DISQUS

Many years ago, I attended a Friday night Shabbat service at a synagogue in downtown Chicago. I was new to the group, so I was trying to be overly friendly and make new friends. There was one gentleman in the group who intrigued me the most. He had on a sticker that read, "Shhhh" and when I went up to introduce myself, he smiled and politely handed me a card. It read "Shabbat Shalom! I'm on a talking fast. Please take no offense at my lack of conversation. Let's talk again tomorrow night."

Your post reminded me of that card and the idea of a talking fast. There have been times that I almost wish there was a polite way to put a "I'm okay, I don't need help" pin on that would signal the message to salespeople that I don't need assistance. People would probably take it as being rude, though, more times than not.

Jake,

What's funny about it is that it demonstrates that Showtime completely misses (or is choosing to be deliberately ignorant) what's happened over the past few years. Thanks to BitTorrent, shows that were developed for the BBC in the UK have become underground hits here well before they aired in the US (examples: the new Doctor Who, Hex, Jekyll). In the UK and elsewhere, the process repeated itself with shows like Battlestar Galactica, West Wing, and others.

Cheers,
Michael

While I still disagree with the idea that the videos that people legally purchased will no longer be available to play, I have to give kudos to Google for acknowledging their screwup in an open and transparent manner. Many companies try to hide behind silence or spin their way out of a bad situation instead of owning up and giving the digital equivalent of the "My bad."

This should be a case study for any company that finds itself in hot water, especially now in the age of instant conversation:

1. Own up (humor helps)

2. Fix the problem

Simple.

Disclosure: I have no affiliation with Google apart from being addicted to its search engine and a satisfied user of several of its products.

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Michael E. Rubin
Arment Dietrich, Inc.

Call me -- 312-787-7249 x212
Tell a friend -- fight destructive spin! http:///www.spinsucks.com
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I have to agree with Brian. This is one of those services I've been waiting out on a long time now. "Multiple Identity Fatigue" has been a problem that could have slowed or constrained the growth of social networks. Now that there is a certain amount of interoperability thanks to Plaxo, maybe content aggregators will get serious about developing true identity portability.

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Michael E. Rubin, Arment Dietrich
Call me -- 312-787-7249 x212
See a picture of an orangutan -- http://tinyurl.com/yosceb