Companies Circling The Drain: What about Chapter Elevenses?

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > Companies Circling The Drain: What about Chapter Elevenses?

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Cliff Racer posted:

China actually buys a lot of foreign coal, but they are going through economic troubles now. At the same time American coal plants are facing increased regulation and many are being forced to shut down. The historically low price of natural gas isn't helping either, with a lot of coal plants converting to gas.

I would argue that fracking is biggest factor with coal getting killed since it made natural gas so much cheaper than coal

# ¿ Feb 16, 2016 18:21

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:12

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

stealie72 posted:

I don't get how Motorola is still in business in a world of samsung, apple, LG, and to a lesser extent HTC.

HTC is pretty hosed at this point too

# ¿ Feb 20, 2016 19:12

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

vyst posted:

Ublock origin is the superior adblocker on Firefox right now

This is true, AdBlock went to hell since Google was pretty upset about the whole concept since half of Google's revenue comes from the ad words.

So Adblock took a offer they couldn't refuse from Google to whitelist stuff like the adwords

# ¿ Feb 21, 2016 19:26

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Fiend posted:

Yelp is firing all their Literary Science majors, their research department is probably next.

I have no clue why Groupon and Yelp are still around

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 02:53

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

reallivedinosaur posted:

iPhones are literally circling the drain nationwide because girls keep them in their back pockets and probably 1 in 3 ends up in the toilet.

I liked the Onion article about Apple selling to a special pre-cracked Iphone to college students.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 06:15

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Nostalgia4Dicks posted:

I hate the company as a whole and their shady tactics but is there really any alternative?

I knew a chef at a small restaurant and she said it would cost her boss $800/month to have 5 star reviews show first

They also charge money to remove negative ratings

# ¿ Feb 22, 2016 08:11

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

BIG-DICK-BUTT-gently caress posted:

He looks like poo poo for 24...goddamn

What did you expect, old ingredients got used in the recipe

# ¿ Feb 24, 2016 18:57

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Abongination posted:

Not quite to the end of this thread yet but this jumped out at me.

Since HTC just sold 15 thousand sets of their new VR headset in 10 minutes.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201602030026.aspx

quote:

Taiwan-based smartphone brand HTC Corp. (宏達電) on Wednesday reported its worst annual results since 2002 when it was listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

At an investor conference, HTC said its annual consolidated sales fell 35.24 percent in 2015 to NT$121.68 billion, while it registered a loss per share of NT$18.78 due to escalating global competition.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, HTC posted a worse-than-expected loss per share of NT$4.1 and a gross margin of 13.9 percent, the lowest quarterly data in its history and its third consecutive quarterly loss.

# ¿ Mar 1, 2016 06:22

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Tubesock Holocaust posted:

I rented a Soul and a Sportage last year. The Soul was actually a pretty nifty car, but the fuel economy sucked for a compact (couldn't get any better than 26-27 mpg highway). The Sportage had a terrible time handling the concrete expansion joints on I-16, making my trip to Savannah a chiropractor's wet dream. I'd buy a brand-new Soul and use it for around-town driving.

You couldn't pay me to drive one older than 2011, though.

I doubt see a point seeing how other brands like Honda and Toyota are basically the same price.

It's like the poor souls who willingly go out and buy a FIAT car.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2016 07:27

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Navin Johnson posted:

OK, time for an admission. I drive a 1990 Accord and the engine has 324,000 miles on it. The AC is freezing and I can cook meat with the heater. Looks like crap but it just keeps rolling. I cannot part ways with it. 90s Accords are EVRYWHERE in So Cal. Now those are tanks!

I liked the story how Redskins RB Alfred Morris kept his old Mazda sedan even after he signed with the team:
http://jalopnik.com/why-redskins-star-alfred-morris-dream-is-this-humble-1-1445704648

# ¿ Mar 4, 2016 19:35

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Navin Johnson posted:

That's a pretty sweet Mazda. I wish my Honda looked that good. If it aint broke, don't fix it!

On his first day of training camp the team thought a janitor stole Alfred Morris parking spot because the car was in such bad shape.

Mazda did refurbish and overhaul the whole car for him free of charge.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2016 19:41

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

canyoneer posted:

Cabela's/Bass Pro have their markets pretty well dialed in. They serve a very different segment than REI does.

REI targets the mom wandering in yoga pants demographic.

# ¿ May 6, 2016 17:40

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Snowdog79 posted:

I have the distinct pleasure of going there tomorrow for a meeting. Glad it's not raining in Chicago right now....

