First step: call Apple.  Aaron spoke to an Apple representative who informed him that bulk licensing was only available in quantities well beyond our needs. He suggested making a number of company App Store accounts and purchasing the software through those for each machine. Individually.  The kicker?  You can’t attach the same credit card to each account or the universe will implode.  The Apple equivalent of dividing by zero or something.  “Gift cards,” the rep recommended.

Aaron ran off to the local Best Buy to pick up two $15 gift cards for each employee’s machine (the upgrade was $29.99) and returned with news that they only had the $25 cards in stock.  Since the entire balance of a card is applied to an App Store account upon redemption these were useless. He had gotten two so we could update our server, but everyone else was out of luck.  We had to order all the cards from the Apple store and wait for them to be delivered.

When the cards arrived, we added them to the accounts we had created for each computer, being careful to document which accounts were being tied to which machine and then went around and got everyone started on the upgrade.  Finally.  We spent more than double the time we had estimated to our boss; time we couldn’t spend helping clients/making money for the business.

The whole experience was terrible.  I understand that Apple can’t support bulk licensing at such a small scale, but they need a better way for businesses to upgrade. I suppose we could have waited for the physical release and paid more than double for each license, but that makes about as much sense as gift carding…

And then this morning Bill sent me a link to this article about the next OS X which is almost in developer release.  I broke out in cold sweats and curled up in a ball under my desk which is where I’ve been typing this from.  I really hope Apple improves the upgrade experience for small businesses or I don’t know how we’ll be keeping up with the yearly releases.

Could someone pass me the tin foil?

Please read more from Sean’s Why SOPA’s Bad for Education…And Everyone Else.

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Designers Go To Heaven

I stumbled across this site a week or two ago and it’s been on my daily watch list since. Though this is a simple, minimally designed Tumblr blog, the amount of content Andrei D. Robu found (or created) to curate here is just great. I’ve found myself skimming through this for hours, breaking off to follow the links to the sources and finding more and more beautiful work. Designers Go To Heaven has a bit of something for everyone and does a great job of being inspirational without trying to hard.

abduzeedo.com

Abduzeedo is just a great site. I originally met its creator via Twitter shortly after I joined. I really enjoyed all of his tutorials, inspirational images, and wallpapers as a young designer. After 4 years I still enjoying clicking the links and checking out the new images, logos, and techniques he shares on his Twitter feed.

Globe Poster Printing

If you’ve ever spent some time in Baltimore as a designer you undoubtedly know who Globe Poster Printing are and have heard of their long colorful history. Though their site isn’t the prettiest thing but the posters that they have on display are some of the best hand screen printed posters ever to exist. They’ve done work to promote Jimi Hendrix, BB King, Howling Wolf, Stevie Wonder, Chubby Checker and many more. With their bright colors and classic feel this is not only a great trip down memory lane but a great look at the history of poster printing.

 Behance Network

Even though Behance is a part partfolio site and part social network, it is a great place to get inspired by young or even established designers from all around the world. Some of the projects showcased are just proofs of concept, while others are documentation of finished products produced by the designers client. And since the site allows you to filter results based on they type of medium, special curated galleries and number of views the number of ways you can experience various projects is practically limitless.

Brand New (Underconsideration.com)

If you’re really into branding or enjoying comparing the minute differences between two versions of a logo than this is the place for you. This blog catalogs some of the most interesting conversations about brands and their logos. Built by a group of designers for designers the updates and the conversations that follow really make you think about all the little things that make a big difference during the branding process. This is also a great place to go to compare logos from around the world and see what other designers are saying.

If you’re like most people you probably haven’t? But if you’re a little more astute, you’ve probalby noticed that your results are getting lower and lower on the page.

Paid ads and answers all come before the list of websites you might find useful to your query. If you’re like me and use Google to search for just about everything under the sun 100x a day (including using it as spell check), this is a good thing. I’m able to take in more information faster and with less clicks.  Google is constantly working on dozens of projects that, mostly, make the user experience pleasant and inviting. It may seem counter productive to people who like to keep people on their site to show user engagement and increased page views but for Google, the more people that can quickly find an answer the more likely they are to use the service again.

