Alsop's Small Thoughts

BlogDishBush

Ariel de Guzman should have a blog. The senior Bush's personal chef answers questions in today's NYT Magazine. Choice comment: "As far as nutrition is concerned, canned or frozen vegetables have more nutrition than fresh vegetables. It's added from the companies, the manufacturer."

Backordered Software?

My girlfriend, Robin, ordered a copy of Powerpoint from Microsoft's web store. She got a notice from Microsoft that the order would be delayed and was on backorder. "Can you believe MS has Powerpoint on BACKORDER?", Robin asked. "What does it take to produce a disc of a two-year-old piece of software?" (I told her she needs her own blog so I wouldn't have to rant for her.)

It is amazing that a company with a monopoly position and remarkable profits (which just increased 24% YOY, even though revenue "only" increased 6%) can't keep a stock of boxes with CDs in them to ship immediately.

What's most amazing in a world of AJAX and Web 2.0 is that Microsoft still requires ordering a CD that has to be assembled into a box and shipped to the customer. Why can't Microsoft redesign all of its software so that it can be delivered via broadband, which is now in more than 60% of American homes (and higher percentages in other countries)? Why can't the software be designed to minimize the client side and use resources via the Web when they are needed, rather than parking huge amounts of software and data on the local hard disk and pushing aside the customers' data?

Moblog!

If this appears, it means I have figured out how to post to my blog by email! Which means I can post from my handheld device (a Treo 650 with Goodlink). Which means -- entirely in theory -- I can post from moving vehicles, when I'm driving the Mini down 101, when my plane is landing, that kind of thing. Hoowee!

DirecTV Can Go Jump In A Lake

I can't hold myself back anymore. My DirecTiVo (the device sold by DirecTV that used the service designed by TiVo Inc.)  just decided to reboot itself. I don't know why, but I'm willing to believe now that DirecTV is responsible. I'm willing to believe that DirecTV is responsible for everything bad about my television service.

Since News Corp. bought a majority of the shares of DirecTV, the company has decided to ignore my interests as a customer and pursue what it believes is its strategic interest. That ain't my strategic interest, so I am now motivated to dump DirecTV much as it feels like it has dumped me.

I have two DirecTiVo devices, which I paid for. And I subscribe to the Platinum service on DirecTV (which includes the TiVo service without additional charge) so that my TiVo devices have as much selection to record from as possible. That means I am one of DirecTV's best customers, spending between $90 and $120 a month on the service, depending on how many pay-per-view movies I buy with my TiVo devices. (TiVo makes buying pay-per-view so ridiculously easy, I now buy movies I never bought before -- sometimes 3-6 movies a month).

1) Today, I got a message from DirecTV telling me that my TiVo recorder hasn't made a daily call for 341 days. It's the same message I've gotten every day for the past 341 days. The reason? DirecTiVos are unable either a) to make a dial-up call over a VoIP connection, which is the only telephone service I have now or b) use the Internet to make their regular programming calls to the TiVo service. The reason that's true is because DirecTV (under News Corp.'s direction) has refused to upgrade the software in DirecTiVos to do these things. And I hate the fact that DirecTV sends me a message telling me its my fault that the device hasn't made the call, when it is their design decisions that created this situation.

2) DirecTV has refused to upgrade the DirecTiVos to be able to do remote programming or program sharing inside a home or several other features that TiVo introduced for all of their other non-DirecTV devices more than a year ago. It pisses me off that DirecTV decided to withhold useful features from me.

3) DirecTV has decided to stop marketing the TiVo labeled devices (like mine) in favor of News Corp.'s own device made by another subsidiary of News Corp., the R15 DirecTV Plus DVR (sexy name that, eh?). I can't find any actual reviews of the new DirecTV device, but I keep wondering -- as one of DirecTV's best customers -- why it decided to ignore my preferences in favor of its own interests in making this switch.

I don't like to be treated that way. So, as soon as I can get the logistics worked out, I am going to abandon DirecTV. Funnily enough, Comcast is making it really easy for me to switch. First, Comcast already provides me with broadband Internet service for $60 a month. I also run my  telephone service over that Internet connection, paying Vonage $27 a month to provide unlimited local and long distance service (in the US). So I get Internet access and telephone service (not counting my mobile phone, which is a whole other story) for less than I pay for television from DirecTV.

In theory, I can switch my television service from DirecTV ($90+ a month) to Comcast for some combined price. Service providers appear to be interested in what's referred to as a Triple Play, providing telephone, television and internet service over the same basic connection. I don't want to switch my Vonage service to Comcast (yet). But I do hope that Comcast would be willing to provide me with an incentive to switch my television service from DirecTV. (Of course, Comcast has its own issues: When I go to the automated pricing service on their Web site, it tells me I can't get high speed internet in my zip code, even though I already have that service! On a standalone basis, Comcast says it charges $99.95 a month for its Platinum television service, more than DirecTV.)

