Check out the awesome email that found it's way into my inbox this morning... I definitely don't have a bad feeling about this :) Check out the first items of this amazing collection at the adidas store.
No more mac.com?
Please update your bookmarks to www.me.com
As of January 21st, 2010, www.mac.com will no longer redirect to www.me.com. Please be sure to update your bookmarks. This change will not affect any of your MobileMe services or published web pages.
via mac.com
I wanted to check my email online this morning and I was welcomed to mac.com by this message. As much as like "MobileMe" I do not like the idea of "me.com" or having a "@me.com" email address versus a "@mac.com" email address. Being a longtime Apple user and fan I enjoy having an email address that helps me identify with the brand.
Is Apple working on putting something else up on mac.com? Is this part of a major rebranding effort?
As Apple does not give out the "@mac.com" address anymore I can only hope that do not pal on getting rid of the "@mac.com" addresses in the future.
Blogs can help brands get started with social media
via 10e20.com
I've often thought about how Blogs fill in nicely as the bridge between a stale corporate website and social networking websites(Thanks for the info-graphic 10e20). Moreover, it helps a brand jump-start their online presence in the world of social media.
The simple creation of a blog in order to bridge the space between a site and a full-blown social media presence is often overlooked. I am often asked by overwhelmed clients what they should create first in this fast-moving online world where the groundswell is in full effect. My answer 9 out of 10 times is: A Blog.
A good blog is very powerful in the online world. Instead of simply adding social networking badges on a homepage saying “Follow us on Twitter” or “Find us on Facebook" a blog can help a brand successfully create social awareness for itself rather than just pointing website visitors to where the official social media account are.
According to 10e20, online social media users "are constantly looking for new and fresh content." I couldn't agree more - that is why my number one advice to clients is that 'content is king.' This mantra applies to all aspects of Interactive Marketing. Using SEO as an example: Having great content creates strong links to your site which in turn will increase your rankings in the Search Engines. A blog can create this great content for your brand. You may not always be able to change the contents of a corporate site, but you can almost always make new posts to a blog. A blog helps you reach users that are constantly on the search for fresh content. With ongoing, strong and effective content creation related to the brands business and sharing by the brand of the blog content into the social presence a brand can create a tremendously effective link between its social networking presences and its main company website.
Of course, there is always the question about how to create content for a blog. The answer will vary and depend very much on the brands industry and comfort level with the online world. However, most of the time it can start out by simply turning a newsletter into "bite-size" pieces on a blog. Getting on a fairly regular schedule and figuring out who will contribute are also very important considerations.
The most important thing is to remember that a brand can easily live and thrive in the world of the Groundswell & Social Media: It can all start with the creation of a blog.
adidas Originals - Star Wars Collection Launch Trailer
via youtube.com
The Adidas Original Star Wars Collection is finally here. Announced by this amazing video that makes my heart flutter as a Star Wars and Adidas fan.
Worst Online Display Ad Ever?
While searching Flickr for some cool images I couldn't help but notice the following ad on the right hand side. Seriously, what were they thinking?
The Ten Cars of the Decade
With the decade of the 00s concluding it's time to look back at what happened in the world of automotive. In general, the 00s is considered a decade that most would rather forget, but nevertheless there were some interesting happenings in the automotive industry. As a connoisseur of European cars, with a heavy emphasis on German, my focus was on European cars.
The last decade made it clear that it is not easy to make a classic car: It must be advanced, look nice in addition, surely also successful, but at least controversial - later generations have to be able to recall the cars. Just as the ones below.
MINI
It is too expensive and too small, but that's intentional: The new edition of the Mini from 2001, was intended as a lifestyle racer, and suddenly driving a small car was chic. Many other manufacturers adopted the idea of offering small-car buyers good design - the first serious attack on the Mini, will follow in 2010 when the Audi A1 comes to the market in Germany.
PORSCHE CAYENNE
Up until 2002 Porsche was a pure sports car manufacturer, but then the big boss Wendelin Wiedeking wanted more. He saw that he could exploit the boom for SUVs in the USA for Porsche, so he brought the new Cayenne to the market. The monstrous car brought in so much money for Porsche that they wanted to swallow the much larger VW group. In the climate change / global warming debate, Porsche didn't look so well with the Cayenne - so a small cylinder and a diesel engine was offered.
