Category Archives: NZ Business

Stuff please shut up

I’m unhappy with Stuff’s relatively recent change that automatically kicks off audio commentary when I open certain articles. Perhaps it happens just on my setup (OSX, Safari), as I see a ‘listen to audio clip’ link by the title. I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt for now, but please fix it…

Customer service – how to ensure phones are answered

Meg Whitman commented that in the early days Paypal customer support staff didn’t answer the phone – they were avoiding speaking to customers. I don’t understand why more customer service lines don’t follow Trade Me’s example. At Trade Me you pay$1.99 per minute when you call (a 900 or o900 number) customer service – but …

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Surfing from work…

Personal surfing from work is bad, says the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in New Zealand. While this may be a great debating point for the chamber, Brownlee clearly isn’t thinking this one through. I certaibnkly wouldn’t want ot work for him, nor for any organisation that wanted such micro control over my activities. Better …

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that housing bubble is bursting….

That sharp drop on the right of the chart – that’s the sign of a bubble bursting. It is saying “Don’t buy housing, especially ‘investment’ property, and especially in your area, which is ‘different from the rest’.” econobrowser does a great job of monitoring the US housing market, amongst other things. and as the US …

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Woz, Kawasaki and lousy flash video players

Great interview. Shame I can’t see it as the video player and my orcon/xtra broadband are lousy. Will flash video creators please realise that not only do people have variable speeds of internet access, but that we also have variable quality. Once I get a dropoff from a youtube or, it seems, a zbiz, video …

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ShipBuktu – shop the USA

Shipbuktu alpha-launched today. The site is still in test, but the back-end logistics are set. essentially. I’m involved on an unconfirmed sem-official basis. Shipbuktu gives Kiwis a USA address, so you can shop the internet USA style. Amazon electronics, Gap clothing, and everything from telescopes to car parts are finally  available to us here. Believe …

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Code sharing good, tourism good. Reconcile.

Qantas and AirNZ will not code-share. Thank goodness. Code-sharing is undoubtedly good for the airlines as it allows them to load their aircraft more and increase prices to closer to the monopoly price. Unfortunately the societal cost is large – not only do travelers pay more per flight, but they also spend our flying time …

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PS3 sales banned on eBay UK, restricted on eBay USA

Stupid. Really stupid. eBay USA is restricting sale of Sony PS3’s to members with high feedback, and even then only one per member. eBay UK is prohibiting sale of PS’s until pre-sales commence next year. Thus does eBay, which normally serves to reduce barriers, prevent trading across borders. The obvious play is to buy PS3’s …

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Peter Jackson (auto)biography

Just finished Peter Jackson’s (semi auto)-biography. It’s a remarkable journey he has made, from struggling apprentice printer to mogul. Three things struck me The first is his overwhelming passion for movies – passion that led him to just do it, rather than learn first by going to university. The results speak volumes, and he is …

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