This is just an example of some of the models of “future” buildings you see here and there and everywhere.

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Our cousin Matt Scott told us about this video… it’s funny because it’s true. Yet another font (hello Papyrus) that is way over used in our society.

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We got a card in the mail from the Post Office, or possibly PitneyBowes, that talked about the “benefits” of using metered mail instead of stamps. It had a bunch of “reasons” listed on it, none of which were convincing to me at all.

Let’s look at them shall we?

1. Small businesses that use metered mail are up to 18% more productive than those that don’t.
   How have they measured this? Even though they have a little “footnote” that says, “Measured as revenue/employee and based on study of 8.5 million small business,” it still doesn’t seem like something they could know that specifically. What… the only link in all those businesses is that they have a metered mail machine?
2. Small businesses that use a postage meter can save up to 20% a year in postage
   Okay… this one might be true. But I doubt it’s true for everyone.
3. Never put too much postage on a letter or package - calculate postage exactly - no more overstamping
   What? Do people do this a lot? “Darn! Overstamped again!!“
4. No more trips to the Post Office
   Yes, I never, ever, ever go to the Post Office now for anything because I bought this metered mail machine.
5. Meters and scales tell you exactly how much postage you need for any type of mailing
   Unlike those pesky postal employees who simply mutter vague numbers under their breath.
6. Metered mail may arrive up to a day earlier
   It may also be a day later! Or may be set on fire. Or may be eaten by coconut laden pigeons!
7. We’ll notify you of rate changes and new postal regulations
   I would love it if I didn’t know when postal rates changed!
8. Track how much you spend on postage
   Small business… we don’t care.
9. Metered mail looks more professional
   No it doesn’t! It looks like JUNK MAIL! If there’s a stamp on something it’s obviously from someone… if it’s metered it looks like you may be a winner! This is the one that set me off on this whole thing. To give them the benefit of the doubt, however, I think what they mean by “professional” is “corporate“. And, again, we’re a small business and don’t really want to look corporate!

So thanks metered mail people… but no thanks! I think we’ll stick with our faulty, over used, late arriving, cost prohibitive, amateur looking stamps. At least for now.

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The old saying, “It’s funny ’cause it’s true,” is certainly true. Things that are often the funniest are things that are often the truest. It’s why sitcoms like Seinfeld do so well and why people like Larry David are such comic geniuses. The shows are based on truth and he knows exactly how to key in on that! So yes, “It’s funny ’cause it’s true,” is true… but, just because something is true doesn’t make it funny.

Take, for example, the cartoon on Freelance Switch. Now don’t misunderstand me (comic creator dude) it is a great comic! Incredibly well drawn, very insightful, even makes me think, “Yep…” sometimes, but, it’s never really funny.

I put this in the same category as The Family Circus (which I honestly hope was never meant to be funny). Both comment on things that are very true about life. One about life in the freelance world, the other about life in a family. Both are very well done. Both even have few frames… never more than 3 on average. But neither of them are really funny.

I think people forget the real reason why things are funny. They’re funny because they’re funny! That’s it. Nothing more. The truth of something is only a side-note. I doubt Larry David tries to think of TRUE things to then write jokes about… he thinks of FUNNY things that also happen to be true. He’s not pigeon holed into one genre of circumstances… the reason so many comics end up failing. He has the whole world to comment on, and he does it wonderfully!

So… next time you think something will be funny because it’s true… stop, sit down, count to ten, then eat some chicken.

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So it seems that NBC is possibly leaving Apple for Amazon. This is because Amazon will allow them to sell their shows for more, and / or sell them at discounted rates, where as Apple’s iTunes will only allow the set price. Seth Godin has (of course) a great article about this on his blog, but I wanted to touch on it some here from my point of view.

The thing is NBC still believes that they are “NBC“… like the “must see TV” NBC… well, they’re not, not to us at least. Sure, we like the Office, and we liked Heroes okay, but the thing is we don’t watch TV. We are a 100% iTunes household. Sure, we buy seasons of shows we love on DVD (sometimes) but, for the most part, if it’s not on iTunes we don’t watch it. Movies from Netflix and TV from iTunes… that’s it.

The fact is, no matter how much we might “save” on an NBC show from Amazon, we most likely will never buy one from them. The iTunes interface and method has already won us over completely. We’ve TRIED to watch things on other venues, including LOST on ABC’s site, but nothing compares to iTunes. No matter how good the shows are, or how much we might “miss” them, we can, and are willing to, simply not watch them anymore.

So we may be saying “bye-bye” to NBC… or more correctly stated, NBC may simply be saying “bye-bye” to us.

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Well, Apple announced yesterday that they are cutting the price of the iPhone by$200. Of course this meant that hundreds of thousands of people started complaining that they had to pay more for their iPhone than everyone else is going to.

It reminds me of the parable of the vineyard workers.  People are mad that they got exactly what they wanted for exactly what they agreed to pay for it.

Were they complaining for the last two months?  No.  Did you hear anyone say, “I got a new iPhone and it ROCKS!  If only I could’ve saved $200 on it.”  No.  In fact, everyone that has an iPhone has (in my experience) done nothing but defend the $599 price tag.  They have done nothing but proudly show it off and rest every night in the fact that they spent their money well.

However, Apple is one of those rare companies that isn’t satisfied with simply satisfying their customers.  They want to do more than is expected and more than, in many cases, they should “have” to do.  So, today Steve Jobs issued this letter explaining that everyone who paid the higher price for the iPhone and bought it early will be getting $100 of Apple credit.  Wow!  That is amazing!  It makes companies like NBC, who are pulling content from iTunes because they “claim” to want to charge more for their shows (their stupid mistake in my humble opinion), look pretty pathetic.   Apple understands what getting customers, and keeping them, means.  It’s much more than providing an awesome product… it’s living up to a reputation.

By the way… my brother Jason, who waited all day in line and got his iPhone at the “expensive” price, said it was still well worth the original $599 price tag.

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As a web designer the one thing we hear more and more now-a-days is that people want their web sites to be Web 2.0 “enabled”. What does that mean exactly? I’m afraid most people think that means some sort design standard, making their web site “cool” looking, or “flashy” or something. And while that is certainly what we try to do with our web sites, it’s not really what “Web 2.0″means.

Here is a great video from Seth Godin talking about Web 2.0, and even Web 4.0! I think he does such a great job of enumerating its meaning.

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Yesterday the iPhone came out… and my brother was one of the many in line all day to await its arrival.

He was in Dallas, Texas at the Apple store, where, across the street, a company called “Current Energy” is located.

All day long this company gave away things to those in line, including water, chairs to sit on, employees to hold your place, use of their restrooms, t-shirts, and pens and pins with their logo.

Instead of thinking of this as, “Oh great, iPhone comes out today and all these people will be wanting to use our restrooms, take up our parking spots, and generally be annoying,” they thought, “What a great opportunity to get our name out there!”

And it worked!

Not only did I hear of it (while driving from Albuquerque, NM to Springfield, MO), but their logo is now permanently plastered on news articles around Dallas about the iPhone and interviews with those who waited inline.

What a great example of turning someone else’s hype into a marketing tool for yourself!

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