No Revolution: 12/01/2007

E-Commerce Just Got Interesting

Apple's Piping Hot Innovation - Forbes.com

In an application with the U.S. Patent Office published on Dec. 20, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer and gadget company described a wireless system that would allow customers to place an order at a store using a wireless device such as a media player, a wireless personal digital assistant or a cellphone.

The system could go far beyond the program that Apple announced with Starbucks in September, which allows iPhone users to press a button and wirelessly download the song playing in the background as they sip their soy lattes.

Apple's application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes a process for placing an order and then notifying customers when an order is ready to grab at a pick-up station. One goal, the patent application notes, is to avoid an "annoying wait in a long queue if the purchaser arrives before completion of the order."

Seth Godin Experiments With SEO

Seth's Blog: ...and your clicks for free (the new ebook)

TV on Your Phone ... Coming After Jan 08

MediaPost Publications - Google, Verizon, AT&T Vie For 700MHz Spectrum - 12/20/2007

Google, Verizon, AT&T Vie For 700MHz Spectrum
Thursday, Dec 20, 2007 7:00 AM ET
GOOGLE, VERIZON WIRELESS AND AT&T are among 266 companies competing to bid for the 700MHz spectrum auction set for January. The field of potential bidders, released late Tuesday night by the FCC, so far has accepted 96 applicants--and another 170 have until Jan. 4 to complete their paperwork. Verizon and AT&T were among the bidders whose applications were marked as "incomplete" by the FCC. Other companies bidding for a chunk of spectrum include Cablevision Systems Corp., Cox, Qualcomm, Towerstream and Frontline Wireless. Paul Allen is also planning to bid through his Vulcan Ventures investment firm, as is a Guam-based phone company backed by an investment firm run by Roy Disney. The auction could raise up to $15 million for the government.

Advergaming for QSR

Thought you might be interested in checking this out. I like the countdown aspect ...and the play on hungry as a ....

http://hungryasa.com/ I stink at the game but it is interesting....

Checkers Launches Virtual Game to Promote Double Value Menu

Checker's/Rally's is running an online game to promote its Double Value menu.

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants has rolled out an online game to promote its new Double Value menu.

A microsite at http://hungryasa.com/ teases the new menu, which launches Dec. 31. On the site, visitors can play a virtual eating game for a chance to win Checkers/Rally’s coupons.

In “Hungry As A,” players select from a dog, a bear or dinosaur icons and use their keyboard arrow keys to grab, eat and fend off competitors. At the end of the game, players receive a printable coupon offer based on their score for a discount off Checker’s Spicy Chicken Combo meal, a Big Buford combo or a free Loaded Fry upgrade.

The promotion runs through Jan. 31.

The online game supports Checkers/Rally’s’ new value menu. It will offer 17 items, 10 of which start at $1 and seven double burgers and chicken and fish sandwiches offered at “2 For” prices ranging from $3 to $5. It’s the first time the company is adding a permanent value menu to its restaurants, spokesperson Elizabeth Sheridan said.

Checkers/Rally’s is promoting the game online, on its bags and through blog sites. ML Rogers is handling the campaign.

The Minorty of Time Shifters Do The Most Time Shifting

MediaPost Publications - Interpublic Unit Finds 28/72 Rule For DVRs: Minority Represent Majority Of Time-Shifting - 12/18/2007

"A small group accounts for a dominant share of DVR usage: Applying conservative assumptions, it appears that slightly more than a quarter (28%) of DVR users account for almost three quarters (72%) of total marketplace time shifting -implying that the vast majority of consumers with DVRs use them on a limited basis, and continue to watch most TV in real-time," Wieser wrote

MEDIA>> interviews the Long Tail guy

MediaPost Publications - Free Thinker - 12/18/2007

How does Chris Anderson chase his own Long Tail? Last year, the editor-in-chief of Wired gave us such a compelling name and a theory for the digital economy that hardly a business plan goes by this year without dropping the term. After showing us how the Internet helps empower and monetize niche markets and tastes, Anderson will explore what he calls "the radical price of zero." Free, planned for late 2008, suggests that the new economies of abundance that he outlined in The Long Tail make it possible for companies to succeed by charging consumers little or nothing. After reviewing some of Anderson's preliminary musings on the topic at conferences and on his longtail.com blog, we put his model to the test. We asked for a free preview.

Older dude from Forbes finally likes LinkedIn

Why you'll finally use LinkedIn - Dec. 14, 2007

For years, I've been befuddled by LinkedIn. I knew it was supposed to be the social network for work, but to me it was like war. "What is it good for?" I asked myself repeatedly, even as I occasionally poked around and accepted requests to link with people. I belonged to it, but I really didn't know why.