Wow. Still in holiday mode here at the Digital Tavern. Haven't been able to dig in like I'm used to. Just goes to show me how much time I ultimately spend putting some of my more substantial posts together. No worries. The ideas haven't stopped flowing. I'm still reading as much. But will have to dig in deeper after the season has passed.
I'm packed and ready to fly to NYC where I'll hook up with my dearest friend and college alum Tim. We're going to see David Auburn's "Proof" with Anne Heche on Broadway. Then up early the next moring for a "bonding" drive south to Washington DC and McLean where we'll spend New Years with my brother Jon, his wife and my two nieces.
DC is always so cold this time of year. But there's nothing like walking through the Roosevelt Memorial at dusk with the wind whipping and the cold biting your cheeks and nose. You get a feel for the soup lines. The omni present "TVA" water a cool reminder of big government politics at a time when it worked.
I'll be bloggin' in again via email. Still haven't received my new Powerbook G4 with the SuperDrive. I'm hoping when I'm back next week it'll be sitting on my doorstep.
Happy New Year!
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While we're on the topic of World War II, has anyone seen this movie? It's new from Roman Polanski, a director who fled the United States after being convicted for reportedly drugging a 13-year old child with pills and champagne and then raping her in a hot tub. After the conviction he settled in France where he's been living since the 1970's -- far from the Hollywood scene that made him a star. He's made many movies since. Polanski, who directed a number of classics including Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Tess, The Ninth Gate and others, draws on his childhood experience in the Jewish, Polish ghetto and Krakow death camp for the subject matter of his new film. I'm told it's amazing filmaking. Polanski, now 70 years old would likely be thrown in jail upon landing on US soil. Does he want to return to Los Angeles today? Does Hollywood care? Anyone?
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Doc's post about a UCSB professor's new book on why Japan surrended in World War II. Here's the article in the Santa Barbara local paper (may drop off in a few days). As a history buff I find this type of article, research, opinion and divergent view fascinating. Fantasy? Reality? Conspiracy? I'll look forward to reading the book in 2003.
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It's great to spend time with family over the holidays. Reflecting and savoring memories. Spending time that you always vow to do but somehow never seem to. It brings contentment. Peace. And simple pleasures. I was happy to find an iPod under the tree on Christmas morning. I was unable to justify buying one for myself. Such a cool gadget. Everyone needs one. Well. Maybe that's going a bit to far.
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Heads on pillows. Dreams of sugar plums and more. Enjoy your holiday. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and greetings to everyone else. Good night.
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I've spent a few days at our local shopping centre here in Newport Beach. It's called Fashion Island. Though I hear that those of a jaded persuasion refer to it as fascist island. It's not really an Island in the true sense. It is an outdoor marketplace mall that is circled by Newport Center Drive. A development of the omnipresent Irvine Company it is surrounded by some of the most prime business and residential real estate on the coast. A short football pass and you can hit The Four Seasons, the Hyatt Newporter and other high profile destinations. The shopping center is home to Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus, Macy's Women's Store, Nike Goddess, and a number of other upscale boutiques including one of my favorite, The Apple Store.
I'm not a shopper. Yet Fashion Island is palatable. For the most part it's outdoors. And its layout and landscape design is as appealing as a shopping mall can get. Complete with fountains, a Koi pond, cobblestone walkways and in the season, perhaps the largest Christmas tree on the west coast. Instead of your typical "Food Court", Fashion Island has Atrium Court. There is a mix of pseudo-fast food and slightly better including a sushi bar, wine bar, gourmet deli and your usual assortment of boutique eateries. THe gelato is especially delicious. Like Fashion Island itself, Atrium Court is circular in design. The various eateries dot the circumference and a large multi-tiered fountain is the center. Nice marble topped tables and chairs provide elegant seating around the fountain. Nearby, a grand piano and live pianist fill the three story Atrium with Carols and sounds of the season.
Each time I've found myself in Fashion Island, the timing has worked that I would enjoy a meal or snack in the Atrium. I try to always grab a seat close to the fountain. Inevitably children are drawn to this fountain. The daring ones climb up on the 3-foot stone wall and teeter precariously while simultaneously eliciting shouts of be careful or get down from there from the parents. The toddlers too short to get their hands wet make googling noises, screams and other non discernable sounds. Those not brave enough to jump on the wall, yet tall enough to get their hands and sleeves wet just smile glaringly back at their parents as they do so. I watch the kids impatiently finish their snack or meal and beg for the go ahead to get to the fountain. I'm amazed at the draw and excitement this fountains brings to these kids. Ages 1+ through 10 years or more. They all are drawn.
