Vote now in the “Waste of Packaging” Contest

Convenience as a product benefit is dead. None of us are too time poor to buy to fall for ‘convenience’ products that are excessively over-packaged. They’re irresponsible, lazy and uncool.
I’ve been enjoying Treehugger’s Waste of Packaging contest - A public mockery of all overpackaged products. Head over there and vote now.
I chose the peanut butter by the way - it kind of reminds me of a company that I used to work for.

Ahh … the sound of a human voice

Fred at WeBreakStuff points out what happens when using Flickr and something goes wrong. We don’t get an error message. Instead, we get,  ‘Flickr is having a massage’. A human voice is speaking here.
It’s refreshing to know that some of the most succesful web 2.0 companies are the ones that aren’t taking themselves too seriously. Since when did we all stop talking like people anyway?

Social (Yawn) Bookmarking

I agree completely with Steve Rubel’s post entitled Ri.dic.u.lous. There are so many social bookmarking services out there now - let it go guys. Del.ico.us might not be the first, the most graphically appealing, or even the best social bookmarking site out there. But it’s the standard. The race has been won.
When it comes to web 2.0 services, it’s definitely time to see some more innovative ideas outside the social bookmarking arena. You only need one social bookmarking app. It’s time to see more services like last.fm (for music), zillow (for real estate), or even extratasty (for alcohol).
Everything is RSS-able or ajax-able these days. Rather than being social bookmark manager #4,523 (to quote Steve), why not be #1 in something that hasn’t been done yet?

Join the BBC Climate Change Experiment

I’ve just watched BBC Four’s first in their climate change series. And they’re inviting all of us to take part in the biggest climate change prediction project ever conducted. From the website:

Using a technique known as distributed computing, we’re hoping to harness the power of thousands of PCs around the world. If 10,000 people sign up, we’ll be faster than the world’s biggest computer. And we’re hoping to be even better than that.

Please, please take the time to visit the site at http://bbc.cpdn.org/index.php and download a small file. You’ll be helping to take part in something very worthwhile.  Results will then be published by the beeb in May.

Satugo :: A nice idea

I’ve recently stumbled across SatuGO (via swissmiss), an absolutely cool throwable camera.

It sounds like a wonderful product. You actually throw the SatuGO, where it will take a picture when it hits something. Or you can set off a timer to take photos in the air. Perfect for all your camera-tossing needs. Perhaps it isn’t the greatest neccesity on the grand scale of things. But it’s a nice idea.
And a visit to the SatuGO website confirms that it is just an idea. So far the product hasn’t been manufactured. The team behind Satugo simply designed it and built a website to guage whether or not anyone would be interested in it. So far 2,860 people have claimed to be. 2,861 after I added my name to the list. They’re also looking for an investor and I hope they find one.
This is one of the many reasons I love the internet - You don’t need a company or a factory. You don’t need exhaustive market research. You don’t even need much cash. Just an idea and a computer is all it takes.

BP pulls wool over my eyes

An interesting article in today’s Observer about BP, and the fact their multi-billion dollar profits would actually be multi-billion dollar losses if they factored in the environmental damage they have caused.
This makes me feel, well, rather silly about my previous post on BP. I’m not usually so gullible. It’s incredible that oil companies can do so wrong, yet sugar coat it with ‘feel good’ marketing tactics. This is the height of dishonesty. Treating the public like they are idiots is not a sensible business strategy.

No it’s not me I’m afraid

Check out my photography site.

Actually, no it’s not mine. Just a great site that I stumbled across while googling myself.

Worth a look.

Contrast : The best of shops - The worst of shops

One of the great things I love about living in London is contrast.

I walk out my front door, turn right, and I walk towards a fancy neighbourhood, with fancy restaurants, fancy bars and the like. If I walk out of my front door and turn left, it’s a completely different story.
There’s plenty of examples of contrast in London, as there probably is in all major cities.

Retail shops is another example. The Apple store on Regent St is my favourite store in the world, and arguably one of the greatest stores on the planet. This is a big call, but the store is amazing. They run continual product workshops, give you good advice, and create such a strong customer experience. I could spend a week there.
By contast, have a look at these pictures of my local DIY store. For starters, you have to press a doorbell to get into the shop. If the shop owner actually hears you - he’s about 80, and a little hard of hearing - he’ll open the door for you. But he will look geniunely annoyed about it.
Once you are allowed in, the place is a mess. If you have a close look at the front wondow, you can see a mountain of old hammers, nails and other sad-looking tools. And the whole shop is like that. Literally mountains of stuff in absoloutely no order whatsoever. The aforementioned owner is rude and has no desire to serve you. It’s almost laughable.
If you are looking to create a world class retail store, you should definately come to London and see the Apple store.

By contrast, check out this DIY store while you are here as well (132 Balls Pond Road, if you’re truly interested). It’s a comical example of what not to do.