From the liberating power of giving up a PhD to the cynical domain name ‘gifts’ that become tomorrow’s unexpected bills, we explore why failure might just be your most generous teacher (and why David Duchovny agrees).
David Duchovny reveals why success can leave you alone on a pedestal while failure invites you into a community of shared experience.
We unpack the delightful contradiction of business advice books – from bootstrapping beginners to broccoli-avoiding delegators – and why different paths might all lead to the same summit.
Meanwhile, VentraIP’s ‘complimentary’ domain names and Microsoft’s Skype funeral remind us that in business, what’s presented as sweet often leaves a bitter aftertaste.
Get ready to take notes.
Talking About Marketing podcast episode notes with timecodes
01:30 Person This segment focusses on you, the person, because we believe business is personal.
David Duchovny’s Blueprint for Embracing the Upside of Your Failures
When most celebrities discuss their journey, they craft a narrative that conveniently drops the missteps. Not so with David Duchovny, who offers a refreshingly nuanced take on why his post-X-Files ventures into filmmaking sometimes flopped – and why that might be a good thing. As our hosts unpack Duchovny’s conversation with Adam Grant, they reveal his core insight: success isolates while failure creates connection.
The discussion evolves into an exploration of Australia’s peculiar relationship with both success and failure. Unlike America’s entrepreneur-friendly “fail forward” culture, we’ve developed an environment where discussing either triumph or disaster feels equally uncomfortable. As David notes, “We’re not allowed to talk about failure and we’re not allowed to talk about success. What exactly are we meant to talk about?”
The segment concludes with Duchovny’s deliciously pointed observation about Silicon Valley’s “fail fast” mantra, describing it as merely “success culture wearing failure drag” – a concept that resonated with both hosts as they reflected on how our relationship with failure shapes our capacity for authentic human connection.
14:00 Principles This segment focusses principles you can apply in your business today.
The Contradictory Wisdom of Business Guides (Or: How Every Book Can Be Right)
What happens when the business advice you’re receiving appears to contradict itself? Our hosts dive into this conundrum by examining the tension between Simon Squibb’s bootstrapping philosophy and Blair Enns’ “don’t eat your broccoli” approach to delegation. The first tells you to do everything yourself; the second tells you to outsource what you don’t enjoy.
Rather than picking a winner, Steve and David suggest both perspectives might be simultaneously valid depending on your circumstances. “It’s like what Rabbi Brasch once told me,” Steve reflects. “There are many pathways to the top of the same mountain.”
The conversation takes an elegant turn toward Richard Koch’s 80/20 principle as a possible reconciliation between these seemingly opposing views. David reframes the delegation question: “It’s not whether broccoli’s good for you or bad for you… it’s a question of if I spend time eating my broccoli, am I wasting time on something else that would be even better for me?”
This philosophical dance culminates in a real-world application as Steve discusses his newly launched “Website in a Week” offering – a service that contradicts his 20-year philosophy of encouraging clients to build their own sites, yet perfectly aligns with the principle of allowing people to focus on their strengths.
21:00 Problems This segment answers questions we've received from clients or listeners.
The “Free” Domain Name That’s Anything But (Or: When Gifts Come With Strings)
In a segment that sparked evident frustration from both hosts, Steve details how Australian web hosting company VentraIP has adopted a page from the cynical playbook of LinkedIn’s “free premium” offers. Their “complimentary” domain name – presented as appreciation for customer loyalty – automatically renews as a paid service the following year.
The hosts dissect not just the questionable ethics of this “gift” but the deliberately cumbersome process required to decline it. “It is a center of confusion in the business world,” Steve notes, pointing out how small business owners regularly forward domain renewal notices to him, unsure whether they’re legitimate services or clever scams.
The segment concludes with a clear warning: while not reason enough to immediately abandon VentraIP, this tactic has certainly primed our hosts to keep their eyes open for competitors who “stick to their knitting” without resorting to such manipulative marketing practices.
26:00 Perspicacity This segment is designed to sharpen our thinking by reflecting on a case study from the past.
Microsoft’s Digital Spring Clean: The Death of Skype and Publisher
In the final segment, our hosts contemplate Microsoft’s decision to discontinue Skype, exploring the unexpected emotions that surface when familiar tools disappear from our digital landscape. While not widely mourned by the general public, Skype’s pay-as-you-go model offered podcasters like Steve an affordable recording solution that newer subscription-based alternatives can’t match.
