The iPhone 4′s so-called death grip has been “blown so out of proportion, it’s incredible.” So says Steve Jobs but Apple still plans on providing iPhone customers with free cases. Steve Jobs then went into an elaborate explanation during today’s call as to why the iPhone 4 has been the most successful product in Apple’s history with the fewest customer returns.
There are reports that Steve Jobs was aware of the iPhone 4 design flaw well over a year ago and decided to go ahead with the flawed release anyway. Appears Herr Jobs was so impressed with the design he decided that the phone function wasn’t really all that important after all. In case you have been living in a cave or just using your iPhone 4 to communicate with the outside world the new billion dollar plus iPhone 4 has a sleek antennae design that causes you to lose your signal when holding your iPhone 4 in a certain way.
When consumers complained to Apple Steve Jobs famously replied by email, “Just avoid holding it in that way,” he wrote. Apple was hoping the entire mess would go away but then Consumer Reports refused to give the iPhone 4 its recommendation and blessing citing the antennae design flaw (there are 3 separate antennaes in the iPhone 4). They then recommended, horror of all horrors, that people use duct tape to fix the flaw.
Talk about form over function! And that’s why I have been commenting so much because this entire fiasco is so indicative of a materialistic, consumer society that finds personal validation in the brand of electronics they use. Hell, it’s not like I’m a troglodyte. I use a Blackberry and rely on it for email, meeting info, contacts, texting and the occasional odd phone call. Hell, I even browse, take photos and once even listened to music on the damn thing. But it’s not the core element in my social life like the way Apple fantards treat the iPhone. Nor will I stand on line with the other tards for hours so I can posess my precious.
The only recommendation I can make is that Apple should come clean and do so very quickly. Otherwise, Apple will be joining the likes of Toyota and BP in terms of having prickly consumer perception issues to deal with in the years to come. And once you lose that it’s hard to regain.
On July 13, 2010, In iPhone, By Erik John Bertel
Well, there is finally a fix for that faulty iPhone4 reception and it’s as close as your trusty roll of duct tape. Yes, according to Consumer Reports, a piece of silver duct tape on the errant iPhone 4 antennae will fix that pesky issue with dropped phone calls. Why silver i don’t know and it doesn’t look great to the fashionista fan boys but hey wasn’t that original purpose of the iPhone, you know to make phone calls? Maybe that’s why Consumer Reports can’t recommend the new iPhone 4 to its readers. Actually come to think of it do Apple fantards even have a roll of duct tape?
Herr Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in an e-mailed response to a concerned iPhone 4 owner had another less than useful solution for consumers.
“Just avoid holding it in that way,” he wrote.
Frankly, I think the duct tape tip for the iPhone 4 from Consumer Reports is more useful. Is there anything duct tape can’t fix?
Update: Apparently there are now cries for a recall that could cost Apple $1.5 billion. Apple fantards are crying foul and that everybody in the media is just piling on poor little Apple. Whatever, Apple can get practical advice from Microsoft, Toyota and BP regarding piling on but even I can tell that denial just doesn’t work with the media!
On June 29, 2010, In Internet Technology, iPad, iPhone, Mac fanboy, Uncategorized, By Erik John Bertel
I can’t believe I am writing about this again but somebody has to stop the madness. John Dvorak, the old curmudgeon himself, decided to write an article not on the iPad but on the fantards that droll over themselves in singing their praise for the iPad and the crappy apps you can get for it. You know the same kind of fantard who stand on line for the new iPhone 4 for hours on end and then suffer through the miserable AT&T service for two years just so they can use their iPhone. When nobody is looking these very same neo-techno nerds fondle their iPhones while cooing “my precious” to it.
Needless to say the Mac fantards were in full attack mode regarding Dvorak with most of their diatribes calling him an old fossil who doesn’t get it. Really? But you know sometimes the fossil does get it right and sometimes the technology is just some bright and shiny plaything for the natives!
