Intuitive Stories

Was just checking my bill on the AT&T Wireless site and was rather surprised to find that I now have a feature called “sponsored data” enabled, without any notification or promotion from AT&T. In fact, I bet you do too. It’s described by the company thusly: This is actually really cool because it means that […]

Jason Del Ray over at Re/Code is reporting that “Buy Now” buttons showed up for a short period of time in the mobile Twitter app, likely as a test. Apparently it’s related to a partnership that Twitter.com has been building with a shopping site called Fancy. Here’s how it looked when it was being displayed […]

There’s a temptation in social media to push every button, flip every switch, and share everything with everybody. Privacy? Bah. That’s for old schoolers. Nowadays all the cool kids are oversharing, right? To some extent, that’s true, but there are still certain things that people need to be more thoughtful about, and an email I […]

I’ve been talking with a couple of different tech firms about the possibility of serving as a brand ambassador. “What’s that?” I can hear you ask. It’s where you serve as a band spokesperson in return for product and, quite often, financial compensation. To find out what kind of deals are the norm, I asked […]

I received an email pitch from Sergio Troiani about his Kickstarter campaign for a new iPhone case. A new case? After I’d seen thousands of different cases at CES less than a month ago? I was intrigued, and our subsequent discussion about what he was doing turned into this Q&A. Keep in mind when you’re reading […]

A fascinating story showed up a few days ago about the Chinese Academy of Sciences building its own smartphone operating system that looks a lot like it’s based on Android but has some of its own features and, likely, tightened security options. In fact, China Operating System (or “COS”) is designed to run on a […]

Really interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal entitled Rampant Returns Plague E-Retailers, in which the author states that “as much as a third of all Internet sales gets returned”. That’s huge and a massive hit for the profitability of these stores, but as the article highlights, with free shipping and free return shipping, there […]

I’ve written a number of times now about the ongoing eminent domain case in Longmont, Colorado, just up the street from my house in Boulder. The quick summary: Dillard’s department store is the “last man standing” in the almost completely abandoned Twin Peaks Mall in a prime location south of town. The City of Longmont […]

Fascinating story developing with Men’s Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank clothing stores. According to the NY Times, Jos. A. Banks approached Men’s Wearhouse in October, 2013 with an acquisition offer of $2.3 billion. The Board of Directors at Men’s Wearhouse rejected it as having too many conditions and said that they believed they had a […]

We’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, Nov 22, 1963, so it’s no surprise that there are lots of books, movies, TV shows, and even commemorative magazines appearing. I was quite young so I have no memories of that day but I’ve heard many others talk about […]

It’s not often that I bump into a classic typo on something as overt as a sign or billboard, but sometimes it does occur. Well, actually, that’s not true. It’s startling how often there are typos or misspellings in signs, billboards, store signage and, the worst of them, restaurant menus. In fact, I’d estimate that […]

While I don’t shop at H&M myself, I recognize that it’s a popular brand and one that my teen children particularly enjoy checking out as the clothes are fashionable and not crazy expensive as so many stores in the mall tend to be nowadays. The company’s considerably larger than you think, with over 3000 stores […]

I just recently spent a few days at The Curtis hotel in Denver, Colorado. It’s a local favorite of mine, with different pop culture themes for each floor and bright, engaging colors and architecture. The amazing thing is that it’s a Doubletree Hotel by Hilton, as the vast majority of hotels I’ve stayed in with […]

In a world where more and more people are shifting their major purchases online from brick and mortar businesses, it’s tricky for retailers to keep up. Circuit City lead the way years ago with its “in store pickup” program, which offers the advantages of online shopping and purchase, while letting consumers save on the often-exorbitant […]

I have a theory about what makes an effective advertisement, whether it’s online or in print. I mean, when we’re subjected to hundreds – or thousands – of adverts each and every day, I figure I’ve now seen and heard millions of them, so it’s not unreasonable for me to have spent some time analyzing […]