The conversation expands to include Microsoft Publisher’s impending demise, prompting a moment of gentle mockery for the “gordy, cutesy, sickly sweet little kindergarten newsletters” it helped produce. “There’s gonna be a lot of people who are gonna get an hour of their day back with the death of Publisher,” David quips, neatly capturing the sentiment.
This bittersweet farewell to once-revolutionary tools serves as a reminder of the technology lifecycle – from boundary-pushing innovation to corporate acquisition to eventual obsolescence – while raising questions about whether the next wave of useful tools might come from “half a dozen little nerds” rather than tech behemoths.
Transcript This transcript was generated using Descript.
A Machine-Generated Transcript – Beware Errors
TAMP S06E02
[00:00:00] Caitlin Davis: Talking about marketing is a podcast for business owners and leaders produced by my dad, Steve Davis and his colleague. It talked about marketing David Olney, in which they explore marketing through the lens of their own four Ps person, principles, problems, and per. Yes, you heard that correctly. Apart from their love of words, they really love helping people, so they hope this podcast will become a trusted companion on your journey in business.
[00:00:40] Steve Davis: David, can failure make you smile?
[00:00:44] David Olney: Uh, yes. Every time I think about not finishing my PhD.
[00:00:48] Steve Davis: You are proud of that, aren’t you?
[00:00:50] David Olney: I am. Because to have gone down that path for me would’ve meant in a sense that that great line from the Marx Brothers, would you wanna be a member of any organization that wants to have you as a member?
[00:01:03] Steve Davis: On that note, are you gonna finish this episode with me? Absolutely. Good. Well, those are my principles too, David, and if you don’t like them, well, I’ve got others.
[00:01:17] Caitlin Davis: Our four Ps. Number one person, the aim of life is self-development to realize one’s nature perfectly. That is what each of us is here for Oscar Wilde,
[00:01:34] Steve Davis: we’re talking about failure in the person segment. And the inspiration for this comes from the least likely source. Uh, an actor by the name of David Ney, not really a name. You associate with failure, though, is it?
[00:01:54] David Olney: Put it this way. He plays very annoying characters, but he’s very successful at playing very annoying characters.
[00:02:00] So one would say he does a good job of characters who fail, but that he himself is very successful.
[00:02:05] Steve Davis: Yeah. In fact, I often have a smile on my face when I see him on screen, and I think he just, he’s on the screen. Very well. I, I never really watched the X-Files, never got into it, uh, where he was, um, Fox Mulder.
[00:02:19] Uh, but I did enjoy him in ca Fornication where he played the role of Hank Moody. But along the way, in between those super hits, he’s tried some of his own filmmaking and, and different ventures and many of them have just failed. And so it was really interesting having him. Have a chat. He did say something.
[00:02:38] It was actually what brought this together is there was a news story a little while ago, a few weeks ago now, that the Daily Mail put out in which they talked about how the woman who played the yellow wiggle had reportedly run through her fortune and. It just, and they, they did it in this really annoying way, David, that they all media and outlets love.
[00:03:05] They know something is going to trigger, um, Chardon Freud or anger in people. So what they do is they innocently put it on the table with a straight back. I’m mixing my metaphors. Uh, and they just know that because they don’t take the person to task the hounds will. It was absolutely disgusting that the headline inflamed at the, the actual story explained what really happened, and David Avni in his chat with Adam Grant says, you know what?
[00:03:38] There is an addiction to other people’s failures. He said, it’s something of a social currency because in a way it takes the pressure off. Um, the person who getting angry from, from then, not having their own level of success. So that’s one side of the coin. But David, the, the thing I really wanted to talk about is the other side of the coin.
[00:04:03] And it’s where he said this in the interview, failure gives you many brothers and sisters, and failure can create empathy. Let’s have a listen to how he put it and then, uh, think this through. From our perspective,
[00:04:23] David Duchovny: there is no way to ever have a success like the X-Files. It, it. It doesn’t happen. It can’t happen. It’s certainly not gonna happen to me, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen to anybody else either. I mean, it’s just we’re in a different world now in terms of consensus and culture in that way.
[00:04:39] Adam Grant: It seems to me that a mix of success and failure, however you define it, is more of a life well lived than a life of just.
[00:04:48] Accumulating and accelerating successes because as much as success Gratifies, it seems that failure is a better motivator and a better teacher.