BMW 7 SERIES
In 2001 BMW had to endure scorn and ridicule during the presentation of its new flagship car. Reason was the plump design of the 7 Series with a trunk lid that looked like it was put on after the design was finished. Chief designer Chris Bangle, however, described his work as visionary. In fact, there are some ideas by Bangles used on the 7 Series that can now be found on vehicles of the competition. The same applies to the then criticized "iDrive" knob operation. The newly released 2009 7 Series is again more conservative, but many experts say the Bangle designed 7 Series revived BMW. Toward the end of the 20th Century, car design seemed "perfect", but also exhausted.
MERCEDES CLS
Ford had just taken over Jaguar when Mercedes said: The English competition is coming with a renewed vigor, we need to put up something against it. Out of this basic idea in 2004 the CLS was created - a car that has already secured its place in the history of design. The CLS is a four-door coupe, which is a oxymoron and contradiction for sure. Meanwhile, Audi, BMW, VW, Porsche and Aston Martin also use the sloping roof design in some models. Jaguar as well, naturally.
TATA NANO
It costs approx. $2,160 and is intended to be for the Indian market, what was the VW Beetle was in Germany: the start of mobility for all. In Europe, the announcement in 2008 already produced unrest among the established vehicle manufacturers. But before Tata comes to Europe or the United States it will take years. Until then the Dacia Logan at $10,000 will remain the cheapest car in Europe and the Chevy Aveo at $10,895 in the United States.
BUGATTI VEYRON
It would take a downpayment of almost 1,000 Tata Nano, if you want to buy a Bugatti Veyron. According to the will of the former VW chief Ferdinand Piëch in 2005, the 1001-horsepower supercar should be the tip of what is technically possible to achieve: 253 mph top speed, 16 cylinder, 2.5 seconds for zero to 60 mph, $1.55 million. Meanwhile, there is also a roadster for $2.40 million. However, the sales of the car are so low that it will never contribute to the profit of the VW Group.
AUDI A2
Being a car with a full Aluminum body made it very difficult for the Audi A2 from the beginning in 2000. Thus, the small car was only given a very short life span. Although in its most frugal version it got a whopping 78.4 MPG, it was so expensive that it was discontinued in 2005. Three years later, with the climate change debate in full swing, those responsible must have been upset about this decision.
TOYOTA PRIUS
It's true that it's career began in 1997 - but at that time, the first large-scale hybrid car in the world was still an ugly duckling and was widely ridiculed. It's breakthrough came in the second generation of the Prius from 2003, when Hollywood celebrities began to appear with the now trendy Prius. Meanwhile, more than one million Prius have been sold worldwide, and now the German manufacturers are following with hybrid models - however, only in the upper class.
HONDA FCX
Due to the withdrawal of BMW in the development of hydrogen cars, cars with fuel cells could suffer a setback: This power plant that generates electricity for the on-board electric motor, needs to refuel with hydrogen. Whether the fuel cell will ever be mass produced is open. If this happens, the Honda FCX will be a very special classic car - one for which there is no fuel.
TESLA ROADSTER
With the end of the decade, the end of the era of the combustion engine could be upon us. If the transition looks like a ride in the Tesla Roadster, no car fan could have anything against it. Since 2008, the sports car with its nearly 7,000 laptop batteries has moved the image of electric vehicles away from that of golf-carts and limitation-mobiles because it is not only clean but also chic and fast. A top speed of 125 mph, zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The extremely high price (just under $110,000) is the only real downer. But an up and coming classic does not necessarily have to be perfect. It is sufficient if it points the way to the future.
MINI
It is too expensive and too small, but that's intentional: The new edition of the Mini from 2001, was intended as a lifestyle racer, and suddenly driving a small car was chic. Many other manufacturers adopted the idea of offering small-car buyers good design - the first serious attack on the Mini, will follow in 2010 when the Audi A1 comes to the market in Germany.
PORSCHE CAYENNE
Up until 2002 Porsche was a pure sports car manufacturer, but then the big boss Wendelin Wiedeking wanted more. He saw that he could exploit the boom for SUVs in the USA for Porsche, so he brought the new Cayenne to the market. The monstrous car brought in so much money for Porsche that they wanted to swallow the much larger VW group. In the climate change / global warming debate, Porsche didn't look so well with the Cayenne - so a small cylinder and a diesel engine was offered.
