Posts Tagged ‘economics’

Tencent

Posted: 20/06/2010 by Toby in Informative
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Reading about Tencent over on Techcrunch. it’s the superbig internet company you’ve probably never heard of. if you read this blog, you probably don’t care who’s bigger than eBay or Yahoo, and honestly nor do I really, but I was struck by what the CTO said, according to the article (here).

Tencent has also made forays in online payments and ecommerce, but it has had the least success in that category. The company isn’t giving up. I met with Tencent’s CTO Jeff Xiong in Hong Kong last week and when I asked him what the company’s core strength was, he answered “patience.”

Frankly, patience isn’t something you hear about in the tech world much. What you do hear more are words like ‘agile’ and ‘rapid’ and ‘nimble’ and ‘responsive’ maybe even ‘cutthroat.’ Is it possible to be nimble and patient? I suppose it is. To wait for the right moment and then to act. It also makes me realise that some of the other large companies, such as Google have been patient in some ways. A lab, for example, requires patience while amazing solutions are cooked up, and the gadgets and tools that come out of Google Labs are pretty neat, but they didn’t get made in one day.

On the other hand, as the article goes on to say, the position that Tencent is in will not last forever, they need to captialise on their position before someone else captialises on theirs.

I just thought I’d share that strange concept of patience applied to technology.

Also, according to the article, Tencent’s main product/portal is QQ.. so I googled it, and the resulting website was very different from the sites I’m used to. It’s a little bit Yahoo! maybe, but still not very interesting, and just covered with words. Utilitarian, you might say. Check it out!

If you build it…

Posted: 02/05/2010 by Toby in Informative
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This was an interesting story, I know linking to an Al-Jazeera clip is tantamount to blowing up the white house, but I’m pretty sure they’re just a TV station like HBO or BBC.

The story is about the idea that in China there’s so much surplus cash in one particular city (because of oil) that they are simply building buildings that no one needs yet.

Check it out! (SLYT)

Carbon Trading

Posted: 10/11/2009 by Toby in Informative
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This one is for Granddad Frater, who has mentioned several times this week that the next big market is going to be carbon trading. I assume he hears this stuff on the radio. Apparently it will be like a mini version of the stock exchange, or a mini version of the property market, where rights to emit x amount of carbon will vary in value according to supply and demand, and according to the ability of smart people to manipulate the market.

For example, according to Granddad, a farmer could make more money planting trees than planting crops, since the trees would create a reduction in carbon, and that reduction be sold on the emissions market.

I have no idea how that would all work. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will not get rich this way. This is on top of my sneaking suspicion I will not get rich at all.

Anyway, I thought this article was interesting, because it didn’t take long after the reality that carbon emissions will become a market unto itself, before someone decided to sound the doom and gloom early, to be able to say “I said it first!! Ha ha!”  I think it’s more the I told you so factor, than it is the actual dire situation that is described, for two reasons 1) This market is relatively new, and I don’t know much about it, so it couldn’t possibly pose a threat, and 2) Hello, tree huggers are drama queens.

Recycling Preachiness Part II: The Luggage

Posted: 26/03/2009 by Toby in Informative
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First, read part I.

In part II we get into a specific case where your preachy writer had to choose between an ascetic conservationist approach and a crazed consumer approach, and chose crazed consumer.

I recently found myself in a quandary on the buying used issue. We needed to get some more luggage for the trip to Australia.

First, could we borrow some suitcases? Well, no. Not only did we plan to re-use the luggage, but we were also somewhat limited in our ability to borrow the bags we needed for two reasons: One, we don’t have that many friends here in DC, and two, to return the bags from Australia would cost a bunch.

We wanted stuff we could keep, since Sharole and I want to travel, maybe as often as once a year. I have a very nice carry on bag which Sharole got me last year. I’ve used it on countless trips now, and it’s really quite nice to have. Sharole doesn’t have one, so we decided she would get a carry on as well. I then suggested we go for a duffel type suitcase, because they would fold down and not take as much space when they were not being used. We have one from Sharole’s brother Seth which has been great, because when we’re done using it, it just folds up and fits right inside another suitcase.

We sat down and worked out how many items we could carry on, and assigned items to each person. We needed to get three more large bags and a carry on for Sharole. We also needed two smaller bags, on wheels, for the kids to lug their own diapers and snacks in.

