Gripes and Grins

Gripe: Revisiting Home Depot and Thomasville Cabinets

Two nights ago, I received a great update to an older post from a reader, Janet Jacobs.  I wanted to share the explanation for the mixup in cabinet skus in Janet's own words below.  Thanks for the note Janet.  And, thanks to everyone that have commented and shared similar experiences on 5Gum and Comcast services  - if you send me emails, I'll repost. 

"...Same thing happened to me, but I was fortunate in that I had known one of the managers for many years and she actually found out what the real problem was...the factory changed the color formula for that finish. I only ordered and returned twice, though, before that revelation. Same cabinet you had, i'm sure. I took the door of one of the cabinets in the right color and had them scan in under the color match machine in the paint dept., then had them mix it in a stain color. Worked perfectly, though there were a few more steps. One solution anyway. Janet."

 

Grin: AT&T Uverse

It's been several months since we moved our home from Comcast to AT&T Uverse.  Aside from the phantom charges, pricing and lengthy outages, I really didn't have any issues with Comcast.  I wanted to try Uverse because I'd never really tried another bband digital TV solution.  My initial experience with Uverse is definitely a grin.

Even tonight, after AT&T Uverse needed to reboot before each NFL game, I was still pleased with the recovery and support experience.  The support experience in particular is nice. 

Two days after the unit was installed, the hard-drive was borked when the box failed in the middle of an upgrade.  I suspect the unit lost power in the middle of a major upgrade and literally forgot where it was, what it was doing.  A quick swap fixed everything.  I'm sure that box was wiped and reinstalled somewhere else -- I don't really care.  The point is that my wife explained to support that the box needed to be replaced before a sporting event the next day, and so a Uverse truck showed up at 6:30pm, a nice guy swapped the box, tested the remote box and disappeared quickly.  That's the kind of TLC I like. 

At a feature level, the AT&T Uverse IPTV STB is light years ahead of the crappy comcast Motorola DCT-series.  The content is IPTV, not digital cable, which is better.  But, the user experience is much better.  The Uverse GUI, multiple tuners and local hardware mean that the overall user experience is modern, relatively feature-rich, and hardware is responsive to the remote IR commands.  It makes Comcast feel appropriately last-century. 

So far, I'm a fan.  But, I'm worried about the outages I saw tonight -- they remind me of a common issue in all broadband services.  What happens when everyone in your area are using the Internet AND watching TV at the same time?  If you're using IPTV, where the TV signal and the Internet are connected to the same pipe, something is going to give.   I'm worried about the Olympics, Election night, World Cup, Final Four, Oscar night... I'll be watching, tweeting, and sharing my experiences.

 

Grin: My new favorite thing is studying leadership

I used to joke about leadership books as I strolled through the Red Carpet club or Borders Books.  I used to joked in a snide, all-knowing twenty-something manner, with just a hint of trademark Gen-X apathy. Obviously, I didn't go to business school.

The ironic thing was that I was actually studying leadership, I just didn't know it yet. I was comparing startup culture leadership to college and professional sports.  I just had no idea what I was processing, certainly I didn't appreciate leadership or processing leadership at the time.

When I was in my twenties, I worked at WebTV for Steve Perlman. I was early too.  A lot of good mid-level managers one pay grade above me struggled while working for Steve.  I loved working for Steve.  I managed to forge a fast mutual respect with Steve that even now persists, despite the fact that I see Steve very infrequently, usually at an event or in SOMA. 

Recently, Ashlee Vance from BusinessWeek reached out to me to comment on Steve as a leader. It started a retrospective that fits within my current leadership study of Roy Gilbert, Grockit's CEO.  The two are very different.  The two are very different from another great founder-leader I worked with, Raymie Stata, now the CTO of Yahoo!.  In fact, there are very few similarities between all three.

