From: gleanings
To: pilgrims
Subject: Gleanings: post-turkey stress syndrome
OPENING THANG
I'm moving kinda slow today, due to excessive turkey abuse and discovering calvados, so enjoy your news free of any extraneous commentary.
NEWS
Business 2.0: Hold the Bells and Whistles.
There are plenty of good ways for Web designers to use broadband. But cramming
flashy videos and whizzy animations down a user's DSL line isn't one of them.
"One of the things we know about Web users from day one is they tend to be
very goal focused," says Forrester Research analyst Randy Souza.
http://www.business2.com/content/magazine/breakthrough/2000/11/20/22110
more news at www.tomalak.org
THE BATTLE OVER SPAM: Last week the Mail Abuse Prevention System
attempted to place e-mail marketer 24/7 Exactis on its Realtime
Blackhole List, which tracks alleged spammers. MAPS claims that 24/7
Exactis didn't uphold a previously negotiated agreement preventing its
clients from sending unsolicited e-mail messages over its network.
24/7 Exactis countered MAPS' attempt by filing suit. The company says
it does not deliver spam and that MAPS based its decision on fewer
than a dozen complaints out of more than 4 billion e-mail messages
sent this year. It won a temporary restraining order from a Colorado
court that prevented MAPS from adding its name to the list, which many
ISPs use as a guideline when making decisions on which e-mail messages
to block from their systems.
http://www.dmnews.com/articles/2000-11-20/11694.html
WEB ADVERTISERS, TAKE NOTE: This week's Nielsen NetRatings Holiday
E-Commerce Index study found a 12 percent increase in traffic to
online retailers and helped shake off fears that this holiday season
may be a bust for the Internet. After last week's report found no
growth in traffic over holiday season 1999, toys and games sites
enjoyed a 47 percent bump while apparel sites racked up a 43 percent
gain. While the jury is still out on the predicted $11.6 billion in
holiday sales, at least the numbers seem to be heading in the right
direction.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-3745081.html?tag=st.ne.1007.thed.ni
more news at www.thestandard.com
posted by Christina Wodtke 11/24/2000 09:26:41 AM
From: gleanings
To: users
Subject: Gleanings: Everyone's got better drugs than me
OPENING THANG
Sorry to leave you gleanless for so long. Things have been a might chaotic in Christina-land, what with going to war with the INS and various mischievous plots that will remain nameless until fruition.
So in my NUA survey newsletter I noticed this
Advertising Age: Mobile users open to ads
Mobile phone users are receptive to the idea of wireless ads,
according to a survey released this week by Ericsson and Mediatude.
http://adage.com/news_and_features/features/20001108/article2.html
Well, other than the obvious suspicions (Ericsson did the survey? yeah, I trust that) I can't help thinking this is a sign of the problems with focus groups and surveys vs. actual testing in a lab with people trying to use the device. Somebody asks you, "Hey, would mind getting ads when you used a free service, and would you like it better if the ads were tailored to you?" and you shrug and say, "sounds fine"
It's a whole 'nother story when you are trying to read that message and an ad is taking up half your tiny precious real estate, causing you to scroll every three works. Or blinking (like ads do in vindigo) making it hard to read the text.
But I'm sure this survey is the drug the wireless folks have been looking for.
Meanwhile, this is merely lame
http://www.wired.com/news/photo/0,1860,40152,00.html , a cube browser
joining
http://maps.map.net/index.html , the internet mapped onto Antarctica,
as part of a new family of innovation without reason.
Folks, please don't say, "would't be cool to map the internet onto Antarctica", or "wouldn't it be cool if I could see five browser windows as a cube". Say, "What are the problems people with navigation, and how can I come up with a solution using a deep understanding of the way people think to make a truly innovative and usable solution". Study the problem, let a solution bubble up. The nifty factor will get you only so far. dude.
go watch this. laugh hard.
http://home.kscable.com/clarkson/Cartoons/PsychicPigs.html
NEWS
Napster: vehicle for piracy or tool of democracy? At this stage,
whether Napster is morally wrong is almost beside the point.
What is clear is that online music distribution is here to stay,
and regardless of the outcome in the Napster trial, the 'big five'
record companies will have to find some way of using it to their
benefit.
http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/weekly_editorial/archives/issue1no153.html
Upside: EMI issues first broad subscription license.
Tribble's Dallas-based Streamwaves just closed a first-of-its-kind deal with
EMI, one of the five major record labels. In doing so, Tribble's company has
become the first dotcom to license a major-label music catalog for sale, by
subscription...
http://www.upside.com/News/3a19d1371.html
Business Week: Internet stores off the scent in France
French perfume makers are going to great lengths to prevent their
products from being sold online.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/nov2000/nf2000118_243.htm
Jupiter Media Metrix: Bright future for online shopping
While etailers may be finding it difficult to make a profit, Europe's
online shopping market is growing strong, according to the latest
findings from Jupiter Research.
http://www.jup.com/company/pressrelease.jsp?doc=pr001113
Industry Standard: The New Encyclopedia Salesmen.
Douglas Adams hopes to bring this fantasy to life with his company, H2g2,
which is turning WAP phones into real-world "Hitchhiker's" guides. H2g2 is
part of a new breed of Internet encyclopedias that are trying to amass a
repository of all-encompassing knowledge by using volunteers.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,20242,00.html
posted by Christina Wodtke 11/22/2000 07:54:59 AM
