Tretakoff Musings
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Harnessing Social Media
I'm cautiously optimistic about the approach that businesses are taking with harnessing social media to extend their brands and connect with their customers. Unlike the ham handed ways they have used before (uh...pavilions in Second Life?), They seem to be showing a surprisingly open and organic approach to this new medium. Peter Kim has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what many companies are doing, and the various forms that has already, for me, yielded great results. For instance, here are some of the highlights for me:
- Comcast. Frank from Comcast is a one-man good PR campaign for this much maligned company. Got a problem with an installer? Twitter Frank. Bitching about your reception on Twitter? He's there to direct message you. Want proof? At my company, we recently received scattered reports that Comcast customers were unable to see the sites we host. I pinged Frank, and within minutes, he responded that he was unable to duplicate the problem, but offered to do more research if I sent him more specific info. WOW. Compare that to waiting endlessly on hold. Nice.
- OpenTable. Add their Facebook app, and you can make reservations right where you are usually thinking of them.
- Best Buy. Yep, even this increasingly resented behemoth has figured it out, as the CMO Twitters and blogs. Both were invaluable in the recent "Premier Black" e-mail disaster.
The list goes on, but more and more, I see the blending of the fluidity of social networking putting a face on the traditionally stolid and staid corporate visage. And I have to say, it immediately means more transparency. Hell, even the government is getting the idea: the TSA, one of the most challenging agencies, has been remarkably open in their blog, even to the point of changing policies because of comments made in the blog.
It's a brave new world, and I am thrilled to be livin' in it.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the approach that businesses are taking with harnessing social media to extend their brands and connect with their customers. Unlike the ham handed ways they have used before (uh...pavilions in Second Life?), They seem to be showing a surprisingly open and organic approach to this new medium. Peter Kim has put together a fairly comprehensive list of what many companies are doing, and the various forms that has already, for me, yielded great results. For instance, here are some of the highlights for me:- Comcast. Frank from Comcast is a one-man good PR campaign for this much maligned company. Got a problem with an installer? Twitter Frank. Bitching about your reception on Twitter? He's there to direct message you. Want proof? At my company, we recently received scattered reports that Comcast customers were unable to see the sites we host. I pinged Frank, and within minutes, he responded that he was unable to duplicate the problem, but offered to do more research if I sent him more specific info. WOW. Compare that to waiting endlessly on hold. Nice.
- OpenTable. Add their Facebook app, and you can make reservations right where you are usually thinking of them.
- Best Buy. Yep, even this increasingly resented behemoth has figured it out, as the CMO Twitters and blogs. Both were invaluable in the recent "Premier Black" e-mail disaster.
The list goes on, but more and more, I see the blending of the fluidity of social networking putting a face on the traditionally stolid and staid corporate visage. And I have to say, it immediately means more transparency. Hell, even the government is getting the idea: the TSA, one of the most challenging agencies, has been remarkably open in their blog, even to the point of changing policies because of comments made in the blog.
It's a brave new world, and I am thrilled to be livin' in it.
Labels: business, Comcast, Facebook, social networks
Monday, April 21, 2008
Frakking Bastards
Comcast adding SciFi to their HD lineup: good. Ability to watch the last season of Battlestar Galactica in HD: great. Comcast compressing the HD signal to the point of my DVR acting like it's had too much caffeine in trying to keep up with the compressed signal: Bad. Comcast once again admitting that they throttle bandwidth, but refusing to tell anyone why or under what standards they apply it to: Horrific.
You'd think they would learn, as they are facing $100 million in fines from the FCC on their broadband throttling. But messing with people's HDTV? I can see a big boost for Verizon, AT&T, and DirecTV...
Comcast adding SciFi to their HD lineup: good. Ability to watch the last season of Battlestar Galactica in HD: great. Comcast compressing the HD signal to the point of my DVR acting like it's had too much caffeine in trying to keep up with the compressed signal: Bad. Comcast once again admitting that they throttle bandwidth, but refusing to tell anyone why or under what standards they apply it to: Horrific.You'd think they would learn, as they are facing $100 million in fines from the FCC on their broadband throttling. But messing with people's HDTV? I can see a big boost for Verizon, AT&T, and DirecTV...
