31 May 2003

Goldbach moving to Underway in Ireland.com GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- I have decided to set up UnderwayInIreland.com as the main domain for my Weblog, so if you're a regular visitor, it's time to reset your bookmarks to UnderwayInIreland/blog and to aggregate your newsfeed from that location as well. I plan to keep the first 2,560 of my Radio blog items at Radio.Weblogs.com/0102560, which means that site will no longer be updated past 24 June 2003. Thanks for visiting. Bernie Goldbach is Underway in Ireland. x_ref1256

Texting in the world's largest mobile phone market FORTUNE -- With 207m subscribers, China is the world's largest mobile-phone market. The nation's two major carriers, China Mobile and China Unicom, handled nearly 100bn text messages in 2002. Chinese authorities haven't sorted out how to monitor this gigantic horde of text messages, so a lot of independent thinking courses through the country in the form of SMS traffic. Clay Chandler: "Zapping the SARS virus" in Fortune, June 2, 2003 x_ref163

Offsets, airplanes and college computers GARRINGREEN HOTSPOT -- The Irish government is shopping around for a $50m government jet. Whoever seals the deal will have to promise a bundle of offsets. The need for offsets drove Boeing to donate dozens of personal computers to a technical university in Ghana, explains Walt Braithwaite, the head of Boeing's African division. G. Pascal Zachary: "Dogfight over Africa" in Fortune, June 2, 2003 x_ref153

Quick Facts about Amazon FORTUNE -- Amazon emerged from the dotcom meltdown as one of the strongest brands on the planet. Amazon's revenues, at $4bn, are growing by more than 20% a year. Amazon's marketing, inventory and warehouse operating costs are now so low that only Dell's and very few others' are better. Amazon's operating profit margin, at 5% in the all-important fourth quarter, beat that of most retailers, and approached Wal-Mart's 6%. Amazon's share price has outperformed Dell, Cisco, Mocrosoft, Wal-Mart and GE over the past five years. Amazon's warehouses turn over their inventory 20 times a year. Virtually every other retailer is under 15. One of the fastest-growing and most profitable parts of Amazon's business is its use of warehouses to run the e-commerce business of Toys "R" Us and Target. Amazon prevented an end-run by eBay when it started offering used books for sale online. Fred Vogelstein: "Mighty Amazon" in Fortune, June 2, 2003 cover story x_ref15

Warren Buffet on Jeff Bezos FORTUNE -- Warren Buffet owns $459m worth of Amazon's bonds, making him one of Amazon's biggest debt holders. "I've been using a computer for eight or ten years now and I still really pay for only three thingson the Internet: the Wall Street Journal, online bridge, and books from Amazon.com. That they are one of only three companies online that have gotten money out of my pocket tells me they are doing something right." Fred Vogelstein: "Mighty Amazon" in Fortune cover story, June 2, 2003 x_ref15