On Tuesday 14 December 2010, my sister and I were among the 6,000 people who descended upon the Sydney Opera House for the afternoon taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

As we sat upon our blow-up cushions on the Opera House forecourt, Ross Wilson sang “Eagle Rock” before the crowd went wild for Oprah, who appeared brightly in an orange Collette Dinnigan dress.

Oprah’s guests included Bono, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and Olivia Newton-John, but the highlight was of course Hugh Jackman on the flying fox. What an epic fail of a dramatic entrance. Good thing they cut filming, because the audience did not know how to react.

Being a part of the afternoon audience meant that we had the hindsight of knowing that the morning audience all received necklaces. So when Oprah announced that everyone in the audience was receiving a diamond necklace (from Rio Tinto) as a memento of the event, everyone started screaming as if Oprah had let loose a box of bees. A man sitting in front of us even turned around to say, “I know I’m a man, but I’m really excited too!”

In a show dedicated to Australia, it was inevitable that there was going to be some cultural cringe. And the winner of the most cringe-worthy moment had to be when the show ended with the Qantas Choir singing “I Still Call Australia Home” with the help of Hugh Jackman, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman (remember this?), Olivia Newton-John and even Russell Crowe.

There’s a good chance that the $5 million spent by Tourism Australia on “Oprah’s Ulitmate Australian Adventure”, as well as the extra millions spent on promoting Australian holiday packages in the US, Canada, UK and New Zealand as the Oprah episodes go to air, will translate into greater tourist numbers in Australia. Even before the episodes have even aired, Oprah’s visit has apparently generated $14 million worth of mostly positive exposure in the US. I don’t know how that number was generated but it seems like good news for Tourism Australia. But then again, I only have a communications degree, so what do I know?

Australians were just not spending as much as experts had predicted. Why not? Was it because in these economically unstable times (what up, Spain?) people are being more cautious about spending and deciding to spend less on superfluous material goods? No, according to Myer, David Jones and Harvey Norman, the drop in Australia’s retail sales is all because of foreign websites selling goods at cheaper prices.

Australia’s biggest retailers are lobbying the Australian government to apply GST to all foreign online purchases or to remove GST from all locally sold goods under $1,000. And in a move that would ensure their message was heard by the right people, they spent $200,000 on buying full-page ads in national newspapers.

Christopher Zinn, campaign director of Choice, stated that Australian retailers only have themselves to blame, with their “high prices, limited range and poor customer service that increasingly encourage people to use the internet.” However, the high prices, limited range and poor customer service you get in store are equally prevalent on the websites of these retailers. Surely it would have been a better investment if these retailers updated their own websites with the $200,000.

A look at the Myer and David Jones sites shows that catalogues get precedence over any user-friendly online shopping experience, and even though it looks like you can, you can’t even buy online on the Harvey Norman site! That’s kind of sad in an age where a twenty-year-old fashion blogger can set up a basic online store overnight using just Blogger and PayPal.

The higher value of the Australian dollar has meant that shopping on international sites has made things cheaper, but the online shopping experience is also much better than on most comparable Australian sites. For example, David Jones is Australia’s leading luxury department store, but its website does not compete with the usability and range of products found on the websites of Barneys, Saks, Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus. The online stores of these American department stores have been operating for many years and it is a wonder that major Australian retailers have been so slow to follow suit.

Myer, David Jones and Harvey Norman also say that untaxed foreign websites will mean the demise of casual and part-time jobs in retail, manufacturing and logistics. But most of us have worked for or know people who have worked for these retailers and know that as soon as the school holidays begin, more hours and shifts are scheduled for the younger kids because their wages are cheaper. So, please forgive me if I don’t believe that you are actually looking out for Australian jobs but are in fact trying in vain to monopolise where Australians shop online. As Bill Shorten pointed out “online retail sales account for about 3 per cent of all retail sales in Australia and it is estimated that between 20 per cent to half of these sales relate to overseas purchases.”

In short, stop complaining and up your (online) game Australian retailers.

Thinking about upgrading to Windows 7 for your business? We asked Joel Montgomery from Powerbuy, online home of I.T. coupons and cashbacks, to give us a quick overview of what to expect with Windows 7.

