VoIPWatch

A Lot Has Changed

It's been a while since I've written here on VoIPWatch. A lot has changed and yet in many ways the song remains the same. In the hey day of blogging I would post three to four items a day, share my opinion and the cabal of other bloggers like Om, James, Rich, Jeff, Martin, Ted, Alec, Jim, the late Russell, all would also be posting, linking and sharing. Here, I chose to take a perspective based on the core ideas of blogging-I offered insight, perspective and opinion, which I referred to as IPO. I did this, often with a cadre of clients begging to be written about in my blog, something I did only after others had written, or if no one had taken my offer up to write first. 

Today, being Giving Tuesday, I'll give a few things. First, I put out an almost daily newsletter, The Comunicano,  which you can subscribe to by simply adding your name to the list. It has up to 24 items you should know about, often from the top media sources that are still bastions of integrity and honest reporting, even if they're not always right. It's free and my daily gift to keeping people informed.

But now, it's time to give you my thoughts, as that's what I've always done.

The difference here has been, and always will be that when I write, I write with transparency. If the post refers to a client, I've made a point of mentioning that for many, many years, unlike some so called "top influencers" who are paid to write, post, tweet or go to events at the expense of the company in exchange for regular coverage. Sure, I've been to some of those same events, and have also been paid by some of those companies too, but the lack of transparency with influencers and analysts has made a mockery of the numbers on social media and "reporting," and has for the most part made PR all PESO-Paid, Earned, Shared or Owned and we all saw what that did to the Mexican economy, and what that all led to. 

That's pretty much the state of what attempts to pass as journalism today--Fake News. Made up news. Articles and accounts that aren't fact checked, unattributed statements by someone who told some reporter something. As a lifelong media person, I've been on all sides, and in many ways I still am. I've been a PR person-and I hate that title-a copy boy, a sportswriter, on air talent on TV, sports color analyst, night time DJ, event producer, podcaster, speaker, influencer, and social media personality.  My degree is in Journalism, and I've lectured to students too about media, so over the last four and a half decades of being around all this a lot has changed and yet it really hasn't. Forget about all the stories I've pitched, sometimes I've been the story, other times I've been the architect of the story, but one thing has always been a constant. It has always been true.

Most of all the idea of a "free press" and an unbridled media has all but evaporated. Sure there are the independent thinkers. The pundits who use blogging like I do. We have our "followers" and our "readers" and like some news personalities our stories may get shared, but at the end of the day, the state of media is in a major need of repair as often the news isn't true, but here, like the Elvis Costello tune, "My Aim is True."

While we have more choices, we really have less and less perspective on things. Too much is about the "new and shinny" gizmo or gadget. Or about the funding-not about what that which is being funded may do--if it will do anything but burn the cash and will be in the media solely to get more cash.

No. Our media is no longer the counterbalance to all that is wrong. Reporters, and bloggers too, who dare to challenge or push the hard questions to company CEOs often find themselves no longer included in briefings, getting the "word" in advance or being invited  to the press events.  Brands use access to their information and executives as capital--I know one well respected reporter who once agreed with me about something Apple had done, but chose to not pursue the story out of concern of being left off the list of early device review opportunities or access to the executives. 

And with less "beat" reporters covering the stories, and instead stories have to find the reporter, we get more homogenized accounts of the news release that crossed the wire that same day. I find it rewarding how Jeff Bezos has taken a hands off approach with the Washington Post, and how Mike Bloomberg keeps things fair and honest with the numbers. It's encouraging that the Benioff's have invested in media, and Mrs. Jobs too. These scions of tech and wealth know that there's a need for legitimate, unbiased, fair and respected journalism. And I agree.

I don't know if we'll ever again really have a "free" press. But I do know one thing. A lot sure has changed, but in many ways, it's all still the same.

The Video Calling Switchboard Has Arrived

 

Zoom just took the first step to create the video calling switchboard. This may not seem like a big deal, but it really is because right now, video calling and video conferencing, like encrypted communications, is a dystopia of balkanized efforts, where each provider does things their own way, and for users it means having multiple services to subscribe to and use. 

