The Never-Ending Mac vs Windows Debate
My first Apple computer was purchased while at Florida State in about 2005. I got an iMac Desktop and I fell in love quickly. After I got past the differences in the operating system, I realized how much easier it was to use. Even little perks like dashboard and expose were genius to me. A simple way of displaying all your open windows and easily moving from one to the other, and a place to put sticky notes as reminders, ESPN scoreboards for scores and news, weather, etc, were great ways to make life easier for you. The all-in-one monitor was also a huge deal to me. Not having a huge tower getting in your footspace under your desk was an awesome improvement from Windows computers. My second Mac is another newer model iMac, and I plan on buying a new MacBook Pro in the next couple months. The main thing I notice was the newer Operating System on my iMac, Lion. It fixes some of the minor things it could have, and added some cool features. One of these is being able to use spaces which essentially puts different windows and programs into different spaces on your Mac, which lets you swipe your mouse to get to the next space easily.
Apple has been around since the late 80's, and Windows only a couple of years before that. So, there's not a big advantage there. I remember the older apple computers in the 90's, with their bright colors. I didn't actually get on a Mac until I started college in 2005. My friend had bought a MacBook and we also used iMacs in all of my design classes. As stated before, the Operating systems are different, but easy to get used to. But, for some, after being with Windows for most of your life, any change is a big change. But, once you do its definitely worth it. Part of the whole argument for Windows users to switch to Mac would have to be the pricing. These days, there are hundreds of PC's being sold for half the price of any Mac. You're not getting the power that the Macs come with in those cheaper PC's. Mac's always come stock with higher-end processors, aluminum casing, and great battery life. Most PC's can't stand up to Mac, unless your willing to spend the money. Another thing is the selection you could get with a PC compared to a Mac. Mac has the one brand, Apple. Windows has much more to offer, with Sony Vaio's, Dell's, Asus's, Toshiba's, HP's, etc. Macs have a little more straight forward approach, with different screen size choices, etc.
So, I'll leave you hear with this subject. Choose wisely and enjoy your new computer. Take what you will from this blog and others about this never ending debate and make your own decision. Although I'll never go with another Windows doesn't mean I won't be happy with a Windows, I just prefer my Mac.
Mad Men Marketing Making Moves to Downtown
We could not be happier to make this announcement, as it has been our goal since we started this company to end up downtown – and after outgrowing our current offices back in January, the time is finally upon us! We will inhabit a portion of the Holmes Building which faces E. Bay Street, which is significantly larger than our current offices. This move was very strategic to the expansion efforts of our company and acquiring a larger space will ensure our future growth and success.
What makes this opportunity even more exciting, is the fact that the revitalization of downtown is a personal goal of mine, so not only will we now be down there, but we are also now able to directly contribute to bringing commerce back downtown. Hopefully through our excitement and involvement in downtown activities, we can help continue the trend and bring more businesses to the area!
We truly couldn't be happier and look forward to seeing you all – Downtown!
“Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city… Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty… How can you lose..? The lights are much brighter there, you can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares, and go Downtown! ” 😉
Did the Towncenter Ruin Downtown Jacksonville’s Chance for a Revival?
I have no doubt that the introduction, popularity and growth of our Town Center fosters further financial stability for our city, as well as, our very own fancy attraction for current residents and distant travelers alike, but what does this mean for the future of downtown? I fear that as the perceived incentives grow to bring stores or restaurants to the Town Center area, fewer “name brand” businesses will see our downtown as an appealing location to set up shop.
But then, my fears turned to optimism, and actually brought me to an interesting question. What if… just what if… due to the fact that these businesses are, in fact, doing so well… could it, in turn, strengthen mainstream corporation's faith in the Jacksonville market; potentially leading them to open additional stores in other new locations throughout the city? If that were the case, then a solid argument could be made to create a new retail district, in an area where space is cheap and there's a lot of it – but where could that be..? Oh, I know! How about our very own downtown! An area I know we are all desperate to see come back to life.
Bear with me here… We have several store front properties that are vacant, countless empty lots begging to be developed, corner store locations which would be perfect for any pharmacy or corner market, among a painful amount of other real estate opportunities in a reasonable square block radius. (Do me a favor and Google Map our downtown and give it a one over, you will see SO many vacant lots and undeveloped buildings it will make your head spin… mainly West downtown). So, if the right retail businesses could be coerced into investing a little money, (and I know our city is already offering incentives for businesses to move downtown) I think our downtown has massive potential to support this type of growth, and to create our own areas like Chicago's Michigan Ave or NYC's 5th Avenue… With so many “conversion friendly” properties and vacant lots, to me, it's a no-brainer. Do I even need to mention how much potential The Landing holds…?!
