National Parks are some of America’s most important assets. Some are quite off the beaten track… others are more accessible. All are spectacular in their own way. All of them seem to SUCK for cell phone coverage. What was your experience this summer? Did you just put up with it too?

In the last few weeks I’ve been at Crater Lake, Lava Beds, and Lassen. I’ve also visited Pinnacles and Death Valley this year. In all, AT&T coverage was “no service”. At times in some of these I found I had picked up a text message. Phone calls – forget about it. I’m not sure if this is a serenity moment or policy coming from the National Parks. Or simply more of AT&T’s – not a business there approach.

I’ve met and seen many foreigners traveling around these parks. I’m sure they wonder why are we in the US are so backward? You can do a quick search of Google and quickly find that coverage SUCKS in our National Parks.  Then there is the problem of how do you feel? I feel disconnected. I lament that while I am looking at a historical site in India I can google and wikipedia it and find out information. Yet in my own National Parks I can’t do the same. My iPhone is my guide when traveling and it’s effectively dead – at least for real-time activities.

If you breakdown in one of these wonderful parks…. forget pulling out the cellphone. Hope for a good Samaritan. My driveshaft didn’t go in one of these parks but I’d have soon gone through the water supplies I was carrying if it had. We are programmed to rely on mobile today to call for help. No coverage in National Parks is a safety risk and adds unnecessary danger. My mobile provides GPS coordinates. However doesn’t help the rescue if there is no coverage. That adds to search costs which can quickly escalate.

I shouldn’t mention the vacation versus working thing. Yet many of us today need to stay somewhat connected. Are our parks so crowded that we must send people out to find a connection? Why is it that beautiful new looking Headquarters like the one at Lava Beds doesn’t have either a cellphone capablity or even WiFI? I understand that cell towers have to earn their keep and yet each of these parks must have more than enough people going through them to warrant coverage.

I think the time has come where National Parks should have coverage. For tourism, for national dignity, for general efficiency and just enabling new forms of enjoyment. AR – augmented reality in National Parks. More re photo sharing etc. These are actually areas where new technology can be brought in – not to spoil rather to enhance everyone’s enjoyment. It’ crazy that I can’t download the GoogleMap while in the park. Or see a satellite view of the terrain.

So…
Government / National Parks. – If your policies are thwarting or stopping the development of effective mobile coverage in national parks SHAME ON YOU. If your policies are not demanding that AT&T and Verizon provide service then SHAME ON YOU. At a minimum add some WiFi into the various visitor centers. (BTW I did find some WiFi at Furnace Creek in Death Valley although that is contracted out).

AT&T / Verizon et al. There is no good business reason not to be in these parks. You tell me about your national coverage and maps. It’s all BS from my experience. My travels have convinced me that you don’t work for the better good, aren’t interested in providing a universal service or even helping small rural towns stay connected. Data coverage is also a laugh – well no laughing matter. Edge or GPRS may or maynot deliver my emails. You don’t want me safe or secure as a customer, you don’t care if I am lost or broken down. You aren’t looking at my life and adapting for how my expectation have changed, or my behaviors. I could work in these backwoods for ages – if I had coverage.

My conclusion is the overall policy framework for mobile is totally messed up. There are areas that we must have coverage in. It’s in the national interest – as in how we project to the rest of the world. I’m sure if you visit New Zealand you will find at least some coverage at all their National Parks. Their rates are crazy but that’s a separate problem. I know the US is backwards in mobile. We don’t lead the world. Yet a mobile phone and and access to SMS really almost everywhere is a reasonable expectation today.

What’s I’d like is for the FCC to tell me a story about our National Parks, how and when they will get coverage and how regulations and government departments can make it happen. If AT&T won’t provide it then I suggest we need the regulation to force it. If govt departments are in the way then I suggest AT&T start making noises about how to fix it and similarly how to take mobile to small rural village America. Communications is the lifeblood of a nation not just a few large cities where our networks also under perform — dropping calls, slow on data etc.

A month ago I circulated some blog post ideas to friends on Apple Facetime. I got some feedback that they were interesting. In the meantime I’ve continued to trace Apple’s FaceTime video solution for iPhone and contemplate the implications. Ultimately, I’m interested in the opportunities FaceTime is likely to create and present. Then what it could mean for users.