Not only is this unwieldy from a cost control standpoint, it is downright confusing. It's as confusing as the days of ICQ and AOL Messenger being owned and operated by AOL but not being interconnected. Now, so many years later, we still have division by user base, but like so many things I'm polyamorous about, the number of services and apps I need to have to stay in touch is mind boggling. When I compare this to before say 2000, when I had maybe three phone numbers-home, office and cell phone to be found, plus a private 800 number so my mother could call me cross country for free, even then I had Webley and AT&T’s Reach Me , both of which made ringing all the devices at the same time using the earliest of Find Me/Follow Me technology, so easy. These services, all aimed at making us reachable via one number services, as they reduced complexity, they didn’t add to it.

That’s why what ZOOM's new effort and what they are doing today, connecting to Facebook’s Portal, Google Nest with video and Amazon Echo Show 8 is so important. They are getting connected to where the people are, not to where they have been. This “federation” of sorts is very similar to what Michael Robertson and Jeff Bonforte did with the earliest days of Gizmo Project, and what Jeff Pulver and Carl Ford first did with Free World DialUp, long before they idea was taken by the Skype founding team and given an injection of steroids with JOLTID for secure communications, something Skype sure isn’t today.

But today, now with WebRTC and the cloud making it easy for new voice, messaging and video services to spring up, the need for the modern era switchboard for video calling and conferencing, that offers security, privacy and control, and can rest in the hands of the user using a permission based approach, is upon us.

A lot more work still needs to be done, but Zoom’s first step is a big one, and a bold move, especially as they move more and more into telephony with Zoom phone and expand that footprint worldwide. By moving video calling in the direction they are going, and adding phone service, it won’t be long before you can call someone more easily, and have that call end up on the Nest, Portal or Show, just like calls that used to go to your home phone, just like the Jetsons’ cartoons of the past foreshadowed.

Disney + and the Rise of The Self Marketer

I've been following Disney's pursuit of their own streaming service and the process they've undertaken to get there. For starters they signaled their intention and then acquired the infrastructure of MLB's streaming group. That was a key and very schrewed move, as the MLB infrasructure was already supporting other companies, like WWE, and was a proven, battle tested and state of the art network. It also brought with it relationships and talent that understood how to stream and scale.

Next they signaled again, telling the market that properties of theirs in the Marvel family would be coming to Disney+.  This was less about taking the content away from rival Netflix than it was the first step in how the streaming service would be where the best Disney content could be found when it launches. And then yesterday Disney indicated that as soon as the theatrical release obligations of their cinematic efforts were up, they would immediately become available on Disney+ which is lining up massive distribution from the start.

Well, reading between the lines, the battle lines are being drawn but that's not as important as what Disney is doing with Disney+. It's about you, the viewer, and how you interact with Disney, the brand. Up until Disney+ once a video asset left Disney and was aired on a network, shown in a theatre, or offered as a DVD, that asset, much like what the wine and spirits industry understands too well, is that the customer wasn't known.  With Disney+ it's all about the data, and you the customer.

By adding data to the mix, Disney knows who has children watching what. That makes it easy to work with their licensed products team to decide what to market to whom. For their theme parks efforts, Disney+ data crossed with other cookie data they have access to means offers and sales. The list of opportunities goes on and on.

When you add it all up, Disney has done with Disney+ what they have done with the theme park business. Acquire infrastructure (land now technology), engage with the market via distribution (travel agents, airlines and hotels now set top boxes), put together the content (the rides, experiences now video elements). 

Now that Disney will have the data, which connects you to them even more closely, Disney is poised to become the biggest self marketer since Amazon....now that's Imagineering...

Amazon, Apple and Google Steal The Show at CES

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and this week's CES is clearly showing how what was once the way companies did business, has changed, and at the same time, what's old is new again and companies who once fought with each other are finding new ways to be allies. For example, Apple stopped licensing in 1997. Now they're redefining licensing by making it easier for anyone to access their iTunes platform. That's called distribution. What's next? Letting anyone make an iPhone-I think NOT.

Taken on face so far, it's clear Apple, Google and Amazon are dominating CES. News about assistants being deployed by multiple brands, new features and uses of the AI backed functionality and most of all iTunes ending up on Samsung, Vizio, and other smart TV brands. That and pure word play on the famed "what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas" line tied to your privacy.