I sat their watching the joy, devilishness and boldness of these kids with respect to their fascination and inquiry with the fountain. I couldn't help but think that the fountain represents something new. Something different. And something exciting. It's the youthful exuberance. The raw curiosity. And the infinite desire to sense - touch, feel, smell - that drives these kids to the fountain. The parents? Woofing down tacos, sandwiches, slices of pizza simply monitor the activities of their offspring while satiating their appetites. I truly believe that discovery and the reeling of the senses and the unending curiosity is the key to youth. As people age their senses are numbed and even locked away. I think that if we all take the time to breathe, catch an eyeful and use our olfactory sense more often and more cognizantly we may find the magic in that fountain too. And we may find the secret to youth -- regardless what our bodies try to tell us.
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I read an interview with one of the editors of Time Magazine several weeks ago. They discussed the Person of the Year. In the interview the editor noted that their first choice was Colleen Rowley, the FBI agent who uncovered the crucial memo that led to uncovering the agency's incompetence with regard to identifying terrorist threats. But the editor explained that the problem with Colleen is that most of Time's readers wouldn't know who she was. I thought that was a sad statement regarding the "literacy" of the US news magazine reading population. Can't remember where I read the interview or the editor's name, but the alternative might have been George W. I'm glad to learn that Time solved their own perceived problem with an outstanding solution. Dave Winer and Joi point me to Time's person of the year: The Whistleblowers. By grouping Colleen with WorldCom and Enron whistleblowers Sherron Watkins and Cynthia Cooper it makes heroes out of these three women whose reward(s) certainly weighed more than the risk of coming forward. Most important, they've made it easier for people to come forward when something just doesn't taste right in business and government. Accordingly, Time makes what the did highly visible and fabulously relevant. Bravo.
Blogs and Bloggers in the news again. This time Jennifer Balderama writing in the Washington Postdiscusses the delicate issue of free speech as it relates to publishing rants, raves, musings and just about anything else in your personal blog. When describing "What is a Blog", many refer to it as a journal or diary. And for the most part, this is true. So when does what you write in your diary become subject to the same laws and professional decorum of "professional" journalists?
[...] many people publish as if they were untouchable, assuming that because what they write appears in a virtual world, it won't come back to burn them in the "real" world. Many overlook the fact that their rants can potentially reach millions of people when posted on the Internet [...]
If you've spent anytime reading the thousands of personal blogs (these have been updated recently) you'll find for the most part they are harmless. Some are interesting. Others will bore the hell out of you. But sometimes on the surface and other times buried in the archives many of these blogs contain candid, off-the-cuff or simply brutally honest (and unfortunately sometimes disparaging) remarks.
[...] late last year, John Stanforth posted to his personal Web site a reminiscence about software he had developed for internal use by a former employer. It was a minor project, he said, one he never thought would warrant any secrecy.
So he was bewildered when, about two months later, he received a cease-and-desist letter in an e-mail from his old company. It said that by mentioning the project, he had violated the nondisclosure agreement he signed when he joined the firm in June 1997 [...]
Let's say after work you go out for cocktails with friends and inevitably the conversation turns to work. Perhaps complaints fly around the table about human resources. Others may complain about company policy. Problems with marketing. And the updated price list and new products. Still others may gossip about the hot new guy or girl in accounting. Fairly common. Normal. And for the most part private and personal expression. Some may write these things in an analog journal. But the minute these things appear in a blog, the rules likely change.
[...] the same law that relates to publishing in the offline world, generally speaking, applies to material posted publicly on a Web log, legal and human resources experts said. Posting information or opinions on the Internet is not much different from publishing in a newspaper, and if the information is defamatory, compromises trade secrets, or violates copyright or trademark regulations, the publisher could face legal claims and monetary damages [...]
A few weeks ago my musician mentor and ex-creative director Jim Young pointed to a blog he found to be creative and interesting. As I dug through Dooce, I learned that the author of this blog was fired as a result of writings regarding her workplace she posted to her blog. Perhaps most alarming in this case is the fact that her blog is "anonymous". Unlike mine, Rebecca's, Ken's, John's or most of the bloggers in my blogroll, you'd be hard pressed to uncover the identity in Dooce's blog. The company name wasn't mentioned. And no names were used. Yet she was fired. Perhaps a labor attorney would have a field day here, Dooce decided watch the water under the bridge. She obviously wasn't happy there anyway.