We tried to get used suitcases. We saw one ad on craigslist for two practically new suitcases, but we were not quick enough, they sold fast. For some reason there aren’t a lot of listings for suitcases right now. I kept telling myself we should be able to settle for some junky ones, just to get us over the Pacific. The problem here, of course, was one of quality. Even low quality items can be recycled, true, but they don’t last, and their value to others, i.e. selling it to someone else, falls off quickly. Low quality items fray at the edges, break at the seams, need repair, age in the wrong places, or one small part will break, rendering the rest of it partially or completely ugly, and partially or completely useless.

So a high quality used item is ideal. In the end we didn’t find items that fit our needs 2nd hand, even on eBay. Has anyone else noticed they have shifted heavily towards new items, sold at comparable prices to online stores, and the actual used recycled stuff is rare?

So we bought two duffels that were over 30″, and probably could have gone for another large duffel, except I saw a Samsonite hardside that I simply had to have. Ever since my Atlantic vault hardsided suitcase was smashed by.. American? United? I forget at the moment, I have been pining for another of the same. They don’t make that suitcase any more. The airline did replace my Atlantic with a Delsey, but I don’t like it at all, because when one carries it, top or side, the lip pops out. The Samsonite I saw had the 30/70 lid, like the Atlantic, rather than the 50/50 like most suitcases. We will be using the Delsey to travel, but I plan to sell it on the other side, and keeping the Samsonite. We also got Sharole a nice lime green 21″ carry on, with a hard shell bottom and a cloth top for expandability.

To summarize, two things drove us to purchase new: The specific type of bags we were interested in, and our willingness to keep and reuse the stuff ourselves. Driven to buy, we were unable to find used items that fit what we wanted. Maybe our preferences were too specific, and could have been relaxed, but I didn’t even see used items that would meet enough of the requirements to make it usable. We also justified going the purchase route by recognizing that Sharole’s bag should get re-used, and the large bags would get re-used. The large bags were duffel style, so they’d collapse when empty, and wouldn’t take a lot of storage space in between uses.

We Are Russia

Posted: 26/03/2009 by Toby in Informative
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In this interesting talk, Dmitry Orlov discusses Russia during the 1990′s when that country experienced economic collapse, and suggests that we can learn from their tactics.  I have linked to his blog page; he has links to the audio and video in the first paragraph.

It’s very Jane Jacobs, which would explain why I enjoyed it so much.

Recycling Preachiness Part I: The Shoes

Posted: 25/03/2009 by Toby in Informative
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Allow me to get on my grossly self-important soap box for a moment.

Consider the following scenario: You have an old pair of shoes. At the store, you can purchase some brand new shoes for $60. You also know of a shoe repairman who will bring your shoes up nicely for $50.

Our country is full of those who choose the new and chuck the serviceable. We have lost the ability to recycle not just plastic bottles and aluminum cans, but in clothing, tools, furniture, and other stuff that wears out but can be repaired. By chucking the old stuff, and get some new cheap stuff, we are doing two things: Stuff piles up in the landfills and purchases of new items diverts money from the local economy to the offshore manufacturer. No wonder China holds trillions of US dollars which it does not even need to touch.

While I can pat myself on the back for having my black dress shoes repaired (and the guy did a great job), what do I do when I need something that I don’t have at all?

First question to consider might be, how long do we plan to keep it for, or how often do we plan to use it? Let’s say something is only going to be used once. My preference is to borrow it from someone, use it, and then return it. This saves a heck of a lot of money, and prevents a heck of a lot of waste. If I’m going to use something a lot, well then maybe it does make sense to invest some dollars, not only for the sake of the borrowee, but for the sake of the borrower, since much use also increases risk of damaging stuff that is not my own. I’m not sure what the tipping point between ‘borrow’ and ‘buy’ would be, but I suspect that frequency and duration are both important. Using something once for a long time, or using something more than once every couple years some people might say get your own.

The other factor to consider, that really should be mentioned is whom you’re borrowing from. This can change the tipping point slightly more in your favor if you’re near close friends or family that have stuff that you know they don’t use very often, or they won’t miss, like a hot glue gun for a couple months while you complete your 60′s bowery doll house. Allow me just to make a small jab once again at America for being so migrant that close friends and family are left behind, and this benefit is not an option (we are a case in point, and so have to rely more heavily on the buy used arguments in the next paragraph). I think this migratory non-close to family culture is also part of the reason America is in such a large trade deficit, and consumes so much more than it produces.

