Shock. Horror.



In case you're too lazy to click on the image to enlarge. Let me make this patently clear. Sony South Africa's last set of communication to their 350+ followers looks like this:

 

TO BUY YOUR OWN COPY OF SEVEN POUNDS GO TO http://www.kalahari.net/dvd...11 minutes ago from web

Have you bought yourself a copy of 7 Pound DVD?? Hurry and get one while stocks last!about 17 hours ago from web

HURRY and get yourself a Seven Pound DVD today!!!!4:35 PM Jul 13th from web

Get your copy of Seven Pounds DVD and Blu Ray TODAY!!!10:31 AM Jul 13th from web

Four more days until the release of Seven Pounds on Blu Ray and DVD!9:20 AM Jul 9th from web

Click on the link to view the trailer of Seven Pounds!! www.sonypictures.com/homevi...1:09 PM Jul 8th from web

Seven Pounds DVD releasing 13 July 2009!!!11:16 AM Jul 7th from web

Seven Pounds coming soon on DVD and Blu-Ray!10:21 PM Jul 6th from web

is setting up their profile to showcase brand new DVD and Blu-Ray titles! Coming Soon!9:51 PM Jul 6th from web

REACTION NUMBER 1 - RANT
We all know Google never forgets. Don't we? Welcome to what I like to call instant social media death. This is a brand self destructing, spamming 350 people with inane, valueless communication.

They have missed every tricky in the book. This isn't conversation. This isn't engagement. This is a bad "call centre" style sales pitch. Every day. Twice a day.

I'd have to ask:

1. Is this actually Sony or a brand hijack by a supplier?
2. What would Sony International say?
3. Is a digital agency behind this? If so, shame on you.
4. Who is going to call this out in big media so we can keep social media clean?

REACTION NUMBER 2 - PENSIVE

If this is someone at Sony SA trying their hand at Social Media - perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to jump down their throats. Social media is a whole new world, a world full of talkers and very little do'ers. A world of much buzz and little strategy.

If we think there is a social media "expert" sitting on every corner and inside every company to help brands navigate inside such a complex and fickle environment - we're sorely mistaken.

Perhaps brands just need some help and guidance. Not a whole bunch of geeks mouthing off about how much they suck.

So. I ask you dear audience...

What should Sony do?

 Andy Hadfield's Blog site : http://www.andyhadfield.com

Today, we're really proud to announce the next step in our digital journey at FNB - the launch of the brand spanking new website.

The website relaunch has been a project of mammoth proportions, with amazing collaboration between teams from all over the bank. As I blog this, the guys from the Online team are still baby-sitting the launch - big kudos on the effort.

The old site


The new site

From the very beginning, we started out with a couple of lofty strategic ideals centered around the customer experience.

It had to be:

* An Experience (a bank website just isn't the must-visit destination other sites can claim to be - our visitors are purpose driven and we have to work hard to provide an environment that promotes exploration and feels like an experience).

* Friendly (it's something I've been talking about for ages, the big lesson that Web 2.0 has taught us is to talk WITH people, not talk AT them - something I think we've really achieved)

* Intuitive (banking products can be complicated - we had to find a way to logically group them according to a flow that customers would relate to - the I Want to BANK approach is that)


* A bit 2.0ey (you can't be obsessed with the open-everything Web 2.0 approach, remember we're a financial institution and trust is paramount - but there are some 2.0 lessons that you can see coming through: the personalisation mentioned below, the rounded edges, soft design, AJAX elements on the Wizards and navigation structure)

* Personal (there's much more to come in this space, but you can see elements of personalisation in the My Menu option - it's amazing what just pulling your name into search results does for the experience as a whole)


More visual more often

When I was doing research in the beginning stages of the product, it blew me away how few bank websites (even international examples) bothered to show a picture of the product. A platinum credit card is a sexy product, it's a status symbol and something you use almost daily. Yet no pictures?

A strong focus in the project was to find a way of visualising products and their associated features and benefits. This follows a big international trend towards a more retail style of financial services sites. Amazon has set a benchmark, and there's no shame in trying to match it.