I'm not sure that bloggers understand or are aware of potential consequence if they step too far over the line. Many may not even know the line exists. And many hide behind the very thin veil a weblog may appear to offer.
[...] "The Internet creates a veil of separation between you and other people," said Gregory Alan Rutchik, managing partner at the Arts and Technology Group, a San Francisco firm specializing in copyright and publishing law. "Don't be misled by the fact that you're sitting in a room, behind a locked door, at your computer. There's ways to find out who you are." [...]
Yet common sense dictates that while our constitution provides us certain protection of free speech, it's important to understand that blogs are publications. That means public. And that means watch what you write.
[...] Authors generally are obligated to publish as facts only what they believe to be true. But stating opinions can be tricky, especially when those views relate to workplace issues, said Bret Fausett, a Los Angeles-based lawyer [...]
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Just in time for Christmas. Salon publishes it's first "how to" article. Well. The first I've seen as a guide for men looking to buy lingerie for their wife, girlfriend, lover or whoever. Perfect for the last minute shopping inspiration. Its most sharply pointed advice? Avoid Victoria's Secret.
[...regarding quality of VS garments...] Do you want to fool around feeling as if you're locked in place? Now take a look at the lace trimmings on the bras and panties. Feel how rough it is. Remember, this is going to be right next to her most sensitive areas. How turned on would you be with a strip of sandpaper in your shorts? [...]
Kinda like buying condoms when I was in high-school, buying lingerie is a love-hate relationship for me. It's certainly one of the most intimate and exciting gifts to give, but it takes a lot of nerve to move from shy to feeling comfortable talking about the features and benefits. Charles Taylor's article is fun, light and takes serious stabs at Victoria Secret. If nothing else, read it before you do the most fun part of your shopping late Tuesday.
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BlogLite for the past few days. Been busy with many events, tasks and celebrations of the season. Some interesting stuff I've bookmarked. When I have more than a few moments I'll post some interesting observations and recollections. Stay tuned.
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Apple released a free update to its Jaguar OS X system software today. This updates puts the current version at 10.2.3. Run Software Update from your System Preferences to automatically install and update your Mac.
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Using your PC to download and listen to MP3s? Glad I have a Mac. I wouldn't want to get one of these. Nasty stuff. I wonder when the conspiracy theorists call foul play at the DMCA promoters. Then again, this is not far off what could happen if copyright legislation is passed.
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George Siemens does a nice overview of Art of Blogging (Overview, Definitions Uses and Implications) Part I, and (Getting Started, "How To", Tools, Resources) Part II. Check out his eLearning site and his eLearnSpace blog. If you're even considering blogging then this is a great resource (lots of links) and quick read. [first seen on Lessig]
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I've had a bit of an epiphany. And maybe I'm behind other OS X users on this one. But wow. What a discovery. It's called a newsreader or a new aggregator. Last night I downloaded a simple little freeware program for Mac OS X called NetNewsWire Lite published by Ranchero Software. It reads RSS feeds from any compatible blog, news source or website. This is way beyond the old days of usenet newsreaders. This grabs headlines, gives either snippets or full stories pending the feed of the news site or blog. And while I'm sure there are plenty of alternatives. I haven't tried anything but the news aggregator in Radio, which is clumsy and slow at best. Wow. This transforms reading news on the internet from laborious to enjoyable. If you've got Mac OS X download it now.
later--> update: for my windows masochist readers and subscribers this is a PC-based product that essentially offers similar usability for easy access to news, blogs and sites. It's also free and you can download it here. Unlike NetNewsWire Lite which is a cocoa app for Mac OS X (this app rocks) Amphetadesk uses your browser as the interface.
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I've been sporadically following Dervala Hanley's escapades through Southeast Asia since Lizpointed me to her blog a couple weeks ago. I was sad to hear of her motorbike accident where she broke her hand in three places. But I'm addicted to her great story telling, the occasional political jab and colorful word pictures she paints of a very beautiful part of the world. Today I learned she's in Cambodia and still having some problems with that hand. But the amazing feat here is Dervala keeps on blogging -- with one hand!
