Have we now lost our sense of adventure, because finding things is so much easier?  Have we lost our willingness, and potentially, or ability to communicate with other people because all we need to do is ask “Siri” what to do?   No longer do I need to stop at the Circle K and ask for directions, I just GPS where I want to go.  If I don’t know, I YELP to find what I want, then I GPS.   Its all so easy, and I admit, fun at times.  I just wonder if moving our brain to our SMARTPHONES is making us DUMBPEOPLE.

Progress is progress, and I live it every day.  My livelihood depends on it.  Will the future DUMBPEOPLE find new things to explore?  Can the everyday person hitch his wagon to a horse and explore new worlds, or is all innovation going to be in the nano-world where the common man will be left behind?

We hope that technology helps us and makes us smarter.  The caveman use to hunt for food everyday just to stay alive.  Today, we complain if someone has 11 items in the 10 item checkout.   Are we losing our basic skills, or do these luxury’s of today, allow us to focus on solving bigger problems of tomorrow?

- Zippy

It seems that’s exactly what’s happening with our mobile devices.  They all look the same.   The reasons seem obvious – we are trying to maximize the space of the phone, and get as much on it, and out of it, as we can, while still fitting into our pocket or pocketbook – (do they even still use that word?)   Back Camera? Check! Front Camera? Check ! Flash / Flashlight? Check  / Check !   And it’s not just the phones we use for ‘business’ since we all seem to need these ultra functioning devices in our personal life as well.

Side Thought – I wonder how many people do as I do, and LEAVE THEIR PHONE IN THE CAR when having dinner with family & friends??? !!!   As some cities have done with smoking, we should make a ‘no phone or smoking inside the restaurant’ policy.

Back to my point…the new Samsung looks very similar to the iPhone.  Yes – there are very slight differences, but mostly, they are the same.  Tablets? The same.  iPhone has dominated the industry with 1 phone, even though they release updates twice a year.  Samsung Galaxy IV? Looks like the Samsung III, and the II, and the I.

With their strong success, I wonder if Samsung will just continue with 1 phone in their line, like iPhone has.   Yes – we have color options, and of course the cases allow us to show our personality, like a tie around a man’s neck, but overall, things are just like Star Trek of the future…..

It’s hard out there.  Plain and simple.

Sometimes I wonder why it is so hard.  Competition is one reason, it’s much easier for a small business to look like a big business, and to find a niche and compete.  People take shortcuts. Everyone is trying to be the latest and greatest, and quite often the consumer is the one to suffer.

There is pressure on upper management in retail operations to raise profits, so they cut where they can.  One of the core places they cut is human resource.  Buyers are super valuable assets to the back office of a retail store, yet they are asked to do way more then they have time for, and the ultimate result is that sometimes the best product for the consumer is not the one chosen.

The buyers don’t have time to really understand their customers, especially in an environment such as electronic accessories, where the market shifts with each new moon.

So what are we to do?  How can we help the buyer?

Two basic objectives that a buyer has is to present a product the consumer needs or wants, and to make sure that consumer doesn’t have to get back in their car 5 days later and return the item because it is broken.

Knowing what they need or want is part magic, and part sweat.  Making sure they don’t have to return it is about finding a brand who pays attention to details.  Knowing a car adapter that gets hot during the test is a bad product, and will scare the consumer a day later.   Knowing that paying the extra .25 cents in the manufacturing process can mean the difference between a product that is tolerated, and one that really makes the consumer happy.

Long term profits over short term profits are the key to a sustainable business, and that is what will separate the novelty companies from the professional companies.

The fog is starting to clear.

Read the article here

As the article points out – T-Mobile has removed the phone subsidies that forces users to sign long-term contracts.  Initially people will think this is a move against the customer, but it is the exact opposite.   T-Mobile is doing this to entice customers to come to them.  They are lowering their rates, and, they will force the competition to do the same.   This is a very user friendly move by TM and I applaud it.

- Zippy

Each year, FESCO does a great job putting on a very cozy show.  The hours are long, and a bit crazy, but – the food is good, and making new friends while seeing old ones is always a plus.

The new ZipKord Counter Rack, and Floor display were both well received.

The 650up was a big topic of conversation.  On the heals of Sandy, people recognized the essential need of having a battery backup solution so that they could keep in touch with their family during this time of need.   I hope people don’t wait for the next storm, to bring this product into their stores so that they have this essential product.
Retailers – Take Note !!

Personally, I enjoyed being in Times Square to share all the excitement of Election Night, 2012.   In Rockefeller Center, they had window washer lifts going up the building as the Electoral Votes were counted.  It was very exciting to be in the City with all that was going on.

