Back in July, movie-on-demand giant Netflix raised their prices setting their customers on a rampage and their stock prices into a free fall.  (Read the initial announcement from July here).  If you’re not familiar with Netflix, they’re a movie rental company which sends you your movies in the mail.  You can get as many movies as you want for one flat fee.  There’s no late fees so if you want to keep a particular movie longer than another that’s your prerogative.  Netflix also offers a streaming option where you can watch a (limited) portion of the catalog directly on your device (PC, TV, iPhone, etc.)  Essentially what Netflix did was split their pricing for the home DVD and streaming services, effectively doubling their rates.  This, naturally, upset quite a few folks which left the company with a slew of bad publicity and a customer base that was leaving in droves.

And today… Netflix has finally responded.  I received this email in my inbox this morning from Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings: Read the rest of this entry

I heard about Spotify – http://www.spotify.com/ – a few months ago when I watched a video interview with Napster founder Sean Parker.  Parker who’s always been into the sharing of music has said that Spotify is, “the answer to piracy.”  I’m a big music fan and the problem of music piracy on the Internet is a huge one so I was super interested in this.  The problem was, when I watched the video Spotify wasn’t available in the United States.  Well, the wait is over and Spotify is here! Read the rest of this entry

LinkedIn is an outstanding tool from a business networking perspective.  While it’s often referred to as “Facebook for adults” it really is much more than that.  When used properly it can be a great sales and marketing asset and it’s absolutely invaluable from a networking perspective.  Here’s  the FastWebUpdates take on Building Your LinkedIn Network.

With any networking relationship, you typically get as much out of it as you put into it.  With that understanding I personally always will go out of my way to help others whether through and introduction, sharing of best practices or providing constructive feedback.  LinkedIn offers some incredible tools to assist in networking, one of which is called “Get introduced through a connection.  This feature allows you to (potentially) get connected to someone who’s not in your network through someone who is. Read the rest of this entry

As reported yesterday, HP (http://www.hp.com/) has announced their intent to exit the personal computer Business.  This move comes as the company struggles to stay relevant in the ever dynamic consumer products marketplace.

For years, HP has attempted to build upon its successful printer business by acquiring other consumer product companies such as Compaq and (most recently) Palm.  The move to now exit those businesses is a win for Apple computer with its hugely successful iPhone and iPad products which have been competing with HP’s Palm Pre and the just released HP TouchPad.  Another big winner is Dell who is already the leading PC manufacturer.  Based on HP’s exit, Dell can only expect to continue to  gain market share. Read the rest of this entry

Educating your employees on how to effectively use the computer software and hardware tools you provide for them should be important to all business owners… especially small business owners.  However, it often goes overlooked.  Not because of the cost of classroom education, but because of the labor costs associated with having your employees out of the office for dedicated study.  In a typical classroom setting, there are students of different skill levels who all learn differently with individual rates of absorption.  From my experience, when employers invest in classroom training, the students only retain about 20% of the material covered.  Worse yet, they completely forget the material they don’t immediately apply.  Additionally, take into account that classes are designed to cover a narrow scope of concepts so that they appeal to a broad audience.  All things considered, the opportunity cost of an employee out of the office becomes a much higher expense than the class itself. Read the rest of this entry