As iPads continue to grow in popularity, their prevalence in the office could not only sap productivity but push WiFi networks to their breaking points. Because the tablets are less efficient at picking up signals than laptops, they tend to put more of a tax on networks. As the iPad 3 release looms, researchers say businesses may need to triple their WiFi coverage in order to handle an an office iPad influx. [More]
Has Your Office Encountered The Online Yellow Pages Scam?
By July 24, 2009
Patten seriously wants the purported “Online Yellow Pages” to stop calling his office. They call once per day, looking for information on the company, but Patten is suspicious. Rightly so, as it turns out—this is a scam, and companies who respond receive a hefty invoice for “advertising” that they never authorized.
By June 1, 2009
Want to see the top 10 biggest bankruptcies in U.S. history so far? [Fortune]
Would Practical Wisdom Improve Customer Service?
By April 28, 2009
Barry Schwartz spoke at TED this past February about “practical wisdom,” a classical term that Schwartz redefines in a modern context as knowing when and how to make exceptions to every rule, and when and how to improvise. His point, largely, is that a lot of modern life would run more efficiently, and more justly, if people would stop blindly following and enforcing rules when they become absurd.
The CEO Of Delta Reveals His Secrets
By April 27, 2009
Richard Anderson, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, was interviewed by the New York Times and shared his tips on hiring (ask about their family life), running meetings (no Blackberries!), and dealing with customers: “I find myself, more and more, writing hand-written notes to people,” he says. “I must write a half a dozen a day.” These are apology notes, we’re guessing.
Find Out Where Your Money Goes When You Buy Gas
By October 7, 2008
Want to know where your fifties go when you fill up your car with gas? GOOD’s latest chart breaks down the assorted costs, and compares them with other places around the globe. You can grab a free printed copy at any Starbucks, or go here to check it out in bright RGB goodness.
Travelers Leave 12,000 Laptops In Airports Every Week
By July 5, 2008
Absentminded travelers flummoxed by airport security leave 12,000 laptops in airports every single week. Only 30% are ever recovered.
United To Require Minimum Stays Starting In October
By June 21, 2008
Sorry travelers, as expected, United Airlines will require minimum stays on all flights starting in October. Gone are the halcyon days of jetting away for a business meeting after breakfast with time to spare before returning for dinner. Most United fares will now require a three-night or weekend stay, but it “will depend on the destinations involved, the price of the ticket and the length of the flight.” And, yes, you will still be charged $15 to check your first bag.
Wachovia Opens Bank Account Without Permission, Starts Charging Fees
By April 20, 2008
John can’t understand how Wachovia charged his startup $12 in fees for failing to maintain a minimum balance when his company never opened an account with Wachovia in the first place. Apparently, his former bank manager decamped to Wachovia and, without his permission, opened a new account “to ensure certain money rates,” whatever that means. John isn’t mad, and the bank manager agreed to close the account, but John is a little worried because a collections agency has started calling and the account now lists $24.05 in fees.
By April 14, 2008
Blockbuster has offered to buy Circuit City for a little over $1 billion, with the goal of creating “a chain that could sell portable devices and entertainment for them, much like Apple Inc.’s stores.” [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
Want A Thriving Coffee Shop? Open Next To A Starbucks
By December 29, 2007
The funny thing about Starbucks is it’s helped to create a coffee culture filled with a significant number of people who don’t actually like Starbucks—which means that, despite conventional wisdom, it’s actually a good thing to be a mom & pop coffee shop with a Starbucks nearby, writes Slate.
The Year's Top Business Screw-Ups
By December 19, 2007
Fortune recently published a list of 2007′s 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, and then the Seattle Post-Intelligencer cooked that down to just 9 really good ones. Now we’re summarizing the Seattle PI article. (If you’d like to play along, pick just a couple of business blunders from our summary and write them on a sticky note—we’d like to get this down to a six-word fortune cookie by December 31st.) Some of the Seattle PI’s picks include the rats at the KFC in NYC, the GHB toy beads, Best Buy’s in-store kiosk version of its website with higher prices, Jay-Z’s dog-fur coats, and that time when SkyWest wouldn’t let that passenger pee, and so he had to go in an air-sickness bag, which led to him being questioned by the police when he finally got off the plane.
