The blah, blah, blah about the iPad

The iPad. It is a pretty hot topic: a constant flow of tweets about the latest news of this gadget, 35 million hits on Google, friends discussing whether they should buy one or not and so on. Everyone is talking about it; everyone has an opinion about it. The buzz about this new device: it’s what I call the blah, blah, blah about the iPad.

So, let’s start with the basics: what is the iPad? According to Apple it is “a magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price”. Woohoo, what a marketing slogan! Or in normal language: The iPad is a portable multimedia tablet-pc with a multi-touch screen of 9.7 inch and it weighs around 1.5 pounds. You can read books on it, listen to music, watch movies, play videogames, browse the net etc. etc. Nothing peculiar about it, right? Then what’s all the talk about? Well, first of all, it is a new product from Apple. And Apple = buzz guaranteed. Second of all, apart from the talk about what the iPad can do, there is also a lot of talk about what the iPad can’t do and what programs it doesn’t support.

One of the things that lead to criticism was that the iPad doesn’t support Flash. Apple says that it will create negative effects for the performance of the iPad. However, no Flash means that websites and internet videos will not fully work. Second, multi-tasking is no option on the iPad. Writing a document with four websites open: never gonna happen on the iPad. There is also no camera on this newbie. You can watch photos on it, but no camera?! What the? Moreover, you can’t connect a USB-stick to the iPad: you will need an adapter. Hmmm, that’s too much work for me. And last, the iPad doesn’t have widescreen, which means you will have to watch movies in a 4:3 ratio, just like the old TVs.

Off course, it is not all bad people, there are also advantages. Like I said it can do a lot: eBooks, games, videos, photos etc. and all that on a large screen. Plus the iPad is pretty. Someone on the internet gave the following description: “No one does tech-sexy like Apple”. True. Furthermore, the price really is considered unbelievable. The expectations were that this device would cost around $999, while the starting price is $499. Okay, it is still not cheap, but it is way cheaper than $999.

To buy or not to buy, that’s the question. Do you already have an answer?

Making a comment

I asked you some time ago to leave a comment on my blog once in a while, because I’d like to know what you think about my blog posts. But to make a comment, you must off course know how to do that. Since I got some questions on how to make a comment, I will give you a short explanation.

Ready? Here we go! At the end of each blog post you can read the following: Posted by Carribe24 at Sunday, March 28, 2010 (I will take my last blog post as an example). Next to this, you will find the word Comments.

Step 1: Click on the word Comments. A new webpage will open with the blog post and the comments (if any) which were already written by other people.

Step 2: At the end of the page, you can see Post a comment. Write your comment in the white text box.

Step 3: Click on the box next to Comment as. If you have a Google Account, you can choose that option. If you haven’t got any of the given accounts, you can click on Name/URL. Type in your name (and your own website if you have). If you don’t want your name published, you can also choose for the option Anonymous.

Step 4: Click on Post a comment. Et voilà! Your comment is posted. It is quite easy, isn’t it?

Now you know how to make a comment on a blog. Use the knowledge by leaving one;)

Image created by ~Carribe24

Social media stress? Not anymore!

I missed your Twitter updates, why haven’t you been on Flickr for the past few days, your Facebook needs to be updated, why haven’t you written a new blog yet, you didn’t upload any new videos on YouTube, I thought we would Skype last night and where were you in Second Life yesterday? Say that last sentence out loud. No time to breathe right? Social media: it can be fun, it can be useful, but it can also lead to pressure and even stress. And we don’t want that. So, here are the latest tips (thanks to Soren Gordhamer of Mashable) to reduce social media stress. Yes, again a list with tips. I like lists (really, you should see my agenda) and tips, well, you never know if they might be useful.

Tip 1: Take time to disconnect. Looking at a screen for hours, doesn’t do you any good. It freezes your brain and you cannot process information anymore. Feeling a “brain freeze” coming? Then, turn off that computer (you can do that, be strong!) and go do something else.

