What a great Free-Rider Friday! Check out the links and summaries below…
Ed’s Topics:
An Apple a day can be taken away…
Apple is closing two stores in Collin County, Texas to avoid patent trolls. See story in The Verge, February 22, 2019, and an editorial in The Dallas Morning News, February 24, 2019.
Giveth and Taketh…
According to an interview in Forbes with Grace Slick from February 21, 2019, Chick-fil-A ran a commercial during the Oscars that used a song written by Slick. The CEO of Chick-fil-A has donated to marriage laws that state that marriage is between one man and one woman. Grace used the royalty money to support LGBT charities. A great example of free-market capitalism: both parties to a transaction win, even with divergent political views.
From The National Popular Vote Website:
The National Popular Vote bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Explanation It has been enacted into law in 12 states with 172 electoral votes (CA, CT, DC, HI, IL, MA, MD, NJ, NY, RI, VT, WA). Map showing status in states. The bill will take effect when enacted by states with 98 more electoral votes. It has passed at least one house in 11 additional states with 89 electoral votes (AR, AZ, CO, DE, ME, MI, NC, NM, NV, OK, OR) and has been approved unanimously by committee votes in two additional states with 26 electoral votes (GA, MO). The bill has recently been passed by a 40–16 vote in the Republican-controlled Arizona House, 28–18 in Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate, 57–4 in Republican-controlled New York Senate, 34-23 in Democratic-controlled Oregon House, and 26-16 in the New Mexico Senate. For a legal argument against, see “Why the National Popular Vote Compact is Unconstitutional,” by Norman R. Williams from the BYU Law Review.
Subscriptions Abound…
Since we’ve been discussing the subscription business model lately, I saw two advertisements this week that are subscription based: One from Trade: “the Netflix of coffee,” and Shoprunner, teaming up with UPS, is offering free two-day delivery for over 100 retailers.
Now for Ron’s Topics:
Apple make-a da money…
We are at Peak smartphone, according to The Economist, from January 12, 2019. Apple has a 13% worldwide market share in smartphones, but captures nearly 100% of the industry’s profits (and it might even be more).
Goodbye friend…
Herb Kelleher passed away on January 3, 2019, aged 87. Herb was one of Ron’s favorite CEOs and Founders. See the obituary in The Economist.
Cape Fear…
A new book, The Fearless Organization, by Amy Edmondson, a professor at Harvard Business School argues that a corporate culture based on fear and intimidation, it might appear targets are being met in the short term. But the long run effect is likely to be counterproductive. Fear inhibits learning. Scared workers find ways of covering up or getting around inefficient practices. What better way to implement an atmosphere of “psychological safety” than implementing After Action Review. See The Economist, “Permission to speak,” January 12, 2019.
Control this…
From FEE, February 28, 2019, “Oregon Just Became the First State to Impose Rent Control,” by Hans Bader.