I'm a little saddened today as I watch every single website and big box retailer sell out of their HP Touchpads at $99 a pop. I'm even more sad- and a tad angry, because it means that the tablet wars are going in the same direction as the cell phone wars have- leading to a big war between Apple and Android. Not that we couldn't see that coming from 50 miles away, but I like to root for the underdog- especially when the underdog has a great product that's overshadowed by the "majority rules" thinking by those who think they know the tech world. Seriously, when's the last time you've seen a retailer give a non Android/Apple device decent floor space, or even the last time one of them has talked up a Windows or WebOS phone? But I digress.

Long story short, HP's decision to ax the Touchpad after 49 days was a bad one. Here are a few things they could have done differently.

1: Back To School Tie In

With school just around the corner, HP should have taken advantage of the buzz around tablets and colleges and taken a page from Apple's book. For years, Apple offered an iPod with the purchase of a computer during Back To School season. While making a $500 tablet a free tie in would be stupid, HP should have turned it into a way to reduce the price and get the tablet some much needed word-of-mouth publicity. If a student buys a laptop whose base price is $XXX or more, they can throw in a Touchpad for just a mere $200 or $300. College students are impressionable, and for each student that has something, they're bound to run into 100 students who at least give it a second glance.

2. What About The Phone?

HP's WebOS platform was actually cool. Although their phones were too small for me, some of the things they could do were pretty awesome. Like Blackberry phones and tablets, HP's mobile front had the ability to communicate, something that iOS and Android haven't done (or at least marketed) effectively. WebOS tablets, like Blackberry's, could notify you when your phone was ringing, but WebOS could also share things between the phone and tablet by placing the phone on top of the tablet. For example, if you have a webpage pulled up on your tablet and need to leave it behind, you could place the phone on the tablet, and it would pull up the website on the phone. Pretty neat stuff. iPads sell because their commercials show what the product can really do; I wish they had based their commercials off some of the tablet's cooler technology rather than have Lea Michele and Russell Brand hawk the basic features that come on every tablet.

3. Sell it at $99 initially

Yes, I typed that right. Bear with me here. Companies are incredibly focused on the bottom line nowadays, but you really can't do that when you're entering a brand new market with stiff competition. For example, when 2K Sports geared up to put out NFL 2K5, they notices that they were losing market share to Madden. So what did they do? They one upped Madden on just about every possible facet of the game, including an ESPN license and a cool camera perspective where gamers could control a player by only seeing what the players see- through the facemask. But the biggest thing they did? The game was only $20, compared to Madden's $50. Dropping an Andrew Jackson on the game was a far smaller investment, and it got 2K Sports some publicity and exposure, which is what you need more than anything when entering a new market. Those first couple of years, the bottom line should not be so important. 2K Sports got out of the game, however, when EA Sports went and got the exclusive NFL license, making them the only show in town, not because of sales. If HP sold the Touchpad at an introductory price of $99, or even at $199, they would have gotten some serious publicity. All the "deals" sites would have carried the ad, and even if buyers were late coming to the party, the word of mouth from the initial sale would have been monstrous.

Fire selling their tablet at $99, HP has only confirmed that the tablet wars are about to seriously change. Android tablets aren't selling that hot, and they may have to undercut themselves to boost sales. We'll see what happens soon, but HP's decision to kill off their tablet (and their phones, for that matter) was, for lack of a better word, stupid.

Google Plus Needs a Multiplier

Just a quick random thought: if Google wants people to start using Google Plus and take away market share,they really should have launched with apps on every single major mobile and tablet OS. Why? Well, people are using their social media services on the go so much more these days. Plus, they could really dig into the iPad market. Facebook has yet to release an official app, and none of the knockoffs are especially good in my opinion. Plus, the main site through Safari works, but isn't very good. When it comes to social media, constant exposure is king.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mortal Kombat- Pure Genius

Mortal Kombat just got a whole lot more badass. Freddy Kreuger- yes THAT Freddy Kreuger, will soon be making his Outworld Tournament debut as a downloadable character. Take a look at the video below to see what the crown prince of Elm Street has in store for the other kombatants.



