Jerry Seinfeld. Pitchman for … Microsoft?
Microsoft and their new ad agency have signed Jerry Seinfeld to help pitch Windows in their upcoming campaign (reported here and a bunch of other places). But ... isn't that a Mac in the corner of the Seinfeld apartment? Hypocrite! :)
How to justify buying an iPhone in Canada
Last week I finally gave in to temptation. I drove to Buffalo and bought an iPhone. It's now unlocked and working just fine over wifi and the Rogers network.
Since picking it up I've had a ton of friends tell me they really want an iPhone, but can't decide if they should wait until Rogers release it here. I felt the same way until last week. So, here is how I justified buying an iPhone for use in Canada right now. I hope this helps...
1. The iPhone isn't (officially) coming to Canada anytime soon
Being the only GSM company in Canada, Rogers are guaranteed the iPhone. Back in June they announced they were in talks with Apple but said they were progressing very slowly, and today a friend of mine with contacts at Rogers told me talks are still progressing very slowly. Rogers have had 6 months to negotiate with Apple and they still don't have a deal. Makes me think it is very unlikely the iPhone will be out in Canada before the holidays, and it could be a much longer wait.
Why the big delay? The iPhone is so out of whack with Rogers product strategy that I think they will have real trouble striking a deal with Apple. For example, my wife bought a new phone from Rogers in the weekend. It came pre-loaded with a Rogers theme (some horrible red thing) and it was full of embedded links to things like the Rogers music store. Apple are most likely saying Rogers can't put anything on the phone, plus as I understand it Apple are asking for a rev share deal. The iPhone also promotes massive data usage, something that Rogers with their current pricing plans just aren't set up to accommodate. Finally, Rogers know that hacked iPhones from the US can only work on their network so they'll be getting all of the business coming from cross border sales anyway.
I'm guessing manages at Rogers Wireless are in no hurry to finalize a deal with Apple. As long as the competition aren't going to release the iPhone (which they can't, because everyone but Rogers is on CDMA) it's in their best interest to stick to selling blackberries and other handsets from manufactures who play nice.
2. Even without mobile data, the iPhone is a great device
I've been surprised at how the iPhone has fit into my life. I expected to be constantly checking email when I was out and about, but instead I'm using it on my wifi network at home more often. I'm finding it a great way to quickly check a facebook message, look up movie times, check the weather, do a wikipedia search, check my google calendar for the next day... all without opening my laptop. The iPhone is also just a lovely interface for text messaging, and has a pretty solid phone and camera. So, even without the mobile data, I think it's worth the $399.
3. If you're only checking email, Rogers sells 10MBs of data for $5
In Canada, your first 10MBs of data are cheap. It's the next 100 that'll bankrupt you! If you live in or around Toronto you can sign up to a Rogers Vision deal that gives you 10MBs for $5. This means if you're desperate to check email on your iPhone, you can - and it's cheap.
4. $399 US = $399 CND, and that's not going to last forever
Cross boarder shopping is as good as it's going to get with the 1:1 exchange rate. And Buffalo is only a 2 hour drive from Toronto.
5. And finally, if you don't get on the iPhone product release bandwagon now, you might never
Yes, Apple will release a 16GB iPhone after the holidays. Yes, they will probably have a model with video and all of the other features people are demanding not long after that. But in my experience with all things Apple, if you wait for the perfect product you'll be waiting for the rest of your life. Get an iPhone now - enjoy it - and you won't feel so bad about upgrading in a year ;).
Note: Having written this post I feel like a cross between a raving Apple fan boy and a sleazy PR exec. Disclosure: I did not get paid to write this ;).
Still a happy Apple owner
After owning Macs for almost 10 years I had my first real experience with Apple after sales service on the weekend. I guess I was expecting a lot and they didn't disappoint.
I had managed to cleverly drop a screwdriver (don't ask) on my keyboard a few weeks back and it had smashed the number 3 key out of place. The back of the key was busted so I definitely needed to make a trip to the Apple store.