Not that the iPad is a bad piece of technology. I did get a chance to play with one and if the cost were closer to let’s say $199 I’d buy one in a heartbeat. However, at $499 I can secure a decent, much more serviceable laptop with a bigger screen. I can easily forgo a touch screen as well since I’m a keyboard and mouse type. And this goes to my central observation about the iPad, it’s for consumers rather than producers of the Internet. For example, just try touch typing on one! You can’t. Or trying installing an application not from the iStore or whatever the hell they call it. However, to read a book or surf the net it’s great with some gorgeous eye candy. To me it’s the greatest eBook reader ever made but not the greatest thing since the PC despite what the Mac fantards woud lead you to believe.
On January 28, 2010, In authors, iPhone, marketing fiction, WattPad, writers, writing fiction, By Erik John Bertel
Part 2: My interest in the iPad is for the eBook technology, of course. The present eBook readers so far just replicate a paper book electronically. Plus most readers don’t take advantage of images and other playback formats. The Kindle is particularly guilty of this and partly this is a function of price point. The iPad is far more satisfactory in terms of a multimedia experience; the iPad can add sounds and beautiful color graphics that put the Kindle to shame. If I wanted a dedicated eBook reader I want the iPad, not the Kindle. However, at $499 I really don’t want the iPad eBook reader nor is there an overwhelming reason to want to one to replace a good old-fashioned books that could be had for all of $20. Give me a reason and a damn good one! Oh, I know it can do more than the average reader but still not more than a laptop. Make me want an iPad to pay that amount and want to lug it around!
First and foremost, we need to take advantage of the hardware and the technology. In others words, do not replicate thousand-year old technology such as paper books. Books are tactile and so is the touch screen on the iPad. Okay, I get it but I want more! I want to rethink how we read. More importantly, we have to rethink the novel experience and become less serial in our approach to the entire reading experience.
Pluses:
- Nice, sleek design
- Beautiful screen
- It’s all touch baby!
- It’s from Apple
Minuses:
- It’s Unfortunate Name (ouch!)
- Limited storage
- Expensive
- Size
- No new functionality
- No new eBook features
Bottom line: I still don’t have an overwhelming urge to say “Oh my Gawd, I got to have it!”
Try these sites for the free Flores Girl novel download for the iPad, Kindle, Sony, BlackBerry, iPhone ebook Readers:
WWW.iPADeBOOK.ORG
WWW.A-FREE-EBOOK.COM
WWW.SCIENCE-FICTION.MOBI
WWW.iPhone-Novel.com
Technorati Profile
http://www.wattpad.com/125445-Flores-Girl-The-Children-God-Forgot-Part-1
On January 28, 2010, In authors, Blackberry, iPhone, marketing fiction, podcast, writers, writing fiction, By Erik John Bertel
This is my first blog of the year and I find myself once again returning to the issue of the future of publishing. I watched the Apple iPad announcement today in its entirety with great interest as an author of Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot. Is the iPad a game changer? No, I’m not a Mac fanboy, so to me the iPad is too expensive and there is not enough new functionality to get me really excited. I just keep thinking about how the entire concept of eBooks needs to evolve. The problem with most PC’s including Apples is that most computers are basically digital replacements for an analog world including the iPad. Keyboards and monitors in essence replace paper. I am old enough to remember when my job was entirely paper based; I didn’t have a personal computer during my first job from college. We moved paper from one desk to another and we had secretaries to type our important reports using dedicated word processors. Calculations were done on calculators. PC’s were to be a revolution but PC’s just allow us to create more paper faster but metaphorically it’s still paper!
My interest in the iPad is for the eBook technology, of course. The present eBook readers so far just replicate a paper book electronically. Plus most readers don’t take advantage of images and other playback formats. The Kindle is particularly guilty of this and partly this is a function of price point. The iPad is far more satisfactory in terms of a multimedia experience; the iPad can add sounds and beautiful color graphics that put the Kindle to shame. If I wanted a dedicated eBook reader I want the iPad, not the Kindle. However, at $499 I really don’t want the iPad eBook reader nor is there an overwhelming reason to want to one to replace a good old-fashioned books that could be had for all of $20. Give me a reason and a damn good one! Oh, I know it can do more than the average reader but still not more than a laptop. Make me want an iPad to pay that amount and want to lug it around!
