Rick Astley must be loving this.
September 08, 2008
July 10, 2008
iPhone: Orange sucks lemons
an orange that has become a lemon which really is starting to smell like a dorian fruit.
Trying to get my iPhone from Orange sucks more than lemons...it is like one big Dorian fruit.
My last email yesterday from Orange says that my pre reserved phone is in my account section of their website.
"Nous sommes heureux de vous informer que le nouvel iPhone 3G est d’ores et déjà disponible sur orange.ch sous la rubrique «Mon Compte». Alors découvrez sans plus attendre l’incroyable monde iPhone avec Orange."
Well it is not. See video below. I am in an endless loop!! After calling customer services they told me to click on the left hand side of the page to access my pre registration for my iPhone. Well that does not work. They told me also that another email was to come tonight. Well getting old waiting for that one to arrive...
Aside from doubling my monthly bill because it is an iPhone and selling it for 399 CHF/12 month plan (very roughly 1.1 with USD) for 16Gb I am starting to think that this is somewhat of a joke. I have also just heard that for 1,200 849 CHF you can get a 16gb iPhone with no monthly plan - well that goes beyond a joke.
Now take into account that a friend of mine called my local orange shop and they told her that there are only 20 in stock. Well this joke gets so huge that it becomes a legend. Makes one wonder is this all just hardcore hype just to create an artificial sense of demand for this product by Orange? I am a big fan of the iPhone and everything that it comes with but all I can say now is WTF?
July 07, 2008
July 02, 2008
7-11 iPhone 3G Day
So I just got this email. Wow.. Is this a dream?...One generation later..?
Geeez...Who knows maybe one day Switzerland may even get affordable data plans so we can truly enjoy the iPhone and use it for what is was designed to do!
Ps. I hope the offers are really "attractive" and shapely.
---------------------------------
From: Orange Newsletter <newsletter.orange@hello-orange.ch>
Date: Wed, Jul 2, 2008 at 6:38 PM
Subject: iPhone 3G with Orange
----------------
Dear Mr huot,
Thank you for your interest in the new Apple iPhone 3G and for registering with Orange. You will be one of the first to receive detailed information about our attractive Orange iPhone offer.
We can already confirm that you will have the choice between 3 devices:
- 8 GB in black
- 16 GB in black or white
Get prepared for the 11th of July to be one of the first to enjoy the iPhone 3G combining a phone, a widescreen iPod, and a breakthrough Internet device with rich HTML email and a desktop-class web browser.
We will be in touch with you within the next few days with attractive offers.
Best regards
Your Orange Team
June 17, 2008
Yahoo-Google-Microsoft: how about joining forces for good?
When I first heard of the Googloo deal on June 12 2008 I thought that Google was one step closer to world domination. As time went by details of an Adsense type of deal emerged and the market responded by sending the Yahoo stock downwards. Not very exciting. The possibiltiy of finding Google ads in Yahoo search results. I went on to wonder "How much money is in this for Yahoo and Google"? Well according to Yahoo the deal is worth approx 800 million USD/ year and 250 million USD to Google.Yawn! This is clearly a far cry from Microsoft's approx 44 billion USD Yahoo buy out offer. Uhmmm. Food for thought for Yahoo's share holders as they probably have it right up the Ying Yang by now. I am a big fan of all three companies but would it not be better if they got together to see how they could safeguard the web in the area of net neutrality and free wifi thus raising the penetration and inovation of the media to even more users. Where we are heading simply smells of a "Don't be evil" bucket if Yahoo gets swallowed up by Google or Microsoft.
June 02, 2008
May 26, 2008
May 14, 2008
buzz targeting: will youtube reap in the cash?
Earlier this month, in an interview with CNBC, Google CEO Eric Schmidt
said, "We believe the best [YouTube] products are coming out this year.
And they're new products…much more participative, much more
creative...much more interesting in and of themselves."
"As part of our continued efforts to experiment with new ways to provide value to YouTube advertisers, today we're announcing one such new product: buzz targeting."
"One of the greatest aspects of YouTube is how it has democratized the way in which videos are discovered and promoted," said Shiva Rajaraman, YouTube Product Manager. "On any given day, a video from a top-tier content creator or an ordinary YouTube user can become the next big thing."
YouTube's product and engineering team tapped into this core ethos by creating an algorithm that determines which YouTube partner videos are quickly becoming popular on the site and about to go viral. The algorithm looks at several factors, such as acceleration of views, favorites, and ratings activity, and then allows advertisers to target their ads specifically to these videos on YouTube.
"Every advertiser hopes that their campaign will to be the next big viral hit online, and they come to YouTube to reach the millions of video viewers who are on the site everyday," said Rajaraman. "Buzz targeting lets them do both at the same time. They associate their brand with the hottest content of the day, while reaching the most engaged users in our community."
Lionsgate was the first advertiser to partner with YouTube in the pilot of this product, by using buzz targeting to promote the release of the film "The Forbidden Kingdom."
"With so many videos going viral on YouTube at any given time, buzz targeting allowed us to reach a very large, diverse audience,” said Danielle DePalma, Director of Digital Media, Lionsgate. "By running ads against some of the most prominent content on the site, we were able to place our brand at the center of the experience that millions of people have on YouTube every day.”
Ads for "The Forbidden Kingdom" ran against more than 500 of the most popular partner videos in music and entertainment, including content from major music labels and videos from users in the YouTube Partner Program.
"Buzz Targeting was an amazing opportunity for us to capitalize on the most popular videos on the site," said DePalma.
