General Electric’s Spin Machine – Company Business and Marketing Mark Roberti CEO Jack Welch boasts that the Internet could save the company $10 billion over two years. That’s bold rhetoric — but the reality is less impressive. It’s an article of faith in the new economy: The nimblest and most forward-thinking old-line companies will use […]
Go Buy A Suit Ethan Smith THESE DAYS, SMART CASUAL IS LOOKING PRETTY DUMB. AFFORDABLE CUSTOM SUITS MAKE A COMEBACK. For the past few years, the American white-collar worker has been anything but white-collar. Trickle-down techie casual, of course, led legions of executives to the racks of Banana Republic in search of VC-blue dress shirts […]
It’s Not Dead Yet – Company Business and Marketing Kevin Werbach The fact is, Napster and the music labels need each other. By now, you’ve probably heard that U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued an injunction on July 26 against the Napster online music-exchange service. While an appeals court stayed the ruling two […]
And Now, Our Digital Presentation – Industry Trend or Event Laura Rich Philip Anschutz made his fortune in oil, railroads and real estate. Now he’s poised to push movie exhibition into the wired age. GOING TO THE MOVIES AIN’T CHEAP. In cities like Los Angeles and New York, tickets can run as high as $10 […]
Sheltered IPOs – Industry Trend or Event Ari Weinberg THE IPO MARKET’S FRAGILE COMEBACK DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN WALL STREET IS INTERESTED IN STARTUPS AGAIN. On the surface, the initial public offering — the great Springboard that sent many a startup into corporate adulthood and financial largesse — seems to be emerging from its coma. IPOs […]
Napster Restarts – Company Business and Marketing Ronna Abramson How far has Napster fallen? The song-swapping service likes to boast that its software has been downloaded more than 60 million times, making it one of the most ubiquitous platforms online. Not anymore. Last week the Redwood City, Calif., company pulled the plug on all the […]
Alan’s World. – Review – book review Daniel Akst Two new books peer into the mind of everybody’s favorite Fed chief. Maestro: Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom by Bob Woodward (Simon & Schuster, $25) Greenspan: The Man Behind Money by Justin Martin (Perseus, $28) Ayn Rand said he looked like an undertaker. His public […]
A Fight for the Top of the TV – Industry Trend or Event Ronna Abramson Personal video recorders like TiVo were supposed to be huge. A renewed marketing push might finally fulfill that promise. IT WAS EARLY IN THE GAME’S SECOND half when Mike Lang, hosting a Super Bowl party in football-crazed South Bend, Ind., […]
Power to Spare – Company Business and Marketing Daniel Helft U.S. firms built big data centers in Latin America. Now they’re waiting for business. WHEN WASHINGTON, D.C.-BASED Diveo Broadband chose Buenos Aires’ funky San Telmo district to build a state-of-the-art data center, it seemed a great idea. It was 1999, and Latin America was the […]
Hello, Steve; Bye, George – Company Operations – Brief Article Alex Lash Old- and new-media conglomerate Primedia consolidated its media holdings, renamed the unit Media Central and brought in publisher Steven Brill, an old friend of Primedia CEO Tom Rogers, to head the unit. Primedia gets 49 percent of Brill Media Holdings and Brill takes […]