First and foremost, we need to take advantage of the hardware and the technology. In others words, do not replicate thousand-year old technology such as paper books. Books are tactile and so is the touch screen on the iPad. Okay, I get it but I want more! I want to rethink how we read. More importantly, we have to rethink the novel experience and become less serial in our approach to the entire reading experience. I’ll have more on this in a later blog.
Bottom line: I don’t have the overwhelming urge to say “Oh my Gawd, I got to have it!”
PS: I want to extend my condolences to Tee Morris and his family regarding their recent loss. Tee is one of the podcasting pioneers involved with Podiobooks and is truly one of the good guys in the industry. I have to say when it comes to a loss of this magnitude words do fail me.
Try these sites for the free Flores Girl novel download for the iPad, Kindle, Sony, BlackBerry, iPhone ebook Readers:
WWW.iPADeBOOK.ORG
WWW.A-FREE-EBOOK.COM
WWW.SCIENCE-FICTION.MOBI
WWW.iPhone-Novel.com
Technorati Profile
http://www.wattpad.com/125445-Flores-Girl-The-Children-God-Forgot-Part-1
Flores Girl Wattpad Press Release
On September 20, 2009, In authors, Blackberry, buddhist, Flores Girl, free ebook novel, iPhone, marketing fiction, podcast, science fiction, speculative fiction, WattPad, writers, writing fiction, By Erik John Bertel
Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot, a Featured Work eBook on Wattpad.com is now over 20,00 reads at Wattpad. Well, the original pdocast is up to 100,000 downloads at Podiobooks.com. Flores Girl is a prehistoric science fiction novel combining elements of adventure and speculative fiction, oh before I forget romance eBook that is available for free on Wattpad, the World’s Most Popular EBook Sharing Community. Wattpad delivers free eBook novels to your iPhone, BlackBerry, SmartPhones and other mobile devices. Join the thousands of readers that are following the adventures of Sarah and Richard as they unwittingly introduce a small tribe of prehistoric people living in isolation for a half million years to the ultimate modern predator: humanity. And you can do so right from your iPhone, BlackBerry or other SmartPhone! Flores Girl:The Children God Forgot is now available as a free ebook novel on the iPhone!
http://www.wattpad.com/125445-Flores-Girl-The-Children-God-Forgot-Part-1
Or try these sites for the free novel download:
On July 19, 2009, In authors, buddhist, free ebook novel, iPhone, jurassic park, marketing fiction, science fiction, WattPad, writers, writing fiction, By Erik John Bertel
If you like the free Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot novel there’s a new contest. Just give me a Digg or a Stumble by using the button on the side on the www.floresgirl.com site and you’ll get the sequel for free when it becomes available later this year! You can use this form and just add your Digg name: Submit here! And yes this is a limited time offer because when the Digg counter hits a 100 the contest is over! No purchase is required.
Thanks for your support and keep Digging!
Cheers Erik John Bertel
Try these sites for the free Flores Girl novel download:
http://www.wattpad.com/125445-Flores-Girl-The-Children-God-Forgot-Part-1
Flores Girl Wattpad Press Release
Contest Rules: You must be 18 years of age or older to participate. Contest ends September 1st, 2009. No purchase is necessary and no online subscription is necessary. First 100 contest entrants providing a Digg or Stumble Upon will receive a free copy of the sequel in an eBook format when the novel becomes available. We will notify the winners by email and winners of all contests will be contacted at the “sender” email address used to enter the contest, and the person receiving and replying to the winner announcement email will be considered the winner unless they specify another person within the reply email as the winner. No print copies are available, only eBook formats will be awarded, no exceptions! If the specified prize becomes unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances, Flores Girl may substitute a prize of like or equal value.
You understand and intend that any photo or information submitted by you to Flores Girl may be available for viewing, rating, review and comment on by the public, and understand that comments or ratings with which you disagree or are unhappy about may be published or otherwise become associated with any photo or information you submit to Flores Girl.
