Why I Don't Like AVS4YOU Conversion Software

How NOT to Sell Software Online

I searched for an audio converter program online and AVS4YOU came up first on Google so I downloaded it.  Clearly these guys understand Internet marketing as they employed various standard marketing techniques on their landing page including price contrast, urgency and their download process, etc was easy a slick.  Hats off to them for that.

But then I went to use the demo version of the software after installing it and found it put a “voice logo” as they called it on the track I just converted.  Ok I thought, that’s not so bad, I only have to listen to the ad at the beginning then that’s it.  After all its free and listening to a voice ad is not unreasonable.

But then to my utter amazement I found the friggin thing was placed every few seconds!  I can understand their reasoning for doing that but I have to say, making the demo files totally unusable by stamping them every few seconds with an annoying, if beautiful voice is absolutely retarded as far as I am concerned.

I have seen far better ways of inducing users to purchase including 30 day trials that expire, limiting features or sound quality on demo versions, and annoying the user with ever more frequent reminders.

I think Cerious Software’s Thumbs Plus (a graphics program I highly recommend by the way) has the best method of all.  They give you a full version for over a month then they slowly take away features, give you a warning when you launch the software, then add more warnings the longer you go until finally the software does not work at all.

ALL of these methods are far more effective in my view than AVS4YOU's method.   Their method simply ensures that not only will I not buy their software but I will erase it right away since it is totally useless to me right now and more than that, I just wasted all that time downloading it installing it and trying it.

What's worse, now I have a really bad opinion of AVS4YOU's software and company and will certainly not try anymore of their products.  And I have a big mouth, and a Blog.

There are lots of other options on the net for converting audio files, perhaps not as slick as their's or perhaps even better but one things for sure, I will be trying them and not AVS4YOU.

The News Industry's Dilema

This post is a response to an article on theglobeandmail.com entitled:

Newspaper paywalls: financial salvation or suicide?

As newspapers continue to watch advertising money dry up, more and more are considering charging readers to drive up revenue

May you live in interesting times. A rather understated Chinese curse.

These are very interesting times for Hollywood, the record industry and the newspaper biz. And while I have no love lost for the first two which have seen their business models decimated (they gouged and screwed the public for years) I empathize with the newspaper industry.

Perhaps it was a mistake to offer content for free online in the 90's but its academic since that horse has already left the barn.  It is unlikely that merely tweaking content and slapping fees on online content will work.  As it's been pointed out already, been there, done that, didn't work.

While everyone has their view on the political leanings of each paper, I have sampled the Post and the Star and find them to be too biased for me, especially the Post.  I have stuck with the Globe because I find it to be "just right".  The fact I see posts bemoaning it's liberal slant and others decrying it's neo-con journalists speaks to the successful balancing act the Globe and it's journalists manages to do.

I value the info I get in the globe online and therefore would be willing to pay a monthly fee for it.  For me, an Uber Techhead, hence the name, the thought of a paper paper is completely foreign and totally unnatural.

And while I would be willing to pay a fee, I would only be willing to pay something in the order of $4.95/mo because it is also true that while the Globe has implemented some features that take advantage of this electronic medium, they have done so in a rudimentary, ham handed, idiotic way.

Everyone in electronic media knows pre and post roll ads on videos are the devil and drive down viewership.  I may watch one Globe video but not more since I would have to sit through another 30 second ad to watch a 2 min clip.  Yuck!

When the Globe figures out ways to deliver multimedia content that is more valuable and monetize it in more creative ways than pre-roll ads I will gladly pay more for that service.

You Can't Always Get What you Want

This post is a response to an article on Mashable, Social Media

I followed Ashton Kutcher when I first started on Twitter because he was a know name and a recommended person to follow. Now I have never been into Celeb gossip and such but I followed him nonetheless. At the time he had about 250,000 followers.

It became clear after following him for a while that Twitter was nothing but a huge ego rub for Kutcher. I don't fault him for that, since that is part of the allure for me too. Twitter is strangely compelling. But don't celebs, particularly good looking ones like Kutcher get enough of that already?

That being said, there is something disingenuous about a celebrity that invites, even craves fame and exposure but then balks when that fame takes an unexpected turn. Its an inconvenient truth that one cannot always control the means by which fame is doled out.

The reality is that while Kutcher may "take a break" from Tweeting, his ego is unlikely to allow him to quit altogether. When Oprah asked him to be on the show to discuss his involvement, he made a video bemoaning the loss of Twitter to big media and mused he might not go on the show. Hogwash. Of course he was going to go on Oprah, he loves the spotlight.

It is, however a very one sided relationship as noted by others in this thread. He does not interact particularly with followers, it seems it's all about him. And many of his posts are him whining, despite the privileged position he holds in American celebrity aristocracy.

His fans may miss him if he takes a Twitter break but they can find comfort in the fact that it is unlikely Kutcher with be MIA for long.

Canadian Businesses are Wimps

This post is a response to an article on theglobeandmail.com entitled:

Needed urgently: more creativity from the business class

This latest report reveals that Canadian businesses do not innovate enough

As an Entrepreneur I think that the culture of Canadian business is the real challenge to innovation in Canada.  There is a saying "in Canada, no one wants to be first, everyone wants to be second"

We used to do all our business in the US and we got used to their cowboy attitude where everyone wanted to be first out of the gate or have something the other did not.  Not in Canada.

We are in Digital Signage, the business of putting plasma screens in retail areas and elevators.  It is an expensive, capital intensive business with an unproven business model and Canadian companies, save Tim Hortons, have little appetite for such things.

Canadian digital signage companies, and there are many, have floundered for the most part.

For our current project I did not even bother trying to look for capital in Canada, I went straight to the US.

This is a cultural issues that goes to the very heart of Canadian identity.  American business entrepreneurs are aggressive, daring risk takers, traits Canadians view as pejorative terms.  All the regulations and government programs in the world cant change that.

I love this country but I don't like doing business here.

Rudeness Rules the Internet

This post is a response to an article on theglobeandmail.com entitled:

In the Digital Age, rudeness is just another virus

Infantile bullying goes on out in the open online, and no one seems embarrassed about it

I agree with Poster Alan Burke, anonymity is the biggest reason for the sea of rudeness and crass comments on G&M posts and other sites.  But I don't think social media encourages it I just think it exposes it.

As with all things, a wide variety of personalities exist in the world.  Unfettered by the social constraints of identity those prone to negative, rude, mean spirited attacks will unleash their vitriol on the world every time as they know no other way of communicating.

It is a fact that some people just see the world in a very negative light and no matter what anyone says, thoughtful or otherwise, their response will be negative and rude.  Those people should be ignored for their cowardice in not identifying themselves and standing behind their comments.

Some site privacy concerns as the reason for not putting their names on their bombastic posts but cowardice is more likely.

It reminds me of the test done in the 50s or there about, where people were instructed to shock a person and then raise the voltage if they did not comply.  The victims were actors but the test subjects were fine shocking the people, even though they heard them yelling and pleading, just as long as they were anonymous and assured no responsibility for their actions.

It is worth noting that virtually all of the hair brained, stupid, rude, nasty comments are made by anonymous, faceless posters that hide behind the excuse of privacy.