In summary, it was a good show, we added a few new outlets for the ZipKord products, including at least 2 new customers in South America.  Thanks again FESCO for having us join you.

- Zippy

I think the tide has turned on this one.

There isn’t one move that I see them make that shows they care about their consumers.  Today – they announce the iPad mini – which everyone was expecting – but – just to show they can still surprise – they announce the iPad 4 – and in the process – piss off everyone who just bought the iPad 3 only 6 months ago…and in doing so – made every 30-pin connector go from must have to obsolete, 6 months early.

Do we really need to be surprised?  Has Apple’s arrogance gotten so strong that they want to be sure that every stone is turned?

In all their wisdom – they are having an Accessory conference for all of their manufactures in Shenzhen China Nov 7 – 9.  It’s a great idea – had they done it 1 year ago – so that everyone could be working in the same direction.  They are doing it now- so that no one is ready with high quality accessories for the holidays.  Those that are able to push out a product – will be forced to lose margin by flying in products that probably won’t go through the best testing since they are going to be in a major rush to get it on the shelves for the holidays.

Long term – things will work themselves out – but – in the short term – there are a lot of matches being thrown at bridges.

- Zippy

On to the show – which is really a great convention.  I like to describe it as if you walked into a very clean Circle K, and the store threw up all over the place (in a good way).  They had almost every candy maker in the world, all the big Beer boys, 50 different energy drink options, and another 50 E-Cig options.  My favorite is the 15 different Car Wash vendors that all have their machines setup inside the show.  Pretty cool actually seeing how these things work.
When you are hungry – you just walk to the food vendor area and get all the corn-dogs, pizza, and junk food you could want.  No one spends money on food at this show.

Our distributor partner, C-Valet, was a very gracious host to us.   They had a great idea and suggested we setup a charging station so that people could stop by and charge their phones during the course of the day.  It seemed to work out really well – in that people would plug in their phones, and stay an extra 10 – 15 minutes in the booth looking around as they recharged their phones.  We had our new Counter Rack on display – which appears to be a hit out of the gate.   Tim, Tom, and Jim – and the rest of the crew – thanks for having us !!

I walked around the show a bunch, checking out our competition, and speaking to customers.   The one thing that really stuck out to me with regards to tech accessories, is that everyone is trying to sell these gigantic racks full of 20 different options with very large floor displays.   It all looks pretty, other then the obvious issue that they have all gone for the cheapest items they can fill a rack with.

The problem I have with this, which is confirmed by the c-store category managers, is that it is a big commitment to install these displays, and they get a lot of product returns.  One program manager from a national C-store chain told me they had just returned all their displays because “the product quality sucked”.

The interesting thing about C-stores is consumers know when we walk in there – we may pay a little more for the milk, or the soda – because it’s a convenience (the C in C-Store).   Yet – on tech accessories, items that go with our $500 cell phones, we only offer the cheapest of cheap knock-off’s.  Seems a bit of a contradiction to me.  500mA is not enough power, and a charger that breaks 2 times after using it is not acceptable.  Yeah – we all have an item that shouldn’t have made it through QA – but – that beats the guy who doesn’t have QA !!!

Ok – my soap box has been put away.   Back home now grinding it out.  Hope you are all doing the same !!  Would be great to hear your thoughts on the above.

- Zippy

That’s exactly what mobile device users constantly need.  Both the iPhone and Android Smartphones seem to last at best – 1/2 a day – before needing to recharge.  The 4G wireless networks are faster, but they eat up more power.  Add the fact that most people leave their Bluetooth on so it automatically syncs with their car, and you have a major power drag.

I’m old school – in that I still use a blackberry.  It’s funny how many strange looks I get when people see I’m using my blackberry.

It’s great for the 3 things I really want from my Mobile Phone: Email, Good Phone (anyone wonder what happened to AT&T’s ‘You can hear a pin drop’ campaign???), and Battery Life.  Yeah – I miss out on all the games and silly apps – but – the Blackberry is there when I need it.  Yeah – call me crazy (maybe a new song – after the Call Me Maybe craze…)

When you travel – the most popular seat in the airport is the one next to the power outlet.  I’ve seen people almost miss their flight because they were powering up away from their gate.  Heck – I always travel with a small power extension cord so if there are no plugs – I can share one.

In the last 12 months, we have seen the increase of items like our Battery Backup (650up) and iPhone Battery Cases (62AiP4).  Doctor friends of mine, who use their iPhone at the Hospital, are loving the Battery Case since they no longer need to worry about their battery during the day.

I’m curious – if you have an iPhone 5 now, or the Samsung Galaxy III – is your battery life better, or worse?

- Zippy