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Canadian Bureaucrats Don't "Think Different"
owlgorithm writes "Apple's new store in Montreal has three parking meters on the street in front of it. The city is in the middle of a campaign to reduce downtown parking. In Apple's ever-conscientious attempt to improve design, they offered to reimburse the city for the parking meters and their revenue if the city would remove them. Answer: Non — because 'We've never done it before, so we can't.'"
SlAshDot Guffaw Dept.
You know it's a Slow newsday when "We've never done it before, so we can't." by Montreal burros constitutes news because it includes Apple.
Certainly they can't be ... nooooo ... can't be ... they're suggesting they've never accepted money to
change the way something is done or not done? What next, Gérald Tremblay caught on camera
stating he's giving up his Treo?
Next up: Microsoft's Power bill - 10,000 PC's running at the same time, is Redmond driving global warming?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
problem solved
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Meters are put in high demand parking areas to increase the turnover of parking spots, thus increasing parking availability.
Why not just put, "Loading and unloading only: 20 minute attended parking"?
Most larger cities designate whole blocks like that for certain areas and shops.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
It's been done in Santa Cruz California. Where, it turns out, it is a crime to feed a meter unless it is your car parked there. Check out this story about the famous Mr Twister.
That's an interesting idea. If that's their game though, wouldn't they make more by painting the curb yellow (no parking), or making them handicapped spaces? Or how about those ridiculous signs with three different time slots + special days, describing when the meter is/isn't in effect?
I can hear it now:
:)
"When you join government, you get st00pid!"
"Bureaucrats can't see past their own red taped noses!"
It's not confined to just government, folks. Business has it's fair share of inefficiency and stupidity. My favorite example of this was when I had a long contract at a Fortune 500 company away from home. They paid for an apartment for me to live in, but I saw no reason why I should expense my meals, even though it was allowed. My reasoning was, "I'm going to eat whether I'm here or at home. Why should they pay for it." This saved the company a few thousand dollars over six months. At one point, though, I wanted to expense something odd: boarding my cat for the weekend while I traveled. My reasoning was, "I have no friends here who would take care of the cat, unlike at home, so the company should pay." The refused, saying it wasn't justifiable, even though it was only $50 or so. After that I expensed all of my meals.
To add insult to injury, the entire 3 year long project I was involved in was shelved and started over soon after that, wasting around $60 million. This wasn't the first (or last) time I saw a business waste millions of dollars. I think of these things any time a libertarian says, "Business can do things more efficiently!"
This assumption may be valid, but then again, it may not.
And I just took an LSAT sample exam, so there. :)
I just think it's good to highlight the inflexibility of our city governments.
So if this is the low value news for a "slow news day". What is high value news?
Intel marketing brochures released as "news" ?
Maybe the latest benchmarks from an overclocking website?
VMWare is running VMWorld right now at Moscone center in SF, you could check that out online if you want some real tech heavy news.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
"City blows mind of Apple, turns down money: says "'it's about the parking'"
"Canadian Bureaucrats turn down bribe from price-gouging mega-corporation"
"Canada reaffirms democratic values, treates everybody the same"
But I guess none of those provided enough toungue-lovin' to Steve Jobs' tool. And Slashdot is all about giving tongue baths to Apple in between shrill whining screeds regarding Microsoft being a monopoly.
Wow... I just thought of something- if Steve Jobs and Lunis Torballs got in a fight, who's side would Shatslot take?
APPLE wants to put the parking meters in the basket
Sara Champagne
The Press
The APPLE giant, who projects to open his doors with the downtown area of Montreal soon, tried in vain to make remove parking meters in front of his future store. Concerned of its image design, the American firm offered to the Town of Montreal the equivalent of the receipts of these apparatuses considered to be not very aesthetic, is nearly 35 000$ per five years, learned the Press.
Waste of time and effort. The district of City-Marie, who confirms to have received the demand for last March, refused this preferential treatment considered to be "unacceptable". The three electronic terminals, located opposite 1321 Sainte-Catherine Ouest, and close to the Ogilvy house, are thus there to remain.
"We are opened with certain compromises, as to transform a terminal of parking doubles in simple terminal, but from there to remove them completely there is a margin which one cannot cross", explains Jacques-Alain Lavallée, in charge of communication of City-Marie. It adds that APPLE Canada did not give sign of life since this end not-to receive, also approved by Stationnement of Montreal, which manages the spaces tariffed on street, to 3$ the hour, the downtown area.
The arrival in Montreal of the future flagship APPLE became an open secret in the world of the aces of data processing and the Mac products. The room, rented in the District of the museums, has a surface of 9300 square feet, and rises on two stages, with a mezzanine out of glass. The place is occupied at present by the Mens shop, which moves its home in November, boulevard De Western Maisonneuve, close to the street Stanley.
"I know that APPLE already visited the room with architectural plans, known as Boujmada, manager of Lie, who confirms to have yielded his lease to the data-processing firm. But I do not know when their opening is envisaged."
Motus, stops bent!
Faithful to its tradition, APPLE Canada did not want to comment on its establishment in Montreal, nor the presence of the terminals on the front of its room. The giant did not indicate either that following the refusal, it planned to find a site more "aesthetic" for his new store.
"APPLE never makes comments on its projects of businesses, explains the spokesman of the company in Quebec, Jean-Guy Rens. We speak only about our products. There will be thus no comments."
According to information's on MacQuébec and APPLE insider, of the sites of bitten APPLE products, the store of Montreal will open its doors the next summer or with the autumn 2008, and will become the shop headlight of the giant in Canada, with the image of APPLE Store of the 5e Avenue, in Manhattan.
On his side, the spokesman of the company Parking of Montreal, Michel Philibert, adds that the parkings tariffed on street are used to ensure the rotation of the vehicles, and by the fact even a bearing of the customers which attend the trade.
"I think that the district did not have to study a long time the demand for APPLE before refusing to withdraw the terminals, Mr. Phillibert says. These spaces belong to the public domain, and cannot become of exclusive use. That is not done quite simply."
Not bad for Babelfish.
Stasis is death. Embrace change.
Hydroelectric is the most expensive form of electricity generation, followed closedly by wind power, then nuclear, with gas and coal falling way, way down the list.
The main benefit of hydroelectric power is that it can be stopped and started so quickly. The coal and gas plants take the best part of an hour to ramp up or down, so you use the hydroelectric plan to carry the burden until the more efficient (and slow, cumbersome) plants come up to speed.
Of course, if you live in a country that has to import most of its coal from Australia, especially if you live in a mountainout region with a high annual rainfall, the story may be different.
The high cost of nuclear power is what is driving the Howard government to consider "carbon tax" on all coal and gas fired power plants, so that the nuclear plants that Little Johnny wants so desperately can be built by commercial interests without extensive government subsidies.
All of this is extremely off topic, of course. I expect the burough's true motivation for denying Apple's request to convert three parking meters to a "no parking" zone is the loss of parking fine income.
If they don't like the cars and sidewalks and whatnots, they can go buy an empty field somewhere and build there.
I'm actually surprised the city officials took the time to respond to lunatic requests such as this. Apple marketing people need to stop living in their idiotic la la land sometimes.
Seriously, what's wrong with those people.
May contain traces of nut.
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