First-time buyers at a retailer could see higher prices than a firm's repeat customers
That seems like an odd strategy to me. A potential first-time buyer may simply be lost to another retailer with a lower starting price.
I, too, was mystified by this quote. I would expect it to be the reverse - that a regular customer gets a slightly higher price - mainly because they know this idiot will buy from here anyway, while the newcomer is tempted with a slightly lower price.
The method used to track current customers could be as simple as a cookie or as complex as using the customer's login information (from cookie) and deriving behaviour from past buying.
e.g., I keep going to Buy.com because I like their service - or the lack of the need for it because I have never needed it! Also their prices are better than Amazon's (DUH!) but probably not the best prices.
They also know that I would buy something from them even if it is priced slightly higher.
What is wrong with doing so? Nothing at all!
This happens all the time at Neiman Marcus stores! Why else would someone buy a shawl or a scarf for '000s from them, when the same shawl can be had for hundreds less with slightly lower quality at a more pedestrian store like Sak's Fifth?
Because they provide service that is unparalleled! I read an example in the Wall Street Journal some days ago of a woman who had bought a blouse from Neiman and had a stain. She had to rush to catch a flight, called the store to see if they had a replacement - and on her way to the airport, parked outside the store and an assisstant was waiting there with a few blouses - she sat in the driver's seat, engine running, compared a few, selected one and drove to the airport. Note - no payment was made! Total extra time - about 7 minutes.
What did Nieman get out of this? Probably a life long customer - life long as long as she is rich:-)
The Apu Trilogy - which is actually three individual movies made from one book - it is the life of Apu from childhood to adulthood. Made by Satyajit Ray, the first one, Pather Panchali, followed by Aparajito and Apur Sansar, are absolute classics. I have seen a few of his movies, and being Indian, have always had a pervertedly negative image of the director (Why? Because, in my childhood innocence, I thought that the director was USING the poverty of India and capitalizing on it, only to make fame and money for himself). It is only recently that I saw these three movies, on DVD, and found them to be riveting! I haven't seen a trilogy that has been as well made - including the Star Wars 4-6 trilogy.
Nayakan: This is a true story of a gang lord who lived in Bombay, India - it is about how he escaped from Madras, spoke mostly Tamil, and how he settled in Bombay and became the underworld king, all the while being adored by the poor from the slums. A most fascinating depiction of Vardaraj Mudaliar (the original ganglord) by Kamalahasan (the redoubtable Tamil actor who has essayed roles that would make ANYONE wonder - how'd he dare to do that)?
Pyaasa: The great Guru Dutt directed and acted in this masterpiece about a poet and his struggles. I would have thought that his Kagaz Ke Phool deserved to be recognized as his best creation - but this is equally good.
At the very least, Time has proved that it is not a purely US centric publication - having dragged the whole world into this controversial list:-)
A mini plug for my blog - to ask people to please come visit!
The best keyboard I ever had ..
on
Blank Keyboard
·
· Score: 1
.. was a normal keyboard. It was where I placed it that made a difference. I had this weird cheapo table that the place I was working at had bought at an ultra cheap office shop. The keyboard rested on a platform lower down than the desk. And there were three slots where you could place the platform for the keyboard to adjust the height.
The platform had two thingies jutting out from the left and two on the right. These thingies went into the aforementioned slots.
Now get this - I placed the platform such that it slanted AWAY from me - and placed the keyboard on it. Thus the front thingies went into the uppermost slot and the rear thingies went into the second slot.
Luckily for me the rubber feet of the keyboard prevented slipping - and my fingers were suddenly typing in the most natural position possible!
No one I have ever seen has ever had a keyboard in such a position! I found that my wrists had no more pain and typing was the easiest I had ever done! My hands were in the most natural position I have ever had them in, semi-vertical around 60/70 degrees.
Maybe I should patent this idea:-)
This was on a plain ole Unix terminal and no mouse. I wish I could have a place for a mouse that wouldn't roll off - and that would be the best keyboard ever.
I actually went to TFA and read the sample cases cited in the Appendix. In at least some of the cases it seemed to my untrained eyes that the action taken by management was blatantly wrong.
And then there is the case of the layoffs. I have been there. I got laid off from a Financial Services company. And although the *@^#)*^$#)~^ claimed this as being done to downsize the company, they were simultaneously having two outsourcers from India checking out the company. In fact, just a week before the layoffs, they announced a 'strategic partnership' with one of these companies.
Management definitely needs to learn how to treat employees with sensitivity.
IE was written by MSFT? NO!!
on
Gates on Google
·
· Score: 1
From TFA: " But Gates rallied Microsoft to develop its own browser, which it then bundled free with Windows."
The reality is that IE was built on an older browser called Spyglass http://software.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html
Upto IE 4.0, vestiges of Spyglass have lingered. Only an insider can tell us whether this is still the case with IE 6.0
I think they should explore a cheaper - MUCH cheaper - option. viz., charging $0.05 per historic article. This would attract people since it only costs a ridiculously low amount of money to get an old article and people will very soon be spending more than they otherwise would with an annual subscription of 50 bucks.
Think about it - isn't this how Google has managed to serve up advertising and other stuff? Make the prices low enough so that it doesn't hurt to pay it once - but every drop adds up pretty quickly!
Of course - I am sure NYTimes won't do any such revolutionary thing. They are so old and fuddy duddy, that they will plough through with a 50 bucks per annum - or a 5 bucks per extract charge (increase from their current rate).
All those workers in India (or other locations where development work is being outsourced to) work in COOL Air Conditioned offices - translation - being productive has everything to do with body comfort and nothing to do with excessive warmth in the office.