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Christmas in July
Few brands inspire warm and fuzzy feelings in me. Of the ones that do, it's because they have the capacity to surprise and delight me with delicious unexpected gifts at the most opportune times. And I'm happy to say, one just has.
Tivo, whose service I have awaited with endless frustration to come onto my behemoth of a clunker Comcast DVR, has just released TivoHD. Yes, there had been a Tivo HD DVR before....for the ungodly price of $1,000 (fell to $700). Instead, I was driven into the arms of that cheap tramp from Comcast, who promised me a "good (HD) time" for less than $20 a month. Well, as you might expect, I walked away with an empty feeling, pining for the luxury that was my Tivo, but knowing I was not willing to fork over the asking price.
Today, the sensuality of my lovely Tivo in glorious two tuner HD, with Amazon Unbox service and web-based programming, can be had for three precious Jacksons, 70% less than before. Caveat: you have to argue with Comcast to wangle two CableCARD's, an interface they are notoriously resistant to providing (they have to do so under law, but that doesn't mean it needs to be easy!), so you might want to contact your cable provider first.
If you just can't wait, order it today. I just might!
UPDATE: A GREAT review from CNet discloses the upsdies and downsides. Upside: all the fantastic Tivo online goodies, works with digital cable. Downsides: On Demand not supported, no TivoToGo, etc.
Other great reviews here.
Tivo, whose service I have awaited with endless frustration to come onto my behemoth of a clunker Comcast DVR, has just released TivoHD. Yes, there had been a Tivo HD DVR before....for the ungodly price of $1,000 (fell to $700). Instead, I was driven into the arms of that cheap tramp from Comcast, who promised me a "good (HD) time" for less than $20 a month. Well, as you might expect, I walked away with an empty feeling, pining for the luxury that was my Tivo, but knowing I was not willing to fork over the asking price.Today, the sensuality of my lovely Tivo in glorious two tuner HD, with Amazon Unbox service and web-based programming, can be had for three precious Jacksons, 70% less than before. Caveat: you have to argue with Comcast to wangle two CableCARD's, an interface they are notoriously resistant to providing (they have to do so under law, but that doesn't mean it needs to be easy!), so you might want to contact your cable provider first.
If you just can't wait, order it today. I just might!
UPDATE: A GREAT review from CNet discloses the upsdies and downsides. Upside: all the fantastic Tivo online goodies, works with digital cable. Downsides: On Demand not supported, no TivoToGo, etc.
Other great reviews here.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Tivo FINALLY coming to Comcast in August
With the unbelievable noise that is the iPhone, an important news item slipped out unnoticed, except by the good folks at Ars Technica: Tivo is FINALLY coming to the Comcast DVR's, over a year after it was first announced. The best part of this is this quote:
Comcast, I'm hereby DEMANDING I be in one of those select areas. I want my Tivo Comcast DVR before Heroes and Lost start again!
Our long national cable nightmare for cheap(er) DVR's may finally be on the verge of ending.
With the unbelievable noise that is the iPhone, an important news item slipped out unnoticed, except by the good folks at Ars Technica: Tivo is FINALLY coming to the Comcast DVR's, over a year after it was first announced. The best part of this is this quote:"Comcast DVRs based on the TiVo software should be ready in select areas as early as August."
Comcast, I'm hereby DEMANDING I be in one of those select areas. I want my Tivo Comcast DVR before Heroes and Lost start again!
Our long national cable nightmare for cheap(er) DVR's may finally be on the verge of ending.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
I Feel The Need...The Need For Speed
Gentlemen, start your engines. As I blogged about before, if you want to know the speed of your web connection, SpeedTest has your back. But now, they have also introduced a new interface, making speed testing a downright participatory sport. Check out that interface to the left!
But wait, there's more. Compare your results to those in the same state, or region, or with the same provider. Historical charts, averages of download and upload speeds, and the ability to customize how you prefer to have the information displayed to you. When you're done, you can post your results through HTML or email. Check out mine:
Now how cool is THAT?
