muraPOI: August 27, 2012

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  • The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy: One word, *sigh*. David Stretfeld in the NY Times writes:

    “Attention, despite being contrived, draws more attention.”

    And a great comment from Slashdot:

    “Back in the 1980’s, if you read a review on the internet (usenet at the time, there was no web yet), you could be sure it was from a “real person”, and was a real opinion, not a paid shill or something written by a marketer. You could be sure the resulting discussion was being engaged in by real people as well.

    That culture has been lost from the entire internet, and it is increasingly hard to sort out what’s real from what’s not. Some of them are obvious, but the better shills are increasingly sophisticated. This is one of the many prices paid for the eternal september. It was overrun by the marketeers and the ad men, who ruined the commons for the rest of us.”

    And lastly a pointer. Amazon introduced Amazon Verified Purchase as a way of improving a reader’s confidence that a review is written by a real person. This can still be faked, of-course, it just costs the reviewer money to purchase the item.

    (Via Slashdot, August 26, 2012)

  • 10 Studies That Reveal What Customers WANT You To Know About Them: If the first item wasn’t creepy enough, how about this article? Resist the urge to be drawn in by fake marketing. I hate stores that insist on calling me by my first name because “everyone loves hearing their own name.” I see through that marketing B.S. as clear as day–get to know me, then you can start calling me by my name. Otherwise I see you’re smart enough to be able to read the credit card receipt.

    (Via link to blog from William Mougayar, AVC.com comment, August 24, 2012)

  • Long-term manipulation is extremely difficult: Seth Godin has a great counterpoint on his blog:

    “We often forget that while trickery is easy, the longer path of keeping your promises is far more satisfying and stable.”

    (Via link to blog from kirklove, AVC.com comment, August 24, 2012)

  • Why Waiting Is Torture: This article quotes a professor I know at MIT, Dick Larson says:

    “Often the psychology of queuing is more important than the statistics of the wait itself.”

    And remember, Alex Stone writes,

    “Disney, the universally acknowledged master of applied queuing psychology…”

    (Via Daring Fireball, August 23, 2012)

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: I’ve been looking to get us an Android Tablet for work, and had high hopes for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. Based on these reviews, we’ll be passing on it. When forced to innovate on their own, it’s clear they need more practice.