As a parent, I remember watching the Island of Misfit Toys at Christmas time with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with my kids. It wasn’t one of my favorite shows, and the animation is better than that from those older shows which was pretty cheesy, but it was still something I had to watch every year. The Miser Brothers Christmas was another one I watched every holiday season.
I have to say I was a little surprised when I saw a commercial for it the other day and saw an Apple I-Phone on the island. I will admit I started laughing when I realized it was a Verizon Wireless commercial making fun of AT&T’s spotty 3G coverage.
This has lead to quite a battle now Verizon has their map commercials all over television and AT&T now has commercials talking about how their coverage is better than Verizon’s. Although I know from my own personal experience that I had horrible coverage in Valley City on my trip up there with my AT&T phone.
The most foolish part is that AT&T filed a lawsuit against Verizon claiming that the map commercials are misleading. In my profession, I deal with cell phone and especially data service coverage multiple times a day. We have Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T phones all over the country and we have fewer coverage issues with Verizon than we do with any other company.
These ads are correct in that Verizon has much better 3G coverage across the country than they AT&T does. AT&T, in their commercials, focuses only on coverage which to me is even more misleading because they do not tell you that certain services may not be available on your phone if you are in the majority of the coverage zones around the country. Verizon has countered that this lawsuit is nothing but a stunt by AT&T to gain more exposure to shoppers in this critical holiday season.
This is all very reminiscent of the battle between AT&T and MCI, as well as Sprint, for long distance customers back in the 1980’s and 90’s. There were lawsuits, false advertisements, as well as misleading commercials all over the industry. This goes to prove that no matter how big of a difference there is with the phones, the marketing and demand for market share will never change.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
To the Winners Go the Spoils. Or Porkchops
Can a pig really be a prize? In my opinion, I would think only if it is something that can be turned into pork chops or ham and thrown on the grill to watch the game. However, this Saturday in Iowa City, there will be two teams fighting over a pig. The Hawkeyes of Iowa will want to keep it on their side of the field while the Golden Gophers of Minnesota want nothing better than to carry it across to their fans and their side of Kinnick Stadium.
The whole tradition dates back to 1935 and the two governors having a bet of a prize hog from their state being given to the governor of the winning state. Minnesota won that year and the Iowa governor personally walked a pig into the Minnesota governor’s office. The pig was affectionately named Floyd in honor of the Minnesota governor. Rosedale was the name of the farm that produced Floyd. Oddly enough, Floyd is not the only famous pig from that farm. The pig BlueBoy from the Will Rodgers movie State Fair also came from Rosedale Farms near Fort Dodge, IA.
I was lucky enough one time to witness the battle for the bronze pig. The Golden Gophers had won three straight games heading into that beautiful November day back in 2001. On this day, it was all Hawkeyes and it was amazing to watch those players run at full speed all the way to the Minnesota bench to haul that statue back home where they felt it belong.
It seems that nearly every game in the Big 10 is for some type of traveling trophy. The Purdue Cannon is given to the winner of Illinois v Purdue. Michigan and Minnesota play for the Little Brown Jug. Indiana and Purdue play for the Old Oaken Bucket. Next to the brass pig, perhaps the strangest one of all though is the Old Brass Spittoon given to the winner of Indiana and Michigan State.
This game is a true rivalry game and it is always played last in the season. Records don’t matter as a season can be salvaged with a win in this game. The fans will be battling each other nearly as much as the players will. This will be a great game. Why not celebrate it with a great pig.
The whole tradition dates back to 1935 and the two governors having a bet of a prize hog from their state being given to the governor of the winning state. Minnesota won that year and the Iowa governor personally walked a pig into the Minnesota governor’s office. The pig was affectionately named Floyd in honor of the Minnesota governor. Rosedale was the name of the farm that produced Floyd. Oddly enough, Floyd is not the only famous pig from that farm. The pig BlueBoy from the Will Rodgers movie State Fair also came from Rosedale Farms near Fort Dodge, IA.
I was lucky enough one time to witness the battle for the bronze pig. The Golden Gophers had won three straight games heading into that beautiful November day back in 2001. On this day, it was all Hawkeyes and it was amazing to watch those players run at full speed all the way to the Minnesota bench to haul that statue back home where they felt it belong.
It seems that nearly every game in the Big 10 is for some type of traveling trophy. The Purdue Cannon is given to the winner of Illinois v Purdue. Michigan and Minnesota play for the Little Brown Jug. Indiana and Purdue play for the Old Oaken Bucket. Next to the brass pig, perhaps the strangest one of all though is the Old Brass Spittoon given to the winner of Indiana and Michigan State.
This game is a true rivalry game and it is always played last in the season. Records don’t matter as a season can be salvaged with a win in this game. The fans will be battling each other nearly as much as the players will. This will be a great game. Why not celebrate it with a great pig.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
One Strong Little Man
One week ago tonight, I sat at this computer and shared with the world the joyous news of the birth of my son. I wrote about how amazing it was to share the news and pictures immediately. Unfortunately, I discovered a few short days later how bad news can be spread just as quickly.
All of the parents from a 3rd grade football team made up of boys who attend the catholic elementary schools spread out across Sioux City received an email about one of the boys who played on that team this fall. This email told the story of Jacob Nichol and how on Friday afternoon, doctors at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, NE found a tumor bigger than a golf ball pressing up against Jacob’s brainstem and surgery would be done on Saturday.
