Expedient MEANS

Notes on Film, Art, Writing, Technology and other things by Steve A Furman

  • American Airlines Charges $15 to Send an E-mail!

    I booked a flight for myself and family to visit my mother and sister during the holidays. The tickets were pretty expensive so we elected to use miles. The day before the flight, while I was making a car service reservation, I discovered that my outbound flight was no longer listed. I logged onto aa.com Read more

  • Yet Another Format, Blu-ray

    I’ve had all the home video formats. It started with the Sony Betamax, then quickly moved to VHS, as the electronics company JVC won that war. Marketers take note, never use the word Beta in the name of your product. From my perspective Beta was superior to VHS in almost every way. Then Laser Disk Read more

  • Rapid Fire Marketing Techniques are Required for Social Sites

    The New York Times recently ran a story by Randall Stross assessing how big brands are doing with advertising campaigns on social networking sites like Facebook. The results have not been encouraging for advertisers. Top line: big brands can get consumers interested (term used loosely) using old school tactics like sweepstakes or spend gobs of Read more

  • Get Keynote Presentations without the Travel

    Time is money (does that mean money is time?), so I pick and choose what conferences I attend very carefully. I’ve got to have a high level of confidence that I’ll be able to learn something valuable, bring it back to my staff or others in the company and expand my network of people that Read more

  • Think Like a Start-Up in These Challenging Times

    I have been consuming Guy Kawasaki’s new book Reality Check at breakneck speed. Love the framework of the book. Short chapters, numbered paragraphs, each chapter leads with a provocative quote. It’s also full of his wonderful sense of humor. As a venture capitalist, Guy has had lots of experience reviewing business plans and watching start-ups Read more

  • House at Dusk: A Study

    Only the top floor of the stone apartment building is revealed in Hopper’s House at Dusk. Our eye traverses past each window and quickly we notice a woman, alone of course, sitting on a bright red chair looking down. Perhaps she is reading a book or stroking a newly acquired kitten. You get the feeling Read more