Category Archives: Big Businesses

What $20k gets you at Amazon.com

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Marketing, Personal

Looking for that special brithday gift? Looks like Amazon.com has exactly what you’re looking for.  According to the description: amzn tank.jpg
"The JL421 Badonkadonk is a completely unique, extremely rare land vehicle and battle tank. Designed with versatility in mind, the Donk can transport cargo or a crew of five internally or on the roof, and can be piloted from within the armored shell or from an exposed standing position through the hatch, thanks to special one-way steel mesh armor windows and a control stick that pivots up and down to allow piloting from the standing or seated positions. The interior is fully carpeted and cozy, with accent lighting and room for up to five people."

In case you’re curious, people who bought this item also bought:
Roger von Oech’s Ball of Whacks: A Creativity Tool for Innovators by Roger Von Oech
America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It by Mark Steyn

Unfortunately, it doesn’t qualify for free shipping under Amazon Prime – but you CAN add it to your wedding registry….

The Marketing Guy’s Worst Nightmare

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Marketing, Politics

I’m imagining being the marketing guy at Microsoft charged with increasing the amount of time a user spends on their computer each day, lets call it Director of PCMPD (PC Minutes per Day). Being Microsoft, I probably have a staff member for each segment – 6-10 years old, 11-15, 16-19, 20-29, 30-39, etc….plus a dotted line over to the enterprise PCMPD Director which is split into vertical segments, as well as a weekly meet-up with the XBOXMPD, ZuneMPD, MobileMPD and other MPD directors.

Now my boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss, Mr Bill Gates himelf, comes out and says he and his wife Melinda decided to set a limit on their daughter of 45 minutes a day of total screen time for games and an hour a day on weekends, plus what time she needs for homework.  "Up to some age, to be determined, it’s very appropriate for a parent to get a sense of what they’re seeing out there and be able to have conversations about it," he said.

I think I just heard the head of the world’s largest software company say that kids should not spend all day in front of a screen….