The thing I learned most from Steve was how to learn in a founder culture.  Skepticism is a good thing.  But, in a functional top-down organization, the follower has to work at listening, internalizing founder thought processes and have the ability to suspend disbelief at times in order to achieve goals that seem unrealistic.  Steve taught me all of that.  That's why I chuckle when I see or hear someone quote Perlman disbelievingly or disparage Steve's hyper-distilled skeptical comments on "laws" of science and technical limits.  Sure Steve believes in himself.  But, he has earned the right to believe others will follow him too.  It's not ego, it's knowing what works, for him, and everyone that is willing to listen and believe in him.  That's  how top-down management succeeds, IMHO. 

Now, there's a lot of people that get religious about bottom-up startup culture.  But, in my experience, that's a harder culture to create and sustain, very fragile, and exposed to external factors and internal employee dynamics. I believe that if you are to succeed as a key contributor, you have to be able to take direction and collaborate with top-down managers.  I may be wrong, but that's my experience talking.

What I'm living now -- it's different, and fascinating all at once.  Grockit is a truly interesting and an inspiring place to contribute and cooperate.  And, after all of the pre-Grockit hype I heard on Roy Gilbert, I have to say that he is an impressive operator.  In my late 30s, having developed the ability to recognize leadership and acts of leadership, my life and work have become so much more interesting. 

Here's the really interesting thing: My leadership style hasn't changed all that much.  But that doesn't mean I'm not learning.  Studying leadership is engrossing.  I hope everyone takes the time to observe their manager's leadership style. 

Gripe: MacApp Store (updated)

First, the disclaimers.  I know a few people at Apple, and I actually know some folks that work on the store.  Second, my overall support and usability expectations are higher for Apple products, which I fully acknowledge.  Third, Apple enjoys a brand reputation for a better overall experience, so they deserve this kind of heated gripe. 

Apple, you're slipping. I know you're stock is soaring and your operating capital is nice. I don't even mind that the initial iPod wasn't your idea or design. But, I've always appreciated that your products and services just work. Except when they don't.

I don't get the Mac App store App.  I'm installing an app to buy an app.  That's me inserting a hurdle between me and the store.  It just feels like a dumb DRM move.  Really, Apple? What's worse, it's not working. 

The Mac App store help page has 5 entries in the troubleshooting, my issue is one of them.  Here's what they have to say about my symptoms:

"If nothing happens after clicking Buy when purchasing an app

Select the Purchases view at the top of the Mac App Store window. Look for your purchased app. If it is listed under Purchases and says Installed next to it, check your Dock or Applications folder for the app. If the app's listing under Purchases says Install next to it, click the Install button. The app will then be downloaded and installed into the Applications folder. You will not be charged again for the app.

If the app is not listed under Purchases, your previous attempt to buy was not completed and you were not charged for the app. Navigate to where you tried to purchase the app earlier and click the Buy button for the app. This will charge your account for the app. If you delete the app and wish to to reinstall it later, you can use the Purchases view to reinstall it without being charged again."

So five minutes ago, I submitted this help ticket.  It wasn't really a request for help, more of a taunt with several veigns of criticism, mostly about their physical operations as well. I'll keep everyone up to date on the resolution. 

I have a brand new macbook pro and I downloaded the app store app and signed into the store with my existing apple ID, which I use for iTunes and my other, older Macbook Pro.  I'm trying to buy a lot of sotware for this new mac, without going to a physical store.  But, when I go to buy, I get through the buy flow, confirm the purchase intent and then I don't get anything -- no DL dialogue, and my account status shows that I have zero purchased software.

 Seriously, this is really pissing me off.  Getting to an Apple store is a real pain-in-the-ass because your physical stores are located where there is absolutely no parking (Downtown Palo Alto, Union Square SF?!) or the store is a renovated closet with asinine store hours for people that want to work  (Stanford shopping mall, open at 10am?!).  The options for me right now is order online and wait 24 hours for an empty box or submit this ticket and wait 24 hours.  Awesome.

 

Updated Feb 11 4:17PM PDST

Response and my second efforts below. Now this is going to get interesting.

