Sunday, March 13, 2011

What We Want in Websites

Here's a lesson in website-making from two of the most famous comics on the internet:

xkcd.com thinks:

Oatmeal.com agrees:

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

"BBM Helps You Flirt..."

James Sturm writes

"Lately I’ve been keenly aware of the amount of advertising that insists connective technology is essential to our happiness (Faster speeds! Fewer dropped calls!). Four months ago, I barely noticed it; now it is an affront, a lie so obvious that it’s insulting. Adding to my anger is the fact that until the Web came around, I’d successfully avoided the addiction gauntlet. I’d steered clear of any trouble with gambling, booze, and drugs. To be blindsided by the Internet (my helpful and wonderful friend!) doesn’t seem fair. But complaining is useless, isn’t it?"

This ad is a perfect example of this:



It's terribly sad that the people featured in the ad have replaced the pleasures of face-to-face flirting, personal, actual, human interaction and connectivity, with typed words, and "received" notifications. All the body language, the "instant conversation" that would come with a real life conversation are now on their phones.

And am I the only one that thought that the woman "eager to trade her BBM Pin" comes across as ridiculously desperate, while claiming to play "hard to get?"


In an age where we are all perhaps a little too connected, is this an effective ad strategy for RIM?