I wrote three different pieces just one week after I took home 3 iPhone4′s on launch day. I titled them (below) and sent them out. My interest tracking against how technology changes are likely to impact on the office, the home, and in the types of conversations we ultimately have. For me FaceTime is a Skype-like launch moment. It’s a point in time where everything effectively just changed. It’s as important (as an event rather than in technology) to the future of communication as touch was to redefining mobile handsets in 2007 or Skype’s original launch. I’ll publish these next week.

1. FaceTime – Has Apple Suckered the Operators Again?
2. FaceTime – Call it SIP 2.0?
3. FaceTime and the Enterprise – Apple’s New Threat to RIM

Since then I’ve been watching for other snippets of information around FaceTime. I’d add to these updates on the iPod Touch that must be coming. Example. More iPod TOuch FaceTime Details Appear which includes details about your apple ID and the ability to use multiple profiles and multiple email addresses. FaceTime and Music Perfect together. While I doubt this given the way audio codecs work it’s an angle I’ve experimented with before using Skype and gaming makes this interesting. Then there are other posts on the URL approach and how 3GS phones recognize them. iPhone 3GS recognizes FaceTime URL’s in IOS 4

Some additional signals that don’t related directly to FaceTime and yet demonstrate an emerging understanding of mobile voip implications. AT&T started charging for data. Skype gave up on the idea of charging a fee.

FaceTime interests me as a user, observer, researcher and strategist. FaceTime is really nothing new. All the pieces, and the inevitability of it have been in play for years. Just like “dumb pipes” and “stupid networks”. Yet FaceTime redefines what’s under the hood in a way that other handset and OS manufacturers and developers must take notice of. What should Nokia or Android do? Samsung? How’s Facetime changed the relationship of handset manufacturers with Carriers etc? What are the implications for Cisco? Avaya? etc? in the enterprise?

My guess is many of these companies still can’t answer a FaceTime strategy question – with a straight or simple answer. From my perspective it remains an upstream signal… and and one from which a number of different scenarios could test alternate views of how things could play out.

Skype launches an iPhone multitasking upgrade. As their list of errors and issues shows it’s premature, and from my perspective lacks understanding of how users will want to use it. I’m also stunned that all those iPhone reviewers and general PR blogs just put out the details without seemingly even testing the product. This release is flawed, even Skype’s own Garage Blog highlights some of them. Yet I read the “multi-tasking” comes to Skype headlines without any qualifications or judgments on how good it is.

Skype – Skype Garage blog – Skype 2.0.1 for iPhone – Multitasking and free 3G calling

Now you are able to send Skype to the background while using other applications and receive incoming Skype calls or IM’s. Also Skype will stay online when you lock the device.

So I too was excited to see Skype launch an iPhone app that could run in the background. It then took only about 15 minutes to work out I’ll never want to use it much in that way and it has many glaring oversights in how it utilizes Apple’s notification services.

This new iteration effectively works like Skype on your desktop – ostensibly always working in the background. Which it does. Log-in to iPhone Skype change to another program and you can still get Skype calls. You will also get notifications for multichat updates, new chats from buddies etc. All popping up when ever you are doing something else. This is very different to the little reminder of the Skype icon dancing at the bottom of your mac screen when there there is a new message. (NOTE to be fair Apple’s Notification approach is also broken. The bouncing icon is so much better and others have asked for a lifestream type quick switch option.) So this new iteration of Skype is intrusive, potentially privacy risk, and provides no controls over notifications. Examples:

• You cannot turn the background feature off in the app you must exit (double click, hold finger and remove) to now exit Skype. This is an extra step if you don’t want it running in the background. For example you don’t want it running up your data plan usage or apparently reducing your battery life. OR you can go to your phone skype profile and set your Skype Status to “OFFLINE”. This little hint wasn’t at all intuitive to me.
• You have no discrete controls over Calls. Eg Should I take notifications for all calls, just some Skype calls or just my Skype-In number. With Skype over 3G Skype running in the background is effectively a second line running on your phone.
• If you are smart and run a password on your iPhone and have call forwarding activated you won’t get through your password and answering the skype call before Skype forwards it to your mobile phone.
• You have no control over notification types. Eg I want notifications for calls – but not new chats. Or again notifications for buddy chats but not mulitichats. Skype had an opportunity to show how it should be done.
• Notifications fail to provide a “privacy setting”. All notifications are effectively public. Most other notification apps enable different forms of notification. Eg ring only, or ring and text, text only. Etc. This lack of control suggests Skype just rushed this iteration into the App store.