I'm so happy that the good people behind Mortal Kombat did this- I'm just wondering what took them so long. Mortal Kombat is a gory, no holds barred type of game that can scare the living crap out of 5 year olds and impressionable adults alike. That being said, wouldn't horror movie villains be the perfect characters to add to a game like this? The DC crossover seemed like a decent idea at the time...until we found out that none of the heroes would be programmed to brutally murder their opponents. Lame. The movie killers are primed for some incredibly inventive fatalities- I mean, who could forget this?

I'd love to see other movie killers make their way into this game. Maybe not so much Norman Bates (although he could replace Noob Saibot with the whole shadow thing), but the guy from Scream, the Texas Chainsaw Killer, or even Chucky.Of course, I wouldn't say any of this if it didn't lead up to Jason. I would love to see the REAL Freddy Vs. Jason happen in this game, but regardless of what happens, adding Freddy to Mortal Kombat was a great great move.

A Look Back At Friendlier, Tastier Skies

I love to fly. I hate paying $350 to do it, but I love it. I don't know why, considering how little added value I get for my money-especially compared to 20 or 30 years ago, when flying was an experience. Now, it's no different than the Japanese bullet train- pack 'em in, get 'em there quick, and charge a new crop of suckers. There's very little hospitality, and I'm sad that I missed that period of American aviation; you didn't need a first class ticket to feel like a first class customer. Check out this United Airlines commercial from 1984:



Now granted, this was a commercial dedicated to grabbing customers, but it also shows that airlines back then showed a different caliber of respect and loyalty to their customers. Now, it's so impersonal that I might as well take the CTA across country. At least then I get the awesome CTA guy doing voiceovers. (ding-dong...DOORS CLOSING!)

I Scream, You Scream....

On Wednesday, April 27th, Baskin Robbins will run their 31-Cent Scoop Night, which has become a yearly tradition. It's a great way to take the family, friends or significant other out on the cheap. More importantly, however, the night is dedciated to donating to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). If you have a spare buck or two (as I imagine you would, since you're getting ice cream for next to nothing), please donate, as all the money donated to each Baskin Robbins goes to helping local fire charities.

As a result of this event, the Flavor of the Month is called Firehouse #31; here's a description of the ice cream in the words of Baskin Robbins:

We're bringing the heat with a crunchy hot cinnamon ribon laced through red cinnamon ice cream and packed with hot candy pieces! Vanilla ice cream puts out the fire.

By the way, I just want to point out how cool Baskin Robbins' logo is; it's been out for a few years now, but I just wanted to point out how cool it is that the initials are colored so there's a pink 31 right there in the middle. It's definitely one of my favorite logos from the last few years.

Is EA Sports phasing out Tiger Woods?

Okay, so maybe I'm a little paranoid here, but I'm looking at the covers of the last three Tiger Woods golf video games, and it seems like EA Sports is showing us where they lie on the Tiger Woods situation. Even after losing numerous sponsors after his infidelity scandal, EA stood by him. But how much longer will they? Let's take a look at the covers:

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10: Pre-Incident

Five months before the madness began, Tiger was still one of the world's elite golfers, and it didn't look like anything would be changing; at this time, he had been the face of EA's golf franchise since 1999, and things weren't looking to change anytime soon.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11: Post-Incident

After the incident, a good number of Tiger's sponsors dumped him, as did advertisers, including Tag Heuer, Accenture, and Gillette. Although EA chose to stand by Tiger, they also took the opportunity to transfer some of their eggs to another basket. The basket in question is North Irish golfer Rory McIlroy. With Ryder Cup online play being introduced in Tiger Woods 11, this gave EA the perfect opportunity to begin a transfer of power from Woods to another rising star.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: Tiger Underperforms

Let's see....there's a little issue here......TIGER ISN'T EVEN ON THE COVER THIS YEAR. Moreover, Woods' name, normally front and center, has been relegated to the bottom of the box in smaller print. This could represent a pretty big shift in the game's title; the game may be renamed to get rid of Tiger altogether next year.

This shift has been gradual, and the only way Woods can reverse it is by winning. There's nothing else to apologize for, and the infidelity scandal is fully behind him. There's no more time to talk; Woods has to put up or shut up, or he'll be released from his EA endorsement deal for a brand new reason; he just can't play golf anymore.

