Passion2Publish

iPhone Roundup: iHype or The Real Thing?

Cue up the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey

Hmmm ..... Friday, the 29th .... I know something is happening today ... but what .... something big ....

Every morning show today had their anchors mugging with their new phones, showing off their photos, playing their music, interviewing the snaking lines of tired, huddled masses (no, not immigrants, iPhone stalkers -or- iPhonies as I call them, copyright Bud Caddell, 2007). This must be news...

It's the iPhone Roundup: You can't get your phone until at least 6pm today, but you can get some info now:

• Steven reviews it, sorta ...
• Meredith can't work it ...
• Apple's next commercial ...
• I'm here to get that uh.. iPhone.. 100 hours early.
• No cuts, fatty

Some are calling it hype, some are calling it the 'God-machine' -- but almost everyone agrees, this is one of the, if not THE, biggest product launch in history.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring for the iPhone -- don't kid yourself, Apple has failed before, product recalls and glitches are common practice in gadgetry and AT&T still has to live up to their end of the bargain, but today is the essence of the Apple brand -- excitement.

Don't be jealous, don't go out and buy a pair of jeans and a black turtleneck just yet... But keep your eyes open.

When was the last time your customers lined up around the block for you?

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Second Thoughts:

I hope Apple sends out line spies to hand select some brand evangelists. They need to kill the 'I'm a PC, I'm a Mac' commercials and run 'I am Apple' ads with videos of the line-sitters using their new phones for the first time ...

The Church points out that, at least anecdotally it seems that the lines are forming at Apple stores, even though you can buy the iPhone at AT&T stores as well ... That's brand loyalty I guess.

Ted Stevens' Series of Tubes, Illustrated

via iA

Here's your newest tool for competitive analysis, or your coolest slide in that next new biz presentation.

Click over, they have a fully clickable version to add as your new start page as well.

The New Look of Passion2Publish.com

As you can probably tell, I've redesigned Passion2Publish.com. For my loyal email and RSS subscribers, there are a few perks to seeing the site live.. you should click on through right now.

You've probably also noticed that things have been quiet here for the last week or so -- it's mostly because I have a large project going live sometime this week and clients come before my soapbox.

I want the redesign of the site to be more than a fresh coat of paint. I've stripped the site down and focused more on usability and readability. I've increased the font size, paid more attention to the use and style of links, and I've added an about page for you to learn more about me.

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury to 'go live' with the blog completely finished -- so you'll continue to see minor tweaks. This blog has so far been an excellent environment to test out different hypotheses in a real setting -- all with the aim to be more usable, more relevant, and more interesting to my readers.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads my blog, from the silent masses that subscribe to my content, to the casual passers by -- I appreciate your attention, however long I may hold it. Thank you.

As always, feel free to leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Marketers as Conversation Architects

Kudos to David Armano over at Logic+Emotion for his recent presentation.

My favorite slide, The Building blocks of a successful digital experience:

How are you doing?

David says that marketers must become conversation architects. You remember the conversation, don't you?

What would you do tomorrow?

Recently I gave a very quick presentation on SEO to a client of our firm -- and it got me thinking about 'how things used to be.'

It used to be that you could dole out a few tricks and boom, your website would jump ranks. It used to be about hiding a little text here, spamming a few keywords there, exchanging a few dozen links and your work was done. But then came Google, Matt Cutts, his spam team.. and their little dog too.

But that's when I got interested in the whole SEO thing, when it became more than 'tricks' and code, when it became about quality content, viral content and reaching your customers. Really, I'm just a lot better at marketing than I am at programming.

SEO is such a flimsy term. Search engine optimization, search engine marketing, we use those terms because we want to peer into the well that is the internet and receive instant gratification for our efforts, but gaming your search ranking can often distract you. Reaching customers, creating conversations, affecting conversions, these should be the objectives of any marketing effort online. SEO is just one weapon in your arsenal. So it's hard when someone asks me about SEO, for me to stay on topic. I think about how things used to be -- when you could beat the search engines in a couple days and then had to sit back and say, "but what about everything else?"

If you could beat Google in a day, what would you do tomorrow, where would your strategy turn next?

What would you do tomorrow if the fixation of today were solved?

UPDATED Movable Type: Customer Support with Sarcastic Quotes

When I was a little kid, my father would take me down once a month to his favorite little barber shop. Most times, we'd catch a movie first, something my mother wouldn't dare let me see (Sigourney Weaver battling leather skinned space aliens..) and then we'd walk over from the dollar cinema and get our hair cut. This place was definitively 'old-school', complete with the slow oscillating barber poll, the worn out, hydraulically challenged barber chairs, and the 90-year old half blind war veteran barber. I remember a dusty old sign up by the door that said, "Good faith, like a good name, the result of years of good service, is easily lost with a single act"..

After hearing just how good the guys over at Six Apart are, and how their product Movable Type is such an efficient and robust content management system, I persuaded a co-worker to go out and purchase a license... Now I'm sorry I did. Read his latest attempt at conversation with Movable Type's David Phillips.

UPDATE: Within hours of publishing this article, Anil Dash at Six Apart contacted me with his contact information and assured us he would help.... Well, that fell through. Anil never responded to a single email -- and we've decided to go with Text Pattern instead and will be seeking a refund from Movable Type.

Design Disconnect: No, It's Just Ugly

In a recent bit of news, London officially, errr graphically, threw their hat in the ring for the ZOR Olympics... The ZOR olympics being for worst logo design ever.

Sure, within hours, thousands of Britons had already begun signing a petition demanding a new logo, but London 2012's organising committee chairman Seb Coe had a clear, concise, direct message to those dissenters:

This is the vision at the very heart of our brand, It will define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympic spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world.

It is an invitation to take part and be involved.

We will host a Games where everyone is invited to join in because they are inspired by the Games to either take part in the many sports, cultural, educational and community events leading up to 2012 or they will be inspired to achieve personal goals."

I applaud Mr. Coe's sound reasoning. I mean, just how can you argue with ad-speak laden drivel?

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell added,

This is an iconic brand that sums up what London 2012 is all about - an inclusive, welcoming and diverse Games that involves the whole country.

Oh, now I get it. It's diverse, inclusive and welcoming -- like an abstract painting. You're not supposed to understand it. That's just the cogent message London needs to send. Go London!

Now I also know why they took our logo away. Obviously we violated the rules and let someone over the age of 9 design our logo:

Seth says, "If you are paying money to someone who talks like this, may I suggest you stop? And if you work for someone who talks like this, time to look for a new gig."

Can I get an Amen?

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Update (6/6) : Looks like bad design can hurt people. How glad are you that you aren't on this design team?