[00:04:59] David Duchovny: Well, also success alienates, you know, sets you apart. You know, failure gives you many brothers and sisters, and failure creates empathy, failure. Should engender empathy, I think in, in our country now, failure engenders mockery.
[00:05:16] And that’s one of the things that I wanted to kind of address with the podcast and the movie and the novel. You know, it’s really our inability to accept our own failures that makes us such a Schaden, Freud, e kind of a culture. And you look at somebody like a, a Donald Trump who. Cannot accept an L. His whole presidential run is like not accepting his l and there’s nearly half the country that’s gonna get behind this.
[00:05:50] Adam Grant: So it, it, it seems like then your, your hypothesis is that, uh, people’s desire to take others down is because they’re, they’re so ashamed by their own losses.
[00:06:02] David Duchovny: It’s a lot of what we do, we project onto the other. The fears that we have about ourselves. Interesting.
[00:06:09] Adam Grant: And this, this notion that success can make you lonely, that it alienates, what advice do you have for coping with that?
[00:06:16] For all the poor, struggling, successful people out there,
[00:06:21] David Duchovny: they’re fine. They’ll come back, they’ll have a failure. They’ll come back to earth, they’ll get there.
[00:06:30] Steve Davis: It’s interesting, David, his point that success can actually isolate you, put you up on a pedestal, separates you from the crowd. Uh, but failure is the great human leveler. Is there something positive that can be construed from this side of the coin, do you think?
[00:06:49] David Olney: Oh, most definitely. Because what most of us have in common is at least a few failures that at the time have felt absolutely like it’s the end of the universe, but that we’ve walked away from those failures with a lot more knowledge about ourselves, what we are capable of, what we want.
[00:07:09] And you know, I find David Decoy very interesting because he’s another person who started a PhD and walked away from it.
[00:07:15] Steve Davis: Oh.
[00:07:17] David Olney: A kindred spirit. Yeah. And for very similar reasons to me, he, he realized if I do this thing, then I go down this path and I can probably have a job at the end of it. And every day I can just turn up and do these little things, but I have to shut down more of me to succeed at this.
[00:07:39] Then is healthy and as much as failing is scary after being put in the position where people have let you do a PhD, you’re giving up the status of being clever. You’re giving up the status of being in a good university. You’re giving up the status of being seen as the future thinker in an area, the person that people will want to talk to about it.
[00:08:02] And yet the failure in the end of the day is where the freedom to realize actually. I should do things I’m good at. I should do things I value and I shouldn’t be afraid of losing the goodwill of people I don’t really care about.
[00:08:18] Steve Davis: Maybe in some ways it shuts some doors as well as open some others, which is a way of, um, resetting, I suppose.
[00:08:26] Yeah. Not that I’d wish it on anyone, of course.
[00:08:29] David Olney: No, but we should be open about talking about it. And I think in Australia, because of tall poppy syndrome, we’re actually terrible at talking about success and failure. We got to this strange place where if you’re too talented, we’ll tear you down. But also unlike America, where entrepreneurs will talk about their first failure, their second failure before they got it right.
[00:08:53] How many business people here talk about the first thing that went wrong? I. So we’re not allowed to talk about failure and we’re not allowed to talk about success. What exactly are we meant to talk about?
[00:09:04] Steve Davis: Although it can be fetishized in LinkedIn posts, people do love showing a glimpse of failure or a really horrible medical prognosis or something to draw people in, cue the sympathy up, and then make their point.
[00:09:18] So everyone says how good they are.
[00:09:20] David Olney: Yeah, and in a sense you can see. That other places talk about failure and Australians have kind of learned it through LinkedIn.
[00:09:27] Steve Davis: Yeah.
[00:09:28] David Olney: But we haven’t learned to do it in a healthy way.
[00:09:30] Steve Davis: No. Although, um, David Dny also argues that neither has Silicon Valley. He said that notion of fail fast, fail.
[00:09:39] Often where failure’s worn as some side of badge. He’s, he, I love this. He says that’s just success culture wearing failure drag. Which I, which I think is, it’s a great comment. It is. Um, because he said, but, but, but then this is multi-sided coin. ’cause there’s nuance here. He says, actually success is a terrible thing to happen to anybody.
[00:10:03] It is not a teacher. It’s, it’s something else. Whereas I suppose he’s saying you do learn from failures. Success though. I, I guess because you end up in a rarefied space in some situations, you don’t have peers, you don’t have as many peers for that sense of, uh, kindred spiritness. Maybe that’s what he’s getting at.
