I never thought I would say this... but I officially have Verizon envy.
Don't get me wrong - I love my Blackberry Curve, AT&T has great customer service and, in the bay area, the service is consistently good....
BUT - AT&T is ridiculously expensive. Compare the voice, data and sms packages to T-Mobile and other carriers and it's rather sickening. And while T-Mobile has great prices, their service in the bay area is spotty to say the least... leaving me with AT&T for the last four years. But now Verizon has unveiled an unlimited voiceplan for $99 / month and that makes me start to wonder what it would take to move my business over.
My three biggest priorities in choosing a carrier:
1) reliability of service
2) cost
3) flexibility (I despise two-year contracts and would pay a premium for freedom)
I'll wait to see if AT&T gets competitive... but have already started thinking about what a switch would entail.
I have been a TeleNav subscriber for close to a year now and have turned many friends on the service. I also have had Google Maps Mobile installed on my Blackberry since it launched. I find myself using them at different points and for different needs - and while I prefer TeleNav, I am actually canceling my subscription to the service... here's is a breakdown of the services and why:
- Google Maps is free; TeleNav is $9.99 / month
- Google Maps gives you directions from the inputted location; TeleNav gives complete directions based on your movements. Directions come with street view maps, are spoken clearly by the application and adjust based on traffic / routing
- Google Maps is a smaller application and consequently runs faster; TeleNav often requires system restarts and can take a while to load
- I have never had a problem with Google Maps GPS; Telenav's GPS seems to require a system restart 25% of the time (which kills the instant gratification of these features)
- While TeleNav routing is far superior, Google Maps' business search is much more effective
- Neither mapping system provides a GPS system for walking or biking - which kills me. They route for vehicles
At the end of the day, I prefer TeleNav's routing system enough that it warrants $9.99 / month... assuming you use it enough. While vacationing, I use TeleNav with regularity; but since moving to San Francisco, I've found myself walking and biking daily (while not using my car on a weekly basis)... as such, Google Maps is sufficient.
Perhaps TeleNav should release a lite version or a pay per usage. I would even reconsider if they offered non-vehicular routing and solved the "weak GPS" errors that occur more-and-more often.
And while Twitter wasn't cooperating with Gtalk for the last couple weeks, I found myself not using the site or service. But today, at 1:42pm pst, I got my first Twitter message over Gtalk and I knew it had to either be Calacanis or Scoble.... Jason won:
I love Amazon. I buy everything there - from toothpaste to food to electronics. They make buying easy.
Amazon's finding experience and cross-merchandising technology is so superior to the competition that they are mentioned in nearly every e-commerce discussion I've been a part of.
But last night I received something so bizarre that it made me wonder if Amazon's merchandising talents haven't yet made their way off-line.
I purchased 120 'Doggie Waste Bags' using my Amazon Prime account. The package arrived within 24 hours with a gift: an individual box of Kellogg's Smart Start Healthy Heart Cinnamon Raisin Cereal. Huh?! Cross-promoting cereal with pet poop bags is a strange, strange combination.... even if it's loaded with fiber.
2008 has already seen a flurry of massive deals on the web and the hardwood basketball courts. So which has had the more eventful and impactful month? Let's compare:
LA Lakers Acquire Paul GasolMicrosoft Acquires Danger
The Lakers have had a terrific 2007-2008 NBA season, but with Andrew Bynum's recent injury, lacked front-court muscle... so they made one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history: exchanging Kwame Brown and some other throw-ins for Paul Gasol. The Spurs were so upset (and scared) by the trade, that they cried foul to the league and the press (think Google's reaction to Microsoft / Yahoo). The Lakers improved themselves so drastically and so unexpectedly, that the West's top two teams reacted with their own blockbuster trades.
