Cook’s iPhone 5 Comes Out Half Baked

Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage Wednesday to unveil the company’s flagship product the iPhone 5.

Many Apple fans anticipated a total revamp, but what they really got was an Android wannabe.
The iPhone 5 has a 4 inch screen; that is a whole .5 inches bigger than the iPhone 4s. The bigger screen allows for a fifth row of static icons and slightly more screen space for applications. (Neat huh?)

The camera has panorama mode, the browser has tab syncing and the map application has turn-by-turn navigation. (Siri, go back in time and call the patent office. We got some work to do.)

All of these features have been available since 2011 on a variety of Android phones yet people will still wait in line for nine hours just to get their hands on the lackluster device, but why?

Great marketing.

Apple successfully positioned itself into the cool crowd with great marketing and product placement. It doesn’t matter if the phone lacks innovation since that is not why people buy the phone.

People buy the iPhone because they want to be cool.  The BlackBerry was cool once.  If someone had a BlackBerry, that person made it, that person was a somebody. This is what the iPhone is now, and like Furbies and seatbelt buckle belts, all cool things have an expiration date.

Looking at what blogs and social media post say, it is obvious consumers are catching on to Apples game. A company does not earn record breaking profits on hardware by mistake. If Apple wants to stay cool, it needs to change up the game and invest in some true innovation. Making profits on old technology will not last forever.

MGM Grand, Not So Grand After All

This past weekend  I took a trip to Las Vegas to attend a wedding and to vacation with my friends.  I stayed at the MGM Grand and  when we first checked in the  room was dirty so I requested a new one. The second room was old but clean and it was 15 rooms away from some newly renovated rooms the MGM is transitioning to.

The new rooms looked way nicer than ours so I called and asked the front desk if we could be moved to one. The MGM employee told me they could not because I booked my room through a third party and not through MGM directly. I was bummed but whatever, it’s Vegas, who needs a nice room anyway?

Last night I received an email with a survey about my visit. One of the questions was if I felt valued as a customer. I marked no and I wrote how I could not be moved to a renovated room because I did not book through MGM directly and thus making me feel not valued as a customer. I then asked if what the front desk told me was true and left my contact info.

Today I received this:

Dear Mr. Romeos:

Thank you for taking the time to complete our MGM Grand online survey. We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention, as they provide us with the information necessary to evaluate our performance.

I regret that your assigned accommodations were unable to meet and exceed your expectations. MGM Grand strives to create the Las Vegas resort destination our guests have always imagined by providing premier hotel amenities and the highest level of customer service possible. Unfortunately, in your case we fell short of our goal.

We truly value your observations and patronage, and will commit ourselves to a better service experience in the future.

Sincerely,

Shadi Omeish

Director of Hotel Operations

SO:tp

Did they even read what I wrote?  It is clear they did not answer my question at all. On top of that, this email comes off cold and heartless. This proves to me that MGM does not care or value me as a customer. I honestly would have preferred not to receive any email at all over this one.

When it comes to interacting with customers, this formal jargon is not always the best way to go. This is just an empty message to me. What do you think? Am I missing something? Did MGM do things right?

I don’t know. I think they need to rethink the way they handle customers.

Just my two cents.

Taco Bell Hopes New Menu has Customers Craving More

Anyone who knows me knows one of my goals is to work for corporate Taco Bell. Not because I love the food (and trust me I do) but because I love Taco Bell as a brand. During the burger boom Glen Bell Jr., founder of Taco Bell, dared to go where no other restaurants went before and sold tacos as the main item in his restaurant.

This out of the box thinking paid off and today Taco Bell lives by the tagline “Think outside the bun.”

Imagine my worry when I saw an email (yes I have Taco Bell set on Google alerts. I am a dork I know) that Taco Bell is changing its menu!   I read through the article with a close eye making sure there was not mention of adding anything with a bun.  To my relief the “Bell Beefer” will not be making a comeback any time soon and there was no mention of adding buns to the menu.

Instead, Taco Bell is beefing up its menu by adding more of a Mexican flare. They are adding items like black beans, cilantro rice and corn salsa. This seems to be a strategic move to combat other successful Mexican inspired restaurants such as Chipotle and Qdoba.

The menu change is a step in the right direction for Taco Bell. Looking at what is working for its competition and trying to make it work for its menu is a good move. I do caution Taco Bell if the new food is not fresh it won’t sell and drastic changes to food can leave customers with a bad taste in their mouth.

