No they are struggling because they can't find a sure-fire no-risk investment for their piles of cash. Poor dears, got what they wanted, expanded among the globe, the greed or bad policy or whatever came home to roost, and after the dust cleared they found their customers out of money. So they sit pouting on piles and piles of cash waiting for another easy buck.
Although Henry Ford was trying to benefit himself by raising worker's pay substantially (pressuring competitors, attracting best workers) he hit the nail on the head when said that his employees needed to be able to afford his products too. If people can't buy fucking iPads and new cars we are out of business people!! It's not rocket surgery.
Because your "self-correcting" "free-market" doesn't regulate itself, contrary to current popular corporate propaganda.
Except we "invented" sophisticated options and other derivatives that most people have no idea exist or how they work. These are not market activities, they are complicated obfuscated betting schemes that only benefit very wealthy people and corporations. These "instruments" or "vehicles" actually subvert the market in subtle ways that are kept out of view. How can you let banks bet on defaults without tracking AND regulating these transactions in excruciating detail? It is easy for the "market" to take on so many of these things without anyone knowing the true extent of their net risk that it is chilling just thinking about it. Mind blowing to think most of them are legal. There is nothing self-correcting about derivatives and they do not benefit the market as a whole--they should be illegal. Gambling creates nothing which is why sane societies should ban it from the market. Other than that, the free market is the best thing going and presents dignified opportunity for everyone.
HostGator's chat support system has an authentication button that allows the customer to enter their billing credentials so the support person doesn't have to badger you. Like.
As a person who offers occasional support (to fellow students, faculty, etc...), and someone who uses chat support as a customer--I love it. Much more efficient. I think it is less tiring because you don't have to conjure up the energy to act like you still have fucks to give.
Strategic sourcing. They locked up component suppliers and manufacturers ahead of time who shoulder the lead investment to start manufacturing--they also standardize the parts with long running contracts. Apple makes money before it even spends money launching a new product--literally. The strategic sourcing put everyone in a pinch, and the rest of the marketing mix supported the high price.
The market is hampered by buyers who have no money. People are spending their disposable income on phones with data plans first--which is not cheap. Tablets are not a must-have item, period. They are a nice-to-have, and good luck getting that market to go wide open throttle. I don't know if anyone noticed but the economic situation in the US is getting worse. Our currency valuation against the rest of the world, including the GBP and Euro, is up which means the market for our products and services is not as attractive--meaning less work for the U.S. It looks now like the economic improvement we have seen after the stimulus wasn't from the stimulus but from the value of the dollar decreasing (believe it or not this is a good thing). China has also recently started edging down the value of their currency (again) because of the same thing happening in their country, which again puts more pressure on us. Many might think that our dollar being valued higher than other currencies is good since it makes other's exports (our imports) cheaper, but it is apparent that the important aspect of economic health is the ability to export (produce)--not the availability of cheap crap (buy).
A lot of people have PCs that are getting old, sales have been flat for a while, and they are going to have to be replaced. We will see a spike in PC sales in the near future, but I predict tablet sales will remain stodgy--at least until people have more disposable income. Add in increasing health care costs (yeah, they're going to go up) and increased energy costs (as soon as things improve gasoline will edge up) and you have a recipe for a sleepy economy. Washington may be able to remedy some of this with infrastructure spending, but it will be after the election. Right now they (the House) are leaning on the Fed to perform another round of "quantitative easing." It is obvious the Fed doesn't want to do it because they know it is a weak tool for this situation and the risk of inflation is looming. Big companies and banks are sitting piles of cash waiting for some type of certainty to glimmer before investing.
Likelihood of success in court is overwhelmingly a function of how much you spend on lawyers versus the other guy.
Sort of. If you have the facts on your side then the matter of law is just a formality. Find strong precedents and argue your case....money is not always the determining factor. Most of the big money is spent on research by a trove of slave lawyers and researchers. There is a LOT of reading to do in almost any case to get a solid argument based on high court precedent.
It would also provide another check/balance against using the courts as leverage for obviously invalid patents. I commented the other day that I thought judges might start imposing penalties against those litigating obvious/invalid patents....lo and behold a bill is in committee to this effect. It is the court's responsibility to validate patents, I don't think things are as bad as we make them out to be. It looks like the courts are acting sensible in regard to software patents lately.
Watch out! The anti-anti-TV league may be lurking around waiting for someone who doesn't watch TV to mention that they don't watch TV so they can post that onion article again and freak out.
Yeah, I remember being repulsed by the packaging and then I saw the commercials that gave the same stale grainy impression and confirmed my suspicions. Plus I tried them once and they were nasty.
I picture an awkward silence at the ad screening where everyone is thinking "Would Steve go for this?" However, since it is a big faux pas to ask "What would Steve do," there is no dialog entry for anyone in the room full of group-think to break the ice and ditch that shit.
Slashdot Mirror
No they are struggling because they can't find a sure-fire no-risk investment for their piles of cash. Poor dears, got what they wanted, expanded among the globe, the greed or bad policy or whatever came home to roost, and after the dust cleared they found their customers out of money. So they sit pouting on piles and piles of cash waiting for another easy buck.
Although Henry Ford was trying to benefit himself by raising worker's pay substantially (pressuring competitors, attracting best workers) he hit the nail on the head when said that his employees needed to be able to afford his products too. If people can't buy fucking iPads and new cars we are out of business people!! It's not rocket surgery.
