"You can be free" by Eole, via flickr

Why is [almost] everything conditional* ?

*Terms and conditions apply

I’m not sure about you, but to me there’s something special about knowing that something is unconditional. Someone gives me something, unconditionally – expecting nothing in return, not even thanks. Someone loves me or respects me unconditionally. Knowing that today, tomorrow and every day thereafter you will not judge me. Because you accept me. Unconditionally.

If I’ve got something to tell you or sell you, what do the conditions I attach actually tell you?

that I don’t trust you; or that I do trust you – but only if….

after all, what’s your first reaction when something seems to good to be true? “What’s the catch!?”

Sometimes conditions can’t be avoided. Sometimes they can. But do you know what those conditions actually cost you? Because when you’re giving something with conditions, you’re not actually giving it – you’re just exchanging it. Many brands attach conditions and then wonder why no one wants what they’re “giving away”.

Consider the two extremes:

Here’s something for you, you can have it as long as you do exactly what I say so I can get what I want. Then you can have what you want.

And this

Here’s something. It’s for you. No strings attached. No conditions. I trust you with it.

Now you tell me how wide the gap is between those two.

Unconditional. One thing you just can’t put a value on.

Other posts you might enjoy

• Respect for a Legend
• The model of Free
• The magic of Free

I’m hoping you can tell me, because this is what Multichoice and DSTV have done to me, and I’m tired of trying to be nice about it with them. So I’ll try not to get emotional – here are the facts, I hope the information will serve as fair warning to everyone else using their services.

Recording TV programmes? How quaint.

We often record DSTV programmes to watch later [since we usually can't watch when they are aired], but had to replace our DVD recorder and decoder in February as they were both starting to give us hassles. Not ideal but we thought it worthwhile at the time.

I notice on 13 March, about two weeks later, that we cannot record anymore. While trying to record a programme, I get the message “Cannot record. Copy protected”. Multichoice has unilaterally changed their terms of service and not bothered to inform us [anyone else know?]. If we had known this two weeks before, I’m fairly certain we wouldn’t have replaced either of our machines.

We can no longer record DSTV programmes on our DVD recorder [which is what we bought it for].

Criminal intent

30 March – after several calls and an e-mail to them, an e-mail reply received from Multichoice states “DStv subscribers do not have access to record, except if they are utilising a PVR decoder. Other than this, recording movies from DStv is illegal….Multichoice recently became aware of this practice and implemented the necessary steps to ensure that it is stopped with immediate effect.”

Surely it must be against our the law of South Africa to be considered illegal? How come people have been recording TV programmes [remember that funny thing called VHS?] for years and years and years without hassle.

I can only assume this means that they do not trust their customers to act honestly, so they simply remove our choice to do so. In some weird way it reminds me of what China did to Google.

Don’t call us, we’ll call you

6 April – I fax a letter to Multichoice MD, Nico Meyer. The next day I get a voice message saying my query is being attended to, but don’t hear from them again.

I hope against hope that others will complain too and they’ll set it right. They don’t. Life is busy so I wait. But no change.

19 July – I send another letter, again to Multichoice MD Nico Meyer, stating my disappointment about the way things are. Since they are happy to move on, I agree to do so too and say I will cancel our service.

Upon phoning to cancel, I’m told that I’ve paid for the month so they will cancel on the next run, 2 August 2010. Inconvenient, but I take it just to end this sorry debacle.

Multichoice now charging for lessons

On 2 August our service stops as promised, but they still take the monthly subscription of R526.72 from my account. I send another letter, again addressed to Nico Meyer, MD of Multichoice, expressing my dissatisfaction.

The next day I get a call from some poor fellow at the call centre, obviously tasked with trying to clear this up. He apologises and says I’ll have the money in a week.

It’s been a week – Multichoice still has my money. At the time of writing this I still haven’t received a refund.