Looking more closely, neither Amazon, Apple nor Google has really introduced any new products themselves. No new iPhones or MacBooks. No new Homes, Hubs, Mini's or Pixelbooks and no new Echos were introduced. But all three are dominating the news and over time, your wallets directly and indirectly. In everyway possible, they have mastered the hardware channel at this year's CES and at the same time proved that "software really is eating the world."

But what about all the news about them you say?

Well, its all indeed smoke and mirrors, with the media jumping on the names of Apple, Amazon, and Google when in reality what we have is a roll-out of services. Yes, those same services Tim Cook talked about is what caused the ill-informed stock market types to think Apple was a bad stock to hold onto, who misunderstand Google's real motivations, and who have yet to really see Amazon for what they are.

Apple wants to be the brand you will always trust. Their single billboard in Las Vegas is all about keeping what's your's, your's. It's also the premium brand. It's Bentley and Ferrari. Everyone else is Mercedes Benz and Chevy. They want iTunes to be the lure to keep you an Apple user. By aligning with the TV brands, they are skipping ahead of Spotify, Amazon Music, and Pandora.  Musicians love Apple. The labels work with Apple. The motion picture and television industry co-exist with Apple. Pretty much everyone trusts Apple, and this week, Apple reminded everyone why.

Google wants to make it as easy as talking to collect as much information about you so you can have a better, and less expensive, but still, have an elegant ride. Android is their Mercury, their messenger and the Google Cloud is their playground.  For Google, it's all about developing and deploying services. Hardware is their razor. The services are the blades. Google now has more razor manufacturers than anyone all lining up to be their blades' retailers. 

Amazon is for every day. It's the shopping center, file cabinet, and switchboard. Amazon is Walmart's biggest fear. They sell Apple. Google. Samsung. Jeff Bezos is the most prominent arms merchant in the world and never has to fire a single shot. Amazon hardware is the Colt .45's of every man. But if you want a Sig (Google) or a Glock (Apple) he'll find a way to deliver one to you. 

All the interest around voice interfaces is really about the death of the keyboard and the calculator. Just as we traded our landlines for smartphones and our calculators for digital spreadsheets, we're being migratory. Like the birds which fly south for the winter, we're leaving one nest for another. Instead of typing we merely talk. 

But what's also interesting is how all three are avoiding being social media platforms. Instead, they have all chosen to leave that for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.  That's smart thinking as the big three are really all about the customer. Consumer or enterprise. Social media is all about the interaction between people who in theory are friends (or not), and a means to amplify, extol and pontificate.

Who do I see as winners from CES?

1. Zapier-without question the more cloud-based services with open API's based on REST come to market, the more Zaps get created, the more opportunities Zapier has.
2. IFTTT-where Zapier has taken a cloud and software focus, IFTTT takes the hardware world and connects it to services. Both are able to be used with Google's Home Hub and Alexa, and not as much with Apple (yet).
3. Google as Gmail, Calendar, Tasks, Apps integrate with more smart assistants but comes with a caveat. Google need to connect the Assistant to their business accounts soon as you can already do that with Alexa and Echos. I consider this like the way SMS was a decade ago. It wasn't interoperable with every operator. Then one day, it was. Like that, so will Home Hub and G Suite for business start working.
4. Amazon - someone has to sell all the new hardware, and they've proven they are the best (place) to buy beating out Best Buy, Costco and eBay sellers for new, more because they deliver and this year literally will be.
5. Qualcomm and Intel-their chips are everywhere. NVidia and MediaTek too. But for these four the looming 5G is where their chips really start to be cashed in.

Oh, how 2019 is going to be an exciting year as friends, foes, allies alike dance with one another, while still looking to stick the knife in their rivals backs.

But with all the hoopla, one question has to be looming in everyone's mind.

Where have you gone, John Legere?

The CES Ramp Up

If you're a techie, a gadgeteer or an electronics junkie or simply someone who enjoys entertainment gear, CES is where the action is every January. It starts next week, and already, the ramp up is happening.

