Canuckflack

No matter if it’s tricked-out, grassroots or just plain pimped, Clive Thompson appreciates the work consumers and companies alike have been putting into customizing their technology.

Anyone can mail off a picture of their dog to put on a mouse pad, but conceptualizing an entire electronic device takes, y’know, work. … I lust after iPods or Mini Coopers not because they’re unique, but because they’ve been so artfully made that I couldn’t imagine doing it better myself. And there’s also something fun about owning the exact same gadget as millions of other people. It makes you part of a tribe.(Slate)

Of course, there’s more than just well-crafted design behind the success of the iPod, Mini and Michael Graves toilet brushes: there’s oversize marketing budgets and well-targeted integrated campaigns at work as well.

But some members of the tribe don’t appreciate the careful and stylish blending of design and technology, in particular when it prompts a stampede of consumerism and shakes their thin grip on individuality/elitism. Some NY DJs really have a bone to pick. Their complaint? Celebrity guest DJs with their iPod playlists are ruining the club scene:

iPod-people can�t �beat-match,� blending songs rhythmically together into a seamless, layered flow, or deconstructing them into something new, unlike with a traditional twin turntable and mixer setup. … �The novelty of the technology has clubs dropping their standards,� says [D.J. Adam] Goldstone. (New York Metro)

Clive goes on about the intermingling of readily available customization, attractive and efficient design, and the disposability of modern technology. It’s worth a read.

Dilbert had a thought about product designers this weekend. Victor Papanek had more than one thought about design, but this non-sequitur is a good one to end a post:

“To create lipstick for honest whores is one thing, but to create deodorant for her pimp is another.”

The National Post’s Aaron Wherry has analysed the lyrical stylings of the anchors hosting the coverage in Athens.

It’s not that we hate Bob Costas. It’s just that he makes us feel like our decidedly pedestrian existence is little more than a piece of wax that has fallen on a termite, who is choking on the splinters — a sentiment we steal from Beck, a singer/songwriter of fragile heart, who is as skilled at conveying irrelevance as NBC’s Costas is at convincing us of another unknown athlete’s importance.

Thankfully, the best snippet is exposed before the subscriber wall.

Digging into my clippings pile, I saw this tidbit about the highly targeted marketing of The Passion DVD, due out today:

“We’ve initiated outreach to churches and para-church organizations,” [a FOX SVP] says. “There have been a variety of mailings and e-mail campaigns, much of it at a grassroots level.” In a unique promotion, Fox offered churches a preorder discount on bulk packs of 50 DVDs or 50 VHS tapes. For an additional fee, the packaging on each copy could be customized with the church’s name, a quotation from Scripture, or some other personalized message. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Even more intriguing was the observation that this DVD would prompt many Christian families to finally move their viewing habits into the 1990s:

There will be an extraordinarily high number of sales in the box loads. That’s something you don’t normally see,” says Scott Hettrick, editor-in-chief of DVD Exclusive, an industry publication. “This title is bringing in a lot of people that never converted from VHS to DVD. You’re getting quite a new audience.”

Really? Where have these people been? What do they look like?

Greg’s played off a Marginal Revolution post and NYT article to make an important point about public policy communications:

The takeaway: If you�re trying to do more with PR than just push laundry detergent or the newest spring line by Hugo Boss, then you need to get people educated about not just your issue, but the basic underlying policies or market forces that affect your issue. Take the lowest, most baseline understanding that you expect people to have � and lower it. A lot.

Having trouble with your syllables? Try this game from the BBC.

It’s becoming glaringly obvious that ticket sales are down at the Athens Olympics. Empty seats scamper across the background of many camera shots. The event organizers are becoming, justifiably, defensive. Michalis Zacharatos is the Athens Olympic Committee media general manager, and he’s slowly being pilloried in the international media for his upbeat forecasts.

“As the competition grows in excitement and more medals are won, as the best teams continue to move forward, we will see a big increase in ticket sales” – … Michalis Zacharatos does what his job demands; puts on a positive front, ignores the empty stadiums and buries his head in the sand. (London Times)

Let’s remember the poor man works for a large Athens Olympics organization which, in turn, reports to the monolith that is the International Olympic Committee. Their performance this week is stellar compared to the horrible battering they took in the press leading up to Salt Lake.

Still, he does come across as a Ron Ziegler wannabe:

“We are happy to announce that so far we have done an excellent job.” (National Post, sub. req.)

If you’re a student in a college town, there’s only one data point you regularly seek out in your community newspaper: entertainment options.

Lawrence.com, an award-winning mixed media site serving the students and residents of Lawrence, Kansas really knows its audience.

Today’s drink specials points the thirsy Kansan – or traveller – to the cheapest drinks around. Each bar listing is also cross-referenced with past reviews, upcoming music shows and scheduled events.

This isn’t the ideal application of community journalism, but it does speak to community needs – in a very direct manner.

BTW – Lawrence.com also features music from local bands, including this tidbit. A browse is highly recommended.

Joey’s asked for CanCon (Canadian Content) songs from the 80s and 90s – songs that didn’t cross the border.