The lesson I’ve learned is that I don’t want to be a Multichoice customer – and it’s only cost me R526.72 [admittedly it's a fair bit more if I add in time spent writing letters and trying to get any type of response]. Tell you what Multichoice, why don’t you keep the money instead, obviously you must need it more than I do. I’m tired of fighting with you, I’ll write it off to school fees – and that way I’ll make sure it’s a lesson I never forget.

[By the way, is it only me that sees the irony in a company implying that all its customers are thieves, then taking money without authorisation?]

Thanks for the lesson Multichoice and DSTV, here are some for you [and I won't even charge]

It’s been almost five months, and after several phone calls, three letters and an e-mail I still haven’t spoken to or heard from a single person who I believe actually cares in any way. Perhaps this is why there are so many unresolved complaints against Multichoice on hellopeter.com, or why there is a group called “DSTV sucks” on facebook.

To thank Multichoice I’ll offer them some constructive criticism. Although I don’t really believe they will ever bother to read this, it’s important since anyone can just criticise without offering ways to improve.

So, dear Multichoice  and DSTV:

1. Always remember why you do what you do. Growth, new markets, share prices, new channels and services -  aren’t all those things products of making your customers happy rather than goals in themselves?
2. Lose all the call centres, fax lines and email addresses. Just have one point of contact. I’ve tried them all without success. Perhaps focusing on one will help you to actually hear what your customers are telling/asking you.
3. Listen to the customers that try to communicate with you. There’s no such thing as a complaint – it’s only a customer reaching out for assistance. Use that information, don’t sit there assuming you know what customers want when they’re telling you what they want.
4. It’s usually cheaper to keep existing clients than it is to acquire new ones. With new entrants into the market [TopTV], consider whether it isn’t better to make sure you hold on to your existing customers than it is to convince those who wouldn’t before to do so now. The increasing competition you’ll face as broadband costs drop and online television options grow will only highlight this.
5. And a bit unrelated but still relevant – dont’ send annual letters to clients that say “”We at Multichoice would like to express our sincere gratitude for your loyalty during these tough economic times. We wish to advise you of our annual price increase…”. It’s a contradiction and very unhelpful. If you really believe its tough economic times, then how about keeping your rates the same if you really can’t drop them. Otherwise just don’t say it.
   

Here are the letters I wrote to Multichoice / DSTV for the record. If after reading them you believe I’m wrong then please let me know, I’d be interested to hear what you would do.

• Open letter to Multichoice #1 – The real value of a DSTV subscription (6/4/2010)
• Open letter to Multichoice #2 – One less thing to worry about (19/7/2010)
• Open letter to Multichoice #3 – Multichoice taking money without authorisation (2/8/2010)

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are mine alone, and do not necessarily represent those of my employers, Twitter, Jacob Zuma, SpongeBob SquarePants, Steve Jobs or the Tooth Fairy. Any similarities are merely coincidental.

Other posts you might enjoy

• Open letter to Multichoice #3 – Multichoice taking money without authorisation
• Open letter to Multichoice #2 – One less thing to worry about
• Open letter to Multichoice #1 – The real value of a DStv subscription

It has culminated here – “Goodbye Multichoice and DSTV, it’s been real

Dear Mr Meyer

What must I do to get any respect from your organisation?

Having received no reply to my letters dated 6 April 2010 and 30 July 2010, addressed to yourself, I phoned your offices on 18 July to cancel our subscription. Jacob confirmed that since we had been debited for the month already, our subscription would run until 2 August 2010 and then stop. Although this did not suit me at all, I left it as is.

This morning I was pleased to see that our service was stopped as promised. You can imagine my dismay this evening seeing that my bank account has once again been debited with R526.72 by Multichoice today. I’m not sure how you would define taking someone’s money without their authority. Most people I know would describe it as theft.

I have tried to be very reasonable and patient in dealing with yourselves, taking the time to phone your offices and e-mail in trying to sort out our initial problems, writing two letters to yourself and then as a last resort phoning to confirm cancellation. Multichoice has made no effort whatsoever in assisting me or showing any desire to help.