Microsoft has Apple-envy. Their mp3 and mobile efforts haven't been nearly as successful as the crew in Cupertino... and while the iPhone has already moved ahead of Windows Mobile, MS realizes that they have to improve their web presence if they are to win the mobile battle. Meanwhile, Yahoo is launching new mobile products and Google has their own vaunted mobile strategy launching shortly. Danger is the oft-forgotten design company that created the very-slick Sidekick - and if MS is to play with the big boys, Danger could be the right player.
Winner: I love the Microsoft acquisition, but the Lakers got away with the most lopsided trade in NBA history... Not only is Gasol is terrific, but he came at no cost.
Phoenix Suns Acquire ShaqMicrosoft Offers to Acquire Yahoo
Less than a week after their bitter rival acquired Gasol, the Suns made one of the NBA's largest and most surprising trades: swapping All Star Shawn Marion (and Marcus Banks) for Shaq. Shaq is one of the all-time NBA greats (he has four championship rings), but is on the decline (see Yahoo). Meanwhile, Phoenix is rolling with the West's second best record, but needed to rid themselves of Shawn Marion (selfish and egotistical) while adding a force down-low (Shaq). The Suns have been criticized for such a drastic move (see Microsoft) - but they realized that playoff basketball is far more physical and they believe that, with the right team, Shaq still has plenty of gas left (see Yahoo).
Microsoft is the perennial power who can't seem to win on the web (MS:Phoenix as Google:San Antonio)... so they took a gamble on an aging brand that, despite it's recent decline, is still one of the web's top destinations. It's a massive gamble - MS is effectively saying that, while neither they nor Yahoo can compete with Google directly, they are a worthy competitor if combined. Google clearly is scared (see Dallas Mavericks) and rushed to issue a public statement and woo Yahoo's search business.
Winner: Both moves have been remarkably criticized... but at the end of the day, Shaq's $20mm/yr salary comes off Phoenix's book in two years. If a MS / Yahoo merger is a disaster, that likely won't come off the books for ages.
Dallas Mavericks Move to Acquire Jason KiddGoogle Rumored to Acquire Bebo
The Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets agreed in principle to trade aging superstar Jason Kidd for budding star Jason Terry (and several salary dumps). The move was clearly reactionary (and perhaps rash) as their competition got much better in the matter of a few days. The Mavericks traded the future for the present - a risky proposition for web tycoon Mark Cuban. Meanwhile, the Nets did well in the trade as it affords them the ability to completely rehaul their team by dumping salaries and effectively buying future flexibility. **The trade is being held up because Devean George has refused to play in New Jersey
Google is rumored to be acquiring social network Bebo for $1B. If the Mavericks moved to acquire their own superstar as a response to moves by LA and Phoenix, Google supposed acquisition of Bebo would be a response to the massive success of Facebook (who has a deal with Microsoft) and the still-growing-strong MySpace (owned by NewsCorp). Google has Orkut - but Bebo is larger, sexier, and recently opened their own platform (which I love by the way).
Winner: Neither deal is complete, but I am not sold that Jason Kidd is a fit with the Mavericks. Meanwhile, Google has struggled to monetize MySpace and is releasing their Open Social platform... owning Bebo would enable them to improve monetization on social-networks and give Open Social a huge launching pad.
What I'm Loving:FriendFeed: Brilliantly simple and effective.
Bebo: started using it for Widgetbox purposes, but I have been very impressed by the quality of the site and their new open platform (which I actually prefer to Facebook's). I actually think that Bebo takes the best of Facebook and the best of MySpace - not too clean and not too dirt. Also - rumors just broke that Bebo was acquired for $1b)
iTunes Podcasts: Can't stand the interface (and I'll continue to complain to my Apple friends until it's updated)... but I am addicted to podcasts and rarely listen to music these days.
Notepad and WordPad: I find myself doing my writing and note-taking in notepad and wordpad. It's light-weight and simple... much the same reason I use GTalk. And the more I work with html files and ftp, the more troublesome MS Word becomes.