BMW 7 SERIES
In 2001 BMW had to endure scorn and ridicule during the presentation of its new flagship car. Reason was the plump design of the 7 Series with a trunk lid that looked like it was put on after the design was finished. Chief designer Chris Bangle, however, described his work as visionary. In fact, there are some ideas by Bangles used on the 7 Series that can now be found on vehicles of the competition. The same applies to the then criticized "iDrive" knob operation. The newly released 2009 7 Series is again more conservative, but many experts say the Bangle designed 7 Series revived BMW. Toward the end of the 20th Century, car design seemed "perfect", but also exhausted.
MERCEDES CLS
Ford had just taken over Jaguar when Mercedes said: The English competition is coming with a renewed vigor, we need to put up something against it. Out of this basic idea in 2004 the CLS was created - a car that has already secured its place in the history of design. The CLS is a four-door coupe, which is a oxymoron and contradiction for sure. Meanwhile, Audi, BMW, VW, Porsche and Aston Martin also use the sloping roof design in some models. Jaguar as well, naturally.
TATA NANO
It costs approx. $2,160 and is intended to be for the Indian market, what was the VW Beetle was in Germany: the start of mobility for all. In Europe, the announcement in 2008 already produced unrest among the established vehicle manufacturers. But before Tata comes to Europe or the United States it will take years. Until then the Dacia Logan at $10,000 will remain the cheapest car in Europe and the Chevy Aveo at $10,895 in the United States.
BUGATTI VEYRON
It would take a downpayment of almost 1,000 Tata Nano, if you want to buy a Bugatti Veyron. According to the will of the former VW chief Ferdinand Piëch in 2005, the 1001-horsepower supercar should be the tip of what is technically possible to achieve: 253 mph top speed, 16 cylinder, 2.5 seconds for zero to 60 mph, $1.55 million. Meanwhile, there is also a roadster for $2.40 million. However, the sales of the car are so low that it will never contribute to the profit of the VW Group.
AUDI A2
Being a car with a full Aluminum body made it very difficult for the Audi A2 from the beginning in 2000. Thus, the small car was only given a very short life span. Although in its most frugal version it got a whopping 78.4 MPG, it was so expensive that it was discontinued in 2005. Three years later, with the climate change debate in full swing, those responsible must have been upset about this decision.
TOYOTA PRIUS
It's true that it's career began in 1997 - but at that time, the first large-scale hybrid car in the world was still an ugly duckling and was widely ridiculed. It's breakthrough came in the second generation of the Prius from 2003, when Hollywood celebrities began to appear with the now trendy Prius. Meanwhile, more than one million Prius have been sold worldwide, and now the German manufacturers are following with hybrid models - however, only in the upper class.
HONDA FCX
Due to the withdrawal of BMW in the development of hydrogen cars, cars with fuel cells could suffer a setback: This power plant that generates electricity for the on-board electric motor, needs to refuel with hydrogen. Whether the fuel cell will ever be mass produced is open. If this happens, the Honda FCX will be a very special classic car - one for which there is no fuel.
TESLA ROADSTER
With the end of the decade, the end of the era of the combustion engine could be upon us. If the transition looks like a ride in the Tesla Roadster, no car fan could have anything against it. Since 2008, the sports car with its nearly 7,000 laptop batteries has moved the image of electric vehicles away from that of golf-carts and limitation-mobiles because it is not only clean but also chic and fast. A top speed of 125 mph, zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. The extremely high price (just under $110,000) is the only real downer. But an up and coming classic does not necessarily have to be perfect. It is sufficient if it points the way to the future.
Source for data: wikipedia.org
The most priceless Ad in the world? Try Google's Homepage
Having an Ad on Google’s famously bare homepage is something money can’t buy (see above). Because Google never features any extra graphics, especially not ads, you can bet that with be the Ad with the highest click-through-rate anywhere.
Nexus One offers the cheapest unlimited service on a smartphone
Photo: Billshrink.com
Not only the Unlimited Plan – which includes unlimited Voice, Messaging, and data – but also the average plan is less expensive with T-Mobile than with AT&T. While AT&T charges $149.99 for unlimited, T-Mobile only charges $99.99. This equals to savings over 24 months over almost 50%! So, if price is the deciding factor when purchasing a phone the Nexus One should be your next phone.
However, we all know that Apple and AT&T have never wanted to compete based on price, but rather on product and service offerings. The question will know be whether Apple’s superior branding and AT&T’s arguably better service offering can hold off the Nexus One.
On a side note, Sprint’s Palm Pre does offer the cheapest cost of ownership among the four smartphones compared by Billshrink.com above. But let’s be honest that being sold exclusively by Sprint has taken the otherwise solid Palm Pre out of the running from the beginning.
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