Sprint’s troubles seem to have little end in sight. So far in 2014, they’ve had to cut hundreds of jobs and shut down scores of stores. And that’s just the beginning.
Back on Friday, during a regulatory meeting, Sprint announced more job cuts from their already battered Kansas City headquarters. Back in March 2014, they had to shut down 55 stores nationwide and cut 330 jobs. Now more are coming. Management positions aren’t immune, as some top positions are expected to be cut. By October 31, this batch of job losses will likely cost this smartphone conglomerate over $160 million this fiscal quarter alone. And it looks like the Sprint consumer may be paying for the balance. Sprint warned additional charges may be needed to make up the difference, although nothing specific has been released to the public. Intense and aggressive ad campaigns are doing little to help. If anything, it’s inspiring? competitors. Sprint is #3 in the wireless carrier market. T-Mobile, #4, is bent on taking their #3 spot. The top two, AT&T and Verizon, have countered Sprint’s campaign with their own aggressive, but very popular, ad campaigns.
How did Sprint get in this mess? It started with a tacky, mediocre overhaul that a 5th grader could have put together. That lead to gaps in coverage, which led to confusion for a lot of Sprint consumers. That led to a mass exodus of customers dumping Sprint, probably in favor of T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. So when the customers go, revenue goes. And when revenue goes, jobs go. And now they want to take it out on their remaining customers by even suggesting the bill might be passed on to them? This is what I call company suicide. I know the lostmoney has to be made, but not this way. Hold on to what consumers you have left. How bad will it be when more customers walk out because they’re being forced to pay for Sprint’s troubles?
When I was a little kid, one of my favorite cartoons was Tom and Jerry.? Me and my peers thought little of the violence and sometimes racial overtones. But times have changed.
Social media venues iTunes and Amazon Prime offer the classic cat and mouse cartoon. But they have put on a warning label saying Tom and Jerry can be potentially racist and offensive, claiming some scenes may contain, “racial and ethnic prejudice”. Keep in mind most of these cartoons were done in the 1940s. One Tom and Jerry character in the center of the controversy is Mammy Two Shoes. The black mammy with the thick southern accent and incorrect grammar was one of the most used stereotypes in entertainment at the time. The last time Tom and Jerry put out a DVD, actress, comedian, and co-host of The View Whoopi Goldberg put on a disclaimer about the cartoon’s potential stereotyping. But she also says eliminating or censoring Manny Two Shoes and other controversial subjects would be like pretending they never existed.
I agree with Goldberg on this one, and I’m glad Amazon Prime and iTunes are taking the high road. Censorship does nobody any good here. But you do need to respect people’s sensitivity. I think this is the perfect call on their part of Amazon and iTunes. Besides, if we? censored every entertainment venue between the 1920s-1950s that contain ethnic stereotypes (and I don’t want to encourage them) then half of what came out during that period would be gone. Isn’t it bad enough there’s a school in Missouri that’s trying to censor US history? I think we need to see Mammy Two Shoes and other Tom and Jerry cartoons. These shows can start a great dialogue of ethnic portrayals in decades past and what we can learn from it today, and how far we’ve come. Or have we come so far?
Remember when Google tried to get the What’s App? Facebook beat them to it. Google didn’t quit, but instead, is working ceaselessly to come up with their own What’s App.
Google plans to launch a mobile message app. They’re getting ready to test it in India. They’ve already sent a Google product manager to India to check out the message app conditions of that developing nation. Some sources say the Google message app will be ready for the public sometime in 2015. I can’t find the future name for this app; they may not even have one yet. Google product manager Nikhhyl Singhal is being sent to Pacific Asian nations to study ecosystems and the mobile scene there. This message app is expected to be free and won’t even require a Google password.? Google offered What’s App $10 billion, but Facebook got What’s App by ponying up nearly twice as much. That’s how Google got here.
Some may be asking, “Why is Google testing India’s ecosystem for a potential message app?” If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and that includes the technology realm. By the end of this decade, India should have the second biggest smartphone market in the world (China will have the biggest). You’re going to need a strong smartphone market if you want a strong app market. There are around 600 million What’s App users globally, over 10% are in India.? The message app market is growing altogether. At least a dozen message app has tens of millions of regular users. We Chat has well over 400 million monthly users. But most things Google touches has turned to gold. So I think their message app will do well. But me being a fan of small business, I’m concerned people will dump the small message app sites and flock to Google as soon as the release date is here. Would you use a Google message App?
Computer Geeks in commercials? Yes my friends it is true. Meet Joe, our technical manager here at Computer Geeks. Joe is the friendly face you will normally see if you pop into our Beacon Hill office in Boston, MA. And more than likely he will be the one saving your bacon when you computer goes down. ?We often sit here on our blog and give you the latest and greatest in technology day after day, but every now and then, it is good to pimp the actual service that we offer.
Computer Geeks provides on site computer repair service, within 24 hours of your phone call. Computer Geeks has been around since 1996 doing computer repair. ?We service anything from virus removal on you Nana’s home computer to installing 20 computers and 2 servers at your new law office. Computer Geeks can handle it all. We are open 7 days a week and even on holidays. If you are in the Boston area, you can feel free to stop by our office on Beacon Hill and drop off your computer, or just stop by and ask us a question.
Also, we are not just a PC crowd here at Computer Geeks! Our technicians are versed in both MAC and PC. So bring us your Apple computer and we can fix it too! We can even help you transfer from Mac to PC or the other way around. Whatever help you need with your computer, Geek ?Choice is there for you, when you need it.
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The Netflix invasion of Hollywood has no end in sight. They’ve produced critically acclaimed and popular shows. These shows have won awards. A veteran movie star has taken notice and wants in on this ever increasing medium.
Netflix just announced it will produce four movies with Saturday Night Live alum, stand up comedian and A-List movie star Adam Sandler. All these movies will be exclusive to Netflix and their subscribers. It’s their latest quest to push the medium into Hollywood movies. We don’t know the financial details, but Netflix executive Ted Sarandos came to Sandler because Sandler’s movies are so popular on this medium. Sandler immediately jumped at the chance. This is just a part of the Netflix movie plan. It’s part of an exclusive distribution of a coming sequel to 2000’s mega-hit ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’. They’re venturing into the increasing popular talk show circuit too. They’re in talks with comedian, author and talk show host Chelsea Handler to give her her own show that will be exclusively on Netflix. Not bad for a company that started as a simple mailing video rental company.
But if Netflix is going to expand in the movie business like this, I wonder if Adam Sandler is a wise choice. I respect everything this man has done.? He’s been entertaining us and humoring us over 20 years, from Saturday Night Live to the Wedding Singer, form Anger Management to Grown Ups. Grown Ups was the last hit Sandler ever had. This was back in 2010. Now I know Sandler’s movies have been highly requested, but this is a new realm. They’re asking him to make new movies. They’re asking this from a man that hasn’t had a box office hit in over five years. I respect Netflix for taking it to the next level. But is Sandler the way you want to go? Shouldn’t they go with someone whose making hit after hit after hit right now?
