Groupon -- is it going down hill?

Groupon is in the WSJ news again today, "Growing Pains" story, I would say it has always had pains, the IPO was a bit of a risk, they are still losing money.  But they used to lose $400 million a quarter, now they are "only" losing $37 million a quarter.  

They already squeeze merchants (taking maybe half what you pay for your coupon) and now they are going to ask for even more from the merchants. 

i was initially enthused with Groupon concept, but never did actually buy a coupon, and now I don't even look at the daily deal anymore. Maybe it is just me, but don't we see clones everywhere now?  I wonder how this will all play out.  Anyone have comments, or experience using the coupons ?

Canon Point And Shoot Camera S100

For photo buffs, this is a "must check out" item.  Lots of news stories about it.  Pricey $430 but look at the features :

1.  pocket sized, with decent hand grip

2. 12.1 MP very advanced sensor, super fast, low noise (good for lower lighting situations)

3.  quality is first priority  among the few Canons to use sensors made by Canon

4.  Can shoot 24 frames a second. And video.

5.  Optical ZOOM  I think 30mm to 120 mm ... extreme for a point-and-shoot pocket camera

6. In burst mode will fire off 10 shots per second -- you will get the right expression on the child's face or the running feline -- has slow motion video as well.

7. try www.dpreview.com for all digital camera reviews  -- most intense and accurate reviews on the web

There's no discounting at eBay or Amazon on this one, it is hot product. The street price of $430 is the price although there is a ficticious list price of like $599, I think, don't hold me to that one. 

I have own several digital cameras -- starting with 2.0 MP Kodak many years ago, and it was a great one, still love the photos taken with it.  It was superior for wide angle shots, but overall did a great job on most anything. Later cameras have been mostly Canon.  Other brands didn't seem to measure up. SD chips were sure a nice "revolution" over the older, larger ones called smart chip or something like that. But SD - HC chips today require a newer camera.  HC changes the software configuration.

BBC News App For I Pad

I have 5 or 6 news apps on my iPad, but some are pretty poor, overall.  My favorites like Wall Street Journal and USA Today will remain, but I might delete Fluent News, and some others.  

Yesterday I discovered, quite by accident, the BBC app.  It is so good, I just can't describe it in print.  It is good looking, easy to use, full of photos and videos, super fast loading, easy to e-mail stories to friends -- and even has a single button that will stream BBC radio news to your iPad speaker -- and it works flawlessly. If you own an iPad (or similar device) you owe it to yourself to try this one.  It has hot breaking news, and doesn't color the news with subtle opinions.  It is closer to pure reporting than some of the other services.

And, (drum roll) it is FREE !  And seems to be free of ads as well.

PS --- Finding good apps is very difficult in my opinion -- I found this one as a by product of doing something else.  Please share your favorite apps as comments to this or any other of my posts.

Phillips Light Bulb Wins Award

Back on the topic of alternate light bulbs, a publication just out shows the new Phillips Ambient 12.5 watt LED Mercury free light bulb won the US Department of Energy award for Bright Tomorrow Lighting (the prize for better lights that save energy).

1. it is dimmable, not all such bulbs are

2. it is soft white light   (puts out the equivalent of 60 watts of light from a normal bulb)

3. it will last a consumer 25,000 hours

4. if every 60 watt bulb in the USA were replaced with this, we would a decline of annual CO2 emissions of 20 million metric tons.  Not to mention less land fills needed for "used" bulbs and the power bill reductions.

The downside is, at present, the bulb is $25 (available now at Home Depot). As you might have noticed, most hotel rooms now use spiral or alternative light bulbs in rooms.  It is a trend, we might as well learn which such bulbs are the best way to go.  I am sure the ones I have seen in hotel rooms are NOT the best way to go.

CraigsList -- you don't hear as much about it anymore

In the past I have used it to sell football tickets, and it was a wake up call.  The e-mails wanting to buy flowed in faster than I could answer them.  In the end, for every post I made, I got 20 plus responses.  Sold every ticket promptly.  Usually met the buyer at a Target Store after work, something like that. 

Today I discovered the Craigslist app for the iPad.  It is a terrific app.  I think it is much better and easier to use than the website. Searches are fast, clear, and now some have color photos of the things they are selling. It deserves its high rating in the app store (and its free)

I highly recommend you download the app, if you have any thoughts about buying or selling something on Craigslist.  Today's search was for a nearly new stainless steel dishwasher to replace one that is wearing out. I didn't find what I wanted, but I only had time to look at one day's listing -- today's listings.  Have you tried it?  My daughter used it to sell a washer and dryer -- they sold the same day she listed them (when she lived in Florida). I know many landlords now use it exclusively to find renters.

