From afar, it probably seems like a mystery. Greece has no money. So why are so many tech items still selling well? It isn’t easy to get a handle on the market as it feels pretty third worldly most of the time. For starters you need to recognize that there aren’t very good stats for… Continue reading Don’t waste good money on Greek retail – part 1, the stats
Category: Business
Will this idea work?
Some time ago I sat in a school committee meeting. As usual they were wasting time talking too much. For about half an hour they were discussing what to do about the graffiti on the wall. I calculated that in that time we could have actually painted it over at least twice. By doing… Continue reading Will this idea work?
Jesus, fig trees and checking your car brakes
“Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.” – Matthew 21:18-22… Continue reading Jesus, fig trees and checking your car brakes
Why Google will never post profits like Apple just did
The Imitation Game was not as good a film as it was made out to be. Maybe if you know nothing about Turing or the history around it all, or if you enjoy watching whodunnit TV shows. Some people summarized it as “the story of how a closet gay shortened the war by two years”.… Continue reading Why Google will never post profits like Apple just did
Mastercard hits rock bottom in advertising
The poster in the Athens metro featured a young man next to a swimming pool at Santorini. “Waking up in the sky: Priceless With your MasterCard you are welcome all in resorts, hotels, villas and spas.” Oh really? Welcome are you? Whoever wrote that hasn’t travelled much in Greece, have they? Sure, major hotels and… Continue reading Mastercard hits rock bottom in advertising
Moving the i-Goalposts
In the old days we used to have great flame wars of PC vs Mac. Back then Apple was going to conquer the desktop. They never even got close of course. Everyone talked about Apple machines but bought PCs. There was always some secret plan, some new technology, a “gamechanger” just around the corner that Apple was… Continue reading Moving the i-Goalposts
In defence of experiments
The recent uproar concerning experiments run by Facebook is really worrying. Because without experiments, there is no business, there is no progress and we learn nothing. Most of my working day is spent conducting experiments or setting up experiments. Most of my business advice ends with “well, let’s try it!” Facebook being… Continue reading In defence of experiments
No Zuckerberg, I don’t think we will ever trust you
Facebook wants us to trust it. Zuckerberg says they need to change their hacker mentality. Stop taking advantage of users and start seeing our point of view. It’s not going to happen. And he isn’t putting his money where his mouth is. Facebook is still essentially the same scammy way of thinking he had… Continue reading No Zuckerberg, I don’t think we will ever trust you
Book review: selling products to atheists
Do you know any openly atheist politicians? We have had openly gay ones for some time now. Even a black president. Yet, despite the fact that atheism is probably one of the major global trends to watch in 2013, atheism isn’t selling much other than itself. This insightful book helps you open up the opportunities… Continue reading Book review: selling products to atheists
Apple Silli and Google Creepy
I have been accused of being a “Google basher”. This is rather unfair. It would be hypocritical to use so many of their products and complain. Google Now might well be called “Google Creepy”. It draws on my email, calendar, gps, web searches and many many other bits of information I voluntarily hand over… Continue reading Apple Silli and Google Creepy