If you look at a product page (Platinum Credit Card is my personal favourite) you can see how the simple use of images to illustrate benefits really turns this into a sexy experience...



It's all about conversions.

And, at the end of the day, what is a website around for? It's your digital front door, your virtual sales consultant... If people can't get your products or get in touch with you, you're failing from the start. The lead form on page (Click CALL ME BACK on any of the content pages) and the new Product Shop are moves in the right direction.

Make it easy for customers. Full stop.


The new site was a massive team effort - thank you and congratulations to everyone involved. We hope you, the public, see where this dream is going and enjoy the new experience. This is just the first step... Finance on the web. Now with added friendliness.

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog andyhadfield.com and or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

To follow Andy Hadfield a Thought leader on www.Mybyte.co.za click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za? Want to have your say and be found in our search results click here to sign up for free http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php

Interesting stats from CheckFaceBook.

This graph, looking suspiciously like Google Analytics, says there are 1.7 million South Africans on FaceBook. That's pretty damn impressive, considering the latest estimates of our broadband population that I've seen is only in the low 2 millions.


FaceBooks advertising segmentation tool reports similar. Also notice that they've changed the NETWORK demographic to LOCATION. Previously, I think they only counted you if you joined the SA network. Now, perhaps geo-targetting IP's is the way forward...
I remember giving a presentation no more than 3 months ago, and looking at stats showing 1.2 million South African's on the social networking site. That's some crazy growth in a country that is so bereft of bandwidth.

Could this be mobile numbers starting to count? FaceBook is pretty accessible on a WAP-enabled phone.

Exciting stuff for the digital industry.

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za? Want to have your say and be found in our search results click here to sign up for free http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php.

Took the plunge to 1080P full HD gaming the other day. I'd been holding off. The PS2 was cool, but I got a bit bored after a year or so. How was the PS3 to fair? Blu-Ray. HD gaming. Wireless controllers. Hmmm.

I'll blog a bit about this as I explore the platform more. But let's say this from the outset. I've played one game: BioShock.

I was BLOWN away.

The experience, quality of graphics and 5.1 Surround is unreal. Whatever doubts I may have had where wiped out in about 10 seconds.

Click on the image below. This is IN GAME footage of the first 3 minutes of BioShock. You suffer a plane crash, land in an ocean amoungst wreckage and are forced to swim for it. It drips realism. Never before have I been entranced by water.


Yowsers. Now for Tiger Woods. The only real drinking man's PlayStation game.

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

To follow Andy Hadfield,Thought leader on www.Mybyte.co.za click on this link http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za and want to have your say? sign up here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and free to all ICT industry players.

I hate that end of year trend rush. Not enough thought usually goes into the "trend prediction" posts - people hash something together just to grab some traffic, while their minds are on the beach. At least mine was. So I didn't play. I much preferred the trend of bloggers going through their most popular posts of 2008. More value.

However, that doesn't mean I didn't have my 2c to add. Or that I might have just been too lazy to join the rush. What you're about to read has been carefully considered, thrashed around, rehashed and eventually published in February. Enjoy! My advice for South African Business in the digital marketing arena...



1. The race to own the social profile

Companies, brands and startups are waking up to the fact that there's a really easy way to disintermediate service providers. Own the social profile, not the mother brand. Look what Mint.com is doing in the US financial industry as a good starting point.

With FaceBook Connect and Google Friend Connect, we've witnessed two very early and very important moves in this space. This trend questions the whole existence of registration forms. Why should I fill in your long-winded form if I have one-click access to your service using my FaceBook account. That's one social profile I have to keep updated. One username. One password. There are some issues to consider, but watch this space.

FaceBook Connect is already making inroads thanks to some extremely clever integrations that add value to Facebook's community and vastly decrease barriers to entry on service provider sites. Read this Mashable article for a list of these great examples.

EXPECT: Other social networks, communities and services to follow suit. There'll be a period of wariness as business owners "suss" out the value of who owns their userbase and how to segment users who don't fill in a segementation form! But as they say... Where does the big elephant sleep? Wherever the hell the big elephant wants to!

