A bit of background – in June Rogers announced that it would be providing customers with the ability to upgrade to the iPhone 4.  It was around the same time that Apple formally acknowledged issues with their new devices th

Rogers iPhone 4 Email from June 2010. [...]]]> How not to run a marketing campaign courtesy of Rogers.

A bit of background – in June Rogers announced that it would be providing customers with the ability to upgrade to the iPhone 4.  It was around the same time that Apple formally acknowledged issues with their new devices th

Rogers iPhone 4 Email from June 2010. The last email I have received from Rogers regarding the iPhone 4. Why so silent?

at under certain circumstances could result in dropped calls.  In the process, the supply of iPhones all but dried up as Apple worked on a fix.  As of the time of this writing, inventory in Canada is still in low supply.

As a current Rogers customer I was invited (well after visiting their website and providing my email address) to be informed of the upcoming release.   The last email I have ever received is the one shown here.  And NOTHING, not a word since.  In the meantime, the iPhone has been released to the public.  And still nothing from Rogers – no front of the line privileges, no phones set aside for me.  Instead I had to go and seek out the iPhone myself – of course they were sold out everywhere.

Finally in Mid-August by chance I stumbled upon a Rogers store that had 5 left in stock.  I got in line – and was customer number 5.  As the iPhones were issued – I got excited – here we go.  But when the line got to customer number 3 – that person decided to take two phones!   Thus denying me a phone.

Since then I’ve gone into Rogers stores that have told me they’ve never seen an iPhone 4, and the regular Rogers store has a sign buried inside the store that tells customers that they are currently out of stock of the devices.  But a clerk at this one location told me to keep coming in on Monday’s and Friday’s as they are the days that the store receives new shipments.

In the weeks since, I’ve continued my degrading visits into the stores to get my phone – of course each time leaving more annoyed and hater of the Rogers brand.

So what’s gone wrong?

Rogers should know better.  When the iPhone 3 and 3G were released – it was a highly sought out device – so there is NO EXCUSE for Rogers to not be prepared for high demand and have a plan in place.

What would I have done?

Let’s face it, once you’re locked into a Phone company, they own you.  Fine, I get it.  The money is in keeping customer and more importantly expanding their customer base.   With the launch of iPhone 4 Rogers now had to compete with Bell and Telus – as these companies now were able to sell the devices.

1.  Keep your customers updated.  Customers understand that problems can arise – are are forgiving.  So why on earth hasn’t Rogers sent out emails (to those who’ve opted in) informing them of the problems Rogers is having securing phones?  Silence is no answer, no excuse.

2. Incentivize Waiting. Every single new iPhone 4 should be going to new customers.  Those who already have an iPhone and Rogers customers should be at the bottom of the list.   Rogers should provide a good incentive for my patience.  Say 3 months free at the end of a 3 year contract.   Reason at the end of the contract is double fold – if I leave Rogers early they won’t lose out because of the offer also in year 3, I’ll have forgotten about this offer and it will be a nice feel good bonus at a time that I may consider moving to the competition.   This makes their current customers happy with the delay and frees up badly needed inventory to new customers.

3. Don’t play games with your customers.   A Rogers store rep admitted to me today that they aren’t allowed to display in the window signs stating that they’re out of stock of iPhones.  So they make their customers enter the store each and every time they’re curious about more iPhones being available.  Their logic is that by having me come in their sales clerks can sell me another device – good luck.   Just be straight up – find a real solution.  Text me when a phone is ready, send me an email, create a website showing where they’re in stock.

Really Rogers, you can do better.   Making your customers beg for a phone is a joke.  Even worse when you leave your customers in the dark.

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As I’ve said before 2010 is the year of the tablet, but we need to keep in mind – it’s not [...]]]>

So now Nokia is the latest participant in the tablet race.  And who cares?  Maybe the same crowd that thinks there’s still hope for Palm (See my note at the end of this article)?

As I’ve said before 2010 is the year of the tablet, but we need to keep in mind – it’s not about the hardware, but it’s all about the content.  As I see it the only worthy opponent for Apple’s market share is the Google Android, and it comes back to the applications.  And the HP Slate is bound to fail as it will be built on the cumbersome Windows 7 Mobile protocol, great for Netbooks – but not a thumb friendly OS.