[00:10:28] David Olney: That’s one big side of it. And I think the other side he’s implying, and certainly my experience is success means you’ve only got things to lose. I. Mm. Failure means you might as well get busy because you don’t have any, you know, anything to lose at the moment. You’ve already lost it. You’ve only got things to gain.
[00:10:46] Once you’ve accepted that something is a lost cause and that you’re gonna walk away from it, as much as that’s painful and as much as time and resources are wasted. If you look at it from the perspective of if you’d continued doing it, might you have got through, maybe could you have wasted more time and resources?
[00:11:03] Definitely. So what are you gonna do with the time and resources that are no longer being pointed at a, a pointless endpoint? It’s a lot of pointed in one sentence. I should have said that one better. But what the
[00:11:15] Steve Davis: heck. Well, exactly. We’re not gonna sweat over that. We all do it. Um, actually there was a one other really quirky thing that came out of the conversation, which I think is a nice way to draw this to an end as we reflect on this ourselves, because we are hardwired to avoid embarrassment.
[00:11:33] We. Prefer, obviously, to succeed and avoid the pain of failure. And so it’s tempting sometimes to take shortcuts. ’cause many people fall for the, the grifters who come through saying, Hey, do this. Buy my, my thing. In fact, there’s a, there’s someone who’s selling an AI tool, especially for people in Allied health, like psychologists, et cetera, and they say It’s you Butte, and it’s got all this proprietary stuff in it.
[00:12:03] And you know, and they’re charging, you know, five to six times per month what you get out of Clawed or chat GPT. And they’re just sucking people in because they’re worried. They want to get ahead and minimize risk. And in a way that relates to this comment, there was a comedian. Gary Ling, who I love, he had a lovely demeanor about him.
[00:12:27] He was a friend of David Duchovny’s and apparently he’s got a quote that said, people that say, nice guys finish last, don’t know where the finish line is. Which is that point that we’ve become obsessed with measuring social media follows, website traffic, what all these things. But there is a longer game at at play here and.
[00:12:52] You know, the, these sort of values we are talking about have the staying power that I think, uh, we will see in contrast as, you know, Trump and Musk crash and burn, hopefully not taking the world down with them. Final thoughts, David? From a person perspective?
[00:13:08] David Olney: Yeah, I think the, the thing I keep thinking here is that, you know, so much of life can be vanity metrics, and yet vanity metrics don’t make up for not being proud of yourself.
[00:13:20] Or proud of how you got up and had another go. So, you know, a little bit of vanity metric on top of getting things right is nice, but vanity metrics on top of something shallow and pointless, not very rewarding. And sometimes failure is only failure in terms of how the outside world see it. Very often failure is freedom to escape something that you felt you had no choice to do.
[00:13:51] Caitlin Davis: Our four Ps. Number two principles. You can never be overdressed or over-educated Oscar Wilde
[00:14:05] Steve Davis: in the principles segment. I want to throw the cat among the pigeons. David, are you up for that? Oh, absolutely.
[00:14:12] David Olney: Particularly if the cat’s got
[00:14:13] Steve Davis: a baseball bat. I was hoping the pigeons would, I dunno what’s worse, but let’s, uh, debate for another day. We’ve talked about Squibb Simon, is it Simon Squibb? Simon Squibb, yeah.
[00:14:23] Yes. And he wrote his book about how he has developed this sense of following a dream, which sounds twee when you say it like this, but it’s a really well fought out book about the way he came from really, not just nothing but being pushed way back beyond the starting line.
[00:14:46] David Olney: Yeah. Genuine precarity.
[00:14:48] Literally not knowing where he’d sleep and if he’d have food tomorrow.
[00:14:51] Steve Davis: Absolutely. And so he argues that what you really need is the dream that North Star and you can make stuff happen. You don’t need to go all around making business plans, et cetera. What was interesting there is ’cause he was focused on, you’ve gotta be like this because you need to succeed and if you don’t, you go hungry.
[00:15:14] And it struck me as his reading that, that when we had Robert Ringer’s book that we were reading, he was arguing that. If you watch the well-to-do people, the reason they get the best deals is they’re not hungry. Hmm. And so they don’t care. They can be aloof and not rushed. And so we have some tension here.
