Once again my young daughters are teaching me about technology, they talk to 'robots' on MSN. Am I the only person in the universe that didn't know about Messenger Bots? My daughters seemed to think so...

Search for spleak@hotmail.com, or take a look at http://gallery.live.com/messenger - there are bot tools for music, games, news. They even help my daughter with her homework. Just add them to your contact list and interact with them in natural language.

How long before these bots become brand tools? News of latest product launches, basic product info, promotions... as usual the opportunities are endless :))

Posted by Colin at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm a great fan of Budweiser ads, so I was pleased to discover the Bud Screen - which offered full screen DVD quality viewing of the ads, as well as "Free downloads", "Specials... And More".

The only hitch, I had to download the screen and install it onto my desktop. This is a fairly high barrier to participation, even for a brand fan like me. Well, I did it out of curiosity... downloaded and installed the Bud Screen.

This was maybe 9 months ago. I looked at it once, enjoyed the ads, and forgot about it (I've just been tidying up my desktop, which is why I rediscovered it). Where are the free downloads? The special offers? the "more"?

They have direct access to my desktop! And they've chosen to do nothing with it. Nothing at all. Very disappointing.

Posted by Colin at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Consumers know that products with more features are harder to use, but before they purchase a product they value its capability more than its usability.

Once consumers have purchased a product, their preferences change. Suddenly, usability matters very much.

These are the findings of research published in Harvard Business Review. And of course, it makes perfect sense. But what are the implications? Well, one implication is that loading a technology product with a high number of features can maximize initial sales, but will not maximize lifetime value (because usability of the product is low).

Posted by Colin at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)