Tip 2: Breathe. There it goes: in… and out… Now, don’t forget to do so often.

Tip 3: Eat food that adds energy. And that doesn’t mean that you should drink 10 cans of energy drink a day. Eat HEALTHY food.

Tip 4: Awaken the body: move! Sitting at your desk for hours and hours, that’s not going to increase your working ability. Stand up every once in a while: dance, walk, jump or whatever.

I like to add my own tips too (for what it’s worth)

Tip 5: Pick a time. I heard this at a time management workshop: you should pick a time a day (say 8.00 PM) and write your tweets, blogs and so on at that time and not throughout the whole day. The question is: are you strong enough to check your mailbox, Facebook, Flickr ect. only once a day?

Tip 6: I can manage my own time, thank you. So what, if you haven’t updated your Facebook or your Twitter and you weren’t on Skype yesterday. It’s your life; you are in control of when you do what.

And? Are you gonna change your social media behavior? Will you find the right balance? I am willing to try. So now, I will take time to disconnect and move my body.

PS. Thank you for your comments on my last two posts. Yeah…, I didn’t get any. But I understand: it’s the social media stress. For the people who are still wondering what I changed about my layout: it’s the font.

Shopping in the digital world

Also for those of you who don't like shopping

I can be short about it: I don’t like shopping. The first reaction I always get is: “How is that possible? Girls looooooooove shopping!”. Well, I don’t. I cannot understand what is fun about trying hundreds of clothes on and then, if you’re lucky, going home with one jeans. And what I especially don’t like are those vendors who come running to you, the second you come out of your dressing room, to give you their opinion (no offense: I understand, it’s your job). The problem is: I like having new clothes; I just don’t like shopping for them.

We live in the digital world (Yes, we do). Nowadays, there are all kinds of online shopping devices. First off all, we have web shops without vendors' opinions. Yay! Problem one solved. I can just go to HM.com, Esprit.com or whatever clothes store and shop online. They will deliver the clothes to my home and I can try it on whenever I want. But still, I will have to try them on. Too bad, problem two not solved. However, the solution to this is on its way…

In case you missed it, 3D (short for: 3 Dimensional) is hot again. Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Ice Age and even Titanic will come back to cinema in 3D. The fashion world didn’t want to stay behind: the well-known brand Burberry launched its new collection in 3D at the last fashion week in New York. The experts say that this is only a start. In the future (when, when, when will that be?!) it will be possible to try on clothes without having to change your outfit. A 3D body scan will create a full image of you by capturing about 300,000 points on the body. After the scanning session, you can virtually try on clothes and identify which jeans or sweater fits best. With a 3D body scan, clothing will become custom-made for every single individual. Clothes will fit and you don’t have try them on. Look, now we’re talking!

So are you also counting days till you can try on clothes in 3D? Or are you a shopping lover who likes to try on clothes? If you are, I challenge you to convince me that shopping is fun. If you’re not, join the club (we already have one member: me)!

Spot the difference

Okay, it was time to change a feature of the markup of my blog again. I still like the "old" layout, especially now spring is about to start (the layout gives me this spring/summer feeling). Did you see the first sunbeams last week? Too bad that today is a bit cloudy. But that's the Netherlands: fickle weather. Maybe I should move to a sunnier place. Oh wait, the sun starts to shine now! Anyway, I am straying from the subject: the markup of my blog. Since I didn't want to change the layout, I had to modify something else. So, I did! I kinda doubt if you notice it though. It's like that game: spot the difference. I substituted my Twitter button (cute, isn't it?!), but that's not the main feature that I changed. Have you spotted the difference yet? Maybe it is a lot more obvious than I think it is. You tell me.

A new blog will soon be online! It will be about shopping. And I hear all the men thinking now: no, not about shopping! Hmm, I am suddenly wondering if there are many men reading my blog, but that aside. Don't worry guys, it won't be a girly shopping blog. Not at all. Well, till then: keep on reading.

