Dec 19, 2005 | business, Google
Google’s agreement to purchase a five percent stake in AOL was widely reported, but I missed the important detail: as part of the deal, Google agreed to start putting AOL-sponsored search results on its main search results page. Here’s Paul...
Nov 30, 2005 | business, DRM, file_sharing, humor
In the news today: “LOS ANGELES-The Recording Industry Association of America announced Tuesday that it will be taking legal action against anyone discovered telling friends, acquaintances, or associates about new songs, artists, or albums. “We are merely...
Nov 28, 2005 | business, shopping
The retail industry built the day after Thanksgiving into a cultural icon as “Black Friday” – the must-shop day when consumers are meant to feel a nearly physical need to get to the stores. The media’s obsessive coverage of Black Friday is...
Nov 4, 2005 | broadband, business, phone
There is something about the communications industry that makes its executives go crazy – at our expense, and to our detriment. It happened to the CEO of Verizon in an interview in April (“Why in the world would you think your cell phone would work in your...
May 28, 2005 | business, phone
Internet telephony – “voice over IP” or “VOIP” – is just now approaching the mass market. Consumer products are hitting the market from the likes of Linksys designed to work with AT&T and Vonage systems, for example, and Skype...
May 19, 2005 | business, video
WalMart is getting out of the rental DVD business and turning its customers over to Netflix.WalMart only made a half-hearted effort to compete over the last two years, developing a hundred thousand customers who drew from a comparatively small selection and got slow...