Hi Tina,
I have no idea what you're talking about in this email.  Per my ticket info, I'm having trouble buying Keynote for my Mac via the Mac App Store.  The only thing that is related to iTunes is my Apple ID.  What do I have to do to buy and download software from the Mac App Store?

Sincerely,
Aaron Burcell

PS -- I'm blogging this experience in an effort to help others, because this experience is pretty darn sucky.

----- Original Message ----
From: "macappstore_english_us_support@apple.com" <macappstore_english_us_support@apple.com>
To: xxxxx@yahoo.com (edited for posting)
Sent: Fri, February 11, 2011 3:21:32 PM
Subject: Re: Mac App Store Account and Billing; Follow-up: 138883781

Dear Aaron,

Tina here from the iTunes Store. I hope you are having a wonderful day so far. I see from your email that you have some of your purchases that you have recently made, not showing up in your download queue for you to download and add to your account. Being an iTunes Store customer myself, I can understand your eagerness to get this resolved. Please be assured I am happy to help you in any way I can.

Aaron, I have added the three orders on your account that you have recently purchased back to your account for you.

Please follow these steps to download the items:

1) Make sure you're using the latest version of iTunes. It can be downloaded free of charge from the iTunes website:
 
http://www.itunes.com/download

Note: Installing the latest version of iTunes will not affect your library or any items in your account that you haven't downloaded.

2) Open iTunes. From the Store menu at the top, choose Check for Available Downloads. You can also click this link to do the same thing:

https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/checkForPurchases

3) Enter your account name and password, then click the Check button.

The items should begin downloading and appear in your Purchased playlist. If you receive an error message while downloading, try again after turning off any firewall or web-accelerator software that you may have installed. If the download process is interrupted for any reason, it should resume once you reopen iTunes.

This article provides information about resuming interrupted downloads:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1725

If you don't see the items in your iTunes Library, please include this information in your response to this email:

- The name of your Internet service provider (ISP)
- The type of Internet connection (such as dial-up, cable modem, or DSL)
- Any troubleshooting steps you may have taken
- Any error messages you may have received

I would like to make sure that your iTunes experience is the best it can be. If you have any further questions regarding this issue Aaron, please reply to this email and I will be delighted to assist you. Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Tina
iTunes Store Customer Support


Please note: In the week of February 6th to February 12th, I work Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday 12:30 PM to 9 PM. I also work Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. I have Monday and Saturday off.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to assist you. You may receive an AppleCare survey email; any feedback you provide would be greatly  appreciated.

Customer First Name : Aaron
Customer Last Name : Burcell
email : xxxxx (edited for post)
Web Order # :
Support Subject : Mac App Store Account and Billing
Sub Issue : undefined
Comments : See additional info below
OS version: Mac OS X 10.6.6
Country: US
Apple ID: edited for posting
Specific request: This app didn't function as expected
Item title: Keynote
Details: I have a brand new macbook pro and I downloaded the app store app and signed into the store with my existing apple ID, which I use for iTunes and my other, older Macbook Pro.  I'm trying to buy a lot of sotware for this new mac, without going to a physical store.  But, when I go to buy, I get through the buy flow, confirm the purchase intent and then I don't get anything -- no DL dialogue, and my account status shows that I have zero purchased software.

Seriously, this is really pissing me off.  Getting to an Apple store is a real pain-in-the-ass because your physical stores are located where there is absolutely no parking (Downtown Palo Alto, Union Square SF?!) or the store is a renovated closet with asinine store hours for people that want to work  (Stanford shopping mall, open at 10am?!).  The options for me right now is order online and wait 24 hours for an empty box or submit this ticket and wait 24 hours.  Awesome.

TrackID: 13512158

Grin: I joined Grockit!

I recently joined Grockit as the VP of Marketing.  It all happened really fast, so I thought I'd post a short (relatively short) explanation. 

When I left Gazillion last Spring, I knew I wanted to return to the intersection of games and education.  I just didn't think an opportunity would come to me so quickly after my SmartyCard experience.

