STUPID IS AS STUPID SAYS
please do as i say, not as they
do
It's getting awfully hard to tell my business
communication students that they can't write or say stupid things if they want
to be successful in business when successful CEOs keep writing and saying stupid
things. The latest in a long line of sad rhetorical examples comes from Napster
CEO Chris Gorog, who, when asked this week how his company plans to put a dent
in Apple's dominance of the digital music industry, replied,
We're going to be communicating to people
that it's stupid to buy an iPod.
An interesting strategy. And a fascinating revelation, no doubt, to the almost 12 million people who've already bought one.
As one of those people who now realizes how stupid he was -- all five times he bought an iPod for himself or as a gift -- I thought I should do a quick check of the iTunes and Napster web sites and, figuring it takes one to no one, see if I could discover anything truly stupid. Try as I might, the only stupid thing I could find on Apple's site was the implication that JLo's new song was music worth downloading. But stupidity bloomed like flowers on a warm spring day at Napster's site. To wit:
• Just below the line that promises "1,000,000 tracks" is an assurance that you can download "an unlimited amount of music." It's been a while since I was in a math class, but I'm pretty sure I remember that 1,000,000 was, in fact, a limited number.
• On their "Do the Math" page -- the illogic of which has already been neatly eviscerated here -- Napster claims that it takes $10,000 to fill an iPod with 10,000 songs. Even if we grant them the (let's face it, stupid) notion that iPod users won't load a single song they already own, that number seems a bit, well, stupid to me. Now, as I said, it's been a while since I was in a math class, but I'm pretty sure that 10,000 x $.99 = $9,900. Do the math, indeed.
I could go on. And on. And on. But it's not worth it. Nor is it much fun, beating a bad company with a desperate (and desperately flawed) business model when it's (way, way) down. But I just might have to keep doing it, every now and then, as long as their petty, unprofessional executives keep shooting off their mouths and making my academic life just a little more miserable.
An interesting strategy. And a fascinating revelation, no doubt, to the almost 12 million people who've already bought one.
As one of those people who now realizes how stupid he was -- all five times he bought an iPod for himself or as a gift -- I thought I should do a quick check of the iTunes and Napster web sites and, figuring it takes one to no one, see if I could discover anything truly stupid. Try as I might, the only stupid thing I could find on Apple's site was the implication that JLo's new song was music worth downloading. But stupidity bloomed like flowers on a warm spring day at Napster's site. To wit:
• Just below the line that promises "1,000,000 tracks" is an assurance that you can download "an unlimited amount of music." It's been a while since I was in a math class, but I'm pretty sure I remember that 1,000,000 was, in fact, a limited number.
• On their "Do the Math" page -- the illogic of which has already been neatly eviscerated here -- Napster claims that it takes $10,000 to fill an iPod with 10,000 songs. Even if we grant them the (let's face it, stupid) notion that iPod users won't load a single song they already own, that number seems a bit, well, stupid to me. Now, as I said, it's been a while since I was in a math class, but I'm pretty sure that 10,000 x $.99 = $9,900. Do the math, indeed.
I could go on. And on. And on. But it's not worth it. Nor is it much fun, beating a bad company with a desperate (and desperately flawed) business model when it's (way, way) down. But I just might have to keep doing it, every now and then, as long as their petty, unprofessional executives keep shooting off their mouths and making my academic life just a little more miserable.
Posted: Sat - February 12, 2005 at 03:21 PM
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Published On: Aug 28, 2008 10:23 PM
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Published On: Aug 28, 2008 10:23 PM