...but the special features are the best part!

So today I got back to school, and as I expected, my next Netflix movie came in. I had put Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in my queue in the first week of November, just a couple days after the movie made its way to DVD. Netflix promptly informed me that considering how many had put the movie in their queue before me, I wouldn't see a copy until December 10. The day it was released, it became the top selling Blu Ray disc on Amazon.com, so I could see why this wait could take some time.

Anyways, I'm getting off track. After driving a few hours back to school, I was happy to see the DVD waiting for me in my mailbox...I promptly put it in, watched the movie (it was awesome, by the way), and decided to watch the special features right after.

THEN THIS CAME UP.

What. The. Hell?

Seriously, I get that this is no different than renting a movie on VHS 10 years ago- you get the movie, and that's it. But if you're going to include the Special Features section, then I'd like to see some special features! Might as well produce a bare bones DVD with just the movie on it- at least then I know what I'm getting into. But I hope that this isn't what Netflix is turning into- as awesome as it is, I'd hate to be swindled out of what some consider to be the best part of the movie because it gives you a more complete experience. It's like reading a Mark Twain novel from his personal set of notes (or replace Mark Twain with your favorite author-whatever works for you). What's next, TV show seasons?

I don't mind that this happened, but at least give me fair warning by omitting the section entirely, not just inserting a blocker. But you still are screwing me out of what amounts to just ten minutes of extra scenes, so there's no need to be petty in the first place.

Dumbing Us Down in 30 Second Intervals

I am a proud man. I stand by my fellow man when he is wronged, and justice must be served. Now women do have a lot of double standards to work through, but there is one that they never mention: Women who bond against men are seen as strong, independent, and brave. Men who bond against women are seen as chauvinist pigs. I like women...a lot....but I'll risk looking like a chauvinist if it means standing up for what I feel is wrong. If you read my title, you may be able to infer what I'm going to go after here.

Yep, it's those damn TV commercials that make men look like complete idiots.

I'm sure some women will read this and day to themselves "But men are stupid!". Hold the phone. We may do some things that make us SEEM stupid, but we are far from it. Moreover, all women aren't that clever.

And these ads are EVERYWHERE. According to these ads, women are flawlessly outfoxing, manipulating, and outthinking their husbands, boyfriends, brothers, and potential suitors. Not only that, but where do they find the men for these commercials? Most of these guys are greasy, overweight, bumbling fools who probably are pretty dumb in real life. Not once have I seen a commercial where men turn the tables on women.

Sure, I understand that companies want to appeal to women, as they are more active consumers than men. But do we have to appeal to women at the expense of making our gender look like imbeciles? Does it take that level of coddling and compliment-fishing to make women choose one brand over another?

Here are some of my favorite examples- one DiGiorno pizza commercial has a wife questioning her husband about mud tracks on their carpet. He lies and says it was the pizza guy, but then she finds out at the end of the commercial that it was actually her husband, who left the DiGiorno box on the kitchen counter. Sure, he probably shouldn't have told the lie, but if I were going to do that, I would have destroyed the evidence first.

Another recent Sprint commercial that touts their new all-in-one unlimited 3G package starts with a guy and a girl sitting at a diner. She sends him a text right there saying she wants to break up. While she's overenthusiastic about it, he seems kinda dejected. To make matters worse, she rubs salt in his wounds by changing her Facebook relationship status, sending him an email, all with a grin on her face.  Then, to top it all off, she calls him WHILE SITTING RIGHT ACROSS FROM HIM. Not exactly subtle about the breakup, now is she? I've got a sinking feeling she'd been a cheating whore for the past couple of months anyways. That guy can do better.

There's another where the guy is tying a fan to his cat's tail to get a stagnant air freshener to spread a fragrance in their home. His wife then rolls her eyes, gives him a pitied look, and plugs in a Glade Air Freshener. I don't think any man would be dumb enough to try that, let alone be concerned about the fact that his house doesn't smell like fresh lilies.

