|
|
|
|
Current | Archives
|
Friday, June 19, 2009
The double edge sword of subscription mobile apps
 I think that Apple is playing with a double edged sword when it comes to subscription iPhone apps. One thing that I have hated about Verizon is that they want to charge a fee for everything. Just about every add on app for my non-smart LG phone comes with a monthly fee. non of these apps are valuable enough for me to want to pay every month for it. The reason that cell phone carriers have been very attractive businesses is because they get reoccurring monthly revenue from most of their customers. Most MBA's eyes get big when they think they can get the same kind of revenue for their business. Lots of people want to sell you service that you have to pay every month to get. Sometime I think business people see a greater ROI by having a subscription business and end up chasing a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow they cannot find. There are a class of apps that can come to the iPhone with a subscription service that would never come with a one time purchase model. Subscription apps really open up the kind of content based apps we will see. I think this is a good thing for mobile platforms and content providers. The problem is that you run the risk of turning off your customers. For years now there have been backlash toward subscription services. People are already paying too many monthly bills. While a service like Netflix has done well, subscription music service and sat radio business have not done well. The value proposition has to be in line with customers expectations. The reason this is a concern for Apple is because they have put themselves in charge of their ecosystem. The iPhone is popular in part because of the app store. It is not an open market, it is a market that Apple guides and controls. If developers start turn off iPhone customers, this can effect how people think of Apple and the iPhone in the end. It is a very tricky situation. I am in a part of my life where very little is worth another subscription. I was willing to pay for the MLB app, because paying $10 at the start of each season is easier to budget, that playing $2 a month for the baseball season. I guess it is all about how the users thing of their finances. Labels: apps, business, iphone, mobile apps
- Rich,
8:47 PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
iPhone Apps and Content
There is a post on Gizmodo about how they are starting to see single band apps pop up on the iPhone store. The person who wrote the article thought this is lame. It is easy to see how this could end up in 100s of apps being on the store and an average fan buying dozens of these apps. I am not surprised this is happening. It is a result of the business rules of the app store and of the apps. A customer can only be charged once per app. That means that there is no other way for the record labels to charge you every time the content is updated. There is no way to charge people through a single app. The content provider is forced to send the customer back to the app store and buy a new app. I am not against the record company charging me for new content when it comes out, I just don't like the idea of needing 40 apps to listen to the bands I like. I already blogged about how apps have short life spans. So putting out new apps sounds like a good thing. This is new and it seems like there is a lot to be worked out in this business model. As a customer, if there are songs I can get on the app, I want them in my iTunes collection also. I would want to be able to listen to them in other context also. Not just in that app alone. Labels: apps, business, content, Gizmodo, iphone
- Rich,
11:07 PM
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Executive Pay
Since the start of our current Great Recession, I have heard a lot about Executive Pay. A little while ago it was announced that some Bank Executives received 18 Billion dollars in Bonus Pay. These are banks that got bailout money. People were outraged about this. They talked about Wall Street and bankers being out of touch with the rest of America. President Barack Obama announced that there will be Executive Pay limits on future banks that get bail out funds. Some people have compared Obama stance on Executive Pay to Reagan breaking up the Air Traffic Controllers union.I Think it might be going a little far. Lawrence Lindsey brought up a great point on the daily show. These bonuses are only a small part of the problem. The problem is a lot bigger than bonus pay or CEOs going on private jets. I think focusing on these issues is short sited and addressing these issue is grandstanding. I know symbols are important, but I want the president working to really fix the problem and not just the symbols. Labels: Barack Obama, business, Executive, Lawrence Lindsey, pay
- Rich,
4:29 PM
Sunday, October 26, 2008
How to handle a layoff
On tech crunch there is an entry about how to handle a layoff. It is an e-mail from Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis. I think he makes a lot of good points here. I have never been a CEO, but I have been laidoff and I have been survived layoffs at a company. This does not make me an expert, but he helps me understand what companies face. 1. Make the cuts as deep as you can. If you have to eat a pile of S*** you should make sure you finish it in one sitting. Cut to the bone. Cut so much that you will not have to cut again. 2. Realize where cuts will effect your business. I worked in customer support after layoffs. The first time people acted like cutting customer support staff would not effect the quality of customer support. If you do not want to effect the quality, you will need need to reduce the amount of support you offer. If you cut workers do not expect the remaining workers to just pick up their slack. That can make the situation worse. PS. I support tech crunch posting this e-mail. In the software world there are three knobs that can be changed, Features, Schedule, and Quality. Before you make the layoffs you need to realize which of these knobs will need to be adjusted. You will not be able to lay people off and hope everything goes as well as before. Most companies will say they need to still be competitive after layoffs and are not willing to let off their foot off the peddle. This is unrealistic and harmful to the business in the end. If the company is to succeed they need to be truthful about what will happen. 3. Define what is important for your workers and your management. Every tech company is already putting 11 pound of work into a 10 pound sack. Even before your layoffs people are already working hard and pushing to their limits. You not only need focus people on what is important, you need to tell them what is not important. You need to tell people. 4. Support you managers and have them support the employees. After a layoff employees can feel like they are in danger. They need support. They need to know what the management wants and that the management has a plan. The feeling of dread that things are not going to get better can cause another round of layoffs. PS. I support Tech Crunch posting this e-mail. It is silly for Jason Calacanis to think this would not get into the public. Labels: business, Jason Calacanis, layoffs, Tech Crunch