The news was shocking and of course very hard on Jacob’s classmates which my son happens to be. Jacob is a friend to everyone in the class and had been in school on Thursday, now they suddenly had no idea when they would see him again.
Luckily, Jacob’s parents began using Care Pages. This is a website that people suffering from diseases and their families can share updates about how everything is going. Plus, friends and families of these patients can post messages of encouragement and hope. It is a very touching site.
Every member of the 3rd grade class spent time on Monday posting a special personal note to Jacob. The school has started doing fundraisers, including “Nickels for Nichol’s” and two of the boys who share a birthday in late November have invited both 3rd grade classes to their party and have requested that instead of gifts, a donation be made to the Nichol’s family.
The best news in all of this is that Jacob is doing very well. An MRI has shown that the surgery successfully removed all of the cancer. Jacob is hurting but is starting to be able to eat through a feeding tube although he is confused why he is not able to talk or move. The type of tumor that was found was one that did not require another surgery and more tests done. This is one very strong and amazing boy and what turned out as a sad and scaring email, has turned into a Caring Page of hope and recovery.
All of the parents from a 3rd grade football team made up of boys who attend the catholic elementary schools spread out across Sioux City received an email about one of the boys who played on that team this fall. This email told the story of Jacob Nichol and how on Friday afternoon, doctors at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, NE found a tumor bigger than a golf ball pressing up against Jacob’s brainstem and surgery would be done on Saturday.
The news was shocking and of course very hard on Jacob’s classmates which my son happens to be. Jacob is a friend to everyone in the class and had been in school on Thursday, now they suddenly had no idea when they would see him again.
Luckily, Jacob’s parents began using Care Pages. This is a website that people suffering from diseases and their families can share updates about how everything is going. Plus, friends and families of these patients can post messages of encouragement and hope. It is a very touching site.
Every member of the 3rd grade class spent time on Monday posting a special personal note to Jacob. The school has started doing fundraisers, including “Nickels for Nichol’s” and two of the boys who share a birthday in late November have invited both 3rd grade classes to their party and have requested that instead of gifts, a donation be made to the Nichol’s family.
The best news in all of this is that Jacob is doing very well. An MRI has shown that the surgery successfully removed all of the cancer. Jacob is hurting but is starting to be able to eat through a feeding tube although he is confused why he is not able to talk or move. The type of tumor that was found was one that did not require another surgery and more tests done. This is one very strong and amazing boy and what turned out as a sad and scaring email, has turned into a Caring Page of hope and recovery.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A Miracle in My World
16 years, 10 months, 2 1 days, which is also 6,169 days. That is how many days separate December 12th, 1992 and November 2nd, 2009. For me both of those days are special, along with September 19th, 1994, October 25, 2000, and May 24th 2005. These are the days that my children were born. The dates mentioned at the beginning though are special because they were the first and the last. It is hard to believe how fast time has gone and how much has changed since that day back in December of 1992.
My oldest son Ryan was born very early on a Saturday. That night, my company that I was working for way back then was having our Christmas party and I had to take a roll of film to a store and had it developed in order to stop by the party and show off pictures. This time, I took pictures immediatly with my cell phone and my digital camera. Within 15 minutes after Rhett was born, I had photos sent to friends and family from my phone. Within an hour, there were photos being sent out by email and an album at Walgreens.
The most amazing part though was being able to share the photos on Facebook. Within that first hour, my sister had taken the photos I had emailed her and placed them on both my wall and my wife’s wall. I would have posted them myself but the hospital blocked the site to keep employees from using it while working.
Later that night I had made the photos into an album on Facebook. I had shared it not only with my friends but also those that don’t have Facebook but were still able to access my album. Even tonight, I added more pictures as another album. Of course my new profile photo is a picture of all of my kids.
It is amazing how much easier it is to brag and show off the latest arrival to the family. I have carried a flash drive to people’s desk to show them pictures. Plus I have many photos on my cell phone that I am very happy to show to anyone who asks. My boss had a picture of him hanging on my wall when I came back to work. None of this was possible back in 1992.
This is one situation where technology has definitely made it easier on the parents. Now I am anxious to find out if technology has made the rest of the work of raising a baby any easier.
My oldest son Ryan was born very early on a Saturday. That night, my company that I was working for way back then was having our Christmas party and I had to take a roll of film to a store and had it developed in order to stop by the party and show off pictures. This time, I took pictures immediatly with my cell phone and my digital camera. Within 15 minutes after Rhett was born, I had photos sent to friends and family from my phone. Within an hour, there were photos being sent out by email and an album at Walgreens.
The most amazing part though was being able to share the photos on Facebook. Within that first hour, my sister had taken the photos I had emailed her and placed them on both my wall and my wife’s wall. I would have posted them myself but the hospital blocked the site to keep employees from using it while working.
Later that night I had made the photos into an album on Facebook. I had shared it not only with my friends but also those that don’t have Facebook but were still able to access my album. Even tonight, I added more pictures as another album. Of course my new profile photo is a picture of all of my kids.
It is amazing how much easier it is to brag and show off the latest arrival to the family. I have carried a flash drive to people’s desk to show them pictures. Plus I have many photos on my cell phone that I am very happy to show to anyone who asks. My boss had a picture of him hanging on my wall when I came back to work. None of this was possible back in 1992.
This is one situation where technology has definitely made it easier on the parents. Now I am anxious to find out if technology has made the rest of the work of raising a baby any easier.
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