Last, but not least, is a Domino's commercial. The husband says to his wife that the pizza will arrive in 30 minutes, comes out in a silk robe, and basically proposes a round of sex. She then says to him in a deadpan/cut-down (i.e. Leah Remini-like) way "Well, what are we gonna do with the other 28 minutes?". The only person to ever pull that line off and be funny was Mrs. Roper on Three's Company....God bless that woman.

Here's the way I see it....it's unhealthy to make new friends by making fun of old ones. Same applies here- I hate these commercials, and although they don't affect my decision making, they're not enjoyable. I'd like to laugh or be influenced to buy something when I see a commercial, and not have to go "man, that's fucked up" every 30 seconds.

I am Man, hear me roar.

Questions Will Become Answers

The NHL has gained a legitimate head of steam since the 2004-05 lockout season, but has really been charging over the past two years. High scoring games, great matchups, and other integral improvements have quickly transformed the NHL into a mainstream league. It's amazing to think that a league that lost $200 million nearly two decades ago just turned a $180 million profit this past season.

How can you not love the NHL? The games are exciting to watch, the fans are as raucous as the Raider Nation, there's excessive fighting, and awesome goal celebrations. Basically it offers all the things that the NFL does at a fraction of the price.

This past season, the NHL really gained notice with the influx of stars who played for their home countries in the Olympics. With 27.6 million viewers, the gold medal game between the US and Canada was the most watched hockey game in the US since the 1980 gold medal game at the Lake Placid Olympics, just two days after the United States defeated the Soviet Union in the "Miracle On Ice" game.

Another recent addition in the NHL is the Winter Classic. On New Year's Day, two teams play a regulation game outdoors. Of course, that limits the game to the Midwest, Northeast, and Canada, but the game not only draws some of the NHL's highest ratings each year, but they also sell out stadiums and baseball fields that seat more than 40000 people. I wanted to go to the 2009 game between the Red Wings and Blackhawks, but tickets cost upwards of $200...and that was all the way up top in the not-so nosebleeds.

The Friendly Confines hosted the 2009 Winter Classic, one of the highest rated games of the 2008-09 NHL season.

What all this sums up to is a league that is on the rise- a league that could be a serious challenger to the MLB and NBA, two leagues that are on a downward path (actually, the NBA may make up ground in the Miami Heat, but we'll see.)

Anyways, the NHL has a great new marketing campaign called Questions Will Become Answers. Each one features a player working out while radio commentators ask the questions that each team's fans have been asking in the offseason, with every ad concluding with the most biting question of the bunch and the words "Questions Will Become Answers".

The NHL is rolling out a team-specific ad for every club, but for now, there are 5 player-specific ads featuring Jonathan Toews (Blackhawks), Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Alexander Ovechkin (Capitals), Ryan Miller (Sabres), and  Mike Cammalleri (Canadiens). NHL's ad department did an AWESOME job with these ads, and I appreciate the fact that the players are all working out padless- it's a nice change from having them skating on a dark rink one on one against a goalie. Check out the ads below- if they don't make you want to go out and buy season tickets, nothing will.

What a Day...What a Place!

If you've been reading this blog, you've learned a lot about me thus far. Here's something else you may not know about me; I am a HUGE fan of jingles, especially those written in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I'm also a fan of theme parks. So it comes as no surprise that I am a big fan of Great America's commercials from the late 70s-mid 80s.

Business Bite: Six Flags Great America was once half of a twin set; back in 1976, Marriott, the hotel chain, decided to construct a theme park franchise, starting with three locations- Santa Clara California, Gurnee Illinois, and Washington DC. Santa Clara and Gurnee were built, but Washington D.C. was not.

By 1984, the Gurnee park had been sold to the Six Flags park chain, who still owns it to this day; the Santa Clara park went through messy negotiations with a proposed sale of the park to the city itself. It. was finally sold to Kings Entertainment, which would eventually be engulfed by Paramount Parks. Now, it is owned by Cedar Fair, the company who owns the famous Cedar Point theme park.

Enough history. Check out the videos, more so for the jingles, but the video as whole brings them together. This is pure 70s/80s cheese, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Commercials have gotten into such a habit of using music from established artists that it seems that the art of the jingle is lost on marketing execs nowadays. I still think that a well placed jingle beats out any Billboard 100 hit inserted in a commercial.