- Rich,
4:28 PM
Monday, June 23, 2008
Yahoo! You Later
 Today on Webb Alert I heard about the Yahoo! Resignation Generator. I thought this was pretty cool. It reminds of F'd Company website and when Po Bronson had an apology generator on his web site. I am not sure what is going to happen at Yahoo! I like Yahoo. They have some of my favorite internet brands in their company. I really do not want to see them self destruct. I am happy that they were able to hold off Microsoft. I am worried that so many of the top people there have decided to leave. I just hope that it does not mean anything really bad for them. Labels: business, flickrpost, Po Bronson, yahoo
- Rich,
9:01 PM
Monday, April 14, 2008
Save Polariod, Save Yourself
 A few days before I got my Polaroid it was announced that it was going to stop making instant film. The business has been hit hard by the digital explosion. I cannot think of very many professional uses for polaroids anymore. I cannot see how they make enough money to make Polaroid film worth making. Today a friend sent me a link to a Save polaroid website. We had a Polaroid when I was growing up. I remember one of my siblings getting a new Polaroid, taking pictures in the front year, and placing the yet to be exposed photos on the bush next to our front door. I remember watching the image expose right before my eyes. I was amazed at what was happening. I am sad to hear that Polaroid is going away. I think it is a cool technology. It is the everyday world looking like magic. The world will be a little bit more sad without instant cameras. All that said I will not be able to buy enough Polaroid film for a company to make a business off it. I will not spend the money on a pack of Polaroid film for it to be a specialty item. I think it is fun, I would like it to be around forever, but I cannot say that I will vote with my wallet. I just cannot stand up and say that this is important enough for me to help save it. Some one else will have to save it.  Labels: business, polaroid, self
- Rich,
9:17 PM
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Take that FCC
I am happy to hear the The Courts Rebuff the FCC on Indecency. I am one of the people who things the FCC can only regulate the airwaves because they are a public resource. They should not be regulating the content on cable. They can be regulating other parts of the cable business, like the monopoly aspect or technical aspects. I think that the first amendment should apply to cable content. “We are very pleased with the court’s decision and continue to believe that the government regulation of content serves no purpose other than to chill artistic expression in violation of the First Amendment,” said Scott Grogin, a senior vice president at Fox. “Viewers should be allowed to determine for themselves and their families, through the many parental control technologies available, what is appropriate viewing for their home.” I am tired of people saying that television has to be made safe for their children. I do not want to make the world child safe. If you do not want your children to see these things, you have choices. Do not limit my choices because you want to limit when television shows air. This is what I think the true small government republican stance should be. Labels: business, FCC, freedom of speech, government, indecency
- Rich,
10:27 PM
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Centruy of Copyright Crime
I read today that the Bush administration would like to make 'Attempted' copyright infringement a crime. Reading this makes me red with anger. This is not the way to treat consumers. This is not the way to treat intellectual properties. This is not the way to treat free speech. I really hope this law does not pass. I do not want it to pass because I know it will be miss used. I know that these laws will not be used against organized criminals who are running large scale pirating rings. The RIAA has already shown us they are going to abuse these laws. They will use laws will be used against college students and single mothers. They are going to use these laws to make examples of people. It just is not right. These laws are promoted as protecting American workers and American business. In the end they will hurt American companies. They will limit the kinds of products that can be made. They will limit the ways people can use content. They will limit innovation. They will be a drag on American business as companies have to spend time protecting other companies copyrighted properties. Time to start contacting our congress people. Labels: Bush, business, copyright, law, RIAA
- Rich,
11:02 PM
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Yahoo no longer trying to be all things to all web users
Yahoo announced that it is closing their auction site. According this this article it is getting killed in the space. My guess is that this has something to do with the Peanut Butter memo. I think it is a good move to get out of businesses you are not really competing in. I am not sure getting rid of your photos business is the best move. I know that you also have flickr. It is possible that different users what different kinds of tools. I love flickr, but it does not seem to be about the same idea as yahoo photos. If you kill one tool for another, you might end up losing more users than money you are saving. I think making these two tools one business unit might work better than only having one tool. I will admit that I do not know what all those additional resources could do for flickr. If all the photo resources go over there, you might be able to get something great. It will be interesting to see what happens at Yahoo. Labels: auction, business, flickr, web, yahoo
- Rich,
6:24 PM
Monday, April 23, 2007
Recovering Satellites
I have been thinking about the XM-Sirius Merger. I think it is sad that XM and Sirius got to the point where they feel that they have to merge. I think this is because of how they built their business. I think the problem they made was to sign too much exclusive content. They think the exclusive content is going to drive subscribers. The problem with exclusive content is that XM or Sirius has to pay the whole cost for that content. The two sat TV providers have a majority of channels that a customer can also get from cable. There are lots of TV channels that would not be able to survive if they had to get all of their views from satellite TV. There is a lot of radio content out there. I would pay money to get programming from other cities. If I could get the best radio channels from Philadelphia, Portland, Washington DC, that would be interesting. How many people who grew up in Philadelphia would like to tune into WIP or WMMR. I know that I would. I think you could sign these kinds of content deals for a lot less money. On top of that you could also have commercial free content. I hope that the FCC does not allow this merger to go through. I think it would mean the death of satellite radio. I do not see anything interesting coming out of either of these companies if they do not need to compete. Labels: business, content, satellite radio, Sirius, XM
- Rich,
6:59 PM
Thursday, February 22, 2007
What Do I Owe Him?
