March 13, 2006
Bonus offer: Telepocalyptic stock tips!
I once claimed I had the drawing ability of a three year old, with suitable evidence.
I’m going to have to revise that claim. My 2½ year old first daughter is showing signs of rapidly overtaking me.
Anyhow, the keen-eyed of you with a real browser (i.e. anything but Internet Explorer) may have noticed in your that there’s an icon for Telepocalypse next to the URL, and it’s also shown in the tab header. In keeping with my artistic disability level and web design budget, it’s a pure-black square. Kinda tele-apocolypticish, maybe. (Promise never hire me to do your brand management or graphic design, OK?)
This thing is stored in a teeny file called favicon.ico. If I can make one, so can you. There’s lots of free online sites to help. Artistic ability costs extra.
If my web site didn’t have one, it would grate with me. What’s the point of a blog and domain if you’re not going to push your dodgy global microbrand to the limit?
I see it as kind of a sign of “We get the Net!”. So here’s my investment portfolio advice for those wishing to lose money on telecom rather than horses. Just pick the ones with favicons. You’ll lose less.
First in the doghouse is Vodafone, who couldn’t quite manage to downsize their (actually rather good) speech quote logo. But then, you didn’t need me to tell you they’ve had lacklustre returns.
On the other hand, step forward old, cuddly BT Group! Double points for making the icon the letters “B” and “T” and not the rapidly-dating psychedelic colour orgasm. And, guess what … the investor returns (whilst still not pretty) look rather less drab. And it might just get better, too: they’re organised right, and have some positive intentions.
But it only gets better! A follower of US telecom? Well, Bellsouth must have been cool dudes, ‘cuz they’ve got one. But the new at&t doesn’t even get the superficial integration of the web site landing page right. Boy, am I glad I don’t work in their IT department right now.
We can safely predict that logo-fuelled Qwest will be bought out by Net-naive Verizon. The cablecos will rock: favicon logos all round. Sprint’s new logo (tagline: “We’re Midwestern, OK?”) makes it up.
Who will succeed in the UK mobile market? Well, T-Mobile have staked out their “dumb pipes R us” with Web’N’Walk, and they’ve got one. Orange are going the opposite way: build up a trusted brand around not ripping people off, then have a cosy brand bonfire and squeeze them till they bleed. Who knows! But poor old O2, well, I’m sorry but Telefonica blundered. It’s supposed to be dull, legacy icon-less acquiring companies that are supposed to be buying iconed prey, not the other way round!
Hours of fun for all the family, and saves you a ton of money in investment advice!
Uh-oh. Time for more paracetamol and sweaty body temperature undulations.
Posted by Martin Geddes at 04:24 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.telepocalypse.net/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/mgeddes/MT/mt-tb.cgi/681.
Well, I do work in the IT department of AT&T. Now I could have missed something the particular tone of this post (it wouldn't be the first time), but do you really think we missed on the integration of the web site landing pages? I thought what we had made sense.