Orioles/Rays: The Real AL East Rivalry?
Posted by junger - 04/30/08 at 10:04:16 pm
ESPN's Page 2 has a hilarious article up on "the next great sports rivalry … Orioles-Rays."
Welcome to the future of the American League East.
The Orioles are in first place, percentage points ahead of the Red Sox. Boston, hanging on to its dynasty by its fingernails, is the only thing standing between Baltimore and the fast-rising Tampa Bay Rays.
Obviously, it isn't going to stay this way. The Red Sox are the clear talent in the division, and the Yankees are, well, the Yankees.
But the "rivalry" will be exciting … while it lasts.
Give the story a read if you have a chance — it's the best comedy this side of The Onion. And it even quotes the Simpsons.
1. Aug. 8, 2000: Orioles win 10-9 (15 innings)
The Rays scored five in the eighth to send the game to extras. It took seven more innings for the O's to win the longest game in the history of this heated rivalry. The losing pitcher was Esteban Yan, who was immortalized by Bart and Milhouse in a game of baseball in the park, still the best random sports reference in the history of "The Simpsons."Bart: "I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
Milhouse: "And I'm Esteban Yan of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays!"
Step aside Yankees Universe and Red Sox Nation
You Are Not Your Users
Posted by junger - 04/28/08 at 04:04:12 pm
If there's one big thing I took away from Usability Week, it's that you are not your users.
It's a mantra every Web publisher should repeat constantly — in fact, you might want to even write it on a Post-It note and leave it in plain sight.
I run into this problem a lot with people who come from the print media world. The old school of thought is that you put out your product, take a survey or two of your audience, and make a change when necessary. But for the most part, your product is your product — you get to define it as you want.
When it comes to Web publishing (especially in the B2B world), your definitions are not always the same as your users. From Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox:
A simple example: Many sites use segmentation, in which users must click through to the appropriate site segment. Unfortunately, these segments often don't match the way customers think of themselves, and thus require them to peek through multiple site areas to find the right one. Even a simple segmentation such as company size isn't obvious. What counts as small? Better sites will annotate their choices with a definition (stating, for example, that their small business segment targets companies with less than 100 employees).
Your users come to you for a specific piece of information — the sooner you give it to them (and the easier it is for them to find it), the more likely they will come back to you.
Real estate sites are horrible at this. We've been looking for a bit now, and are generally annoyed at the lack of information (pictures, etc.) given on realtors' Web sites.
From their viewpoint, they want you to give them a call to find out more. But as a user, you want to gather as much information as possible before making that call. It's frustrasting when you can't.
The next time you think about re-organizing your site or restricting the amount of information you present, remember: you are not your users.
Does Emailing Your Blogs Really Count?
Posted by junger - 04/18/08 at 08:04:57 am
I get a lot of stuff from PR people — tons of emails, press kits, sometimes even fruit snacks. But blogs?
Apparently, the folks at DisplaySearch think that's the way to go with their marketing.
Instead of sending me a release, they send me their blogs. Like releases. But blogs.
This is weird, right? Does that actually count? I mean, I agreed to get your press releases, but didn't sign up for your RSS feed or email alerts.
Now in reality, their blogs are really just press releases for their studies, written in a "blog style." (This goes back to my whole "everyone has different expectations for a blog" rant.)
But for some reason, it makes me a little annoyed. I'm on the list for press releases, not your blogs. If I wanted to read them, I would have subscribed.
I think this is weird. Don't you?
HDMI vs. Component: The New Format War
Posted by junger - 04/17/08 at 12:04:47 pm
Searching for a new format war?
Look no further than HDMI vs. Component Video. Yeah, it's not a new battle, but it sure is one that's being fought pretty tooth and nail by custom installers.
In the HDMI vs. component debate, plenty of people have strong opinions on the subject. CE Pro recently solicited these opinions via an e-mail blast.
The vast majority of respondents far prefer to use component video for a number of reasons. Most of the complaints about HDMI center around distance issues, the challenge of terminating in the field, the fact that the connections easily disconnect, the fragility of the cables, the large connector size and HDMI’s far greater expense.
There were also a number of complaints about compatibility issues, the lack of HDMI standards, HDCP issues and a negligible quality improvement.
In the Unger household, we use both: component from our cable box, and HDMI from our upconverting DVD player. It's a pretty simple solution and we haven't yet run into any problems.
But for guys who are making their living setting up home entertainment systems, non-functioning equipment is a huge problem. And as much as you may argue otherwise, a lot of it has to do with HDCP (the content protection scheme used in HDMI to "prevent piracy."
When I caught up with Steve Venuti of HDMI Licensing at EHX, he pretty much admitted that a lot of the early problems could have been avoided if HDCP didn't exist.
HDMI would have entered the market easier without HDCP, but the studios wouldn't have let it happen. "It's a situation not everyone is happy with," he says. "But the reality is, they own the content."
So if I buy a Blu-ray disc, they still own the content? That's the problem with content "protection" in general: it assumes that consumers are thieves. What business gets away with treating its customers like that?
Component video does not have HDCP. And that's one of the big reasons installers like it — there's no handshakes to go along with it.
But this war is not new: it's not like component video has come out as an alternative to HDMI — it's been around for much longer. So think of it more as SACD vs. CD — which one do you buy?
Exactly.
PS – thanks to Gordon for making the comparison to HD DVD to me, which inspired this post.
Subscribe to Updates via Email, RSS or Twitter
Posted by junger - 04/15/08 at 05:04:26 pm
If you're only checking the blog when the spirit moves you, you're missing out on a lot of good content.
Consider signing up for updates via email or subscribing to the RSS feed (if you don't know what that means, get the email updates).
Both methods allow new stories to get sent straight to you; it's perfect if you don't have the time to surf on over to the site. Literally, the entire story comes your way — not just a headline and a link.
If you're interested in finding out more on a meta level, consider adding me to your Twitter account (that's what that little box on the left is, Mom).
I'm very good about keeping up with the people who are keeping up with me — so if you've got a blog or a Twitter account or just want to be friends on Facebook or LinkedIn, let me know and we'll make that connection.
Don't worry, I won't sell you on eBay.
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