I trust you will at least do me the courtesy of replying to this letter with the reason that money was taken from my account as well as a detailed explanation of how it will be remedied. If I receive no acceptable reply by Thursday 5 August I will assume you wish me to take this complaint to the press.

Copies of my previous letters again attached for your reference.

Sincerely,

Other posts you might enjoy

• Open letter to Multichoice #2 – One less thing to worry about
• Open letter to Multichoice #1 – The real value of a DStv subscription
• Goodbye Multichoice and DSTV, it’s been real

It has culminated here – “Goodbye Multichoice and DSTV, it’s been real

Dear Mr Meyer

Having received no reply to my letter dated 6 April 2010 (copy attached for your reference) other than a voice message that day saying it was being attended to, I can only assume that we are the only family experiencing this problem and it is not worth your time to follow up on. Or perhaps three months is too soon to expect a reply, in which case please let me know how long you want us to wait.

But if it is true then it’s fully understandable. Multichoice is a great company and probably very busy pursuing important agendas such as growth, profitability and diversification. I’m just sorry to see that in driving after all these wonderful things, the needs and desires of ourselves (as subscribers) are irrelevant. Oh well, I suppose we can’t win them all.

This being the case, I will be cancelling our subscription today and won’t bother you with this any further.

Best of luck with all your future plans.

Sincerely,

Other posts you might enjoy

• Open letter to Multichoice #3 – Multichoice taking money without authorisation
• Open letter to Multichoice #1 – The real value of a DStv subscription
• Goodbye Multichoice and DSTV, it’s been real

It has culminated here – “Goodbye Multichoice and DSTV, it’s been real

Dear Mr Meyer

Having been a subscriber for many years now, I just wanted to clarify Multichoice’s strange decision regarding copyright with you as I’m sure what I’ve been informed can’t be right.

We had some bad luck with technology earlier this year that resulted in us buying a new LG DVD recorder and a new Multichoice decoder within a couple of weeks of each other, around the end of February. For several weeks things continued normally but then on Saturday 13 March, while trying to record a sports programme (we were having guests over), I received the error “Cannot record. Copy protected”. Since then we have been unable to record any programmes.

I sent a query through to Multichoice that same day. The reply I received more than two weeks later (30 March) was unexpected to say the least, especially as I’m not aware subscribers received any notification at all of the change – we certainly didn’t!

The reply given to me stated that “DStv subscribers do not have access to record, except if they are utilising a PVR decoder. Other than this, recording movies from DStv is illegal.”

Besides the fact that we cannot record anything (not just movies), it is the first I hear that it is illegal to record from television. Growing up, almost everyone I visited had a television and video recorder, and recording programmes to watch at a more convenient time was a common practice.

Please could you satisfy my curiosity and confirm which Act governs this, and why it allows PVR recording but not recording to other media.

The reply goes on to say that “Multichoice recently became aware of this practice and implemented the necessary steps to ensure that it is stopped with immediate effect.”

This really feels like an insult, not just to me but to all your subscribers. After all, it is illegal to shoot people but you can still buy a gun. How is it that Multichoice considers us unable to make a reasonable decision on how to utilise recorded programmes? Instead you have simply removed the option.

I could fully understand if there was the ability to record the programme once only and further copying would be restricted, but from what I see, Multichoice have simply removed any option of recording whatsoever.

Like most people, I am at work all day so I cannot generally watch television during the day. This means if there is something on I want to watch, I would have to record it. And having a family means that most weekends we are busy or out, so often we want to record things to watch then as well.

I have always enjoyed watching NBA games on ESPN as basketball is my favourite sport. When games are shown, they are either in the early hours of the morning or during work hours (except for Saturday afternoons, when the family keeps us occupied too). Now I am unable to watch any NBA basketball as I can’t record it.

Now that our family cannot enjoy many of the programmes we used to, our DStv subscription has lost almost all of its value to us.

If I had known this was going to be forced on me as a subscriber I would not have purchased the new DVD recorder or decoder at the time.