A couple of hundred million users is a fair headstart to FaceBook (currently 1.17 million South Africans are on FaceBook). Wouldn't you like to tap that audience?

ALSO EXPECT: Huge functionality upgrades from Google and FaceBook - the services are still fairly shallow. Scratch that. FaceBook Connect has promise. Google Friend Connect is rubbish. I don't see the value yet. But never bet against Google...


2. Measuring the Social Conversation Becomes More Important than Ever

The SEACOM cable landing on South African shores in June 2009 is going to herald an explosion in connectivity. The actual time period in which this will take place is up for debate. Are bandwidth providers going to keep costs at the same level but increase the amount of bandwidth available? Or is the entry of Telkom into the 3G market and the predicted arrival of SME ISP's going to force a price war?

Whatever happens. As bandwidth becomes cheaper and more accessible - so will social networking. This idea of social networking as a concept, not a site, will start to become a reality. People will be engaging and starting conversations online, without having to label themselves as "social networkers".

EXPECT: Conversation will remain inane. 90% crap. 10% value. There's an adoption curve here. The Americans are much more "experienced" in the online engagement sphere - and they still sprout a lot of rubbish. It's human nature. But there's value to be had if you look hard enough.

WHICH MEANS: Brands will start allocating more money to "social" or community based campaigns - because marketing budgets have been slashed in the recession - low cost online engagement (better word than social media!) is now a very viable alternative.

HOWEVER: These brands will battle to measure the value of the conversations going on, and thus won't be able to equate it to business ROI. This need, even with a small bit of budget, is going to drive innovation. You'll see "measurement" organisations springing up, offering this service and inventing algorithms and services that allow us to get a better grip on the value.


3. Retreat to niche

With continued interest and growth in social networking / online engagement, it's going to become extremely difficult to listen to or get heard inside the noise. Thus... people will as people are. They'll retreat to niche communities or groups centered around more focused topics that are valuable to them. They'll embrace the noise, and then hide from it.

THE BONUS: This is where advertisers and sponsors will find real value and a much "cleaner" conversation.


4. CrowdSourcing

South African business will start to leverage the power of communities and crowds. It just makes sense. Many minds are better than a couple.

A local Internet audience of around 6 million people (estimates vary) and a considerably large mobile penetration means a LOT of potential minds to tap. What the social networking phenomenon has shown, is that people are willing to contribute to a conversation for very little incentive.

EXPECT TO SEE: Incentivised (prizes or even straight cash and fame) crowdsourcing ventures will tap into this trend. A good personal example of success achieved here is our recent foray into IdeaBounty.


5. Recession cleans out the dead wood

This trend speaks more to the US industry than our local burgeoning digital arena. However, I think South African techies draw much inspiration from our US counterparts. Even much funding in certain cases!

Because we haven't seen as many IPO's since the last tech bubble got blown up - we're probably not going to see a burst like we did before. There's private money being lost, for sure... But not public money in the form of publicly held shares. That causes more panic than a series of companies built of precious little value.

It may sound harsh, but recession is usually where great companies build great value. Especially in the tech industry. A recession clears out the dead wood. It paves the way for better, more creative thinking to shine through.

Nothing inspires a good idea like a small budget!

EXPECT TO SEE: Some really innovative stuff coming out this year. Services built around real business and personal value. Perhaps even a slow move away from the US startup model: build an audience, not a business case.

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free!

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

Har Har! Or not

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free!

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

Just installed the latest upgrade to Mac OSX, titled "Snow Leopard". R329.00 from Core, Sandton, Johannesburg. Features withstanding, the one thing I have been reading about on the net is the uncanny ability Snow Leopard has to FREE up space after install.

Well I never. 10 gigs freed up. First time an operating system upgrade has every done that for me.

I know Steve Jobs has an evil empire. I know it's all closed source, wall garden, Chinese this and Chinese that.

I don't care. That's 10 kinds of sexy.

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free!

