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Fri. Feb 04, 2005

Random Thoughts

A collection of random thoughts, as that’s about all my brain has had time for this week.

Gmail has the oddest “marketing” I’ve ever seen. It was launched as a “beta” (do any of Google services ever move out of beta?), by invitation only. Last summer, those invites were hot commodities, and people were even auctioning them on eBay.

When I got my account, I was eventually given 3 invitations to distribute, which I passed out like water in the desert. Then they upped it to 5. And then 10. I’ve probably given away 15-20 invitations, and the last time I noticed, I still had eight left.

Yesterday I logged in … and I’ve got fifty. Yes, 50, 5-0, enough to print out and use as toilet paper. But surely you have a better usage? Need a Gmail invite? Have a football team that needs a full complement of Gmail invites? Let me know.

And to Google: quit playing beta games, and roll the mother out.

Meanwhile, we have new examples of the Karma of Unintended Consequences. In this case, new laws and government programs that actually make things worse. Shocking, eh? MSNBC reports that “Teen sex increased after abstinence program”, and the NY Times tells us that a “Law Barring Junk E-Mail Allows a Flood Instead.”

And all I can think is, let’s do keep this in mind as they attempt to “fix” Social Security.

Finally, odd copy from a commercial that … just sounds weird. After listing the potential side effects (“May cause nausea, dry mouth, irritability, or diarrhea” gee, sounds like fun!) ... the announcer says…

“Nexium. You don’t just feel better. You are better. And better is better.”

“Better is better”? Someone got paid for coming up with that? When did Forrest Gump start writing ad copy?

“Nexium. May cause nausea, dry mouth, irritability, or diarrhea. You don’t just feel sick. You are sick. And sick is sick.”