Good morning I had another burst of intense self doubt earlier this week. Are airlines really as stupid as I say they are? Or am I missing something so thunderingly obvious as to imply I’m even more stupid than I suggest the airlines sometimes are? This was triggered by the confirmation that Delta is indeed buying an oil refinery, and was underscored by the near unanimous chorus of approval by the usual talking head commentators [...]
Earlier this week we heard what seemed like interesting, unexpected, and exciting news from beleaguered Barnes & Noble and their epic struggle to make second place a viable place, with their Nook battling against mighty Google’s Kindle. Here’s a typical cheerleading article about this. But is there a darker underlying truth to this? Quite possibly so. First, to put this into context, let’s take a quick recap on the situation prior to the announcement. The [...]
I’ve recently been getting junk/spam type text messages on my cell phone. This felt way more intrusive than regular spam emails and unwanted phone calls. Text messages are typically ‘interruptive’ type events – you stop what you are doing to look at the message, whereas with email you can choose when you check your email. And, of course, depending on your phone and messaging plan, you might find yourself paying for the cost of receiving [...]
Good morning Happy 60th birthday this week to the illustrious Boeing B-52, still operational as a heavy bomber, sixty years after it first took to the skies on 15 April, 1952. 744 of the planes were built, including 102 of the final B52-H model, of which 85 are still in active duty and another nine are in the Air Force Reserve. Current projections suggest the planes will continue in service until perhaps 2040. The plane [...]
Good morning I was excited to read about JK Rowling’s next book, ‘The Casual Vacancy’, being released in September – especially because it is a book for adults. But upon going to the information on Amazon, I saw that the book, with a recommended retail price of $35, is currently showing a street price of $21 for the hardcover book and $20 for the eBook. Furthermore, the $21 hardcover price is ‘only’ a 40% discount [...]
On Wednesday the Department of Justice announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Apple and five book publishers – Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Penguin. The suit alleges an illegal conspiracy to raise the prices of eBooks when Apple launched its iPad in 2010. Prior to that time, publishers generally sold books and eBoosk alike to distributors and retailers on the basis of the title having a notional recommended retail price, and [...]
The internet has been a core part of hotel companies’ promotional and distribution activities for at least five years now, maybe even ten or more. It is no longer new, it is well known, to consumers and to the companies seeking to use the internet to promote and sell to their customers. So there’s no excuse for any remaining idiocy in what these days is a well understood medium. Let me list the things that [...]
I wrote a week ago about being tricked/trapped into spending $5.80/gallon for gas (when the going rate everywhere else was $3.80 or less) while returning a rental car to Orlando Airport. The good news is that the relentless march of modern technology increasingly offers us solutions to such problems. In a new article, I detail four different types of products that can give you real time information, in your car, telling you what local gas [...]
The iPad 3 was generally well received when announced on 7 March, and its first day of sale last Friday, 16 March was preceded by the usual lines of people waiting overnight to be first into an Apple store on Friday morning. We first commented on the iPad 3′s release here, and also discussed if you should buy an iPad 3 and pointed out the six biggest disappointments of the iPad 3. Now that many [...]
Recent Comments from Readers