What does that mean for the rest of us? Well, I don’t really know and it’s probably too early to tell. With Google’s constantly changing algorithms and introduction of “Google Search, Plus Your World” the world of search is really taking on a new shape.  Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt has been quoted as saying:

“…we’re trying to move from answers that are link-based to answers that are algorithmically based, where we can actually compute the right answer. And we now have enough artificial intelligence technology and enough scale and so forth that we can, for example, give you — literally compute the right answer.”

-Eric Schmidt, D: All Things Digital conference June 2011 [Bonus: Video of the D9 interview]

At one point in time, search used to be the great equalizer, one company versus another for rank. Today we face a new challenge that includes paid advertisement, sponsored links, paid and organic SEO, customized results, location based results and social integration. Peter Yard, CTO for CBS Interactive and CNET contributor says:

“…Google’s famed PageRank algorithm carries less and less weight these days, since fresh news and results inherently don’t have as many inbound links as older content. (If it helps, you can think of PageRank as a kind of paleo-social search–just one that moves way too slowly for the modern Web.)”

-Peter Yard – Why Google is ditching search, CNET

The more our world continues to conform to our social sphere, the harder we will have to work to find things outside the boundaries being built by integrated services.

Technology

Voice Control – I’m fairly confident that we will some major changes in tech this year. Thanks to Apple and Siri, voice controls for smartphones are going to become a standard. I also see this tech spreading to devices in our homes including the obvious like TVs and computers but also things like the thermostat and kitchen appliances but it won’t happen overnight.

The TV is another area we should see some newer technologies start to come down in price but larger sizes (55″+) will still be out of reach for most of us. What I’m most excited about is seeing the user experience of TV take on a new form. With connected devices like Roku, Wii, XBox (Live) and PS3 TVs are already more capable of delivering more of your favorite content to you but as we’ve started to see with iTV or internet TV is that most of the services we use like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and HBO Go are being integrated right into the TV. Even the interface for the most basic functions have received stunning upgrades when compared to the boring up/down, left/right menus of only a few years ago.

Speaking of menus and user interface, 2012 promises Windows 8 (in multiple variations) which should be a nice upgrade from W7 and Vista. Who know’s what Apple’s got up it’s sleeve next but I’m sure it will be interesting (and pretty!). Something I am really looking forward to however is a better web experience revolving around something that’s being call “responsive web design”. Responsive design is a little hard to explain but, in escense, attempts to streamline the users web experience no matter what platform (mobile, tablet, web) by delivering different, deliberately designed formats of a website based on that user’s device’s screen size. If you’d like to learn more about responsive design, check out a book called Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte.

Social Media

After 2011′s big shake up with the introduction of Google+, 2012 should be a little quieter on the social media frontier although, I’d expect a lot of growth. I think we’ll really see G+ grow into its own space and demand quite a bit more attention. It’s already proven to be very powerful in attracting new users and building communities based around the users existing “circles” of friends. The whole experience is very natural and I’m sure we can expect a lot more out of the search giant.

I’m also betting we see more social integration across the board from all the major social sites out there. What I’m really hoping for is a less intrusive way for this to work. I’m starting to get a little tired of all these buttons and begging me to “Follow me on Facebook/Twitter/G+/LinkedIn”, etc. etc at the bottom (or top) of blogs and sites. If I want to share you page, post or tweet I will but I’ll do it on what channel or experience I’d like and who know’s maybe I’ll just post it to Reddit and let others decide if it’s actually worth anyone’s time. What I’m really trying to say is that I hope the process becomes smoother and maybe takes on a nice, less-than-20-click-approval to get things all linked up.

By no way is this the end. Between start-ups, mash-ups, and social integration the “Big 4″ (Facebook, Google+, Twitter & LinkedIn) won’t be the only big players in the social media game and I can start to see location based services like FourSquare, Google Places & Facebook Places becoming more popular and less of an afterthought. Mobile, location-based advertising will also be hugely important in the year(s) to come.

