The other day, I got an email from Chase, letting me know about some offer I had waiting for me, provided I downloaded Chase Pay, their digital payments app. When I went to the App Store and searched for “Chase Pay,” I discovered three rather distinct Chase banking products, which, taken together, nicely represent a … Continue reading Finance Apps and their Contents
A few weeks ago, we hung up the spikes at Finishers Club – the fitness startup I’d been running since early-2016. It had been a fantastic two years, but we didn’t show enough scale or traction for the company to continue operating. As with all ex-CEOs, I decided to sit down and write up some … Continue reading Some Lessons from a Failed Startup
A few days ago, I hit 1,000 journal entries on Day One, the MacOS and iOS journaling app that I’ve been using every day since June 21st, 2015. I only started journaling on a whim, thanks – actually – to Starbucks, which used to offer inexpensive apps – typically $3.99 or less* – for free … Continue reading 1,000 Journal Entries
There’s a nice piece on Medium by a member of The Economist’s digital team that speaks to the 140 year-old publication’s active efforts to remain relevant to newer generations, which, in this case, amounts to a more aggressive digital strategy: social media, video, experiential marketing, interactive content, and so on. What I liked about the … Continue reading Let’s Get Digital
Two days ago, I hit the 200-day mark in my journaling app, Day One. This number isn’t particularly impressive in and of itself – it’s only seven months worth of writing, and there are plenty of people who’ve written for far, far longer – but it is nice to have a record of consistency. I … Continue reading Journaling
At its lengthy announcement last Wednesday, Apple announced a number of new products, including the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, iPad Pro, and the new Apple TV. As a number of outlets have been quick to point out, there was nothing truly revolutionary here. However, I think there were a number of compelling iterations that didn’t so much seek … Continue reading Subscribing to iPhone
Guess which firm and founder fits the following example:
A once-dominant company, brought to its knees by competition from Apple and Amazon, is faced with dropping sales, a sinking share price, and angry shareholders. In walks the silver-haired founder of the company, who volunteers part of his reduced, if still substantial fortune, in order to buy the company and save the brand.
I recently rediscovered Apple’s 2008 commercial for the original Macbook Air, and was surprised to find that it packed the same visual, emotional appeal that it did five years ago – even in the post-PC, iPad-centric era.
Yesterday, I bought a $25 American Express Gift Card for $15. The neat thing is, I did it on Twitter. I’m not sure if this sort of selling is necessarily going to be the next big thing in eCommerce, but it is certainly a compelling development in how Twitter – which recently raised the per-day cost of its “Promoted Tweet” to $200,000 – is seeking to monetize its product. Similarly, Facebook is experimenting with a ticket purchase option for some events, demonstrating Social Media’s interest – and need – to expand from simple advertising platforms to facilitators of consumer engagement – and purchases.
In light of the screenshots of the new Chrome OS, I figured that it’d be worth publicly positing, that if given the opportunity again, Google would probably have chosen to make Chrome, and not Android, their mobile OS.
Silicon Spatula 