October 04, 2005

big is back (out)

It looks like the pendulum of automotive excess is starting to swing back toward smaller, more efficient cars. The Washington Post notes that SUV sales have dropped by up to half this year over last, while small car sales have gone up, probably due to higher gas prices. Predictably, Detroit got caught with its pants down because it doesn't have any efficient cars (read: hybrids) to offer. Too bad they didn't pay attention back when it was made plain that fuel efficiency was going to get really important Real Soon Now.

My take on this is that the gas-price tipping point has finally been reached, so it's a great time for cities to propose transit alternatives (read: trolleys) and actually get them funded. If I ran a city, I'd make all existing transit free for the next 6 months to get ridership numbers up, then use that period to convince people that transit is worthwhile (or at least figure out why they think it isn't) while drumming up new funds to make it even better. Of course I don't run a city, but I hope that folks who do start to see that transit is going to get really important Real Soon Now.

April 30, 2004

How to sell lots of bags

The secret is in the tag.

Bonus link. Look for some familiar ideas and entities strewn throughout.

April 27, 2004

Will the suits destroy it?

It seems that Google is facing an unavoidable decision this week regarding an IPO. Either they will stay private and be faced with a much larger headache than they have been used to, having to file public records as if a traded company, or will go public and actually be beholden to shareholders looking for quarterly investment returns. With an exodus of wealthy employees — a lot of core intellectual capital — and perhaps the loss of further benefits such as the four days of work and one of pet project pursuit, I'm afraid the environment that has been part of the creation of their world-class technology will come to an end. They don't conform, after all, and Wall Street-types are not known for tolerating unorthodox approaches to business management.

And if management changes, whaddaya bet that the home page becomes as littered as all the others?

I apologize for being the pessimist today.