Next to me at the cafe there are two people trying to sell a guy a multi-level marketing business. I have been listening in for a while now. At first I thought the guy was being sold a tax shelter. Maybe it is a business that is supposed to be both a tax shelter and multi-level marketing. Multi-level marketing businesses are often scams. Even good MLM businesses take a lot of work to be successful and often have low return on investment. I wonder if I should throw up a red flag for this guy. Tell him he is getting into a world full of hurt. I know I won't say anything. It is none of my business. I do not know this guy and I have not been listening to every word that has been said. Getting involvede in other people's business is usually not a good thing. I just hope someone helps him. Labels: business, multi-level marketing, scam
- Rich,
8:08 PM
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
I am Not sure what Steve Case is sorry for
AOL founder says he is 'sorry' for Time Warner mergerI saw this in the news today and one thing caught my eye. "The deal, known as one of the worst corporate mergers in history, destroyed some $200 billion in shareholder value." I am not sure this thinking makes sense. These two companies merged at the hight of the dot.com bubble. Internet companies and media companies had inflated stock prices. I know this merger ended up not improving either company, but how much of that $200 billion would have been lost anyway when the bubble burst. The resulting company made a lot of mistakes. I am still not sure why the iTunes music store beat AOL/Time Warner to the punch. They have a huge music library they could have started with. I am not sure why they did not make a full court press to provide media on-line. I think that is how the merger failed. I guess I am still not sure these companies where worth all the money they lost anyway. Labels: AOL, business, dot.com bubble, internet, paper loss, Steve Case, Time Warner
- Rich,
12:44 PM
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Over There
I know that I work in a place that the cost of labor is very high. I know the only reason businesses are here is because they thing we can be more efficient then any other place in the world. I know that almost every working in America has the same challenge. I just think that companies might be killing the golden goose when they send their tech support overseas. After a while, who will be able to afford their products. I guess part of the problem is that support does not generate any money. People are always looking for ways to cut costs. Labels: business, outsourcing, Silicon Valley
- Rich,
11:39 AM
Sunday, July 14, 2002
Doomsday Clock
Today I was thinking about the idea of making a doomsday clock. My idea was a little different then the idea of the Atomic Doomsday Clock. That clock is a set up that we can look back and see how close to the edge we were. We can see how close we were at any one point to having the world blown up under us. I am looking for a clock that sets a date when we think the world is going to end. When I talk about the world ending, I am talking about the end of human existence on the earth. That date would be an average date for everything we see around us. That date would be pulled in when we there is nuclear tension and pushed out when we doing something good. I am not sure how anyone comes up with this date. that would be something interesting to think about. Work Doomsday ClockThinking of the Atomic Doomsday Clock again, I wonder if anyone ever sets one of these up for their job. I would think right now Worldcom is at 2 minutes to Midnight and Enron is at 1 minute to midnight. I found no results when I searched for "Enron Doomsday Clock" on Google. I wonder where that puts TiVo. I would think we have to be at least at 10PM. Labels: atomic war, business, doomsday clock, Enron, TiVo, work, WorldCom
- Rich,
11:38 PM
Thursday, April 04, 2002
The Business of Portland
Sundance Theater is closed
Arby’s on Hawthorne is closed
Merlin Computers is closed
Blockbuster on Hawthorne is closed
As I drove around Portland I looked for things that were closed. I looked for businesses that I used to go to that are now closed. Most of the businesses I supported are still open. It looks like the current economic downturn is not treating retail Portland that poorly. In San Jose lots of retail businesses have gone down.
On the other side, I was told while I was there that Portland currently has over eight percent unemployment. A lot of people are having a hard time finding jobs. There have been a lot of cuts in the tech sector. It seems like all the new jobs that were created in the late 80s have gone away.
The Tech sector taking a dump is something that would keep me away from Portland. I have the feeling that my skills are best used in the tech sector. If I have to look in another sector, I might be looking at a lessor job. In the 80's the economy in Portland really took a beating. I wonder if it is a city that does not do well during recessions.
These things are important to be because sometimes I think about taking a second crack at Portland. It is still high on the list of places that I would live next. If I think I will not be able to get a job there, it makes it hard for me to want to move there. For some reason I always see myself 'moving cold' to my next city. That means not having a job before I move there. Maybe I have to wait for the tech sector to rebound before I try moving back.Labels: business, Portland, retail, San Jose, tag overload, travel
|
|
|
|
