According to Dictionary.com the definition for standard is:
something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.
This however doesn’t stop companies from adapting their own standards for products. This happens in all industries. Some examples: Sony using their own kind of memory cards. Shimano and Campagnolo using different hubs to mount sprockets on. Mobile phone manufacturers using different USB or headphone connectors. The list goes on and one.
The latest company to (once again) come up with their own standard is Microsoft with their continuation of using Word to render HTML email in Outlook. This has lead to a bit of a Twitter outrage in protest of this action (not that Microsoft seems to care) and to promote open standards. Microsoft has a bit of a history when it comes to these things (Silverlight vs. Flash for instance) and of course it has a lot of pull with being one of the (or maybe the) biggest software manufacturer in the world.
From a business standpoint it does make sense. Sony has created a new revenue stream with creating their own memory cards. With developers wanting to create applications that run on Silverlight, Microsoft can create seminars or courses that teach developers how to code for the new software. Using different connectors for mobile phone manufacturers means that whenever a customer buys a new phone, they need to buy a new adapter to make their old gear work or just flat out buy new stuff.
But companies need to realize that they create resentment with consumers with this behavior. Whether it’s by installing another program for your browser or just having to buy another type of memory card to expand the memory on your phone, it creates a hassle that a consumer doesn’t want. The average consumer just wants things to work out of the box. They expect to be spending some time to get familiar with a device, but they don’t want to spend extra money to make things work with what they already own (for some this creates an attitude of “keeping the device for as long as it works”; this cuts into the upgrading cycle many companies depend upon). It’s all about ease of use.
Especially when it comes to web standards. People are spending more time on the web than ever and are using different devices to access it. And they want their experience on the web to be the same, whatever the device. Using HTML, CSS and all other web standards will ensure that the consumers experience of using the web will be the same on every screen. It will not only make it easier for developers to code applications but give way to more creativity in what those applications can do. All in all using standards is a win-win situation.
Thanks to the great Twitter Tools WordPress plugin a link to this post will become my 100th tweet. And that in less than 2 months, which is faster than I imagined it would go to be honest.
But I enjoy using Twitter. I follow the people/tweets that interest me so I get my share of funny and/or interesting info and links. It’s more of a discovering tool to me then anything else. Throw in a little bit of conversation now and then and you can start to understand why this can become quit addictive, although a bit baffling at times as well.
It’s also gave me another perspective on this blog and how I want to use it in the future. These are still just a bunch of ideas and nothing solid has come out, but I think this blog will be something different this time next year.
But all in all I thought this little milestone in my Twitter-experience was worth a little write-up so here’s to 100 more!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about a very positive customer service experience. In recent years it seems that I’ve been fortunate not having to deal with many customer services because you still hear all kinds of horror stories.
But last week my Samsung monitor died on me. I’ve been using Samsung monitors for about 8 years now (my first one still works and is used by my dad) and they have been doing their work admirably, but fact remained that I was faced with a broken monitor. It was still under warranty and a quick check on their website supplied the customer service number which I called.
The only slightly negative thing I can say about the whole experience is that the menu structure of their telephone system to get to the right department was a bit confusing, but for the rest it was top notch. I explained my problem and the representative thought it would either be the power supply or backlight. To get it fixed he would send me an email (I received it about 5 minutes after the call ended) with an UPS return label which I could put on the box in which to send the monitor. I could either bring it to one of the UPS shipping points or make an appointment to get it picked up and it would be fixed. A call to UPS later and my monitor was picked up on Thursday and returned to me the following Tuesday all ready to go with a replaced power supply. I thought that was some great service.
In that same week I had second positive experience with the customer service of UPC and that was a big surprise. UPC was one of the first to offer fast cable internet where I live and I was one of their first customers in my neighborhood. But their technical and customer service has been a nightmare. Luckily I have been getting a stable connection and there hasn’t been much need to call their support network. Although I was pretty satisfied with the service they provided I chose to switch to OnsBrabantNet because they offered a faster up- and download over fiber (something UPC doesn’t offer) while being cheaper. But I wasn’t just canceling UPC before I knew that OnsBrabantNet (which is a new service) offered a stable connection (the fact that the first half year is free for the fiber option helped) so I have been running the two side by side for about a month for testing purposes. The fiber proved to be stable and extremely fast so I went to UPC’s site to find the specifics on how to terminate my contract with them.
I was surprised to find that all I had to do was call. That made me a bit skeptical because of the bad experiences I had in the past, but I dialed the number and after 5 minutes it was all taken care of. I would receive a letter confirming the termination of contract and also a box labeled with a free shipping address to send the modem to. I have received the letter and the box will be send to me at the end of the month when my contract ends. It seems UPC has learned from their mistakes and have taken steps to provide a very positive customer service experience.
And as I concluded in my post from a while ago, it’s customer service where a company really can score points with their customers and it seems that companies are starting to take notice. I always believed that you find out what the real worth of a company or service is when something goes wrong and it’s their job to fix it. When it’s handled in a professional matter and a solution to the problem is provided people will come back for repeat business, otherwise they’ll just go elsewhere to find their needs met.
Today I read this article and it sort of confirmed something I’ve been thinking for some time now: are we sharing too much on social media so that sometimes it becomes hazardous?
We post our pictures on Flickr and geo-tag them. That’s all well when it comes to vacation pictures, but what about pictures of the inside of your house? Combine that with a tweet saying “Off on holiday to Bora Bora” and you broadcast a digital “We’re not home”-sign to people who possibly don’t have your best interest in mind (as for example in the article).
Maybe it’s the little paranoid in me that rears its head every once in a while, but I believe that there are definitely security risks involved in being too open about what you do and when you do it. Maybe not as much for us regular folks, but what about politicians, business people or celebrities (although some of them seem to welcome it)? With all new technology that’s being developed there will be more and more ways for stalkers or people with other harmful intent to find out where their human target is. Not to mention the privacy issues involved.
Don’t get me wrong: sharing is one of, maybe the best feature of social media. I love it when a friend shares something he finds on the net, or posts a picture of something funny that happened or you find a RT that’s funny or informative. We just need to be a little bit careful of what to share.