Jim Courtney write that a lot of this is Apple’s problem and shares a Truphone example.  Apple iOS4: Multi-tasking, eh? | Voyces

So, we’re doing something about it. We just pushed a new version into the App Store that has all the features you know and love from Truphone, but temporarily it doesn’t have the feature that allows people to call you even when the app isn’t open.

I don’t buy this POV. Notification services aren’t running the battery down for other apps. I use various notification services all the time. I’ll run some tests over the next few days running my Skype constantly in the background (the notifications will be annoying – multichats!). The Skype isssue is how they manage these “signals” or notifications. I can guess what they’ve done to get it working. The problem is…. Skype wasn’t designed to send signals and notifications outside it’s closed system in the first place.

Skype’s rush to add multi-tasking and perhaps soon other features is likely to put iphone skype in that cobbled together space. The danger is Skype will no longer be an elegant solution. On the desktop you could just talk. On the mobile we’ve always done that. In FaceTime we can now Video Call from the mobile (sometimes – wifi). Skype thought about itself as “telephony that just works” – ON A DESKTOP. The problem now is that’s irrelevant to the mobile world and the value of cheap calls isn’t enough.

I’ll be blogging some posts I wrote some weeks ago on FaceTime in the next few days. Almost everything I see emerging around Facetime are solutions and suggestions made to / for Skype five years ago. Skype still has a healthy growing business. It just no longer has either a consumer edge or an innovative approach to creating new interaction opportunities.

There’s still a lot to like about Skype. However, if I was one of the investors I’d be skeptical and I doubt their share price would be heading up.

Update: Yep Skype is killing my battery running in the background. Plus got a GSM call while on a Skype Call. The Skype call dropped while it seemed we were in a 3 way conference. May have to test that now again.

This post is the result of a collaborative conversation. Jon Husband and I were catching up on Skype discussing where KM / HR /  enterprise learning / web2.o themes are going. I captured some of our thoughts in rough notes and  then tried to grow them. I passed back my draft to Jon who edited and added some clarity. Today blogging this my first question is too soft. It is not just looking for new conversations, what I care about is whether or not you will embrace change and have a real conversation around it. That’s something we are both effective at helping people with.

The New Conversation – Exponential Flows

Are you looking for the new conversation? The conversation you are supposed to be having or perhaps aiming to turn into gold?

How we enter into conversations is fundamentally changing. So is our role in holding them and using them. You sort of know it and yet you want the proof points too, because as often as not the “conversations” you and others may be having on the Web (the Web2.0 conversation) are too ad-hoc.

We might say it’s broken. It’s too focused on collaboration as the new work while organizations are just bogged down in meetings. Is your organization truly agile? Flexible? Connected? How are you addressing the change in processes required to succeed?

Consider these general trends:

• more information is available “in the flow”
• it can be easily searched and retention may not be the key
• change when networked effectively is not linear rather exponential
• we talk about “learning faster”, and “failing faster” in order to learn better and more quickly
• developer communities are much more agile than the enterprises they support
• we live in the flow in an activity stream and control or have access to more data personally

Enterprise conversations are at an inflection point – or closing in on one. Whereas previously “info was power” increasingly the outsourcing, the API’s, “standards” mean reduced leverage from internal information silos. Competitive advantage now comes from harnessing the value of community info. IE how connected is the organization. More importantly … how connected is each employee both internally and externally.

Each day we own … and are associated with … more of the information around us. As our lives become more digital that “search” about us (Example Specify) demonstrates the augmented power of the individual to be both part of and apart from a conversation. Today it is harder and harder to push things at me; I pull all the good stuff and some of the best stuff I may share or pass on. And while those “things” may seem without context the emerging people aggregators can make sense out of it.

