by nick on November 28, 2009
On the right -
Prevent search engines from indexing news content and have readers pay through a variety of subscriptions to recoup lost earnings from physical news sales. People have no right to free journalism and aggregator sites (especially Google News) are to news, what Pirate Bay is to music.
On the left –
If you build it they will come. The internet is an unparalleled open space where the common good is freedom of information without class divides. If providers open their content equally the market will ensure the winners are the cream of crop. Revenue will be made through increased attention and trust.
Further right against ‘Don’t be evil’ -
Stop the Google vampire by embracing its largest competitor instead – Microsoft’s Bing.
If Bing courted enough content providers to bed exclusively with them (by paying, say, the world’s top 50 newspapers and top 1,000 magazines) that would be a huge boon. Would it be enough to grab 10 or 15 percent of market share?
Of course it’s all about money for Murdoch, not attention and that’s where he and the digerati are looking at same issue from different ends.
by nick on November 22, 2009
The thoroughbred race horse, See the Stars, has retired and there’s a book out to celebrate his achievements called One Blazing Summer.
Apparently, the real test of such a horse is in its three-year-old year and See the Stars was spectacular in his. He raced every month for six months and won the lot, including the triple: the Guineas, the Derby and the Arc.
He has plenty more racing in him but retirement is the call from management. Why, when there are winners’ cheques on the table? Stud value. He’s 85,000 euros a ‘go’ and he will ‘go’ a hundred times a year!
Ignore morals and ethics for a moment and indulge a silly but interesting thought: what if that human stars put themselves out to stud? What would Pele, Tiger or Lance exact? Forget sport and think about a Bill Clinton or a Steve Jobs gene pool up for sale. Really crazy only-in-America stuff, eh?
by nick on November 15, 2009
MPs follow their vocation diligently to improve our land;
teachers are wholly dedicated to the development of children;
police and law courts will keep criminals off our streets;
companies believe staff are their greatest asset;
hospitals are clean heavens of care.
What assumptions have you made about that meeting you’re holding this week? Might they be worth revisiting?
by nick on November 8, 2009
Most business leaders don’t need a poll or a study to arrive at the conclusion that managers are the largest reason for staff resignations, but the news this week sends us straight there.
Of course direct departure isn’t the only symptom of poor management. Professor Mike Kelly, director of public health, NICE said to the BBC that more than 13 million working days a year are lost because of work related stress, anxiety and depression.
How much of that is directly attributable to managers and bosses is pretty impossible to pin down, but haven’t we got to admit there’s likely to be an element of cause and effect there?
Photo: one of the UK’s most feared managers, Sir Alex Ferguson (image from Wikipedia)
by nick on November 1, 2009
Piano maker Kemble & Co is closing after nearly 100 years producing over 350,000 pianos. They were the UK’s last large scale piano manufacturer.
It’s a reflection of yesteryear when a piano was a central asset in the home. Mum and dad would teach their kids the odd tune in the hope of lighting their musical spark. Much more likely now to see a Playstation and laptop alongside the Sky box. Even if it were still fashionable, I doubt many modern living rooms are large enough to house a piano. I’m sure Kemble is a wonderful manufacturer but they belong to a sunshine industry that is clearly setting.
Another sign of the times is the UK release of Amazon’s e-reader, the Kindle. If I were a newspaper boss I’d be doing everything in my power to have my subscription service available to e-readers and smart phones. If I want eyeballs, I need to be where they are.
So why on earth are only four titles available via Amazon? The Evening Standard and Metro are free in London, but not so here. Hello! Amazon’s profits were up 68% in Q3 with the Kindle now their largest selling item by value and by volume (that’s staggering!). The music industry was far too slow to realise digital was a game changer, you’ve got to ask will the publishing and newspaper guys have learnt their lesson?
I can’t help but think of the Royal Mail strikes in the same (dimming) light. With the CWU seemingly taking glee at delaying some 50 to 60 million items, surely they’re speeding up their own inevitable death march.
Right or wrong as the union’s position may be, letters are in the same ‘sunshine industry’ as pianos and newspapers. No picket line will change that.