I will talk to a service representative at Comcast and find out the truth, which might be that I can get a discount of $10-20 a month for Platinum television for switching. But even if I can't get the same television service for less, I still will be able to get Comcast to provide me with a digital receiver and I can buy a TiVo box from TiVo that has all the latest features that DirecTV refused to give me for $50-100. So I will end up with a better service for about the same cost. And I will be able to get my service from TiVo, which understands making service calls over the internet, providing additional applications on the TiVo device, and providing features like remote programming and in-house sharing of programs!

I will once again be a happy customer and I will take great pleasure in never doing business with DirecTV again! I wonder if anyone at News Corp. understands the dynamics of the digital world: ease of switching, advantages of real useability, and the new world of monopoly-less services. Maybe Rupert Murdoch and his minions are actually vulnerable to real competition and fair play?!

(Disclosures: I am a former director of TiVo, because the firm I was formerly with, New Enterprise Associates, was one of the original investors in the company. I still own more than 5,000 shares of TiVo. And NEA is also a major investor in Vonage, in which I have derivative interest.)

Out Of Office Autoreplies: Oh yeah?

Please don't send me "Out Of Office" autoreplies (as they are called in Outlook and most email programs)! I just got one where the sender actually replied to my email only a few seconds after his autoresponder told me he was out of the office until Monday. Email is not instant messaging -- it's asynchronous, which means the sender doesn't expect a reply until you are able to sit down (or thumb down) and write one. In other words, it's not an issue of being "in the office". I have access to email -- in my office, in my home, in my car, in airplanes, airports, hotel rooms, on the beach, everywhere. So why the heck would I warn people that I don't have access to email?

What Makes the Insurgents So Cool?

The "insurgents" in Iraq killed another 12 people today in Baghdad. I keep wondering why the Americans are vilified when it's these people -- who may be pissed-off Sunnis or may be troublemakers brought in from other countries by outside forces -- are the ones killing off people by the scores.  I know the Americans are clumsy and unsophisticated, but I thought we were trying to do good: rebuild Iraq, help the Iraqis figure out how to govern themselves rather than live in fear of a dictator, and show them how to live relatively stable, secure lives. And somehow the "insurgents" seem to be forgiven since they are only trying to get rid of the evil Americans and choose to do so by killing innocent bystanders.

Life In The (Perk) Presidio

I've taken to stopping from time to time for a coffee (medium, non-fat latte) at Perk Presidio, which is the coffee shop in the new Letterman (read Lucas) Digital Arts Center (great photos of the campus here) in The Presidio in San Francisco. I live in The Presidio and the Letterman campus is across the street from my house, so it's convenient to meet people at Perk Presidio. 

Actually, it's more than convenient. In late September, I met my friend, Bob, for a cuppa. While we're sitting outside enjoying the sunshine and coffee and conversation, George Lucas wandered in with his friend and sat to enjoy a cuppa too. It's nice to hang out with billionaire media moguls, but today was even better. I met with Shirley, a candidate for an executive position in one of my portfolio companies.  While we're talking strategy and technical issues, Darth Vader and two of his stormtroopers wandered by.  It looked like Darth and his team were backing up some kind of video spot being filmed by a Lucasfilm crew. Shirley was smart enough to have brought her camera, so I have photo evidence!

The Presidio is a happening kind of place.

Progress bars are so Web 0.5

I was just asked to look at a new web site, staffed by veterans and focused on providing an application service for consumers. The very first thing I got when I clicked on the link: A logo with a progress bar that went from 0 to 100% in about 40 seconds, only to present me with a Flash slide show with an option to "Skip it", which I did immediately. This is old media thinking: Make the customer wait while you present your "dynamic" media message. It's not Web 2.0 and it's a total turnoff to any customer who actually wants what you have to provide. Please, never put another progress bar in my way to getting what I want!

iPod Conundrum

I am playing the "25 Most Played" playlist on my iPod. Does that mean that I am locking in these 25 songs into that playlist, because every time you select this option you are adding a play to the songs you've already played more than any others? How do new songs appear on this list if they aren't already on it? Or some engineer at Apple decide that a play from this playlist doesn't count, to give every song an equal shot at appearing on it? Phwew: Who know modern life would get so complex.

Evite rant

Evite sets up an email for people who are using Evite to arrange an event. The email that arrives does not tell you anything about the event, not even the date. This is very PDA-unfriendly, since many of us now use portable devices to get our email, but they don't manage URLs well. So we have to wait to get to a connected computer to read the invitation to know what it is even about. Why doesn't Evite include a summary of the invitation in the Evite email?