With advent of cloud computing, ascendancy of Google and Apple, many are predicting the inevitable erosion of Microsoft’s power and influence. If that’s true, historians may look back to the day four years ago when CEO Steve Ballmer may have expended what little energy was left in the tank:
Discussed in Shoptimism — how gay/ lesbian outcry got the spot banished from broadcast. Homophobic, or send-up of same?
This from a blog post by Grant McCracken: “As late as the mid-1970s, iceberg lettuce accounted for more than 95% of all of the lettuce grown in this country. Then along came the reborn Caesar salad. Invented in a Tijuana restaurant in the 1920s (which one is a subject of a bitter interfamilial dispute), for decades the Caesar kind of limped along in all of its garlicky glory as a California specialty. Then, all of a sudden, in the late 1970s it was “discovered” by the fast food industry, often topped with very untraditional grilled chicken, and there followed a couple of decades of extremely heady popularity. From almost nothing, by the mid ’90s, more than 16,000 acres of romaine was being grown. By 2000 that had increased to more than 60,000 acres and today it stands at more than 80,000.”
The Atlantic has a nice if overly nostalgic piece about the glass-covered shopping arcades that endure in the increasingly homogenized City of Lights.
…about Super Bowl advertising any more? Especially if Baltimore, say, plays Arizona? And as far as the halftime show goes…The Who?
Lost in some of the talk about whether the Aughts comprise a good or bad decade are some astounding (if taken-for-granted) numbers concerning the growth of online usage and commerce. (Including the fact that Google is now a strapping ten-year-old!)
As if by Shoptimistic prophecy, Americans are buying into experiences, not so much stuff, according to a new poll: “The Department of Labor’s time-use surveys show [that] compared with 2005, Americans spent less time in 2008 buying goods and services and more time cooking or taking part in ‘organizational, civic and religious activities.’”
This Times story on the current wine-buying zeitgeist is interesting enough, but what caught my eye were the two customers in the photo accompanying the piece.
For reasons not entirely understood — folks are goofing off this week, too much time on their hands? — there has been an ongoing burst of unexpected (but appreciated) Tweeters who have stepped forward to follow Shoptimism this week. One of them, TheShoeBuff, is connected to a blog devoted to men’s shoes, sneakers mostly. Checking out TheShoeBuff’s blog, I ran across the following nifty item, “The History of Sneakers in 1500 Words.” Interesting chronology, distinguished by a refreshing disregard for actual dates. A nice touch — true passion is, or should be, timeless:
“Rubber-soled shoes (plimsolls) are manufactured. Goodyear launches Keds. Converse revolutionizes basketball. ‘Sneakers’ is coined because the soles are quiet. Converse releases the All Star. All Star’s give way to Chuck Taylors. Adidas produces its first tennis shoe. Converse releases the Jack Purcell. Puma is founded. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman launch Blue Ribbon Sports. Vans Launches. BRS becomes Nike. Puma develops Velcro. The Nike Swoosh trademark is purchased for $35. Nike introduces Air technology. Nike releases the Air Force One. Michael Jordan endorses Nike. Nike releases the Air Jordan. NBA fines Jordan for violating uniform rules with vibrant sneakers. Spike Lee directs and stars in Mars Blockmon commercial. Run-DMC releases “My Adidas”. Reebok introduces the Pump. Nike introduces the Air Max. Bill Bowerman dies. Nelly releases “Air Force Ones”. Bobbito authors “Where’d You Get Those?”. Nike acquires Converse. Converse re-issues the Chuck and the Jack Purcell. Sneaker Freaker and Sole Collector launch. SneakerPimps begins touring the world. Jordan celebrates its 20th anniversary. Adidas acquires Reebok. Just for Kicks DVD released.”
Much has been made recently about the wastefulness of seasonal gift-giving. Understandable. But a Harvard professor offers a thoughtful rebuttal. Money quote: “To make any sense of holiday gift-giving, we must move away from a thinking of the items as mere transfers of wealth or property. That isn’t their point.”