Is this all true? Am I now completely unable to record anything due to Multichoice’s copyright decision? If so, please let me know who I send our letter of cancellation to.

I’m sure that your time is very well spent pursuing growth for Multichoice’s business, but I hope you would agree with me that this is an important matter, and I would appreciate your response.

Yours sincerely,

Other posts you might enjoy

• Open letter to Multichoice #3 – Multichoice taking money without authorisation
• Open letter to Multichoice #2 – One less thing to worry about
• Goodbye Multichoice and DSTV, it’s been real

"iPod Touch, music player" by guidosportaal, via flickr

A tale of what a little technological masterpiece can teach us about learning.

Apple’s iPod is a surprising teacher. The product itself has its own lore. It’s one of the asterisks on the time-line of technological development, and probably will always be.

[Go all the way - Evolver]

But today I’m not worried about that. As I sit here listening to one, blissfully enjoying a mix of the sounds of my youth along with more current hits, it feels like it’s interrogating me.

There, it just did it.

I’ve set it to shuffle all songs. This means of the 1,000+ tracks I’ve uploaded so far, any one could play at any time. A great way to rediscover the old greats I’d forgotten about, possibly even hear some of the tracks I’ve never listened to. And it’s in this setting that I find a whole lesson.

[From out of nowhere - Faith no more]

It just did it again. Like Britney, but without the “Oops”.

It’s gotta be intentional. This little machine is much smarter than we give it credit for. Scanning my brain, testing my reactions, this little iPod knows a bit about me, and what it doesn’t know, it wants to.

Having already uploaded songs, I’ve rated some of them myself [anywhere from one to five stars, depending on how much I like the song]. I can choose to play “My top rated” songs – a guaranteed hit everytime the player ticks over. Sometimes its nice to play a bit of roulette though, see what comes my way. As I hand my auditory fate over to the devious device, I’m completely unsuspecting. All songs > Shuffle > Play. Here we go.

[Sunday Morning - No Doubt]

Ooh, haven’t heard that one in ages. Wow, so good to hear it again, I let it play all the way through. Next song, not so much. I give it a skip straight away. And the next.

All of a sudden, I’m hit with a hit. One of top rated songs. I give the skip button a rest. After a few good and bad songs, the machine stumbles upon a few misses again. Not liking my fervent pounding on the Skip button, I’m presented with another top rated song.

That’s where it hits me, there’s more to this than meets the eye. Could it be that the player is pushing boundaries? Learning with each new track it plays? Let it play all the way through – a winner. Skip it, maybe not so much. Skip a few in a row – oh, oh, better throw in a sure fire winner to appease the listener.

Therein lies the crux. By applying some basic rules like this, this gizmo can keep learning about my music taste [and potentially even moods]. To the point that it might just know me better than I do.

Think like an iPod, learn like one too

Whether the iPod actually does this or not, I don’t know. If it does though, what a way to learn! Armed with some basic information, a simple formula and a willingness to push boundaries [and know when they are reached], you can quickly grow your knowledge about a particular subject [client, supplier, employee, boss, whatever].

Wondering how your client will respond to a highly creative solution? Give them three options, the highly creative one along with a couple more safer ones. And keep testing them… see what you learn about them.

Not sure how your top performer reacts to certain responsibilities? Test him/her with a few, but have the ones they prefer ready to fall back on. Keep testing them… and see what you learn about them.

Has a key supplier been disappointing you? Give them the option to deliver to the standard expected or to deliver what they’re currently delivering at a price that is more directly related to the value. Let them choose… and see what you learn about them. Then keep testing them.

Yes indeed, this could just be the way it’s done. So much to learn, so little time!

Other posts you might enjoy

• The OutThink highlight reel
• How to split equity in a new business – an innovative approach
• Are you well-informed?

So the news is out that Google Wave is gone. history. finito. (well, from the end of this year anyway). How can it be a success then?

First, you have to give Google credit for running with it at all.

