I bought my first Macbook this weekend. It was a bit of a puzzling experience. I walked into the always-packed store and went straight to look at the Macbook Air’s. I was pretty sold on it, but wanted one last chance to play around. A sales associate came up, answered a few of my questions and asked what I wanted it for. I explained that I had a PC and wanted it as a second laptop mainly for travel. I said that I had been looking at netbooks, but the Air was either lighter or I liked it better than other netbooks. I also explained that I would mostly be using it for browsing online and remoting into my work computer to do email, use Microsoft Office, etc. After hearing what I was going to be using the Macbook Air for, he asked, “Have you tried the iPad? It might be a better fit.”

Me: Huh? Really? And um, isn’t that $1,000 less expensive than the machine I was just about to buy? Do you get a special commission for selling iPads or what?!

The Sales Associate went on to explain that you could put the iPad on a docking station and use a wireless keyboard with it. However, you couldn’t use a mouse. To me, that seemed like a lot of extra work and parts, but I said I’d take a look and think about it.

Luckily, there was a free iPad because I hate waiting in line I played around with it for a few minutes. And, I still didn’t understand how this could replace a netbook. Here’s why:

• I’m a neat freak. The thought of having fingerprints all over my screen was the nail in the coffin
• The thought of having to always remember to cart around a docking station and wireless keyboard didn’t seem very easy to me. While the iPad might fit in my purse, the other two items would be awkward.
• Here’s the other kicker to me – websites recognize the iPad as a MOBILE device, not a computer or netbook. What does that mean? Well, it means it serves up the mobile version of sites first. While that’s great for on-the-go, that’s not what I want for a second screen. I want the full version.
• Don’t worry, I won’t mention that flash doesn’t work nor that there’s no built-in camera
• Being a PC and Blackberry person too, I’m still not an expert at all the pinching, rotating and touchscreen typing that the iPad requires.
• Holding it was uncomfortable. It’s a bit too heavy to hold it upright for too long. At the same time, holding it on your lap puts unnecessary strain on your neck. Maybe okay for short periods of time, but not for long stretches of work.
• Unfortunately, my biggest question – would my VPN work – was left unanswered. I didn’t know the url and sadly had not yet saved it to my web bookmarks.

While the iPad might have a purpose, in my mind, it in no way, shape or form is a replacement for my newly bought Macbook Air.

Surprisingly, tonight’s Grammy’s was the first event that twitter both spoiled and enhanced for me. Everything online, from the MSN homepage to twitter was reporting and commenting on the Grammy’s in real time. The comments made me excited and frustrated. I wanted to see the outfits and performances my “friends” were commenting on. But alas, being on the West Coast, I was three hours behind. For me, it was an interesting and new experience. And yes, it made me wish I was living on the East Coast that much more

One of the coolest parts of the Grammy’s was their use of social media. An institution that’s been around for 52 years continues to innovate and stay relevant. From an iPhone app to We’re All Fans, kudos to the marketers behind the show… We’re All Fans was one wicked cool and beautifully done aggregater of what fans we’re saying.

1. QR Codes. People still don’t quite see the possibilities. However, this article does a great job expanding on some of the possibilities and reasons why hotels would benefit from utilizing QR Codes.
2. Funny comic on the Joys of Tech
3. My guilty pleasure is AXE advertising. Always edgy, always cutting edge. The incomplete ad that marries traditional print with mobile marketing is simple and pure genius.
4. I can’t wait for Best Buy’s holiday ad campaign to debut. The way they’re using cookies to engage and provide “value” is brilliant.
5. At least once a week someone declares, “Facebook is dead.” But, here’s one reason Why I Don’t Think Facebook is Dead

And, what post would be complete without a little College Humor and a Font Fight?

So… let’s take away all the names. Let’s play in theory and thoughts with this scenario:

I’m a client/advertiser. I’m looking for someone to put together a complete Mobile Marketing program for my Brand (yep, I’m even taking social media marketing out of the mix). I bid out the project. The following two bids come back:

Bid #1 from Thought Leader A: Proposal is great. Theories, ideas are spot on. Thought Leader A even has an existing platform for me to use. But then, I ask for a client list. No relevant experience and/or clients. No understanding of how I house my customer data or my Point of Sale (POS) systems. Bottom line: Bid #1 has the ideas. It talks the talk. BUT, it’s never walked the walk.

Bid #2 from Practitioner B: Proposal is great. Theories, ideas are spot on and similar to Bid #1. Bid #2 has an existing platform as well. They also have similar industry experience AND they understand my POS system. In fact, they’ve linked to it for other projects, so they know some of the ins, outs and potential quirks. Bottom line: Bid #2 has the ideas AND the experience. It talks the talk AND can prove it’s walked a similar walk in the past.

If cost was the same, I’m choosing Bid #2 aka the Practitioner. Which bid would you choose? If you chose Bid #2 as well, why and how is this different from choosing a Social Media Marketing Practitioner vs. a Thought Leader?

To this I have one word: DUH.

Let’s think:

1. iPhone users only see ONE ad at a time
2. The ad is big, colorful and annoying. Think pop-up ads when they first debuted
3. If you’re a non-iPhone user the chance of your browser being configured to javascript and html is low. What does this mean? It means all you see is ugly, text based stuff aka no big, colorful ad

On a non-sarcastic note, I am both a heavy iPhone and Blackberry user. If I want a “pretty” experience, I use my iPhone. If I have time to play around, I use my iPhone. If I want a great user experience, I use my iPhone. If I want black and white, down and dirty data? I use my Blackberry. Aside from the “duh’s” above, I think it’s the way phone users are conditioned- your Blackberry user is the finance/analyst/legal person inside you. The iPhone user? Well, they are the artist/marketing/creative thinker inside of you.

BUT, then I got an iPhone. Finally, I’m starting to understand the beauty of location based services. For someone who has no sense of direction, iPhone’s Map feature is a godsend. Now, I don’t have to know where I am because my iPhone does

In terms of social networking and taking those interactions to immediate/unplanned real world settings, Loopt, Bright Kite and Tweetie are cool.

What does it mean for marketers? Well, I think this post starts to touch on it. It gives SMART marketers the ability to provide their customers with relevant, high value offers that, in theory, lead to faster and larger sales conversions. But, since 18% of today’s marketers don’t even target/track their email campaigns, I wonder how many will really hold fast to only sending high value offers and/or targeting them.

Unfortunately, I’m already seeing marketers simply think of the phone as just another marketing channel. The same offer from Target I get via email I also get via their SMS program. Same with Victoria Secret. Same with many of the hotels in Las Vegas. In fact, I usually get these SMS offers the SAME day I get the email offer.

What a shame. Couple desperate marketers with customers and a technology that aren’t quite there yet and I think we have a long way to go before any of us start receiving relevant SMS offers let alone ones that are immediate-location targeted.