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

I had the opportunity recently to have a text exchange (read: questions by email - the interview style of the time pressed blogger) with Jake Larsen, head of the Nokia Music Store (Middle East & Africa). I was interested in how the Music Store has been doing post launch as it always takes a while for these things to get going. And, given time, we should get more devices onto the market within reach of more South Africans - enabling a true test of the iTunes equivalent. This interview on the back of the "Comes With Music" release...

If you'd like to see the golden-locked exec in action - there's a nice, albeit slightly clean cut interview on Ovi about the launch and how the Music Store fits into the African mix.

Here's the quick interview...

1. Nokia Music Store. How has the take up been in South Africa?

The Nokia Music Store has been received extremely well in South Africa and we are very happy with the performance so far. The South African public have been asking for a large and easy to use music store like this for a long time, and the trusted Nokia brand has meant that we have been able to satisfy this need whilst providing the reassurance that they are supporting a service that not only provides the best possible user experience, but also contributes to the development and long term interests of artists and the music industry.

2. Do you have any demographics of active users? Or any statistics that are for release?

An interesting trend that we are seeing is that about a third of all downloads are happening over the air, which is very promising as it indicates an increase in mobile usage which is crucial in areas with low levels of fixed line internet penetration. We have also found that offering great South African music is a key success factor. The single; She Always Gets What She Wants by local rockers Prime Circle, for example, has been in the top ten of the singles download chart since the launch of the Nokia Music Store in South Africa, which clearly indicates the popularity of locally produced material.

3. A little bird told me there are no more than 30,000 iPhones in SA. We all know the app store is awful and the music store doesn't exist. Mobile in Africa is a volume game and Apple don't seem to get it, or care. What approach as Nokia Music Store taken to get into this extremely valuable, yet very polarised market?

We have just announced that the Comes With Music service is available in South Africa from September 2009. Comes With Music is perfectly suited to facilitate the mass adoption of digital music in the country as its model provides the means for people to legally download all the music they want from the catalogue of more than 5 million songs on the Nokia Music Store, for 12 months, without having to pay for individual songs. We believe that Comes With Music, on the Nokia Music Store, will fundamentally alter the way that music is explored, discovered and consumed in South Africa.

4. Have you used any social media elements in launching, marketing and maintaining the music store? How are these working for you as opposed to more traditional marketing methods?

We have employed various social media elements across numerous platforms including a well supported Facebook group and Facebook marketing, a Myspace landing page ownership campaign and constant Twitter updates. One of the benefits of using social media alongside more traditional methods is that we are provided with a means for communicating with our customers instantly, and can not only inform our users of store related developments in real-time, but are also able to tailor our approach to changing conditions as they develop, which is fantastic in the fast moving entertainment world.

--- snip ---

My comments:

1. This one is going to get me into trouble. But. Prime Circle being in the top 10 indicates to me that the Music Store hasn't quite penetrated past white suburbia. It has been a long mourned fact that the market for rock in this country is tiny. As much awesome talent (and full props to Prime Circle) as we can produce, they're just not moving the records they would elsewhere. To be fair though, this could also be a fact of Nokia's sponsorship of one of the Highveld Stereo countdown charts.

2. Nokia Music Store's Twitter account shows around 500 followers and they got back to me "same day". Pretty impressive as I know how bloody hard these things are to run. Facebook Group looks pretty active, just under 1000 members. As with all social media in this country - numbers aren't everything, and take time to grow. What is a good number though? Mmmm. Another question for another post for another time.

3. If this blog was more musically inclined, I'd take Jake up on the royalties issue, and try figure out whether artists are getting a fair share of the income. It isn't, so I won't. The very concept of download-as-much-as-you-can-in-a-year should do wonders for the music industry. Let's give Nokia the credit they deserve.

Thank ya Jake. I'm off to play with the Music Store myself. Saw a great South African band the other day, Evolver, and I'll see if I can pitch in and buy there album.

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free!Follow us on twitter @mybyte.

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

So, if you haven't heard. SABC properly messed up the broadcast of Survivor - getting vital elements of the show in the wrong order.

Click on the image to enlarge

Yes, Twitter is most likely pale, male, geeks. Yes, Twitter is small. But consider this...