Amazon: If you know me well, you know I love Amazon (easily my favorite website). This past week I've bought: rechargable batteries, dog toys, dog food, cereal, razors and more on Amazon. They all arrived in 24 hours and cost less than buying them at Safeway.
What I'm Not Loving:
Google Analytics: Why can't I receive real-time updates? I'd be willing to pay for that... And why not at least timestamp the last update?!
Yelp: I thought it was just me, but other friends noted similar behaviors - I'm starting to sense that the quality of reviews is dropping rather significantly... troubling trend if true.
Netflix: Feels like it hasn't been updated in ages. The finding experience was once cutting edge but now utterly useless. Try finding upcoming titles within a specific genre (ie Blu Ray) - I dare you.
SideStep: Not a direct comment on SideStep because I love the UI / UE... but as more lower-cost airlines refuse to integreate with the aggregators (Jetblue, Southwest, etc), I find sites like SideStep less useful.
Elance: I love Elance - but I am not loving their new site design. Great example of a redesign that is so radically different that it shocks users accustomized to the old design. This may be a better site design, but it is so inconsistent that I find the site unusable!
This might not come as a surprise since networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are becoming popular, effective ways to make business introductions and even hires. But a couple posts on some of my favorite blogs demonstrate that web 2.0 hiring has become precisely that.
A few examples:
* Fred Wilson wrote a post saying "We are Looking for an Analyst" and is only accepting "links to your web presence"... fascinating. No resume. No email. No cover letter.
Fred and his firm are saying that your understanding of the web should be evident from your web activity - and that's all they need to know to get started. I would argue that's a great filter for the business they are in.
And if you look at the Union Square Ventures post, nearly 100 people have loaded up their web links (LinkedIn and blog urls are most prevalent). The most interesting submission was a candidate linking to a google search for his own name!
One question about this tactic though - those candidates have all made their interest public... which is problematic for their current jobs / employers and actually exposes their contact information to other companies (not bad for the candidate, but bad for Union Square right?)
* Josh Kopelman wrote a fascinating post about using Facebook Ads to connect with interested candidates for his various start-ups (updated study here). While the ads were more of a field study on Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook's advertising system - the responses indeed indicate that this was a successful endeavor.
By the way, if you've never advertised on Facebook, spend $20 to promote something off-Facebook - it's a fascinating experience compared to AdWords, Y! and MSN...
* Finally, I posted recently about beRecruited hiring bloggers through Craigslist, Kijiji, and LinkedIn... and how those compare to hiring work through sites like Elance. While my efforts are less savvy (or interesting) than Fred's or Josh's - they have been quite fruitful (albeit quite time consuming).
Exciting news for coffee and internet addicts like me:
Starbucks has decided to ditch T-Mobile for AT&T and offer two free hours of usage a day (an extra two hours costs $3.99). Brilliant move for a few reasons:
* I always believed that it was in Starbucks benefit to keep customers in the store
* This should increase sales of high priced, high margin foods (in addition to their coffees)
* An AT&T deal makes a lot more sense considering Starbuck's ties with Apple and iTunes
* The T-Mobile internet service package is lousy (slow, logs you out, never remember passwords, etc)
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today said the Yahoo! Board of Directors has carefully reviewed Microsoft's unsolicited proposal with Yahoo!'s management team and financial and legal advisors and has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of Yahoo! and our stockholders.
After careful evaluation, the Board believes that Microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo! including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments. The Board of Directors is continually evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders.
Goldman, Sachs & Co., Lehman Brothers and Moelis & Company are acting as financial advisors to Yahoo!. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is acting as legal advisor to Yahoo!, and Munger Tolles & Olson LLP is acting as counsel to the outside directors of Yahoo!. More from Yahoo.
And then from the Microsoft camp:
Microsoft VP Yusuf Mehdi: We are very committed to this combination. We have a whole set of plans and preparations ready to go to make it work. And we'd like to do that in a cooperative way with Yahoo. No question -- our commitment is clear with this one. (More at Valleywag)
