Today's topic is a letter written to the first great Internet search engine, Yahoo! Started by two college buddies, they took turns sleeping on a bunk while the other categorized as many Web sites as possible. Today, Yahoo! hosts numerous free services like Yahoo! Mail, My Yahoo!, as well as auctions, classifieds, and more.
Begin by answering the following questions in a small group. Be sure to give everyone a chance to respond.
- How do you use Yahoo! ? What services do you use now, and what Yahoo! services have you used in the past?
- How do you feel about Yahoo! services?
- Predict the future of Yahoo!. Do you think it will continue to be a powerful brand the Internet, or not? Explain.
- What is an "open letter"? When would you write one, and why?
Vocabulary for the article: Ode to The Yahoo of Yore
Work as a group to fill in the blanks from the word list below. Each phrase is used only once.
- The new marketing campaign was ____________ , and that may have been the secret of its success.
- Before Sonya joined the marketing team, its creativity had become ____________ . They just couldn't get the job done.
- There was a time when our marketing department __________ be original; you never knew what they would create next.
- But it wasn't long before every ad campaign they created looked like things they had done before. There were small differences, but at the ________ it was all the same.
- _____________ , we were concerned about the future of the company.
- After all, sales were _________________ , with little or no change for the last four quarters.
- I was glad when the company president said that he had a surprise______________ for the shareholders. He was hiring a new marketing manager.
- When the new marketing manager joined the company, the president welcomed her ___________________ the entire company.
- The marketing manager vowed that we would never ___________ our reputation with another boring ad.
- She vowed that the company would never _____________ for mediocre marketing.
- The good news is that it has worked. In fact, _____________ that our market share is increasing! Not only are the shareholders surprised, they are pleasantly surprised.
Word List
|
in store |
core |
on behalf of |
|
sully |
pay a dime |
offbeat |
|
needless to say |
dysfunctional |
essentially flat |
|
used to |
rumor has it |
|
In this lesson, you will listen to an "open letter" to Yahoo! from Fortune Magazine's Stewart Alsop, published May 27, 2002.
Before listening, try to predict what the letter is about:
- The continuing success of Yahoo!
- The problems Yahoo! faces will face in the future.
- The early days of Yahoo!
- Other: _________________________________________
- _______________________________________________
Take notes in the space provided below. Try to focus on main ideas and supporting details.
1. Please answer the following questions with T for true, or F for false.
- The author is optimistic about the future of Yahoo.
- As Yahoo looks for new ways to grow revenue and profits, it is strengthening its core value as a service.
- The author is happy with the operation of My Yahoo.
- The author prefers Google for most of his searches.
- Even if the author stops using My Yahoo, he will continue to use Yahoo Finance.
- Yahoo's e-mail functions well.
- Some people claim that Yahoo is planning a paid e-mail service.
- The author views Yahoo marketing as a silly experience.
- The author believes that the current leadership of Yahoo understands "technology culture."
2. Edit any statements that you marked False to make them true.
3. Briefly summarize the author's position below.
What are his main ideas and some supporting details?
4. Check your memory of the vocabulary with the crossword puzzle.