Old Media: Commercials Still Matter

This MasterCard Commercial reminds me why Old Media is not dead.

I am:

• Male aged 18-35
• Have Digital Cable - (I made the switch already!)
• Have a DVR
• 90%+ of all TV I watch is DVR Recordings

Even though all the above are true. I still find myself talking to friends and family about TV commercials I have seen.

How can this be?

The answer is simple and may be hard for many to admit. Ready for it?

You & I are LAZY (Or at least easily distracted)

A typical TV viewing session occurs when I get home from work, check my DVR and choose a show. I have a short attention span so I will usually read a magazine or look at the internet during playback. The DVR will allow me to repeat things I miss due to my lack of focus. I have the remote on my lap, but I am not vigilant about fast forwarding through EVERY commercial. If something catches my eye, I will actually rewind the DVR to catch a commercial. I can't be the only consumer in America with this behaivor.

Tonight, I was watching an episode of Seinfeld (in real-time). I was at the computer and noticed Peyton Manning droning on about something. I rewound the DVR and watched the commercial. I was so interested in the commercial, I went to priceless.com to see more. (A couple years back you could have Peyton yell insults at your friend about their mini-van.) To complete the Old Media are not dead theme, I have embedded the commercial below. MasterCard was not saavy enough to allow users to grab the embed code on priceless.com, but adfreak.com has posted it on YouTube.

Tear Tips: Dead Cell Phone? Forgotten Phone #'s

In today's technology obsessed world, you probably don't devote too much time to memorizing phone numbers. Your cell phone has a handy directory that prevents you from committing even your friend's area codes to memory. This is all well and good until the day you are away from home with a dead cell phone. Perhaps your battery is dead. Maybe you broke your screen. Regardless of what happened, you need to make a phone call and realize you haven't committed your girlfriend's # to memory.

It will typically be much easier to find a working phone than it will to remember a number you probably have never committed to memory.

Solution: Print the number of a few key people in small font and tape that inside of the removable battery cover on your cell phone. (Sorry iPhone users, Steve Jobs doesn't want you to get out of a tight spot). You may also consider including your work # or cell # for someone to call if the phone is found. Admittedly, the likelyhood someone who "finds" your phone will go to the trouble of disassembling it to determine its owner may be small, but there is a chance. At least it would help you identify the phone if it is found.

Tear Tips: Easily Keep Change in Your Wallet

Tired of receiving $0.92 of change? Don't want to keep annoying change in your pocket?

Tear Tip:
Tape 2 dimes on a card in your wallet. You will never be without change again! A card that without a magnetic strip (Medical Insurance Card) works best. The clear tape can be messy after you remove a dime and then re-apply another. To avoid the sticky mess, clean the card before adding new coins, window cleaner should do the trick.

AutoIndustry 2009: It's Going to Be a Long Year

Nissan is using the test track at the Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Sutherland facility to park unsold inventory.

Ouch!

Photo from UK Gaurdian

Great Time Waster: Volvo FH16 700 Lorry

Brings back memories of B-School and the Orbitz golf games!

Hey Brother! Welcome Back Palm!

Michael Bluth, (Jason Bateman) from Arrested Development, made a surprise appearance today during Palm's CES keynote.

Palm appeared to rise from the ashes today with their take on the iPhone form factor with a slick, sliding keyboard. You may have heard a small wimper at 11:30AM PST when Windows Mobile Officially became irrelevant.

My Quick Take:
I am so glad I stuck it out with my tattered 700P for all these years. I wanted to jump headfirst into the walled garden of the iPhone, but Apple's arrogance prevented me.

The GREAT:

• Not APPLE!
  
• Gestures under the screen!- cool idea
  
• Form factor. Same weight as the iPhone + physical keyboard.
  
• Replaceable battery (I actually don't care that the iPhone's battery is not removable, but this is a plus for the Pre)
• Re-charge, Cable Free!
• DataViz Sponsorship=Documents to Go= NATIVE MS FILES on device
• Wi-Fi
  

Questions:

• Why no SD Card?
• 8GB? why not 32GB?
• 3MP Camera?
• What is the battery life?
• Track ball :(
  
• MobiTV sponsorship? Will SlingBox still work?
• Will current Palm aps work?
• Desktop Sync? So much emphasis on the cloud, will it still sync native files with my laptop? I NEED native files to work on when I am on a plane and outside Wi-Fi/Cell coverage.
  
• Push Email? Corporate Email Support?- Will Corp Email be left to WinMo? (see WinMo comment above)
• No Stylus- Handwriting Recognition seems to be a thing of the past with smart phones. I miss Grafitti I.
  

We will obviously learn much more about this device in the coming months. Release is for the first half of 2009, but it has yet to be certified at this point so anything sooner than June seems unlikely.