Reading Dervala instills a sense of longing for travel in my soul. I've trekked, motorbiked, hiked, dove and climbed my way throughout the rice paddies, volcanoes, coral reefs and jungles of the Indonesian archipelago on two lengthy excursions. The terrorist bombing of the Sari Club in Bali in October hit me extra hard. Nearly 200 dead. And while it pained me to find a Hard Rock Cafe in Kuta Beach on my last visit; the magic of Bali hadn't yet been spoiled. This bombing marked the end of a certain innocence for Bali and the travelers who seek the contentment this innocense offers. But I will go back.
My curiosity and wanton for travel is peaked by Cambodia and Vietnam. Southeast Asia Travel Bug v.3.0. Might be time to invest time.
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Then again, what's "ready for the holidays" really mean? To be in the spirit doesn't necessarily mean you have to meet your own or others' expectations. It means wearing a smile. And maybe a Santa hat or something equally festive. What are you supposed to do? While last weekend I got up on the roof of my house and strung lights, This weekend I wasn't nearly as productive -- in terms of "getting ready". And my blog shows it, for example. That's not to say I didn't enjoy myself. I had a great nap on Saturday. Friday night went to a great annual Christmas dinner. This year at Heather & Dougs, complete with the best damn clam chowder anywhere. Saturday night Teri & Chuck's always amazing hospitality with home cooked prime rib, amazing wine, good friends and a fun secret santa gift exchange.
still no xmas tree
gift & card lists not organized
no xmas cards -- should do e-cards this year maybe?
haven't shopped online or offline
no xmas decorations in the house
nothing green or red to wear (is this really necessary)
haven't brewed a cup of Starbucks Christmas blend
stockings are not hung by the fireplace with care
still haven't edited photos and movies from last years holidays
holiday CDs haven't been loaded into the CD "jukebox"
I'm thinking this next week is going to start to feel a lot like Christmas.
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So I planned to blog about the penetration of DVDs in consumer households (29% according to CEA), and through the course of my research I came across some eye-opening statistics(albeit from May of this year) regarding the growth of this product category and the life it has injected into the consumer electronics market. The "numbers" were published in Business 2.0 in May 2002.
As I reviewed the archives of this issue I came across another James Wolcott's story "Blog Nation". Now perhaps this article had already streamed its way through the blogging community earlier this year, but I hadn't been exposed to it. The article provides interesting commentary and includes an index to blogs and blog related stories and what it considers a list of notable bloggers.
Suddenly, I found myself digging and dredging up a whole new world of blog and blogging commentary. Funny thing is that this Business 2.0 article has a May 2002 publication date which is the month I posted my first blog entry. So by some simple twist of fate my observations on the opportunities provided by DVD player sales growth led me to the growth of Blogs. Both are approximately 7 years old. And both are growing immensely in popularity. But that's where my claims of similarities between blogs and DVDs will end (for now). Yet, I think it's worthwhile to visit (or if you did before, revisit) some blog commentary.
[...] Shine on, you crazy bloggers! Someday the rest of us will hold our manhoods cheap that we did not blog with you this day. But as long as courage lives and liberty endures, every American will be proud to have you out there, blogging for an audience of none. [...]
[...] As for the substance of the blogger phenomenon, I think it's interesting, but less revolutionary than its boosters claim. The good ones are good because the people behind them are good. The bad ones are awful and not worth the free ones and zeroes they're printed with. And even the good ones can be way too inside egocentric [...]
Both of these articles are laden with enough links to take you through the holidays without taking your eyes off the screen. To be sure, these articles examine blogs as political or media punditry -- and the pros and cons of such as credible or worthy vehicles. Browse through them they are worth a quick skim and jumping to a link or two.
But Wolcott's begs questions about the evolution of blogs beyond news, op-ed, politics and activism:
More sorely missing -- to my taste, anyway -- are blogs dedicated to cultural pursuits written with the same enthusiastic, hobbyhorse zeal as the breaking-news blogs. The arts have been so marginalized in magazines and newspapers -- even the Sunday Arts and Leisure section of the New York Times has been instructed to go more "pop" -- that such blogs may become the only way obsessives can reassure themselves that they're not alone in the TV universe. Critics as wildly varied as rock-writer legend Lester Bangs and movie reviewer Pauline Kael didn't find their voices at prestige outlets: Bangs pounded out pieces at Kerouac speed for cheesy rock mags; Kael did program notes for a movie theater she ran. This generation's Bangs or Kael might begin as a blogger, creating a fan following and reader allegiance through direct access.
