A Brand That Speaks For Itself

instead of talking about how great the 3g iphone is, highlighting the specs and talk about what everyone else is talking about, i would like to look at this from a marketer's perspective.

apple has simply created not just an iconic brand, but a lifestyle which everyone is after. the introduction of the macbook air, ipod and iphone are great examples of how apple has turned its products around to becoming must haves.

i am sure not how much apple spends on advertising, pr, online, etc., but i believe majority of publicity is self-generated by end-users / consumers who are in love with the brand. let me give you some examples of the buzz that has generated after steve jobs made the announcement of the 3g iphone at the apple's worldwide developers conference.

source: blogpulse

source: google trends

source: factiva (iphone mentions)

source: factiva (apple mentions)

there you have it. apple has done it again. for those that weren't able to wait for the 3g version and got the aftermarket 2g version, time to upgrade?

The Need For An Universal ID

i am starting to go crazy, trying to remember all my usernames and passwords for logging on to all the different social networks, forums, blogs, content sharing sites, etc.

why can't a blogspot blogger comment on a blog hosted on yahoo without having to register an yahoo account. why can't i use one login name and password for all powered by Discuz! forums. why in the world are we connected to 10 different social networks (FB, LinkedIn, twitter, etc., etc.) while our friends on each of these networks are the same anyways.

forgive me for not following the trend but i simply can't keep up. since web 2.0 keeps evolving and there is not one consistent platform that everyone chooses to use, can someone come up with a login application or ID management tool that can ease the pain?

Another reason why I don't have Facebook...

The Dangers of facebook

everyone has a facebook account, but not me. i totally agree with stefan hammond's rationale - "Most Web 2.0 social-networking tools fall under the "no time" category" - which is exactly why i am not on facebook.

Aside from the time factor, there is also the privacy-invasion issue and thrown-in-jail factor. although the last factor is rare, it can happen.

insights from computerworld article: http://www.cw.com.hk/article.php?type=article&id_article=831

Video Sharing VS Television

YouTube was named:
- TIME Magazine's "Invention of the Year" for 2006
- PC World Magazine's one of the "Top 10 Best Products of 2006"

A BBC Report found (2006):
- 43% of online video viewers said they watch less TV as a result of YouTube and similar sites, while 20% of those say they watch "a lot less"
- 75% of online video viewers watch more online video than they did a year ago
- 28% of 16-24 year-olds watch online video at least once a week

the question is: will online video sharing replace TV? the answer is no... because people have to extract content from TV in order to upload onto video sharing sites. i am sure you've all tried this before, downloading from BT when you miss an episode of sitcom or trying to dig up a classic scene from a movie. we are all guilty of it!

but why are more people resorting to online video sites for entertainment? simple, it's like video on demand. just find the content you want to watch, then click and play. remember when you had to rush home after work / school to catch you favourite show? i m sure you do... with online video sharing, you can almost find anything you want. and the best part is, you are in control. you get to watch what you want, when you want.

i am not trying to promote online video sharing, but i must admit, it's damn convenient and it serves the purpose. however, i am sure we would all wish for bigger screens and HD quality content.