Many employees are sharing stuff outside of the workplace all the time. For the most part the organization has no way to judge if this learning is relevant or even how it can use it. Why ? Because our lives are not really part of the organizations and we separate our behavior for our jobs. Do you have a life that is outside your job? In a more transparent work world we must increasingly be prepared to connect our personal world and our work world. I think we’ll benefit and so will the communities in which we work.

This boundary and managing the “what we do”  is the key reason the enterprise is stuck in thinking about information assets, and silos rather than how does the organization learn and help people prosper. For example, people such as those in developer communities are adapting more rapidly to change and are more agile in their actions. We can only expect this trend to accelerate. Another example is the way traffic monitoring systems are changing, or being changed. Today we have proof that a few mobile phones can actually process the location of traffic jams more accurately than the traditional helicopter in the sky, or more recently the webcam on the pole. Yet few organizations go would let go to this extent.

The answer is to let go and embrace the employees, and the community and encourage them to bring more in.

There’s plenty of good example of organizations that really get the purpose of the “suggestions” box. Yet if the box has a definition around it… eg boxed then how many suggestions are being missed. That’s the downside of restricting the flow of information into the organization. That’s the downside for not turning the organization outwards. Organizations are so focused on “push” that they fail to work the “pull” effectively.

Concurrently organizations must think less about “flow” and more about “acceleration”. Being in the flow isn’t enough. An organization’s effectiveness and ability to survive will be embedded in exponential escalation and network effects.  Knowledge has always flowed between individuals and within groups. However, for the most part individuals have no interest in hoarding that information. Neither do small businesses. They were never able to spend the money or capture the information to leverage “information and data” to make money. However, they built relationships better than their large compatriots. They thought about the conversations they had, and they listened. That’s something that most major enterprises don’t know how to do.

The Microsoft Kin debacle is a great example of how not to listen. If you ask me the research must have sucked, the business model re pricing didn’t hold up etc. The biggest failure was not listening, and a culture that seemingly was incapable of asking sensible questions. Microsoft had ever chance in the world not to miss this opportunity and blew it. Microsoft is also structured around old principles.

Conversation brings questions. Plenty of organizations know how to talk or is that strut their mumbo jumbo. They have PR and marketing experts now falling over themselves to provide that “social” connection and leverage. If it happens at a personal level it may work.

The crux is the information is increasingly moving to being outside the organization. Many organizations are going to be hollowed out by this effect. Just think about an organization that has no information assets, but still makes or provides something. What does it need? It certainly needs suppliers. It needs a way to estimate demand or make to order. It also needs to pay the employees. Does it need a huge marketing department in a world which can aggregate profile and demand with a simple / complex search? What will sales look like? Will it be a developer community? Or is that a user community?

In a restaurant where people go to dine (for example) the Chef has recipes. Most recipes, and how to execute them, are contained in their head. Yet perhaps tomorrow the menu should be based on who’s coming to dinner. So if you are a restaurant competing for business perhaps Yelp is going to help you with your menu?

So if you are the “new” organization looking to start a “new” conversation that will take you forward – where to start?

Don’t start with systems, and processes. Reject the idea that you are going to roll in new collaborative software. Start instead with a message. Start by listening… listening harder. In fact, that may be the first social step to getting beyond the structural impediments that lie in your way. When you listen really hard you open yourself up to new conversations. Those tend to be the ones that create real value. They are also the equivalent to learning on the job, and increasingly learning in real-time becomes the core of the work.

Think exponential. We tend to think straight line. In fact the accounting and budget departments don’t like the hockey stick estimates. Marketers always want to go viral too. That’s the same sort of exponential thinking. Yet that’s what we need. Good ideas, like a great story, are infectious, shareable, and seeded with a passion.

Empower people. Think about values and principles. It’s better to run on those than to run an organization on rules. Strengthen core values and look to build the conversation around them. Build conversations that revolve around flow, acceleration, agility, and change.

Only then will you be on the way to a new conversation. For Enterprise2.0 is stuck today in “social business”, web2.0, and resorting to outside suppliers and vendors with solutions for yesterdays problem.

