Archive by Author
General – Epic Fail: Microsoft Twitters Advice
Posted on 30. Mar, 2009 by admin.
A while back a Microsoft employee twittered a link for help on speeding up a computer through the official Microsoft twitter account. While this may seem like a nice thing to have done, it has epic fail written all over it because on further investigation (i.e. clicking the link provided) you realize that the article it directs you to is actually years old.
Since many people are now using Windows Vista, you would expect that the article would have been updated since the new platform was launched, but that is not the case. The very “helpful” tweet directs you to an article written for Windows XP and the only update in it in the last five odd years has been a to include a reference to XP Service Pack 3. Essentially, the article provides no real help to anyone using a recently bought machine.
Another problem with the article is that even for the time it was written in, it is extremely useless. Who needs to be taught how to empty their Recycle Bin or run the defragmentation tools? The article provides almost no useful content.
Imagine being one of the thousands of followers the official account has, receiving the tweet, and following the link only to find out that the article you are reading has no value for you. Had it been me, not only would I have been disappointed in the employee who had sent the tweet (do they actually think their customers are that technologically challenged?) but this would also have led me to immediately stop following the official Microsoft account and opt to follow some tech savvy person instead who could actually offer useful advice.
Continue Reading
General – Epic Fail: Facebook Layout Change
Posted on 26. Mar, 2009 by admin.
‘Can Facebook’s new layout be classified as an epic fail?’ is the question many people are asking now. Firstly, let’s classify what an epic fail is, it is something that has completely gone wrong. A major failure.
Facebook is known for testing its customer’s limits. From layout changes every few months (this latest layout change comes after just a few months from the last major update) to changing privacy policies, Facebook has done everything it can to test its users’ loyalty. This latest layout change is an attempt to make Facebook easier to use by making it more like Twitter, which is the latest internet phenomenon. However, many people have revolted against the change, much like they did last time the layout changed.
It is easy to understand why the users are not happy. Most people using Facebook do not like having to figure out again and again how to do things on the website. People are not very open to change (usually), and when it comes to something that they perceive should be very simple, they definitely do not like any changes that make it otherwise. The first time Facebook changed its layout last year, thousands of people protested, but over time got used to the new layout; this time, however, it looks like they might actually stop using the social media network.
Whether or not this layout change is going to be an epic failure cannot be determined at this early stage, however this certainly looks to be the direction Facebook is headed towards this latest change.
Continue Reading
The Epic Fail Of the Property Market After the Financial Crisis
Posted on 25. Feb, 2009 by admin.
With the credit crunch and the financial crisis nearly the whole world over, we can see that there has been an epic fail in the consumer market and the financial crisis has left effects that are not very likely to be recovered from anytime soon. The net income of the population has decreased by large percentages, and the situation is worse in the cases of people between the ages of fifty-five and sixty-four. This decrease is not only because of the fact that there has been an overall rise in inflation, but also because the rates of unemployment have risen to high levels and the spending power of the people has also gone down.
Because of the boom in mortgage and property, people bought properties and after this case of an epic fail, people have ended up with large amounts of debt and the prices of property have also plunged, hence decreasing the equity of these property owners. As a result there are many people who are selling their property at discount prices in order to fulfil their cash needs and to pay off their ever-increasing debt. As a result of this epic fail in mortgages, the homeowners have now ended up being the ones who are suffering a loss as they have mortgages to pay along with other kinds of debt. The people who have rented properties have a larger advantage as they don’t have low equity issues or mortgages to deal with, which is also at high interest rates.
Continue Reading
What are we doing in Iraq!
Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 by admin.
For the life of me I don’t understand why we are fighting in Iraq. Why did we end up sending our boys to that desert land? So that Bush could end his career as the dumbest president of the biggest super power by getting shoes thrown at him. Why Americans can’t learn from history is anybody’s guess. Was it the Iraqi oil, which made Bush go to war in Iraq? The supposed ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ chase proved to be a worthless hunt. America has nose dived into recession, American soldiers keep getting killed and the people watch haplessly as the administration continues this stupid venture. Iraq after the invasion has become a breeding ground for terrorists. The government installed in Iraq has no real power to run the country. I really hope Obama has his thinking hat on, and will do something about this this madness. The invasion of Iraq will go down in the annals of history as one of the biggest mistakes made by America. The next time America decides to invade any country I think we should send the congress in to face the first onslaught.
Continue Reading
The Hunt for Osama bin Laden
Posted on 18. Jan, 2009 by admin.
America is attacked on 9/11. The World Trade Centre twin towers in New York are hit by two hijacked planes and collapse. Americans are thunderstruck. After Pearl Harbour this is the second attack to take place in America. Bush announces that Al-Qa’ida is the masterminds behind the attack and they are holed out in the Tora Bora Mountains of Afghanistan. America will launch an attack against this terrorist outfit in mid November. In effect this told the terrorists, ‘hey guys you have attacked and killed thousands of Americans, we know where you are, but we are giving you two months to disappear’. That is exactly what has happened; when American and allied forces reached Tora Bora after the mountains had been attacked by tons of bombs being thrown at them by high flying bombers, what did they find? Nothing, the terrorists had departed. Any outfit that has planned an operation for years, do you really think they would sit around and wait for the American forces to come and overrun them, that too after two months! Till today the allied forces are stuck in Afghanistan. The terrorist outfits continue to flourish and are going from strength to strength. If this is not an epic failure I don’t know what is!
Continue Reading
Epic Fails in Marketing
Posted on 01. Jan, 2009 by admin.
In order for an epic fail to occur, it is not always necessary that something goes terribly wrong. Sometimes, it can be the other way around and one can suffer because of things turning out to be terribly right and the response to something being so great that it becomes impossible to handle. This is exactly what happened in the case of Starbucks and it caused an epic fail, when Starbucks started its Iced Coffee. This was a special offer for the employees and their families that they could come and get free iced coffee in the South-eastern US.
This campaign by Starbucks became an epic fail for them because when the people started coming in for their Iced coffee, it was impossible to handle and was actually causing a loss to the famous coffee house. This was a result of the marketing for the campaign becoming too successful and instead of the limited audience that was actually meant to be, the promotion coupon got distributed too well.
Another such case of epic fail in marketing can be seen in case of Chevy when it made an offer that the people should make the advertisement for their Tahoe and they should be the ones to market it. It was actually an unwise decision by Chevy because there are various aspects to be kept in view while doing the promotion of a product. The result of their decision turned out badly when the people started including the problems and shortcomings of the car in the ads and the sales were badly affected.