This is one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while. This BBC journalist thinks she’s interviewing online music expert, Guy Kewney, to discuss the Apple Computer vs. Apple music verdict. But it turns out she’s interviewing another man named “Guy” who just happened to show up at the BBC studios to apply for a “data support cleanser” job.
I love his expression at the start of the interview when he realizes he’s now along for the ride.
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Honoring the person who got the best grades in high school establishes the value of intelligence over virtue and, in the long run, it is virtue that will determine the fate of the graduates with far more precision than their grade-point averages…by sticking the kid who never got a B in front of the class at graduation, we make a collective statement that it is grades that we prize most as a culture—and that is one of the reasons our culture is in trouble…
The Washington Post has a chart showing the top 50 Domains over the last two years.
Yahoois still king of the hill with most visitors but with only a 5% increase over last year vs. 21% for Google.
MySpace easily jumps into the top 5 next year at their torid pace, a staggering 318% increase over last year.
AOL and MSN might be in the Top 5 but both saw basically no growth last year.
Microsoft has four of the top 10 spots yet Microsoft.com traffic is down 10% and Passport is down 18%. Only Hotmail grew and at only 3%. Yet Apple.com is up 48%. Even though I run Windows at home and work I visit Apple probably 10x as much as I visit Microsoft.com. Make cool products and the people will follow. Take away the default homepage in IE and I wonder what that does to the numbers?
Target.com is an excellent example of a large company that gets it. Their site is easy to navigate and visually pleasing. Just like the actual stores themselves, Target feels modern, roomy and inviting. Walmart.com feels crowded, cramped and older.
Go.com checks in at #12 on the list? Huh? It’s been a good six years since I’ve even heard of that site. I think people mean to type google.com and hit ENTER too soon.
The thought of seeing Real down 18% over last year just makes me smile. They make the most arrogant software I’ve ever used. I’m thrilled to see others telling them where to stick their products. Nice to see you tank it, Real!
Where is ESPN.com? Foxsports makes the list at #33 but no ESPN?
Online travel sites are down: Expedia down 21%, Orbitz down 17% and Cheaptickets down 12%. Maybe high gas prices are urging people want to find the shortest driving distance because Mapquest traffic is up 7%.
Updated May 27 – A friend reminded me that ESPN is part of the Go.com network. That explain their showing at #12.
I normally don’t base a purchase on the existence or size of rebate. But this past week I placed an order at 1-800Contacts strongly influenced by a $40 rebate when purchasing eight boxes (a years worth) of contact lenses. I could have purchased four boxes for $89 with no rebate or eight boxes for $159 with a $40 rebate bringing the total to $119. Seemed like a no brainer, right?
Until I started to fill out the included rebate form. Let’s see…I need to fill out a short rebate form and include original sales receipt. So far so good. But then I need to cut off the lids from five of the eight boxes and include those with the receipt and rebate form. I wonder how they came up with the number five? I figured maybe it made sense since that’s one more than $89 “four pack” but they would already know that if they’d look at the “original” receipt that’s required.
So now I have a years supply of contact lenses stacked in my bathroom cabinet with five of the eight boxes gingerly positioned so they won’t spill out of their lid-less boxes and into the toilet. I’m convinced companies make the rebate process as painful as possible know that a percentage of people will just throw in the towel.
Dave Winer has created a very handy service called SHARE YOUR OPML that finds RSS feeds that might be of interested based on your own OPML feed. Just create an account and upload your OPML feed and you’ll see a list of others with similar interests. As much as I’ve tried to scale back the number of feeds I read this service makes it too easy to find great blogs.
Over at Signal vs. Noise, Ryan describes the importance of offering a premium plan for those building web apps. He’s seen a 30% revenue increase in only two weeks since DropSend started offering such a plan for businesses. Excellent advice.
If you’re one of the many companies or individuals who are currently working on a web app, I’d strongly encourage you to consider including an expensive premium plan. Something that is head-and-shoulders above the other plans you offer. Typical extras that could be included in a premium plan are:
- Increased security (SSL)
- Brandable interface
- Higher capacity or usage
- Extra support
- etc.
Delmon Young quoted after being suspended 50 games for throwing his bat at the umpire. I would have liked to see him gone for the entire season.
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It’s hard to argue with the success of Apple’s iTunes music store. Billions of songs have been purchased at 99 cents each. Earlier this year music companies wanted Apple to agree to a variable pricing model which would reduce the price from 99 cents for older songs but increase the cost of newer, more popular songs to say, $1.39. I’m not sure this is a good thing for those of us who don’t purchase a lot of Britney Spears or Coldplay. Most of the music I purchase isn’t the newer, mainstream stuff so I’d probably pay less than 99 cents for the type of music I like.
But Jobs and Apple prevailed and it appears we’re stuck with the 99 cent song for a while.
I did a double take when I saw this match-up on the front page of MSNBC tonight.
Nordquist Blog 