Did I just hear that right? You underestimated it? Seriously? How does this even happen? It baffles me how a decision like this even sounds logical. For someone who was named Fortune Magazine’s 2010 Business Person of the Year, Reed Hastings really dropped the ball on this one. But then again, you can’t blame this on the actions of just one individual. It came down to probably a dozen or more people all nodding their heads in unison (insert Facepalm here).

It was estimated that Netflix would lose over 1 million users due to the increase in pricing and launching Qwikster. Though the numbers won’t be released until Oct 24th, it looks as if that figure will be surpassed. I can’t speak for everyone, but I doubt I will return to renting from Netflix. I just don’t need to see John Candy flicks that bad.

Mashable referred to Qwikster, as, “The worst product launch since New Coke” and I have to agree. Although, for my generation,  Crystal Pepsi might be a more fitting analogy.

In case you didn’t know, I love Back To The Future. I recently watched a video that features Doc Brown blasting through a storefront in a DeLorean! Yep, it is as awesome as it sounds. When I first watched the video, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The quality was so good I thought I was watching a trailer for a new BTTF movie! However, it turns out it was watching a viral ad for Garbarino, an Argentinean electronics store. Although I know absolutely nothing about Garbarino, this is still the coolest commercial I have seen in a while. But then again, my opinion is severely biased. :)

Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdLdwAUD4tw

From a marketing standpoint, I respect the fact that the initial video wasn’t littered with Garbarino marketing and sales jargon. To me there is nothing more off-putting than when a company grasps onto a piece of iconic pop culture, only to make it play second fiddle to their brand. Garbarino did a good job letting the BTTF franchise lead in this instance and I think they both come out winners.

Even though you will probably never spend a dime at Garbarinos and Christopher Lloyd appears to be 140, this pairing of retro cinema and modern electronics is worth your time.

Teaser commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdLdwAUD4tw
Teaser Alt commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFRwIfqm4GM
Full commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JfNBRhc98
Press Conference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7w3r-FvXrI
Behind the scenes photos: http://www.bttf.com/go-inside-doc-browns-lab-in-garbarinos-latest-back-to-the-future-ad-with-christopher-lloyd.php

If you like that your gonna love this. Get ready for “Mind = Blown” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yiSdjwi_bg&feature=pyv

Tilt-shift point and shoot camera. Hyperlinks have been embedded for manufacturer and definition of tilt-shift.

Ever wanted to take your own miniaturized photos, but didn’t want to shell out the $2500+ for a tilt-shift lens? Well the folks over at Photojojo have a solution for you.

The NeinGrenze 5000T offers tilt-shift ability crammed into a small point and shoot you can take anywhere. With a built in flash, exposure control, and multiple color modes this novelty camera has everything you have come to expect in a low budget digital camera. One thing it is lacking however is an optical zoom, but you still get an 8x digital zoom to play around with. I guess this is a small trade off for the tilt-shift ability.

And even though it appears to have the build quality of something you would buy on an infomercial, I believe Billy Mays would be proud. When you think about it, $150 is not a lot to invest on something like this. Even if you only get 100 nice tilt-shift images before it craps out, you have gotten your monies worth. Although I wouldn’t recommend it as your primary point and shoot camera, it does have the cool factor that intrigues me to get my hands on one. [Pam, I will get you the PO shortly. :) ]

With that said, this camera would make a very cool addition to any hipster toolkit. Let’s just say that if you took a picture with this, of a food truck, sprinkled with some Instagram filters, all while wearing Ray Bans, your street cred would go up almost instantaneously. It’s a no brainer.

Not to be confused with the box office hit “Hot Tub Time Machine,” the YouTube Time Machine serves up your favorite sound and video from 1860 to today, yep you heard right…1860.

The interface of the YTTM is second to none. By sliding a marker along a timeline you are instantly served a random video corresponding to the year you select. You can filter by Video Games, Television, Commercials, Current Events, Sports, and Movies. Users can even submit videos to the site so others can enjoy them later.

Sure you could just go to YouTube and find these videos yourself but it is more fun using the YTTM. So, if you want to hear the first ever recorded sound or see a Toyota Camry commercial from the 90′s, the YTTM is for you. I would definitely recommend the YTTM if you wanted to burn through an hour of your life watching commercials and movie trailers from your childhood. It is available at yttm.tv and your iPhone.

So Google has control over your computer, your TV and now your wallet! Wait a second, WTF is going on here? Well, Google is sticking their digital nose in your pocket book in hopes to streamline the way you pay for things everyday. Google Wallet turns your smartphone into digital currency you can use anywhere Google Wallet is excepted. Sounds good to me. Who wants a pocket full of outdated credit and rewards cards anyway?

You down with NFC? Yeah, you know me! You better be because Google Wallet is based on NFC (near field communication). Commonly used by the Mastercard Paypass system, NFC allows you to be even lazier than normal and just brush your card or mobile device against a device vs actually swiping a card. Google Wallet can also manage the numerous rewards and membership cards that clutter your keychain and wallet. Formerly the big thing to have, The Kroger Plus card is now a thing of the past. :)

Do I want Google Wallet? Hell yeah…I only have two issues. 1. It isn’t available on my iPhone 2. Security. Out of those two, Security is probably my biggest worry. Now if I lost my phone not only do I miss out on Angry Birds but I also have to worry about some sleaze hacking or selling my phone with my bank info on it.

