October 16th, 2011
I received the following e-mail on Friday from Barnes & Noble regarding their purchase of Borders’ customer list, why they bought it, what information it contains, how they planned to use it, how it impacts the customer, and how the customer can control the use of this information. I think this is an excellent example of transparency and allowing the customer to control the relationship. It makes me feel good about doing business with Barnes & Noble. Regardless of whether or not B&N was legally required to do this, they did it right.
Posted in customer service, e-mail, marketing | No Comments »
October 16th, 2011
The Rangers are back in the World Series. Congrats to my hometown team. Hopefully they’ll win it this year.
Posted in Dallas, Texas, sports | No Comments »
October 9th, 2011
Why did Apple go with a 3.5″ display when most newer Android devices are moving to 4″ screens? Here’s one explanation from blogger Dustin Curtis:
I have realized another huge downside of larger screens: when holding the phone with one hand, I can’t reach the other side of the screen with my thumb.
Touching the upper right corner of the screen on the Galaxy S II using one hand, with its 4.27-inch screen, while you’re walking down the street looking at Google Maps, is extremely difficult and frustrating. I pulled out my iPhone 4 to do a quick test, and it turns out that when you hold the iPhone in your left hand and articulate your thumb, you can reach almost exactly to the other side of the screen. This means it’s easy to touch any area of the screen while holding the phone in one hand, with your thumb. It is almost impossible to do this on the Galaxy S II.
This makes perfect sense and fits in with how Steve Jobs did things. And it also shows how brilliant Apple is when it comes to designing products.
LESSON: When creating products, don’t give in to spec sheet envy when you know the right answer is something different.
Posted in Apple, Randy Weber, gadgets, iPhone, marketing, mobile, product management, simplicity | No Comments »
October 8th, 2011
#1 Oklahoma beat #10 Texas 55 – 17 today. OU looked great and Texas looked very ordinary, primarily due to inexperience at the quarterback and corner back positions. The Longhorn QBs turned it over and the CBs gave up big plays. Not a good combination. Next up is OSU. Hopefully Texas can step it up.
Posted in Big 12, Dallas, Randy Weber, Texas, football, sports | No Comments »
October 6th, 2011
Steve Jobs passed away yesterday. I don’t think I’ll ever see anyone else like him in my lifetime.
Steve Jobs changed my life in many ways. But it started with the the first time I saw a Macintosh SE/30 in college. Before that, other computers just weren’t worth the hassle to learn. I was still typing papers on a typewriter. Needless to say, I fell in love with the Mac. The following year I bought my first of 5 Macs. Without the Macintosh, I would never have ended up in the Internet business which I love so much. His products inspired and enabled me.
Thank you Steve, you will be missed.
Posted in Apple, Randy Weber, personal | No Comments »
October 2nd, 2011
When people aren’t sure what’s wrong, they often refer to it as a “communications problem.” But this is seldom the real problem.
The next time someone lays a “communication” issue on you, try this:
“That sounds interesting. Help me out. Describe specifically what you see happening and why it’s a problem.”
This should get the discussion going and help drill down to the real issue. This is helpful both internally and when working externally with partners.
source: All Things Workplace
Posted in Communications, Randy Weber, business development, corporate life, leadership, management, partnerships, productivity | No Comments »
Thank God for the Rangers, otherwise this was a pretty depressing sports weekend for me with both the Longhorns and Cowboys losing.
