29 Jul 2005
Reading Between The Lines Of Used Book Sales

Interesting take on the economic impact of used book sales over the Internet. Bottom line: it may actually help authors and publishers sell more new books!

While Amazon is best known for selling new products, an estimated 23 percent of its sales are from used goods, many of them secondhand books. Used bookstores have been around for centuries, but the Internet has allowed such markets to become larger and more efficient. And that has upset a number of publishers and authors.

(link) [New York Times]

via MyAppleMenu

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Branson Attempts to Rip "Virgin" From the Dictionary

What'll he go after next? Will we soon see signs on the statuary at the local Catholic church reading "The Blessed Virgin® Mary"? Will United sue the government to force a name change?

Virgin Enterprises, Richard Branson's group of companies, has tried to stop others from using the word "Virgin" in names and domain names. When it went after Virgin Threads, a site featuring emerging independent fashion designers, owner Jason Yang thought that was a stitch too far. He's fighting back against Virgin Enterprises' trademark claims.

(link) [Chilling Effects]

via OverLawyered

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Which Newspaper Do You Read?

  • The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

  • The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.

  • The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country and who are very good at crossword puzzles.

  • USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand The New York Times. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.

  • The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could find the time, and if they didn't have to leave Southern California to do it.

  • The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.

  • The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

  • The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

  • The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.

  • The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it; but if so, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs who also happen to be illegal aliens from any other country or galaxy provided, of course, that they are not Republicans.

  • The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.

  • None of these are read by the guy who is running the country into the ground.

unattributed, via an email list

00:00 /Humor | 0 comments | permanent link