Taco Bell has a signature taste and if there is a drastic change from what customers are accustom to then Taco Bell can fall hard.

If changing the menu improves the current food then I am all for it. My years of watching Gordon Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares” have taught me to keep food fresh and simple to have the best product.  If this is the improvement Taco Bell is going for then it might be a winner.

So here is to you Taco Bell. When the new menu rolls out I will be first in line to try it out.

But what about you? Will you give Taco Bell’s new menu a chance?

P.S. If you work at Taco Bell, Ryanromeos@gmail.com. I want a job.

 

 

Update: Jan. 24, 2012

Taco Bell’s new menu is called “Cantina Bell” and it is not so much an overall of it’s current menu but more of new menu items. I could not find a list of the items but judging   from the promo picture from Taco Bell it looks like is will have burritos, tacos and salads. The new menu is in trial now and is only available in select markets.

Ryan 2.0

My blog is coming back from the dead as a zombie hungry for wooooorrrddss….wooordddsss…

I am completely ditching my original plan of updating it every week with Mega Millions because frankly I am just too busy and it was kind of boring.

I went back to the drawing board and realized there are many things I can write about.  Expect many topics such as, how to play casino games, social media marketing tactics, personal interviews and whatever else I might have knowledge about or find interesting to write about.

If you as a reader have something you want more information about whether it be political, tech or just because you are curious about something, email/Tweet/Facebook/Google+ me and if I think it’s worth it I will do the research and post a blog on my findings. I will also do my best to interview experts and find valid sources.

So let’s see how Ryan’s Blog 2.0 turns out.

America.

Weekly Horoscopes: It's happening….

I took an astronomy class three years ago in community college and feel educated enough to write horoscopes. So every Sunday I will gaze up at the sky and have the stars and planets tell me what you should expect each week.

So without further adieu, here are your horoscopes for the week. They are hashtagged for your Twitter convince. 😉

#aries The stars say you will gain three pounds this week, but I say you are just big boned.

#taurus Pluto is upset it’s not a planet anymore. Balance the negativity by singing “Gangsta’s Paradise” every night

#gemini You will try a new body soap this week  and your car will be stolen. You will still smell good.

#cancer Jupiter is messing everything up. Make sure to use this to your advantage by saying “It’s not my fault, its damn Jupiter!”

#leo Lions are the kings of the jungle. You are the king of the bathroom after getting a bad case of food poisoning.

#virgo You will try dressing emo this week. After one day of the tight pants and hair in your eyes you will stop. Try not to cry about it.

#libra A run in with the police will bring you down this week. Next time you should think before you dace to “Free Bird” at a bar naked.

#scorpio You will get short term turrets and say everything three times. Don’t let it bug you, don’t let it bug you, don’t let it bug you.

#sagittarius You will discover all of the “Land Before Time” movies are on Netflix instant watch. Say goodbye to productivity this week.

#capricorn You are irritable and you will give someone somthing to think about when you tell them Barack Obama is an alien.

#aquarius Change is coming when break a $100 at the local supermarket.

#pisces You may find yourself in a sticky situation this week. My advice is to avoid honey farms and movie theater floors.

No Millions, No Rapture.. Disappointed Indeed

54 days ago a nice man named Nick came to me at the Irvine Spectrum and spoke for 45 minuets about the rapture on May 21 at 6pm.

It is now May 21  7:30 pm and Earth is still intact.

I am disappointed because I have always found crazy people who walk up  to me randomly at malls to be very credible with the information they provide.

Now that I know he was wrong I guess I  have Dec. 21,2012 to look forward to and judging from the movie it seems like it’s going to be pretty awesome.

Now that we know life will go on I guess I can tell you that I did not win the Mega Millions this week. I know, I am shocked too.

How many times does a guy have to play this thing to win? I already played twice…

Anyhow, below is very long video of my reaction to not winning the Mega Millions. Make sure you set aside about ten minutes to watch it.

Mega Millions: It's hard being me….

Here I am with my first Mega Millions post and first blog for that matter.

My plan is to buy a Mega Millions ticket every week and post a picture of the ticket so everyone can see if I won. (Exciting huh?!?!)

The drawing is on Friday, May 2o and with my luck my numbers will come up and then the world will end the next day.

With that said lets hope I do win so I can buy that baby elephant I always wanted….

The robot is for protection…..