So next week, as the publicity machines crank up there will be lots of news surrounding what some will call "the next big thing," but in reality, it's not what's on the floor that's big. It's CES that is the "big thing" as it takes over the entire city of Las Vegas. It's where every brand fights for attention and where every attendee fights for a cab ride.

Already, rumors are floating around about this being the big show for Google (I disagree as I/O, and Next are where Google shows off). Apple never really does anything at CES except walk the floors, and Amazon, which has Re: Invent every November only needs to be there to support licensees. 

The mother of all trade shows is for the mega brands and the want to be brands to generate "heat" around their newest products. That's why CES has morphed into so much more than just "consumer electronics" and is why FoodTech, SportsTech, AutoTech, GreenTech, SeniorTech and BizTech are all there. CES creates new markets, builds awareness and is where the exhibiting companies are selling in.

And CES is about just that. SELLING IN. It is not about selling through. CES is where new products are seen, where meetings are held and where orders get written.

In many cases, the hype around the new products is so early that consumers salivate for the next big thing. It used to be TV and Stereo gear, but now it's about smart devices, smart homes, smart kitchen appliances-seriously, does anyone want dumb anything? 

This year marks the third year I'm skipping CES because, in this era of instant journalism, you can know all that's going on in more places more quickly by just using Google.

And that's why for Google, CES is really a big deal.

The Age of Influence Online

In 2005 Martin Geddes asked me to outline how Nokia could use bloggers to help properly introduce their upcoming line of smartphones, dubbed the "N Series" to overcome the challenges faced by their USA Country Comms team and Global Comms worldwide. In the past they had tried to work with bloggers and never got past the starting gate I was told.

Over a chat I outlined the program, and a day later presented the program to the Nokia Global Comms lead charged with the N Series rollout. The program, simply named "The Nokia Blogger Relations Program" became a runaway hit six months later when we launched it. It was such a hit that the Washington Post credited it with changing Nokia's fortunes.

Back then, metrics like we have today weren't available. There was no Twitter and Facebook was just getting going. My hand-picked group of "bloggers" included the likes of Om Malik, who then was GigaOm, Michael Arrington, who was TechCrunch, Rich Tehrani of TMCNet, Jeff Pulver, Kevin Tofel and the late James Kendrick of JK On the Run, Matt Miller of Palm Solo, now with ZD Net, Alec Saunders who had launched Windows Mobile at Microsoft and others like them.

Unlike today, where social media managers use data, I relied on my sports era training of how to find the right players and volunteer leaders to help grow the Philadelphia Flyers amateur hockey community presence. 

Stats like web traffic wasn't really a factor. Instead I looked for those who could provide insight, perspective and opinion surrounding the devices. I also looked for passion in their writing, and a fundamental aspect of their work life. They had to have experience with some smartphone. Back then it was either a Palm Pilot, a Blackberry or a Windows Mobile devices.

Today, data like the number of followers on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, are laregely how decisions are made, and in turn a lot of money is wasted on targets who will never buy the product or use the service. In the social influencer world there are three types of influencers:

Those who are all about New and Shiny - they simply reflect what they've been told by the company behind the product or service. Often the coverage is based on a news release, a photo or a short statement. Rarely is there any hands-on experience and almost never is their factual comparative reporting, as too many companies fail to let the media have long-term, unfettered access to a product or service. In the Nokia program we simply said to the bloggers to return the devices whenever they wanted to. We followed a similar approach with Boingo where we provided test accounts that were not supposed to expire though sometimes they did and we would reactivate them almost immediately. Most of what you read in high traffic news sites are using this approach where they want to control the message, not inspire thoughtful coverage.

Second is Release and Review. This is where the actual service or product is provided under embargo, or post-launch to reviewers for the purpose of detailing the many features and benefits. The music review world or book critics were great examples of this years ago, and in the days or real media, restaurant critics, many who were unknown on sight, would honestly provide a comparative critique, and offer the kind of detail that helped buyers and customers make informed decisions.

