Just Jott A Voicemail To My E-mail

When the iPhone came out, one of the spiffs Apple touted was the ability to organize your voicemails like e-mails.

But what if your voicemails came to your inbox and you could read them, hear them, forward them or archive them? That might be enough to switch to AT&T... or maybe not. Save that dilemma for another day - you can do it with Jott.

You can also transcribe a reminder to be sent to your phone or computer on a given date, or transcribe notes in the car on your phone as you're coming back from a meeting. In the messages I've sent so far the voice recognition works remarkably well, although I haven't used it long enough to be the poster child for Jott.

But maybe you will. Try it out here.

Let Us Talk of William F. Buckley

The silver cord has finally broken for a man who lived the fullest of lives. William F. Buckley, Jr. died today at 82.

On a cloudy night in 1987, as a sergeant at the end of the cold war, I was driving an eight-hour night shift with a truck full of barbed-wire through the streets of West Berlin between Andrews Compound and Doughboy Field. It was part of an exercise for logistics measurement so we never unloaded, just turned around and drove back and forth again. Fortunately the giant diesel beast had a cassette player and I brought my new copy of William F. Buckley's book "Right Reason" on tape and listened the entire time.

I missed the prematurely-abbreviated "Jaunt Around The Globe at Mach 2" on the Concorde with Buckley that year, but I did get started on his Blackford Oakes spy series with "Stained Glass" and named my first son after one of his characters. It wasn't until fifteen years later that I met Mr. Buckley in person after attending a debate at the Moody Church in Chicago and got to talk with him for a few minutes. He was obviously tired after the event and the interviews that followed and I truly appreciated his graciously taking the time.

His thoughts were always on a higher level and seemed to look beyond the superficial even making more mundane matters seem elevated. In fact, one of Buckley's greatest books is "Nearer my God" about the victories and struggles of his life of faith. You don't get any nearer than he is now.

Starbucks - The Missing Three Hours

Caribou should have seen a little spike for three hours yesterday afternoon as thousands of Starbucks customers were forced to drive down the road to order "grandes" instead of "ventis." Can you communicate the importance of "we'd rather not do business at all than not do business right" by closing your doors to your customers in order to do training?

Jon writes to explain the logic behind Starbucks' marketing decision: Howard Schultz wants everyone to know he has "retaken" the company and is behind this move. They are reigning in growth in the States in favor of more overseas expansion which could make more sense. Building more stores doesn't mean people will stop in more times in a day for coffee just because they pass five more stores on their ride home.

They grew too fast, took business away from established stores, caused managers to miss their bonuses (because of the cannibalization) and created some unhappy baristas. It looks like they are going back to their "happy place" of what makes Starbucks what it really is; a company that is 100% coffee. To wit, they just got rid of their expanded food program. Customers don't go to Starbucks for a salad and sandwich, they go there for a latte and a scone.

It's clearly a great company that had the right marketing going, but got too big and drifted away from their roots and their niche of what they do THE BEST IN THE WORLD. If they get back to what made them great, they'll be fine. An anchor on FoxNews was just ripping on customer service and how it took ten minutes to get a latte. That's not good. You pay $5 for a latte that is made fast, well and with a dash of coffee attitude. Today's closing is for that reason. Back to basics!

Thanks Jon - great lesson here for all of us.

Marketing Darwin and Ben Stein

Thirty years ago, we remembered this as Abraham Lincoln's birthday and every year we cut out silhouettes of the president who guided us through one of our nation's most troubled times. Now the 12th of February is being marketed as "Darwin Day" by several groups in the US, such as PETA.

I have a wonderful dog (boxer) and of course I view dogs as far superior to cats, but I have a tough time grasping PETA president Ingrid Newkirk's claim that "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." (In fact, I have to wonder if she has ever had a dog.) There are at least a few, like the author Aldous Huxley in "Ends and Means," who admit that they embrace this kind of worldview without any deeper meaning, "because it frees me to my own...pursuits."

But not former presidential speechwriter (and game show host, lawyer, professor, etc.) Ben Stein. The trailer for his new movie "Expelled" came out today, not coincidentally. An interesting new/old challenge for the 21st century's egalitarian claims in the marketplace of ideas. Every generation has its rebel - see what you think.