1955 - 2011

 

 

Few start ups

RelayRides allows customers without cars to borrow vehicles from neighbors. GM today announced that they would be partnering with RelayRides to allow access to OnStar. All peer to peer rentals, it differs from several of its nearest competitors. 15% of the fee goes to RelayRide, 20% go to car insurance and 65% go to the car owner.

Leaky is a new insurance search site that makes it easy and simple to compare auto-insurance prices. You input your information one time and then retrieve insurance prices for every major car insurance company. Y Combinator funded.

Breezy allows you to print and fax while on the go. Breezy has a mobile app that allows customers to print to printers around various cities around the globe (currently over 1,000 printers). Partners with copy stores and hotels to allow easy printing at various locations. Funded by Accel Partners among others.

It’s Good to Be Michael Lewis - New Yorker by Jessica Pressler

Collins Tuohy has told this story before, and by now her delivery is spot on. It was Thanksgiving morning, and her family were on their way to pick up breakfast. “Because in our household,” she says in her Memphis drawl, and pauses for emphasis. “My mother thinks that if we go and get food.” Dramatic pause. “And bring it back to our house.” Another pause. “Then it counts as home cooking.” Continued

Unintentionally funny music videos

The modern concept of the music video really began in 1964 with the Beatles' "feature film" A Hard Day's Night but began to appear in different forms throughout the 1970s with full length movies (like Tommy and The Wall) and various others. Music videos cemented their standing in popular culture with the launch of MTV in 1981and the iconic Thriller video a little over two years later. Thriller single handedly revolutionized the way music videos were thought of both by artists and by the general public. The video became more iconic than the song itself and videos became a new way to market and position songs for artist.

Music videos can be a very personal undertaking for an artist or it can be a slapped together product by a record company. Thriller cost half a million dollars in 1983, while some videos today appear to be shot on the Zapruder camera. Some have stood the test of time, while others come across as completely dated. But allowing musicians artistic freedom to produce a video, something nearly all are entirely unqualified to do, has left some relics of unintentional comedy over the years. Videos that appear to be nearly satirical now, but at the time weren't made in jest at all. Videos that probably were bad when made, and have come full circle to simply humorous now. 

Top 5 unintentionally funny videos

5. Tommy Seebach - Apache

 

Tough to beat the 22 second mark in this one. I had to search to make sure this wasn't meant to be as funny as it is. Tommy Seebach was in fact Danish which nearly disqualified him for the unintentionally funny category but was ultimately allowed to hang around because of the sheer absurdity of the video

4. Culture Club - Karma Chameleon

The video opens letting you know that this is Mississippi in 1870. It proceeds to show Boy George sitting on a mount of some sort wearing Rag Doll material in his hair surrounded by a host of dancing Mississippians.

3. 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology

 

Justin Timberlake and 50 Cent are in some futuristic world with spying technology fixed in on different girls. It proceeds to alternate between a night vision and a black room with Timberlake and 50 Cent dancing. They have some future technology that allows the protagonists to be 'with' the girls without being with them. It then pans to Timbaland doing his best Minority Report presentation, shifting screens around and shows blurred out images of naked women. Not sure who thought this was a good idea for a music video but the budget was clearly high, and was clearly wasted.

2. Johnny Cougar Mellencamp - Hurt So Good

It just needs to be watched. Mellencamp at his best

1. DMX - Ruff Ryders' Anthem

 

Dogs chained to tires. Shirtless lifting. The bar is set pretty high when the first shot is a motorcycle wheelie but DMX and the rest of Ruff Ryders are able to keep it going for the entirety of the video.

Netflix: It wasn't you, it was me

Netflix's fall from grace has been swift and abrupt, today falling to a new 52 week low following an unusual apology email from CEO Reed Hastings yesterday and an announced restructuring of the business. Netflix will now be separated into two businesses; Qwikster, the traditional DVD rental business now including video game rental, and Netflix, now simply the online streaming business. The rationale behind the split according to Hastings is to let “each (business) grow and operate independently,” presumably allowing investors to value the higher trading streaming business completely separately from the lower trading DVD. Streaming only now represents 40% of subscriptions and this business appears likely to continue to quickly grow, while the DVD business' growth trails off.

The company's slide began in the middle of July when they changed their pricing from a $7.99 option to purchase just streaming and a $2 add on to get DVDs as well. The company then somewhat slipped in a new pricing structure that completely separated the streaming and DVD business with each costing $7.99. The slide furthered when Netflix cut their guidance for subscribers late last week as a result of a backlash to the new pricing structure.

There have been numerous missteps and oversights throughout the last 6 months that have led to Netflix rapid decline. Dividing the two businesses was the logical next step for the company, but the initial step to getting there (the pricing switch) and the timing was communicated so poorly that it may have done permanent damage. Ultimately, Hastings appears to have overestimated his customers' loyalty to Netflix at the wrong time. Being the first to do something endears substantial goodwill and trust, but that can be quickly evaporate and be irrevocably broken. Competitors were already gaining steam on Netflix's business model and with complimentary products being offered (and losing Starz), Netflix may be left with a great business that set itself up for cannibalization.

America is generally a fairly forgiving country when someone is quick to admit their mistakes. We'll forgive the Hugh Grants and the Bill Clintons because they apologized and didn't ultimately affect the pocket of their fans. Netflix's poor communication struck a nerve as less disappointing but more deceitful, causing a loss of confidence and loyalty that actually hit their supporters financially. The stock is probably undervalued at its current levels, an overreaction to the uncertainty, but the long term future seems bleak with fractured consumer confidence and a leader substantially underestimating customer loyalty.

Google Wallet Launches

After much fanfare, years of development and tons of attention, Google Wallet finally launched today albeit in a limited capacity. The only two ways to currently use the service is through Citi MasterCards, and a Google Pre-paid card but the company plans to expand the offering over the next few months. While certainly cool, the criticism of Google Wallet remains that it is a solution without a problem. Almost universally likely to take place at some point, it's still as of yet unclear at what point.