Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger

Since today is Friday and I’ve got a bunch of product reviews running around my head, I thought I’d steal the title from Stephen Colbert - Tip of the Hat, Wag of the finger. This is just a way to acknowledge companies or products that have been great for me or to call out those that really suck.

So without further adieu:

Verizon Wireless - Wag of the Finger
After bouncing from Sprint to Cingular who then bought AT&T, I settled on Verizon Wireless as my cell provider. Mostly, they get a tip of the hat. Before I left for Mexico, I called and asked them to verify that my account was enabled for international calling in case of an emergency. They checked and verified but when I got to Mexico, I could recieve calls but was not allowed to make them. So they get a big Wag of the Finger from me.

37signals - Wag of the Finger
37signals is a Web 2.0 company that should get a lot of praise for innovative products like Basecamp which we used extensively in the early days of b5. It was a great project management tool that allowed the Channel Editors and core team members to assign to-do items to each other. We outgrew Basecamp months ago and have done some surfing for alternatives, but can’t really find any. Basecamp is not really being improved, from what I can see. At least not notably. Some key things that need to be included for this to be a viable solution for us is a bit of a smoother, sensical interface, email notifications on assignment/status change (we do get notice on assignment change). In addition, we should be able to work via email and activity be logged in Basecamp. We should be able to get useful graphing or other visual reports to demonstrate workloads, assignments, ticket historys, etc.

iTunes 7 - Tip of the Hat
I’ve been an avid iTunes user since iTunes 3. I love it. When I bought my iPod, that feeling cemented itself. But Apple has taken iTunes to the next level with iTunes 7. I personally love the downloadable Album Art. I do have to take a few points based on what I call a very un-Applelike GUI faux pas. Apple has always been the master of the GUI but in this case, they overlooked a major item. When downloading album art, there MUST be some kind of visual cue to let the user know what is happening. It’s basic usability techniques. Action > Demonstrate Processing > Reaction. Otherwise, I’m clicking away like a madman generating more requests without even knowing if one is working. But besides that, the polish on iTunes has been kicked up a notch. Tip of the hat.

Continental Airlines - Wag of the Finger
I mentioned in a previous entry that we nearly missed our flight in Newark, NJ. The reason for this is because the gate printed on the boarding pass generated in Baltimore, the in-airport monitors and indeed the crew member on the intercom prior to landing indicated that this connection would be made at Gate 84. When arriving at Gate 84, there was no one there and the gate was marked for Las Vegas. My wife and I had split and agreed to meet at the gate. She was not there. On calling her, I discovered that she had already been to the gate, and had to go bird-dogging to find out that Continental had actually moved the gate to Gate 120. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but this gate was at the other end of Terminal C, a mile away and time was short. Continental, you must do better in informing customers of gate changes.

The FOX Network - Tip of the Hat
Every season, we sit down and Tivo all the new shows and watch the first episodes to determine if they are shows we want to commit ourselves to watching that season. FOX was out of the gate early with a few shows that are killer and I’d like to give my Tip of the Hat to them.

First is Vanished which is much like 24. It is a closed-ended series that follows the FBI through an investigation to find the missing wife of a U.S. Senator. The Senator and his family have all kinds of skeletons in their closet that end up being discovered by the FBI and the media as the mystery of the disappearance deepens instead of coming into focus.

Secondly is Justice which is a completely new look at the typical crime drama, a la Law and Order. It details the way the legal system works from the perspective of money-driven defense attorneys. In the pilot episode (and presumably this is the format for all the shows), the actual crime and actual events are portrayed at the end of the episode after the attorneys have already woven their own stories through the courts. You think you know what actually happened, then the producers show you and you find out how wrong the whole thing is. No one may ever know what really happens, but the producers let the viewers in on the secret of what really did happen. At the end of the day, the question that lingers in the minds of viewers is the question, “Is Justice Really Served?”

That’s it for now.

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About the Author: Aaron Brazell is the lead editor of Technosailor.com and a social media expert. His passion is to see companies and individuals use the internet and web technologies wisely and effectively to promote their brands and companies. He is Business Development Manager for Lijit and he worked as Director of Technology at b5media from 2005-2008 and is currently an independent consultant.