It has certainly hurt the sale of newspaper classified ads.   Please leave a comment on your experience.

Wonder why it didn't go public?  or did it ?  All these hot websites seem to be having an IPO lately.

Is there an iPad coming for every corporate desk?

An article hit my desk this morning (BusinessWeek Mag, January 29 issue)  Please give it a read, here is the link

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/it-looks-like-youre-trying-to-use-word-on-an-ipad-01192012.html

The article is about the rush to find a way to put Word, Excel, and other MS Office type programs on the iPad so the  Pad will better fit the corporate way of life.  The point is that corporations are finding their employees are getting ahead of them – the employees are using iPads at work, and more often they look up things on them, instead of the corporate issued PC.

Demand for tablet-ready corporate software is taking off.  After testing the waters in 2011, companies are expected to buy $10 billion worth of iPads this year, and $16 billion next year.  There is talk of “post-PC” productivity software business being a growth industry.

Are we leaving the PC?  The article says that, drug reps, for example, often get only 10 seconds with a doctor, they don’t want to spend that valuable time waiting for their notebook PC to boot up !   So they are buying and using iPads on sales calls. 

 Enjoy the article and post your comments.

My parting thought:  The PC is still king of the hill, but the iPad is a cute little puppy down at the bottom, and it is beginning to wag its tail.   

Someday soon, it might climb the corporate hill and challenge the aging PC.  

Apple stock keeps bouncing up around $500, from only $100 a few years ago. Apple is now the largest company in the world (based on the value of the stock X the number of outstanding shares = capitalization).  And it has the cash on hand to slay dragons. 

Some schools here in South Carolina have issued iPads to all students thinking they will replace books. Who would have thought this 5 years ago?

Is There A Spiral Light Bulb In Your Future?

The Federal Government has threatened to take away our beloved incandescent light bulbs, and I have, like a good citizen, resisted that.  My resistance, so far, has been limited to hording enough 40, 60, and 100 watt light bulbs to last me 5 plus years.  Prices on the old fashioned bulbs have fallen to an all time low :  $2.95 today for 16 each, 60 watt, Phillips brand, bulbs at Home Depot (HD).

But I am also experimenting to see if I can find a way to like the new spiral bulbs. I have purchased 4 different brands, wattage's, and so forth, and have read a good bit about them.  So far, I have found a few applications where they make sense – in hard-to-change-locations where quality of light doesn’t matter.  Such as the side door (exterior) fixture at my home.  After warming up, the 60 watt spiral in there (upside down) seems to put out very good light.

Consumer Reports, my bible for some purchasing decisions, has the resources to test many brands of the new light bulbs, and the current issue has a good bit of useful information and ratings on spiral (and other) bulbs.

Today I ventured into Home Depot to buy the second best bulb on their list, at $1.50 each , which is a 60 watt, warm white bulb, 775 lumens, by EcoSmart.  This bulb was next to the best in the ratings, and the best was by GE, priced at $40 each bulb.  However, my purchase plans were changed at the point-of-sale.

First off, EcoSmart has improved the bulb in the past few weeks, so the Consumer Reports article’s 775 lumens rating is now 900 lumens. That is even better than the GE. And it comes in 4 different wave lengths of light.  Fortunately they have a sampling box. You can stick your hand in and see what it looks like under all 4 wave lengths of light.  Very clever.  That swayed me away from ‘warm white” to what they call “bright white”.  Which is not as cutting edge as “daylight”, or as glaring as “fluorescent”.  The yellowish look of  “warm white” seemed too yellow to me. My choice of bright white was a compromise.

The semi-helpful HD salesman said “the way to know which sells best is to see how many we display – the slotting space”.  Sure enough, the “daylight” bulb had the most space, and is thus the best seller, he said.  

The bad news is, “bright white” is more expensive than “warm white”.  Go figure? “Bright white” was $2.00 a bulb.  Lasts 10,000 hours.  Uses only 14 watts to create 60 watts of light by the old 60 watt bulb standard (900 lumens). Expected life = 9 years.

Your comments and experience would be welcome here.  I will report on my satisfaction with “bright white” in a future Blog Post.