In Response to Aubrey Menegus' Post

     The statement that struck me most about Aubrey's article was the statement that the Yahoo CEO made about Facebook being Yahoo's top competitor.  I strongly disagree that these two companies are able to compete against one another.  Yahoo is a search engine, whereas Facebook is a social network.  Their purpose and goals are completely different.  Therefore, I do not think that they can consider themselves competitors.  However, I think Yahoo could greatly benefit from being involved in Facebook's increasingly popular network.  From reading Aubrey's post, it sounds to me like Yahoo is trying too hard to become similar to Facebook (by incorporating things such as the "like" button)  I am not convinced such small, and behind-the-times changes will bring back Yahoo's 10% of users they have lost.  I think Yahoo needs to be much more creative than this, and step outside of the Facebook zone and come up with their own creative ideas and applications that will make their site more appealing to users.  The actions Yahoo is taking to "fit in"  will not help them; what they really need, instead, is to stand out.

Is iTunes in Need of a New Design?

     After a recent consumer survey, the annual Customer Experience Index seems to suggest that iTunes ratings are rather low for the number of people that use its account.  The Index rates a firm based on regular users' opinions on three principles: whether the service meets customer needs, the ease of working with the firm in general, and whether or not the customer enjoyed the interactions with the company.  Amazon and eBay did surprisingly well, ranking in the top 20 spots.  Apple's iTunes service, on the other hand, ended at number 46 of 133 companies.
     What surprised me the most, I think, was the popularity of iTunes.  This system allowed Apple to spread music easily and thoroughly.  ITunes received a lot of feedback as being confusing, overwhelming, and often less than elegant.  The iTunes service doesn't seem to live up to the same sleek design as other Apple products.  A majority of the participants surveyed are casual users, not incredibly technical geniuses. Despite the advanced capabilities of Apple products, shouldn't the firm also be sure to use designs, layouts, and language that is easily understood by casual users?  I think Apple needs to focus on making changes to their services in order to make the general public comfortable with maneuvering through their websites and services.  Do you think Apple should make these changes?  Or are they trying to find their angel customers, and weed out the "devil customers" by using language and designs that are not easily understood?

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2010/01/consumers_dont.html