* FaceBook has almost 2 million South Africans registered (that we know of). And they've got to that number in no time at all.

* The Internet just never forgets.

However small and insignificant Twitter may be - the flaming insults and damage done can NOT be good for any brand...

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free!

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

What a cool experience. Spoke to Saul Kropman and Jared Cinman a month or two back about an idea they were trying to float. What if they did a live Digital Edge podcast recording "inside" a corporate. Involve the audience, make it a show. Kind of similar to a TWiT show at MacWorld really...


It just so happened that I was putting together an internal digital marketing conference for all the good people at FNB. Timing couldn't have been better.

So we did the show a week or two ago and it went really well. The combination of "live show" and audience interaction was engaging and exciting. Of course, not all the content makes it through to the final cut - but there are definitely two sides to the idea. Firstly, what the audience can take away from a 90 minute discussion with a bunch of industry experts. And secondly, the final, packaged product which is now out for the world to listen to.

A big thank you to Cambrient and co. for piloting with us.

Download the show here.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

In what is most likely a first in South Africa, the 35th episode of The Digital Edge was recorded live at the FNB Digital Marketing Conference.

In this episode we take a look at social media inside a corporate and are joined by FNB Head of Media, Gisele Wertheim Aymes on the topic. We're also joined by Steven Ambrose of consultancy World Wide Worx to give us some facts and figures on the topic of broadband penetration in the country. Andy Hadfield, the FNB "Internet and Social Media Guy" also joins us to give his thoughts and opinions on the matter.

Come listen as we entertain and enthrall the crowd with a live Podcast, direct from a corporate conference.

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Follow us on Twitter @mybyte

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

For those that haven't been following the viral fun... Pigeon Race 2009 pits Winston the Magnificent against Telkom in a race to transfer 4 GB of data. The pigeon won. By a lot.


The Telkom media response to this has just been posted on MyBroadBand. I like it. How else could they have responded (and don't give me the tired old argument about giving us better service - of course - their everything sucks, but let's fight the little battle eh?)

It's rather amusing for a big, bloated government organisation. The last paragraph (in bold) in particular...

It must be noted that Telkom’s only involvement by way of service provisioning is the actual ADSL access lines. Contrary to speculation, the customer has an up-to 512kbps service at his Howick site from where the “race” commenced – and not Telkom’s up-to 4Mbps ADSL service.

Furthermore, it must be highlighted that Telkom is not the customer’s Internet Service Provider (ISP). Consequently, Telkom is unaware of what services, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), throttling, capping arrangements, etc exist between the customer and his ISP. These are all considerations that will impact the customer’s throughput speeds, especially in view of the fact that their network traffic travels across the public internet via a private ISP.

The ADSL service, in this application, represents a best-effort, unmanaged service which, as was highlighted to the customer during at least five previous meetings, is not the ideal option for inter-connecting Call-Centres. Having understood the nature of the customer’s business, Telkom advised on alternative means of connectivity which the customer has not, to date, accepted. These included a fully managed IP network solution that is more suited to their specific requirement of transporting large amounts of critical data between their sites and their head-office.

Telkom notes with interest that the customer has validated the fact that their choice of technology in the form of ADSL is not suited to the specific business applications that they currently use.

It must be re-iterated that Telkom has endeavoured to convey this view to the customer on several occasions over the past two years and presented alternative solutions which the customer has not embraced. Nevertheless, the Company is still amenable to further present its tailored solutions that will better address the customer’s needs.

One further needs to question the intentions of the customer, as any commercial enterprise is obligated by corporate governance considerations to secure information and data in their possession as well as ensure that the integrity thereof is maintained.

It must also be noted that no faults or complaints were logged by the customer on any of his lines or escalated to his Customer Relationship Manager, while the customer’s fault history over the recent past indicates that an overwhelming majority of these emanated from customer premises equipment and not the Telkom network.

Finally, it has not escaped Telkom’s attention that this entire episode has generated much excitement and interest, but the Company emphatically denies that we are currently considering placing this means of data transfer in our product catalogue and wholesaling it. However, Telkom is glad that, finally, we are able to welcome “real” competition in the telecommunications industry and, as a Company, we are confident that the above-mentioned points of clarification will certainly set the cat among the pigeons.

