MMP

For “Social Media Day” I disconnected and had a good ride along the seaport. It beats sitting around in a room of self-proclaimed “social experts” all patting themselves on the back while simultaneously worshipping Pete Cashmore.

Played with a Microsoft Surface last week at the Branded in Boston conference. A couple years ago this thing would have blown me away, now it just seems like old technology when you carry an iPhone and iPad around all day.

Having a look at Surface with the M$FT dude, who always had a smile.

My beef with it? The UX is unresponsive and the draw-rate blows in some instances. Surface uses cameras in the table pointed at the screen to sense touch and items placed on it. Items placed on the table can then be bordered and assigned edges for collision. In some instances if they have Microsoft Tags (facing down, naturally) the table can read them and if connected to the internet bring up information from the tag.

This got me thinking, what if Apple made a GIGANTIC iPad and it used the iOS SDK. Even if it cost in upwards of $10,000, companies could easily have dev-shops make one-off applications since the iOS SDK is old hat by now. Think of all the amazing places these would be popping up. Hell, I’d save up and buy one so I could have the best coffee table ever. Only thing Apple would have to do is allow for more simultaneous touch inputs so people can sit around this thing and hammer on it simultaneously.

My $700 - 64GB iPad next to the $10,000+ Microsoft Surface.

Take this example from Bing.com:

Here’s the new pad in Boston. Nice little spot in Southie. Central air, marble countertops, hardwood floors, dishwasher, stainless steel kitchen and a kickass roof deck.

If you’re in the area, feel free to give me a buzz and come on over for a tour.

Really?  Who thought this was a good idea.  I assume that General Hooker is some important figure from the revolutionary period here in Massachusetts, but given the political environment and its longstanding history with mistresses and creatures of the night this probably isn’t the wisest idea.

Got to meet the latest pint-sized member of the Amirault family this past weekend. Here she is, fresh off a trans-continental plane ride - which I’m proud to say she behaved on.

For more baby-porn, head over to Vivian’s website. Yes, that’s right, she has her own website. FreshBabyPoop.com

Here’s big cuz, holding his little miracle. Proud of this guy.

The KFC DoubleDown is health food compared to this calorie-bomb from Friendly’s.

The monstrous, multilayered sandwich is really three dietary sins in one: a Friendly’s 100% Black Angus Big Beef Burger placed between two whole grilled cheese sandwiches on white bread.

By comparison, the Double Down’s a lightweight, chalking up 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1,380 mg. of sodium in its two pieces of fried chicken, bacon slices and Monterey Jack cheese slices. The newest Friendly’s offering features a staggering 1,500 calories, according to SlashFood.com, along with 79 grams of fat and an impressive 2,090 mg. of sodium.

Learn more about this mouth-watering concoction and find a local cardiologist right here.

Last night’s dinner at Whiskey Priest.

This afternoon’s lunch at Tavern on the Water.

Attended the “Branded in Boston” conference today. Lots of smart people from the Boston market talking about how their brands were formed, what challenges they’ve faced and what the opportunities are in the Commonwealth. One company that gave an amazing presentation was iRobot. One of their slides stuck out in my mind because it was hilarious and also showed the importance of marketing.

iRobot was originally going to name the Roomba the CyberSuck and DustPuppy. After realizing that these names were awful and semi-pornographic in nature, they hired an outside marketing firm to name the product the Roomba. Just goes to show that even if you make a kickass product, it never hurts to bring in some outside expertise.