Technology advances, but human nature stays the same. It’s cliched by now, but it’s never been more true.
We all remember Gordon Gekko, cinema’s epic representation of the 1980s Wall Street titan. Gekko is a slimy master of the universe, an unscrupulous speculator with morals as flexible as the tape he trades. “Greed…is good.”
Less remembered is [...]
Archive for the ‘Internet and Technology’ Category
Pumping: The Centi-Million-Dollar Market-Cap Crap-Trap
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology, Law and Economics on August 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
U Chic at U Penn
Posted in Culture, Internet and Technology, Law and Economics on August 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Up until now, Penn freshmen have started their college careers by reading a book and then discussing it – an orientation activity meant to pique the mind and unify the class. This year, incoming students will look at, study, and discuss a painting for the “reading project.” People don’t read anymore — I’ve written [...]
Cease and Desist: A Lesson in Customer Service
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology on July 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I can’t find the link, but I remember last year I read a post about a JetBlue pilot mixing up his schedule and inadvertently delaying the departure time of his flight nearly 45 minutes. The pilot took full responsibility for his own mistake, absolving entirely his company, his fellow pilots, and his crewmembers. Nevertheless, JetBlue [...]
The Death of Prolific Writing
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology on July 2, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Content is an industry: words are a capitalist commodity, a bag of goods for consumer consumption. But content ingestion isn’t learning. Data and information aren’t knowledge. As we read less, we respond less. As we respond less, we write less. And as we write less, we are less. By writing less or by writing differently, we close the avenues through which we come to understand ourselves and our place in the world.
Is Twitter Making Us Stupid?
Posted in Internet and Technology, Miscellaneous Commentary on May 17, 2009 | 5 Comments »
We cannot stop the reduction of content, but with conscious effort, we can prevent the reduction of ourselves.
The End of History Thesis Circa 1990
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology, Law and Economics, Politics on March 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Several years ago, when I was a boarding student in my final year of prep school at Blair Academy, I got sick and had to go to the infirmary, a quaint, early 20th-century cottage atop the steep, sweeping slope of the school’s front hill. There I suffered a few days of torment–not from illness so [...]
Why I Love Twitter
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology, tagged Frank Eliason, Tony Hsieh on February 7, 2009 | 1 Comment »
At first I was skeptical. What was the point of a separate site to post what were, as I thought, essentially just Facebook status updates. But I am now firmly on the Twitter train — I’m a fanboi, if you will. A couple stories.
My friends and I were at the Denver airport over break and [...]
Ultrinsic Motivator
Posted in Internet and Technology, Law and Economics, Miscellaneous Commentary on February 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A friend of mine started a service called Ultrinsic Motivator, which allows students to place a de facto bet on their success in a class. Users put money (at this point $20) into a pot which is then divided among those who receive an A in the course. The idea is economically sound, pragmatic, and [...]
The Kindle and the Future of Mobile Reading
Posted in Internet and Technology on July 31, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Since I’ve now had an Amazon Kindle for over two months, it’s time to give the new e-book reading device a review and also proffer my predictions about its future impact on Amazon, on the e-book and publishing industries, and on us.
Pros:
Appearance: The Kindle is a beautiful device. Slim and light, it fits perfectly into my hands [...]
Thoughts, As They Come
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology, Miscellaneous Commentary on June 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Thoughts, as they come…
The Hangover: This movie was epic. It’s Tucker Max meets Road Trip made visible. Very rarely does a film capture the intricacies and complexity of the often sick and perverted sense of humor of my generation’s males, as well as our trying but cozy relationship with alcohol; our diverse and maladaptive interpersonal [...]
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