I take my hat off to Google with this one. Despite my dislike for the product, they really put it all out there. They took on the gargantuan foe that nobody wanted to – e-mail. And not just timidly, but head on, claiming it was not just an improvement on e-mail, but a replacement in fact.

They don’t just talk innovation – they do it. Wave sucked, but it was definitely innovative.

Second, they are failing forward

Google is not afraid to admit this hasn’t worked. Respect!

Big project. Big hype. Big launch. Big press. Big failure.

[Pity that Chris Brogan didn't write this earlier for them to read before they launched it - "We Won't Come".]

Nevertheless, they’re learning from it and moving on. If someone can openly admit defeat on something this big and be happy to learn from it and move on, I can’t help having a fair chunk of admiration for that.

Third, the best is yet to come.

Read Google’s “Official update on Google Wave” if you haven’t yet (not quite the best blog post title they’ve ever come up with). The key lies about a third of the way through the third paragraph:

“we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects“

So if this is as innovative as the build up led us to believe, then heaven help their competitors as bandwidth speeds continue to increase and if they can find a decent application or two to whack this into.

Last Wave goodbye

I bet it’ll be back in some form or other one day, and it’ll wow our socks off. Until then though, I’m quite happy to see the back of it in this format.

But one thing’s for sure. Google have made this failure a success, and taught us something in the process.

Would you agree?

Other posts you might enjoy

• Riding the Wave
• Web 2.0 failures. Teaching us how to succeed.
• Failure 101 – a lesson from the great one

Crowdfunding is an excellent initiative by Eve Dmochowska to jump-start South African tech startups.

How does it work?

The idea is simple – a bunch of people each invest R1,000 [or multiples thereof] in a pooled fund which then gets allocated to startups based on merit.

The startups get funding [clearly not too much, but enough to get them through the initial tough phase], as well as support such as mentoring to improve their chances of success.

Investors get an opportunity to invest in the future of South Africa by helping support these young startups.

I think it’s a great idea and will be taking part to see how it plays out.

Good luck to the team and the startups that take part!

Want to take part?

You can read more about crowdfunding here, or if you’re already keen to invest, you can sign up to add your name to the list and pledge an investment [no cash required yet, they're just looking for commitments right now].

Other posts you might enjoy

• Funding for startups and new ventures in South Africa
• Enable this
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What do you really want to achieve? Why do you want to do it?

Think about it. It matters.

Do you just want to get rich, regarless of whether you add value or not?

With reference to building a community [city] that supports startups and entrepreneurs, Chris Dixon had this to say the other day:

The enemy should be people and institutions who make money but don’t actually create anything useful.

Read it again.

And again.

Get it?

I think Chris is spot on [plus it makes an amazing quote that should go down in history]! Middle men who don’t add anything and just take a slice of everything for themselves are parasites that devour us [you and me] one transaction at a time.

No, I’m not saying you shouldn’t make money out of a business. [and I'm not against agents that add something in the process they're involved in]

But personally I want to build something that will create value that lasts just beyond my own bank account.

Don’t you?

Now tell me, why settle for a fortune when you can change the world?

Other posts you might enjoy

• At a crossroads
• Business models on business cards
• Real value – a lesson on hidden costs from SAA

Mark is right. In an age where new businesses develop almost as fast as ideas do, sitting on your ideas is the fastest way to go nowhere quickly. And as he says, it creates momentum for the idea too.

And yet, with Project Neo [my baby], it’s hard to let go. Sure, I’ve spoken to a couple of people, but really putting it out there… well, that’s something else entirely.

There are just so many reasons to wait just a little bit longer:

• being scared of what people will think
• fearing a fast-moving giant will throw resources at the idea and beat you
• thinking it’s not quite ready for anyone to see

… and the list goes on. I’m sure you know the excuses as well as I do. Most are unfounded, the rest are just vain introspective bulldust.

So yeah, it’s about time we put this out there. I know you’re right Mark.

So how come it’s so difficult to let go?

Other posts you might enjoy

• Don’t be scared to charge for value
• In search of a feasible business
• A Web 2.0 business model that sets the standard