Open to U.S. Residents Only. Winners are solely responsible for all taxes and/or fees that may be incurred. Void where prohibited by law.
On May 4, 2009, In authors, Blackberry, Flores Girl, iPhone, jurassic park, marketing fiction, science fiction, speculative fiction, WattPad, writers, writing fiction, By Erik John Bertel
In my alerts messages I came across a two year old article Kathryn Lively wrote titled “Can Book Giveaways Hurt Sales?”
(http://www.articlesbase.com/publishing-articles/can-book-giveaways-hurt-sales-86384.html) how about giveaways can hurt sales. It was a fairly amusing, almost quaint read and here are a few excerpts:
“That said, incentives are usually offered to fill the chat rooms with readers. Authors may give away a prize to one lucky reader, like a small gift or a free book. The question of whether or not it is prudent to distribute complimentary books as prizes has long been argued among authors, particularly in the eBook industry….Some authors condone the practice on the premise that a book in the hands of a reader may encourage that reader to buy more books.”
This is the amusing part…
“On the other hand, such generosity may backfire, according to other authors who condemn the practice. When you consider the tightly knit readership of eBooks, particularly in the romance genre, authors may tend to see the same Internet nicknames populating chats. If word gets around enough that free books are the prizes, an author might soon discover that he or she is giving away her entire catalog to the same readers without seeing any profits. An author can feel frustrated with the practice, and wonder if such regular contest winners will ever buy his/her book. …Should an author feel trapped, however? The answer is an emphatic no.”
“There are ways to successfully offer giveaways without giving away everything. While gifts like soaps, teas, and other trinkets can add up over time (though they are tax-deductible, authors, make notes!), there is one giveaway trick that can help stimulate sales. The next time you participate in a chat, write a one to two-thousand word story that reads as a supplement to your novel. It could be a sequel, a prequel, or a side story with supporting characters. Have it formatted as in eBook in HTML or PDF and offer it as an exclusive prize to one winner. Give it a try, and watch your readership grow.”
Not a bad idea but let’s be honest authors are a dime a dozen and we are more than willing to work as scabs to garner a reasonable readers base. It’s either that or go unread. The article was only two years old but seemed like it was from another era. I replied to her with the following comment:
“I don’t know but with so many new electronic formats and delivery systems being created new authors kind of take it for granted that a giveaway is necessary to build a reader base. Basically, it is marketing 101 for the Internet. Of course, the same electronic revolution has created a flood of words that tends to overwhelm the limited pool of readers. The old self-publishing model is giving way to innovative sites such as Podiobooks.com that allow authors to give their work away as recorded audio podcasts while other sites such as Wattpad, Stanza and Scribd allow authors to giveaway select ebook works, all in hope of building a faithful audience. How authors can monetize their efforts is going to be an interesting challenge that I find myself wrestling with. My own novel, Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot became the inaugural featured novel at Wattpad and thousands are busily reading the novel on their iPhones. But to be honest with you reading novels on their iPhones, I mean who would have thunk it? It’s a brave new world in publishing and a giveaway is the least of the author’s and publisher’s problems!”
Cheers,
Erik John Bertel, Author Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot
floresgirl.com
Kathy wasn’t amused with my observations nor with my obvious efforts at self-promotion and she promptly deleted my comment. Still the point is valid; if you are worried about the couple of bucks you are going to miss with a giveaway then you have no clue about marketing in today’s Web 2.0. That’s why most books sell just a few thousand copies and why most authors go unread and unnoticed. If you are a new author, get the audience first and then worry about monetizing your writings. The days of the big advance and the old publishing machine are in the distant past. I’m not saying today is better and sure you will have to work two jobs for a while but hey, welcome to the machine. Nowadays, the Web 2.0 eats dinosaurs like the publishing and newspaper industry for breakfast!
