviews that are treading along the lines of moderation.
(Obviously you'll bump into them on occasion)
Point is, when doing your research through product reviews take all the reviews with a grain of salt and use common sense.
If you encounter all 10/10 reviews, that means the product is very good on average.
If you see five 10/10's and one or two 1/10, that means the product is good on the average but there are some minor flaws.
etc

Oh and do look for the reviews that point out what people don't like and what they do like. Chances are you'll care about one or two of those things and perhaps have to make concessions on those due to budget/technology restraints.

Moral of the story...
Consumers: don't believe 100% word-for-word the reviews out there.
Corporations: be more transparent and encouraging with honest reviews.

and then there were four

Pretty Telus birds.

I've been using wireless mobile internet for the past 3 months in Canada. Although I shouldn't complain because I can still access my data connection inside buildings (unlike some of our unlucky AT&T cousins down south), but sometimes information just doesn't load at the speed you wish it did.
Within the telecommunications industry in Canada there's a battle for supremacy going on. The three major players, Bell, Rogers, and Telus, are vying for the top dog position. The temporary alliance of Bell and Telus drew first blood in the advertising department when they won a lawsuit against Rogers over their claim of being the fastest and most reliable network (too lazy with the research this is the best you're gonna get in terms of outside info). With Bell and Telus' HSPA+ network, it's easy to see why the courts sided with Telus on this one (didn't find something on this one, so you'll have to take my word for it).
But that's all old news.
Recently I came across a rather interesting billboard ad:

Along the DVP in Toronto.

Zoomed in.

Btw, those pictures took forever to upload.

I guess Telus drew first blood with the advertising as well!
Though through the grapevine, I hear Rogers will be rolling out LTE in 2012.
(In Mr. Bean's voice) It's a race!
I'm really looking forward to using the 4G network in Canada. Small businesses and power users will definitely reap the benefit of a faster mobile connection, especially with the utility, functionality and power of modern smartphones.
Imagine being able to respond to email purchase orders. Download and work on invoices and order sheets on the go. Connect with vendors and suppliers simultaneously through video. Ah, the possibilities.
Of course, this is an absolute nightmare for the average employee (being tethered to office work even on the go), but this will be a dream-come-true for the entrepreneur looking to increase his or her control of the flow business and increase efficiency.
Imagine doing all that at a blazingly (I made up that word) fast speed.

So in the battle of telecoms, it's a war of attrition between the big 3 (speaking of which it was a disappointing loss yesterday, Miami). Let's see who actually gets to roll out LTE first. Because it's always good to be first.

That is, of course, unless you're a rat; the second rat gets the cheese.

oh you player

With the introduction of the iPod touch, the portable gaming industry faced a serious new contender: mobile devices that doubles as gaming consoles.
This new subset of the gaming industry is the new mobile gaming industry.
Solely on the premise of "why should I bring an extra console with me when I have a phone that's just as powerful?".
Though the birth of the mobile gaming industry is attributed to Apple, I think it's Sony that's upped the ante with their Xperia Play phone. The company touts it as the first Playstation certified phone.

On a side note: why is the camera focused on the phone instead of that pretty girl? I'm sure some poor photographer was forced into doing this photo. That's the sad reality of corporate stranglehold on us mere mortals.

You should go visit the Sony Ericsson website here.

Now when you first look at this phone, there's a bit of familiarity to it.
Oh right, there's a strange semblance to the PSP go!
Check it out:

Screen cap from here.

They're twins!

I really like the way Sony avoids any cannibalization of market share by discontinuing the PSP go and porting all that technology into the Xperia Play (more commonly known as the PSP phone now).
This is also one of the best examples of what some of the best cell phone companies are doing: leveraging existing technologies it has from its deep portfolio of products into newer products to capture market share.

Back on the topic of cannibalization. A good strategy is to discontinue the older products and slowly phase them out, but still providing support to existing users. This is what vendors and makers of operating systems do as well as printers and ink cartridges.

This post inspired me to write something else. So I'll cut this one short and start writing about another topic that's much more interesting.

Bye.

How far is too far... hmmm? *squints eyes

I've been ingrained at an early age that plagiarism will ruin your life, academically and otherwise.
If you dare to plagiarize, you'll become the pariah of society and be shunned in shame for all of eternity. Eventually, so full of self-loath, you'll commit suicide. End of story.