Now, the argument that America is a consumer driven, materialistic, buy now – pay later, “in over our heads” in spending debt – type of society is beside the point. My main focus in this is… if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! And, as our Town Center has proven, Jacksonvillians like to shop… so lets spread the wealth, shall we? There are plenty of business men and women who believe it or not, don't live at the beaches… therefore; they might need to head north, or west to get home. What if they need to stop and get a new suit jacket due to spilled mustard, or replenish that make-up supply? Please forgive the stereotypes, but this is simply my way of trying to get a point across that these types of retail providers would do well in our downtown, just as they have in countless other metropolitan cities.
So, this is my plea… Lets pull together and bring our downtown back to the roaring 20's – or maybe revitalize by looking ahead to the roaring 2020's! I think it can be done. I think it should be done. Let's stop talking about the new courthouse and get some outsiders to start putting their dollars into our city, dollars we might actually see a return on… Let's not let the Town Center kill our downtown – let's let it inspire its comeback! I'd love to hear your thoughts.
False Advertising
Honestly… how many times have you purchased a product, due to a very convincing commercial, so excited about the results they boast… only to be disappointed that you seem to somehow have different results than the beautiful model with perfect hair or the handsome man who's getting all the ladies due to his new body spray?
Advertising can be a businesses' best friend, but it can also ruin you just as quickly. Here enters False Advertising. As a business owner, I would much rather be honest about the product I'm selling, because at the end of the day, what is more important – getting 100 people to buy your product once and be disappointed, or have 50 repeat customers for years to come..?
As a consumer, I am frequently discouraged when I see a convincing commercial about a product that will supposedly make my life easier, or my hair smoother, make my skin better, or make me smell like a movie star.. but at the end of the day – I simply can't understand why a company would advertise in a way to go for the quick buck, taking advantage of the naive consumer, instead of taking the time to actually make a quality product that will keep them coming back for more. Now, speaking as one of the naive consumers out there, I have a vested interest in improving the market and what it provides. I'm saddened by the loss of trust that buyers have (something we commonly experience as a business ourselves, when speaking to potential clients). Every deal in the market now seems “too good to be true”. It makes it that much harder for the honest, hardworking businesses to convince the jaded public that they indeed do have a good product that will provide exactly what it promises.
I understand there is no immediate fix to this 'false advertisement'/'lack of trust' problem. Unless folks somehow regain their conscience… it's going to be here for a while. But, I do ask the consumer to try and hold onto your faith. Don't lose it completely. If something sounds too good to be true, as they say, it probably is… but sometimes, just sometimes… a business, service, or product comes along that prides themselves on providing quality. And those are the ones worth listening to. They are the ones worth buying into who deserve your loyalty, respect and repeat business.
Not everyone out there is trying to trick you – but it takes some attention and a good eye to spot the ones who aren’t!
Mobile Advertising is Taking Over
Where do you spend your ad dollars? With online usage jumping through the roof the past couple years, advertisers now have to consider this as a means of advertising. After reading an article by Richard Ting on theAtlantic.com I thought about these changes to the advertising world, and was able to put some numbers to it. People are now spending about 10% of their media time on their smartphones, but only 1% of ad-dollars is being spent on mobile ads. To compare this to what is spent on print, people spend 7% of their media time with print, but 25% of ad-dollars are being spent here. Just looking at these numbers, we can see a problem. As we know, print has been on its way out, not only because of the mobile web, but because of the web in general. But these numbers would make you think it hasn't gone anywhere.
More than 2/3 of the time spent on a mobile phone is now used for something other than talking. Mobile is making moves to surpass TV as their main source of entertainment (not to mention that you can now watch some forms of TV on your smartphone). This is the way entertainment is headed and advertising has to move with it.
Spending on the mobile web has gotten much easier. As stated earlier, it isn't just ads on mobile sites anymore, its in between a round of Words with Friends, in between songs on Pandora, and of course there's Facebook. Not to mention, this is still just the early years as far as smart phones and mobile web, we have a long way to go. So, if you haven't already jumped on the bandwagon, now might be a good time to try.