[00:15:39] David. There’s a few more things, but let’s start with this one. Is this an either or is there a Both. And is there something in between?
[00:15:47] David Olney: I think it’s both based on. Who are you and what’s your life experience? So let’s draw the distinction between these two authors. Simon Squibb at 15, his dad died a month later.
[00:16:00] His mum and him had a fight. She threw him out of the house. He never went back. He was homeless and not at school and not earning at 15. Robert Ringer, on the other hand, was doing chemical engineering at college passing, but didn’t wanna be a chemical engineer. Worst come to worst. He could have gone out tomorrow and got a well-paid technical job if getting involved in the real estate world had failed.
[00:16:25] He didn’t want to, but he could have. So I think the key thing here is part of the reason we read all these books and recommend different books to different people is what you’ve experienced so far. We will determine what might help you next, what might fill a gap, what might enhance your perspective, what might help give you a new insight?
[00:16:49] So books really are contingent on your experience and relative need, and there is no perfect author or perfect argument, or we’d all be doing the
[00:16:59] Steve Davis: same thing. Perhaps. It’s like, I remember interviewing Rabbi Brash many years ago who was a well known. A Jewish scholar and he had a book called Word that it begin a fantastic book.
[00:17:10] It’s, it gives the origins to all the different sayings we have. And I said to him, how do you reconcile all the different religions? And he said, it’s very easy, Steve. He said, there are many pathways to the top of the same mountain. And so I think that applies here. Ultimately, they’re heading in the same direction, but it’s.
[00:17:30] You, you, you wear what fits the, the other aspect of this was, uh, squib is pretty gung-ho with trying your best to bootstrap. Your, your enterprise. Start with the least number of costs. Do everything for free on the cheap. Just start it going, use your wits, be Wiley. And then Blair Inns, whose book we read, uh, for conversations, uh, he has a podcast with David c Bakker.
[00:18:00] They’re both in this, um, business realm and they had a different take on it. They said, you shouldn’t have to eat your broccoli. If there are aspects of your business you don’t like doing, pay someone else bring in help to have it done. So again, David, is there a way of reconciling these two mindsets?
[00:18:21] David Olney: Well, there I would jump to someone like, you know, Richard Kosh and his book on the 80 20 principle.
[00:18:28] If you get 80% of your income from 20% of your effort, what are you better investing, more time and effort in doing more of that. Or doing the other 80% of stuff that generates 20% of your income. And Kosh doesn’t say you can completely get rid of stuff that’s not moving the needle. But he said, where possible if you can outsource something that’s not moving the outcome needle.
[00:18:54] To someone else for whom they do it well, they can take pride in doing it. They can maybe even get enjoyment, which frees you to double down on what you’re good at. So you know the whole thing of not eating your broccoli, in my opinion, is a bad description of 80 20. It’s not a question that broccoli’s good for you, bad for you.
[00:19:11] You want to eat it. You don’t want to eat it. It is a question of if I spend time eating my broccoli, am I wasting time on something else? That would be even better for me. Like, should I actually be eating my microgreens?
[00:19:22] Steve Davis: I’m glad we had this conversation. ’cause as I’m thinking, we, we plan to have a chat about it, but as happens with the nature of conversation d different things pop up.
[00:19:31] Hmm. I just finally released our website in a week offer and as part of that, and there’s a blog post that goes into the background, which we’ll talk more about next week ’cause there’s some interesting psychology, but long and short of it is. On one hand, it goes against everything I’ve stood for for 20 years.
[00:19:50] I’ve wanted our dear clients to do as much as possible themselves so they can keep costs down and, you know, learn how to express themselves with a bit of guidance, of course, uh, but you know, just chug along however. That doesn’t work for everyone and for when it doesn’t work, their projects tend to drag on and on and sometimes never see the live day.
[00:20:17] Whereas website in a week is where we take the reins and we go through at speed, but with experienced speed, we just know how to get things done. This is a great example, David, of.
[00:20:30] David Olney: Yes,
[00:20:31] Steve Davis: exactly.
[00:20:31] David Olney: These two worlds of 80 20 at going. What is a person in small business good at running their business? What are we good at?
[00:20:39] Making sure their website works the way it should and is presented the way that will have the best impact. So the best thing we can do for them is give them their time back as fast as possible by them trusting us to get what they need. Right. Everyone’s in their ID 20 space and with
[00:20:55] Steve Davis: their time back, they can read another book.
[00:20:58] Yep.