When work moves beyond the boundary it becomes more social. When the organizational values are more broadly adopted by a community then engaging becomes more compelling. We’ve seen this in traditional brands and no matter how hard they try we will never see it effectively done by companies that are protected by regulation (example AT&T, Verizon, Comcast).

Companies like FedEx and UPS have harnessed information that helps delivery and tracking. They facilitate relationships between buyers and sellers. I’d suggest that more companies should think like that.


Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been motorcycling through California and Oregon. I went to the BMW International Rally in Redmond Oregon, spent time camping in fairly undeveloped campsites and ran up about 3000 miles including a driveshaft failure on my bike. I thought about blogging and tweeting while away. I didn’t blog and I didn’t Tweet. Although I think I could have done a pretty neat trip blog in retrospect. Still I came home and created a list of some of the things I should and perhaps still will blog about. Here’s my quick to blog list.

• Sharing iPads at BMWMOA – What I learned from Granddad?
• Oregon Campsites vs California – General Reflections. Basically California’s management of their state parks is killing camping. By contrast Oregon’s outsourced system seems to be working well.
• OffRoad School at BMWMOA. Learning to ride in gravel, sand, etc. Courses and coaching available.
• The non-tech crowd and anti-facebookers. Real People still have 10 Nokia’s. Really.
• Our National Parks and Cell phone coverage is a National Disgrace!!!
• AT&T’s rural coverage simply SUCKS. We’re more backward than India when it comes to small towns.
• Motorcycle Camp Gear and my Portable Chair.Traveling with almost nothing.
• BMW of Western Oregon – Stepping up on Customer Service – Helping a Rider in Need.
• At BMWMOA why are the Women missing? What’s BMW or the Club doing about it?
• Test Rides and the BMW S100RR – Speed Demon!

Then as one does I found myself writing a few notes that I should write about things like….

• Why Research Often Fails Companies – How to Research and Win.
• Apple’s iPad Publishing Strategy and How They are Blowing It
• India’s 3G Inflection Point and Why it presents a positioning Opportunity for HP or Dell
• The iPad and Banking – When will I ever get decent Finance Apps
• Yet Another Complaint to File against  AT&T on My Family Data Plan
• Can I quit using my MacBookPro and only use my iPad? Working Different?

Then I came back and looked at the posts I’d begun drafting and haven’t posted or completed. These included

• FaceTime – What Apple’s Strategy Means to Communications (I had a collection of posts ready)
• The New Conversation – Exponential Flows – something I’d been talking about with Jon Husband and must finish. Convos’ are where I’m heading strategically.
• Nokia and Social Activism – How to Make Nokia Relevant and build traction in the US.
• Why I checked out of the Twitter Developer EcoSystem
• ByeBye Phweet – Closing an Experiment.

Could keep me blogging for days… yet that’s not my intention. The best part? Lots of different people from all over and not just from the US. From owners of $1000 bikes to brand new toys. I really enjoyed meeting others and their passion too for motorcycling.

It’s not often I feel misled by a product and the hoopla surrounding it. LogMeIn Ignition for iPad/iPhone (see below for their description) is misrepresented on their site. It’s simply not a secure solution and not worth 29.99 from the iTunes store. I’ll share my story and you can be the judge if my expectations are unfair or unreasonable. I spoke with a LogMeIn tech too looking for resolution.

This is my issue.

1. IPad app has remote “blank screen” and “lock keyboard” capability.
2. This “security feature” is not available on or doesn’t work with a Mac. THEY CLAIM IT DOES SORT OF
3. Nowhere in the marketing on iTunes or on the LogMeIn site does it state that using this app with your Mac may leave that Mac open to other users even after you have logged off (Exiting the iPad).
4. As the lock screen and the lock keypad is unavailable it is sort of pointless using the wake-up feature.
5. LogMeIn can not refund your money because it was purchased via iTunes – take it up with them they say.How convenient!

I set up LogMeIn on my Mac after signing up for a standard account. I then purchased it for my iPad from the iTunes store. $29.99. I connected back to my MacBookPro with no problems. It took only a moment to figure out how to move the mouse on my iPad. It’s slower of course than just being on my Mac but really quite usable. The time delay was minimal on my home wifi network – although I imagine this could be slower on some connections. I was soon looking at the settings. There’s clearly a remote “screen” and “keyboard” lock available. I flicked them to on. I thought my laptop screen and keyboard would blank and lock. They didn’t. I rebooted and reset both devices a couple of times. I couldn’t get it to work. I went to the support pages. I accessed this page. How do I blank the host screen’s display while in remote control?