Once it’s determined that borrowing is out, then why not get something used? Usually I look on craigslist. This is perhaps the least amount of effort, least cost, no middle man, and so on. The grandpa of craigslist, the classifieds, also still a great place for used items. eBay used to be and sometimes still is another place to get used stuff with lots of life left. I plan to get my next camera this way, and hopefully save like half the price compared to new. Pawn shops, thrift stores, consignment stores, swap meets and yard sales are also little gold mines for items that are used, but not used up, provided you’re willing to do a little digging amongst the items that never should have been made in the first place.

Part II: The Luggage

Cold Hard Statistics

Posted: 17/03/2009 by Toby in Informative
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For when you’re discussing the state of the economy with lesser mortals and it’s time to lay the smack down, here and here are some cold hard statistics that will back up your argument every time.

Bar Stool Economics

Posted: 28/10/2008 by Toby in Informative
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As much as I would like to keep video and pictures of William at the top of the blog, I also like to share with my readers some of the interesting and chuckle-worthy bits of internet that I come across.

This was actually forwarded to me in email, but like anything in a forwarded email, I figured someone would have put it in their blog already, saving me the trouble of copying it all in.  Instead, I include a link.

The most interesting part to me is the argument afterwards, in which the rich patron was accused of getting $10 whereas the others got less than that back.  This is where spin comes in.  This is why one shouldn’t trust the numbers that are being printed in the news, because there’s always a way to spin the situation either for or against, depending on which way the writer is leaning.

Getting Hot in Here

Posted: 06/06/2008 by Toby in Other
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fiery planetGlobal warming, aka climate change, aka (when I was a kid) greenhouse effect and holes in the ozone.

There are now even more stories about the polar ice caps melting and species dying out because of the effect of pollution, thanks to Mr. Gore the attention whore (sorry, but it rhymed).

Today in the news, a bill died in the Senate, proposed to impose requirements that companies reduce their carbon emissions. It’s the same sob story, that it’s too expensive, our economy would implode, and millions would be starving in the street if this bill goes forward. In reality it might take a chunk out of the CEO’s billion dollar bonus package, and might also raise prices some, but the reality is we have the technology to save the planet, or at least destroy it slowlier, and we’re simply not using it.

tree huggerI sound like a tree hugger, don’t I? I temper my view, however, with a general distaste for alarmists and flag wavers who are quick to yell at the top of their lungs “global warming” when there’s fewer trout in the streams or a polar bear slips and falls on her nose. There are also those who take data and, in the view of some, seemingly skew it in favor of a certain answer, as NASA appears to be doing in this article I found today.

So… how can we consider ourselves responsible residents of the planet without giving up our lifestyle, cheap products, and lazy garbage disposal, and without ignoring the many many people who just don’t care? Not possible. How can we expect business to be more efficient, less wasteful, and less polluting without imposing laws which restrict these things? Not possible. How can we raise awareness without producing stories, statistics, and examples of how the environment is being destroyed? Not possible. How can we be environmentally responsible yet question the catastrophic prognostications and sometimes flimsy supporting facts and figures? Possible.

I take comfort in the fact that no matter what we do to our environment, there are some species that will never die out. The cockroach for example.

P.S. I consider it my duty as an environmentally conscious citizen to save up for one of these.

Made in China

Posted: 30/05/2008 by Toby in Informative
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Not referring to ‘manufacture’ but referring to the slang term. When someone is ‘made,’ their cover is blown.

Mom sent a relatively interesting article in the magazine Fast Company all about China’s stripping of relationship with Africa and how bad conditions are there, exacerbated by China’s not enforcing its moral standards (if it has any) on Africa before signing deals and subsequently handing over cash.

the world
Visual aid: a China centered world map

I also bought and almost finished reading China, Inc. by Ted C. Fishman, which details how China got to where it is (was in 2002) economically. In a nutshell: China’s strategy is to make a lot of stuff and sell it. And they do mean a LOT of stuff. Details about infrastructure, financing, price points, and manufacturing methodology can also be found in the book, but essentially it boils down to making a LOT of (pretty good) stuff and selling it cheap.

Well they have been doing this for a while now, and the strategy seems to work. Apparently China has cash reserves out the wazoo, the Chinese government grants zero interest loans, and China has more bodies willing to do more stuff than most countries today.

The best quote in the article is (more…)