Online & Mobile Advertising

As the number of available media channels continue to grow, so does advertising. With so many alternatives to TV, print and other “traditonal” forms of advertising – online, mobile, location-based and integrated marketing and advertising campaigns have an inherit ability to gain more ground in the next year with social advertising being one of the fastest growing markets. I think it’s fair to say that second tier networks like AdKnowledge, LookSmart and Outbrain will attract lots of attention from advertisers looking to new sources to circumvent a semi-saturated markets on Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Daily deal platforms like Groupon, Living Social, and Google Offers should see an increase in their user base as well as purchases over the next year as more retailers see how these services can help them gain new customers. I suspect that we’ll also begin to see these offers extend past restaurants and spa days into some new markets as well as the digital market place. My biggest hope is that, the location based aspect of these services becomes more refined, allowing the local coffee shop to offer real-time deals to users walking past their store front.

Often there is some kind of call-to-action associated with or at least near the QR code that sets your expectation. But after you scan the code, often times your expected outcome isn’t as well thought out as the delivery. There are a few things to consider when launching a QR code campaign.

1. Who’s the Audience?

This should be a simple question to answer since you’ve undoubtedly done your research on the product you’re marketing. What you’ll need to ask yourself is if that audience is willing to, or knows how to, scan a QR code. My parents are pretty tech savvy for their age (mid-late 50s) but I don’t see them or their friends taking out a smartphone while walking down the street to snap a pic of a QR code. This, of course, is a generalization and your research may prove other wise, but you get the idea.

2. How Will They Scan It?

Most newer smartphones come with a preloaded app that allows users to scan barcodes, QR codes and some other types of encoded data. One thing to keep in mind though is that not all “QR” style codes are created equal. If you read Wired or a few other magazines you’ve probably seen the Microsoft Tag codes or other types of codes that stray away from the “traditional” two dimensional barcodes developed by DENSO back in 1994. Although these newer variations on QR codes are often better looking or colorful often require a specific application to be scanned. The average user in your target audience probably only keeps one, maybe two, scanner applications on their device (including the preloaded app) creating another barrier between them and your content if they don’t already have it.

Microsoft Tag Example

3. Location(s) – Where Will Your Code be Available?

 There are a large number of places that are optimal for placing a QR code. A magazine or a postcard, on your website or on a sticker in your window. However, if that window is on a subway car you might want to think again. Although some subway stations do have cellular data access points not all do and if you’ve placed your ad in the wrong one, well it could render your QR code useless. Also consider how far above ground your ad will be since smartphones often cannot connect or are in airplane mode at 30,000 ft.

Found in a subway with very little mobile phone connectivity.

4. Make It Visible

Duh, right? Well take a second and think. QR codes can often work as small as 3/4 of an inch and have built in error correction so there’s no need to make it huge or protect it with a layer of varnish. But if you place it where it may be unintentionally covered by an address label on a magazine or obscured by another barcode printed by the post office, no one is ever going to see your content. Also be careful when using color in your QR code. Though people have done some extraordinary things with QR codes including some stellar Lego QR code ads and even a great viral video by Skanz who painted a GIANT qrcode that could only be scanned while skydiving. Do what makes sense but always be sure to test your creations on more than one device and with more than one app. Even some of the simplest changes can break your QR code if you’re not careful.

Just like any good campaign, if you plan ahead you shouldn’t run into many problems.

Happy Tagging!

A brand identity can mean a lot of things to different people but most often the  main goal is to “stand out”. And that’s not a bad goal, but when all of your competitor’s products are trying to do the same thing you often end up with a problem – everything gets lost in the shuffle.

Something the cartoon above illustrates so well is that some times companies work so hard at trying to make something happen instead of just letting it happen and the result is often less inspiring than the original intent.

“It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”

- Antoine de Saint Exupéry, writer & poet

via Mashable – The Biggest Web Outages in 2011