Because your "self-correcting" "free-market" doesn't regulate itself, contrary to current popular corporate propaganda.
Except we "invented" sophisticated options and other derivatives that most people have no idea exist or how they work. These are not market activities, they are complicated obfuscated betting schemes that only benefit very wealthy people and corporations. These "instruments" or "vehicles" actually subvert the market in subtle ways that are kept out of view. How can you let banks bet on defaults without tracking AND regulating these transactions in excruciating detail? It is easy for the "market" to take on so many of these things without anyone knowing the true extent of their net risk that it is chilling just thinking about it. Mind blowing to think most of them are legal. There is nothing self-correcting about derivatives and they do not benefit the market as a whole--they should be illegal. Gambling creates nothing which is why sane societies should ban it from the market. Other than that, the free market is the best thing going and presents dignified opportunity for everyone.
Just STFU and Believe!
You can get banned from slashdot?
[citation needed]
Now Verizon has a live chat option so you can document the lies and half-truths used to bait you into another service contract.
"oh...big black nothing, ok!"
Looks like somebody needs some coffee.
Plus they can have a names like, Paul, Bob, or Randy and no one knows the difference. Let the savings begin. Bean counters rejoice!
HostGator's chat support system has an authentication button that allows the customer to enter their billing credentials so the support person doesn't have to badger you. Like.
As a person who offers occasional support (to fellow students, faculty, etc...), and someone who uses chat support as a customer--I love it. Much more efficient. I think it is less tiring because you don't have to conjure up the energy to act like you still have fucks to give.
Strategic sourcing. They locked up component suppliers and manufacturers ahead of time who shoulder the lead investment to start manufacturing--they also standardize the parts with long running contracts. Apple makes money before it even spends money launching a new product--literally. The strategic sourcing put everyone in a pinch, and the rest of the marketing mix supported the high price.
The market is hampered by buyers who have no money. People are spending their disposable income on phones with data plans first--which is not cheap. Tablets are not a must-have item, period. They are a nice-to-have, and good luck getting that market to go wide open throttle. I don't know if anyone noticed but the economic situation in the US is getting worse. Our currency valuation against the rest of the world, including the GBP and Euro, is up which means the market for our products and services is not as attractive--meaning less work for the U.S. It looks now like the economic improvement we have seen after the stimulus wasn't from the stimulus but from the value of the dollar decreasing (believe it or not this is a good thing). China has also recently started edging down the value of their currency (again) because of the same thing happening in their country, which again puts more pressure on us. Many might think that our dollar being valued higher than other currencies is good since it makes other's exports (our imports) cheaper, but it is apparent that the important aspect of economic health is the ability to export (produce)--not the availability of cheap crap (buy).
A lot of people have PCs that are getting old, sales have been flat for a while, and they are going to have to be replaced. We will see a spike in PC sales in the near future, but I predict tablet sales will remain stodgy--at least until people have more disposable income. Add in increasing health care costs (yeah, they're going to go up) and increased energy costs (as soon as things improve gasoline will edge up) and you have a recipe for a sleepy economy. Washington may be able to remedy some of this with infrastructure spending, but it will be after the election. Right now they (the House) are leaning on the Fed to perform another round of "quantitative easing." It is obvious the Fed doesn't want to do it because they know it is a weak tool for this situation and the risk of inflation is looming. Big companies and banks are sitting piles of cash waiting for some type of certainty to glimmer before investing.
TL;DR: The US economy has lock-jaw.
Likelihood of success in court is overwhelmingly a function of how much you spend on lawyers versus the other guy.
Sort of. If you have the facts on your side then the matter of law is just a formality. Find strong precedents and argue your case....money is not always the determining factor. Most of the big money is spent on research by a trove of slave lawyers and researchers. There is a LOT of reading to do in almost any case to get a solid argument based on high court precedent.
It would also provide another check/balance against using the courts as leverage for obviously invalid patents. I commented the other day that I thought judges might start imposing penalties against those litigating obvious/invalid patents....lo and behold a bill is in committee to this effect. It is the court's responsibility to validate patents, I don't think things are as bad as we make them out to be. It looks like the courts are acting sensible in regard to software patents lately.
David Icke is such fun isn't he?
Watch out! The anti-anti-TV league may be lurking around waiting for someone who doesn't watch TV to mention that they don't watch TV so they can post that onion article again and freak out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kz7YUdy-Cg
Yeah, I remember being repulsed by the packaging and then I saw the commercials that gave the same stale grainy impression and confirmed my suspicions. Plus I tried them once and they were nasty.
I picture an awkward silence at the ad screening where everyone is thinking "Would Steve go for this?" However, since it is a big faux pas to ask "What would Steve do," there is no dialog entry for anyone in the room full of group-think to break the ice and ditch that shit.
Or continue being an ignorant fuckwit and spending your money on whatever's fashionable, cool and makes you feel superior.
Hey, it fills a need.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kz7YUdy-Cg
I think he could have pulled off the Willy Wonka thing. He was kind of crazy like Willy Wonka.
Hey, I liked the Dell kid you insensitive clod! I think it was real bullshit, him losing the gig for smoking a bong or whatever.
You could remove the battery!? I want one of those Macs!
I think you are right, it was usually at the word "genius" that I started to cringe.