Paul Jacobson

Have you heard of Tiger Direct?  No, not Apple OS X Tiger, I’m talking about something different.  I’m referring to Tiger Direct, the computer hardware and software suppliers.  Confusing?  Well, they think it is and they filed suit for an injunction to block the launch of Apple’s OS X Tiger (probably a bit late) on the basis that Apple’s new OS has caused confusion and a drop in Tiger Direct’s Google page rank (or something like that).  According to Engadget -

So it looks it’s Apple’s turn to be on the receiving end of the lawsuit this time: Tiger Direct has slapped a lawsuit on the computer company over the name of its new operating system, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. They’re asking for a court injunction to halt the rollout of Apple’s new OS, scheduled for tomorrow. Tiger Direct feels their trademarked name is being diluted by Apple “overwhelming the computer world with a sea of Tiger references?? (we’re overwhelmed — are you?). At the heart of the issue are internet search results: Tiger Direct has been bumped from its usual spot in the top three in both Google and Yahoo for a search on “Tiger.?? They claim Apple’s use of the name is “causing confusion, mistake and deception among the general purchasing public.??

(via Engadget)

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In a world where a piece of software can entice your clients away from you, how do you survive?  Mark Merenda believes that the answer is excellent customer service:

The more I think about marketing legal or financial services, the more I become convinced that the ultimate marketing tool is great client service. And by that, I do not mean great legal work, or great financial plans or products.

The fact is, even if you are very, very good at what you do, that circumstance will not set you apart from, or above, your competitors. Most of them are pretty good, too. And moreover, your clients are not really capable of distinguishing between an A-plus or a C-plus attorney or financial advisor. They aren’t qualified.

But every one of your clients considers him- or herself to be an expert on customer service. They know when they are being ignored, or treated rudely. They know when someone doesn’t return a phone call, or keeps them waiting 20 minutes past the appointed time.  They understand when your office looks like a pigsty and your staff is condescending and your phone answering system is a nightmare.

…

But here’s the good news. Those same customer service experts, your clients and potential clients, know when they are being treated well. They know that a box of software will not serve them coffee, or send them a birthday card, or inquire about their grandchildren, or hold their hands when they cry.

Too true.  Good service can overcome many things and so far no software application is a substitute for that human touch.  Don’t forget that.

(via the [non]billable hour)

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Is the trackback dead?  Plasticbag.org certainly seems to think so:

I think it’s time we faced the fact that Trackback is dead. We should state up front - the aspirations behind Trackback were admirable. We should reassert that we understand that there is a very real need to find mechanisms to knit together the world of webloggers and to allow conversations across multiple weblogs to operate effectively. We must recognise that Trackback was one of the first and most important attempts to work in that area. But Nevertheless, we have to face the fact - Trackback is dead.

It has been killed by spam and by spammers - by the sheer horror of ping after ping pushing mother/son incest and bestiality links. It has been killed by the exploitation of human beings quite prepared to desecrate the work of tens of thousands of people in order that they should scrabble together a few coins. It has been killed by the experience of an inbox overwhelmed by the automated rape of our creative endeavours.

In a way it should have been predictable from the beginning - we should probably all have spotted that functionality that allows individuals to place links on other people’s sites could be exploited by spammers. Some people did spot these problems, but even they had no sense of the scale. Their responses were - at best - muted. But now I think we have to accept that the evidence is in. The situation is clear and it is not good. We’re engaged in an arms race with the worst kind of people, an arms race that has raged across other communications media and which we show no sign of winning. For me, the negative experience of dealing with trackbacks has long-since overwhelmed the benefits it brings. For these reasons, I’m turning off all incoming Trackbacks on plasticbag.org from this moment on.

I am not so sure.  Trackback serves a great purpose and introduced a way to interact with other blogs in a very dynamic and connected way.  Sure we have to contend with the plague of trackback spam but then again haven’t we had to contend with email spam for years now?  Saying trackback is dead because of spam is like saying email is dead because of email spam.  In time we will have the technology to slow trackback spam to acceptable levels (it will always be there).  Don’t count trackback out just yet.

(via Blogaholics)

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I have heard some really good music in the last few days.  The first is the latest album from Michael Buble.  This man has an amazing voice and his renditions of some oldies is superb.

I heard this next one at the Seattle Coffee Shop at Nelson Mandela Square and it really appeals to me with its heavy Celtic influence.  I love that stuff!

Finally, there is a recent album by Kosheen called Kokopelli.  It is a little pricey but it gets off to a really good start with songs like "Its all in my head".  Certainly put extra bounce in my step when I started my walk back to the office.

(sorry about the lousy alignment of the blatant advertising, I haven’t worked out how to align these things better)

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Well, one of the most well known bloggers on the Web has an article about him in Wikipedia.  Take a look at this entry for Robert Scoble:

Robert Scoble is a "technical evangelist" for Microsoft who mantains a
blog. Scoble has been
credited with presenting Microsoft in a more honest, humane light,
as well as being criticised for being a spin doctor. Readers of his blog will note
his reasonable style of writing, often accepting criticisms of his
employers.

Scoble is a big fan of RSS
technology and a firm believer in websites that use it.

Scoble is part of the Channel 9 MSDN Videos team, and produces mini-films for the
site.

There was some discussion about deleting this post from Wikipedia.  Ultimately the decision was to keep it on the basis that he "is well read enough to maintain at least a brief
article".

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