[00:21:03] Caitlin Davis: Uh, four Ps. Number three problems. I asked the question for the best reason possible. Simple curiosity. Oscar Wilde.
[00:21:17] Steve Davis: David, what do you do when someone or a company you love does something you really don’t
[00:21:24] David Olney: like? Well, normally you and I complain to each other that they’re doing dumb stuff and it’s gonna burn their reputation, and then we make the point that we wouldn’t do it to pick. People and then we feel slightly better that at least
[00:21:34] Steve Davis: we
[00:21:34] David Olney: don’t
[00:21:35] Steve Davis: do stuff that dumb.
[00:21:36] I think we’re about to rinse and repeat on that because look, uh, as many of you will know, uh, most of our websites are with Ventra IP here in Australia, and I. Uh, you know, they do a good job for a fair price. They have some decent support and it’s been a joy to support this Australian company, but they’ve taken a play from the cynical playbook that LinkedIn uses.
[00:22:01] We’ve already stuck our teeth into LinkedIn, uh, not fans of the way that company works and treats us its users, and this is the play they’ve done. I got an email last week, as I’m sure. Many of our listeners would’ve too if they’re with venture IP saying, as a token of our appreciation for your continued support, we are pleased to offer you a free domain name now, isn’t that lovely?
[00:22:28] There’s a catch though. So they’re saying this complimentary domain names our way of saying thank you. Whether you’re a business owner, a blogger, or enthusiast, it can help elevate your online presence. And I just noticed that they had this written by ai, uh, protect your brand and make your mark on the web.
[00:22:46] No commitment, no payment required, and the free domain name they gave us was talking about marketing online. Here’s the thing. I don’t want it. And you know why it’s unnecessary. And the domain name renews every year. So what’s a free gift? This year becomes extra money for them next year. The same as LinkedIn saying, we thank you for loving us.
[00:23:14] So here’s a special month of, or a week or whatever of LinkedIn premium without. Making too much to the point that after that bang, you are, you’re in. So never accept those offers. Here’s what makes this even worse, and this is really disappointing. If you don’t want it, they tell you how you can get out of it.
[00:23:38] And basically you have to log into your service. You’ve got to look at all the services that you have with them. Find the domain name in question, and click manage, and then delete. Hi, it’s Steve here. Just cutting in from the editing booth. I did go through and just delete the domain name to Venture ips credit.
[00:24:02] At least Autorenew was disabled. However. Still doesn’t get ’em off the hook from what we’re discussing about, because there will be all the announcements to say that it’s up for renewal. And at the cynical end of the spectrum, maybe anticipating, relying on the fact that people will think, oh gee, maybe I do need to pay this.
[00:24:26] Um, on the generous side, at least. They are reminding me of the, the way they began, which seemed to be a very noble company. The reason why I’m erring towards the cynical side. Is that not a week goes by that an I don’t have emails from small business people forwarding domain renewal notices from different companies and asking me if they’re valid or not.
[00:24:52] ’cause sometimes they are, sometimes they’re not. It is a sent, uh, a place of confusion in the business world. And when it’s not your full-time job, it can be baffling. And that’s why I really hope they find. They being mentor ip find a different way to actually genuinely, uh, support and promote their longtime loyal customers and not just take this little grab of, of another domain name, which then needs, are you gonna do anything with it?
[00:25:27] It’s such, it’s such an impoverished offer. Very disappointing. I. Venture ip, look, we love you. This is not necessarily making us leave, but I tell you what, seriously, if I am now, have my eyes open. Yeah. For genuine competitors who will stick to their knitting and look after us and not do these cheap tricks,
[00:25:56] Caitlin Davis: our four Ps. Number four per sy. The one duty Weta history is to rewrite it. Oscar Wilde.
[00:26:16] Steve Davis: Finally in per per cassity this week we’re moving from some, um, some company that’s trying to. Fling you something free that then costs you money to another company that’s just decided, ah, we don’t care about you. You’re small fry. We are removing the service altogether. And I talk about how Beloved Microsoft, who has de decided to delete Skype.
[00:26:41] So Skype will be no more. And I don’t hear the world necessarily crying and moaning. Do you hear any wailing or gnashing of teeth?
[00:26:52] David Olney: Only in conversations like you and I had about it was the easiest way to record a podcast where you were recording computer to phone. Absolutely. That there was the simple option.
