In order to create an oxymoron with Kenji's post about hating top 10 lists about stupid subjects (in addition to my words of wisdom at the end) here is another top 5 list. This one involves the eternal battle between red and blue. You may not realize it, but most of the companies that are in the most heated competition are under either a red or blue banner. The battles themselves tend to be pointless and it doesn't help that no one is actually drawing any blood. So here are my top 5 Red vs Blue battles.
This was a comedy about the two sides from Halo multiplayer that really didn't want to fight each other. I watched a few episodes of the first season and now that it's available as a box set, I'd like to go back and watch it in it's entirety because I found the few episodes that I did watch very funny and entertaining.
Here are another two products that are so similar it is very difficult to tell the difference. Yet there will be tons of commercials, ads at the movie theater, and blind taste tests that future generations will look back and scratch their heads as they try to understand how sugary acid water with some CO2 in it got us so worked up.
This one is very relevant to the times and some would not say it is pointless. I'm speaking about the fall of an older, more established business (Blockbuster) who is falling to a younger internet based company. Blockbuster has recently filed chapter 11 and while they are not going out of business, the video rental business does not look good for them right now. Netflix, however, is doing very well. Their stock and profits are rising and they keep releasing more and more titles on Watch Instantly and the consumer is benefiting. It also doesn't hurt that Watch Instantly can be accessed on almost any major consumer electronic device available. I keep hearing how happy people are with their Netflix service. (Editor's Note: The only real competition that Netflix has right now is Redbox. I suppose when Blockbuster inevitably falls, it'll be a red vs red competition.)
Pandora was based off of the music genome project. It has gained a lot of popularity in the smartphone app market and there are even dedicated devices for Pandora. Last.fm allows you to connect socially with other listeners that use the service and also allow you to catalogue your music on Last.fm. While they both try to suggest new music for you to listen to based on what you like, in my opinion Pandora's suggestions are better but I listen to Last.fm more because of the other features it has. While these two services are a little different they are both competing for my ear time.
Linux vs Windows. They seem to be at war since before I started using computers. Red Hat is the version of Linux aimed at the enterprise (read businesses) and Windows is aimed at the same market. The only other key player here could be Apple, but most businesses want to be serious. Apple is still the platform for the creative sector at best. After Vista came out it was starting to look like the tides were turning. Could Microsoft have upset that many users and cause them to run to the alternative? No. They just hung on to XP until Windows 7 came out. Well we can always hope that next year will be the year of the Linux desktop.
Bonus:
The irony wouldn't be apt without an additional five to make it a proper top ten list. So, here's Kenji's additional five Red vs Blue battles.
They seem to be neck and neck as far as grocery store quality coffee is concerned. They also both suck. Moving on.
They seem to be neck and neck in an irrelevance contest. How either store are still in business is beyond me, especially RadioShack, but they do manage to blow a lot of money on commercials . Maybe I'm being a bit unfair: Best Buy does give The Consumerist a lot of stories after all. So place your bets now as to who will be around in the next 5 years.
There is actually little difference between the two stores. They almost offer the same goods and services including in house brands that are cheaper than the name brands they sell. The main difference is the perceived difference in their customer bases. Target has a Starbucks in their stores and Walmart has a McDonalds. Nuff said.
Not going to go into too much depth about Democrats and Republicans because it will inevitably piss someone (or everyone) off. As we in the U.S. know, there are red states and blue states. Red states and blue states not really getting along would be an understatement. If you were to listen to the rhetoric of our politicians, the Republicans will tell you that the country will explode if the Democrats come to power and the Democrats will tell you that the country will implode if the Republicans did. The only thing worse, of course, would be if they actually work together to accomplish things in this country. Can't happen. You wouldn't want to know what would happen if it did.
Finally the most culturally relevant of the Red vs Blues at this very moment. Verizon will be getting the iPhone 4 on February 10th and along with it will come more anti-AT&T sentiment that we have been hearing since many migrated to the only carrier that had the iPhone. Arguing over who is the superior phone carrier is like arguing over whether your thumb or your index finger is the better finger: depends on the situation. When the Verizon iPhone 4 dust finally settles, I wonder who will be the more hated carrier.
Honorable Mention: Pizza Hut vs Domino's Pizza - It's amazing to me that not sucking anymore is actually a marketing campaign.
If you feel misrepresented by any of the statements in this blog article please [link]let me know and I will redact, edit, delete, or bludgeon (with a keyboard and the backspace key) any of the offending text.
If you feel that a red vs blue battle was not mentioned here and you feel like you are missing out, leave a comment.
0 Comments
