Bill Watt’s Blog

I was going to write a longer post about this commercial I just saw for this 9/11 commemorative but a quick Google and here is a nice summary. I guess I’m just curious how things like this are legal to market the way they do. If you have to advertise that you’re “currency” isn’t associated with the mint or the government then maybe you’re crossing a line.

A couple things I do want to point out:

• This is currency issued in conjunction with Liberia? I guess they don’t have a cool domain to sell like .tv and pseudo-currency is the best they can do.
• The web form to order is asking for credit cards on an http page? I see they’re using an https post but I’m always teaching users to avoid security they can’t see / verify.

The BBB doesn’t have any confirmed details on National Collector’s Mint, the company selling the commemorative, but you can read what they do have in this BBB report.

I feel like asking Adam Nash to give me his opinion on this stuff… I bet he either would have a ton to say or that he would just say, “Don’t be stupid” and leave it at that.

So- Alice has to ask me to enable the Tivo preferences so she can record the Olympics. Huh? So I log in and apparently I have to change my privacy options to enable this. Apparently this is part of the “guru guide” tools.

On one hand I can see this from the business side… smart to use such a stunt event to encourage use of this feature. On the other I hate having to give up personal usage stats (even though I understand it allows for better targeting / recommendations). But ultimately I assume Tivo is logging everything and my privacy is a myth anyway.

Yesterday and most of this week were excellent examples of suckness but also plenty of good stuff happened and that the suckness was a good reminder that I have nothing but first world problems.

Case in point… yesterday was full of stress over an impending release and a bunch of dropped balls. Still… I was able to work from home, attended several conf calls, and still managed to squeeze in Korean BBQ for lunch where I burned myself on the pot while watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on my shiny new iPhone. Rough life, right?

So, at one point I was looking for a little humor and a sense that I’m not alone in this big world of Product Management pain. What did I do? Why, I googled “day in the life of a product manager” and came across more than a few gems. Check out this post from “The Cranky Product Manager” and you’ll see the kind of mood I was in.

The nice thing was how the day ended. Release issues (the most important ones anyway) are nearly resolved with a light at the end of the tunnel and I was able to go to Gary Dillabough’s going away party at eBay and see many of my favorite old time eBay folks.

Note for Hima and Ramya- I think I’m actually a hugger after all. Never fear- your protected status is still in place.

It was quite comforting in a way I really really needed yesterday to see good folks and wish Gary well. Two notes to Gary…

1. Thanks for telling the FAIM acquisition story. Even thought it hurts on some grand spiritual level for me to think about how close we were to being a Web 1.0 success story with your parting the number of people that even remember FAIM dropped to about what I can count on two hands and the number of execs who know it dropped to 2. I’m sure in 6 months they’ll rebuild the large merchant strategy and not even realize what they’ve missed out on.
2. Keep me in mind in your future projects. I’d happily clean your pool.

In early July I was sitting there watching TV with Alice and I have to tell you… I don’t think I’m watching live TV again. Good lord… as if the commercials weren’t painful enough the whole Bachelorette show is now one commercial mixed with little pregnant pauses and uncomfortable situations.

What do I want in a TV show (a short list anyway):

• fun or at least something with a story
• watch it when I want
• sometimes I want to take it with me (for the train or when I know I need to fill some time)

What don’t I want:

• dramas or silly reality like the Bachelorette (older Real World seasons were better than this last round in Hollywood)
• shows where commercials are 75% of the show content (pick any number of examples from Idol to any special episode of a normal show)
• awkward and manufactured setups that show the worst parts of the people featured
• Pseudo-celebrities manufactured involving vapid nouveau riche socialites who want their faces on TV (just look at the new Bravo show Date my Ex or Real Housewives of NYC (my previous post on a new show idea)

Ok… just a quick note to let the world know how vindicated I feel! Alice is on her “sabbatical” and every day I come home or time I call she is in the middle of using the AppleTV, the Roku. the xBox 360 to watch HD DVD’s, or using her iPod touch at the gym. I’ll continue to be excited about this right up to the day when she’s playing Warcraft.

OK… day 1 with the new toy is done and here is my review:

It rocks!

Setup was incredibly easy.  It really does take about 3 min to unpack and connect and another 3 min to enable including a firmware update. It is silent because it has no hard drive or fans or anything like that so I think Alice is going to love it too.

Now, when I first turned it on I was sitting at the end of the bed and was very close to the TV. It was a little rough given the 480 resolution and all the other things that are hooked up are at least 780 but generally 1080. I sat back, closed my eyes, reset my expectations, and when I opened my eyes it was all good. I am looking forward to the day they offer HD content but this will certainly do for now.

So- if you have a Netflix account with at least an $8 / month account then I will suggest that you consider spending the $99 and buying this toy. You won’t get all the movies ever but it is wonderful for those weekends when you want to watch something spur of the moment without all the crap from Comcast.

Man, I had no idea all the stuff Teri Garr has been through. She’s had MS for 20+ years and had a brain aneurysm where they had to drill a hole in her head and wrapped a coil around her brain. I’m watching her on Late Night with David Letterman and she’s amazing. Also- she’s promoting her new movie “Expired” where she plays twins.

I can’t begin to imagine the type of strength this woman has and I have a new found appreciation for her. Watch the Letterman clip then you tell me if you’d go on national TV after all she’s been through and how you’d compare to her.

The camera work was really choppy on American Idol. I guess it must always be but with the large number of stars and the top 12 there were many many opportunities to swing and zip and twirl around the cameras. I felt like I was watching the Blair Witch Project.

I am really hating this show. I think it is becoming even more of a joke as time goes on.

• half the singers aren’t even trying to sign during the little canned numbers (I liked Amanda but man, she’s mailing it in)
• the dancing is horrible (sorry Brooke, you stand out for needing to sit down)
• and we have the triple threat of Jason Castro

Ok… those are the performer issues. Here’s the rest:

• The overly long Love Guru promo? (funniest part was sitar hero)
•  David Cook’s guitar hero commercial a la Risky Business
• All the many many performers who sit there and play along (what was ZZ Top doing there?!?)

And my favorite American Idol moment is still the time Ace Young murdered the Queen song We Will Rock You by flipping it into an R&B number and Brian May said, “I can’t do that to my song.” Mariah and Dolly and all the rest go one and smile while their works get butchered but I respect Brian above all those folks. Granted, I understand the creative process has to have people interpret other people’s works… I just don’t think they need to sit there and take it.

Ok, this is becoming a live blogging event for me. Now they brought out the crazy little dude who sang the “brothers till the end of time” song. They also brought out a full on marching band with cheerleaders to play behind him. He couldn’t keep pace and they had to start the commercial music to get him off stage.

PS- Paula needs to watch the top of that dress. We were close to a Janet Jackson moment when she started to bust a move.

See this interview with Jupiter’s Bobby Tulsiani. I like that he ends with, “Give (users) what they want, when they want it and how they want.” He speaks the truth!