[00:27:05] Now there’s other options out there, but they’re much more expensive than just a little bit of Skype credit. But I’m guessing that’s the last thing that’s kept Skype alive for professionals.
[00:27:14] Steve Davis: It’s certainly the, the reason I have it, I don’t, I mean, we use Zoom for all our con conversations with each other, but as a podcaster, um, keeping my little $10 balance there, knowing that if I’m on the road or I have to interview someone who’s on the phone, you just start using Skype and it will instantly.
[00:27:33] Once it draws down from that 10 or automatically rebuild itself, just beautiful and easy. Um, when I had a very quick look around for equivalent services, instead of having that sort of fare, I. Uh, model, which I think a company like Microsoft could easily afford to maintain. Uh, they all are fixed monthly fees that you’re paying, and the trouble is you might use Skype three times a year.
[00:27:58] It’s just not economically wise to be doing that. It’s just yet another drain on resources. Mind you, as you pointed out to me, I had missed this update. But I have since practiced and now with my iPhone I, if I need to record a call, I just record it in the phone. So Skype has gone. Um, so from a purse per cassity perspective, we look at services or anything from the past, like Skype was, it was once the bee’s knees, and it pushed the boundaries of what you do with the tech.
[00:28:30] Maybe this is just a sign of the times. It’s like the horse and carriage builder. Finally acknowledging that there are cars out there. Is that probably the analogy? I think that’s part
[00:28:43] David Olney: of it. The other thing I think is when Skype started, it was that whole thing of whatever it was, late nineties, early two thousands, what’s possible, what can we do?
[00:28:52] What can we make happen? But then was gobbled by the mega company. And you know, turned into a pretty bland piece of sandwich meat in the bland Microsoft sandwich, and yet it still have had its use and now, well, they don’t wanna support it. It doesn’t make enough money, it’s gone. So I suppose the thing I hope is that there’s still room out there for a half dozen little nerds.
[00:29:19] To build the next thing we need that isn’t run by a megalithic company.
[00:29:23] Steve Davis: There you go. There’s a challenge for half a dozen little nerds.
[00:29:30] Skype: Hello. Welcome to Skype Core testing service. I. After the beep, please record a message afterwards. Your message will be played back to you.
[00:29:40] Steve Davis: Hi, Microsoft. Why are you closing down Skype? Have we done something wrong? Are you jealous of us using Zoom but nothing really replaces you easily. Hello? Hello?
[00:29:53] Microsoft, are you there? Are you there? Hi, Microsoft. Why are you closing down Skype? Have we done something wrong? Are you jealous of us using Zoom? But nothing really replaces you easily. Hello? Hello Microsoft. Are you there?
[00:30:12] Skype: If you are able to hear your own voice, then you have configured Skype correctly.
[00:30:17] If you hear this message but not your own voice, then something is wrong with your audio recording settings. Please check your microphone and microphone settings or visit skype.com for more help. Thank you for using the Skype call testing service. Goodbye.
[00:30:30] Steve Davis: Goodbye indeed.
[00:30:35] One of our dear listeners, bill Baker, she just spotted first of all the Skype notice, which sadly I’d already come across because my initial reaction was, oh, yet another change to systems. But she also noticed that, um, Microsoft has told people we’re getting rid of publisher as well, by the way. So if you want to keep your publisher designs, you need to convert their files.
[00:30:56] But as she said, she’s only rarely seen a design in publisher worth saving. And I think there’s probably something in that because when I think publisher, I think of those Gordy, cutesy, sickly, sweet little kindergarten newsletters, church pew notices, all that sort of stuff where I. Given someone a library of little line drawing cartoons, they went crazy and added extra things that didn’t need to be there.
[00:31:26] Changed a font, every single paragraph. They might be doing the world a favor, David.
[00:31:31] David Olney: Look, there’s gonna be a lot of people who are gonna get an hour of their day back with the death of publisher.
[00:31:37] Steve Davis: What, from not making it or from not having to read the stuff? Uh, both. Well, as Bell said. Keep smiling as long as it’s not in a line drawing.
[00:31:47] Caitlin Davis: Thank you for listening to talking about marketing. If you enjoyed it, please leave a rating or a review in your favorite podcast app and if you found it helpful, please share it with others. Steve and David always welcome your comments and questions, so send them to [email protected]. And finally, the last word to Oscar Wilde.
[00:32:10] There’s only one thing worse than being talked about and that’s not being talked about.