Gentlemen, start your engines. As I blogged about before, if you want to know the speed of your web connection, SpeedTest has your back. But now, they have also introduced a new interface, making speed testing a downright participatory sport. Check out that interface to the left!But wait, there's more. Compare your results to those in the same state, or region, or with the same provider. Historical charts, averages of download and upload speeds, and the ability to customize how you prefer to have the information displayed to you. When you're done, you can post your results through HTML or email. Check out mine:
Now how cool is THAT?
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Bandwidth Anchors
I'm the kinda guy who has LOTS of betas, bleeding edge programs, and other sundry things on his computer, looking for the next great thing. I'm also not necessarily one who associates reduced performance with those programs. Good example: the Tab Effect I recommended a few days ago: great idea, but really slows down Firefox's performance: I ended up jettisoning it. Not quite ready for prime time.
However, I recently found out about other such programs, sapping not performance of my computer, but bandwidth. Remember when I mentioned about my aborted efforts to move to DSL? Well, my nephew Jeremy read that post, and IM'ed me this:
Well, I took his advice. While it was more accurate, it reported I had a connection not much better than a 56K modem. For $60 a month, that sucked. I called Comcast. First, they asked me to connect the cable modem directly to the PC: no gateway, no VOIP, no router. Ok, doubled the performance, but still not anywhere near the performance: about 900KBPS. Then they asked the question:
"Sir, do you have any other programs using your internet connection on right now? If so, can you close them?"
I shut them all down, and tried again. Suddenly, I was at 16MBPS! Holy...! I spent the rest of the evening adding each program back in, one by one, to determine the vampires. What did I find? FolderShare, which I blogged so effusively about, was sucking my connection dry. I immediately removed it. After reconnecting everything else, I was at a respectable 6MPBS. Still, I had a taste for the fast lane now, and there's no going back. The culprit seemed to be my gateway and AT&T's VOIP adaptor. Amazon got me a new wireless router/gateway for $50 (also allows me to finally upgrade to 802.11g instead of B, doubling my wireless speed), and a quick call to AT&T had them sending me a brand new Linksys VOIP adaptor to replace my aging Centillium one.
Occasionally, I can recover from my own errors. :-)
EPILOGUE: I called Comcast back, and mentioned that, 12 months ago, I got a great package deal from them. Now, my combined modem & cable bill had swelled to nearly $200. I said the magic words:
"I'm thinking of reducing my services."
The operator immediately asked me to hold. I waited, curious. About 90 seconds later, she came back with an offer: they would cut the cost of the cable modem by 50% for 12 months, and knock $30 off the cable TV service for 6 months. No commitment required, no hassle, no supervisor. Just with one call, of less than 5 minutes, I saved over $500 for the year.
A cable company that offers to reduce my price without hassle, and a phone company that sends me new upgraded equipment, just for asking. As a longtime hater of telcoms, I am floored. Perhaps there still is hope yet!
I'm the kinda guy who has LOTS of betas, bleeding edge programs, and other sundry things on his computer, looking for the next great thing. I'm also not necessarily one who associates reduced performance with those programs. Good example: the Tab Effect I recommended a few days ago: great idea, but really slows down Firefox's performance: I ended up jettisoning it. Not quite ready for prime time.However, I recently found out about other such programs, sapping not performance of my computer, but bandwidth. Remember when I mentioned about my aborted efforts to move to DSL? Well, my nephew Jeremy read that post, and IM'ed me this:
Hey Josh...you know, Cnet's speed test is horribly inaccurate. Go retest with Speakeasy's. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ I get (on average) 5.7 megs a second....6.1 or so on good nights. I'd stay with Comcast, I've only had a problem maybe 4-5 times in the 3-4 years we've had it, and the reviews on Yahoo and Verizon in your area suck.
Well, I took his advice. While it was more accurate, it reported I had a connection not much better than a 56K modem. For $60 a month, that sucked. I called Comcast. First, they asked me to connect the cable modem directly to the PC: no gateway, no VOIP, no router. Ok, doubled the performance, but still not anywhere near the performance: about 900KBPS. Then they asked the question:"Sir, do you have any other programs using your internet connection on right now? If so, can you close them?"
