Category: business

business

Untitled

“There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.”

– Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

business

Ail to the Chief: 20 CEOs and State Heads Gone in 2010-11

Updated – It’s a bad time to be in charge. Lots of major companies have dropped CEOs for unpleasant causes in 2010-11:

Company Person Why They’re Gone
Apple Steve Jobs http://zeke.ws/ogcSIO
BP Tony Hayward http://zeke.ws/mUhrNd
Google Eric Schmidt http://zeke.ws/p2N5TL
HP Mark Hurd http://zeke.ws/pYoID5
Léo Apotheker http://zeke.ws/n3vsbI
Nokia Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo http://zeke.ws/rgtWOI
T-Mobile USA Robert Dotson http://zeke.ws/oeozcx
Yahoo! Carol Bartz http://zeke.ws/rdzRGI

Very strange to see the “who’s-who” list of tech – Apple, HP, Google, Nokia, Yahoo! – shaking up their leadership in the same short period.

…But then again, I’d probably rather be a fired CEO than one of the heads of state or government who either resigned or lost their posts amidst human rights outcries and widespread economic instability in 2010-11:  

Country Person Position Why They’re Gone
Chile Michelle Bachelet President http://zeke.ws/psUwPU
Egypt Hosni Mubarak President http://zeke.ws/nuiJ40
Ireland Brian Cowen Taoiseach http://zeke.ws/oT607A
Japan Naoto Kan Prime Minister http://zeke.ws/pmcECv
Jordan Samir Rifai Prime Minister http://zeke.ws/nIW8Bu
Libya Muammar Gaddafi Dictator http://zeke.ws/qulhTp
South Korea Chung Un-chan Prime Minister http://zeke.ws/oodoP1
Syria Muhammad Naji al-Otari Prime Minister http://zeke.ws/qEuFD8
Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva Prime Minister http://zeke.ws/nUfYnT
Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali President http://zeke.ws/oDskWY
United Kingdom Gordon Brown Prime Minister http://zeke.ws/pu9lyQ
United States Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the House http://zeke.ws/pHUUQv
Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh President http://zeke.ws/pXyBf4
I find this self-selected list pretty staggering as-is. Feel free to let me know if I missed anyone important…
business

How eBooks and e-Readers Fall Far Short of Dead Trees

eBooks have been a great thing for me- I rarely think to carry a book along with me or have a bag for carrying one, but I always have a smartphone on me, plus an iPad at times. When I was in Spain in 2009, I read a novel on my iPhone that’s over 1000 pages long in paperback form. No, a 3.5″ backlit LCD screen isn’t the nicest reading experience, but I’d like to borrow a saying from the photography world that I believe applies here:

The best way to read a book is the one you have with you.