Point well taken. Blogging is for the bloggers voice. And Blogs are for the passionate -- whatever that passion may be.
Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot. -- D.H. Lawrence
So, do you have a DVD player yet? Blog?
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Danny Ricci has set up a site the help PC users to "Switch" to Macintosh. Apple's ad campaign has been successfully in creating a new category of Mac users: switchers. This is the first time I've seen a non-Apple sponsored communication designed to help Switchers make the transition.
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Uh oh. Another birthday. Extend your wUh oh. Another birthday. Extend your wishes to some of the others who share my birthday:
Frank Sinatra
Edward G. Robinson
Connie Francis
Bob Barker
Cathy Rigby
Jesse Owens
Ed Koch
Dione Warwick
Grover Washington, Jr.
Dicky Betts
Neil Peart
Becky Sunshine (Miss Nude California in 1993 aka Rebekah Jayne Hunter)
English playwright John Osborne and many more
Interesting note about John Osborne, I just watched Look Back in Anger the 1959 film starring Richard Burton. This film is based upon the award-winning play by Osborne. I thought that Burton's performance, as well as the entire cast, was riveting and compelling. Like many films based on theatrical plays relied soley on the story and the acting. Something we don't see enough of in popular film today.
On this day of history:
1791 Bank of the US opens
1792 In Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven (21) receives 1st lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn
1800 Washington DC established as capital of US
1822 México officially recognized as an independent nation by US
1878 Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing "St Louis Dispatch"
1946 one of the strongest P&G brands was introduced: Tide.
1949 American League votes 7-1 rejecting legalizing the spitball
1951 Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement
1953 Chuck Yeager reaches Mach 2.43 in Bell X-1A rocket plane
1957 Jerry Lee Lewis weds his cousin Myra Gale Brown, 13, while still married to his 1st wife, Jane Mitcham
1959 UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space is established
1966 US Supreme Courts votes 4-3 allowing Braves to move to Atlanta
1980 US's copyright law amended to include computer programs
Gotta go. More later.
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Thanks to Bryce for clarifying comments on my earlier post how the Columbia House ad appears at the top of Blogdex. Apparently, there are a number of weblogs hosted at Tripod and this ad appears on these sites. The unfortunate side effect of text advertising, he writes:
There's no manipulation in this
instance, what happened is a natural side-effect of text advertisements.
In a healthier advertising climate it likely would have escaped notice
-- Tripod would be serving a variety of text ads instead of just one.
He also suggested I look at the Googlebomb approach to search engine (google) ranking manipulation.
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Imagine if you could charge each spammer for violating your email box or interuppting your dinner. An IBM researcher proposes exactly this. Free market baby. Something like this needs to happen. Thanks to John Robb for the pointer.
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Google engineers as well as independent developers have done some interesting things with the Google search technology API. Others, like Dave Sifry find that Google's usual two-day lag time for news and current item indexing (like blogs, for example) is just two long. Dave built some amazing technology using RSS. If you don't know what RSS is, don't worry. This isn't meant to be a techno-geek post. Simply, think of RSS as a broadcasting system that websites can use to send out signals. These signals can be picked up by newsreaders, news aggregators, websites, blogs and more.
The blogging world is excited about RSS. It's adaptation and acceptance is growing dramatically. Sifry's Technorati websites take these RSS signals (streams) and can decipher and deliver a bunch of cool data. Doc pointed me to Sifry's latest implementation "The 100 most interesting blogs". And on this page you'll see that Sifry is pulling in Hot News from MIT's experimental site "BlogDex".
But some marketers and unfortunately the type that propogate from the spamosphere of web marketing have figured out (it appears) how to manipulate and undermine the technology. Fancy marketing? I think not. Case in point comes from the BlogDex and Technorati sites. Check out the number one ranked news. News it is not. It's simply another form of Spam. Columbia House and/or its marketer is the culprit here and has figured out how to send its direct marketing offer (looking for 4 DVDs for only 49 cents?) through RSS and somehow getting it ranked as a hot news item on BlogDex. In turn, it shows up on Sifry's Technorati -- and who knows where else.