And while this doesn’t seem to be specific it doesn’t mention MAC’s or OSX as being incompatible. I have no idea if they are or aren’t with DPMS. But there was nothing I could apparently download. I rated the page a 1. I then called customer support.

The support tech was pretty unclear at first. I was way ahead of him re notes on the page, familiarity with the iPad and the software. He apparently had it working on an Android and while busy with my support inquire apparently logged into a mac etc. He also contacted some of his colleagues. I reiterated my problem a couple of times. That logging into to my Mac via my iPad left it exposed. Their site info states:

Option settings for optimizing the experience of connecting to and controlling the remote computer, including locking the remote computer’s keyboard, blanking the screen of the remote PC and screen resolution.

I guess this is the bullshit legal thing. Since when is a Mac in this regard not a PC? I can only assume this claim is effectively fraudulent. Let’s be even more obvious. How many iPad users or iPhone users have a Mac? I bet it is a lot. So if you create a product for them you’d expect them to connect to a Mac. Why is there NO WHERE something that says… if you have a MAC this will not work as advertised? Well he confirmed that the controls are their and only work on Windows machines. It doesn’t say.. won’t work with Mac – it just doesn’t. I asked him how many iPad/iPhone users probably have a Mac. I’m  sure a good number. That’s why I’d expect this to work.

So I asked for a refund. I was told that they can’t give a refund and I’d have to apply through the iTunes store. I’m not sure how you get a refund via the iTunes store. Sort of thought it impossible. In other words you spend your money and weep if the product doesn’t work. I’d have been less incensed if the product was at a price point that was much lower. However, I was prepared to pay $30 bucks for a product that would give my iPad more flexibility. I got a tough luck buddy. He said he’d never had this complaint before.

For my part I’ve seen a number of reviews. It was my impression that LogMeIn was one of the top grossing apps for iPad on iTunes. Certainly many people were writing it up that it was easy etc. I should have stuck to a VNC solution. It would have been cheaper and probably provided the security that should be built in. So think twice before you buy this app.

If you don’t lock your Mac, then it works. If you log out of your account then it isn’t going to work either. And when you log in your screen and keyboard will be available. You can only wake from sleep if it is hard tethered to your router. While I don’t see this as a big issue the LogMeIn site lacks instructions for proper wakeup and sleep setting.

Let me give an example where these controls aren’t just based on security. I’m at a show. My Mac is being used as a “presenter” hooked to a large Display. The Mac is hidden away. The iPad can be used from anywhere at the show to key up new presentations, play music even to activate remote skype sessions. They keyboard in this instance remains locked.

That’s the type of functionality I thought I should get for $29.99. BTW it seems the latest update doesn’t provide multi-tasking for iPhone 4.

More descriptive stuff from LogMeIn:

One click on your iPhone or iPad lets you remotely access one
or more computers anywhere, anytime. So you never have to worry about
leaving anything behind. Directly control your desktop, all your apps
and all your files – like that important presentation for your boss or
that important photo album for your mom – with a simple touch.

Now one last thing… really makes one wonder. You can simply log in from Safari on the iPad without an APP. Although You cannot download the plug-in to Safari that might make it work eg to type a document you can certainly click around.

LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone and iPad is a fast and simple way to connect to your LogMeIn Pro² and
LogMeIn Free
computers.

One click and your
iPhone or iPad becomes an extension of your work or home computer

• Your login information and preferences
  are stored securely
• Access from anywhere -
  without having to remember passwords

Dear Mr Lucky

I walked into two Lucky stores over the weekend. I like Lucky Stores and I know them for their jeans. I’ve got 3 pairs of Lucky jeans in my closet today.  I think I bought shorts and a shirt there last year too. Yet today I am also no longer a customer and won’t recommend or take anyone to Lucky again.