The whole process was so simple:
1. Booked a time to see a "genius" ?!
2. Handed over my laptop to Trellawny.
3. Got it back in 5 minutes with a new key. No charge.
4. Left with a big smile on my face.
People will argue with me, but I still think Apple do the little things so well. Being able to book a time to see someone for example. Or the fact that they didn't bother charging for a small repair. So, although I'd never admit to being a fanboy, I'm still a fan.
Sprawl
For most of us, this would be complete interface overkill. But after seeing Ethan Kaplan, head of technology for Warner Bros. Records, at the Mesh conference this year, I think his brain moves fast enough to make use of it.
Lessons about pricing
Spanning Sync, the calendar syncing tool I mentioned a while back, came out of beta today and announced they were going to start charging for their product. I think they've done a fantastic job developing a helpful little app and deserve to make some money. What's interesting though is where they decided to set their fees and the instant reaction from their 18,000 current users.
Under the new pricing $25 gets you a one year account and $65 a permanent license. There is a 15 day free trial but no basic free option with a chance to upgrade later. The prices seem high to me. A one off payment of $20-25 is closer to what I was expecting, and what I would have paid.
So, first interesting thing is that they choose such high fees (keep in mind Apple iLife, with a whole host of complex applications, is only $79). Second interesting thing is the noise that their upset users have made. Check the comments here and here for the almost universal objection to the fees.
From a comment on the Unofficial Apple Weblog: "$65 once or $25 for a yearly subscription is well North of ridiculous. There's no way I'll even consider buying this product. The developer simply hasn't built that kind of value into it."
And from the Spanning Sync blog: "I have already uninstalled Spanning Sync. As lots of ppl say, price is outrageous. And I do think Apple will release some kind of Google sync service with Leopard, seeing that the collaboration between the two is becoming increasingly evident. Plus, what are the guarantees that the service won't stop working next week?"
It will be interesting to see the response from Spanning Sync over the next couple of days. Maybe they will lower the price and try to win back the upset users. Or maybe they will conclude that these users will never pay them and decide to target a different kind of user who sees more value in the product.
As we get closer to launching our web application (still a few months away I'm afraid) we are beginning to think about how much value we will be creating for different users. In our case the value won't be even. We expect many people will get great value from a free service but some will want to pay for premium features to access even more value.
One thing we will need to be very aware of, no matter what our pricing strategy, is the expectations of our users. If there is a lesson to be learned from the Spanning Sync example it is that you can never under deliver and over price in the eyes of your customers if you want them to stick around.
The cult of Mac is officially out of control
So, some guy snaps a picture of Steve Jobs at his kids soccer game, possibly speaking on an iPhone. He uploads the photo to flickr and it gets 90,000 views in 3 days! Madness.
Speed up your Apple Mail
I found a nice little trick for speeding up your Apple Mail application today via the 37signals blog. It worked great for me.
Note of caution: If you've never opened the Terminal on your Mac before this is probably worth avoiding.
About Pema Hegan
A Kiwi living in Canada.
I love music, obsess over architecture, ride my bike most days and miss the ocean.
I'm a partner and managing director at Rethink Toronto.
Before that I founded and then sold GigPark, a social web startup. And before that I was the founding editor-in-chief of the Canadian media company, Dose.
Find me here
pema.hegan (at) gmail (dot) com
- @malbonster Don't laugh too loud. I remember Boys being some of the best Thai food in the city. http://twitter.com/pema
- @ryanfeeley No. But wow - that looks interesting! Next time ;). http://twitter.com/pema
- @ebonical Next time we just need to time our trips so we can enjoy some if it together!! http://twitter.com/pema
Archives
Toronto tech community
- Bryce Johnson
- David Crow
- Founders Lunch
- Global Nerdy
- Greg Wilson
- Jay Goldman
- Jevon MacDonald
- Malgosia & John Philip Green
- Mark Dowds
- Mark Evans
- Mark Kuznicki
- Mathew Ingram
- Rick Segal
- Rob Hyndman
- StartupNorth
- Suzie Dingwall Williams
- Tom Purves
- Will Pate
- WirelessNorth
Flickr