Cheers Erik John Bertel
Speaking of Web 2.0 try these sites for the free Flores Girl novel download:
WWW.A-FREE-EBOOK.COM
WWW.SCIENCE-FICTION.MOBI
WWW.iPhone-Novel.com
Technorati Profile
http://www.wattpad.com/125445-Flores-Girl-The-Children-God-Forgot-Part-1
Flores Girl Wattpad Press Release
On April 28, 2009, In authors, Blackberry, buddhist, Expelled, Flores Girl, iPhone, jurassic park, marketing fiction, science fiction, slush pile, speculative fiction, writers, writing fiction, By Erik John Bertel
Speculative fiction is not fantasy fiction, as it rules out the use of anything as material which violates established scientific fact, laws of nature, call it what you will, i.e., it must [be] possible to the universe as we know it. – Robert A. Heinlein
A little while back I wrote:
One of the worst aspects of publishing work in a Web 2.0 world is the myriad tasks the author must undertake. Besides writing the novel the writer must undertake numerous sleazy marketing efforts. In the past that been relegated to the obligatory series of interviews and book signing, assuming that is if the author was lucky enough in his career or her to get to that point.
Today the challenges are different and far more varied. Most of the work still revolves around the writing, editing and marketing of the work. However the marketing piece of the puzzle is a bit of a quandary and requires the greatest flexibility on the part of the fledgling writer. Worse, it is also damn time consuming.
If you go the route of podcasting, which has its myriad appeals and challenges, it requires the author to do production work and possibly the biggest challenge of all: narrating the actual work. The web work can involve a site or minimally a blog for the author’s various fans to turn into. Besides words, structures these endeavors typically require some type of graphics, Search engine optimization and knowledge of key words; all daunting challenges for the uninitiated. If you have money you could have somebody else do it but you still must manage the ongoing mess.
The biggest marketing challenge could be the designation of your work into one of the existing genres. Why? That’s because the genre designation ultimately determines your readers and finally your choices among agents and publishers.
My problem was what the hell do you call Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot? Scif-Fi? Adventure? Romance? It has all of those elements but what is best for marketing? An adventure story sort of describes it but there were some science fiction elements as well to the story. After all the core of the story is about the survival of Homo floresiensis on a small tropical island and that is speculative at best. In actuality these small three-foot tall hominids died out 12,000 years ago or maybe as recently as 400 years ago based on some early historical accounts. In any case, nobody expects them to be found alive and well today, at least not with the way China is clear cutting the forests of Southeast Asia. To call it science fiction would really disappoint the hardcore science fiction fans; you know not enough hardware and overall fantasy elements to keep them enthralled to be quite honest with you. I mean if you can’t have sex with an alien then why bother calling it science fiction?
Then I came across the term speculative fiction and the Robert Heinlein definition. The definition seems appropriate for my book but its usage and acceptance as part of the vernacular is no where near as universally accepted as science fiction. As a measure of popularity I did a search fro speculative fiction and turned up only a couple of million hits in Google. Compare that with science fiction with nearly 140 million hits and you have yourself a huge disparity in overall acceptance. So which sandbox do you want to play in, the larger one where you won’t get noticed or the smaller one with a much smaller audience? As I found out perhaps the genre designation is a bit old school and my recent experience with the good folks at Wattpad has drastically changed my perception of the marektplace. I’ll tell you more tomorrow.
Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot is now a Featured Work on Wattpad.com. Flores Girl is a prehistoric science fiction-adventure-speculative fiction, oh before I forget romance eBook that is available for free on Wattpad, the World’s Most Popular EBook Sharing Community. Wattpad delivers free eBook novels to your iPhone, BlackBerry, SmartPhones and other mobile devices. Join the thousands of readers that are following the adventures of Sarah and Richard as they unwittingly introduce a small tribe of prehistoric people living in isolation for a half million years to the ultimate modern predator: humanity. And you can do so right from your iPhone, BlackBerry or other SmartPhone! Flores Girl:The Children God Forgot is now available as a free ebook novel on the iPhone!
http://www.wattpad.com/125445-Flores-Girl-The-Children-God-Forgot-Part-1
Or try these sites for the free novel download: