Stormy Weather At Yahoo

I am a heavy Yahoo user. Yahoo has been the home page on all my computers since the beginning of time.

However, like most users of most brands, I'm not terribly loyal. I'm just too lazy and disinterested to change.

But lately, despite all the hoo-hah about their new ceo and all the miracles she's planning to perform, I'm thinking of leaving Yahoo.

According to the news reports I've read, she seems to think that Yahoo needs to find "innovative and differentiable angle(s)" for their products and services. Apparently they will be focusing on "content" and "mobile" (by the way, is there anyone on the planet who is not focusing on content and mobile?)

To tell you the truth, I don't really give a shit about new content or new mobile capabilities. I'm not all that interested in innovative and differentiable angles, whatever the hell that means. I'm thinking of leaving them because their weather module sucks.

Their weather module won't let me change the cities I monitor (the ones I travel to most often.) According to the threads I've read on line, this has been a problem for years, and they haven't bothered to fix it.

One can only imagine the frenzy of trying to discover "innovative and differentiable angles" that is going on at Yahoo these days. There must be hundreds of content strategists and  software strategists and strategy strategists running around in concentric circles looking for angles. Meanwhile, real live customers who want to know how the weather is in Buffalo are sitting there scratching their asses.

It seems to me that the weather is one of the simple, practical things that people want every day from their home page. I can't envisage how you can expect to be a preferred home page when you can't reliably provide your customers with this most basic of needs.

I'm a believer in specifics. When I have a brand preference it is usually for a specific reason. I think a lot of people are like me.

I have a favorite Italian restaurant. I don't go there because of their "real old world goodness." I go there because I like the garlic rolls.

I don't go to my favorite gas station because their gas "keeps my car running smoothly." I go there because it's 3 blocks away.

I don't fly out of Oakland Airport because they are "my gateway to the world." I do it because the TSA lines are shorter than SFO.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that if you run a business, most people don't give a shit about your grand vision. They are your customers for simple, practical reasons.

So before you run off looking for innovative and differentiable angles, first fix your fucking weather module.