Cross posted on my posterous blog

I came across a (relatively new) website called Smokoo.co.za. The site follows a growing worldwide phenomenon called "pay-to-bid auction", which allows users to bid on a specific item, which in turn increments the value of the item, by a pre-determained amount, as well as increases time remaining in the auction. Each bid in turn costs the bidder a specific amount. When the clock hits 0:00 and if you are the last person to have bid, you "win the auction" and then have to purchase the item at the price it ended at, plus add delivery.

Sounds confusing ? Exactly. That's the idea behind the site, confuse the shyte out of people, and print cash.

So here is a practical example:

Yesterday afternoon an auction started for an iPad 64GB 3g (http://www.smokoo.co.za/auctions/smokooauctionipad64gb_3gwifi_2_425b72)
The "recommended retail price" on the site was R11,000. Delivery if you win is (a staggering) R600.

Right, so you register on the site, and buy a package of bids. Each BID costs you R5 (Five Rand). You can buy various packages of bids, so for example 50 bids for R250.
Every time you or a fellow bidder bids on the iPad, you increase the price you will pay by 5c. So the price you will pay for the iPad starts of at R0.00, and increases each time a bid is made by 5c. They also offer an auto-bid service which you "load up" bids, and let it bid for you.

The iPad auction (eventually) ended this morning, with the final auction price at R1076.90.
Lets do the maths:

R1076.90 (Final Price) divided by R0.05 (5c) to get the number of bids placed = 21538 total number of bids placed on the iPad auction.
Each Bid that was placed costs the user R5. So 21538 (Total number of bids placed) times by R5 (cost of each bid) = R107,690.00 (One hundred thousand odd rand)
That's what Smookoo made out of that auction, minus the cost of the iPad and other costs associated with the site (hosting etc etc etc)

To me, this is crazy. They are taking people for a ride. A couple of times, I saw the clock hit 00:00, and then all of a sudden it jumped up again. Here is a screenshot to show:

Techcentral reported earlier today that MTN would also be offering the iPhone 4 on contracts, when it (finally) launches in South Africa towards the end of September. We all know the iPhone 4 is going to be big in South Africa, I have already had over 3500 views on my iPhone 4 in South Africa post I did a while back. But I still have a pertinent question, which is really bothering me about the iPhone in South Africa.

Which operator, be it MTN, Vodacom or Cell C, will be able to provide the best support for the phone ?

Support, not just being hardware support, but also software and iPhone support. My biggest "gripe" with the iPhone in South Africa, is that people are spending up to 10K on a phone,  without knowing their full capabilities.
The fact that it is so much more than just a phone, and you can install applications and use it for push email, amongst a whole whack of other things, makes me believe that the network operators have to play some part in promoting the phone, instead of just "selling it".

Vodacom have been selling the iPhone for just short on 2 years, and have already sold around 110k iPhones in South Africa. They have the upper hand I think, with the knowledge and expertise gained, as well as offering services such as Visual Voicemail & dedicated iPhone packages. But yet daily, I get emails from people who need assistance with their iPhones, that's why I setup SA iPhone Help to try and help people with posing questions about the iPhone.

At the end of the day, for me, it isn't about the price, or about the best data bundle, which ever cellular network wants to be want to be the market leaders in the iPhone 4 race, they are going to have offer better support & education on the iPhone which will educate the users about the phone and it's capabilities.

Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below :)

At least once a day, I see a car almost getting taken out at a traffic circle. People STILL don't know how to use them, even though they are so simple.

This one is from the Joblog boys. Posted back in '05, and still so very relevant every single day (Thanks Guys)

The Arrive Alive site also has a really good illustration and animation showing you how to navigate a circle

The diagram above illustrates your everyday traffic circle, or roundabout as some may know it.

Contrary to popular belief, you may not drive wherever the hell you like on whatever side of the road you have chosen i.e. left or right. This diagram shows clearly which direction you may go, depending on which side of the road you are driving.

1. The yellow arrow indicators show you that there are only TWO (2) possible directions to take when on the left hand side of the road, or, outside lane.

2. The blue arrow indicators show that there are also TWO (2) possible directions to take when on the right hand side of the road, or, inside lane.

3. The red indicator arrows show when some idiot decides to take the road-law into his own hands, ending up in an accident, often resulting in an angry argument and possibly a restraining order for use of bad language and throwing punches.

You may be wondering where the blue indicator arrows go to from there? Well, my dears, the rules start all over again. They may go straight, or right again. It’s that simple.