Nearing my five-year mark at HousingWire, technological advances continue to improve the way we deliver content to our audience.
This week publisher Paul Jackson spearheaded the optimization of HousingWire email news alerts to be even easier to read on a smartphone.
Although this is a notable achievement, it makes me happy that there is one mobile phone a HousingWire email alert will NEVER be read on. That's because this phone is, in my opinion, hands down, the worst mobile phone EVER.
Feel free to disagree in the comment section below, if you like, but you'll be wrong. I know the worst mobile ever.
But before that, real quick about the email alerts changes.
Where readers used to see:
They now see:
The new design is simpler, clearer and easier to read.
So what's great is that this innovation comes at a time when the Ted Baker Tyrian, a variant of the HTC touch, is no longer in existence — which is great, being that it is the worst mobile phone ever.
Born of a terribly conceived strategic initiative between UK designer Ted Baker and British mobile phone provider Carphone Warehouse, the Tyrian was meant to wow with its sleek design and exclusive purple casing.
And it did wow, as Carphone Warehouse even announced that customers would have to pay a premium over other like brands to even get their hands on a Tyranny (sorry meant Tyrian).
So imagine the widespread disappointment when those who did get lucky enough to get a Tyrian likely noticed within days that they were holding, in fact, a lemon. Something Carphone Warehouse understood all too well.
The Tyrian looked like a touchscreen, but wasn't. It came with a stylus, which slipped out of its case while walking with the phone. Without the stylus, the phone didn't really operate efficiently, or at all.
What's worse, the SIM card would often pop out of the bottom of the phone, killing service, sometimes for a long period of time.
Bringing up the manufacturing defaults to a retail center of Carphone Warehouse prompted one of three responses:
1) No spare styli were available for sale (the slightly shorter design didn't work for other makes, creating obscene demand).
2) The associate would grab a pen and attempt to cram the SIM card, unsuccessfully, back into the housing.
3) The Carphone Warehouse would remind the customer that the phone was not covered under any warranty.
Not long after its launch, the Ted Baker Tyrian faded into the shadows. Ted Baker went back to making clothes, and Carphone Warehouse never even apologized.
So to all HousingWire readers, enjoy the new design of our email alerts.
And be grateful you do not own a Ted Baker Tyrian to read them.