As someone above has said, it may have more to do with a change than to do with the actual temperature.
Slashdot Mirror
I, too, was mystified by this quote. I would expect it to be the reverse - that a regular customer gets a slightly higher price - mainly because they know this idiot will buy from here anyway, while the newcomer is tempted with a slightly lower price.
The method used to track current customers could be as simple as a cookie or as complex as using the customer's login information (from cookie) and deriving behaviour from past buying.
e.g., I keep going to Buy.com because I like their service - or the lack of the need for it because I have never needed it! Also their prices are better than Amazon's (DUH!) but probably not the best prices.
They also know that I would buy something from them even if it is priced slightly higher.
What is wrong with doing so? Nothing at all!
This happens all the time at Neiman Marcus stores! Why else would someone buy a shawl or a scarf for '000s from them, when the same shawl can be had for hundreds less with slightly lower quality at a more pedestrian store like Sak's Fifth?
Because they provide service that is unparalleled! I read an example in the Wall Street Journal some days ago of a woman who had bought a blouse from Neiman and had a stain. She had to rush to catch a flight, called the store to see if they had a replacement - and on her way to the airport, parked outside the store and an assisstant was waiting there with a few blouses - she sat in the driver's seat, engine running, compared a few, selected one and drove to the airport. Note - no payment was made! Total extra time - about 7 minutes.
What did Nieman get out of this? Probably a life long customer - life long as long as she is rich
The Indian movies in this list are:
:-)
The Apu Trilogy - which is actually three individual movies made from one book - it is the life of Apu from childhood to adulthood. Made by Satyajit Ray, the first one, Pather Panchali, followed by Aparajito and Apur Sansar, are absolute classics. I have seen a few of his movies, and being Indian, have always had a pervertedly negative image of the director (Why? Because, in my childhood innocence, I thought that the director was USING the poverty of India and capitalizing on it, only to make fame and money for himself). It is only recently that I saw these three movies, on DVD, and found them to be riveting! I haven't seen a trilogy that has been as well made - including the Star Wars 4-6 trilogy.
Nayakan: This is a true story of a gang lord who lived in Bombay, India - it is about how he escaped from Madras, spoke mostly Tamil, and how he settled in Bombay and became the underworld king, all the while being adored by the poor from the slums. A most fascinating depiction of Vardaraj Mudaliar (the original ganglord) by Kamalahasan (the redoubtable Tamil actor who has essayed roles that would make ANYONE wonder - how'd he dare to do that)?
Pyaasa: The great Guru Dutt directed and acted in this masterpiece about a poet and his struggles. I would have thought that his Kagaz Ke Phool deserved to be recognized as his best creation - but this is equally good.
At the very least, Time has proved that it is not a purely US centric publication - having dragged the whole world into this controversial list
A mini plug for my blog - to ask people to please come visit!
.. was a normal keyboard. It was where I placed it that made a difference. I had this weird cheapo table that the place I was working at had bought at an ultra cheap office shop. The keyboard rested on a platform lower down than the desk. And there were three slots where you could place the platform for the keyboard to adjust the height.
:-)
The platform had two thingies jutting out from the left and two on the right. These thingies went into the aforementioned slots.
Now get this - I placed the platform such that it slanted AWAY from me - and placed the keyboard on it. Thus the front thingies went into the uppermost slot and the rear thingies went into the second slot.
Luckily for me the rubber feet of the keyboard prevented slipping - and my fingers were suddenly typing in the most natural position possible!
No one I have ever seen has ever had a keyboard in such a position! I found that my wrists had no more pain and typing was the easiest I had ever done! My hands were in the most natural position I have ever had them in, semi-vertical around 60/70 degrees.
Maybe I should patent this idea
This was on a plain ole Unix terminal and no mouse. I wish I could have a place for a mouse that wouldn't roll off - and that would be the best keyboard ever.
I actually went to TFA and read the sample cases cited in the Appendix. In at least some of the cases it seemed to my untrained eyes that the action taken by management was blatantly wrong.
And then there is the case of the layoffs. I have been there. I got laid off from a Financial Services company. And although the *@^#)*^$#)~^ claimed this as being done to downsize the company, they were simultaneously having two outsourcers from India checking out the company. In fact, just a week before the layoffs, they announced a 'strategic partnership' with one of these companies.
Management definitely needs to learn how to treat employees with sensitivity.
From TFA: " But Gates rallied Microsoft to develop its own browser, which it then bundled free with Windows." The reality is that IE was built on an older browser called Spyglass http://software.ericsink.com/Browser_Wars.html Upto IE 4.0, vestiges of Spyglass have lingered. Only an insider can tell us whether this is still the case with IE 6.0
I think they should explore a cheaper - MUCH cheaper - option. viz., charging $0.05 per historic article. This would attract people since it only costs a ridiculously low amount of money to get an old article and people will very soon be spending more than they otherwise would with an annual subscription of 50 bucks.
Think about it - isn't this how Google has managed to serve up advertising and other stuff? Make the prices low enough so that it doesn't hurt to pay it once - but every drop adds up pretty quickly!
This begs the question - how does NYimes collect the low amounts? Answer is - why not legitimise some existing system like http://www.e-gold.com/ or http://www.paypal.com/?
Of course - I am sure NYTimes won't do any such revolutionary thing. They are so old and fuddy duddy, that they will plough through with a 50 bucks per annum - or a 5 bucks per extract charge (increase from their current rate).
All those workers in India (or other locations where development work is being outsourced to) work in COOL Air Conditioned offices - translation - being productive has everything to do with body comfort and nothing to do with excessive warmth in the office.
As someone above has said, it may have more to do with a change than to do with the actual temperature.