By the way - my hearty congratulations to the brains behind Winston. Novel approach. Great content leakage in the build up and a genuine sense of humour. I just hope it doesn't fizzle out like most Telkom protests...

PS.

Interesting comment from the technically astute Rudolph Muller on the resulting forum:

While the experiment was entertaining, it says nothing about the speed or price of broadband. A pigeon with a flash disc can easily outperform a 100 Mbps fibre connection, given that the distance is sufficiently small in relation to the flash disk size. - RPM

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Follow us on Twitter @mybyte

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

Twitter is noisy, but it has its uses. I've found that a lot of interesting links, thoughts and observations I tend to post on Twitter these days, instead of sharing it in the longer format of the game. The other problem with Twitter, is that because of the volume, if you're not watching at the right time, you tend to miss some juicy stuff. In that vain... Only the juiciest from the @andyhadfield account!

In chronological order. August 2009.

--- snip ---

Cool site. Instant nature of what the net brings to brands. Now Network. #opadebate

The Great Schlep (the digital campaign that secured the Florida vote for Obama. Target Jewish Grannies!) http://bit.ly/3uKWj

Nokia E75. Hated it. My technophobe loved it. Review here and thoughts on the culmination of the WOMWorld campaign http://bit.ly/sz5a2

Aw crickey. I rank pg 2 for "african porn" & pg 3 for "south african porn" on Google. Charming. 1 sarcastic post & THIS. http://bit.ly/E6Xj6

Just phoned Telkom Online Bill Support Centre and they asked for my username and password. EPIC #fail #brandminus

All Scrubbed Up: Official Swine Flu South Africa Stats - 12 August 2009 http://bit.ly/adeUd

Google Opt Out Village. Ha Ha! http://bit.ly/OD26W

RT @tmhdubai: The top 10 funniest TV ads of all time...a must watch on a Sunday afternoon. http://bit.ly/3lE7ID

RT @VinnyLingham: Stuff Magazine jumped 70% according to the ABCs - kudos to @shapshak and co http://bit.ly/3CNPOI

Randi Zuckerberg only has 231 fans. If this is Zuck's sister... she's a little short methinks... http://bit.ly/12iaQZ

Aha... Seems you have to create a folder on the USB stick /PS3/UPDATE. Stick the file in there to do #PS3 software update. Lank friendly.

Geek joke... Is Mom Apache or IIS? Har har! http://bit.ly/11k65s

Just been called by Old Mutual on a SATURDAY to sell me some kind of policy. Sies! #fail #unsubscribe #brandminus - makes me mad.

Setting up for the FNB Digital Conference 2009. Great speakers lined up, should be a doozy...

Internet penetration in Africa 5%. Rest of world 21%. Will Seacom really change this? #fnb #conference

RT @ilvapie: "1 out of 8 couples married in the US last year met via social media" - http://bit.ly/18RJgO -- here's the link #fnb #conf ...

Twitter is a triumph of humanity and not a triumph of technology - Biz Stone #fnb #conference

Up now, a digital first methinks. Live recording of The Digital Edge Podcast at FNB.

Haha! From a friend. The most beautiful page on the Internet! ICC Test and ODI Championships | Cricinfo.com http://bit.ly/11cbOU

SA spammers named and shamed! About time... http://bit.ly/7pBSW

This is interesting: Nokia's mobile payment service, Nokia Money. Compete with PayPal mobile and locally, PocIT... http://bit.ly/EUT2Y

RT @sabreakingnews Eskom posts R9.7bn loss http://bit.ly/uAbVu What are they doing? (via @timbritz)

Good day for gadgets and rugby. Proud owner of a Nikon D5000 and an unbeaten tri nations record...

Quietly, quietly on Friday, Nokia releases COMES WITH MUSIC for SA. Free music downloads for a year... Mmmm. http://bit.ly/1sd6D2

My interview with Jake Larsen and thoughts on Nokia Music Store South Africa... http://bit.ly/BcB4H

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Follow us on Twitter @mybyte

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

First off, let me say that I really don't like throwing stones. There's nothing worse than a Blogger bitching in a public forum - unless that bitching just might make a company examine their approach to this channel. Audi haven't listened to me, or even bothered to respond post my incredulous response to this experience. So let's see if they do anything now.