And the sun is gone again. Stupid weather.

Lay’s wants your taste

Image created by ~Carribe24

Are you a chips (or crisps, whatever) freak? Are you tasteful? Are you into something new? Or would you just like to win money (and let’s be honest: who doesn’t want that?!)? Then the new “Create your own taste” campaign from Lay’s is for you to watch. Chips brand Lay’s is looking for a new chips taste and name, which will be brought on the market as a Lay’s Limited Edition chips in January 2011. And it is up to you, the consumer, what kind of taste that will be. Every Dutchman can invent a new chips taste and send in his or her idea until May the 2nd. You may just come up with the best chips taste and win 25.000 Euros and 1 percent of the sales. Marketing? Off course. The campaign’s kick off at the television program Life4You was just a start. There are still TV-commercials, posters, point of sale materials and way more markethingies (indeed, that’s not a word, but I like it) waiting for you. Besides, network sites like Hyves, Facebook and Twitter (there they are again!) play a part in the campaign. To send in your personal flavor, you must go to lays.nl. Sounds familiar? Yes, it does! What have I taught you when talking about the Zeeman campaign? Right, in this way you are triggered to the site of Lay’s. Marketing, marketing, that’s what is all about. In the end, a jury will pick three tastes which will be available in the stores from October 2010. The Dutch consumer can then vote for its personal favorite taste.

This campaign already aired in Britain and Australia under the name “Do Us a Flavour” (whoever came up with that slogan: I love it). In the United Kingdom, the campaign lead to more than one million entries with tastes such as Chili and Chocolate, Fish and Chips and the final winner: Builder’s Breakfast. This chips flavour has the taste of bacon, sausages, tomato and eggs. Sounds like an English breakfast to me. Will we have typically Dutch tastes like hotchpotch or curly kale? And will this Lay’s campaign also become a big hit? A Zeeman the second? Who knows, that’s your call, I mean, taste.

PS. Do Me a Flavour and leave a comment about what you think of this campaign. What’s your taste?

How to get more Twitter followers

Last lecture my teacher was talking about how to promote your blog. One of the things she said, was that we should make friends on Twitter. With my quite low number of 20 followers (not that I am not happy with you guys), maybe I should do so. But how? I mean you can’t buy friends on a market. How to get more Twitter followers? Here are the latest tips from the net.

Tip 1. This tip differs between the “experts”. Some say you should follow users who follow you back. According to this man (John Chow, who has more than 50.000 followers. You would say he would know something about this topic) you should have at least 100 followers; otherwise you will get negative social proof. People don’t want to follow people with little followers. Hmm, this is not good news for me. Others tip givers tell us that you will have to add people, but not blindly. You have to follow people so you want to make sure they’re interesting to you. I think I am going to stick with this last option.

Tip 2. Explain to your followers what retweeting is and encourage them to retweet your links. So here comes the explanation: at the end of each tweet you can click on the option ‘retweet’. I encourage you to retweet my blog links.

Tip 3. Tweet regularly. I have 35 tweets so far, so I am on my way. But hello, I also have a life to live.

Tip 4. Start a contest. @jasoncalacanis offered a free Mac Book Air if he would reach the #1 most followed spot. He never made it to that first spot, but he got thousands of followers this way. Okay, I am not that anxious to get more Twitter followers. Maybe you are. In that case, I like to win that Mac Book.

Tip 5. Be worth following. Be interesting (anyone knows how to measure your interestingness? Because, I don’t), be informative, be interactive, be promotional, be personal, be considerate and try to find a balance of all the characteristics just mentioned. Good luck with that!

Reading all these tips, makes getting more followers look like a contest. It kinda reminds me about primary school, when your classmate said that he had more Pokémon cards than you. Maybe, I am gonna do something with these tips, maybe I don’t. I will find my own way in the social media, with or without hundreds of followers.