Tag Archives: business thinking

Paperless Books

Today’s title might have been seen as an oxymoron just a few years ago.  I mean, the notion of a “book” without paper was as unrealistic as book publishers graciously declining to publish an author’s work and doing so promptly.

Then came e-readers which some said would hurt the book industry.  As with the music business, book publishers did whatever they could to prevent digital downloads of books by charging exorbitant prices (the same prices as if the book had to be printed on paper) and refusing to allow certain titles to go digital.  With the Kindle and other reading devices reaching scale (roughly 15% of American readers have one), the industry has come to recognize that porting content to another platform may be disruptive in the short-term but potentially a great thing over time.  Want more proof? Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media

Some Great Advice

Over the weekend there was a minor brouhaha that emerged over AirBnB. For those of you who might have missed it, AirBnB is a hot start-up that lets you rent rooms in people’s homes as if they were hotels. The founders have decided that this would be a good time to cash out a little. There’s obviously nothing wrong with that – reaping the rewards is part of why we invest in our work. However, how they’ve chosen to go about it leaves a lot to be desired and that’s today’s thought. Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints, Reality checks

What If You Can’t Sauté?

and pans

Image by la fattina via Flickr

The end of another week and I’m pleased to return us this Friday to our food theme.  Before I do, yesterday’s post was number 800, according to WordPress.  Thanks, as always, to you guys for encouraging me to keep writing!

Most of us have heard the term sauté.  It  comes from the French for “to jump,” which is what the things in a pan are to do when one is using this technique.  You’ve probably seen it a million times on any cooking show – the cook is standing there, flicking his or her wrist and a pile of stuff jumps up out of and back down into the pan.  I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried to sauté with that technique but it’s a great way to get your kitchen floor washed because the odds are you’re going to put a bunch of food on the floor.  Which of course raises a business point. Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Thinking Aloud