Today Netflix, the popular DVD-by-mail service, announced it will begin offering the ability for customers to instantly watch movies over the Internet. You can read their press release here:

http://www.netflix.com/MediaCenter?id=5384

As a Netflix customer and someone who likes to see companies break from the mold of purely physical music and video, this is a step forward. Though it is only available to Windows PC users, I think it will be popular as they are planning a phased approach and have worked it into their existing pricing model. This way, you should actually be able watch a movie without the servers being taxed too much, and you won’t have to change anything to do so.

Of course this enhancement is not perfect. You are not downloading a video to watch at your convenience, you are watching a streamed movie on your PC. Also, not all movie titles will be made available for viewing. But after waiting weeks to receive DVDs over the recent holidays, it will be a nice option to have, and an even nicer choice when Comcast’s On-Demand service does not have anything I am interested in, which for me was the catalyst for signing up for Netflix in the first place.

It will be interesting to see the reaction of the movie industry to this offering – will they jump on the bandwagon, or just make their back catalog available? It is a step by a major player in the direction of a pure digital world of watching or listening to whatever, whenever, a step towards convergence that is easier to use without having to buy a pricey, flat-screen telephone.

Business • Technology • (3) Comments • Permalink

I start my mornings with the TV news on in the background, with the hope that subliminally I will retain the overnight activities of the world. On occasion, there is a useful nugget from a guest on a non-news topic that sticks in my mind, and today it was the topic of words.

The author of Words That Work, Frank Luntz, was on the tube stumping his new book. He is a political consultant and the example he gave was from the 2004 presidential campaign, comparing the words spoken by John Kerry, which tended to reflect his Yale education, and the words by George W. Bush, which… um… tended not to reflect his Yale education.

As this was swirling in my head, another good work on words came to mind. Dr. Peter Meyers of Tminus2 Consulting wrote a "geek guide" (a.k.a. white paper) on the topic of Speaking geek to customers which he makes available on his blog, debabblog. It offers good advice for technical folks in talking to clients or customers about technology without causing their eyes to roll to the back of their head.

Now the classic 80's song Cult of Personality by Living Colour is playing in my head, with its edited quote from Malcolm X, “[w]e want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand.” Though I can't recall what today's weather forecast is.

---

This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

---

Did you enjoy this? Subscribe to The Hot Iron by RSS/XML feed or Read by Email.

  

---

Business • Technology • (4) Comments • Permalink

As today I experienced two incidents of what I would consider poor customer experiences – both before noon – I thought I would share a couple of positive encounters I recently had with large companies.

Realizing the problem

Did you know you can pretty much return a Staples-brand product at any time for a replacement or refund? When I returned a shredder several months back, the clerk and on-duty manager did not know that. After realizing the cost of shipping a shredder for repair, as the manager advised me to do, would cost more than the shredder itself, I went to the form on the Staples Web site and submitted my problem.

Within four hours, I received a call from the assistant manager of that Staples store – not from the headquarters – apologizing for the problem and offered to process the exchange personally plus a coupon for a future visit. By the end of the day, I was back shredding and wondering what to buy next from Staples.

Not their problem, but still

Midway Airport in Chicago has two gates for AirTran Airways that are down what appears to be an add-on corridor from the main concourse. It’s an interesting setup, as it literally hovers over the exterior wall of the airport. Realizing that flyers would be taken aback by this, AirTran has several humorous signs along the way, which help make the trek easier. What is not down the corridor are recycle bins (there is also not a rest room, but I digress). As I had a stack of just-read magazines to throw in a typical Chicago blue bin, I managed to get to the main concourse and make it back to the gate before my flight took off.

I know this is clearly an airport issue. However, I decided to contact AirTran, and went to the form on their Web site and submitted this issue. Within 24 hours, I got a personal reply to my query. They acknowledged that it was not their direct responsibility (as I stated in my submission) but offered to forward it to airport management. The respondent thanked me for flying AirTran, and also for recycling – clearly not a purely canned response.

It’s nice to think happy thoughts, isn’t it?

Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

I recently switched from Verizon Wireless to T-Mobile, and it had nothing to do with the mobile phone service itself. They lost me, believe it or not, due to their billing system.

Shortly after I moved from Boston to Chicago, I had a problem with my Kyocera 7135 Palm smartphone and went to the closest Verizon Wireless-owned store. They told me as I established the service out east, I would have to call them as they were on a different billing service. While I thought this was odd, I was able to call Verizon and get a new (actually refurbished) phone overnight, so I was not concerned. And when I had problems with the replacement phone, and 2 subsequent Treo 600’s, one call took care of it. Again I was content, so no cause for concern.

The clincher was when I wanted to add a phone line with a Chicago area code (the other numbers were Boston area codes) and they told me that due to 7 different billing systems, I would have to establish a separate account for the Chicago number. Needless to say, my mouth dropped, and even after telling the rep that this may cause me to leave being a Verizon customer for seven years, they said there was nothing they could do.

But there was something I could do – leave. I have been with T-Mobile for over a month, after taking more of the rep’s time than is probably typical. I moved all of my lines, got free phones, and the Internet package including the Hotspot service found in Starbucks was cheaper than Verizon’s Internet offering. Not to mention T-Mobile’s true GSM service and the ability to use my new unlocked Treo 680 (more on that later).

And Verizon’s response for me leaving? $50 off the cost of a new phone for coming back. Sorry, I didn’t quite hear that.

Business • (0) Comments • Permalink

The telephone company SBC bought AT&T and became “the new AT&T.” Sorry, that’s at&t – all lower case. This happened earlier in 2006, yet they still say they are new. Even when they first announced it, I didn’t know what was new, other than the case change of their name, a 3rd dimension to their logo, and renaming some services (e.g. not calling it DSL anymore).

Now that at&t is acquiring BellSouth, will it still be new? As they have indicated they will eliminate the brand Cingular, will it be “the new at&t wireless?”

I don’t know. I looked up the definition of the word new at Merriam-Webster’s Web site and it was no help either.

Maybe AOL not charging for its service anymore and going by – you guessed it – “the new AOL” leads towards the answer?

Business • (1) Comments • Permalink