Even though Apple has a well deserved reputation for "cool" and great looking products, if somewhat "pricey, they are certainly keeping up their reputation for bad customer service. David Pogue, in today's New York Times, Circuits section, has a well written piece about how two full weeks after the launch of "MobileMe" (which costs $100 a year) Apple still hasn't sorted out multiple complaints from the thousands of Apple Freaks who've signed up for the service and are having horrendous problems with their email. But, as David puts it... "The real problem is how Apple is responding. For a company that's so brilliant at marketing, it seems to have absolutely no clue about crisis management." All users get as a response to complaints is the standard... "We understand this is a serious issue and apologize for this service interruption. We are working hard to restore your service." Nothing new there... Remember the iPod battery replacement fiasco of a couple of years ago?

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Wake me up when Apple calls!

According to a mid-July memo AOL is doing a bunch of housekeeping that will see a number of services shot behind the woodshed -- among them media-sharing site Bluestring, Xdrive online storage, the AOL Pictures photo-sharing site, and MyMobile. In the memo to employees, EVP Kevin Conroy said, "There was a time at AOL when the strengths of our aggregate portfolio of products more than compensated for the weakness of an under-performing product. The realities of the industry and market shifts in online advertising no longer make that possible. Simply put, every product makes a direct impact on our bottom line." The belt-tightening drive is also hitting some of AOL's blogging properties, and some authors who are paid by the post were asked to put their efforts on hold until the end of the month. All of this may just be part of AOL's usual periodic pruning, but it's getting more attention because the Yahoo-Microsoft soap opera showed that AOL is in play, and for sale. The question is whether there are any interested buyers The usual big names are being batted about -- Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, IAC/InterActiveCorp, or maybe a media outfit like the New York Times Co. or News Corp. -- but in most of cases, it's easier to list the cons than the pros. Like other property owners these days, Time Warner is facing a lousy market.

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AOL memo pad!

Everyone I've ever known and worked with over the many, many years I've been in this totally screwed up business, who now asked me where I live... Get's the answer, Boise, Idaho. To which I usually get the answer... Fuck!... Boise, Idaho! What the hell are you doing living in the Mid-West? Further proof that most people don't know their own bloody country, let alone Outer Mongolia. Anyway, to set all you wankers out there straight, Kiplinger magazine just voted it one of the ten best places to live in the US. And if you don't agree, come on over for a visit and a barbeque, but be warned... We're really big on 2nd amendment gun rights here. So, you'd better be "packin' heat!"

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I'm "packin' heat" in the bar in the lower right hand corner!

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This could all go up in flames!