I was looking to outfit my beloved Audi with an iPod jack. So, being a digital native, I went where most would go. Their website. 1 x nice lead form later and I'd submitted my request to the Fourways dealership. One of the options on the lead form was quite nice... How Would You Like To Be Contacted? (I can't get to the phone much - perfect option).

(Click image to enlarge)

Audi then diligently tried to phone me three times. Sigh. That I could forgive. This, I couldn't...

(Click image to enlarge)

The brains trust in the customer service department sent me a SCANNED LETTER, saved to a PDF, inside a... wait for it... EMAIL.

I'm pretty sure I know how this happens. Head office does the site, doesn't tell the dealerships they're putting in this great customer service option (contact by email), dealership has a process where they believe it's better to phone people and hence bash their proverbial heads against my voicemail.

It's the simple things in life. Don't offer something if you can't teach your business to deliver.

My email reply:

Lynn.

Please tell me you're kidding?

I send you a web lead, upon which I tick: "please contact me via email". There's usually a reason I'd tick this.

You don't. You try phone me a couple of times. Then you send me an EMAIL (like I originally asked) containing a scanned document telling me you can't help me?

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Follow us on Twitter @mybyte

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

The Sword & Laser - an online book club...

Just bought my first 2 books recommended by online "book club", The Sword and Laser (Tom Merrit and Veronica Belmont). I highly recommend the first two on their list, and courtesy of some eBucks, I'll be the proud owner of Neuromancer and A Game of Thrones shortly.

Check out The Sword and Laser here.

Their first couple of recommendations look like this:

• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke

I'm liking this book club idea. Guys don't have book club - they play poker. This fills the recommendation gap.

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Follow us on twitter @mybyte and stand in line to win an Acer Aspire Netbook in October

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

From BoingBoing... Excellent stuff - wife beware!

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Register on Mybyte in October and stand in line to win an Acer Aspire Netbook in October

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

This post has been brewing for a while as I've slowly started to embrace the new media content lifestyle. 


It's quite frightening when you look at how the digital natives consume content these days. I don't listen to the radio anymore. Full stop. Too many ads, not enough good content and too reliant on middle-of-the-road personalities.


I've put an iPod jack in the Audi and now consume podcasts on a daily basis. There is some damn good content out there. Here are my top picks - as good a starting point as any.


South African Tech Podcasts

ZA Tech Show
Simon Dingle, Brett Haggard, Duncan McLeod and a whack of other IT journo guests host SA's most technically astute podcast. This is some heavy tech stuff - but no BS, straight down the line. Often accused of talking more about their iPhones than the news, you have to realise - the iPhone is the news. And they're cool. From the latest chips to online gaming to Apple vs PC debates - it's all here.

The Digital Edge
A lot more accessible for those just getting into podcast consumption, The Digital Edge has taken a much more mainstream approach. The episodes are shorter than ZA Tech, highly produced and nicely chunky. While the content can be a little shallow (perhaps because of the brevity), it's really easy to absorb and you'll get a good view of the digital direction in South Africa and abroad.


International Tech Podcasts

TWiT
This Week in Technology. The quintessential, pioneering and most loyally supported tech podcast in the world. Hosted by Leo Laporte, this is a well produced (complete with a live streaming video broadcast) tech gem. The content is accessible, humorous and current. A favourite feature for many is the Audible.com sponsorship and resulting book recommendations.

It has been accused of being a bit of a tech "old boys" club, but when you look past that - you get a quality of guest not available in many other productions. Big tech names: Jason Calacanis, Kevin Rose, Patrick Norton et al. **HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


International Current Affairs Podcasts

No Agenda
It's a bit on the coo-coo side, but Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak cook up a media assassination par excellence. Curry, of MTV VJ fame and subsequently a couple of online startups and a couple more PlayBoy models is a superb anchorman, and although many tend to disagree with Dvorak's (hallowed and cranky US tech journalist) take on things - you can get a lot from a +- 60 year old who has grown up and through the digital age. They cover everything from healthcare to politics to entertainment news, all in a heavy veil of sarcasm. A bit US-biased, but I'm always glad to find other people who think the "system" is poked.