This is a problem. And this is, in my opinion, abuse. Imagine what'll happen once the adult sites, herbal Viagra sellers, mortgage lenders and poor Nigerian businesses looking for US bank accounts get hold of this slick technology. It could curb efforts like Sifry's and others to find, experiment and use technologies, API's and more to innovative and exciting web applications like Technorati. This also jeapordizes the "free" or otherwise low cost applications that make the web community so enticing and innovative.[click on thumbnail images for larger full frame images]
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I've been following the massive amount of blogging and trackbacking going on at SuperNova. Joi Ito is there. So is Doc. As I am, Halley and Liz are closely monitoring the blogging from the comfort of our own decentralized blogospace. In retrospect, I wish I'd gone. So many exciting, passionate and intelligent people -- most of them bloggers. You can check out the group Weblog here. The brainchild of Keven Werbach, SuperNova explores the inevitable decentralization of business, lifestyle and information.
What excites me is to see these smart people from disparate groups and organizations experimenting, exploring and leveraging new and even forgotten technologies. The result is the genesis of a community of collaborators who ultimately add value to the function and implementation of these technologies. In effect, this community acts as a virtual and decentralized think tank. Then sub communities are splintered off to explore and focus on applications of these technologies or processes. The way I figure this is also why SuperNova is a great name for the event. A star that explodes is both an end and a beginning. The ideas exploding dove tail into smaller, yet growing groups where ideas are nurtured, improved upon and ultimately utilized by business, education, other organizations and government.
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Thanks to my brother Jonathan for pointing me to this exclusive story on Salon.com. If you didn't have a chance to read my earlier blog on the fall of McDonald's, take a moment and do it now.
Michelle Goldberg's excellent expose(full story requires subscription and registration) on the state of McDonald's internationally fits in nicely to the state of McDonald's fiscally and my observations of McDonald's marketing and positioning blunders here and abroad.
But one comment I made in my earlier post shines light on what Goldberg finds to be a growing concern:
Perhaps it's simply the fact that nobody on the team is passionate about resurrecting an icon of American consumerism. At one time perhaps more than half the world's association of America was McDonald's.
If half the world is comprised of fundamental Muslim extremists and anti-American (globalization) terrorists, then Goldberg has a point. The arches (need I say twin arches) of McDonald's represent America. For any of us who've traveled extensively in the more rural corners of the world, I'm sure you can sympathize with the stomach cringing I experience when I find a McDonald's in what I thought was a sacred spot. Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyd front man) even espouses it in his song It's A Miracle from
Amused to Death.
Miraculous you call it babe,
you ain't seen nothing yet
They've got Pepsi in the Andes,
they've got McDonald's in Tibet
Yosemite's been turned into a golf course for the Japs
And the Dead Sea is alive with rap
According to Goldberg, last Thursday "a bomb tore through a McDonald's in Makassar, in eastern Indonesia, killing at least three." And this isn't the first incident of American backlash targeted at the icon of America and its obsessive consumerism.
11/20/02 - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - McDonald's is torched
Since 1990, franchises have been bombed or burned in France, Belgium, Mexico, London, Chile, Serbia, Columbia, South Africa, Turkey and Greece.
And an explosion in Bombay McDonald's yesterday is attributed to HVAC issues. True or false?
What is it about McDonald's, once the darling success story of America, which prompts attacks like these? And it's not just fanaticism from international extremists, the attack domestically is less violent but equally detrimental.
[...] the Golden Arches have become a Rorschach test of domestic and international discontent, mirroring anxieties at home and abroad. In United States, the company is blamed for the obesity epidemic, today's hot-button medical panic. McDonald's faces two separate lawsuits from customers claiming the food made them fat. One was filed by 56-year-old 270-pound Caesar Barber, the other by 19-year-old 270-pound Jazlyn Bradley and 14-year-old 170-pound Ashley Pelman. In Europe, McDonald's symbolizes a gauche, encroaching hyperpower and the decline of national Epicureanism. To pro-Palestinian activists, McDonald's helps keep Zionist expansion alive by investing in Israel. And to terrorists, it offers a way to strike at the heart of the American global economy [...]
My blog post in November was prompted by the fact McDonald's public statements on how it is addressing lackluster earnings, falling stock price and public discontent. And as Goldberg notes, an important key to McDonald's continued success is its ability to expand outside an already saturated fast-food market (I'd prefer to call it wasteland) in the United States. But since 9/11, anti-American backlash makes it difficult for American companies abroad to do business as usual.
[...]"In many parts of the world if people can't reach the embassy, there's always a McDonald's," says James L. Watson, a Harvard professor of anthropology who studies McDonald's, particularly its function as a "worldwide political target."
