DMNews reports that Lillian Vernon has laid off half its workforce and is thinking about selling the company.

A direct mail powerhouse back in the day, Lillian Vernon seems a little like the silent film star who couldn’t make it in the era of talkies: The Internet era has evidently taken its toll on the company.

Dawn Anfuso over at iMedia Connection argues that it does.

It sorta feels like beating a dead horse to say that Vista is … well, let’s just say it’s not the optimal computer experience. This week alone I’ve experienced impossibly slow DVD data burning time trying to back up my files, a system crash trying to view an online video, and — well, after all this time with Vista (my new laptop came preinstalled with it and I’m too lazy to upgrade back to XP), I’m just numb to all the security popups.

All of which is just the tip of the iceberg as to why this video strikes me as pretty funny. Because truth is the root of all great satire. The salt in the wound? It was sent to me by my brother. Yep: He’s a Mac user.

If you’re involved with email marketing to any degree, you should be aware of the EEC — the Email Experience Council. While I disagree with their lack of a hyphen in “email,” there’s nevertheless a lot of valuable information to be found on their site.

Takeaway for marketers: Click. Explore. Learn.

“First you jump off the cliff and you build wings on the way down.”
—Ray Bradbury