I shut them all down, and tried again. Suddenly, I was at 16MBPS! Holy...! I spent the rest of the evening adding each program back in, one by one, to determine the vampires. What did I find? FolderShare, which I blogged so effusively about, was sucking my connection dry. I immediately removed it. After reconnecting everything else, I was at a respectable 6MPBS. Still, I had a taste for the fast lane now, and there's no going back. The culprit seemed to be my gateway and AT&T's VOIP adaptor. Amazon got me a new wireless router/gateway for $50 (also allows me to finally upgrade to 802.11g instead of B, doubling my wireless speed), and a quick call to AT&T had them sending me a brand new Linksys VOIP adaptor to replace my aging Centillium one.
Occasionally, I can recover from my own errors. :-)
EPILOGUE: I called Comcast back, and mentioned that, 12 months ago, I got a great package deal from them. Now, my combined modem & cable bill had swelled to nearly $200. I said the magic words:
"I'm thinking of reducing my services."
The operator immediately asked me to hold. I waited, curious. About 90 seconds later, she came back with an offer: they would cut the cost of the cable modem by 50% for 12 months, and knock $30 off the cable TV service for 6 months. No commitment required, no hassle, no supervisor. Just with one call, of less than 5 minutes, I saved over $500 for the year.
A cable company that offers to reduce my price without hassle, and a phone company that sends me new upgraded equipment, just for asking. As a longtime hater of telcoms, I am floored. Perhaps there still is hope yet!
Friday, January 12, 2007
The Clash said it best
Should I stay or should I go now?
The quandary: I currently have Comcast for my broadband service; paying them about $60 a month. Speed, according to the CNet bandwidth measurement tool, is about 476.5 kbps. For my Phone service, I pay AT&T for their VOIP service about $30 a month: unlimited calls, great features.
My router is starting to fail, so I'll get a new one, but it made me wonder: were there other providers that could do the job for me? Lo and behold,DSL has finally made it's way to my neighborhood.
Looks like AT&T/Yahoo's system to determine if service is available at an address needs work. After a 45 minute chat online with a rep, she verified service is NOT available. Sigh. Read on for details for your research.
AT&T/Yahoo will give me DSL that is 6 Mbps for about $40; 3 Mbps for $25 a month. Roughly half the cost of cable, and almost 10x the speed. Plus, they'll sweeten the pot with a $75 prepaid VISA. Potentially, I could save even more if I combine with Cingular (which changes it's name to AT&T Monday). Downside? I have to put a phone line back in. Of course, they offer an "all you can eat" phone service for $40 a month, or I could just get a basic line for $10 and keep my VOIP.
Monthly total for broadband & phone today: $90
With AT&T:
1) $80 for 6 MBPS & Unlimited calling line
2) $70 for 6 MBPS & VOIP
3) $65 for 3 MBPS & Unlimited Calling
4) $55 for 3 MBPS & VOIP
If you'd like to benefit from my research, and see if this would work for you, I've put together a Google spreadsheet for you to use. Good luck!
The quandary: I currently have Comcast for my broadband service; paying them about $60 a month. Speed, according to the CNet bandwidth measurement tool, is about 476.5 kbps. For my Phone service, I pay AT&T for their VOIP service about $30 a month: unlimited calls, great features. My router is starting to fail, so I'll get a new one, but it made me wonder: were there other providers that could do the job for me? Lo and behold,
Looks like AT&T/Yahoo's system to determine if service is available at an address needs work. After a 45 minute chat online with a rep, she verified service is NOT available. Sigh. Read on for details for your research.
AT&T/Yahoo will give me DSL that is 6 Mbps for about $40; 3 Mbps for $25 a month. Roughly half the cost of cable, and almost 10x the speed. Plus, they'll sweeten the pot with a $75 prepaid VISA. Potentially, I could save even more if I combine with Cingular (which changes it's name to AT&T Monday). Downside? I have to put a phone line back in. Of course, they offer an "all you can eat" phone service for $40 a month, or I could just get a basic line for $10 and keep my VOIP.Monthly total for broadband & phone today: $90
With AT&T:
1) $80 for 6 MBPS & Unlimited calling line
2) $70 for 6 MBPS & VOIP
3) $65 for 3 MBPS & Unlimited Calling
4) $55 for 3 MBPS & VOIP
If you'd like to benefit from my research, and see if this would work for you, I've put together a Google spreadsheet for you to use. Good luck!