Fast-food bombings began after the Cold War, when opposition political groups -- whether it was Chilean splinter group FPMR/D or the Greek Fighting Guerrilla Formation -- started to focus more on the sources of "cultural power," Watson says: "to questions of cultural imperialism as opposed to rather old-fashioned forms of military imperialism." [...]
Perhaps the most fascinating discovery I made from the Goldberg article came from the awareness that Harvard University has on staff a professor of Anthropology who's dedicated to studying McDonald's with an emphasis on its role as a political target. The professor, James L. Watson, also authored
Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia.
[...] Fast-food bombings began after the Cold War, when opposition political groups -- whether it was Chilean splinter group FPMR/D or the Greek Fighting Guerrilla Formation -- started to focus more on the sources of "cultural power," Watson says: "to questions of cultural imperialism as opposed to rather old-fashioned forms of military imperialism." [...]
I'm not sure if Watson is subscribing to the concept that survival necessitates the existence of enemies - real or not -- or whether he's trying to grasp for answers to questions that defy translation and understanding across cultural boundaries. But the attack of globalization certainly has been more visible and existed before the attacks on the symbols of American power on September 11, 2001.
[...] As dissidents have become more sophisticated about the mechanics of globalization -- its effects on local agriculture, health, mealtime rituals, domestic economies and cultural homogeneity -- reasons to hate McDonald's have multiplied, so that right now opposition to the chain is coming from several different, occasionally overlapping, directions. [...]
In many ways it all comes back to the high priestess of marketing: branding. Icons so prevalent and strong as McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Marlboro and others have transcended traditional brand associations such as quality, consistency, freedom and more. Outside our fair country, these brands have become associated with America. Like it or not. They represent our capitalistic and consumer-focused society. And it was the fear, distrust and hatred of capitalism that fueled a collective society where communism (believers fought) should prevail worldwide. Sadly, these same reasons contribute to the rationale Muslim extremists use to instigate anti-American sentiment among its rank and file. This time though, it's in the name of Allah, rather than "the people".
[...] But in the Middle East, it's Zionism, not turbo capitalism, that has people enraged. There, McDonald's is part of a much larger boycott of American companies -- including Starbucks and Coca-Cola -- that operate in, or support, Israel. As the British Guardian reported in November, "During the past year business at western fast food and drinks firms has dropped by 40 percent and trade in American branded goods has shrunk by a quarter" in the Islamic world. [...]
Keep in mind, many of the McDonald's and holders of other American brand franchises are owned and operated by natives and locals. And many relentlessly try to secede from the brand roots through classic advertising and PR. But these efforts are fruitless at best.
[...] in countries where there have been bombings, the restaurants have taken out ads to say that the franchises are owned and staffed by local people. Several years ago, McDonald's in France ran an ad using a corpulent cowboy to mock America while stressing that its food was made in France with French ingredients. Earlier this year, McDonald's France attempted to respond to concerns that it was bringing American-style obesity to sleek French children by taking out ads warning parents not to take their kids to the restaurant more than once a week [...]
I speak often on the effectiveness of a brand strategy and the importance of committing to a single-minded business and communications focus. I'm passionate about this. Over the past year, I've spent a portion of my discussions around the problems of branding and its subsequent backlash -- not only globally, but domestically, too.
Have you heard the story about the high-school student who was expelled from school for wearing a shirt bearing the Pepsi logo? And no, this wasn't in Iran or Iraq. This is Atlanta. The student wore the shirt on the school's official "Coke Day", or something similar. Hey, this is Atlanta. You can read many anecdotes like this in Naomi Klein's anti-branding book
No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. And if you're interested in more commentary on America's fast food phenomenon, read
Fast Food Nation.
As the world continues to become more connected and smaller and McLuhan's vision of the global village becomes real, the rewards and consequences of a strong marketing and communications programs are much more serious than they were even a decade ago.
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My earlier post on the new Doors? Well, it appears Stew has gone and thrown the whole rebirth into a tailspin. Thanks to Chuck for the link. I didn't really want to go to Vegas for my birthday (12/12) but it was almost appealing.
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Branding is the most overused word in marketing. And this coming from a guy who makes his living helping companies, organizations and even personalities define and live up to their "brand". To be sure, I can't define a brand from nothing. Though many have tried. Especially during the dot.com bubble. Who's left? But I'm diverting. A brand is something earned, not bought.