SmartyCard was an awesome experience.  The solution was elegant, the people were very talented.  And, even if the company was short-lived, SmartyCard alumni have gone on to do wonderful things at Xbox, Kabam, Google and A Bit Lucky.  All of that noted, I think all SmartyCard alumnus miss going to bed at night knowing that they were working on learning games -- even if we were *only* focused on supplemental education. 

To that last point, when I was approached by Roy Gilbert and Farb Nivi to join the team at Grockit, I pounced.  I'd been following Grockit.  But, I had no idea what kind of ambition, vision and company culture existed at Grockit until I met the team in late January.  The team here is genuinely brilliant.  The company culture is a unique combination of high-velocity, lean-practices and grown-up interpersonal communications. It helps that the executives are so accomplished, and the venture investors are outstanding.  These people are stewards of an awesome service and an awesome company culture.  And, there is so much more here: There's a genuine determination to change and improve how people learn and teach. 

And, it's that revolutionary attitude that gets me up every morning.  That's why I've always worked at startups.  Not for the $ or the drama.  I love big ideas.  Grockit is a big idea.  I'm honored to join this team. 

Now, I have to get back to work:)

 

Grin: BUMPNRUN productions

While I'm taking a little time off to play with the wife and kids, I've been tracking down old friends from Stanford u-grad class of 1995. Here (http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/54k1) are two of the funniests humans alive, on or off of Funny or Die, Branyon Davis (B-Luv) and Kevin Garnett (KG) with their latest, a spoof of Dos Equis ads, featuring the one and only Billy Dee Williams (see FunnyorDie embed below). 

You have probably seen BUMPNRUN work before, as I get a steady stream of updates about humorous ads they've created.  The name BUMPNRUN is a reference to a football defensive coverage technique, where the defenders on wide-outs get in the face of receivers and distrupt their progress up field before they can get into route.  That style of play is tough, it's physical, it's persistent.  That's how these two played, and, fittingly, that's what is required to get your brand of humor some visibility in Hollywood. 

I'm really happy for these guys.  Branyon was the first person I met at Stanford. He started off as a receiver and converted to defense, and because were hobbled with injuries for much of our freshman year, we spent a lot of time wise-crackin, sampling underground rap, and playing tunk. 

KG and I spent a little too much time on a pleather couch one Palo Alto summer, along with Craig Thompson.   We would watch crappy TV with the volume down and do voice-overs to entertain each other.  Trying to make he most out of basic cable, we'd make spoofs, and establish foolish positions, like computer generated images should be outlawed.  That memory is funny when considering all three of us would soon be working in Television -- Craig and I first at WebTV, and now Craig has been at Comcast for over ten years.  KG went right to the content side and never came back.  He is really good at what he does -- follow him at http://bumpnrunproductions.com/

 

 

The Most Interesting BLACK Man in the World part 1 - watch more funny videos

Grin: First Round Capital, funny guys, great holiday e-card

This just landed in my inbox this morning.  I really like the guys at First Round Capital.  They've never given me money, but I really like these guys. Just watch the first 3 minutes if you're short on time, totally worth it.  

 

 

Another game launched yesterday

The team at Outspark pushed out another game --Divine Souls -- our second game this fall.  The PR has been great, and the user uptake is outstanding so far.  In the midst of the sprint, I took a few minutes to do an interview with an overseas games industry veteran.  Check it out. 

Grins: Vaportrail and the film "Race to Nowhere"

Two new things that are making me smile today: Vaportrail and the film "Race to Nowhere".  The film's trailer is below, and for those that followed me at SmartyCard, I have to say this is a really critical issue I see developing early on in the Los Altos School District here in Northern California. 

Now, about VaporTrail. These are my friends and former colleagues at Utterli/RPM Communications, based back in Boston.  VaporTrail is a really interesting idea, and they have a big new national customer to be announced in the near future.  I like these guys a lot, very smart, very forward-thinking about real world solutions for business managers on the move.  Keep tabs on these guys.

 

 

Grin: YouTube movie trailer

As far as parody goes, this is good.