Needless to say, I've never plagiarized in my life. I have however done some "creative paraphrasing". Honestly, who's gone through post-secondary (or even high school) without doing that?
Point is, plagiarism is bad.
However, in marketing we glorify it a tad and call it "prototyping". Taking the market leader's products and prototyping our own to resemble it. Thus lending all the positive association with the market leader's product to our own. Pretty convenient.

To some extent this amazing. It leverages all the marketing the market leader's done and boosts our own products by eroding the leader's market share. But now we ask ourselves as marketers, how far is too far?
If we prototype too much isn't it just copying their product and implicitly admitting defeat to their superior products?

Case in point is the recent lawsuit between Samsung and Apple.

http://hitechanalogy.com/apple-files-lawsuit-against-samsung-blaming-samsung-galaxy-s-phone-tab-as-copies-of-iphone-ipad/

Let's start off by saying I own both company's products and am personally a huge fan of Samsung's new products and their (generally) strategic direction. Also, I have a school boy admiration of the sales and marketing skills that are masterfully displayed at each Apple keynote by Steve Jobs.


This lawsuit alleges that Samsung copies Apple's iPhone and iPad designs.
I'm not here to pass the judgment on who's in the wrong - that's the court's job.
I'm here to analyze the effectiveness of prototyping and its role it plays in modern mobile technology industry.

The industry and its trends
Since the beginning of time, prototyping has been around. From copying the designs of weapons of neighbouring countries during war-torn eras to the modern day Apple vs Everyone-Else-That-Has-Produces Tech-That-Resembles-Apple-Products, it's been around.
A recent, notable event in history is the introduction of what I'd like to call the Apple Fever. Very much akin to the b***** fever (to protect the little boy's privacy). I draw parallels because there are obviously better alternatives out there but people just flock to them. It's unimaginable and illogical, right?
Because of this craze, people started "prototyping" the iPods. There was even an episode of Simpsons that poked fun at the fact that all you need are Apple ear buds stuck in your ear to make others believe you have an iPod.
Because of this, more and more companies are copying the big A's product designs (HP Envy series, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, Galaxy Tab 10.1, etc etc).
It's harder to find "innovative" designs nowadays. Of course, it doesn't help that the innovative designs are often duds (ahem BlackBerry Torch).
So why "innovate" and risk a big R&D flop?

The role prototyping plays
In my opinion, prototyping is an important aspect in capturing market share. It is absolutely vital in the early stages when trying to slay Goliath.
The first few products pushed out should be textbook examples of prototyping with a few distinguishing features to differentiate it from the market leader.
Here's where I give kudos to Samsung.
With the introduction of their super AMOLED display, they have a strong differentiating feature.
Slowly however, as their brand matures in the market after a few products that are prototyped from the market leader's, the company should start to capitalize on the distinguishing feature and diverge away from the prototypical design.
I believe Samsung is going to approach this step near the end of the next quarter or latest, end of this year.
Sony (you and your arc/xperia play) kinda jumped the gun. But I admire the guts you displayed and give kudos to you. However, recently with the bad PR (PSN hack) and the natural disaster (3.11, prayers still with Japan), it's hard to make a strong comeback in the next little while.
All in all, to establish yourself as a strong brand, companies that aren't the market leader in their industry can do one of two things:
1. Do something radically different and hope it flies.
2. Prototype a little while and diverge.

So now that we've understood more about this prototyping business, we get back to the main question: how far is too far?
I draw the line when the two products look exactly the same when you place it a few meters away and squint really hard. Of course when you pick it up and play around with it after riding the teacups and it seems exactly the same to you then; that's also too far.

His honourable judge Brian Leung presiding.
My verdict: Samsung is not guilty of copying Apple's design.
There are so many features available only on Samsung that aren't found in the egoPods.

Final word:
Technology are like girls. All the top-notch ladies are very similar on the outside, but once you get to know them and discover their unseen attributes you'll really find out that they're all different. In the end, lucky lady you choose to keep says a lot about yourself as a person. Obviously there will be dudes who will just want to date people purely based on outward appearances, there's a market for everyone. To each their own.

To the millions of companies out there trying to climb to the top of the market by stepping on other companies: please exercise moderation and common sense when prototyping. Consumers are smart. We don't appreciate (for the most part) excessive copying.

Cheers and stay busy!

PS. If you're an xx chromosomed being or your orientations are different, change the gender thing to your liking. I write in the first person and in my personal views. Life's too short to rewrite things to accommodate everyone, I hope you understand. No hard feelings