MEDIA-I: New media choice: Canon

<p>Site: www.canon.com.sg </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Technology that makes you smile", promises the shiny Ralph Fiennes </p><p>lookalike on Canon Singapore's home page. Unfortunately, my smile didn't </p><p>last long as the scrolling Java text crashed my iMac. What's more, the </p><p>rollovers for the links didn't work at all, making the site basically </p><p>unusable for Mac fans. Now Java on the Macintosh is notoriously buggy, </p><p>and Mac users are a pretty small minority, but it amazes me that </p><p>big-brand companies still launch websites without having thoroughly </p><p>tested across multiple platforms. "Check out which Canon is </p><p>mac-compatible (sic)", crows the front page. I laughed, grimly. Switch </p><p>to Windows, and the site actually works pretty well. There is a good </p><p>range of product content and a well-stocked press section. Canon has </p><p>clearly tried to humanise its brand: refresh the home page and you </p><p>randomly rotate between Ralph Fiennes, cherubic child and long-haired </p><p>student type. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Everywhere, you are reminded of Canon's leadership and history. The copy </p><p>waxes hyperbolic. Printers become "powerful elements of nature in its </p><p>making". Prose canonises the company to mythological Japanese goddess </p><p>status. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Overall, this is clearly a local-market site, done on a budget. </p><p>Functional, yes. Brand-positive, hmm ... not really. And if you're a Mac </p><p>user, forget it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>