Welcome to the Daily Lark, the rants, ramblings and musings of Andy Lark – serial opinionator, mover and shaker
Interesting move by Facebook to acquire Microsoft’s Atlas capability. As Facebook continues to evolve its measurement tools and services this could be valuable as they revamp the core technology. By owning the ad server they should be able to better track ‘attribution’ (what we do after we see an ad), even if we don’t click on the ad. Better insight into conversions equals a bigger slice of the advertising pie.
You can read more over at Facebook.
Corporate blogs tend to pass from hand to hand – each new generation of owner takes on the success of the prior builders, writers and creators. Brian Lusk didn’t let that happen.
I remember meeting Brian when Rd2 and the rest of the gang created the Nuts About Southwest Airlines Blog. Eventually, I moved on to new projects. One day, out of the blue I got an email and call from Brian to tell me that Nuts had made into into the Blog Hall of Fame and to thank me for helping make it all possible – he was really excited. I think this was a couple of years after the project had launched. The fact he remembered reflected his love of history and telling the story – the fact that he made the call reflected the fact he was a decent guy. His first post makes me smile.
When Brian passed-away we lost one of the good guys. Social media is full of celebrity types – heat seeking publicity barons, thinkers not really doers. Brian wasn’t one of them. He breathed the SWA ehtos – decency, hard work, fun. I was lucky enough to work with him for a brief moment in time.
Wherever you’ve gone mate, safe flight.
I’m going to start crafting reviews again with Avery simple premise: brutal honesty.
Dining out in Australia is expensive. The service is universally poor to average. And generally the attention to detail missing. I’m not talking about your run of the mill local diner here. I’m talking about places with $20 starters, $35-40 mains and wine lists with extreme inflation and little elasticity. I’m talking about $120 to $150 min per person.
It’s also critical I think to rate relative to other establishments in its class and the overall service promise. In short, you should be getting what you are paying for an then some.
Roberts is in the Hunter Valley – it’s the opposite of the modernist dining scene and one such place. More River cottage with a modern menu. It’s quick to market itself as the high-end of the high-end. The food is good. Not great. Just good. And with flaws.
My ocean sea trout was full of bones. A Pea Velouté lacked enough soup or seasoning. The soufflé was clearly pre-made and dry as a bone – the chocolate burnt. The macaroons equally stale.
Service errors abounded. No sparkling water – they’d sold out. What? They had three Sav Blancs on the menu – the most economical of which was sold out at $50 a bottle leaving its two neighbors at $80 and $105. I don’t mind tap water, but filter it. Don’t forget the vegetables due with the mains. Or the post dinner tea. Bring a spoon with Velouté.
They kindly offered complimentary deserts to make up for a messy meal service and the lost veges — but barely got that right.
Basic stuff. Such expectation is created by the restauranteur. It’s time the people delivering the service and cooking the food closed the gap.
Earlier in the day we enjoyed lunch at The Verandah – enjoyable tapas and creative cooking. Great stopping-off point if you are out and about in the Valley.
Cafe Enzo proved great for breakfast. Terrific breakfast board and creative twists – cheeses and pesto, for instance. Campos coffee – Yum. Good service. What’s not to like. $130 for four was a bit steep but we did get lots and it was well presented.
Roberts: Fine Dining: 2.5 out of 5
The Verandah: Brasserie: 3.5 out of 5
Cafe Enzo: Cafe: 4 out of 5
Lets be clear. PCs are not iPads. iPads are not PCs. iPads are not TVs. TVs are not iPads. Smartphones are not iPads. iPads are not smartphones.
So why do people get them confused? Simply they assume one is canabilzing the other so they are the same. I’ve yet to meet a single person, A SINGLE PERSON, that doesn’t have a PC running somewhere. Many are planning to upgrade or change their PC. Truth is, I would expect to see PCs and iPads roughly equal in shipments.
Funny thing is, I’ve chatted to plenty of people that watch and read more on their iPad and as a result aren’t investing in new TVs, home phones, books etc. That seems too hard to analyze and talk about so the PC gets a good lod fashioned analyst bashing.
They are wrong. PC are sales aren’t suffering as a result of the iPad. They are suffering because of:
Where this isn’t happening – PC gaming for instance — the market is vibrant. I’m banking on the PC industry waking up, throwing out a generation of product line management that got it wrong and blazing a new path. That might be asking too much.