A great example of the expert reviewer is Kevin Tofel, a long time friend, peer and colleague (I was the intermediary who suggested to Om Malik that GigaOm purchase JK on The Run.) Kevin's recent review of the Pixel Slate is a fine example of a targeted review by a well-informed expert. When you compare his review vs. those from general market tech reporters, who have larger audiences, you see why Kevin's the go-to guy for Chromebooks and Slates. Many of the other reviewers have never touched a Pixelbook, or their experience was for only a week or two. This goes back to why in 2005 we aimed for smartphone using bloggers to be who received the Nokia devices whenever possible.

The third, and most important group, are those who demonstrated their blogging to provide what we nicknamed IPO for Insight, Perspective and Opinion.  That meant long-form writing, not short, simple, thin and unimaginative reporting. This allowed for the kind of coverage that people like Oliver Starr, Tofel, Miller, Malik, Pulver, Tehrani, Arrington all were providing their audiences. The IPO blogger or influencer also have what the release and review and new and shiny influencers don't have.  Deep experience and subject matter expertise.

Today, influencer relations is not about quality for many companies or their marketing execs, especially, those not versed in direct marketing vs. digital marketing. It's why social media managers who never learned about TRPs (target rating points) vs. GRP's (gross rating points) often buy their influencers based on large numbers - like the number of followers, vs. the right people who are followed.

The Kevin Tofel example is key here. His readership numbers are far lower than CNET, TechCrunch or The Verge, but his knowledge about Chromebooks is far richer, and his opinion is based more on deeper insight, and a far more experienced perspective.  That makes his reviews far more valuable, as they combine "release and review" with IPO.

What This Means

Twitter is more akin these days to the envelopes full of coupons that come in the mail. 99% of what you see is from businesses or people you would never do business with unless the deal arrived at exactly the time you needed it, as most expire a few weeks later. 

Instagram is like a glossy magazine of the past that you subscribed to and has "ads" from the places you shop, or want to shop in. When you start to follow influencers (i.e people you don't know and who surely don't know you) this is an example of vicarious living, much like the glossy magazines like US and People were or what watching TMZ or ET provide. The feeling of being an insider in Hollywood or New York when you live in, say Iowa (no offense to Iowans). Rarely do the influencers really engage with you except to drive traffic.

Facebook started out similar to a mailing list where friendship was the common thread. It has in some ways replaced your personal address book and phone as you can connect, keep tabs and communicate with your friends. It was supposed to be only about your friends, but has now become a home of businesses too. They use your friends' relationship as currency to get you to follow them. With LIKES related to what your friends approve of being shared to you, very specific geotargeting and more, Facebook had the right idea with its core idea, as its cap of 5000 friends limits overreach. Unfortunately, Facebook let the genie out of the bottle and the more they add in ads paid for by businesses augmented by promoted content, or what we used to call "the advotorial," the less meaningful the content  has in value, and likes become nothing more than a checkbox. Check-ins are meaningful to Facebook. It's the content surrounding the check-in that is meaningful to your friends. Unfortunately, Facebook's search  relevance is not really that good, eliminating the value of a historical post to your friends.

LinkedIn has always been the most restrictive to marketing, so beyond the InMail offers from people you don't know, LinkedIn level of control was enough to keep the excess marketing to a minimum. That's why LinkedIn has always been a higher value service for influence to reach the longer form seeking audiences.  Think of LinkedIn like what was directory assistance or the White Pages directory with additional content about people you know, want to know or used to know.

Review Sites/Blogs/Personal Websites once you get past the pay for player, the bloggers who are paid to write, or produce videos for product and service companies, you'll find deeper insight and better advice. For example, the Costco Wine Blog is a great site for wine buyers who shop at the wholesale club. Costco permits it to use their name because it is not harmful to the brand. If anything it provides an outsider opinion on what's only found on their shelves. It highlights only the best wines based on real tastings of the wines, not merely, the fact that they are sold there. 

Sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp in theory are valuable, but only to a point. They are helpful in researching what's where or who's who. Unfortunately, the content is user contributed, making the authority value rather low. In essence they are more like the almost defunct Yellow Pages directory ads. 

Each social media approach has value, but as a pioneer in social media marketing, too much of what was advertising dollars are being spent on mass audience, where if you reach a large enough audience you'll get some traffic and in turn some customers. 

Today, Social Media today is too much like Mass Media of the past. It needs more.

