| Guy Kawasaki's "sort-of" invitation to his online seminar: psst, it's 2006, Guy! | | Date Created: 04 Jan, 2006, 06:34 AM |
 I have known of Guy Kawasaki's evangelism for Apple for as long as I have been a Mac User - about 18 years.
After I bought my first Mac Plus, upgraded it to a whopping 4MG 4MB of RAM, I also bought some of the software he was associated with: Touchbase and Datebook, my first foray into contact management and diary keeping on the Mac. It was superior software, which later gave way to the Now-Up-To-Date range, as well as Palm's anaemic efforts.
Now I use iCal and Address Book, having disliked all manner of Entourage features.
I even recalled being a member of Guy's Evangelist discussion list in the mddle of Apple's beleaguered days, when calls for its demise - or at least its prediction - were coming thick and fast. I even recall seeing Guy in action on an outside stage at a Boston MacWorld one year in the mid-1990s.
Guy left Apple, and his Evangelist discussion list was later revived amidst all kinds of claims and counterclaims involving one Shane Anderson. I'll leave others better versed in that bit of Apple history to tell the tale.
So its was good to see Guy popping up once more on my radar with his own blog, Let the Good Times roll. Seems a little late on the scene, but a welcomed addition to my RSS feeds. Especially since he started by discussing better ways to present.
Guy meanwhile has been maintaining a discussion list about start-ups and marketing to which I subscribe.
Just the other day, I receive notification that he was giving a free online seminar (24 hours notice), called The Art of the Start and I was directed to a website run by Raindance Communications where I could sign up (even though it meant getting up at 5am!)
You too can sign up. The link is here.
So off I trotted (you know it won't end well when I use that expression, don't you) and went through the extensive enrolment signup, including username and password, name of early childhood dog, name of company, number of meetings held, do I want to receive communications, etc. A confirmatory email arrived soon after I completed the signup process.
Off to the site where previous seminars have been housed just to see what it all looks like. Of course, in the back of my mind, I am wondering what method of delivery I will encounter, something that Mac users always ponder, and which never crosses the minds of Windows users. Even if its Quicktime based, at least they can access it and likely in a superior way.
When I locate a list of prior seminars, I select the top-most one on Corporate Mentoring, a subject I happen to be interested in, and select it for playback.
The site tells me that I have mid-bandwidth DSL (actually my DSL here is ADSL2+, faster than local cable) and a check takes place for the latest version of Java, which I have installed. This is a good sign, since no mention is made of Windows Media Player, or Real Player. But nothing happens.
Poking about the site, it's revealed that Windows is needed, because my browser is incompatible. Hmm.
I'm using the latest stable version of Camino, so into its Preferences I dive, and locate a little plug-in I have added which allows Camino to fool a server into believing it's all manner of browsers. I don't choose IE7 for Vista, but instead stay conservative and go for IE6 for Windows Xp.
Restarting Camino, it's back to the site.
I get one step further, because now I am permitted to download some software to get the show on the road. Camino has done its job.
But alas, it's not enough. The download has failed because I cannot keep the ruse up. It's a Powerbook I'm using, running Tiger, and Raindance and by default, Guy, insist I use Windows.
How convenient this would have been had I been informed of the requirements at the start of the enrolment procedure.
Of course, I next do what any Mac user knows to do in these situations: Head to tech support and see what they have to say about Mac support.
Will it be:
1. "We're sorry. We don't plan on supporting other operating systems at this stage.
2. We're working on a version for Mac (and Linux). Check back often for our progress.
3. Users of Macintosh can successfully access Raindance by using Virtual PC, but performance will be inferior.
4. Using a Macintosh, you can access some of Raindancer's features."
As it turns out, choice 4 comes closest, and here's what the site says:
"Raindance Meeting Edition offers highly interactive, integrated features to help enrich group collaboration and participation. Anyone with a PC can host a meeting and participants have the option to join using the full or light version. The full version gives participants complete interactivity to share visuals and video with all other participants in the meeting. The light version is ideal for participants who only need to view content and video, are using Macs, prefer not to install software or have limited bandwidth. Raindance ensures that any installation is secure and that all personal information you provide is protected by Raindance's privacy policy."
Ah yes, it's 2006, the Apple/Intel juggernaut is about to start its roll in media domination next week, and Guy has chosen a method for Mac users to be reminded of a second-class citizen status I thought would soon be a thing of the past, especially in a world of collaboration and sharing.
So I'll trundle along, deincentivised to get up at 5am since I am not to be permitted to interact with Guy and the audience (unless I fire up my Pentium desktop), and see what it's all about.
But you'd think in 2006, a platform-agnostic web-based solution that invites all to share would be possible. I'm truly tired of paying a Windows tax, especially since it's used so poorly after it's collected.
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