Dave Morin

Just rolled into Phoenix for the weekend. Work meeting tomorrow, at Arizona State University.

After checking into my hotel this afternoon, I attempted to log on to the wireless network. No dice. Checked the strength of the network with MacStumbler to find a level of around 6 (out of 100).

So, on my way out to find a better connection, I asked the guest services attendant what the story with their wireless is.

“Oh! Just go down to the middle of the floor where the elevators are. You can get it to work there. Then, go back to your room. It’ll follow you.”

Brilliant.

Destination Hotels positions this hotel as:

“…the ideal blend of business, recreation and elegance…”

Which means, that it’s perfectly suited for a business traveler. But, they’ve decided to skimp on the most important thing for every single business traveler: wireless internet. Thus, causing me to search for the best coffee shop in town to get my work done.

Not cool.

And, all they needed to do was spend maybe an extra $1000 to install ten more wireless routers at the end of each hallway on all 5 floors.

I’ll keep my business at Starwood.

On a brighter note, the weather in Tempe is fantastic. And, Arizona State University must be a kickin’ place to go to school with weather of this caliber year round.

Written from: Bamboo Club Asian Bistro Rooftop Deck – Tempe, Arizona

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I’m having an email conversation with my accountant today. And, he says to me:

I would rather have the information mailed, since it is much easier to read.

I use a fax machine for two things, ever. Taxes (W2 forms and the like) and contracts.

Fax is dead. Why are we still using it?

Instead, I got out my digital camera that I happened to have with me this trip, and took pictures of the documents. Put them on the web in a secure folder, and shot him the links. Easy as that.

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What bank do you use? Why?

I’ve been a Wells Fargo customer since 1989. I have been decently happy with my service, but occasionally when something wierd is going on with my accounts, I don’t find out until a couple of days later, and a whole bunch of charges happen. I’ve got a couple of checking accounts, a savings account, and multiple small business accounts. In the world of business, I’d say I am a pretty good customer.

But they keep screwing me.

Why can’t I get a text message (or a phone call) when something wierd is going on in my accounts? On the SAME DAY.

Why can’t I get a secure RSS (I know the spec is evolving..yeah yeah) feed telling me everything that is going on in my account. I could read this feed in my browser, my RSS reader, and on my Treo if I should so desire.

Wells Fargo has undergone 3 iterations on their website in the last five years, and not one of them has made the site more usable or displayed all of the information for all of my accounts in an intuative fasion. In fact, the last design is worse than the prior one. AND, they’ve got billboards up in San Francisco hailing the brilliance of their tabbed design.

Why is it that banks can build magnificent buildings, but not a usable website?

I’d love to hear what bank you use, why you love (or hate) it. Does the online banking work? Do they notify you when things are going on with your account that you should know about? How easy is it to manage your money?

May the best bank win.

(I’m leaning towards Bank of America right now, with their fantastic new “Keep the Change” program.)

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Talking with Amit tonight, I posed my current question of the week about my (and all) wireless carriers:

“Why don’t I get an email when a new cool phone is added to the lineup?”

Better yet:

“Why don’t they ask me if I like my current phone?”

Are new customers that important to the carriers? The margin on handsets is massive. Each carrier spends millions of dollars a year on online aquisition campaigns, celebrity tv endorsments, and sponsoring massive events like the Vans Warpped Tour (Cingular was plastered all over everything at Warped SF yesterday). These millions of dollars are saturating the new subscriber market and creating massive amounts of un-needed noise.

What about their BEST customers? The customers that, as Amit pointed out, spend thousands of dollars a year on new technology. Then go tell their friends about it. I’ve personally seen what can happen when you talk enough about say, your Sony Ericson T610. An absolutely fabulous phone, which all of the carriers have stopped carrying. Did they ever ask me how much I liked it? Or how many of my friends went out and bought one after I had been raving about it for months? Or, best yet, how interested I am in something even remotely similar to it? Nope.

How about the new Treo? T-Mobile isn’t offering it yet. I can’t even ask for an email about it, or any other new phone from T-Mobile. Yet, if I check the blogosphere, I know that it’s coming.

All of the carriers could take a clue from this line of thinking. In a world where they cared about the customers that have attained. They’d ask me who I am, what kind of phones I am interested in and, if I’d like to be contacted when they’ve either released something or have something new on the horizon. After they had that information, they’d figure out if I was a boomer, or a generation xyz’er.

If I’m a boomer, they’d find phones with simple features, and big buttons. Because, if I’m a boomer, I probably don’t need the newest in java and mobile gaming technology, or even a camera on my phone. If I’m a gen xyz technophile, they’d find me the newest and cutting edge cameraphones with downloadable java games, and the best text messaging interface on earth. Or, If I’m a combination of both, they’d find me the coolest $500 plus phone on the market from the greatest designers on earth, because I want to be sure to have the best phone that exists.

They’d take all of this market data, and they’d send me an email about these phones, and I’d be happy to get the email. Because my cell phone is the only thing that stays with me no matter where I am every single minute, of every day. Even when I am sleeping.

Amazon?

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RFID is scary in itself. But this is just out of control.

A japanese company is combining RFID technology with workplace security to ensure that every last morsel of productivity is sucked out of you during the workday.

Think about this.

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