Smart social media management means taking the approaches of direct marketing first, so if you effectively target the right influencers from the start, then you don't need the mass part at the start, but can apply that approach after you've built the quality content that's "real."

When PR Isn't

As background I've been in the PR world since I was 14 years old when I was in sports with the Philadelphia Wings and then with the Philadelphia Flyers. Back as far as then the idea of being friends with media, keeping them informed and being able to talk, present a story angle that was more of a conversation than the so called "pitch."  As a blogger, I get pitched everyday, and while I don't accept contributed articles, I do get ideas on topics when the PR person has taken the time to only pitch me on story ideas that will be newsworthy, not simply to meet their client's wishes.

But PR has changed. Recently I was sent a pitch by NordVPN. It included an interesting angle and one which I was half interested in writing about, but the release had holes in it to make for a good blog post, so I sent a few questions back to the person who sent the pitch and release to me. No reply. I followed up a few days later. Still no reply. I then reached out to the person listed on the web site for communications. No reply.

On another story angle I called and wrote the PR contact for ZipCar. No reply. Even worse, the phone number listed resulted in a message saying the number "does not have voice mailbox has been set up yet." This is for the PR person listed on the most recent release. An email to the contact also wasn't replied to.

A third example is how PR people make it so difficult a story isn't able to be written. A few months ago I got assigned to write a story about identity verification in the technology era. Having experienced the situtaion first hand with both physical address and phone number verification, and having vendors like ADP tell me they use Experian to check addresses and Acxiom to validate addresses as well (FedEx) I posed the question to both requesting information about processes, data sources and alternative methods of validation. Acxiom promised an answer and never provided one. Experian said they didn't want to take part in the story. The story never got written. 

This is the state of PR and why reporters are now fed up and why "fake news" exists.

Having been a PR pro and a journalist the ability to produce a factually accurate story is only made more difficult when PR people choose to play defense vs. work with media on getting the right story. When journalists have first hand knowledge of what's going it only makes for a more accurate story. Receiving the right answer from the company in question only goes to make for a better and more correct news account.

Unfortunatly, when PR folks don't work in a cooperative manner with media only two outcomes can occur. No story, or a story that is based on what the media thinks are the facts. In both cases the brand loses.

Having worked with luminary brands like AT&T, AOL, Nokia, RIM and breakout brands like GrandCentral (GoogleVoice), StubHub and many others, we always made a point of working with the media, and being cooperative. That approach yielded in successful campaigns and stories about the companies. Media pros know how to do things right, but when they play like amateurs then no one wins and their audiences end up the losers.

 

Why the WWE is A Telescope, Not a Microscope

I grew up watching WWWF wrestling when Vince McMahon was the broadcaster. Actually, even before that. I would stay up late to watch Florida Championship Wrestling with Gordon Solie. The same with Georgia Championship Wrestling, even the AWA when Thunderlips pre-dated the creation of Hulk Hogan. In the 80's was at the Spectrum in the media conference for the first promotional tour for Wrestlemania and in the late 70's I interviewed Bruno Sammartino for the Philadelphia Journal (well promoter Phil Zacko did most of the talking). I'm also a music junkie and what is going on with the WWE and music plus their talent roster is all part of a bigger play. 

 

The idea of a campaign is typical to marketing. It starts with a hint. A tease. It grows. And grows. What the WWE and Rousey's managers are doing, are building more than just one person.  Wrestling has always been a soap opera. Stories within stories. Themes within themes. As a student of advertising I love a great campaign and seeing all the nuances that the public takes for granted. This is one of them.

 

The WWE has done a masterful job at reviving the song "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett. They are doing it with "Rowdy" Rhonda Rousey, a former MMA champ, but also with the whole women's movement surrounding the Divas, what they did in the UAE last summer and with their upcoming all women's pay per view. That means some music supervisor came up with a few songs that could be the core of the campaign. Hats off to that person. Then a creative director and team built upon it. Mastery on so many levels.

 

 

 

This is a campaign around a campaign, carefully crafted to broaden their audience at a time where the "Me Too" movement is alive and growing. While I have no doubt that at some point the same thing went on in the WWE, that's ages ago and from a different era. As someone who grew up in sports and entertainment, that was part of the game off the playing field. It wasn't right then, it was just how it was.