[...] but sometimes companies cling too tightly to brand identity, and I think Apple falls prey to this also. The company wants everything to appear "very simple" because a key component of its identity is ease of use. Actually, many of Apple's products, like the iApps, are really quite sophisticated [...]
Story claims that Apple clings too close to its brand? Huh? I'm not sure what he suggests, but if I read between the lines he acknowledges that while Apple's products are simple and easy to use, they are quite sophisticated, too. Problem is, too many companies try to be all (everything) for all (everybody). The resulting mess is a diluted brand with no focus or clarity. It's the failure to commit to something that causes many companies to fail. The fear of alienating a potential customer through some "brand message" that speaks to another is a classic marketing blunder.
But companies needn't alienate customers. But they do need to focus on core messages. This is why marketers develop strategies the leverage message matrices that include supporting communications and messaging.
Then we have Marc Gobe, an author of yet another "Branding" book (how many do we need?). I think I have as many
such books as I do catalogs during this holiday season. Sure, I read them all. I have to. Gobe in his own brilliance is quoted in Leander Kahney's article in WiredApple: It's All About the Brand, as saying "Apple's brand is the key to its survival. It's got nothing to do with innovative products like the iMac or the iPod." What? He continues with another remark that ""Without the brand, Apple would be dead," he said. "Absolutely. Completely. The brand is all they've got."
It's this type of rhetoric that gives agencies, consultants and branding a bad name. So where did Apple get this Brand that has saved Apple and is its life-support system? Nordstrom's?
Point is, Gobe can't make up his mind. He claims that products have nothing to do with the success of the company, yet he admits Apple's colorful computers (read: iMac) rejuvenated its brand. Gobe isn't lost completely, though. He admits that streamlined advertising messages have contributed to turning the company around from its beleaguered status in much of the 1990's. That and the second coming of Steve Jobs.
What Gobe fails to recognize is my key concept that a Brand is earned, and not bought. A brand is a contract, a promise. If you break it, you suffer the consequences. And in the 90's Apple was paying the price huge in terms of lost developers, lost customers and lost confidence from both Wall Street and the press.
Innovation, great products and simplified messages have synergistically reignited Apple's position and regained the confidence of developers, customers, the press and for the most part the investment community. In short, Apple has continued to fulfill its contract and promise to its customers.
Jean-Marie Dru, author of
Disruption: Overturning Conventions and Shaking Up the Marketplace (an excellent book) says many of the Mac's original engineering team told him that Apple's brand represents "liberty regained". True to its promise, Apple's products have liberated many:
Liberated users from wires (802.11 - Airport)
Make home movies worth watching and fun (iMovie)
Make Hollywood movies easier (FinalCut Pro)
Make Digital Video easy (IEEE 1394 - FireWire)
Leverage standards so products would be more liberating (USB)
I won't go on as many bloggers, technocrats and journalists have documented Apple's innovation all too well.
There's no question that a brand and the notion of branding are important and tremendously powerful marketing concepts. But without substance, history and proof, a "brand" is not (and will not) a "brand". It's simply a fad. A disposable pop-culture nothing. And with Apple, Gobe is right, the brand is strong -- strength that is well earned.
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In response to my "why blog?" I've received plenty of insight and comments. Thanks all of you. My good friend and ex-Wirestone creative director (might I add musician extrodinaire) is getting into blogs. But he's concerned and writes me:
[...] problem is, if I spent all my time following blog links. I'd be following blog links about 23 hours a day. Too many people have too much to say. I can't keep up. I spent eight hours in the last day following links from your blog. This leads me to think about blogtime: the time you spend following blog links. It's all great stuff. Very heady. But my blog compulsiveness is a detriment to my non blog reading life. How do I balance the two? These personal conversations could consume my life. It's beginning to feel like an addiction [...]
Like a journalist or researcher, I try to provide informative and exciting links and background to the topics I blog and write about. The time I spend is enormous. Yet, it's my desire to learn and provide my loyal readers and my tire kicking visitors real value from what I write here in The Digital Tavern. I think many are inspired. They feel the thrill of desire, but are tentative. Or just busy. Another good friend Stephen Marlow responds:
[...] Someday I may blog ... but not today [...]
I don't think I come near to the linking phenomena that a Doc Searls or even a Howard Bashman performs. Yet, the time required to dig in and really absorb what I or any other blogger, journalist or writer might prophesize is beyond the scope of what many readers can commit to. Nonetheless, it can become addictive, time consuming and absorbing. But is this a problem? Or an opportunity?
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