samuel.bowles.es

Hace tres meses Yoigo dijo que estas eran sus tarifas “sin trucos”:

"Todos las llamadas de Yoigo a Yoigo cuestan 0 cent/min. Da igual si llamas 3 minutos, 1 hora o hasta que se te acaba la batería del móvil. Como lo oyes, bueno, como lo lees, solo pagas 12 céntimos de establecimiento de llamada.”

Suena bien ¿no? Y aseguraba que:

"No es un plan de precios especial, no es una ofertita, no es una promoción concreta. Es una nueva tarifa sin letra pequeña, sin cuota de alta, sin condiciones, o sea, como siempre en Yoigo, tal y como suena."

Los anuncios dijeron específicamente que:

"Esta no es una promoción de Navidad."

Y que:

"Nuestras tarifas no son promocionales son, sencillamente, muy buenas."

Pero tres meses después (aproximadamente la duración de un promoción de verano ó navidad que hacen todos los operadores todos los años) dicen:

"Para continuar ofreciendo este servicio que combina calidad y el mejor precio del mercado, Yoigo actualiza a partir del 1 de marzo su cuadro de tarifas, según ya anunció el pasado 31 de octubre de 2007. La principal novedad es la actualización de la tarifa de llamadas nacionales entre teléfonos Yoigo, que pasa a ser de 0 céntimos/minuto durante los primeros 60 minutos de conversación cada día sin límite de llamadas."

Y esto ¿qué es? Me parece peor que un “promoción”, me parece un “truco”. Lo que querría, mas que un buen precio (aunque esto vale mucho) es un operador que no me engañe. Un operador que “odia la letra pequeña tanto como yo”. Un operador que puede ser “honesto y transparente conmigo … sin rodeos”. Me apena descubrir que Yoigo no es ese operador.

At the 1939 World’s Fair Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to appear on television, no doubt completely oblivious to the extent to which this new technology would change future political contests. Sixteen years later Dwight D. Roosevelt stood before a class of West Point graduates and a camera which would broadcast his speech and said, “… you must be ruthless in a self-imposed command never to rest in the pursuit of new knowledge, in your application of it to your own duties.” These words would be the first spoken by a president who stood before the nation in full-color.

A mere five years later Kenedy would be christened by the media “The Television President”. Within thirty-two years from the first regularly scheduled television service politics had been changed forever.

This year marks a mere thirteen years since the Internet reached the mainstream and it appears to me it is already having a game-changing effect. The most amazing change I see is the way it is making available political narratives that were inaccessible before.

Take as an example this recent ad which was created and broadcast by the Clinton campaign. In my opinion it’s a very effective use of the medium. It easily evokes an emotional response and I would guess it’s the very emotions her campaign managers were seeking: fear, uncertainty, and doubt. They hope that these feelings will lead people to choose her over her “less experienced” competitor.

All of this is “old-school” television politics. Here’s where it gets interesting: Obama responds with a well-considered statement and then his supporters uncover this amazing nugget from the past. In the era of YouTube politicians are less and less able to out-live their past. What you say (or what you repeat) will be replayed by millions often with a similar emotional effect to it’s first broadcast.

Will this mean greater accountability or simply greater caution. Only time will tell.

Some people say I should make up my mind: am I a code monkey or a design junkie? Do I care more about how things look or how they’re built? But for me design runs deep and wide. I get just as excited to have finally groked the function of an object of a class as I do to see, hold or hear something that has been crafted with simplicity and beauty. Here are a few things that have inspired me recently.

Metaphys has designed a wall-garden that is simply breathtaking. As an urban dweller surrounded by far to much concrete I would so love to hang this on our wall. It feels like a sort of memorial to the view we’ll probably never have. The only downside is the price (especially after shipping to Spain) - these seem like such easy things to make. I just wish I could find a source for the “high-tech growing medium, made up tiny sponge balls impregnated with nutrients” that they use. They mention needing to refill the tray with seeds every 4-5 months so it seems I should be able to find them someplace (via swiss miss).

For Christmas this year my friend Jonah got me these wonderful gloves from my wish list. I spotted them in a store linked to by my friend Paul. They are very simple polyester-stretch gloves that come with a variety of patterns emblazoned on them in arclyic resin which functions as either a grip or just a fashion statement. What statement? I have no idea. “I like pretty swirly patterns?” The only bummer is I can really only wear them about two months out of the year here. I know, poor me.

Brooklyn 5 and 10, the store that sold the gloves mentioned above also carries this beautiful “game”. It’s more akin to a zen garden or a stress ball than a “game” but with a bit of a designer’s twist. Created by newartifacts, a group of designers from Uruguay, the site claims the cube can be configured in 68,719,476,736 combinations - you read that right: close to 69 billion. There is no one solution. Just fiddle and play until it makes you smile. Someday I’ll keep one of these on my desk to clear my mind between the other puzzles I face each day.

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One of the things that is most unique about living in a European city, as opposed to an American one, is the sense of proximity. We literally live on top of our grocery store (a decent sized market with nearly everything we ever need). We live within a block of: multiple office supply stores, bars, restaurants, a barber, clothing stores, an accessories store, two pharmacies, a mobile phone store, a hardware store, a few stores specializing in newspapers and magazines, a sweets store, a store specializing in fresh fruits and vegetables, a store specializing in fish and meat, an elementry school, a high school, and a university - and these are just the things I can think of off the top of my head.

It’s no wonder when I lived in Amsterdam in 1996 I had such a hard time convincing my friends that in the U.S. a car is not a luxury but a necessity. Most city dwelling Europeans have no context for this concept (especially in a place as small as the Netherlands but that’s another subject).

So when I came across a new concept out of Malaga Spain called “La Fiesta Silenciosa” (The Silent Party) all I could think was: only in Europe. While I generally revel in the proximity afforded by living in a European city there are down sides. One example would be those unfortunate enough to live above things other than grocery stores. Things like nightclubs. This is where “La Fiesta Silenciosa” comes in, they offer a new party experience that allows DJs to emit their beats by way of laser-powered wireless headphones. Parties hosted in this way would be essentially silent to neighbors while allowing all those who attend to participate in a shared cultural experience: live music.

It’s not uncommon for live events like this (and the clubs that host them) to struggle with neighbors, sound ordinances, and repeated fines from the police. Time will tell if party goers will be willing to change their habits and walk around with headphones on but there’s no doubt it’s a unique and innovative solution to a real problem in our crowded cities.

The system has already been used in Burgos, Mallorca, Alicante and Barcelona but the first club to implement this new system in Sevilla, Obbio la Sala Club, will open their doors to some 200 party goers tomorrow.