 

 

But today, with youthful stars like Rousey, Charlotte Flair and others who are now competing on par with the likes of the top male wrestlers, the WWE, their close confidants in the world of Hollywood agentry are shaping things the way the big 4 networks have not even come close to. The same can be said about the NHL, NFL and MLB, while the NBA at least has the WNBA. You don't see the NHL glorifying women's hockey, yet it's an Olympic sport. The NCAA has the women's hockey championships. So while we all know wrestling is reality TV at it's finest, and live reality in the arenas, it has surpassed the rest of the groups at moving in the direction of giving women their place, "bad reputation" or not.

 

 

 

 

 

My Newsletter The Comunicano

For the past few years I've been putting out a newsletter, The Comunicano. First I used Flash Issue, a very well thought out platform. But as we have all seen with technology, someone always comes along and builds something better. And Revue is that better platform. It's cheaper, easier and faster for me to produce what has become an almost daily ritual for me to share news that I've found interesting.

But there's something more about the newsletter. It's the open rate and click through rates.  Even on Thanksgiving the click through rate was over 30 percent, and the same on Black Friday. 

Those types of readership levels are really something to be thankful for. If you want to subscribe, click here.

 

 

The Comunicano for Wednesday February 22 2017

FEBRUARY 22 - ISSUE #28     UPS, like Amazon, is fascinated with what flying drones can do for their business. For normally silent UPS, their efforts with drones seem to be “taking off” in Florida the way Uber is testing driverless cars in Arizona. We lift off today with three items about UPS and their lofty ideas surrounding drones….those stories and a lot, lot more are all in today’s COMUNICANO. UPS tests drone deliveries, eyes future price changes WWW.REUTERS.COM – Share   UPS Tests Residential Delivery Via Drone Launched From atop Package Car PRESSROOM.UPS.COM – Share UPS works with truck-launched drone-maker Workhorse Group in latest test   Test demonstrates potential efficiencies drones can provide on rural delivery routes Unlike previous drone tests, UPS/Workhorse test incorporates drone delivery into day-to-day delivery operations   SportsTech Watch Exclusive: Facebook in talks to live stream one MLB game per week - sources WWW.REUTERS.COM – Share Facebook Inc (FB.O) is in talks with Major League Baseball to live stream one game per week during the upcoming season, which could be a key win as the social media platform works to offer more live sports, according to two people familiar with the situation. Amazon Watch Move over, Amazon: Here comes Walmart MONEY.CNN.COM – Share Walmart reported surprisingly strong growth in its e-commerce operations, thanks to its recent purchase of Jet and online grocery sales. Amazon plans to sell beer and wine at its new high-tech convenience store WWW.RECODE.NET – Share The Amazon Go store in Seattle also carries sandwiches, salads and snacks. Wireless Watch Verizon offers taste of 5G as it expands network trials WWW.CNET.COM – Share The company plans to offer 5G to some customers in 11 cities by midyear. It’s not full mobile wireless. Instead it’s a replacement for fixed broadband. Some subscribers of Project Fi are getting access to VoLTE on T-Mobile's network WWW.PHONEARENA.COM – Share Although it’s no longer a spring chicken, Project Fi is continuing to get updated with new features. The latest one? Official support for VoLTE calls… Odds & Ends Israeli glass tech can help car windows show ads WWW.TIMESOFISRAEL.COM – Share Startup Gauzy and Germany’s Daimler display film that allows projection of messages on windows while vehicles are parked An AI Hedge Fund Created a New Currency to Make Wall Street Work Like Open Source WWW.WIRED.COM – Share Wall Street is a Darwinian battle for the almighty dollar. But Richard Craib thinks his AI-powered hedge fund will soar if everyone can just get along. Apple has kept Steve Jobs promises with its new HQ WWW.COMPUTERWORLD.COM – Share Apple will open its new San Jose HQ just in time for WWDC 2017 Do you enjoy receiving this? Please share it:     Tweet     Share   Carefully curated by Andy Abramson with Revue If you were forwarded this newsletter and you like it, you can subscribe here.