7 Things About Windows 7

Here are 7 things we think all Australian small businesses should know about Windows 7:

1. Windows 7 is a lot faster than XP and Vista. Our partner, Correct Solutions, estimates a saving of 20-30 mins per person per day because everything works that bit quicker.
2. You don’t need to buy a new PC to run it. Windows 7 is less “resource hungry” than Vista and requires a minimum 1GHz processor, 1GB memory (RAM) & 16GB hard disk space. If you’re running 512MB RAM then a Computer Troubleshooters engineer can come on-site and install it for cheap.
3. Three  versions of Windows 7 will be available at launch – Home Premium, Professional & Ultimate. Vista Business and XP Professional users should upgrade to the equivalent Windows 7 Professional Edition.
4. Vista  and XP compatible programs will also work on Windows 7, but, if you plan to run your XP compatible software on Windows 7 then make sure you buy the Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate Editions because the Home Premium edition does not support XP backwards compatibility.
5. Upgrading to Windows 7 from XP is not that easy. All of your files, settings and folder structures will be lost when you do a fresh install. Make sure you have the original CDs for your XP-compatible software and back-up all of your files first. The whole process will take hours to complete.
6. Take  advantage of the introductory upgrade pricing. If you’re running XP or Vista you can upgrade for between A$200 and A$400 per computer (except home version upgrades). Earlier models will pay full price for Windows 7. Better pricing is available for companies with Microsoft volume license agreements.
7. If you purchased a laptop or desktop after June 26 2009 then it’s likely you’ll be entitled to a cheap or free upgrade. You’ll need to register with your manufacturer first, so check with Microsoft to see if you’re entitled.

What do you think? Is there anything else Australian small businesses should consider before upgrading to Windows 7?

With the launch of Windows 7, we asked Amplify friend Joel Montgomery, the tech-savvy owner of Powerbuy, the online PC cashback and Dell discount coupon super site, to give us his impression of Microsoft’s new OS.

Without further ado, here’s Joel’s perspective on Windows 7.

With the full launch of Windows 7 on October 22, we’ve weeded through over fifty new features to bring you what we believe are the most important features for small business users. Here is a quick summary of what’s great, and not so great, about the new Windows platform.

Windows 7 is Great For:

1. Employee Productivity

Things just seem to happen faster with Windows 7. Whilst start up and shut down time hasn’t reduced noticeably, opening files (particularly recent documents) and using Microsoft Office is much faster, and compared to Vista you’ll notice a lot less of those nonsense pop-up messages. If you’re using a smaller netbook [link] with less power you’ll notice an even more significant lift in performance.

What surprises most people about Windows 7 is that it seems to be less ‘buggy’ than Vista even in early release (before all the service packs and bug fixes come out). You can expect future revisions of Windows 7 will be even slicker.

2. Using Two Documents at the Same Time

Windows 7 is great for editing to two word documents, comparing two excel files, or having both your Internet browser and email displayed on the screen simultaneously. In previous versions it was difficult to re-size two windows to fit nicely next to each other but with the Windows 7 “Aero Snap” function you can position two adjacent windows with a very simple click and drag of the mouse.

If you find yourself using the Aero Snap function then you should know that this works best on widescreen flat panel monitors, so if you don’t have a widescreen now might be the right time to upgrade.

3. Sharing Files Between Multiple Computers

If your business runs a small group of computers then we think you’ll love the HomeGroups feature. HomeGroups is a really simple, new method of creating a network between multiple computers without the need for a server or a techie to set it up. Previous versions of Windows made this really difficult, but now you can share files, printers, media and more with only a few mouse clicks. No more USB memory keys or emails to share large files amongst your team!

Windows 7 is Not Great For:

1. Surfing the Internet

Windows 7 comes with Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) and if you ask any enthusiast they’ll tell you IE8 underperforms against the competition. It crashes unexpectedly, it’s not very fast and the features are lacking. People in the know use Firefox – a great web browser that is stable and feature rich. Thankfully you can install Firefox for free and it works fine on Windows 7.

2. Playing Media Files (Music & Video)

Listening to music and watching videos may not be a big deal in the work environment, but Microsoft Windows Media player continues to be difficult to use and unable to support all common media types. iTunes is still a far better alternative for playing media files.

The General Consensus on Windows 7

The techies are very positive about Windows 7 which is a huge contrast to the negative press Vista received prior to launch. For day to day business use we think you will see a noticeable improvement in productivity because Windows 7 works faster and crashes less than both Vista and XP. If you use Firefox instead of IE8 and iTunes instead of Windows Media Player then you’re guaranteed a better experience than you’ve ever had with your PC.

So, have you tried Windows 7 yet? Tell us your thoughts below.

Here’s our second installment of the “Top Viral Video of the Week” series.

Not sure if this can be considered “viral” just yet, as it’s only been viewed some 36,400 times, but it’ll defintely give you a laugh on this dreary Friday afternoon (although maybe not for those easily offended)!

Bud Light’s commercials always employ the same sense of humour that make them so popular online. I think this will soon become just as popular as the Bud Light Swear Jar ad.

One of the best things about online video campaigns is that advertisers have more creative freedom, unlike traditional television advertising, which can be more restrictive in terms of cost, reach and censorship. In the online space, brands are able to reach a much larger audience and engage users who typically are already interested in the product.

What do you think of the new Bud Light ad? Is it worthy of becoming viral?