Is Amazon the next evil empire?

http://www.ramblinjackson.com | Ramblin Jackson | Boulder Social Media + Video Marketing

Oh, hi, and welcome to the 58th episode of Friday’s Informal Facebook Films! Did you know 58 miles per hour is the minimum wind speed needed to issue a Severe Thunderstorm Warning in the United States? Now you do…

News: No Text on Board Pledge Day
With new phones coming out all the time – like the iPhone 5s we have on order! – the issue of people – and especially teens – texting while they drive has reached epidemic levels.

With nearly 18 texting-while-driving deaths a day of American teens, the phone companies are mobilizing their educational efforts to help curb this frightening trend. Along with assigning last Wednesday as “No Text on Board Pledge Day,” AT&T is launching a campaign featuring celebrities at www.ItCanWait.com. One other unique educational tool employed by the company is an online virtual simulator where users can enter their phone numbers and then begin a simulated driving exercise. While “driving” using keyboard and mouse, their phone will then text them asking for a response. The goal is to show drivers how even a momentary glance away from the road can result in a crash. Check it out for yourself at www.ItCanWaitSimulator.org, or check our show notes for the link.

It Can Wait Campaign
Driving While Texting Simulator

Remarkable Report: Is Amazon.com Evil?
Chances are you’ve made a purchase at Amazon.com – or at the very least know someone who has. Our experiences doing the same have generally been positive, but a lot of industry professionals have had it “up to here” with the online retailer. The result, you might have to wait a little longer to receive that Kindle you want to buy.

The idea of Amazon.com started innocently enough. As a clearing house – originally for books – but now for nearly anything you can imagine, their business model has always been to offer products at a reduced price. Some brick-and-mortar retailers are now crying foul, however. The reason? Many shoppers demo and research products available on Amazon.com – especially their Kindle eReaders and tablets – in stores, but then buy online at Amazon’s website at a discount. And many of these retailers aren’t just complaining about being Amazon’s showroom any more. This past May Target and – just last Wednesday – Wal-Mart have announced that this holiday season, you will no longer find Amazon’s shiny new Kindles available for purchase in their stores. The last straw might have been last holiday season when Amazon encouraged shoppers to scan Kindles in stores using the Amazon “Price Check” app. Once scanned, each shopper would then receive a $15 discount if they purchased the Kindle online at Amazon.com. What do you think? Is this an honest practice or is Amazon unfairly undercutting other retailers? Let us know…

Wal-Mart Grumpy with Amazon

Pro Tip: Use Adobe Kuler to find great color themes

Have you ever been working on your website, e-newsletter, or something else and wondered what colors to use? This week’s pro tip will help you make things more beautiful.

Kuler is a Adobe web-hosted application that quickly generates color themes. You can experiment quickly with color variations and browse thousands of themes from the Kuler community, and best of all, it’s free.

You can use Kuler when you’re creating color themes for your newsletter, website, print ads, and more. Check it at kuler.com.

That’s all the time we have for today. Have an excellent weekend, and check out the Crested Butte Film Festival happening next weekend!