The Tablet Market was open to anyone for the past several years, so this 12th hour attempt to get into a market because they need to compete with Apple is doomed to fail.

People seem to forget that the iPad isn’t some whim, rather it’s based on over a decade (plus) of software design, testing and real-world use centered around it’s iPod/iPhone platform.   Early versions of both the iPhone and iPod did have their bugs and flaws.

But at the heart of why Apple will win is content.  Every new iPhone/iTouch/iTunes app, song or video that a person buys is an additional strike against all other competitors.   Windows success as a computing platform can be traced back to being first to market.  As consumers purchased more and more Windows based products, the more entrenched the operating system became.

(This was wrote in April – before Palm was purchased by HP)

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Sure smart phones have started the march down the path of always [...]]]>

So everyone is bitching today that the iPad is a bit of a disappointment, that they expected something ‘ground breaking’ or ‘revolutionary’.   Well, you have.  What the iPad will accomplish in it’s first year is it will start to make digital data ambiguous.

Sure smart phones have started the march down the path of always on, always available data.  But iPad will push it to a whole new standard – to the point where it’s culture changing.

See smart phones are singular – an entity for one, a laptop is designed for one and a desktop PC is designed only to be used by  one.  But the iPad goes somewhere else: it’s a collective device.  It’s not easy to share onscreen information on any of these devices with others unless your under ideal conditions.  The iPad changes this, you can hold it up to show people the screen, slide it across a boardroom table, flip it around, pass it back and forth, put it down, pick it up.  The interface is fluid – quick, easy and efficient – therefore your not interfering with the flow of the conversation, the exchange of ideas – in and out data – no waiting for the laptop to boot, connecting to a network, getting the mouse to work, navigating a complex (attention required) interface – clicks and concentration required – and ultimately that’s the difference.

iPhones and all other computer devices to date are singular – iPads are collaborative and that makes it a culture changer.

Part II will look at how always on digital will change our society.

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To me the last decade was the decade of the internet.  Sure it started in the 90′s but the true infrastructure and adoption occured just [...]]]>

Hindsight is always rather entertaining.  Looking back you see just how naive we were and how we felt at the time that we had progressed further than what time shows.

To me the last decade was the decade of the internet.  Sure it started in the 90′s but the true infrastructure and adoption occured just in the last decade.  So people are correct in thinking that “we’re there”, we’re done”, “the internet has been built”.  NOPE. SORRY. WRONG.  The 2000′s saw the building of the World Wide WEB.  The key word is WEB.  It’s the tubes, some islands, but not the complete network rather just the road system in virgin territory.

The 2010 to 2020 is the decade of the Network.  We’ve been talking for 20 years about your fidge calling you to tell you that your out of milk.  Well this is the decade that you’ll really, truely see that come true.

The biggest factor that has occurred and took over a decade to build is that of the network.  It was this how long it took to get always on networking into everyone’s home (talking Canada of course).  People are adding more and more WIFI network hubs in their house.

So the stage has been set.  It’s been set for everything to finally begin to network.  Think of all the products you can have in your home that have become available in the last year that are web enabled: Blu-ray players, Playstation 3, xBox 360, Televisions, skype phones, printers, picture frames, etc.

The landscape is now beging to be populated with products that can actually talk to each other.  But this is just the start.  Wal-mart has forced all suppliers to ensure their products are RFID enabled.  What is RFID?  A small electronic bar code that can be read from a distance by various devices – such as electronic scanners at the cash register or by various other readers used for things like anti-theft or inventory.

RFID has the added attribute that every single product made on earth could hypothetically have it’s own unique identifying “pin” number.  You could for example follow a coke can from production, through the supply chain to the trash can, all the way to the recycling factory.   Add in GPS or other Geo-based tracking you could know where that can was at all times over it’s lifespan – yes it is very big brother.

But the positive side is that our homes using similar technologies will help result in the truely smart home – where everything begins communicating with everything else.  Your stereo could pass along to your car your favourite songs, your furnace would kick in cause it knows your only 4 blocks from home – but only in the den and kitchen because those are the only two rooms you use on a Tuesday evening.  I’ll expand in future posts on what future trends I precive.

For good or for bad, the next decade will see advances in everyday computer technology and interaction like you’ve never could have imagined.  (Think iPhone in 1995).

e the rise of the network.  Last decade was that of the Internet, and the 80′s were that of the computer.

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