Very Smart Brothas and other links…
This article “It’s Our Centennial, B*tches!” celebrates the 100th post of verysmartbrothas.com. The dudes behind this site definitely must be very smart. This is the first time I have seen a Blog produce only 100 articles but has a technorati.com rating in the top 100,000! Curiously incredible!
“Why sponsoring bloggers is a waste of money”
valleywag.com: “So let’s go there! In April, a study by Canadian research firm Pollara found that word of mouth works — nearly 80 percent said they’d buy products recommended by a friend or family member. But word of mouse? Only 23 percent said they’d buy something touted by a blogger.” You would think accurate information like this would please bricks and mortar business leaders. The assumption here is that news like this provides more fuel to ‘repurpose’ the Internet and take away even this low level of freedom from the people. In order to predict earnings everything not nailed down has to be predictable.
“The Myth of Multitasking: How Doing It All Gets Nothing Done”
getrichslowly.org: “The Myth of Multitasking is a short book that conveys a single, critical idea: to do two things at once is to do neither. While I think this book is excellent, and while it was exactly what I needed to read at this point in my life, I would not be willing to purchase it for the $20 cover price. It’s well worth a trip to the library, though.”
“Shoppers team up for better deals”
Springwise.com: “A fun example of consumers aggregating their intended purchases to get a bargain is tuangou, or team buying, which involves strangers organizing themselves around a specific product or service. Think electronics, home furnishings, cars and so on. These likeminded consumers then meet up in real-world shops and showrooms at a coordinated date and time, literally mobbing the seller and negotiating a group discount on the spot.” There is a reason why American English does not have pop word like tuangou running the streets. Egocentric alienation is big business and I would not be surprised to read about sophisticated Chinese youngsters 30 years from now laughing at how Chinese in 2008 were deep into tuangou. Every modern dude knows that buying in complete isolation surrounded by a crowd of strangers is the hip thing to do.