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GetBack.com Leads Visitors Back In Time
Do you have a nostalgia addiction? Are your best moments those spent singing Def Leppard and Twisted Sister karaoke at the top of your lungs? Do you scour eBay for signed photos of The Fonz, and cry tears of joy when you inevitably win? Do you actively miss high school?
Well, have we got the site for you. Getback.com is a destination for all things retro: essentially a multimedia social networking site (think: MySpace), it attempts to chronicle the most memorable pop-culture events of the '60s, '70s, and '80s ... and allow you to chat longingly about them with your friends. There are separate channels (Music, Movies, Games, Life & Style), each packed with various audio/visual content.
"We set out to create a social media experience that will resonate with pop culture enthusiasts of all ages. We are creating a feel good experience for our users: listening to music, looking at album art, remembering their favorite films, playing games," states Chris Dominguez, President, of GetBack Media. "We developed GetBack to connect users to a digital reincarnation of year's past in an emotional and impactful way."
Our tour of the site included precisely one listen to Harold Faltermeyer's Axel F, one This Day in 1972 (including John Lennon's attempt to form his own country, Newtopia), and a joyride through a chunk of the 1980's Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) library. You can even browse by year: click on 1986, for example, and you'll find blurbs about The Kids in the Hall, the price of jeans, and Boy George guest starring on an episode of the A-Team.
The site has some major backers -- Getty Images, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, All Media Guide, and Intellivision (to name a few) -- so there's no dearth of content.
Now, make with the reliving your glory years. [Source Getback.com]
iPhone Launch: Lines Shorter Than Expected
So, here we are within spitting distance of the iPhone launch ... and we have to admit we're a little disappointed. In just over 24 hours from now, the iPhone will officially be on sale. But where are the massive lines wrapped around the block? Where are the miles of camping tents? Where are the riots? Where are the Kentuckians driving by lines and shooting at them with BB guns?
What we're saying is, what the heck kind of launch is this? As of this writing (less than 26 hours out), Switched has confirmed that only 12 people are lined up outside of Apple's New York store in Soho. A slightly less pathetic 18 people are lined up outside of the Fifth Avenue New York store. What gives? Why is the iPhone launch so much less exciting than last fall's sideshow of a PS3 launch?
Well, consider the audience. Unlike the PS3, the iPhone is really more of a product targeted at the employed; people who don't have the luxury of spending days playing make-believe survivalist outside of an electronics store; people who are a lot less likely to be living in Mom's basement.
Secondly, it's the numbers. Sony had only 400,000 PlayStation 3 consoles in the U.S. at launch, which was like throwing a half a sardine into a swimming pool full of piranhas. That meager quantity created crowds, which in turn created some great headlines for the launch. But, it also led to shortages and backlash -- not to mention the violence. Police had to shut down stores in California and New York after brawls broke out. As we mentioned above, last year in Kentucky a line of PS3 hopefuls was shot up in a BB-gun drive-by. A store in California was robbed of its PS3s at gunpoint, while in Connecticut two gunmen shot a customer lined up outside of a Wal-Mart after he refused to hand over his PS3 money.
Apple, it seems, has learned from Sony's bungled launch and is promising three million iPhones available for sale starting tomorrow. Apple is so confident that three million units will suffice that it's allowing two phones per customer. PS3 was limited to one per customer.
For the most part, it appears the masses agree with Apple's assessment that three million will be enough. Sure, the freaks will gobble up the first few hundred thousand units tomorrow night, but your iPhone will be waiting for you when you're damn well ready to buy it. Or, at least that's what you keep telling yourself, right?
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