eCommerce and

Apple announced that Steve Jobs remains profoundly involved with Apple, Inc.’s day to day functions, decision making, and strategic planning regardless of his recent leave of absence.  The announcement was made at the company’s annual meeting in Cupertino, California.  This declaration was likely meant to ease shareholders that have expressed concerns in Apple’s lack of disclosure or details related to Jobs’ health.

The continued speculation from shareholders regarding what has been shared by the company has sparked the SEC to look into the conduct of the company in regards to this issue.   Apple is defending Jobs’ privacy while shareholders see Jobs as the face of the company and losing him as CEO could cause an even greater decrease in the value of the stock.  Apple was apparently trying to keep the meeting casual and lighthearted as they took the time to sing Happy Birthday to Jobs who celebrated his 54th birthday this week, but was not present for the first time in ten years.   Jobs should not be underestimated though, he is credited with reviving Apple when he returned to the company twelve years ago, and has survived pancreatic cancer, but his reluctance to divulge information to shareholders is causing a stir regardless.

This week in eCommerce:

• Matt McGee’s SEO Success Pyramid was published about a year ago.  The top of the pyramid and the primary goal is trust.  To follow up on this idea and review its relevancy today he asked his peers to contribute to his idea that trust matters.  Not only does this article include insights from some of our favorite people in the industry but I believe it provides valuable insight for online retailers that may be quick to forget that what others think does matter.
• WOMMA provides us with great statistics this week, “Let's get down to the bare bones of it. If your boss is asking you why you should have a blog, reviews section, or other transparency component for your company, here's why:
  • "82% of the respondents preferred customer reviews over the hotel's description"
  • "70% of the respondents preferred customer reviews over those of "professional reviewers"
• Steve Jobs is arguably the most influential CEO in recent history.  The impact he has on Apple Inc., their stakeholders, and Apple shares is like that of none other.  The closest comparison that I can think of is Bill Gates and Microsoft, but Gates planned his retirement and eased investors by making a slow and calculated exit.  Jobs’ announcement that he is taking an extended leave of absence came as quite a shock and Apple shares subsequently fell 10 percent.  The laws surrounding how much a company has to disclose about the health of their CEO’s are gray which has sparked rumors of investor lawsuits.
• No one is recession proof, not even Google.  While some view their recent layoffs and consolidation of engineering centers as a bad sign, others, like Larry Dignan of ZDNet believe that these are good signs that Google is maturing.  He states “Now we get to see what Google is really made of. You don’t earn your corporate chops in a boom. Let’s face it. When the profits are flowing Google could burp and people would fawn over it. A stock price north of $700 makes everyone look like a genius and you can go on engineering benders.”
• Seagate’s Bill Watkins goes from headliner at the Consumer Electronics Show to an immediate departure from the company.  This left some asking if it was his lack of political correctness that got him in trouble and not the companies declining numbers.

So, usually I'm the guy who is doing his best to champion the cheaper technology solution. Even though the iPhone 3G is not the cheapest cell phone solution, I was so excited that this device was worth every penny and I had to share...

So, I’ve been using my new iPhone 3G for nearly 3 weeks now…I am a believer.  

I remember when I got my first, first-generation TiVo.  I tried to explain to friends, family, and colleagues why it was so amazing and invaluable. I got the standard response; mostly, “I don’t watch that much TV.” This is a terrible reason not to get a TiVo. You watch TV so much more efficiently and the experience of watching TV goes through a paradigm shift that makes one never desire to watch TV in any other way. This is how I feel about the new iPhone 3G. Not since TiVo has a piece of technology so enriched my life and fundamentally changed the way I do stuff.

So, it’s a phone…so what?!  

True. It is a phone. However, it also breaks whatever has tethered you to your phone, phonebook, map, photo album, radio, TV, clock, flashlight, newspaper, calendar, game console, …the list goes on.

What’s more, it isn’t just that the iPhone 3G does all of this, it’s that it does it in a way that changes the way you feel about what you’ve previously experienced with each of the features and tools.  It’s not only that I have everything in one place; it’s that the experience for each of the features is usually fluid, intuitive, and frankly somewhat sexy. Also, my experience of browsing over 3G has been very positive. One of the managing partners here at Gordian Project has a first-gen iPhone and told me before I got one that browsing certain sites on the web (such as flash based sites) isn't always practical on the iPhone. I have found this to be the case when on the Edge network, which boasts an experience like dial-up. However, 3G has been more like a low-end DSL connection. I have been very impressed.

How did you justify the cost?

True, the iPhone 3G costs a bit more money than the standard phone. Similarly, TiVo costs a bit more than someone just watching regular TV. But, the additional cost of the iPhone, like TiVo, is eclipsed by its tremendous value. Here are 10 reasons that the iPhone has so much value for me:  

1. I didn’t have to buy an iPod. 
2. I didn’t have to buy a TomTom. 
3. I will save money by having SlickDeals.net notifications right at my fingertips.
4. I didn’t have to buy a Light Saber.
5. I don’t have to rush home or to the office if there is an online emergency; I can work remotely if needed.
6. I can clear unread posts in Google Reader during my commute (I usually don’t drive in my carpool).
7. I never waste time waiting in lines.
8. Gen Y’ers won’t make fun of me anymore for my antiquated brick.
9. Every time someone mentions something that sounds interesting, I don’t have to try to remember it or write it down…I can just look for that something.  
10. I quit smoking (cold turkey) the moment I got an iPhone 3G.
    

The idea to quit smoking came to me when I was trying to convince my wife that I absolutely had to have the new iPhone. The fact that the iPhone may actually save my life is what sold her.

 
I probably wouldn’t do all that stuff with it… 
 
OK. So maybe you aren’t a “power user”. However, like TiVo, I can’t think of a single profile or demographic that wouldn’t be able to use the iPhone to improve their lives. Everywhere you go, you’re fully connected. If someone could figure out Flash on iPhone’s Safari and if AT&T would allow users to make the iPhone an access point, this device would be near perfect. Of all the technology I have consumed, the iPhone 3G is easily my favorite device so far.

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