I like the story how the CEO created alt accounts and got into troll wars with his subordinates on the social media network.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2016 02:52

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

proof of concept posted:

every time I learn that sears is still in business, it really REALLY surprises me

Their weirdo CEO was also obsessed with objectivist philosophy.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2016 03:09

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Y-Hat posted:

what high-level executive isn't? mark cuban loves him some ayn rand

The horrible Sears CEO, his obsession with Rand is one of the reasons he had departments do gladiator fights with each other.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2016 03:16

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Uncle at Nintendo posted:

Notice they are still financially well-off. Funny how some companies manage to do both. With every other company claiming prices will skyrocket if they have to pay their employees higher than poverty-level wages.

Motherfucker I just bought a 17" cheesecake for $9!

Costco does well since it attracts middle class and rich people.

So things like customer service are even more important.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2016 19:54

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Martinpale posted:

I've read a lot about how, behind the scenes, the amount of fighting that the Costco leadership has to do with it's shareholders is insane - it's nearly constant open warfare between the 'you're being stupid, the company is perfectly fine doing it this way' leadership and the 'pay employees less! Don't give them health insurance! More profits! etc.' shareholders. It helps, i'm sure, that the company founders are still actively engaged in the business, but you have to believe that the shareholders are salivating at the chance to gently caress things up once they retire/die.

It's astounding that no one else sees things like 'if we have people knowledgeable about electronic products, and makes sure that the customer knows what they're buying AND how to use it properly..then it doesn't come back, and we don't have to deal with a return' as a good thing.

At least the CEO tells all the various big money shareholders to pound sand when they whine about things like too much benefits.

Costco also offers education scholarship programs to help employee pay for school.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2016 22:23

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Moridin920 posted:

someone told me that finance kills what makes you human because you start thinking about everyone as just numbers and one day you wake up and realize you're dead inside when you see a news story about some super massive tragedy and all you're thinking about is what trade opportunities this presents

It's like that scene in which Brad Pitt explains to the two hedge fund managers the human cost if their creative plan actually works and the highest rated tranches fall apart.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2016 22:52

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

thathonkey posted:

The Big Short is good. plus i learned a new word from it - tranche, meaning slice or sliver of a whole. the thing they renamed the collateralized debt obligation thing to or whatever. bespoke tranche opportunity.

the movie combines margot robbie, bubble bath and tranches in the best possible way.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2016 01:03

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

WaryWarren posted:

their way of life will be crushed. another profession circling the drain.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/17/self-driving-trucks-impact-on-drivers-jobs-us

Won't someone think of the lot lizards?

# ¿ Aug 28, 2016 14:24

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

red19fire posted:

Yeah, NJ is amazing because you have some of the richest suburbs in america, then you cross a street and you're in grinding third world poverty. Like Cherry Hill cops basically sit on the border with Camden and pull over every car that passes, like they're defending the homeland from marauders. I'm not even sure if Camden has a police department anymore. NJ was at one point, and probably still is, the political corruption capital of the country.

This is the most honest opinion on NJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCjA3oGuPIk

# ¿ Sep 14, 2016 00:46

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Citizen Tayne posted:

Labor costs, and I'm sure the Mexican government doesn't give care how much garbage the plant pushes into the environment.

People who blame the UAW for the slow demise of the US auto industry say that labor here simply isn't viable at $35 an hour, but it isn't viable at $7.25 an hour either.

Ross Perot was right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkgx1C_S6ls

# ¿ Sep 14, 2016 23:43

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

darkhand posted:

I'm a car layman, but always curious because I've only really driven a shitboxes: how do you distinguish if a car handles well or badly? Or is it something you only notice with "spirited" driving or whatever enthusiasts call it.

Drive a FIAT, you'll understand.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2016 22:40

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:12

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Jastiger posted:

Let me ask a maybe thread relevant questiom of the car enthusiasts.

Why did/do American car manufacturers suck compared to Japanese auto makers? Why are Mazdas and Toyotas "better" than ford or Chevy? Reliability? Why and how? How is it possible for Japanese auto makers to pay their workers MORE than American makers pay theirs, pay tariffs and transport costs (until recently) snd STILL turn a profit?

Most of it was due to how after WWII the US brought over quality engineers such as Demning to Japan and the Japanese got obsessed with quality engineering concepts.

This allowed them to create products which were better designed, reliable and than domestic US car companies especially for break&butter price points.

It's much more complicated in more recent years since many companies such as Ford did start to crank out better designed cars but it's one of the big reasons why japanese companies made such big in-roads in the 80s/90s.

I remember growing up how my parents Dodge cars kept on breaking down but then dad was able to get his first Honda civic which never had reliability problems.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2016 02:05

The Something Awful Forums > Main > Post Your Favorite: Carefully Curated > Companies Circling The Drain: What about Chapter Elevenses?