Day: July 16, 2012

Apple and the EPEAT, sitting in a tree…

Apple and the EPEAT, sitting in a tree… – The Next Web:

Let me shake my translation ball one last time. “Whatever standards we’re going to use to test the Retina MacBook Pro will be updated to take into account Apple’s fancy new manufacturing techniques.”

There are, Frisbee is careful to point out, rare cases where a product is added to the registry, fails to meet standards, and is forced to be removed. Can you see that happening to Apple?

[I’m not sure if I smell a rat here or not. If the standard doesn’t keep up, then what’s the point. But if the standard moves to accommodate then what good is *that*. Most likely a rat says my more cynical self.]

Amazon same-day delivery: How the e-commerce giant will destroy local retail.

Amazon same-day delivery: How the e-commerce giant will destroy local retail.:

Why would Amazon give up its precious tax advantage? This week, as part of an excellent investigative series on the firm, the Financial Times’ Barney Jopson reports that Amazon’s tax capitulation is part of a major shift in the company’s operations. Amazon’s grand strategy has been to set up distribution centers in faraway, low-cost states and then ship stuff to people in more populous, high-cost states. When I order stuff from Amazon, for instance, it gets shipped to California from one of the company’s massive warehouses in Kentucky or Nevada.

But now Amazon has a new game. Now that it has agreed to collect sales taxes, the company can legally set up warehouses right inside some of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation. Why would it want to do that? Because Amazon’s new goal is to get stuff to you immediately—as soon as a few hours after you hit Buy. (Disclosure: Slate participates in Amazon Associates, an “affiliate” advertising plan that rewards websites for sending customers to the online store. This means that if you click on an Amazon link from Slate—including a link in this story—and you end up buying something, Amazon will send Slate a percentage of your final purchase price.)

[This and the credit card swipe fee changes (which will be bungled by most greedy people/businesses) are serious game changers for retail operations.]

Hövding Invisible Bicycle Helmet

Hövding Invisible Bicycle Helmet:

The process from design to device took seven years of intensive research and development, recording hundreds of hours of cycling footage and studying accident recreations with the Swedish Stunt Group and crash test dummies. Research has proven that shock absorption from an airbag is actually much greater than that of the polymer foam inside a traditional bicycle helmet. With this research data, Haupt and Alstin were able to acquire the proper government certifications needed to sell bicycle helmets

[Interesting. Wonder if this could work for the cycling style snobs?]