I guess it isn’t any worse than the bank apps I currently use. Honestly, I can’t think of the last time I cashed a physical paycheck. Once I thought about it, it’s just a bunch of 1′s and 0′s floating around somewhere on a bank server. Why should I care how they get manipulated?

I recently attended a SXSWi presentation hosted by our Social Media Guru, Angela. She gave us the 411 on all the best stuff from this years big event in Austin. One thing I took away was that location based services are here to stay. She said they ranked among the most popular and fastest growing segments in social media.

But with so many location based services popping up everywhere, it’s only a matter of time before some of them have to go away. I can’t see the need or desire to have so many different ways to “check in.” So what is going to make one service stand out from another? Exclusive offers, ease of use, better badges and achievements?

For me, it’s the ease of use. I don’t want to have to check in, I don’t want to type in my password and come to think of it, I don’t even want to get my phone out of my pocket! I know, it sounds pretty lazy of me and I am asking for a lot. But if you want my business, those are my demands. I want an application that knows I am in front of a soda machine and because I am a loyal customer, it alerts me about an exclusive offer. I want something that doesn’t disrupt my Chi. Simple enough.

While I think location based services are great, I am not really intrigued about becoming the mayor of a business. Call me greedy, but I want something tangible. As soon as I know I can get it and get it without thinking about it, I will drink the location based Kool-Aid. :)

I recently learned about a program called Shopkick. Think of it as the “Foursquare for shopping,” Shopkick rewards you for scanning products with your smart phone and “checking-in” to retail store locations.  It’s that simple, you don’t even have to purchase the product!

You also get points for signing up your friends (pyramid scheme style!). What’s the catch? There is no catch. You get real world rewards and not some doofus badge that exists only online.

The most interesting part was that you don’t even have to purchase to participate. And even though customers might not purchase the product right then, it is more engaging when they have the product in-hand and are being rewarded for it. Shopkick is promoting brand awareness and a unique experience that the customer is sure to remember. I can honestly say that I would be more inclined to purchase a new product after participating in the program.

Currently Shopkick has more than 750,000 users and 10% of them use the program every day!  And with big brands such as Macy’s, Best Buy, and Target, I see Shopkick making a huge name for themselves in 2011. But what do I know? Download the app for yourself here and you be the judge.

In case you didn’t know CM is growing like a weed! With more new faces than ever, our capabilities are going through the roof! We have so much talent now, we had to buy another building to put it all in. That’s right we bought the building next door and soon, we are going to turn it into our own in-house studio. This will give us the ability to shoot photos and video whenever we need to. How cool is that!

Having our own studio is like God’s gift to Current. Not only will it give us a place to explore and develop our skills, it gives our clients a unique experience not found in many agencies our size. This is just another notch in our belt and I can’t wait to see where 2011 takes us!

On a side note, just a little update from my last blog. I bought a welder, booked a trip to Disney World and am now in Donkey Kong training camp. The year is off to a great start. Booyah!

Every month I try to find the coolest gadget or the latest web topic to write about…well, not this month! This month, I am going to use my blog entry as shameless, self promotion. Since I am not on Facebook and I barely use Twitter, consider this my “Wall Post/Tweet/Status Update/Like button” for 2011.

Top 3 things I want to do in 2011, in no particular order.

1. Learn to weld (MIG and TIG). – Because welding is awesome.
2. Take the family to Disney World. – Because Disney World is awesome.
3. Break into the top 20 on Twin Galaxies for playing Donkey Kong. – Because Donkey Kong is awesome and I want to impress Dennis Bonifer.

I know these are random goals for 2011 but with a lot of practice and a little money I think I can knock them all out by next year. With that said, I ask “What do you want to do in 2011″?

When I hear of a product built to suck the creativity out of my job, I usually scoff and try to hate it as much as humanly possible. But, when Mr. Write (aka Steve Morgan) turned me on to a piece of software called Artisteer, I decided to hear him out.

Artisteer is an automated web design product that instantly creates unique website templates and blog themes. With the single click of a button, you can have a fully designed site in about 2 seconds. While Artisteer does take the guess work out of designing a website, it is still not a sure fire solution to a great website experience.

Content is still king and if a visitor can’t navigate your site and find what they are looking for, what’s the point? As the old saying goes, “You can’t polish a turd.” But, Artisteer can come pretty close. : )

All jokes aside, I think Artisteer is a great tool for someone getting started with web design, or even a seasoned designer, just looking to kickstart the creative process. I could see myself using Artisteer to gain inspiration for a design or even crank out a quick design for a friend or family member.

It is available for Mac or PC and supports Joomla!, WordPress, Drupal, DotNetNuke, and Blogger driven sites. At $129.95, Artisteer is a steal, especially for the content it creates and the number of platforms it supports. Still skeptical? Test drive Artisteer for yourself and let me know what you think of it.