I have a typical sort of shopping expedition/approach when going for jeans. You see the selection for me no matter where is always limited. Today I’m a 34″ 36″ and that means I have long legs. I could probably even wear a 37 on some occasions or if they weren’t preshrunk. As a kid growing up at one time I was a 32/36 and I’ve even been a 36/36. The problem is the 36inch inseam not the waist size. So on my typical shopping expedition I go into a store and ask them… What jeans do you have in 34/36. For the last few years Lucky always had a few pairs in stock – perhaps not in every color but I could at least try some on.

Over the weekend I got – “We don’t stock 36 long anymore. You can still order them online” from the Walnut Creek store and then again later same message at the San Francisco downtown store. So basically a piss off don’t waste your time here in our store spending any money because we don’t like the length of your legs. Look on line if you want. We have no interest. Now to be fair to Lucky I stopped in at Diesel (which years ago made the same change) and they too have nothing that is 36 long. Here’s my comments from that time.

Why do they think or believe a message delivered in this way would actually encourage me to go and shop online. It won’t. They lost a sale.

I sort of got it when I was growing up. I really was one of the taller kids on the block. Today 6’5″ remains tall but not exceptionally tall. I see it when I walk places. So I don’t believe I’m the only one chasing tall jeans. Nordstrom’s usually has at least one or two brands in my size. Again it will be limited. At least I know I can shop there.

So I offer a few suggestions for retailers that won’t stock and sell 36 long’s. There’s an opp. We’re the most loyal guys you will ever find. We hate asking for our size to be immediately disappointed. It’s like jumping into a Porsche Boxster and realizing you will never drive it. Stupid – but impossible.

Here’s a hint Lucky. If you only sell 5 pairs at 36 long a month in a store I suggest you ship them at the same time each month. Even if it is less then replenish your small number. Make sure the number is shipped again at the same date every month. If I miss out you can say… on the 15th of every month we get the extra longs in. Usually just a few. Come in then. You know what… I would probably put a reminder in my calendar.

In fact I’d say this for just about any store. I go into a Banana Republic. I know it isn’t worth looking for any sort of trousers. They won’t come in my size. They stop at 34. Levis. well I can probably buy them.

Next. It’s a pain but you have your own stores. You have computers. It’s not hard to do a made to measure. Here sir try on this pair.. or find a 34/34 you like and then we will order it now for you. Home delivery or would you like to come and pick them up. Yes I know the issue is store training. But this doesn’t require much training. It’s dollars the store lost and it is the peripheral dollars too. You go into a Lucky or a Diesel for the jeans and then consider the other stuff.

Now finally I am persistent. I also went online. I took a look at a number of pages. But in over five minutes I couldn’t figure out how to find anything that may be 36 long. The best I found was regular and 34.5. That’s not good enough. Your sites also a fail for a guy like me. Why is it… I can’t search for my size up front. No point in sending me to sale items etc. Just give me my size and thus options. Well I finally found that route. There are two options there. But not what I wanted. Just two in the whole assortment.

I’m sorry that we couldn’t do business. It will probably cost your company at least a $1000 over the next five years. That’s been the length of my loyalty. I know… just a drop in the bucket.

Regards,

Stuart Henshall

This was the speech given by Cory Booker at my son’s graduation a few months ago. It was inspirational and he tells quite a story.

Daily update on del.icio.us links with my notes. I also just tweet links @stuarthenshall

• iPhone4 photo comparisons vs competitors are really useless | Simply isn’t the real world – you end up with one phone. iPhone4 over saturates color – The iPhone4 camera is way better than the 3G and provides a performance I last saw and used consistently on a Nokia N95. However, all these comparisons are really rather pointless. The camera isn't a primary reason to buy the mobile anymore. That the new iPhone4 camera is competitive is — it had to be. Yet no one buys an iPhone for it camera, it is bought for the whole package. How does the camera perform? It tends to oversaturate the colors. It creates some fantastic Kodachrome Blue skies – but they just aren't real. However, the clarity is obivious, and the ability to do simple things like focus and change exposure with a finger touch are just fantastic. That simple touch action puts it well ahead of the majority of camera's I've ever seen.

Daily update on del.icio.us links with my notes. I also just tweet links @stuarthenshall

• India’s Mobile Providers: Competing for Calls at the Bottom of the Pyramid – India Knowledge@Wharton –