International Music Podcasts

All Songs Considered
Although not digital, NPR's All Songs Considered makes the cut due to sheer production value. Everyone knows a good digital guy/gal requires accompaniment from some good tunes - and this podcast has become my de facto music discovery and analysis source. Bob Boilen and co produce this show weekly, featuring a mix between new music reviews and full track listens and interviews with interesting industry people. A couple of highlights included a 40 minute interview with Andrew Bird and an episode where Bjork DJ'ed some Icelandic Electro. Yes, it's that diverse. The podcast even manages to incorporate music from outside the US - admirable.


It's a great start to your podcast listening life stage. Get going. Who needs radio in a world of bits and bytes anyway eh?

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Register on mybyte and stand in line to win a brand new nokia.

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

* as voted for by a quick crowd-sourcing exercise on Twitter.

So, I've just invested a potload of "buy in" cash, stolen the wife's cellphone contract upgrade and taken the dive into a true SmartPhone experience. Yes, the iPhone 3GS 32 GB is finally mine.

It really is easy to be an Apple fanboy, isn't it.

Obviously one of the most important parts of an iPhone experience is the collection of apps that you have. To that end, I crowd-sourced some local favourites. Here they are! This list is a great starting point for any new iPhone user, or for someone looking to expand their collection. Most are free, and I've indicated where some of the applications seem to be unavailable in the SA iTunes store.

Without further ado...

Most popular iPhone applications for South African users...

Top voted applications, in order of popularity:

1. Evernote
2. Layer (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
3. Shazam (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
4. Tweetie 2
5. Wikipanion
6. Around Me
7. Camera Genius
8. Clutterfree
9. Echofon PRO
10. FaceBook
11. Fring
12. Lightsaber
13. Midomi
14. NY Times
15. Pocket God (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
16. Remote
17. Skype
18. Snapdat
19. The Grid
20. Tom Tom
21. Touch Physics (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
22. Tweetdeck
23. Tweetings
24. WifiTrak

Honorable mentions - applications that received at least 1 vote.

• Airmouse
• Amplitude
• BlogPress
• Snapture
• Stanza
• Sticher
• Gpush
• Golfers Info
• Beejive
• Byline
• Civilisation Revolution
• DSTV Guide
• Flixster
• Google
• The Grid
• iFitness
• Instapaper
• Kindle
• Last FM (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
• LinkedIn
• Monkey Island SE (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
• Paper Toss (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
• Photoshop (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
• PicPosterous
• Pocket Universe
• PS Mobile
• Remember the Milk
• Sneezies (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
• Spend Budget (POSSIBLY INTERNATIONAL)
• TED
• Urban Spoon
• Wordpress 2
• World of Warcraft

Hope you enjoy the list. I'm sure I'll be blogging a bit more about my iPhone experience as it matures. It's pretty easy to sum up at the moment: The battery dies in a day or less, but I can point the phone at the stars and view an augmented reality of star charts and star information (gleaned from my GPS / Altimeter).

That's cool.

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Register on mybyte and stand in line to win a brand new nokia.

 This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield

Not sure where this originated, but it sure is funny...

LMAO. Thank you Claire Taylor for this gem...

Andy Hadfield is one of our www.MyByte.co.za  Thought leaders to subscribe to the Thought Leaders RSS feed click here http://snurl.com/md27j. Still not registered on www.MyByte.co.za ? Join the online network that connects the entire ICT industry in one room –virtually. Simply click here http://www.mybyte.co.za/signup.php its simple and it’s free! Register on mybyte and stand in line to win A Razer Diamondback 3G mouse and a Compact Keyboard K300

This article republished, with permission, from AndyHadfield.com. You can find Andy on his blog www.andyhadfield.com  or on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/andyhadfield